Shadow of my Father - 40. Chapter 40

At the prison, ten minutes has come and gone and the Colonel gave the order. Two squads of the Texas National Guard troops moved in at every entrance that opens into the yard. When they opened the door, they threw in several smoke bombs and waited for them to go off. Once the loud explosions were heard, the Colonel ordered his men in.

As they made their way down the halls they yelled at anyone they saw to hit the ground. Once they hit the ground, one of the soldiers stopped, tied the inmates hands behind his back before the squad moved on. The Colonel felt good that so far his men haven’t had to use deadly force to get inmates in their custody.

Just as the thought crossed the Colonel’s mind, his second in command radioed that they are in trouble in the common room. Cursing under his breath, the Colonel gave the green light to his second in command to use deadly force to get control of the situation. As all this is going on, the Governor, Warden and several other legislators are listening to what is going on in the command tent.

The Warden asked the Governor to order the National Guard back out, but the Governor refused. Moments later they heard gunfire over the radio. The gunfire is loud enough that anyone in the yard could hear it. The members of the press corps that are standing at the gate are now reporting live to their viewers that gun fire fight has broken out trying to get back control of the prison.

Right before the gun fire broke out, the Colonel and his men moved as fast as they could to meet up with his second in command and his men. When they entered into the common room, they found themselves holding the high ground. They entered on the second floor, looking down into the common room.

The Colonel could see the inmates are unwilling to go peacefully into their cells. Instead they are going after the National Guard with whatever they could grab and hit his men. Trying to give them one more chance to put down their sticks, metal bars and whatever else they are using for weapons, the Colonel yelled out for the inmates to hit the ground.

At the same time the Colonel’s men spread out, cleared the floor and took positions on the second floor to hit anyone that refuses to surrender. The inmates see that there is no way they are going to win, but chose to continue to fight. The leader of the inmates yelled that the soldiers can’t shoot at them. Taking him at his word, the inmates continued their attack on the soldiers on the first floor.

Before the inmates could take another two steps forward, the Colonel ordered to open fire. One after another, the inmates fell to the ground after getting hit. It took less than a full minute for the National Guard to shoot any inmate that refused to lay down their weapon and hit the ground. When the shooting stopped, the squads on the first floor moved in, covered by the squads on the second floor.

Although they have permission to use deadly force, the National Guard didn’t. Instead they hit the inmates in the legs. If any of them chose to attack after that, the Colonel told his men to shoot them again. And if they try again to attack after they have been shot the second, the third time will be the kill shot.

Not worrying how much pain the inmates are in, the soldiers tied their hands behind their backs and left them on their stomachs on the floor. Once they secured every inmate that chose to put up a fight, the Colonel had all his men check in. As they checked in, they told the Colonel their areas are secure.

Within a thirty minute span the National Guard took back the prison. Not one of the soldiers got hurt or killed while they took back control of the prison. The inmates are a different story. In the common room alone, fifty six inmates got shot, but not killed. Out of those inmates that were shot, sixteen of them tried to get up after they were shot. The National Guard soldiers slammed them hard back onto the floor.

When the Colonel radioed all clear, the Warden and his officers walked back into their prison. Not one of the inmates that were caught in the halls have been moved from where they were handcuffed and forced to lay face first on the floor. The soldiers have no idea where they belong and will not put them in a cell block that could cause another up rising. Plus they need to be listed as inmates that refused to go back to their cells.

The last ones to enter the prison are the Governor and his staff. As they made their way to the common room, where the shootings took place, they looked surprised at how many inmates tried to test their resolve. Now that they tested him, the word will go out to all prisons in the state of Texas that the now sitting Governor isn’t afraid to use force.

As they walked into the common room, the fifty six prisoners that were shot are still face first into the floor. Several of them are screaming out in pain, demanding to go to the infirmary. Governor Lopez looked at the Warden, to the Colonel and then to his staff. He couldn’t believe these guys are actually being demanding after what they had done.

“Listen and listen good because I am only going to say this once! Stop your crying and demanding that you have rights. As far as I can see it, those rights were gone the minute you took this prison and tried to kill my soldiers. I was willing to listen to you all, but now I am not going to even give you all a second thought.

You will be fixed up where you lay. There is no way you are going to leave this room to cause any more trouble. Once you are fixed up, all of you will be charged with forty counts of attempted murder, on top of the other charges that are coming. You tried to kill the soldiers that came in here and that I will not tolerate!”

One of the inmates yelled out “fuck you” to the Governor. Several soldiers walked over to the inmate and yelled at him to shut his mouth. The Governor walked over to the inmate that spoke and pulled him up from the ground. As the inmate got on his feet, he started screaming out in pain.

“You think I am afraid of you?” The inmate spit in the Governor’s face. “None of you pieces of shit I am afraid of. I faced worse on the battle field.” The inmate started yelling even louder in pain as the Governor held him up. “Shut the hell up you piece of crap! What you have is what we call a flesh wound. I have been shot worse and I never cried like a baby like you are right now.

You are supposed to be this tuff gangster guy. All I see is a shell of a man that is afraid when he is called on. A man that can’t back up his words when given a chance to! I feel sorry for you and everyone in this room because you all have no idea how it is to be a real man. So grow the fuck up and stop being a baby!”

The Governor let go of the inmate and he sat back on the floor. As the Governor walked past the Warden, the Warden explained that the guy is the leader of one of the gangs in here. That didn’t faze the Governor; he just smiled and walked out of the common room.

Before joining the Governor, the Warden ordered his medical team to treat the inmates and then his guards to put them back in their cells. They all nodded their heads and the Warden walked out, almost running, thinking about the mess his prison is in. If he was given a chance, he knows he could have taken back his prison without force.

The Governor spoke to the Warden for a few more minutes before going out to the press. He made it clear to the Warden that he needs to clean up his prison and make sure this doesn’t happen again. Plus he doesn’t want to hear that he or his staff gave anything to the inmates as far as their demands. Even if they were in the wrong, the prisoners can’t think they could get what they want by taking the prison over.

