Be Rad - 2. Chapter 2

June, 1980

 

We'd gotten a late start and now we were paying the price: traffic. Highway 17 was bumper to bumper, but at least I had good company. I lit my pipe and inhaled, then passed it to Lark. Traffic moved, so I moved up a few inches to match the car in front of me as I exhaled. As I put the Jeep back into neutral, I adjusted the rear view mirror so I could see Childers in the back seat. He was leaning back, taking a hit on the pipe, basking in the sun. With the top of the Jeep down, we had to be discreet about smoking the pipe. There was a family next to us in a big station wagon, so we chilled out for a minute.

 

I glanced back at Doug again and checked out his legs. They were muscular, dusted with the same color of brownish-red hair that he had on his head. I gulped when I moved my eyes up his legs. He had his legs spread, so when I had aimed the mirror at him it had zeroed in on his groin. There was a gap between his leg and his shorts, allowing me to see straight up to his crotch. There was a tantalizing view of his pubic hair and one of his balls.

“B, you're daydreaming. GO!” Lark said. Traffic had moved up and I hadn't. After that I was more discreet in my glances. I don't think Doug figured out that I was scoping out his ball, but he didn't move either.

 

“You moved up here last year?” I asked him.

 

“Yeah. From Newport. Haven't done any surfing since I've been up here.”

 

“Why'd you move up here?”

 

“My dad took a job at Comcalc. They were expanding their computer business and he was working for a smaller company in Irvine. They recruited him away.”

 

“Comcalc's been growing like crazy,” I said. “They've got a lot of great products in the mill.”

 

“How do you know so much about it?” he asked.

 

“His uncle owns a shitload of stock in the company,” Lark threw in.

 

“Really? That's cool.”

 

“Yeah, I'll introduce him to you next time he's in town. He sits on their Board.” Lark started cracking up and I gave him a dirty look.

 

“What's so funny?” Doug asked.

 

“His uncle's a great guy but a total flamer.”

 

“Fuck you Lark,” I said. I was pissed off. Stefan may be a flaming homosexual, but he was the most important person in my life.

 

“I'm sorry, B. You know I like him. You gotta admit, though, that his wrists are a little limp.”

 

“I'll remember that you don't like him next time he invites us down for a few weeks,” I said.

 

“Oh come on, B. I like him a lot. He's a great guy. I didn't mean to offend you or anything. Look, next time I see him I'll make it up to him OK? I'll let him blow me.” Doug giggled and so did I. It was impossible to stay mad at Lark.

 

“I'll let him know that.” I saw his face drop a little bit. “You don't have a problem with gay people, do you Doug?” I'd forgive Lark now for sure. He'd given me a great opportunity to find out about Doug's attitudes about gay people.

 

“I don't give a shit.” he said. Well that was a little anti-climactic.

 

We made it to the summit and as if that was symbolic or something Doug grabbed his crotch and scratched, and did a penis adjustment at the same time. Then, when I looked back, I couldn't see his ball anymore. Instead, I could see his cockhead poking up his leg.

 

I swallowed hard and adjusted the mirror away. If I kept looking I'd crash the Jeep for sure, and I was starting to throw major wood which, jock or no, would be noticeable soon enough.

 

We crawled until we got to Scott's Valley and then traffic loosened a little bit. When we finally got to Highway 1 and headed north it was smooth sailing. I drove up to the gates of the beach house and entered the magic code that sent the gates lurching open. We drove down the paved road to the sprawling ranch house on the bluff overlooking the coast.

 

“Damn, this is one nice place,” Doug exclaimed. Lark went to get our boards and suits out of the “surf closet,” a small garage like structure, while I showed Doug around. “Lots of room,” he said.

 

We grabbed our stuff and headed down to the beach. The waves weren't all that great today, but we grabbed a few. Doug was a good surfer, although I didn't think he could take Lark or me in a straight up competition. Still, that's not what surfing was about for us. It was about hanging with your friends and seeing how many great waves you could catch. We were pretty tired by the time we called it a day around 3pm. Tired and hungry.

