Summerabbacat

A very interesting story thus far @Lee Wilson, very believable. Your expression of Jenny's grief was very respectful, and at the same time very humorous, each task to be achieved punctuated by an intake of wine. I know consumption of alcohol is often viewed as a panacea for grief, and for some it can work very well, whilst for others it only magnifies the grief. The financial and immediate dilemmas to be faced both Jeremy and Jenny are very real and would be very daunting for both. Hopefully William had good worker's insurance for both himself and for Jeremy, although getting the pay out may be like getting blood out of a stone. Insurance companies of all types are notorious for having short arms and deep pockets. Jeremy's amnesia and its aftermath illustrated how frightening it would be to lose your memory, as our being able to live our lives to any degree now is so dependant on passwords and PIN numbers. If you cannot remember them or prove you are who you say you are, you're well and truly fucked.

Well 'Twizzler' you have saved yourself, for now. Maybe (LOL). Jeremy Berger, the electrician's assistant formerly known as Bryson Jeremiah Burlington, is alive but remembers nothing of the past 2.5 years, a time when he has likely been at his happiest, having escaped a homophobic father (at least). I agree with the speculation of @weinerdog, his birth name suggests he may have been born into wealth or at least those with a pretence to wealth. I wonder if there is a Jr after his name or a II or III. I also wonder if there is any significance to Jeremy having assumed Berger as his family name. Is it perhaps his mother's family name? Jenny Perch's reaction to her husband's death was not the norm, but is not unheard of either. People react differently to the death of a loved one, particularly a death which has happened so suddenly. She may be in shock, or she may be someone who is stoic by nature, or someone who wishes to grieve in private. This appears to be one of your lengthier stories @Lee Wilson. I sense a challenging road ahead for Jeremy (Bryson) and Derek, which can only mean first rate entertainment from your pen.

This must be what you get from listening to too much Molly Hatchet @Lee Wilson, nightmares about severed penises, although in this case it does not appear the penis was severed with an axe. The Aussie group, The Models, who had a worldwide hit in 1985 with Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight, had a song on an earlier album entitled No Shoulders No Head, which had an insistent industrial sounding beat. I kept hearing it whilst 3D were at The Wilson Estates, but with different lyrics. No Penis No Balls. Jesus, what a start to the story @Lee Wilson. Lorena Bobbitt's gay brother got the ball (or should it be balls) rolling with a poorly cut piece of meat, the "meat" in this case being his boyfriend's penis. And if that wasn't enough for we readers to contend with, the fate of the protagonist's boyfriend, Jeremy, lies in your hands until chapter 2. Given his profession and the cliffhanger, the electric chair may be waiting for you if you kill him off so soon. Macabre and suspenseful. A riveting opening chapter @Lee Wilson.

Aaarrrggghh. You are like the great Stevie Nicks I see @Lee Wilson. She apparently has a tape recorder beside her bed (although this may have changed to some other type of recording device now) to record ideas for songs when she wakes in the middle of the night. I guess I will just have to Stand Back and observe from afar, or perhaps from the Edge of Seventeen, if this story has a Landslide of emotions capable of setting the Rooms On Fire. Being a story from your pen I assume there will be a Whole Lotta Trouble, possibly a character who is a Gypsy or a Beauty And The Beast, maybe even a character named Rhiannon. Whatever the case, I Can't Wait to read it so shall commence doing so without further ado.

Another of @Lee Wilson's earlier works which I enjoyed immensely. It features a very large cast of characters, and some very topical themes such as racism, homophobia, bullying and teenage angst. Although not always a pleasant read, in fact there are a number of events take place which are thoroughly unpleasant, it was a deeply satisfying read. Tissues at the ready are recommended as there are a number of plots within the story which were terribly moving, both pleasant and unpleasant. Well done Lee.

He was an awful person as a teenager, but I was profoundly sad he ended his life. Whilst one cannot blame ones parents for everything unpleasant which happened to them, which Marty never did, he got a lemon for a father, a complete deadbeat who did nothing to help his troubled son at all. Marty's suicide reminded me of a man who used to work for the same government department as I. I did not know him personally, although he was the friend of a former flatmate. He was an outrageously camp gay man, who looked liked he came directly from a 1970's heavy metal band. He had been rejected by his religious parents as a younger man and I was told was profoundly unhappy. The afternoon he retired he did the same thing as Marty.