Not happy with the standing orders, the Warden agreed. The one time he disagreed with the Governor, the Governor made it clear if he won’t follow instructions, he will find someone that will. The Warden will not lose his job over a group of inmates that don’t give him the respect that his position requires.

Right after the up rising, the left took their shots at the Governor on how he handled it by going too far and the right took their shots at him that he didn’t go far enough. Then they had a field day when the Governor left it up to the prison system to fix itself. From the press to the state congress, the Governor got hit day after day with bad press.

By the end of the second week, after the uprising, the Governor got the final report from a private investigation firm he brought in. Daniel Sr. felt that the prison system couldn’t look at themselves and be honest with what is wrong in their prisons. At the same time he didn’t trust the state congress to investigate the prison uprising because they would use it as a political football. That is why he decided to go out and get a firm that has nothing to gain or lose as far as what is found wrong in the prison system.

After reading the report, the Governor decided to take their recommendations to fix the problems in the prison system. One of first things he did is remove the Warden of the prison that had the uprising. He didn’t fire the Warden; he just demoted him and sent him to another prison not making the Warden happy about uprooting his life and moving.

He then handpicked the new Warden and left him a standing order to clean up the staff. That means fire any guard that is dirty or even looks dirty. Pull the gang leadership out of population and lock them down. Break the gangs apart and that includes all of them. And the most important change he wants the Warden to integrate the prison. No longer allow Hispanics, African Americans, Asians or any other group to be separate from each other.

As he started putting the changes into effect in the prison system, the Governor released the private report. That caused the press, members of the state legislator to come out and back paddle. No matter how much they apologized, the confidence that the public had in the press, the legislators fell to historic lows in the polls for the state of Texas. The people of Texas just no longer trust the way the press reports the news or their state legislators being there to do their bidding.

At the same time Daniel pushed through his two pieces of legislation. Both parties thought they had him, but Daniel didn’t allow them to kill the bills. The first bill that passed was his education bill. Then the day before the report came out, his pay reduction bill passed by the narrow of margins, making every legislator in Austin angry.

They couldn’t believe that the Governor was able to muster enough votes to get the bill passed. Both party leaders thought they had their members on their side to kill the pay reduction bill, but enough from both sides came out and voted for the bill to pass it. They weighed their options and came to the conclusion they’d rather have the Governor in their corner than their fellow legislators.

When the pay reduction bill passed, several members of the Governor’s administration went out to every talk show they could get on. They sent out a message that pork projects, over paid legislators and huge staffs are now a thing of the past. Small government is coming back in and the state is being handed back over to its owners, the voters. That, on top of the back paddling they are doing because of the report, didn’t make the state legislators happy at all.

While all this was going on, Daniel and Barbara started to get closer and closer with each other. They started to eat dinner together every night and Barbara even stayed over at the mansion several times. No one outside the immediate staff of the mansion even knew that Barbara and Daniel Sr. are seeing each other. Since the press was ripping the Governor apart over how he handled the prison uprising, they missed the oblivious.

While the press ripped Daniel to shreds, Barbara helped him through it. She never let him feel or think that he handled the uprising wrongly. When the final report came in, Barbara told Daniel that he just been proven right. Without Barbara there, Daniel knows he would have been hitting his head against the wall with worry.

Or if he was still married to Martha, she would have told him to fold and save face. Martha never would have looked at right or wrong. She would just look at the future and how much damage this might do to the future. All she would care about is staying popular no mater the cost.

The mean time back in El Paso, Daniel’s family couldn’t believe what is being said about him in the press. It got really bad and Rose didn’t allow Josh and his brothers to watch the news anymore or read the newspaper at home. Now as far as school, Rose couldn’t stop them from reading the news. All she could do is ask them not to.

Josh didn’t mind because he drowned himself into school and swim team practice. He just faced the outside world out and did what he liked doing. Although his brothers couldn’t or wouldn’t do the same thing, Josh ignored the conversations when they started talking about the bad press their father is getting.

Every day when Josh walks out to the pool, he looks over to where he and Elizabeth had their fight. That day changed his entire life. He found out that day who were his true friends and how strong his relationship actually was with Chris. No matter how much he tried to put his past in the past, it kept coming back to haunt him since a lot of what changed his life happened here in this pool.

So Josh decided to face his past straight on. He isn’t going to hide from it, in fact he is going to embrace it and learn from it. No matter what the others say or do, Josh is going to keep his defenses up. They screwed him once, Josh isn’t about to let the swim team screw him again no matter what.

As the weeks rolled on, the main one Josh worried about through all this is Brandon. He and Cesar kept a watchful eye on him to make sure he didn’t fall apart. Almost every night Brandon slept in Josh’s and Cesar’s room after the uprising. He slept in Cesar’s old bed because Cesar and Josh were given permission to sleep together in the same bed.

Although Brandon stayed in Josh’s room, he was getting better with the help of a therapist and his medication. By the end of the second week, Josh noticed Brandon was sleeping through the nights without tossing and turning or waking up in sweats yelling in fear because of the nightmare he was having. Josh came to the conclusion that Brandon just likes spending time and sharing the room with him and he doesn’t mind.

Bernice and Eric kept working on their friendship with Josh, and it started to heal. Josh told them time in and time again that he has let what had happened go. He explained that life is too short to think about something that can’t be undone. After awhile, Bernice and Eric saw that Josh meant what he said. They started to hang out after school and during the weekend. The old gang was back together as if nothing ever happened.

The following Monday, almost three weeks after the uprising in the prison, Josh settled into his desk to watch the morning announcements. At first Josh ignored what was being said as he talked to Cesar. When he heard the words Glee Club, Josh turned and looked at the television to see how they did at state this past weekend.