 

We grabbed showers and changed, then headed into town for some food. There's a small steakhouse in downtown Santa Cruz that is my favorite, so I took the guys there. Doug tried to pay but I wouldn't let him. We walked along the Boardwalk after that, riding on the Big Dipper, the roller coaster right on the coast, and hanging out while Lark checked out girls and I pretended to. I couldn't tell if Doug was acting like me, or doing it for real like Lark.

 

I called it a night early because Lark was getting his nerve and his libido up and soon he'd be trying to invite some girls back to the house and I did not feel like dealing with that. We got back to the house and hung out in the front room, which had a great view of the coast and also had a big TV with a VCR.

 

To liven up the party I got out my monster bong, a three foot graphix, and scammed a bottle of whiskey from the bar. In less than an hour we were totally shitfaced.

 

“I can't believe I'm messed up again after last night,” I said. “Lark, you get any on your date?”

 

“Not much. Just a hand job.”

 

Doug leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Shit, we did that well.” I giggled. Lark frowned. He didn't like people keeping secrets from him.

 

“Dan freaked out and Ace had to take him home early,” I said. I figured that Lark would think that's what we were talking about, and even if he didn't, he'd be so engrossed in the follies of his foe he'd blow it off. I was right.

 

“That guy is such an asshole. I can't believe you're friends with him.”

 

“He's not my friend,” I said, “He's Doug's.” I had thrown the fireball right at Doug.

 

“I barely know the guy.”

 

“You were over at his house,” I challenged.

 

“Yeah, cause he lives close to me and because that's where Ace told me to meet him. Besides, he's not so bad when you're with him one on one.” That's funny; Ace had said pretty much the same thing.

 

“Right, when his mouth is on your dick you mean,” Lark joked.

 

“That's right. Same reason I like having you around,” I said to Lark. He threw a shot glass at me. After that we just hung around watching television until we all passed out.

 

I woke up around 2am and turned off the television. I woke Lark up but he just mumbled that he'd sleep on the couch. I shook Doug awake.

 

“What?”

“Come on Childers. Bedtime.”

 

He dragged himself up and followed me down the hall. His pants were tenting, and I was drunk enough to have reduced inhibitions. I reached out and grabbed his tent. “You may have to start wearing a jock too.”

 

He gasped, and then chuckled. “So where do I sleep?”

 

I showed him the room that was next to mine, connected by a common bathroom. We met up in the bathroom in our boxers. He stood peeing with his back to me, giving me a chance to admire his broad muscular shoulders. He walked up to the sink next to me and giggled. He reached down and grabbed my dick that was poking out through my boxers.

 

“Damn this thing is big,” he declared. I moaned at his touch and reached over and grabbed his and started gently stroking. “Wanna finish up what we started last night?”

 

“Fuck yeah,” I said. We both shucked our boxers and stood in front of each other stroking our cocks. Our hands were on our own at first, but then I reached over and grabbed his and he did the same. I loved the feel of his dick, the way his silky skin softly covered his rock hard member, sliding up and down with my hand. I wasn't paying attention to my own dick which prevented me from stopping myself. I felt my balls rise up. “I'm gonna cum,” I said through clenched teeth and let go of his dick and grabbed my nipples, tweaking them as Doug stroked me off. I felt my orgasm rising and then I shot like a rocket, blasting my load past him and onto the floor.

 

He moved to finish himself off but I stopped him. I moved up behind him and reached around to grab his dick. My still-hard cock lodged in his ass crack, but he either liked it or it didn't bother him. He leaned back into me while I worked his dick with my right hand and his chest with my left. It didn't take him long after that. “Gonna cum!” he mumbled, and then started shooting. His dick felt so good, pulsing in my hand as he spewed his seed all over the bathroom sink. I held him tight until he stopped panting.

 

We grabbed towels and cleaned up the mess. He kept looking at me sheepishly. “Um, thanks,” he said.

 

“Thank you,” I responded as cheerfully as I could.

 

“That's pretty gay isn't it, jacking another guy off.” He was obviously having issues with this.

 

“Call it whatever you want, it was fun. Beats the hell out of doing it yourself. I'd do it again.” Those last four words had kind of slipped out and I tensed a bit, thinking I may have pushed him too far.

 

“Me too,” he said with a smile. And then we headed to our respective rooms to sleep.

