The Castaway Hotel - 8 - 27. Chapter 27- Much To Do On The Home Front

As soon as I arrived home from my trip to see Frankie, the high school boys cornered me, so they could fill me in about problems they’d had while I was away. They were extremely upset because the posters they’d put up on Thursday were either destroyed or had bigoted slurs scribbled on them, so I reiterated I had warned them there might be repercussions from organizing the alliance. I also conceded that our irate board member was probably not the only one who was against their efforts, but I was hoping such problems wouldn’t start so soon. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a break, where this was concerned.

“What do you plan to do now?” I asked.

“We’ve made more posters since Friday,” Nick advised me, “and we’re planning on putting them up tomorrow.”

“Okay, that’s good,” I responded. “I’ll make sure your principal alerts the faculty and staff to keep their eyes open to see if we can catch the culprits.”

The boys seemed satisfied with my response and it put an end to their concerns for the time being. However, we were all still fearful of the beast lying beneath the surface and waiting to rear its ugly head. I had a strong suspicion this was just the beginning of our problems, although I was hoping these acts were being carried out by a very small number of students. No matter how many were involved, I was sure they weren’t about to give up easily, especially since they had been able to do all this without being found out. Those who do things of this nature seem to get a little bolder each time they carry out their plans without getting caught.

Monday morning, after I got to my office, I called the high school principal and talked to him about what had happened. I also inform him that the boys were putting up more posters, to replace the ones that had been defaced or destroyed, and asked him to see if he could discover who was behind the vandalism and slurs. He promised he’d do everything he could to assist in this investigation and I thanked him. I then moved on to my own work, because I had a lot to do after being away.

Even though the high school boys had put up their new posters, they were not in a very good mood that evening. Nothing had happened during the day, but they weren’t so sure the situation was going to improve. Sammy seemed to be particularly bothered about what had happened, but I couldn’t get him to talk about it. I wasn’t sure why he was more affected than the others, but he wouldn’t elaborate about his concerns. He did tell me he planned to walk home from school the next day, but he refused to divulge his reasons. All he would say was that he had something to do, but wouldn’t explain what he was up to. I suspected he was going to stakeout some of the posters, to see if he could discover who was defacing them. Since I was fairly positive he wouldn’t confront the suspects alone, I felt it wouldn’t do any harm, so I didn’t object to his plans.

Later that evening, I had to go out to attend a meeting, but before I left I reminded Jake and the boys that the following evening we had an awards banquet to attend. I advised them they should plan on being there a little early, because seating was not assigned and the best spots would go quickly. I also told them I wouldn’t be coming home beforehand, because I had other duties to attend to, but I would meet them there as soon as I finished up.

Andrew and Jesse were concerned the banquet would interfere with their bike ride, but I let them know they’d only have to cut it a little shorter than normal, rather than not go out at all. Reluctantly, they agreed to this, but only after getting me to promise they could go out for a longer ride the following afternoon.

The next day, after I got to work, I received a phone call from the high school principal. He informed me it had been brought to his attention that a couple of the newly hung gay-straight alliance posters had slurs written on them, but no one had seen it done. It must have happened sometime between the end of school yesterday and the start of classes today, but there had been no reports of anything suspicious during this timeframe. He advised me that the damaged posters had been taken down, so my boys could fix or replace them, and then he added the surveillance would be increased in an attempt to catch the offenders. His comment prompted me to ask what had been written on the posters and he told me one poster had ‘fags must die’ scrawled across it, while another had ‘gays will burn in hell’ added to it.

It was not surprising, yet still disturbing, and I’m sure whoever was doing this had picked those views up at home. I think the manner of inculcating bigoted attitudes might have been best expressed in a song from South Pacific, one that is often not used when doing this musical, because of its controversial nature. It was titled “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught” and the lyrics go like this.

You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear
You’ve got to be taught from year to year
It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear
You’ve got to be carefully taught

You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a different shade
You’ve got to be carefully taught

You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late
Before you are six or seven or eight
To hate all the people your relatives hate
You’ve got to be carefully taught
You’ve got to be carefully taught

It was originally written to address bigotry against Orientals, Pacific Islanders and other people of color (as they put it at the time), but I think one more verse could have been added between the second and last verses… one that goes like this.

