Jacob Finding His Way - 18. Chapter 18

(JOEY’S POINT OF VIEW)

“Please open up. It is the police!”

I opened the door and the police came rushing through the door and shut it behind them.

Is everyone ok in here?’

“Yes sir we are! What is going on out there? Why was there gun fire in the street?”

“There was a gunman that was sitting in wait. I understand he went after the guy that just left this house. That is what the gun fire was all about out there.”

“Did they get Jacob?”

I didn’t even wait for a response from the officer. I just tried to run out the door, but David held onto me. I was struggling so hard to get loose then Tom grabbed onto me. As Tom held onto me the front door opened.

(JACOB’S POINT OF VIEW)

As I was walking down the street I felt bad for Joey. I didn’t mean to hurt him and he should know that. Still, it did bother me and we just got back together. Our relationship is rocky as it is. Any little thing could cause it to fall apart again. I want to be careful. Our relationship is too precious and fragile (at this point) a treasure to be treated cavalierly in any respect.

I wasn’t really paying much attention to my surroundings I didn’t even hear that someone was coming up behind me. I was in deep thought about Joey. Then I heard a voice I didn’t recognize but the word homey being said curdled my blood.

“Hey homey, turn around where I can see your face!”

I was scared, shaking as I raised my hands and started to turn around when I heard several voices. At first I didn’t understand at what was being said. Then several gun shots went off before I turned completely around.

As I was turning around I was tackled to the ground. I didn’t even know who tackled me, but when I hit the ground, I hit it hard. When I turned my head, I saw the eyes of the guy that was behind me asking me to turn around.

I looked up and saw an officer getting off me. Then he extended his hand and pulled me up to my feet from the ground.

“Sorry if I hurt you when I pushed you to the ground. I just needed to make sure that kid didn’t get a shot off with his gun.”

“Not a problem, I should be thanking you! Thank you!”

The officer grabbed me and walked me over to his car. When I got there I saw there were several other officers standing around. I looked over to Joey’s house and saw the door open. I started to walk over to his house, but was stopped by the officer that tackled me to the ground. He looked at me and shook his head.

“You can’t leave the scene until we get all the statements about what had happened here.”

So I sat down on the curb and waited for someone to talk to me. As I was sitting there, the ambulance drove up and the EMT’S started working on the kid on the ground. Once they rolled him over and I saw his face I was stunned. It was Alejandro and he actually was able to get close enough to almost kill me.

I was pulled out of thought by a guy in a wrinkled suit. He was saying something, but I really didn’t hear a word he was saying or understand what he was asking. Finally he repeated, I think, what he was asking.

“Hello there, kid, what is your name?” the man inquired.

“My name is Jacob Hernandez, sir.”

“My name is Detective Ramos. Are you able to answer a few questions Jacob?”

“Yes sir, I can.”

“Do you know the kid that was behind you Jacob?”
”Well, yes and no. What I mean is, kind of. I am a witness to a shooting that happened last year at Austin High School. He was one of the shooters. The other District Attorney had to let him out due to lack of evidence and witnesses.

The new District Attorney found out he was involved not only in the two attempted murders on me, but as a couple of his own gang members. The new D.A. thought he went into hiding in Mexico and I was convinced I had nothing to worry about.

I see now I did have something to worry about. The guy really wanted to shut me up.”

“Well he is being attended to, and looks like he is going to make it. He will behind bars the moment we are able to move him from the hospital. Did you know he was spying on you and your friends all day long?”

“No sir, I did not. I didn’t even pay any attention to him or anyone on the block!”

“Do you have anything else you could tell us about him or about today Jacob?”

“Like I said, the first time I even knew I was in danger was when he was behind me and was about to shoot my head off.”

“Well, the statements we are getting from your neighbors, he has not only been parked here all day, but was hopping the wall several times throughout the day. Do you know why he might be hopping the wall behind your house?”

“Not really sir, there isn’t nothing back there but desert. We were playing paint ball back there all day long though.”

“That’s probably why he was jumping the wall. He was going to try to get you while you were playing paint ball. You are a lucky kid that he didn’t get a shot at you back there.”

“I believe you on that sir. We played through the day into the late evening when it was dark. He had several chances to get me back there.”

“I really don’t have any other questions at this point. You could go ahead and head back into your house. If you remember anything, give me a call.”

Det. Ramos handed me his card and I started walking back to Joey’s house. As I was walking to the house, the ambulance was taking off with lights flashing and siren blaring. I really didn’t want the guy to die, but the stupid fuck really wanted to kill me.

As I walked into the house, there were several officers in the house. As soon as Joey saw me, he came running over to me, followed by David and Tom.

“Jake, thank God you are safe man! I was so scared when the police came rushing through the door. I didn’t know what to think!” Joey said as he grabbed me up in a crushing hug.

“Don’t worry Joey, I am here and safe, thanks to the officers!”

As I was talking to Joey, David and Tom the officers were looking around the house. I looked at them and then back to Joey. I was wondering what they were looking for. We were not the ones that had the gun and about to shoot someone.

The officers saw me looking at them. I think it was the one in charge, told them to head on out. Then the officer that gave the order followed them out the door. I went over and locked the door once the last officer left.

We headed over to the den and I told the guys what was going on and who it was that was causing all of these problems tonight. Joey couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“How in the world did this guy get that damn close to you Jake? Why in the world does he want you dead so damn bad?”

“As far as wanting me dead, that’s simple; to shut me up. And on getting close to me; I wasn’t paying much attention to anything out there. I wasn’t worried about being shot.”

We stayed quiet for a few minute, and then we just started talking about other things. I was glad the subject was changed. I really didn’t want to talk about it anymore. I know I was thinking ugly thoughts, but who could blame me for thinking what I was thinking?

I really hoped that this guy died. At least he would finally be out of my life for good. If he lived and didn’t take a plea, I knew I would have to testify. What if he ordered some of his gang members to deal with me before the case gets to trial?

I figure I will deal with that if the time comes. For now, I just want to be with Joey and my friends and not even think about it.

I looked over to Joey, and then I moved up closer to him on the couch. I leaned in and started to kiss him. I just love the way Joey’s lips felt, how his tongue feels coming into my mouth as we fought for control in the kiss. I always let him win! I wanted his tongue in my mouth so badly each time we kissed. As we were kissing, I started pulling Joey to me.

Then I remembered about David and Tom. I broke the kiss and looked over to them. They were looking at us as if we were going to put on a show. I just smiled and then laughed as they continued to look.

“Hey guys we are no peep show here. So don’t think you are going to get a free show!”

“They finally broke the stare and started laughing as well. I looked back at Joey and he was laughing as well.

It was already almost three in the morning, so I decided to go up to Joey’s old room and throw down the air mattress. Joey followed me, but was surprised to see me getting the air mattress.

We both took turns blowing the mattress up. The reason that we were blowing the mattress up ourselves was because we couldn’t find the air machine. When we were finally done, we grabbed some blankets and pillows. Threw them on the air mattress and lay down. But we were not ready to go sleep just yet.

I got back up and made sure the bedroom door was shut. I went back to the mattress and sat back down on Joey’s side. I started kissing him again. Joey started to take off my shirt and made his way down my chest kissing every inch of skin he could.