 

The next day we were up early to catch the morning waves. There were some killer waves, and I got a chance to really show off. I told myself that I was doing it just to have fun, but I knew deep down that I was trying to impress Doug. It worked, he was really effusive in his praise, but he did great too. We headed up to grab some lunch and take an afternoon nap.

 

Normally Lark took the room Doug was in, but since Doug was already there I gave Lark a different room. He didn't seem to give a shit. I headed straight to the shower, relishing the warm water. Doug came in right after I had hopped in.

 

“Let me know when you're out,” he said.

 

“I can share,” I said, being extremely daring. He grinned, looked around, then locked the bathroom doors and stepped in. We were both hard as a rock; just the thought of watching him blow his wad was enough to get me going.

 

“Turn around,” he said. I did as he asked and felt him slide up behind me like I had slid up behind him the night before. I felt his rock hard cock, slick with the soap he'd just put on it; rub against my hole and perineum. His hand grabbed my cock and started stroking. I moaned and sighed, relaxing back into his strong chest. My body had a mind of its own, and I undulated my ass into his cock, letting the head poke against my hole then sliding back against him more so the head punched into my ball sac. He caught the rhythm of my motion and thrust with me.

 

“Fuck that feels so good. Damn. I'm gonna cum,” he said. I felt my wad spurt out of my dick at the same time I felt his cum slap against the back of my balls. I shot for what seemed like forever, panting and out of breath. I was afraid to turn around. What we'd done now was definitely gay, way beyond just jacking off. I was nervous about what he'd say. Still, I steeled myself and turned slowly.

 

There was a big grin on his face. “That was definitely gay, but I liked it.” Then he got a worried look. “You won't tell anyone about this will you?”

 

I laughed. “Hell no. I won't tell if you won't. And as long as we get to do that again.” He laughed with me and we washed off, heading into our separate rooms.

 

Was he gay or just horny? Hard to tell, but for the first time in three years, I found myself focused on someone else besides Lark. I lay in bed wondering what it would be like to have Doug here with me, to feel his naked body next to mine, to feel his lips on mine....I sighed like a teenage girl and fell asleep.

 

We hit the waves in the afternoon but they weren't as good as they had been in the morning. After dinner and a few bong hits, we had an easy night. I was dead to the world after the past two nights.

 

I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. It was a great morning, with some gnarly waves. I showed off big time and got some kudos from my surf buds. We showered again, alone this time, and loaded up the Jeep and headed back. It was Friday, and we figured there'd be a party or two.

 

The drive back was uneventful, just normal banter. We dropped Doug off first. His father was home, but not his mother. He seemed like a nice enough guy, if not a bit dorky.

 

“Dad, this is Brad Schluter. I was at his house on the beach for the last few days. And this is Mark Clark.” We shook hands with his father while he eyed us up and down, trying to decide if we were delinquents or not. “Brad's uncle is a shareholder in Comcalc.”

 

His father eyed me in a patronizing manner. “That's nice. Ever since Comcalc went public lots of people have been picking up shares.” In other words, he didn't think it was a big deal.

 

“My uncle was one of the founding partners. I think he owns about 25% of the company now, give or take a few shares, plus he sits on the board,” I said proudly. Doug's father blanched.

 

“Stefan Schluter? I should have caught the name. He's supposed to be an interesting person.”

 

I controlled my temper. Interesting. Why not just say what you mean, asshole: queer. “He's brilliant and a great guy. He's invited me, Lark, and Doug here to spend a few weeks in Malibu surfing. It's a fun time. We'll get to meet some celebrities too.”

 

Doug's dad was in a corner. “That sounds like a lot of fun, as long as we're not going somewhere.”

 

“What are you doing next week?” I asked Doug and his father.

 

“I don't have any plans,” Doug said. His father just looked at us funny.

 

“Cool. Let's go down to LA, if that's alright with you sir?” I asked politely.

 

Doug's dad caved. “That sounds fine.” Doug was beaming. “I'll call you later,” he said as he left.

 

Lark was quiet when we got back into the Jeep and I knew why. He had a tendency to get jealous if I did things with other friends, unless he was busy. It was bullshit, but I put up with it because he's my best friend.

 

“Lark, you up for LA?”

 

“I wasn't sure if I was invited,” he said, pouting.