The student announcer announced that the Glee Club placed fourteenth over all at state, but reminded everyone this is the first time that our Glee Club ever made it that far. Josh couldn’t help but think to himself that they deserve what they got. They went for who they liked, not who was the best one for the solo position. In return they dropped all the way to fourteenth place. He also knows it might not have been any different if he was the solo performer because he never went that far up in the competitions.

As the teacher started to talk, Josh couldn’t help but feel bad for the Glee Club. Although they did him wrong, they didn’t deserve to go so far down the way they did. They worked so hard to get where they got and ended up placing fourteenth. It is sending the wrong message to those that believe that the only reason that they got invited to sing at his father’s inauguration was because of him, which is not true. The Glee Club got invited because they are actually very talented group of students.

Cesar noticed by second period that Josh’s mind was somewhere else. He knows that Josh is thinking about the Glee Club because he got quiet right after the morning announcements. Because of Josh thinking what he is thinking, Cesar doesn’t know what to do in order to snap him out of it. He has never been part of a team that had the kind of bad luck the Glee Club had up at state.

When Josh and Cesar walked into second period, the teacher stopped Josh at the door. He asked Josh to pass on a personal thanks to his father for passing the education bill. The pay increase he and all the other teachers are going to get is going to come in handy. Of course Josh agreed to pass on the teachers thanks to his father.

That snapped Josh out of his funk. When he sat down, he started talking to Cesar as if the last period didn’t happen. He picked up where they left off at when the morning announcements came on, talking about spring break.

Two more weeks of school and they are off for a week. Josh, his brothers and Cesar are heading to Austin to spend the week in the Governor’s mansion. This time Josh and Cesar wanted a plan in place for what all they want to do. Unlike the last time when they were there they made it up as they went along.

The only thing that strikes both Josh and Chris strange is that Josh’s dad told them to make sure they pack a black suit. There are only three uses for a black suit that the boys could think of, a funeral, wedding or a special event. They know that nobody has died or is getting married. That means that Daniel got invited to go to some kind of black tie event while they are there visiting.

There is one other difference with this visit from the last. Josh’s dad is not allowing the boys to invite a friend this time. Even if they were allowed, all of Josh’s friends have plans for the spring break week. Their parents are taking time of so they can take their family on a vacation somewhere for the week.

Bernice will be going with her family to visit relatives in New York. Patrick will be with his family going to Six Flags in Arlington, Texas. Frank’s family is going the opposite direction to Disney Land. Chris is being dragged to meet the rest of his adopted family in Brownsville, leaving Eric and Benjamin. They are not going anywhere during the spring break.

All through lunch, the guys could only talk about their plans for spring vacation. Those that are going to go and just visit family or stuck here were not as excited as the others that are going somewhere like Six Flags or Disney Land. Josh felt bad for Chris because a blind person could tell that Chris doesn’t want to go and meet Coach’s family.

A little les than two years from now, Chris going to be eighteen and off to college, hopefully. More than likely Chris will not see Coach’s family after that so meeting them at this late stage in his teen years doesn’t make any sense to Josh. But again, Josh isn’t where Chris is at. Any family is better than no family at all and Chris needs a family that can show him the world is a lot better than what he has seen so far.

Before taking roll call, Mrs. Nunez called Josh out to the hall. The class booed and told Josh that he is in trouble as he passed them walking out of the classroom. When he got into the hallway, Josh was surprised to see Mr. Edger standing at the side of Mrs. Nunez.

“Josh I know your feelings about the Glee Club and how they treated you, but I am asking you to hear Mr. Edger out.” Josh just shrugged his shoulders indifferently. “Please listen to him with an opened mind. If you come into this conversation with your mind already made up, nothing will come out of this conversation. Basically you both will be wasting time.”

“Ma’am I always listen to anyone that wants to talk with me. At times I think that is why I wind up in many lousy positions that I land up in. I give everyone so many chances and they keep coming back and screwing me over. Please excuse the way I just said that, but that is the truth.” Josh leaned against the lockers as he looked over to Mr. Edger.

“What happened to you in my class is my fault. The buck stops with me because I am the teacher and should have never allowed it to happen. As a result the Glee Club got slammed at State. It is sad it takes a loss like that to open the eyes of people, including myself, that we have made a mistake. The mistake we made was not keeping you in the Glee Club.

Since the beginning of the year, the Glee Club has had the talent, but not a strong solo artist. When Mrs. Nunez brought you to me, for the first time I had a complete Glee Club. A very strong chorus and with you, a very strong solo singer! A Glee Club can’t make it anywhere without both and they learned that at state.

What I am trying to say is that I would like you to come back to the Glee Club, at the solo position.” Josh just looked at Mr. Edger as if he is out of his mind. “I know I have no right to even ask, especially with what unfolded when you were part of the club before. I will make you this promise here and now; if you come back I will not remove you from the solo position unless you want to be let out or you somehow fall apart.”

“Mr. Edger, I never demanded to be the only one at the solo position. If there is a better singer in the Club, that singer should get the solo position. No one should ever question why he or she is in what position. You are the instructor and the instructor is the one that makes those decisions, not the students.

Now with that said I need to think about it. I rejoined the swim team and it is taking a lot of my free time. As a result, I don’t have the free time like I had when I was part of the Glee Club before. So I need to see if I can successfully do both. If I can, I need then to decide if I want to come back to a club that didn’t want me there and made it clear that they didn’t want me.”

“There is really nothing I can say to correct what had happened in the past. All I can ask is if you think about it and hope you decide to rejoin. We have lost state, but the season isn’t over. I and the Glee Club would like to win the remaining meets this year.

As far as the class not wanting you there, you are wrong. They wanted their friend in the solo position, but they never wanted you to leave. I know that is a bad way to show you that they actually want you part of the Glee Club. Again I will not make excuses for that or anything in the past because it can’t be changed. For now all I can hope for is that you do come back to the Glee club.”