He undid my belt and unbuttoned my jeans. He took off my shoes and socks, and then slid my jeans off. I watched him as he “unwrapped his present”. He wasn’t rushed. He was savoring each detail. He slipped his fingers under the band of my underwear. I lifted my hips up so that he could slip my boxers off; leaving me totally naked. He was moving toward me, indicating that he was going to start with me while he was still dressed. I smiled at him and said, “Joey, please get naked too so I can take in the sight”.

Joey stood up and started by slipping off his shoes and socks. He then peeled off his shirt. With his arms in the air, every muscle of his torso was apparent. I was taking the time to note small things. I loved the way his armpit hair was as soft and straight as the hair on his head. The hair had a natural part that looked as though it was groomed that way. His nipples were about the size of quarters and were standing at full mast; another indication of his heightened state of arousal.

The show progressed with Joey unbuttoning his jeans and slowly peeling them off. His boxers weren’t pointedly tented because his hard cock was lying up against his abdomen. The dim light from the bedside lamp was cast so that the light dusting of fur on his legs gave his legs an aura.

Joey put his thumbs under the waistband of his boxers and he lowered them, pulling them away from his body at the front so as not to get hooked on his upward pointing penis. The head of his cock glistened with the moisture of his pre-cum.

I could tell that Joey and I were of the same mind set. This wasn’t a night for unbridled lustful passion, but rather, to make love; to savor each other. I was lying almost flat on my back and Joey laid down beside me, wrapping his right leg over me. He bent his leg behind to pull me closer to him and he put his right hand behind my head. We connected at the lips as our anxious packages pressed together. Joey’s hand pulled my head firmly to his, and we kissed passionately, yet without any hint of frenzy. We were, poetically, speaking the wordless language of love.

Joey broke the kiss, pulled back just a bit and looked deeply into my eyes. He had the most lovingly wry smile on his face and his eyes were sparkling and dancing. Not a word had to be said.

Joey then nibbled my left ear ever so gently, then, moved down to kiss and nibble on my neck. Again, there was no urgency. My hand and arm flopped back onto the bed and Joey paused for a short moment. Then buried his face in my armpit, licking and nibbling the tender, sensitive flesh. Every little thing he was doing was increasing my passion level.

Joey continued his southward safari, suckling and gently nibbling each of my nipples. At this point, his hand had ventured to my ball sack. It was pulled tight with expectation. Joey massaged the sack and the jewels contained within it. His warm hand caused the sack to loosen, letting the jewels be freer to enjoy being massaged. His hand slid behind my balls to lightly touch my hypersensitive perineum. He stopped short of going further back.

Joey moved away and moved his head toward my love center and placed his close to my face. I moved slightly up onto my side and immediately began to touch his package in as loving a fashion as he had done to mine. He was so hard that his cock resisted being moved too far down and away from him abdomen.

I felt Joey’s hot breath on my cock as he licked the pre-cum, making sure to get the tip of his tongue into the slit at the tip of my cock. The slightly rough texture of his tongue moving across the very tender flesh inside the slit sent tingles up my spine.

I was mirroring Joey’s actions doing all I could to pace things, yet send waves of pleasure through his body. It was evidently working as Joey was moving in ways signaling me to get to moving things along to the inevitable conclusion. So, I plunged down on Joey’s cock, taking it all the way back into my throat. At the same moment, he did the same with mine. I ventured back to Joey’s pucker with a finger. I didn’t try to enter, rather to gently massage the opening to add another dimension to his pleasure. Joey didn’t mirror that action on me, but that was OK; I was in heaven just having his warm mouth and throat encompassing my cock.
The long and sensuous prelude led us to be at the brink in very quick order. I started to feel the sap and passion rising in my body. I would be over the edge very quickly. I wanted to take Joey’s love offering at the same time, so I pressed lightly on his opening while running my thumb over his perineum. That pushed him over the edge. I felt his cockhead swell in the back of my mouth. I took one last long stroke and then took his cock as far into my throat as it would go. Just as I did, he released a torrent of his hot cum, feeding me with his essence. Of course, I was over the edge and gave Joey my offering as well.
In the afterglow, we held each other tight, not needing to say a word or kiss; just to hold each other.

As we drifted off to sleep, I said to Joey,” tomorrow we can take this to the next level and make love the other way.

Joey mumbled a reply I didn’t understand, but I did get his meaning when he pulled me tighter to himself and we drifted off to a peaceful night of sleep.

The next morning when I woke up, Joey wasn’t in bed with me. I went to the bathroom and cleaned up. I took a quick shower and dressed in the clothes I was wearing the day before.

I walked down stairs and found the guys in the kitchen making breakfast. When I walked in David was the first one to see me. “Good morning there, Mr. sleepy head! I see you have the same freshly loved look that Joey has!”

I laughed as I walked up behind Joey and kissed him on his neck. I replied; “Hey, it’s the glow of true love, well and duly expressed! What else can I say?”

I started laughing again and just looked at David as I sat down at the kitchen table.

“It is very simple. We are in love with each other. That is all we need, is the love we have for one another to make love often, like we did last night.”

I ate breakfast with Joey and the guys, then headed out to my place. I needed to get ready for work. It was my last day of as a working stiff and I didn’t want to let Martha down. After all she gave me a chance when no one else would.

I got ready for work quickly and headed in. The shift went by quickly. Normally Sunday shifts were boring and slow. But for some reason this Sunday it was busy and the time went by quickly. Soon it was already time for me to be off and I closed the store for my last time. As I left to head home, I said goodbye to those that were still there.

I walked into my apartment and went straight to bed. All I took off was my shoes. Once my head hit the pillow I was out.

The next morning, at least I thought it was morning, I heard knocking at the door. At first I wanted whoever it was to go away. But they didn’t; they kept knocking.

I got up and answered the door. It was Joey and the guys laughing and playing around. They walked in and I just fell back into my bed. In pulled the covers over my head and tried to go back to sleep.

The guys just wouldn’t let me go back to sleep. They kept talking and jumping on my bed. Finally I just got up and glared at the guys. I walked into the bathroom to take a roaring piss and a quick shower. The cold water did me good; it actually woke me up.

When I got out of the shower and toweled off, I heard David yelling at me; “Jake, where do you want to go to eat lunch?”

At the same time Joey walked into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around me. I leaned over to kiss him. Joey broke the kiss and patted me on my butt.

“Hurry babe so we can go out and eat. I am very hungry!” Joey remarked as he left the bathroom.

I walked out with a towel wrapped around my waist. I pulled a pair of jeans and shirt out of my drawers and laid them on my bed. Then I went over to another dresser and got my socks and underwear out.

I got dressed in front of the guys. It didn’t bother me at all. A year ago I wouldn’t have done this, but I knew these guys. So I wasn’t bothered by being naked and getting ready in front of them.

“So Jake, since you didn’t answer, I say we go and eat at Taco Bell down the street,” David quipped.

“No way, man! I am sick and tired of Taco Bell!” I retorted.

They started laughing at me. I went over to David and slugged him on the arm.

“Man Jake, that hurt! I was only playing!”