 

“Don't be like that. It's not like you're my girlfriend or anything.” I wish. I modified my tone to nearly a whine. “You know why I did that on the spot. To corner Doug's dad. He doesn't want his son around a queer but he can't afford to piss Stef off.”

 

Lark smiled. “Yeah, that was pretty slick. I'll check with my mom and see if it's cool.” I drove up to Escorial where he'd left his car and dropped him off. I said hello to Ace and Claire and told them about the waves, even though they didn't care. Then I went in to see my dad.

 

“Hey Dad, I’m going to go down to Malibu and see Stef next week,” I told him.

 

“That's great Brad. I'm sure he'll love to see you.” And that was that. One more call, and I could crash for a while. At least until dinner.

 

Alice answered the phone when I called. She was Stefan's housekeeper and I got along really well with her. She wandered off to find Stefan. He was probably getting laid. He was a sex beast, even at his age; he's in his mid-30's.

 

“Bradley! How absolutely super to hear from you sweetie!”

 

“Hey Stef. I wanted to come down and visit next week and bring a couple of friends with me. Is that cool?”

 

“You do not have to ask, you silly goose. Who are these friends? Anyone I know?”

 

“Lark is coming, and a new friend of mine, Doug.”

 

“Well, if Doug is as scrumptious as Lark you will have to bring a cattle prod to keep me away from them.” He broke into giggles. “I'm just teasing, you know that.”

 

“I know. I can't wait to see you.”

 

“I will send the plane to get you boys. I know you like to sleep in, so let's say 11am at Palo Alto airport.”

 

“Gee Stef, that's awfully nice of you. That sounds great. We'll see you Monday afternoon.” I knew he'd send his plane to get us, but I never counted on it.

 

I crashed for a few hours, resting up for the evening. Ace told me about a party at Cassandra Clement's house. He'd been chasing after her all year, and was finally making progress, so he wanted to make sure that the “A-crowd” showed up for her shindig. I guess that means that Lark and I are part of the a-crowd. I called Doug up to invite him too.

 

“Hey Doug, there's a party tonight. You going?”

 

“At Cass's house?” he said.

 

“That's the one.”

 

“I'm there. I hear Jessica's gonna be there too, and I'm gonna put the moves on her.” Why was he telling me this? To drive it home that he was straight.

 

“Isn't she the chick you took to the prom?”

 

“Yeah,” he said sheepishly. “I'm on her shit list because we haven't gone out since then, so I need to make it up to her.”

 

“I've got to do the same thing with Karen,” I said to him. We'd had a great time at Prom then I'd pretty much blown her off. “By the way, we're scheduled to head to Malibu at 11am on Monday.”

 

“That was cool the way you put my dad on the spot.” He laughed. “We driving?”

 

“Nope. My uncle's sending his plane for us.”

 

“Wow. That's traveling in style.”

 

“It is. See you at the party tonight!”

---

 

There was a big surprise waiting for me at dinner: my grandmother was back. She was an amazing woman, full of energy, and unwilling to put up with shit from anyone. Most people were a little afraid of her. “Bradley, where have you been?” she asked severely. “I thought maybe you didn’t live here anymore.”

 

“Tonto! You're back!” I gave her a big hug. We called her Tonto; it was a nickname JP had given her when he was a little kid. “I was at the beach, where I usually am.”

 

“You'll be happy to know that your sister's graduation was very nice.” I had a half brother and a half-sister. My half-brother, Nick, was actually a pretty cool guy. He was studying to be a lawyer. My half-sister, Bitty, was a total bitch. We absolutely hated each other.

 

“That's too bad,” I said.

 

“Bradley, that's not very nice.” Her admonishment was one of habit and obligation. She didn't like Bitty either, she just couldn't admit it. I had a hard time expressing my emotions. I tended to hold everything inside, and just internalize it. The only way I worked out my angst was through painting. Usually I did abstract pictures, but I had a huge painting in my room of Bitty getting her head bitten off by some monster, and I had done it as accurately as I could so there was no mistaking who it was. It was the first thing you saw when you looked into my room, so when she visited I tried to keep my door open as much as possible.

 

“I'm glad you're back. I'm going to see Stef next week with a few friends.”