Once again Josh told Mr. Edger that he will think about it and let him know before the week is up. He shook Mr. Edger’s hand and walked back into Mrs. Nunez’s classroom, leaving Mrs. Nunez and Mr. Edger in the hall. As he made his way to his desk, Josh thought to himself that he knows he can do both, but the question remains, does he want to?

“You did what you could to get Josh to rejoin the Glee Club. Now it is up to him to make that decision. I recommend that you and I just stay away from him and let him decide on his own. That way he can’t ever think back that he was pressured into rejoining or staying away from the Glee Club. Josh is smart and he will see his way to the right decision, but it will take him some time. He thinks everything out before taking action.”

Mr. Edger agreed with Mrs. Nunez and they went back into their classrooms. When Mrs. Nunez walked back into the classroom, Josh thought that she was going to try and talk him into rejoining, but she didn’t. She took roll call and picked up where she left off at last Friday. The class went dead quiet the minute she started teaching.

By the time Josh walked into sixth period, he had made up his mind about the Glee Club. Still he decided to let Mr. Edger sweat it out until the end of the week however. He knows that is cruel, but what they did to him was cruel as well. To make matters worse Mr. Edger should have over turned the decision when it was made. Since he didn’t do that, he let the Glee Club down and every member that is part of the Glee Club.

During swim team practice, Josh and Chris talked more than they practiced. Coach Montoya spotted Josh and Chris in the corner talking and made them swim twenty five laps in the pool for not practicing. Once they completed their twenty five laps, Josh and Chris picked up where they were when Coach caught them talking. That didn’t make Coach happy at all and he made that clear to not only Chris and Josh, but the entire team.

This time when he told Josh and Chris to swim twenty five laps, he made the entire team swim the twenty five laps. When the last swimmer finished his laps, the swim team wasn’t happy with Josh and Chris. When Coach walked to his office for a phone call, they made it clear to both of them on how unhappy they are about swimming the laps.

Several of them held down Josh and Chris as the others dipped their towels in the pool and hit Josh and Chris on the back with them. Once everyone had their turn, they made it clear to Josh and Chris that they better not tell Coach. Just as they let them go, Coach Montoya walked out yelling that practice is over.

As the swim team started their way back into the locker room, Josh pulled the swim team captain to the side. Before the swim team captain could say a word, Josh started punching him. By the time the others came running out to help out the swim team captain, Josh had him on the ground and was on top of him slugging away.

When a couple of the guys started to pull Josh off of their captain, the security detail pulled them off of Josh. As they slammed them to the floor, the others that came running out took several steps back, not wanting to end up face first into the floor. Jonathan pulled Josh off of the student he is still hitting. As Jonathan pulled him off, he noticed all the red marks on Josh’s back.

“I suggest that all of you kids get back into the locker room and change, but not go home. If any of you leave the locker room before your coach excuses you, I will be knocking at your door. Trust me you don’t want me knocking on your door because I will have the police with me to arrest you for assault.”

The swim team nodded and walked into the locker room. The only ones that stayed at the pool area is Josh, Chris, Coach Montoya, the swim team captain and the security detail. As Jonathan walked over to the coach, the coach could see in his eyes that he isn’t happy at all with what just happened.

“You made me a promise that nothing was going to happen to Josh while he is in the pool when we sat down and discussed security arrangements. We agreed that my detail and I would come in here and clear the room, but not stay. I cleared it with the Governor based on your word, which is now worthless.”

“By the looks of it Josh is the one that was beating up and a member of this swim team. Not the other way around. So I should be the one that is mad, not you.” Jonathan walked over to Josh and turned him around.

“What in the hell do you call this?” Jonathan walked Josh over to the coach and pointed to all the red marks on his back. “Josh didn’t have these when he walked in here. That means it happened during this practice. When the Governor finds out about this, he isn’t going to be happy at all. What kind of swim team practice do you run here?”

Coach Montoya couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He knows what caused the red marks and he knows when it happened. He walked over to Chris and turned him around to see the same red marks all over his back as well. When Jonathan saw that, it angered him even more.

“I should have never agreed on the security set up. I did it out of respect to you and this team, but no more. If Josh stays on the team, his detail will be in here at all times. In fact the detail will be in here, the locker room and wherever else Josh goes. I don’t know why they did this, but I will not allow it to happen again!”

“I will get to the bottom of why they did this. You know…..” Jonathan interrupted the coach as he walked over to the kid that Josh was beating up.

“By the looks of it you can start with this guy, but first get him fixed up.” Jonathan patted the swim team captain on the shoulder. “Where were you during practice coach? What I mean is, how did the swim team get a chance on doing what they did to these boys?”

“I got called away for a phone call. I wasn’t gone more than ten minutes before I returned and ended practice. When I walked out I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

“There is where the problem lays Coach Montoya, you left the team unattended. The fault really lays at your feet; not the kids. The fault also lies at my feet because I agreed to let you run your practice without my detail in here. Principal Michaels needs to be informed and I hope he deals with this appropriately.”

The swim team captain jumped up and started spilling the beans. Trying to save Coach Montoya from being fired because of a stupid stunt he and the others on the swim team pulled. The last time Jonathan talked to the principal about a teacher, that teacher was forced out. He doesn’t want Coach to be forced out because of what they did.

So he told Coach and Jonathan the truth on why they did what they did. He kept telling them that the Coach didn’t have any idea about what had happened and shouldn’t be the scapegoat on it. To Jonathan’s and Coach’s surprise Josh and Chris jumped in at the end and agreed with the swim team captain that the coach shouldn’t be punished for it. They got what they deserved for not practicing and no one should be in trouble.

“No one deserves this.” Jonathan once again pointed to Josh’s back. “But I am going to let it go with changes with the security here. I will not go to the principal, but I will no longer trust Coach Montoya for your safety Josh. From now on your detail will be in here, the locker room or anywhere else you go. I know your father will agree with the change after hearing what happened here today.”