“I was just playing as well. Lets go and eat somewhere other than Taco Bell.”

“How about going for a sit down, big meal rather than fast food?” Joey said.

“What do you have in mind Joey?” David asked.

“How about the Golden Corral, they have a lunch buffet, all you can eat!”

“Hell, yeah! That is a great idea Joey! I am hungry enough to eat a horse right now,” I said.

I went over to Joey and kissed him on the lips. I put on my sneakers, grabbed my wallet and keys, and then we headed out.

The Golden Corral wasn’t to full yet. That meant either the church crowd hasn’t gotten out of church yet, or they already have eaten. No matter what the reason, I was hungry and didn’t care. I was just glad to not have the place crawling with people, wall to wall.

We walked in and picked up our trays, silverware, and drinks. We went up to the cashier at the end of line, ready to hit the buffet.

“Four, all you can eat buffets ma’am and the drinks on the trays please” I told the cashier.

She rang the all you can eats up, and then I paid for all of us and headed to a table. We sat down our drinks and went for the food. When I got back with my three plates of food, Tom was already there with his two trays. Shortly afterward Joey and David got to the table, each carrying their plates of food.

As we sat there eating, we talked about everything under the sun except for the shooting the other night. Once we were done eating, we headed back to Joey’s place.

We went in and went to the den. We sat down on the couches like fat little pigs. We ate so much, we couldn’t move at all. Joey was sitting next me, leaning into my side.

I remembered I wanted to call the automated banking line. I didn’t have a phone in my apartment, so I was waiting to use Joey’s. I got up and grabbed Joey’s phone to call the automated banking line to see what my balance was. I knew I’d spent a lot this weekend.

Between the concert, eating out, the paint guns and equipment, I know I blew at least a thousand dollars. I didn’t believe the automated system’s report of my balance. When I got a live person, I gave her my account number and pass word. She told me my balance. I had her repeat the balance again, because I thought I heard her wrong.

“Ma’am can you tell me what has cleared my account in the last seventy two hours please?”

“Yes I surely can hon. let’s see…..”

She confirmed pretty much what I knew I had spent. Even the Wal-Mart charge hit the account. Still my account was way off. Then she told me about a deposit that went through this morning into the account.

I hung up with her and figured that is why my account was way off of my numbers. I looked down again to my ledger and wrote in my deposit of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Once I added that to my ledger I was in balance with the bank right down to the penny.

I walked back over to the couch and sat back on the side of Joey. He looked up at me and asked me what was up.

“Jake what is going on man? It looks like you saw a ghost or something.”

“No I just called the bank and found that my ledger was off. So I needed the rep to go through all my activity in the last three days.”

“Did she go through it Jake? Is everything cool with your account?”

“Yeah everything is good with it. I just got another deposit into my account I didn’t know was coming. I need to call my grandfather and find out what’s up with this deposit.”

I got back up and went back to the phone. I dialed my grandfather’s number. A couple rings later he answered the phone. I told him why I was calling him and wanted to know if he knew anything about it. He said did and explained it to me what was going on. He had reinvested my money in another stock. It was a for-sure stock to make me money, and it did.

I left it at that and told my grandfather I trusted him with the investments and was OK with whatever he decided to do. He told me not to be surprised that I get even larger sums in the next couple of months. I thanked him and told him I loved him and hung up.

When I got back to the den, the guys just looked at me.

“Nothing to worry about, my grandfather is investing my money really well.”

“How well is he investing you money if you don’t mind me asking Jake?” David inquired.

“No I don’t mind you asking, he made me quite a bit this month and he said more than likely it would get bigger in the next couple of months” I said, purposely dodging the exact dollar amount.

“What did you make Jacob?’ David persisted.

“What is with all the questions David? I’m just playing with you David. The investments my grandfather made for me made income of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars” I told David. If he weren’t as close as family, I would have told him flat out that my finances are none of his business, but, again, David is as good as family.

“It made you that much Jake? That is really damn good!” David said with amazement.

“Yeah it is really good. It wasn’t an even amount; it had a few more dollars at the end. I just rounded it down to the even number.”

We just sat there talking about investing and how the rich get richer because they have the money to invest like me.

Then Joey turned to me and asked a question out of left field.

“Jake I was wondering something the last couple of nights. Why don’t we go out and buy us a house for you and me? This would be a house of our own house that no one that we know has lived before us. That way we could be in any room in the house and not be freaked out.”

“I really never gave that a thought to tell you the truth, Joey!” I replied with a bit of surprise.

“My first thought is that’s a great idea. What about getting our own home though?”

“The cost alone will be high and no bank will finance us. Neither of us has a job in order to finance a house” I said thoughtfully.

“I don’t want us to finance a house Jake. We simply pay for it in cash; you half, and me half for the house” Joey said indicating that he had thought this through to some degree and that it wasn’t an impulse thought.

“That’s a good idea! Would you keep this house because it was left to by your aunt and uncle?”

“No if we move out of the house, I would like to sell it. Keeping it does bring back too many ugly memories about my family and also what happen in front of the house the other night” Joey replied in a way that indicated even further that he had thought this through carefully and in depth.

“Let’s start looking, but I do want to live on this side of town and attend Newman” I said in agreement along with a condition.

“I agree with staying on this side of town and attending the same school we have been attending this last two years, Jake.”

Joey continued to put forth his thoughts; “Just to add to the thoughts, a couple of days ago, I started calling around to different firms to see what it would take to get the house remodeled. I finally consulted with two construction firms to come and take a look at the house and tell me first hand how much it would cost and time what kind of time frame would be involved.

Just the estimates were pretty high! The lowest bid was thirty five thousand dollars. That was the bare medium for what we want. To get everything we want to have done to the house would cost in the ball park of sixty to sixty five thousand dollars.

That would be putting more money in the house than we could ever expect to get out of it on a sale. It’s just not a wise business move.” Joey concluded.

“Did the construction company’s tell you why it was going to cost us that much money to add onto the upstairs floor?”

“Yeah, they claim it was due to the age of the house. When this house was built, the building codes that were on the books were not as tough as the codes today. In order to add onto the house, they would have to bring the rest of the house up to code” Joey said very informatively.

“That really doesn’t make sense to me at all. If that is the case, then everyone that owns these older houses would be required to invest into bringing their houses up to code” I said with a note of irritation toward the bureaucracy” I said with a hint of suspicion.

“No, they don’t have to do that as long as they don’t do any major structural construction projects to the house. In that case the house is grandfathered into the old codes. We were going to be modifying the foundation of the house, the electrical, water pipes, the head and adding central air, and most importantly adding to the second floor.” Joey informed me.

“Now, that makes what you were saying make more sense” I replied.

We kept talking about it, and the pulled out the phone book to call around. We found a lady realtor that had several listings here on the Westside of town and in the area we want to stay in. She gave us the address of the first house and said she would meet us there in thirty minutes.

I turned to Tom and put on a smile on my face.

“Hey my friend we need another favor from you!”

“What’s up bud, just ask!” Tom said without a hesitation.

“Well we need a ride to this address to look at the house. You guys can see the house and tell us what you think about the house and all.”

“Cool, man, that is no problem, just put in the gas is all I ask” Tom replied.