You’ve got to be taught to really despise
The boys who tend to love other guys
To spread all that hatred and tell all those lies
You’ve got to be carefully taught

Talking about the posters dominated the discussion when we all got together again at the awards banquet later. The boys were irate that someone had messed with their posters again and couldn’t comprehend why anyone would stoop as low as to do these things. After debating this point for many minutes, I tried to remind them this was the reason they were organizing the alliance in the first place, to educate others about gays and build tolerance and respect for those who are different.

After going into a little more detail concerning this, the boys began to calm down a bit. They were still upset about what had happened, but they were beginning to hope they could get enough others to understand that gays were no different than anyone else; except for the fact they were attracted to members of their own gender. They also began to think they could change the attitudes of enough of their fellow classmates to improve the situation, but I warned it would be a long and difficult struggle to counteract years of ingrained distrust and misinformation. The boys said they understood, but they were still anxious to give it a try.

I could tell Sammy wasn’t as enthused as the others. I attributed it to the fact that he was probably upset he hadn’t been able to discover whom the culprits were who were doing this. Once again, I tried to draw out of him what was wrong, but he still wasn’t willing to share this information with me. The only thing he would say was that he’d be walking home from school again tomorrow.

Of course, I figured this was to give him another opportunity to try to discover who the vandals were. Although I was becoming leery about his obsession, I concluded there was little harm in it for now. I also calculated that if I gave him enough time he’d either give up his surveillance or open up about what was bothering him, so I dropped the topic and gave him his space.

The banquet began with a very nice meal. After we finished eating, the awards were given out and each of my graduating sons received some recognition. To my surprise, Cole accepted the first of these honors when he was given the award for ‘Outstanding Performance in the Trades Program.’ He had earned this for the mechanical and body work he had done to fix up the thirty-year old Mustang GT Fastback he’d purchased. The high school principal winked in my direction, when he noticed my amazed look. It was then that I realized he had intentionally kept this information from me, so he wouldn’t spoil the moment. Actually, I was grateful he had done this, because now I could truly respond to Cole, as I should, once he returned to his seat. We were all genuinely pleased and proud of him and let him know this when he returned cradling his plaque.

After that, Trey was called on to receive an award for his writing and another for having the highest four-years average in English. Neither of his honors came as a surprise to any of us. When he was presented his writing award, the high school principal also noted his past accomplishments and reminded everyone that Trey had received honorable mention for his play at the national level the previous year. After a nice round of applause, he also returned to his seat.

Another mild surprise came when Nick’s name was read and the president of the Rotary Club acknowledged his accomplishments. The president told those gathered that besides having been chosen to go to Brazil as exchange student during the previous year, Nick had earned the highest grade on the Spanish competency test. Not only that, but he was also given a special award for achieving outstanding proficiency in Portuguese, as acknowledged by the school he attended in Brazil. Again, this was something that had been kept hidden from me, but I swelled with pride as I watched Nick go up to accept his plaques.

Not to be outdone, Vinnie was recognized for being ‘The Most Inspirational Member of the Student Body.’ This was a special award, created by the Student Council, and the presentation read as follows. “This award is given to the student who most inspires us and this person is Alvin ‘Vinnie’ Rydell-Shay. Vinnie has overcome physical handicaps and the loss of his parents on 9/11, yet he always remains positive and upbeat. He is constantly willing to offer a helping hand and has a smile for each of us. If more people were like Vinnie, then the world would be a better place to live.”

This was something else we were not expecting and I think Vinnie might have been a little embarrassed when he returned to the table. Although he liked to be noticed by his friends and enjoyed being the center of attention at times, he was not one who liked to be recognized in a public forum, especially when his medical condition was brought up. I could sense his discomfort, but fortunately the banquet ended shortly after that presentation was made, so he didn’t have long to suffer through his uneasiness.

Once the banquet concluded, each of the boys received congratulations from their friends and others in attendance, while I went around the hall to congratulate some of the other recipients as well. After the crowd began to thin out, we gathered up our things and went home, happy to call it a day.