Coach Montoya didn’t say a word because he knew he couldn’t object to the change. Neither did Josh because he didn’t want to have a long conversation with his dad about what had happened. So Jonathan agreed to let it go and had Josh’s security detail go into the locker room and secure it before Josh went in.

No one said another word; they just wanted this day to end. When Josh walked into the locker room, everyone on the swim team just looked at him. Josh ignored them and quickly changed to get out of there as fast as he could.

As Josh got dressed, he thought what he and Chris did was wrong, but not to deserve what they got. To make matters worse Josh thought, is the fact that they came to him to get him back on the team. Now they act this way is making Josh feel that they just said what they said in order to get the swim team back together or they were asked to do so by Coach. Josh feels that the swim team can win without him.

On the way out, no one attempted to talk with Josh. They looked at him as he passed them and wondered if he is going to quit. Only if they knew that this time Josh made up his mind not to get run off. If they mess with him this time, Josh will fire back even if that means that he gets kicked off the swim team by doing so.

Jonathan wondered if Josh is going to tell his father what had happened. He is going to put it in his report, but if Josh says something, well Jonathan feels that the Governor isn’t going to take it so well. All the Governor is going to see is that Jonathan dropped the ball once again. If he does see it that way, Jonathan feels that he is out of his job. After all, the Governor did warn him not to make another mistake the last time they talked.

So when they walked up to the front door of the house, Jonathan held Josh back. “You and I haven’t seen eye to eye on the way your security should be run. In return the way things are done dealing with your security has changed a lot since your father became Governor. What I am trying to see is what you are going to do.

I am going to put what happened today in my report like I am supposed to, but I need to know if you are going talk with your dad about it. That way we can just go in and call him together. You can talk with him and I can talk with him after you are done.”

“Jonathan you have me all wrong. I don’t go crying to my dad whenever anything goes wrong. In fact there are a lot of things I would like to have my dad not know, but I know that is impossible. Like you said you have to report everything that goes on throughout the day to my father. That is hard for me because I can’t have a normal teenager’s life.

So no I am not going to tell my dad anything. He will find out what happened today by your report. If he asks me, which he will, I am going to tell him I am fine and drop the subject. I don’t feel like a long speech from my dad and I know he doesn’t have the time.” Josh started to walk in when he turned back to Jonathan.

“Oh one last thing Jonathan, I like you. You have been pretty cool with me since you were handed the responsibility of running my security detail. I know it hasn’t been easy because of what you walked into with Elizabeth and the rest of the drama that was going on. I respect you and I know you have a job to do. We are more than likely going to be together for years to come. I hope we can become friends at the same time.”

Josh walked away leaving Jonathan at the front door. This is the first time he and Josh had this kind of talk, Jonathan thought. A talk he feels was long over due. Now he feels a lot more comfortable knowing that Josh isn’t the type of person he thought he was; the type that runs to his father crying whenever things don’t go his way!

Ever since Bernice and Eric started dating, they have done their homework together at Eric’s house everyday after school. Most of the time they work all the way till Bernice’s father comes to pick her up. Today though for some reason they finished their homework with more than an hour to spare.

Both of them got up from the floor and sat on Eric’s bed at the same time. Bernice looked over at Eric and could tell he wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words. He actually looks scared of his own shadow right now. Whatever is on his mind he really making him very uncomfortable.

“Eric is looks like you have a ton of bricks weighing you down. Whatever is on your mind just spit it out. It isn’t worth holding back on what is bothering you. So tell me and we can work it out together as we have done in the past.”

“I know we haven’t been going out that long, but it seems that you dad doesn’t like me. No matter what I do or say, he doesn’t give me the time of day.” Eric moved forward on the bed where his legs are dangling off the side. “It is like your dad would rather have you going out with Josh than me.” Now Bernice moved to the edge of the bed.

“He looks at me like I was the worse thing to ever happened to you. The last time we were down at Josh’s and the way your dad speaks with Josh is completely different than the way he talks with me. He invites Josh to his church, laughs with him and just acts like you guys are married. He wants to keep him as his son-in-law instead of me.”

“First Eric, my dad doesn’t hate anyone; he is a priest! He just doesn’t know you like he knows Josh. A good ninety nine percent of the time we are here at your house hanging out! If you want my dad to know you like he knows Josh you and I need to spend more time at my house, but it is going to be boring.”

Eric laughed as he breathed in a sigh of relief. Bernice is right about her father, he is a priest, but is also human and a father. He can dislike someone just like any father can; it’s just human. Still Eric knows that he needs to give her father a chance and do whatever he can to get her father to like him as he likes Josh.

“Another reason I think my father really likes Josh is because Josh and I will never become an item. Where you and I have that chance and my dad doesn’t want that for me right now in my life. He wants me to go to school, learn, go home and help out in my father’s church like I did when I was younger. But my father has to understand that I am growing up and I will separate from what I did as a kid.”

“Well then we better never let you father know what we have done already.” Eric slowly moved his hand down Bernice’s face. “Because I want to always know that I can have you at my side. If you father finds out about what we have done, he’ll run me out of town. If I ever lose you I will be lost.”

Eric continued moving his hand down Bernice’s chin, to her throat and then her chest. At the same time Bernice put her hand on Eric’s thigh and moved slowly up until reaching his package. The minute her hand touched Eric’s dick, it started jumping in his jeans. She looked up at him and smiled before looking back down to his dick dancing in his pants.

Bernice’s desires had been building for quite some time. She has known for awhile that she is in love with Eric. She knows she’s ready and it is time to take it to the next level. Although they have made out heavily and done some mutual petting, it was now time to venture further. With that, she looked Eric deeply in the eyes and for the first time, she firmly grabbed onto Eric’s manhood through his jeans.
“Eric, you have been so patient with me for a long time. Other guys would have walked away, but you have weathered the wait with hardly a complaint. I know my hesitance has frustrated you. I now know my own heart and feelings and I think I know yours. Eric, let’s move this to the next level and see how it goes.”