Abbreviating Alistair's name to Al has been a curse when reading this story @Lee Wilson. Although I know it is an abbreviation of his name, I have read it on numerous occasions as AI, which only serves to remind of one of the world's most unlikeable, odious, "human" beings. I assume Marty is not going to have a HEA. I would so much prefer it to be his father.

A very talented quartet of Britons.

Candy and Bruce Jr? Now that was a shock @Lee Wilson. Seemingly Bruce Jr is colour-blind when it comes to sexual attraction, or perhaps being exposed to the relationship between Matt and Reggie and having met Elias and Calista on a number of occasions has quelled has hatred of African Americans. The unsupervised teenage parties at age 14 would never have happened in my youth, although at age 16 or 17 parties with alcohol were certainly something I attended (and made a complete fool of myself at the first one, blind drunk). This delightful story continues to entertain and amuse (on occasion).

Audrey was the name of the carnivorous plant in the film Little Shop Of Horrors.

I have sympathy for Marty too. I am appalled the guards in this juvenile detention facility know what is going on and turn a blind eye to it. For some of the teenagers in this facility there may be a chance they can be rehabilitated, but if subjected to this sort of abuse I imagine that possibility goes out the window. I thought I recognised Nikola Tesla Carrington's name, but could not remember in which of the stories about Carlo Marini he appeared. After reading this chapter @Lee Wilson I don't think Ramona Martin is that much smarter than her husband George. Why in Felix's name would she contemplate taking him back? Is she really that desperate?

Audrey "disposed" of Henry with a minimum of fuss. Drew and Leo welcomed Uncle Andrew for the first time as their biological father. I doubt it will be long and they will be calling him Dad, after all Henry Pierce has gone and won't ever be coming back. "Positive. Henry wasn't the best husband in quite a few different ways. Maybe you'd like to remind a girl how to be satisfied?" "Well, Brando, you just made me an offer I can't refuse." "Follow me, said the spider to the fly." "Buzz, buzz." I have to ask @Lee Wilson, was Audrey named intentionally as such after a certain carnivorous plant?

Henry joins George in the "dumb as a post or a box of rocks" category. Seemingly Audrey is not perturbed by the possibility Drew may be gay or at least bisexual, which begs the question why she married Henry in the first place. An example of love is blind perhaps. Henry, another of your "horror" creations @Lee Wilson. He and George would have to be two of your stupidest characters, right up there with Kathy Nelson, Abel Kraft and the guy who shot Manny in the bar.

Your stories invite speculation, sometimes the wildest of so, which is for me at least, part of the joy of your story telling.

The teenagers at Matt's school who name-called him "fag" or "faggot" are no better than Marty himself. There is no logic in their thinking @weinerdog, if one can even call it "thinking". I did not understand either how they arrived at their conclusion. I suspect one person made the comment and the rest of the sheep followed (my apologies to any sheep who may be reading this story, whose intellect would likely surpass these morons). Alistair is an unusually direct lad, perhaps a little too much so (I am "guilty" of this on occasion myself). Matt, Reggie and Drew may be a good trio to bring him out of his shell. And I am ashamed to say I did not know who Alistair Sim was as I have never seen any of the films he appeared in @Lee Wilson.

I have to wonder if Reggie's expressed desire for violent retribution against Marty is subconsciously influenced by the guilt he still feels for having stood by and watched others beat Jerry, resulting in Jerry's death. Is his reaction partially compensatory? Whatever the reason, it has upset Matt greatly, possibly moreso because he is now aware of the truth of what happened to Jerry. Marty's resigned acceptance of his fate was very sad @Lee Wilson, an indication of his unhappy home life perhaps. Does he feel any remorse? If so, there may be hope for him yet if he survives adult prison.

So Ramona is not a total loser like George. His son is likely to be sent to juvie and likely prison and George bails. He won't be winning any award for Father Of The Year.