 

“I see. As soon as I get back, you decide to leave. Maybe I should go along with you to make sure you behave yourselves. I haven't been down to see Stefan in quite awhile, and he certainly hasn’t expended the effort to come see me.” She was playing with me. There's no way she'd get on a plane so soon again.

 

“That would be fantastic,” I said, calling her bluff. “The plane leaves from Paly at 11am.”

 

Tonto was a frumpy old matronly type, and she'd adopted this veneer of being a cranky and grumpy old lady when she was nothing of the sort. We all saw right through it, but for some reason she liked people to think she was cantankerous.

 

“I’ll let you know at the last minute, that way you can’t change your plans.” Then she regaled us with stories about Bitty's graduation from Brown, and how nice it was. No one at the table liked her, even if they didn't detest her as much as I did, but they humored Tonto anyway.

 

I hitched a ride to the party with Ace. “It's my turn to get blasted,” he said.

 

“No problem.” I didn't really need to lose it. Besides, if I did I could always call Rafael. He was the coolest guy, always willing to bail us out if we were too fucked up to drive. “So you gonna work Cass tonight?”

 

“Damn, I'm hoping,” he said wistfully. “She's been starring in my fantasies for a long time now.”

 

“What about Felicia?”

 

“Well, we had a fight when she answered the phone instead of letting me fuck her, so we're pretty much over. But it could get ugly.” He reached into the glove box and grabbed a condom. A Magnum. He tossed one to me too. “Put it in your pocket just in case you take a walk on the wild side.” I laughed, lit a joint, and handed it to him.

 

It was a big party, the kind that would probably get busted by the cops. Cassandra lived in a nice section of the Palo Alto Hills, the kind of neighborhood that gets attention by the police. We knew the drill and parked a few streets down. That way if we had to run, we could make it to the car and it wouldn't be in the police cordon.

 

I started drinking, ignoring my promise to Ace. I'd sober up enough to drive or I wouldn't. “Be-Rad!” I heard, and turned to find Lark. He slapped my back.

 

“Hey Lark. Plane's picking us up at Paly at 11am.”

 

“Don't think I can do this one amigo.” I looked at him, stunned. What the fuck was that about? He always hung with me. “I've got some family coming in from out of town.”

 

“Bummer,” I said, my turn to pout. “Well have a fun time.” I turned and walked away, leaving him alone. I knew I was being a dick, but he was playing some sort of game with me and it was pissing me off. He always went with me. This excuse about family was total bullshit.

 

I found two of my other surfing buddies, John Dawkins and Scott Ashby. They were complete opposites. Dawkins was tall and big, like a linebacker, while Ashby was short and skinny. Ashby had black hair, while Dawkins was blond. Even when they talked, they were opposites. Dawkins spoke slowly, drawing out his words, while Ashby spoke quickly, sometimes making it hard to keep up with him. Of course they were best friends.

 

“Hey guys,” I said in my friendly mode.

 

“Hey B,” Ashby said. Dawkins just nodded. “You coastal?”

 

“Just got back today. Going down to Malibu next week. You guys wanna hit the coast in a week or two, stay over, make it a party week?”

 

“Sounds bitchin’,” Ashby said. Dawkins nodded.

 

“Gee Brad, I thought you vanished from the face of the earth,” I heard someone say behind me. It was Karen. We’d gone to the prom together, and I'd kind of led her on a bit. So to cool things down in a cowardly way, I'd just stopped calling her. I know it was an asshole thing to do.

 

“Hey beautiful,” I said, trying to be charming. She was beautiful though. Blond hair that had been bobbed in the fashion that was popular that month, and a slim body. The only thing about her that wasn't damn near perfect was her chest. Her boobs were just a little too small. That didn't bother me though. “You know me. I've been surfing.”

 

“Right. Sure you have. You still like me enough to get me a drink?”

 

“I guess. Just barely enough,” I said, teasing her. Once she found me she attached herself to me, which was actually kind of nice. Her hand on my arm felt cool and sensual. We wandered around the party together, talking to people, drinking, and just hanging out. I headed off to the “pot room,” where people went to get high and got super blazed. Dan was there and he'd scored some coke, so a few lines of that fired me up. I was leaving the room and heading to find Karen again when I ran into Doug.

 

“Hey!” I said cheerfully.

 

“Hey Brad. I'm psyched about next week!” He had a big grin on his face.