Eric was stunned and not sure if he could believe what he heard. He sat on the bed dumbstruck as Bernice stood and began to undress right in front of him! She unbuttoned and removed her blouse and without a moment’s hesitation, reached behind and unfastened her bra. Eric was still speechless as Bernice slid the straps off her shoulders then dropped the bra to the floor. Her breasts were perfect and more beautiful in Eric’s eye than he had imagined.

Bernice stepped over to the edge of the bed and with Eric still seated, she pulled his head to her chest, burying Eric’s face in her cleavage. Eric breathed in her scent and tenuously reached up to take her bare breasts in his hands for the first time. He held them gently as he moved his head to kiss one then the other, beginning at her chest then down to her nipples. Bernice felt sensations she’d never imagined surging through every part of her body and her mind.

Eric’s hands slid down her torso to her hips. He then unfastened the belt and buttons. He was kissing her stomach around her navel at the same time. He slid her jeans down and Bernice stepped out of them; her panties still in place.

At that point, Bernice gently lifted Eric to stand in front of her. She deftly slid her hands under his shirt and lifted it up over his torso and off his head with the shirt still buttoned. Without a moment of hesitation she undid Eric’s jeans and slid them, along with his briefs down. Like Bernice, Eric stepped out of his crumpled clothing standing there naked except for his socks. Bernice pushed him gently back onto the bed and then lifted each foot up and removed his socks. Eric is now completely naked, lying on the bed. His cock is harder than he has ever known it to be in his life! Bernice took a moment to let her eyes feast on Eric and take in every detail.

Bernice marveled at the sight and beauty of the man she loves. ‘Yes, this is right and good’ she thinks as she slid her panties down and off.

Eric is finally getting his brain to function. He pulls back the covers and invites Bernice to lie beside him. Bernice slid onto the bed next to Eric as he pulled the covers over both of them.

Eric pulled Bernice to him and they kissed deeply as their bodies pressed tightly together. At the same time, both Eric and Bernice moved a hand to each others’ most private place. Eric could feel the moist warmth of Bernice’s femininity as she felt the steely passion of Eric’s masculinity.

As they kissed their passions rose to a fever pitch. Eric deftly moved on top of Bernice as she opened her legs to him.

“Bernice, I love you so much I can’t begin to find the words. Being with you is more wonderful than I ever imagined! We can’t go where I think we both want to. We aren’t prepared…but I will do all I can to make this wonderful and memorable for you.”
At that point, Eric began the natural hip movements meshing his man parts with Bernice’s hot, moist woman parts. He made no attempt to penetrate but was moving in such a way as to stimulate them both to a frenzy. He continued to kiss Bernice and he felt her shudder and gasp. He knew that he’d done what she needed and wanted. With sheer passion and movements, he had given Bernice her first orgasm with him.

Eric concentrated on giving Bernice the thrills of orgasm so he intensified his efforts to try to replicate the reaction in her. His concentration on making it all for her kept his mind off his own sexual urges allowing him to continue without going over his edge.

Bernice shuddered once again, and it was too much for Eric! He thrust a few more times and then pushed his cock upward as it pumped shot after shot of his hot cum onto his and Bernice’s bellies.

After a few moments of coming back to earth, Eric rolled to the side, lying on his back. The thoughts running through his mind were such a rush that he couldn’t make sense of all he was thinking and feeling at that moment.
Bernice broke Eric’s thoughts saying, “Eric, thank you; thank you for loving me and caring about me as much as you do. You proved you are truly in love with me. You put my needs first and yet kept our best interests in mind. You are everything and more that I have dreamed of and wanted in a man. Please, love me forever!”

Eric rolled up on his side, putting his arm over Bernice. “Bernice, this feels so right and I do love you with all my heart and soul. I will be with you, at your side, forever, if you will have me.

With one more kiss, the newly committed couple realized that time was short for them to get put back together before Bernice’s father would be there for her. Eric slipped across to the bathroom, got a couple warm, wet wash clothes and hand towels. He returned to his room and the couple got cleaned and freshened up, dressed and rejoined the temporal world outside their secluded and freshly initiated love nest.

Nothing more was said about what had happened during swim practice or what was discussed before Josh and Jonathan walked into the house. Josh let it go and got ready for school while Jonathan completed his daily report to be sent in to the Governor. Everyone noticed through dinner how Jonathan and Josh acted with each other, differently, but no one put two and two together.

That all changed when Josh was getting ready for bed. When he pulled off his shirt to take a shower, he had forgotten about the red marks on his back. It didn’t hurt any more because either he has gotten used to the pain or the team really didn’t do much damage. So when Cesar jumped up from the bed and walked over to Josh, it stunned Josh.

“What is going on here Josh with your back?” Cesar forced Josh to keep his back at him as he talked. “Who did this to you? I want to know who did this to you where I can repay them for what they did!” At this point Cesar is almost yelling at Josh.

“Let it go Cesar. I have. Chris and I screwed up during practice and this is what happens when you screw up. I want to be treated like any normal kid. The team got punished for what Chris and I were doing so they sent us a message not to do it again. Trust me I got that message and plan not to do it again.”

Not letting Cesar say another word, Josh walked out of the room. Cesar just stood there not knowing what to say or do. He wants to do what Josh asked him to do, but at the same time he can’t. One kid maybe two, fine, but not the entire swim team. Cesar isn’t fine with it, even if Josh is. The first thing in the morning Cesar decided to get to the bottom of what happened at swim practice today.

All of a sudden Cesar heard the bedroom door slam shut, causing him to come out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Brandon walking in. Brandon noticed that something is up so he asked Cesar what is going on, Cesar tried to play it off that he was just thinking of how much things have changed. He doesn’t want to tell Brandon what he saw because he knows that Brandon is going to worry about Josh.