Thursday the college boys arrived home, lugging all their possessions. They seemed to be happy about being back for the next couple of months and I knew they were relieved their finals were over and another academic year was behind them. However, the most excited member of the group seemed to be Shannon. He was not only happy to be home to see his father and everyone else again, but he seemed extra pleased to be reunited with Nick. Of course, Nick was probably more excited than Shannon, since he’d been pacing the house all week, while awaiting his lover’s return. I’m not sure Jake was as thrilled about the two of them getting back together, but he was being good and keeping his mouth shut. Even though he had told them boys he accepted their relationship and continued to be friendly toward Nick, I could still sense he was uneasy about what consequences might result from Shannon and Nick’s future sexual exploits.

As soon as they felt it was safe to do so and wouldn’t be deemed impolite, both boys slipped off to their room to get reacquainted. As soon as they were alone inside, they decided it was safe to be themselves again.

“Damn, I missed you,” Nick told his lover.

“Have you been a good boy?” Shannon teased back.

“Yep, totally,” Nick responded.

“You mean you haven’t done anything since I’ve been gone?” Shannon clarified.

“Not a thing… well, except for my own hand,” Nick answered. “And it’s been pretty busy. I’ve missed you so much.”

“Well, if that’s true,” Shannon responded, “then I think you’ve earned a reward. What would you like?”

“Just to hold, kiss and feel you close to me again,” Nick told him and immediately Shannon wrapped him in a huge embrace. Before long, the boys made their way to the bed and were passionately kissing and running their hands over each other’s clothed body. Once they were lying beside each other on the mattress, Shannon expected Nick to ravage him, but that didn’t happen. Instead, Nick merely continued to kiss Shannon and run his hands all over Shannon’s exterior, but he didn’t make any overt sexual moves.

“Is something wrong?” Shannon asked.

“No, nothing,” Nick replied, confused. “Why?”

“Then why aren’t we undressed yet?” Shannon commented and, finally, the light went on in Nick’s head.

“I told you,” Nick began to explain, “that I’ve learned there is more to love than just sex. Sex is just the dessert, but the main course is when we’re close and I am holding you. I’ve really missed being able to do that.”

“Are you sick?” Shannon asked, as he placed his hand on Nick forehead, as if he were checking his temperature. Finding Nick’s head felt ‘normal,’ he continued.

“Wow, you are serious, aren’t you?” Shannon added, amazed. “Did my dad threaten to castrate you or something, if we had sex again?” Nick let out a nervous little laugh after hearing Shannon’s comment.

“He might have thought it, but he’s never said it,” he confided, “but I guess knowing how stupid I was about going after sex all the time really scared me. Did you see where that porn star had unprotected sex filming in Brazil? He became HIV positive and has infected some of his co-stars too.”

“Yeah, I heard about that and…” Shannon hesitated before continuing, “I thought of you when I did,” he reluctantly admitted. “But you’ve tested negative, right?”

“Yes, I did, but the doctor also said it might not show up right away,” Nick conceded, but he was looking away, instead of at Shannon when he did so.

“Is that why you don’t want to have sex now?” Shannon asked, directly.

“Not exactly, but it is a concern,” Nick responded. “I just know I’d rather have you, even without the sex, than to have sex with anyone else now.” I think this comment floored Shannon, since he never expected Nick to say anything like this. Sex had always been the key motivating factor for Nick and now he was saying it wasn’t his main focus any longer.

“You’ve decided this all by yourself?” Shannon wanted to know.

“Not exactly,” Nick admitted. “Pop has had me seeing this guy about what he calls ‘my obsession with sex.’

“And it’s helped?” Shannon asked, surprised that he hadn’t heard about this before now.

“Yeah, I didn’t think it would, but it really has,” Nick responded. “We’ve talked about a lot of things and he got me to see that I always wanted sex because it made me feel good, but I also kind of thought it meant I was loved. I guess you know that I didn’t think my parents loved me when I was younger and that’s why I ran away.

“This guy showed me that sex only made me feel good for a little while,” Nick continued, “so that’s why I had to keep doing it more and more, kind of like someone addicted to drugs. After a while the same dose doesn’t have as strong an effect on you, so you have to take more or do it more often. Now, I don’t feel like I need to have sex all the time. I mean, it was nice and made me feel really good, but now I know I’d rather be loved and love someone else, rather than just to have sex without any feelings.”