 

“Me too. It's just you and me. Hope that's OK. Lark's got some family bullshit going on.”

 

“That's a bummer. He's a cool guy. But we'll have fun.” Was that a slight leer? Just then Jessica came up and put her arm around me, obviously trying to make Doug jealous. He knew her game.

 

The party went on, and as it got later people got drunker and drunker. I was still fired up from the coke, so the people who were passing out just pissed me off. I saw Doug and Jessica making out in the corner and I felt a pang of jealousy. ‘Fight it down Brad,’ I said to myself, ‘you've been dealing with this for years now.’ I wandered around, looking for Karen. I felt like kissing someone too. The living room was quiet and there was Lark, making out with Julie and feeling her up. I giggled. Why didn't that bother me, while Doug being with Jessica did?

 

I finally found Karen and twirled her like we were dancing and pulled her into a dip. As I pulled her up I kissed her. It started off slow, but built in intensity. She has such soft, moist lips, and fresh breath. I felt her melt into me.

 

“I'm not into public displays of affection,” she said. “Let's go somewhere else.” She led me upstairs to one of the bedrooms. If I didn't know better, I'd say she planned this out. She shut the door and I clicked the lock and we started making out again.

 

I felt my cock harden, and since I hadn't worn a jock tonight it was stabbing her. She didn't shy away; she pushed into me, offering herself to me. I was horny as hell. I'd never fucked anyone before, male or female, but right now I really wanted to fuck her. I slid off her shirt then worked her bra off and, while she made me take my shirt off too. I nibbled on her neck and moved down to her boobs. They were cool. I sucked on them, licked the nipples, and she really seemed to like that.

 

Then I moved my hand up her skirt and rubbed her pussy through her underwear. I pulled them off and explored her with my fingers, trying to gage what made her feel good, and what she didn't like. Stefan had always told me that whoever you're with, make sure they have fun. She pushed me off her, and I thought she was finished, but she undid my pants and took them off. She gaped at my throbbing dick. “God Brad, you're huge.” I wondered briefly how many dicks she'd seen, but I really didn't care.

 

I grabbed the rubber and slipped it on, which let her know exactly what I planned. We lay on the bed, our naked bodies together. “Go slow, OK?” she said.

 

“Sure, baby,” I crooned, as I lined my dick up to her moist cavern. I gently thrust forward; when she cringed I pulled back and nibbled on her neck, or played with her tits, then tried again. It didn't take long until I was in, all the way in. It felt awesome, amazing to be enveloped by this warm, moist cavern. I paced myself so I didn't blow right away. I guess in one way it was good that I wasn't the typical straight 17-year-old, because the stimuli were intense, but not as intense as they would have been if I were totally into girls, so I could actually take more time. I slid my dick in and out of her, nice long strokes, and she was moaning and groaning so it must have been good. At some point I forgot about her and thought about Doug, fantasizing that I was pumping into his ass, that he was the one moaning and groaning with pleasure. That did it. “I'm gonna cum,” I said.

 

“Oh yeah Brad, do it,” she cried, almost a scream, and then I exploded into the condom while she writhed underneath me. I pumped until I was spent, then slowly pulled out. I pulled the condom off and got some of my own jizz on my hands, which made me giggle. I wiped it on the bed in the room, wondering if it would smell and if whoever slept here would suspect someone got laid.

 

“That was wonderful Brad. You were amazing.”

 

“Thanks Karen. It was all you.” I kissed her gently. Now that we were done, I sensed that there should be this time when we cuddled in the bed or something, but I didn't want to. I wanted to get the fuck out of there. “I need to find Ace since I'm his ride. You don't mind if we head back to the party?”

 

“No,” she said, and giggled. We put on our clothes and got ourselves together and left the room. There were couples making out in the hallway and one of them slipped into the room as soon as we left. I headed to the bathroom and locked myself in. So that was sex. I'd lost my cherry. It was nice, but if I'd had any doubts that I was gay before, they were gone now. Karen was an amazing girl, but she just didn't do it for me.

 

I found a trashed Ace and he told me he was staying longer so I called Rafael and asked him to pick me up. We were driving down the hill when I saw three cop cars heading for the party. Good timing on my part, I thought.