“You got it! We will go ahead and fill your tank up, that way we’ll have an account with you!” I responded.

We arrived at the house about forty five minutes after we spoke with the realtor. When we walked up the house, it looked nice from the outside. Nice cut yard with trees in front. It is a two story home with huge double doors as the front doors.

We knocked on the door and this young lady answered the door. She was somewhere in her thirties. I just looked at her, well dressed in a woman’s business suit, black hair which was combed to the back, not too much makeup, and a beautiful smile.

“Come on in please, my name is Shirley Franks. Who here is Jacob and Joey; the young men I spoke over the phone with earlier today?”

I stepped forward with Joey and told her it was me and the young man to my right. She shook our hands and then I introduced David and Tom.

She showed us around the house. It was a really nice house. Once you walked past the foyer at the front door, there was a sitting room. Then to the left was the den with a fire place. As you walked further down the hallway, we walked into the kitchen and the dining room was attached by double doors. Also on the first floor was a powder room for guests to use.

Upstairs are four bedroom with three full baths. Two of the bedrooms shared a bathroom like the Brady kids did on the TV show. The master bedroom was huge with a fireplace, huge master bathroom, and a huge walk in closet that led into the bathroom and the master bedroom. There are double doors that led out to a balcony. To say the least, this house is awesome, I liked it, but it just didn’t feel right.

Then we walked downstairs to a door none of us saw at first. Mrs. Franks opened the door and we walked down the stairs into the lower level. Once we turned on the lights I just stood there stunned. We walked into another television room, and then to the right, down a hallway to two different other rooms with a bathroom. One of the rooms is a game room with a pool table and the other room is a weight room. Either one could also be used as an extra bedroom, should it ever be needed.

Once we were done looking we stood in the main foyer and started talking it over.

“Shirley, what is the asking price for the house?”

“Good question Jacob, the asking price for this house is one hundred and ten thousand.”

“Wow that is a lot of money! How old is the house, Shirley?”

“The house was built in 1980, but was refurbished wall to wall last year; which means the entire house is pretty much new.

I need to know a few things before we continue the showcase. First of all, which of you two young men is working? Who’s name the home going to be under? What kind of financing are we looking at?”

“Well to start off with…” I started to answer Mrs. Frank’s questions. “Neither of us are working at this time. The home would be in both of Joey’s and my name and we do not plan on going through any bank.”

“Jacob I don’t want to sound mean or disrespectful, but are you boys just playing around?”

“No ma’am we are in the market to buy a house!”

“Then how do you guys plan on paying for it. No bank will even look at a loan application of people who don’t have a steady income coming in.”

“I have a steady income coming ma’am. We don’t plan on using a bank though, as I said before. We plan to pay for the house in cash.”

She just looked at us for a second and then smiled. We walked back upstairs and stood in the den talking some more about what we were looking for. One thing I wanted to make clear and did was the price. The price on this house was just too high for us.

Shirley gave a call to her office as we kept talking. She got off the phone and said her office will be calling her back soon.

“Well let’s go ahead and look at the other houses you have listed in this area.”

We walked out and followed her to the next house. It was just down the street. I thought to myself if it is in the same neighborhood that means it probably has the same floor plan. I looked over to Joey and asked him what he thought.

“Jacob I did love that house, it was awesome and really big. The price was really big as well.”

“I know it was. I just don’t know about these older homes though. Other people have lived in them already. There has to be a reason why they moved out of the house.”

“But the brand new homes Jake are not built as strong and good as the older homes.”

“Tom, I agree with you on that. We can lean on the wall and go right through it. Let’s look at a couple more and then talk about it privately before we talk in detail with Shirley.”

We got out of the car and walked with Shirley into the next house. The outside was a little more plain then the first house we looked at. Also the inside of the house was even worse. No fireplace in the house, it was more beat up, and it only had three bedrooms up stairs. The asking price for this house was eighty five thousand. The house wasn’t worth the asking price in my opinion.

We looked at a couple more houses, but none of them were as good as the first one we looked at. Plus the asking prices in these homes were too high for the condition the homes are in. When we finished looking at the last house on her list, we sat there thinking.

“Jacob if you let me know what you are looking for, I may be able to find it in my listings” Shirley offered.

“Are these houses the only ones that are for sale on this side of town and in this area? It doesn’t matter if you have the listings” I inquired.

“Jacob, my company has all the listings for the homes on this side of town that are up for sale. So whatever you are looking for, we would have.”

“What about private sellers; people selling their own homes?” I inquired further.

“I know all of them as well. If you tell me specifically what you are looking for, I could direct you to the right place.”

So Joey and explained to her the house in which we are living right now and what we liked between all the homes we looked at today and what we didn’t. We told her we really liked the first house, she stopped us there.

“Let me ask you and Joey one thing, what is keeping you from buying the first house you looked at?”

“One of the main things is the asking price. It’s a little steep. I also was wondering why a house that big is for sale. Plus why it was remodeled and then so quickly put on the market? You can see that the house hasn’t been lived in since the remodeling” Joey said.

“I am not going to lie to you Jacob and Joey. The people that bought and owned the house went way over their heads with the house and their other bills. The bank foreclosed on the house because the owners were way behind in payments.

It had been sitting on the market close to three years. The bank thought it was because of the poor condition it was in. So the bank had the entire inside remodeled in an attempt to get the house off their books. It still has not moved”

“Ok, I see the bank has an asset on their books, but it is not making any money. Every year this house stays on the market, it looses in value and the bank loses more money. What my question is simple, Shirley. What would the bank take to unload this house?”

“Let me call my office again and see if they spoken to the bank yet.”

She walked over to the phone and called her office. The mean time we all talked about the house we saw. We all agreed the first house was the coolest of the three. Plus if we could get the bank to drop the price, it would be worth it and be a good investment. It is also attractive in that it is move-in ready; not needing updating, painting or anything.

Shirley walked over to us with news from her office.

“Ok guys my office has been on the phone with the bank. They really want to get this house off of their hands. They are getting ready to send it to auction and write off the debt. So the bank has given me a number, but first you give me a number.”

I talked it over with Joey and the guys. Of course it is all up to Joey and me. Joey said he wanted to leave it up to me. I turned to her and started to talk.

“Shirley, we do like the first house a lot, but we also know what we want to spend. So if the bank won’t take the offer we are willing to make for the house that is fine. We already are living in a house that is paid off.”

She looked at me and then to the sheet of paper that she wrote down the price the bank gave her office. I tried really hard to see the writing, but she didn’t write hard enough for it to be seen through the paper.

“We are willing to give you a cashier’s check or transfer of funds for the first house we looked at in the amount seventy five thousand dollars.”

She looked again at her paper then back at me. Then she walked back to the phone and called someone. I would think she was calling her office to let them know about the offer. She walked back to us with a smile on her face.

“The bank will take your offer on the house. You guys have a brand new house.”

I looked at Joey and the guys and they were all smiles.

“So how does the bank want the transaction to be done?”

“I never had a sale where the customer paid for the house in full. So we will need to go to my office and do the business there.”

We got into our vehicles and drove to her office. Once we walked in, her boss directed us to go to the bank that was holding the lien on the home. So once again, we all jumped into our vehicle and went down town to the main branch of Wells Fargo.