“How long have you been seeing this guy?” Shannon asked.

“Ever since my doctor’s exams,” Nick responded. “Pop worked it out so the guy comes to meet me at school two to three times a week, during my study hall time.”

“And this hasn’t bothered you?” Shannon wanted to know.

“Nope, not at all,” Nick answered. “In fact, I’m kind of glad he made me do it. It’s made me see a bunch of things about myself that I never knew before.”

“You have changed,” Shannon gasped, since he didn’t know what else to say. He just looked at Nick, as he thought about how he wanted to approach him now.

“You know, I still want to have sex, though,” Shannon finally admitted, before he decided to add something more, to see how Nick would respond. “You’re not afraid to do that with me now, are you?”

“No, I’m not afraid to,” Nick told him, “but we do have to be very careful. I don’t want you to get the genital warts and I certainly don’t want to expose you to HIV, if I was dumb enough to get that too.”

“Okay, so we’ll be very careful and always use rubbers, but I don’t want to do without the sex. I’ve missed doing things with you while we were apart and I was looking forward to us being intimate again.”

Later, I heard a rumor that Nick might have blushed at this point, but Shannon didn’t let up and pushed him down on the mattress, kissed him aggressively and slowly began to remove Nick’s clothing. Nick tried to protest, but that was hard to do with Shannon’s tongue sticking in his mouth, so he just moaned and began to respond to Shannon’s persistence. Before long, both of them were naked and ready for more.

“Just don’t touch my dick unless it’s in a condom. Okay?” Nick insisted, worried about his partner’s safety.

“Come on. It can’t be that bad,” Shannon insisted.

“Yes, it can. You can get the warts really easy and they won’t go away. So, please, promise me,” Nick pleaded.

“Okay. Okay. But that’s going to be hard,” Shannon agreed.

“It has to be hard, to stay in the condom,” Nick joked back, which caused Shannon to give him a playful punch in the shoulder, before he ran off to get the box of prophylactics and lube. When he came back, he handed the items to Nick, who quickly slipped a condom over his own erect member, and then he put one over Shannon’s engorged shaft as well.

“What’s that for?” Shannon asked, puzzled.

“We have to protect you too,” Nick stated. “Not only can you get it from my dick, but you could also get it if you make love to me.” That seemed to be enough to satisfy Shannon’s curiosity and they went back to concentrating on what they were doing.

Shannon did notice that Nick was more affectionate and spent much more time on the foreplay than in the past, which only confirmed what Nick had already told him. He really had changed, and because of that, the boys spent a long time together, enjoying each other emotionally, as well as physically.

Shannon liked the idea that Nick seemed to be taking pleasure in just being with Shannon, instead of looking forward to the wham-bam-thank-you-man type of sex. In fact, Shannon almost had to beg Nick to get to it tonight, as Nick was more into pleasing Shannon than himself. However, once he finally committed to the act, no matter how concerned he was about exposing Shannon to whatever he might have contracted in Brazil, he gave it his all.

Slowly, Nick slid his sheathed shaft into his lover, which caused Shannon to moan and shiver in delight, especially since he had been looking forward to this moment for many months. This also included the time Nick was in Brazil, because they hadn’t been allowed to have sex since he returned. Lovingly, Nick consummated their love once again, but this time with more kissing and focusing on other areas of Shannon’s body as well. After many minutes of their rhythmic dance, Nick exploded in a powerful orgasm and then collapsed on top of Shannon. However, once he recovered, he switched places and returned the favor.

The next morning, we could all tell they had finally ended the temporary celibacy they had been forced to endure. We noted how they both glowed and pranced about, which were only a couple of the signals that made us conclude they had been intimate. Even though he didn’t say anything or react in a way the boys would see, I knew it still bothered Jake deep down that Shannon might be exposing himself to various potential threats to his own health. I was certain he felt the boys were practicing safe sex and taking every possible precaution, but there is always the chance something bad will still happen. Besides, it’s a father’s prerogative to continue to worry about the welfare of his child, even if it runs counter to the evidence.