Once Josh joined Cesar and Brandon, they stood up talking until they went to sleep. Just as Josh started to doze off, he laid on his back causing pain to go up and down his spine, which woke him up. Trying not to move too much so he didn’t wake up Cesar, Josh flipped on his side and dozed off to sleep.

Through the night whenever Josh laid on his back, the pain would wake him up. He just moved back on his side and within minutes he was out again. After waking up several times through the night, Josh was glad when the alarm clock went off. Since he isn’t able to fall asleep, Josh got up before Cesar and Brandon. After getting dressed, he woke the other two up to get ready for school.

As soon as they got to school, Cesar told Josh he has to go to speak with his fifth period teacher. Cesar picked this class because this is one of the two classes that they don’t share. So he can make up a lie and Josh wouldn’t be the wiser of it and he wasn’t. Josh didn’t ask any questions of Cesar and he told Cesar to hurry back.

Cesar agreed and walked down the hard towards his fifth period just in case Josh is watching him. Once he felt that he was in the clear, Cesar did a u-turn and headed over to the pool. He walked straight over to the coach’s office and didn’t even bother to knock, he just walked in.

Coach Montoya looked up surprised to see a student just walk into his office. “I don’t know if you know or don’t care but your swim team beat up Josh yesterday after telling him that they are fine with him. If this is fine with him I would hate to see when your team isn’t fine with someone. I don’t know what you told Josh to keep his mouth shut, but I will not. Either you find those responsible and fix this or I will.”

“Young man I don’t know who you think you are, but no one, I mean NO ONE speaks to me that way! If you want to speak with me you will knock on my door and wait to be invited into my office. You don’t just barge right in like you just did. Plus you do not talk to me in this manner.”

“Screw that Coach, I will talk with you anyway I see fit since you can’t seem to keep your swim team from beating up on Josh. Why don’t we go and explain what happened to Josh’s dad. If you think I am rude, you’ve not seen anything yet! When it comes down to his kids, the Governor will not stand by and let anyone hurt them.”

“I was unaware that the others on the team touched Josh and Chris. When I found out I got to the bottom of it with Jonathan. We both decided what to do in order to handle the problem. The problem has been handled so there is nothing to worry about. Just go back to Josh’s side and let the adults deal with this.”

That last part of the coach’s statement threw Cesar over the edge. They left it to the adults to make sure nothing was going to happen to Josh, and they blew it. Now there is no way Cesar can trust the Coach or anyone on the swim team. Their words are worthless and because of that they are not to be trusted.

“Fine you and Jonathan did what you all thought was the right thing to do to deal with what happened here yesterday, but I don’t. I will find out who were the ones that hurt Josh. When I do they better run for the hills because when I get to them they will wish they never were born. Josh will not be used as a punching bag for anyone!”

Cesar turned to leave and just as he reached the door, he turned around. “I made a promise to Josh the day that his mother tried to kill him. I promised him that I will not allow anyone to hurt him again no matter if we are together or not. I plan to keep that promise to Josh. Someone hurt him and whoever they were has to pay for what they did. That is the only way I can see to send a clear message to the others.”

Coach Montoya sat there watching Cesar walk out. He knows he should be telling Cesar to let it go, but he can’t. Right now Coach knows that there is nothing that can be said to Cesar to get him to stop wanting pay back. Hopefully Josh will catch wind of what Cesar is planning to do and stop him. That is the only way out that Coach can see.

It is almost a month now that Martha started serving her sentence. It took a little getting used to, but she got the routine down. The faster she got used to the routine, the faster she will be out of this place. Nothing has changed from Martha’s plans when she accepted the plea bargain. She is going to do the ninety days and get out.

If she stays here any longer than that, it gives Daniel more time to do what he can to keep her locked up. One thing Martha is sure of is that Daniel is trying everything he can to make sure she spends every minute of her time locked up. Then after she does that he will have her deported back to Mexico.

There has been one constant thing that Martha has been able to look forward to every day that lifts her spirits. After doing the morning routine, she sits down and watches the news. No matter what channel she turns on, they are beating up Daniel and she loves it. She hopes now that Daniel will see he needs her. He needs a strong woman to back him up when things like this hit the fan.

When rolled into the room, the head nurse turned on the TV to the news. Just as Martha got comfortable to watch her ex-husband get slammed by the news, Martha got stunned. Not only the news wasn’t slamming her ex, they are singing a different tune. They are apologizing to him and telling the viewers they jumped to conclusions before the facts were known. That didn’t sit well with Martha at all.

She kept rolling her wheel chair back and forth yelling at the nurse to change the channel to another news station. The nurse did it to settle Martha down, but it didn’t work. No matter what news channel they turned it to, they were all singing a different tune about the Governor. Finally the head nurse had to turn off the TV in order to settle Martha down.

As Martha sat there in front of the TV, she couldn’t believe what she saw. Not only did her ex-husband find a way out of the screw up with the prison, he got his bills passed. He made everyone that came out speaking against him look bad. Martha can’t understand how he is able to pull the rabbits out of his hat like he does.

“Ma’am can you please turn back on the TV, I promise not to get all worked up again. I need to watch the news so I can function through the day.” The nurse looked at Martha trying to figure her out. “Please I promise you I will not go bonkers again. I just need to watch the news for awhile in order to see what is going on outside these walls.”

Reluctantly the nurse turned the TV back on with a warning to Martha if she gets worked up again she will be put in the white room. Of Course Martha agreed with the nurse as she turned to face the TV. She figured that she has nothing to lose because there can’t be anything else they could say that will upset her. Boy was she wrong!

The first twenty minutes they repeated what they were saying about the success on the passing of the education bill. They went on to say this is the largest overhaul of the education in this state in decades. Plus the bill takes care of the right people, not like others in the past. As they went into detail, Martha started to faze them out.