As soon as we walked in, we were met by the branch manager. He took us to his office.

“Let me first say it is good to meet you two young men. My name is Mr. Nelson and I am the bank manager. We have wanted to get that house off our hands now for years.

Don’t get me wrong; there isn’t a thing wrong with the house. Every time it seemed we had a buyer, they either didn’t pass for the debt load or they backed out because of the house payment.”

“Well, none of that will be happen with us. We like the house and want to buy it for the price we offered. As long as we can do that, the house is sold.”

“Yes, oh yes you can gentlemen! Let’s get the paper work going. I understand you guys already have the funds to pay for the house, is that correct?”

“Yes we do, sir. The only question is how you want it. I don’t have checks to my account.”

We did all the paper work and the bank waived the closing costs and put the taxes within the sale price of the house. Then I called Bank of America and transferred the cost of the house from my account to Wells Fargo. We were handed the proof of purchase. We were informed that once all the paperwork was prepared, we’d need to go sign all the legal documents at the title company. After the title papers are signed and submitted, the title would come in the mail in several weeks after the closing at the title company.

Once we were outside, Joey told Shirley that she could plan on listing his house for sale in the next month or so. Shirley thanked us and went on her way. She was all grins. She had just made a commission on the sale of our new home and had locked down a contract to sell Joey’s house. That’s a good day’s business for any realtor!

We looked at one another and just stood there. I had just made the biggest purchase in my life. I shouldn’t really be worried, because the cost of the house came out of the money I made the past quarter on the investments. They say a house is one of your biggest investments you will make in your life time.

While we were still there, I pulled Joey off to the side so that we could discuss how he could transfer the money from his accounts over to mine to cover his half of the house purchase. There were more questions on how to do that than we had answers, so we tabled that discussion until we could get to the bank and iron out the details.

We headed back to Joeys house and grabbed some food on the way. One thing I did know is we needed to buy a car as well. We can no longer be depending on anyone else for rides. I also had set in my mind I didn’t want an expensive car. A Ford would do and not a Mustang. We still have to worry about insurance on the car too, and it won’t be cheap due to our ages.

We sat in the den talking about the day’s events. Just about anything that came to our minds. Around midnight I headed back to my apartment. When I walked in, I was still thinking about what I just did that day. Once the final paperwork was completed and filed, Joey and I were really “married” by the joint ownership of the house.

The next couple of weeks went by pretty fast. We still haven’t moved into the new house, but I was moving my stuff from the apartment to the new house, not to Joey’s, a bit at a time. We were trying to decide what to do as far as furniture. The question was whether to buy new furniture or use the furniture we had in Joey’s house.

I had only one more week left in the apartment. So I knew I had to either be in Joey’s house or our new house by the end of the week.

My mother called Joey’s house to let me know about the vacation we take as a family every year back home. My brother wasn’t living at home anymore, so it would just me, my mother and sister that would go this year if I went.

I told her to count me in. By the end of our first month of summer vacation I had my stuff moved into the new house but was still sleeping on the couch at Joey’s house. David and Tom were spending almost every night at Joey’s place in our old room. You could only wonder what they were doing in that room before bed. Ha! Who needs to wonder? Joey and I knew for sure what was going on; not the nitty-gritty details, perhaps, but we knew generically, for sure.

I headed off with my mom and sister for the trip back home. It was the same as every year. I did have a lot of fun though. My grandpa and grandma were so excited about having us there with them. We saw two night shows this time but I didn’t go to the carnival this year. I was really not into it.

I didn’t speak with Joey the whole time I was on vacation with my family. I just wanted to spend the time with my family and that’s it. When we got back into town, I didn’t go back home right away. I spent a couple more nights in my old bed in my mother’s apartment.

When I did go back to Joey’s he was very glad to see me, as were David and Tom. I told them all about my trip home and all about my grandparents. I told about visit with my older brother and how he just didn’t know his blood family from a hole in the wall.

The next morning during breakfast Joey told me about practice starting up for JROTC the following week and he was going. I told him it was cool, but I wasn’t going to go. I wasn’t part of any of the teams in JROTC, so why should I go?

This summer was going by really quickly. We are already at the half point of summer and we are still not moved into the new house. We haven’t even stayed a night in the house. I know we have no furniture in the house, but it seems as though neither Joey nor I are in much of a hurry about moving in. We seem to be fine the way we are living right now.

I was getting frustrated to a point, however. I have not had a good night sleep close to a month already. Either I was sleeping on a couch at Joey’s house or at my grandfather’s house while on vacation.

Finally I decided since Joey doesn’t seem to want to get on the ball and start to move, I will. I drug Joey to a local furniture store to begin buying furniture for the house.

We decided on furniture for the den, living room and our bed room. Other than that we couldn’t agree on what to do with the other rooms. The furniture was delivered the very next day to the house. I was there to receive it. I decided since the furniture was set up I was going to get a good night’s rest, so I stayed.

The next morning Joey surprised me, at the front door. He was moving his stuff into the house. I went over to him and hugged him. I was so excited he was finally ready to move into the house.

David and Tom were helping Joey move in, along with Ralph and the other guys. I really didn’t mind. They were David’s friends after all. Plus the move was easy; it wasn’t any heavy furniture, just boxes. The only things that were heavy were the televisions we were not going to leave at the other house. Our stereo systems and game stations were moved of course.

Once we had Joey moved into the house, we all sat down in front of the television. The television and its accessories were hooked up, but the cable wouldn’t be connected until tomorrow.

None of us showed any kind of affection in front of Ralph and the other guys. That is why we didn’t want them moving Joey’s boxes into the room upstairs. They don’t know about me and Joey, nor do they know about David and Tom.

We ordered pizza for dinner. Ralph went out to Furr’s to get sodas, chips, and popcorn. Then they stopped by Blockbuster and picked up several movies so we could watch something on the TV until the cable installation was completed.

When they returned, the pizza arrived at the same time. We all sat down and ate the pizza and watched one of the movies. By the time I put in the second movie, most of the guys were out in front of the television.

I started waking each of them up and directed them to rooms around the house for them to sleep in. Joey and I will be sleeping in our room, but not together. We didn’t want any of the guys walking in and catching us asleep together. Another thought crossed my mind; a solid, locking entry set needed to be put on our bedroom door.

None of us woke up until one in the afternoon the next day. Slowly but surely all the guys got up and found their way down to the den. We settled on Jack-In-The-Box for breakfast. McDonald’s only serves breakfast until 10:30. David and Tom went out to get the food.

The mean time while David and Tom were gone, we really didn’t talk much with Ralph and the other guys. Just the way they were looking at me made me fill like I was some piece of garbage or something.

We ate breakfast, even though it was now nearly two o’clock. Then the guys took off home around four in the afternoon. Joey and I moved all his boxes and clothes into our room and unpacked his stuff. We decided to hit the hay early because ofJ ROTC practice starts tomorrow for Joey.

The next morning Joey and I woke up and took a shower together. It was supposed to be an in-and-out shower, but it didn’t happen that way.