I have horrified you before with my comments I don't like The Beatles @weinerdog, but these three songs as performed by Dame Shirley Bassey, Ike & Tina Turner and Rod Stewart respectively are ones which I appreciate their songwriting talents.

Given Bart's difficulties to date in having penetrative sex, his "pet name" Hammer struck me as somewhat ironic, although I recognise it is likely an abbreviation of his family name. Now he has achieved Nirvana, he well may live up to it if his first performance is any indication. And what of Noah's "pet name", Nomes. I know the spelling is different, but every time Bart refers to him as Nomes I have an image of him resembling a garden gnome in appearance, albeit age and size appropriate. The proposal to cohabit, is it a proposal made in the heat of the moment, and in this case the moment was sizzling 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥? This remains to be seen. Unless the story is set to conclude shortly, @Lee Wilson must have at least one or two "challenges" in his "literary cauldron" to set down for "Hammer" and "Nomes". Double, double, toil and trouble; and I am not suggesting you are a witch @Lee Wilson, but your literary pot when stirred has produced some startling results in the past.

What a marvellous comparison @Carybr, although I doubt Venetia is half as pleasant and intelligent as Emma otherwise. Emma is my favourite of Jane Austen's novel and Emma herself my favourite heroine. It was the first Austen book I ever read, I think I had to read it for high school back in the late 1970's and was immediately enthralled by it. I like all her other novels too; perhaps because Emma was my first exposure to Austen it has remained my favourite of her works. Although I did not know it at the time, I also like the fact that Emma herself is very different in that she is a woman of independent wealth who does not have to marry for survival, and it is her father who is the hypochondriac/fusspot rather than her mother. @Robert Hugill, your works are now promoting discussion of Jane Austen novels. Jane Austen, Kate Bush, David Bowie and Robert Hugill? You are in rarefied company.

A little more progress on the part of both James and Jonah in their relationship was a joy to witness @ChromedOutCortex. The purchase of the coffee machine an amusing jaunt, displaying James' growing comfort in expressing his feelings for the younger Jonah. I doubt Alex will take issue with a relationship between his father and his boxing trainer, after all it's a win-win situation, he gets to see his father becoming happier and he has boxing trainer around more often to give him some more tips/coaching perhaps. I like the pace of this story @ChromedOutCortex; the relationship growth is very realistic, particularly given the ages of James and Jonah.

I am glad to read that @weinerdog had a smidgen of empathy for Marty because I too felt a little sorry for him after the comments his father made about his birth, and his mother's less than convincing statement she loved and wanted him from the time he was conceived. It certainly does not excuse his actions, but it may shed a little light on his aggression and anti-social behaviour.

Thankfully @Lee Wilson and @weinerdog it is NOT St Michael's Hospital, Newark, to which Matt has been admitted, otherwise they may have already admitted him for unnecessary surgery or telephoned his mother to state he was deceased. I assume a rape examination will be performed now it is clear his head injury is not life-threatening. Marty is one step away from the electric chair or a lethal injection if he does not stop this behaviour before becoming an adult.

Excellent chapter @Paladin, the highlight of which for me was the following: "Patrick continued, “My experience with this is that killing someone is not generally their approach. It is usually threats to report them to police or whatever they think will work to keep them silent. I suspect your brother is still alive, but he could be very hard to find.” I so hope Patrick's prior experience proves to be so in this case as well as it is clear Joshua was close to Daniel as well as Adam. "Horse", I wonder if he is involved in heroin smuggling and/or distribution too, hence the nickname. Patrick's annoyance soon turned to something completely different when he discovered the extent of the abuse and the involvement of the QLD Police. Dedication plus. Vanessa is "growing" on me @Paladin.

Even before I wrote the comment above @Robert Hugill, I had been trying to find the first mention of Peter where I thought Vince's description of him and their friendship was a little "awkward" or "forced". I finally found it and it was just as I recalled; when Vince stated in chapter 3 “Dead right. Anyway, Peter’s become a sort of friend, so I go along to help when I can.” I thought it somewhat bashful and cute, particularly after he had already stated with unguarded pride how Peter had turned his life around. Venetia will not be pleased; perhaps she will blame Gray and state he has been a bad influence on Vince, leading him astray with his "unnatural" ways.🤣🤣🤣🤣