Once we were inside the shower, neither of us could keep our hands off of one another. When I tell you Joey is hot in clothes, he is even hotter all naked and wet.

This guy is naturally built. He doesn’t need to work at his body at all. He has a chest to die for that goes with his six-pack and treasure trail. As the water flows down Joey’s body, making him all smooth and wet gets me all horny.

I couldn’t hold back anymore, I just started kissing every inch of his body. At the same time Joey was kissing every inch of my body. I first went down on him. I couldn’t get right at first because of the water pouring down on me as I was bobbing up and down on Joey. In time I finally got into a rhythm.

As I was going down on Joey, my hand started to squeeze his butt cheeks. With the help of the shower water and a bit of soap, my finger slipped into Joey without any resistance from Joey’s body at all. I started to finger fuck Joey’s butt, while I was sucking his dick. He was moaning like crazy:

“Jake please, don’t do that to me. PLEASE JAKE! You are going to make me cum faster then I want to. PLEASE JAKE, I AM GOING TO CU……”

Right then Joey exploded into my mouth. I drank it right up. When he finished shooting, he fell against the wall of the shower. It took about a minute for Joey to get back to reality and he looked at me and saw that I was hard as a rock. He went down on his knees and started bobbing up and down on my cock. He gave as good as he got, slipping his soap slicked finger into my chute.

It wasn’t going to take much to get me to cum. I am horny as hell! I just love the way Joey’s lips wrapped around my dick. It was like a perfect fitting glove and then, adding the finger I was over the edge and started shooting in Joey’s mouth.

“OH MAN JOEY, OH MAN, YOU GOT ME GOINNNGGGG…..”

Once Joey drained me of my love juice I fell against the other wall. Once I caught my breath, I got back up and finished taking a shower.

We dried each other off, getting me hard once again. By the looks of it, Joey is getting just as hard. We got dressed quickly before it went any further.

As we ran down the stairs and realized we still haven’t gone to the store yet. So we grabbed the left over pizza and headed out the door. I told Joey I was going to walk him to practice so we could spend some more time together.

When we arrived at Newman High School, I walked Joey to the JROTC building. We said our good byes, but we didn’t kiss or hug. The fear that someone was looking and could see us showing affection.

As I was walking out of the gate to the main street, Major Moore was walking in. he was in uniform. Damn, does this guy sleep in his uniform or what? It’s summer and still he comes to practice in his full dress uniform.

I was trying not to be seen but failed. Major Moore looked up right as I turned to walk down Schuster Street.

“Mr. Hernandez I see that you came to summer practice sir!”

“No Sir, I didn’t come for summer practice. I just walked over with my friend Joey. He is the one that is attending practice.”

“I see, so you have no intention on continuing with what you started last year then?”

“I am not on any of the teams like my friend Joey is. This practice is for those that are on teams for this coming year.”

“I know you already told me that Mr. Hernandez. I have told you that you are on the teams as well. You may not shoot a rifle or march and throw a rifle, but you are just as much a part of the teams. You are the Editor-In-Chief of The Flying Tigers, so you should watch the practices in order to write about them.

Have you given any thought on who you want to bring this year as your assistant and the other positions that need to be filled on the newsletter staff?” the Major inquired.

“No I really haven’t given any thought to the newsletter this summer. I just moved, so I am still settling in, Sir.”

“Look, I am very glad that you are returning this year. I have big plans for you this year and next year. I want to take another one of your suggestions and in act it this year.”

“Which one, Sir?” I asked a bit surprised.

“The Promotion and Demotion Board of Cadets. I like the idea for cadets to stand before a board of their student leaders and get promoted. If they don’t follow the rules or are recommended to be demoted, it isn’t done by the Sergeant of the Company or the Company Commanders, but a board. They can defend themselves in front of the board,”

“Yes, that is a very good idea, Sir. The reason I think we need a board like this, is due to us being human. Like it or not, there are some people we don’t like. Having the dislike of this person and if you are in a leadership position, you won’t give that cadet a fair shake.”

“That is a good way on looking at it. Do you feel it should just be the fellow cadets on the board to hear out the promotion and/or demotion?”

“No Sir, I believe the makeup of the board should be majority of cadets from the battalion commander, to the battalion sergeant major, to the company in question’s commander, and include either you or Sergeant Haney to sit on the board only as a tie breaker.”

“That is a good idea! So the main make up of the board will be battalion staff and either Sergeant Haney or I but only as a tie breaker, but the rest of the board makeup will change when dealing with each company.”

“That’s true, Sir. The makeup should change as the cadet changes. What I mean by that is, that company commanders know their cadets better then battalion staff or any others on the board. This would give a broad base to the board of personnel that know a cadet and those that don’t. It would be very impartial”

“That is a good idea all together. You see what I mean that you have great ideas. I should have thought of that myself. It will make our Battalion stronger and more trusting.

Just come on in and let’s talk more about that and other ideas you may have. Take the summer to watch the teams and get the newsletter up and ready to go. You might see someone on the teams you would want to use to fill open positions on your staff.”

I agreed with Major Moore and we walked back into the JROTC building. We stood there talking about a lot of items I thought were good ideas. One thing I really don’t talk much about is that I come from a heavy military family. They talk about the good and bad about the military, and I listen to them all the time.

By the time Joey was done with his practice, I was outside watching the Drill Teams finish up their drills. They have a lot of work to do for this upcoming season. They couldn’t even throw any weapons because they were dropping every throw. The new Drill Team Commander was not in good shape himself. By the look in Major Moore’s eyes, he wasn’t happy with what he saw. It was just the first day of practice, I thought, give it time and they will get better.

Joey came up to me and punched me on my side. It scared the shit out me. When I turned around and looked and saw it was Joey, he was laughing his head off.

“Man, Joey! You scared the shit out me, man!”

“I know I can see it in your face. Just shake it down a pant leg. Are you ready to go home now babe?”

I looked around to see if anyone heard Joey. No one was in ear shot of us. We lucked out and Joey knew he screwed up. I didn’t say anything because I know he said it because he loves me. We just have to be more careful while we are out and about.

We headed home talking about what practice was like. Joey was very excited; he thinks that he might be the Rifle Team Commander this year and next year. The commander that was picked moved during the summer, leaving the slot open.

“I hope you get it, handsome; you deserve it more then anyone out there.”

I leaned in and squeezed his hand. We walked a few blocks in silence, and then Joey spoke up; “Do you think you will get the promotion to captain now? It is open with him moving out of state and all.”

“No, I don’t think I will get the promotion to cadet captain. He will give it to someone on one of his teams before he gives it to any other. You will get it since it is open.”

“You are more suited and smarter for that position then me. The captain need to know a lot, and I am not really good at the knowledge stuff.”

“Joey I know you will get it and you deserve it. As far as the knowledge for the position I will be here for you. I will help you and make sure you are better then any other company commander. You are my boyfriend and I love you with every ounce in me.”

Joey just looked at me with tears rolling down his cheek. I pulled him into the Diamond Shamrock we were passing. We went straight to the restroom in the store. I locked the door and turned to Joey.

“I meant what I said out there Joey. I love you so damn much it hurts. I need to have you by me now when I go to sleep, or I cannot get to sleep. I need to smell you scent and be able to cuddle up next to you in order to feel the heat coming from your body. I love you Joey and one day we will be able to live and be open about our love.”

Joey once again had tears rolling down his eyes. He has been my back bone these last two years. They have been the worse two years in my life, but he has been there for them. Yeah we have had our fights, but what true relationship doesn’t fight. The fights we have had made us even stronger together.

I brought my arms around him and pulled him into me. I hugged him till I knew Joey was better. I then pulled his face to mine and we started kissing. Joey broke the kiss and said: “I love you so much babe, no words I can say could due justice for the love I have for you. Just know I will always be yours no matter what.”

When hugged again and walked out. When we got to Joey’s house, we saw a figure sitting on the front stoop. We stopped and just looked to see who it was. At first we couldn’t place the guy, then he turned and we saw his face.

It was Chase, and man, did he look bad. He was dirty and ripped clothes that looked like they haven’t been washed in months.

We walked up to the stoop where Chase was. At first he didn’t even look at us.

“Hey buddy what is going on? I missed you so much! I am glad to see you” I said in greeting.

He looked up to me and smiled. He extended his hand to me then to Joey. We both shook his hand then opened the door to let him in. he grabbed the bag that was on the ground next to him. I didn’t ask him anything.

We walked in and went to the den to sit down. At first Chase just stood there. I think he felt bad knowing he was dirty.

“Hey, my friend, please take a seat. Don’t worry about the couch at all. I am just glad to see my best bud again” I said.

As he was sitting down he said: “Thank you Jacob and Joey and sorry for the way I look. I haven’t been living at home since school ended.”

“Is everything ok at home, Chase? What’s going on?” I asked.

“Not anymore since my mom and dad got a divorce! My mom found out my dad was cheating on her and she left. She took my younger bother and sister with her and left me with my dad. I asked her why she didn’t take me, and she told me straight up: I looked too much like my dad and she didn’t want to be reminded of him everyday.”

His voice cracked while he was telling us what happened. But he stopped there and didn’t go any further. I knew there was something else wrong but he didn’t want to say. We didn’t push him either.

I told him to go ahead and go upstairs and take shower if he wanted. We will find him some clean clothes to change into. Chase didn’t even look twice; he headed upstairs to the bathroom. We started looking for some clean clothes for him. We already had everything moved into the new house so there wasn’t much still left in Joey’s house.

When I walked into our old room and opened the closet I found a box that was sent over from my mom. I opened it and found some of my old clothes in it. Pulled out a pair of running pants, a t-shirt, and even found socks in the box.

Chase was back downstairs with a towel wrapped around him. I handed him the clothes and he went into the living room to change into the clothes.

When he came back he was all cleaned up. He looked a lot better and smelled a lot better. We checked the doors and windows to make sure they were locked. Chase was just looking at us.

I told him not worry about the bag of clothes he had, we will get him some new clothes. We walked out, locked up and headed to the new house.

On the way we explained to Chase what had happened to Joey’s uncle and aunt; how they left Joey everything but we decided to buy another house. That is where we are heading now. Then we told Chase he was more than welcome to stay with us as long as he needed or wanted to.

Finally we made it to the house and went in. Chase looked around at first, but followed us to the den in the new house. We sat down and I looked at him.

“Chase before we go any further there is something we need to talk to you about. If you plan to live with us here you need to know. Let me stress that you are the only outsider we have told to this point. So when you meet our friends or family you can not repeat or say a thing about this or anything that goes on in this house. Do we have your promise on this; to not repeat or tell a soul about what we are about to say to you?” I asked.

“Yes of course you do Jake and Joey. Not matter what it is; I will never repeat it to a soul” Chase said firmly.

“Ok then Chase I will take you at your word. As you know Joey and I met around the same time you and I met. We all became very good friends. At least that is what I think we did. Well anyways, Joey and I…..”

I looked over to Joey and he shook his head to the positive. Then I looked over to Chase, he was just listening to me.

“Joey and I are more then just friends. We love each other more then brothers. We are gay, Chase, and we are partners.”

Chase just looked at us, but his face didn’t change. I couldn’t read him at all. Then he spoke finally.

“I wondered when you guys were going to trust me enough to tell me. I am close to both of you and know you guys way too good. I knew your friendship was more than friends. I just was waiting for you guys to tell me. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me. And as I said I won’t tell anyone about you two, I promise.”

I was stunned to say the least. He is the first person Joey or I have told beside Tom and David, and he took it great. If only the rest of the world would take it the same way.

We showed the rest of the house to Chase. Once we were done doing that, we took him to the room he was going to be staying in. We decided to rest for the remainder of the day, and tomorrow we would get to the store and buy Chase what he needed.

Once again I didn’t want to pressure him for any more information about his family. I figured in time he will tell us all about it.

We watched television and actually pulled out the Saturn. Joey and I have not played the game system in quite a while. So of course we were rusty. I was worse than ever, but kept playing. Around eight David and Tom showed up. As before, they seem to spend most of their free time with Joey and me.

When they took off from the game room and went up stairs, I didn’t say anything. When they didn’t come back for almost two hours, I was getting little heated to say the least. I noted also, that Joey wasn’t to be found. I didn’t find them in the den or any of the rooms downstairs. So I went up to the second floor looking for them.

I was hearing these weird noises coming from Joey’s and my room, I headed over to see what the noise was all about. When I walked in, I was stunned at the sight I was seeing before my eyes.

David and Tom were surprised that I walked in on them. I first I didn’t see Joey anywhere, and then I saw him with a video camera in the corner of our room.

“What the fuck is going on here? Why in the hell are you two naked on my fucking bed?” I said in a very heated voice.

They just looked at me, but didn’t move an inch. Joey started walking over to me, and before he was able to talk, I grabbed the camera and threw it against the wall. It broke into several pieces.

“David, you did this to me once. I trusted you and we became friends again. Now here you are, fucking in my bedroom on my fucking bed! You have no damn respect for me or this house, do you?” I continued railing.

“Jake please give me a min……”

I stopped David before he was able to say another word. I looked at Tom, and he was totally freaked out with what was happening.”

“You two, get off of my bed, get dressed and get the hell out of my house. I don’t want to ever see your faces around this house again!” I hollered.

They rushed and grabbed their clothes and started getting dressed as they were heading down the stairs and out the door. I heard the doors of Tom’s car open and shut then the car start.

I went back upstairs with Joey on my tail. At first he didn’t say a word to me, he just followed me. I picked up the tape from the video camera and looked at it. I turned to Joey, with a glare of anger in my eyes.

“I will not find you on this tape having sex with either or both of those guys, will I?” I asked in a low but intense tone.

He stayed quiet at first, just standing there.

“Joey I am going to only ask you one more time. Will I find you on this tape with these guys? It’s a simple question only requiring a yes or no answer.” I pressed harder my voice raising.

“Jake please do not be mad with me, but yes I will be on the tape” Joey admitted.

“What the fuck are you doing Joey? What? You don’t love me any more? Is that it? You just don’t love me anymore?” I yelled.

“I was mixed up Jake and lost at that time. You left me and moved to your own place. David and Tom were there for me through it all” Joey tried to explain.

“What the hell? YOU were the one that closed me out. I never wanted to leave you, NEVER! NOW I FIND OUT YOU HAVE BEEN SCREWING AROUND BEHIND MY BACK AGAIN WITH THE SAME FUCKING GUY!”

I was really angry at this point, I was yelling at Joey. I was trembling all over the place. I couldn’t believe this. He actually cheated on me. I was about to sit down on the bed, but couldn’t. They were having sex on our new bed. I grabbed the mattress and threw it out the window. I actually broke the window pane doing it.

Joey was just looking at me crying at this point. I sat down on the box spring with my head between my legs. I was crushed, beaten down by this time. Joey actually did what Alejandro and his gang members couldn’t do, that was to kill me.

It was very quiet for a few minutes and then Joey walked over to the bed and sat down next to me. He tried to wrap his hands around me, but I pushed him away.

“Jake, I only did it that one time right after you moved out from my uncle and aunt’s house. I never did it again. I just was recording them having sex for their own viewing pleasure, that is it.”

I was shaking so bad at this point, I started crying. I couldn’t hold it in anymore, I let it out. I laid down on the box spring and curled up in a ball. Just crying like a baby in a ball on the box mattress. Joey curled up next to me and put his arms around me.

I don’t know when I fell asleep, but I had. When I woke up in the morning, Joey was still holding me in the same position we were in the night before. I looked over to him and his eyes were open. I got up from the bed and started walking over to the bathroom to shower.

“Joey we need to get ready and take care of Chase as we promised. So please take a shower after me and get ready” I said over my shoulder as I went into the bathroom.

Joey didn’t say anything to me at first. He just laid on the box spring while I was in the shower. He finally got up and went into the bathroom.

Once I was done getting dressed, I went downstairs. To my surprise Chase was sitting there in the kitchen. He looked up to me but didn’t say anything. I noticed he was still wearing the same running pants I had given him the day before.

“Hey, my friend, let’s get you upstairs and into a change of clothes before we take off. We need to get you set up with new clothes of your own” I offered.

“Sounds like a plan to me” Chase responded.

We headed upstairs and I got him a pair of jeans, a shirt, socks, and a pair of brand new boxers for him to wear. He headed to take a shower. As he closed the door to the bathroom, the doorbell rang. I headed down to answer the door.

When I opened the door, I was stunned to see who was standing there.”

“What the hell are you thinking, coming over here after last night David?” I asked with hatred in my voice.

“Joey asked me to come and give you guys a ride to the store. Also, I really wanted to talk to you about last night” David said.

“If you don’t get off my front steps and off my property by the time I count to ten! You will regret you ever lived” I said through clenched teeth.

David didn’t even flinch at what I said. He just stood there at the front door. I was getting even angrier than ever before. I couldn’t hold back any longer.

I threw the first punch, and it hit David squarely on the jaw. Then David rammed into me with all his force. That threw me back onto my back. Before I knew it, he was on top of me throwing punches. I flipped David off of me right into the wall of the den putting a hole in the wall where he landed.

I then jumped on top of David and started throwing punch after punch. David couldn’t defend against the punches I was throwing at him. I was hitting him so hard; I didn’t even know I was crying while I was hitting him.

At the same time, I didn’t hear Tom come running in. He pulled me off of David and tossed me across the room. He came over to me as if he was going to hit me, but I was able to get up before he got to me.

I was so full of rage at that point I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I started punching Tom over and over again. That is when Joey walked in and pulled me off and I landed on the couch.

For minute I thought Joey was going to defend David and Tom, but he didn’t say a word. I caught my breath and stopped crying.

“I want you two to leave this house. You are to never come back to my house again. If you ever step a foot in this house or near me again, I promise you, I WILL KILL YOU BOTH!”

They got up and headed out the door. Joey just stood there in the middle of the den.

“Joey if you want to join them, this is your chance to do so.”

Joey just looked at me. After a few minutes he walked over to me grabbing a cloth off of the end table. He started cleaning up the blood off of my face. Chase walked down at that moment and looked around.

“What happened here you guys? It looks like a hurricane came crashing through here!”

“Nothing happened here! We just had a few accidents and that’s all.” Joey stated.

We cleaned up what we were able to clean. Joey decided to go to practice while I decided to stay home and finish cleaning what I could with Chase. Joey left thirty minutes before twelve to make in time for practice.

I made my way upstairs to Joey’s and my room. It was a mess, video camera pieces every where and glass from the broken window I threw the mattress out of. I just looked around the room and flashes of what happened last night kept going through my head.

David and Tom having sex on our bed, with Joey in the corner watching and recording like a little pervert or something. I just sat down on the box spring thinking about everything that has been going on in my life in the last couple of years.

I just cannot keep going like this anymore. I love Joey with every fiber of my body and soul. But every time I turn around, it seems as if he is hurting me. I know he doesn’t do it on purpose; he just does it without thinking.

I hide my true self from everyone with the fear of being beaten up. Why can’t I just live my life no matter who I love? People should like me no matter who I love or have sex with. They should decide on my character, not my personal life. Just the glances people give without even knowing they give them are hurtful. I just can not keep hiding myself like this anymore.

At the same time, the person I love may not really love me at all as I love him. He is just going through the motions to keep us from fighting.

At this point I started tearing up about the thoughts going through my head. I just couldn’t see clearly anymore. I shut myself away from my family for the fear of what they would do if they even thought I might be gay and even more so if they were to find out for a fact. To keep that from happening I just moved out to hide myself from them.

The people I thought were friends keep stabbing me in the back. They aren’t friends if they keep doing these kinds of things. I just don’t know what else to do anymore. I have no one to turn to anymore; to talk to and trust.

I hid myself from everyone and for that, I am all alone in this world. How can I keep living with myself anymore? No true friends or boyfriend to rely upon. With my reality, I have no family to fall back on either. I’ve just lost it all.

I saw a glare coming from the broken glass on the floor. The glare was due to the sun coming in and shining on the broken pieces of glass. I got up and went over to the broken glass on the floor and picked up a piece. My tears rolling off my face to the ground! As I leaned down to pick up the glass. I just don’t know what I have left to live for anymore.

I just rolled up my sleeves of my shirt, and started to press the broken glass down into my wrist. Looking up and thinking, why can’t Joey love me as I love him? I just love Joey so dam much it hurts! I looked back to my wrist and started to pierce my skin………….

TO BE CONTINUED………….

{What a turn of events going on in Jacob’s life right now. His good friend Chase is back and is living with Joey and Jacob now. What happened in Chase’s home that drove him to run away? But now Jacob is sitting in his bedroom not knowing what he has to live for anymore. He believes he lost Joey for good now after what he saw. Will Jacob actually press the glass through his skin and slice his wrist open? David continues to be bad luck for Jacob and Joey’s relationship. If Jacob makes it through this, will he finally cut off all ties with David? And again, if Jacob doesn’t take his own life, other things are looking up for him. For example it looks like everything is going well with Jacob at school right now. Will Jacob get the promotion in ROTC or Joey? The fight Jacob had with David and Tom, what a surprise there! There is a lot to answer in the chapters to come. Stick around and keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacobmillertex@aol.com, Thanks!}