Then it happened, they went from the studio to a reporter at the Governor’s mansion. At first Martha couldn’t care less what they were talking about because again they were talking about the two bills and when does he plan to sign them into law. After talking about that, they switched over to a topic that grabbed Martha’s attention.

Not waiting to see what the reporter is reporting is true, Martha went crazy. She grabbed the chair next to her and threw it at the TV, but missed it. Wanting the TV off, Martha kept picking up the chairs and whatever else she could and throw at the TV, each time missing. Martha didn’t see the nurses come running at her until it was too late.

They pulled her out of her wheel chair, gave her a shot and that was it. She was out. When Martha woke up again she found herself in the white room with a straight jacket on. Due to the fact she can’t walk, and now that her arms and hands are tied down, Martha can’t move at all. All she can do is lay there hitting her head against the padded walls.

No matter how many times Martha hits her head against the wall, the reporter in front of the Governor’s mansion kept popping back into her mind. She heard the last part of his report over and over again in her mind. She can’t believe it is happening. Martha thought never in a million years this would happen.

Cesar found Josh and the others in the cafeteria. He grabbed his breakfast and joined them at the table. Josh asked Cesar if he took care of whatever he needed to take care of and Cesar said ‘yes’. Happy that Josh didn’t push him for details, Cesar quickly changed the subject to the fact the Glee Club came calling on Josh again.

“You better not even be considering going back to the Glee Club. I didn’t like the fact that you went back to the swim team after the way they treated you.” As Bernice spoke, everyone stayed quiet. “Now that the Glee Club is coming back to you Josh, you need to put your foot down and tell them no. You can’t keep getting walked all over by everyone. They know you are a nice guy and that is why they coming back and asking.”

“I hear you and understand what you are saying. It’s just that I love being in the Glee Club. That is one thing that is all mine. All my brothers are good at sports, but not this. Plus when I was part of Glee Club I was able to get lost in there. Everything that was going on in my life didn’t matter for that one hour and I want that back.”

After hearing Josh, Bernice felt bad on what she said to him. She never knew that Josh used Glee Club to escape his life. Being completely honest with herself, Bernice has no idea how it is to be in Josh’s shoes. In fact she knows that no one here at this table really knows how Josh does what he does, and that includes Cesar.

“Look Josh the decision is yours to make of course. I see where you are coming from and where Bernice is coming from. The swim team walked all over you and you went back. The Glee Club was worse than the swim team because they pretty much kicked you out. If I was you I would think long and hard before making up my mind because once you go back, you can’t leave.”

“That is where you are mistaken Eric, Josh can quit. If I see anything close to what happened the last time I will be all over Josh to quit before they have another chance of taking away his position. But we might all be jumping the gun because Josh still hasn’t made up his mind if he is going to go back or not.”

“Cesar I have made up my mind, I am just biding my time. I want Mr. Edger to be on pins and needles as long as I can keep him there. He has to understand that he basically let this happen. So thank you guys for giving me your opinions on this, but I have decided already.” Josh got up right when the bell rang.

No one spoke about the Glee Club or the swim team as they went to throw their trash away. Even when Josh and Cesar found themselves alone Cesar didn’t go near the subject. He learned that once Josh has made up his mind, there is no changing it. All he can do is what he said to the group, keep an eye out and try to shield Josh from getting hurt.

Josh’s friends know that he plans to rejoin the Glee Club, but Josh doesn’t want to let Mr. Edger or anyone else outside his circle of friends know. He has till the end of the week to make up his mind. Josh plans to take advantage of each and every one of those days where no can say he acted without thinking. Plus he wants Mr. Edger to sweat is out. Josh wants him to feel something like he felt the day he sat there getting voted out of Glee Club.

The day went by in a blink of an eye. As Josh headed to the pool, Cesar ran up to him. Josh tried to get Cesar to go home, but he refused. Not even when Josh told Cesar that the Coach doesn’t let anyone in the pool area during practice, Cesar didn’t care. He doesn’t mind sitting outside of the building looking in to make sure nothing happens again.

Before going into the building, Josh kissed Cesar on the lips for the world to see. “You are awesome Cesar. I will try to see if Coach will let you sit in the bleachers during practice. I am not promising anything, but I will try. Coach Montoya is strict and rarely bends his rules, no matter who is asking.”

“As I said Josh, if the rule is no one is allowed to go in and watch you guys practice, I am fine with that. I don’t want you going up to the Coach asking him for him to bend his rules. Like you told me last night, you want to be treated like every other student here. If you ask for this, you will not be treated like every other student. So don’t do it and I will stay out here doing my homework.”

Not wanting to, Josh agreed with Cesar and kissed him one more time before going in. As the door closed behind Josh, Cesar walked over to the door that leads directly to the pool area. He looked in, but didn’t find anyone. He decided to sit here and wait for Josh because it is the fastest way into the pool area and he can see everything that is going on.

Coach Montoya walked into the locker room and waited for everyone to change before speaking. As each member of the team saw Coach standing there, they knew there was something’s up. The coach rarely comes into the locker room as they change for practice. When he does it’s because he needs to talk about something important.

When the last person changed, Coach called everyone over to him. “It wasn’t that long ago I was a student in high school, on the swim team. There is a code that each member must follow and when a member breaks that code they get a talking to from the team. The key words are ‘a talking to’, not a beating.

Never in all my years through high school and college was I part of a team that beat their swim team members like you guys did yesterday. I take some of the blame because I wasn’t on the floor. Instead I was in my office taking an important phone call. And I disciplined the entire team for what two members were doing. I told myself when I became a coach that I would never do that because I hated it done to me. I am willing to take the blame that is mine and so should you guys.

With that said I have talked with the team captain before coming out here and I will tell you what I told him. A captain of a team is supposed to set the example, not lead the team doing the wrong thing. If the captain was unaware something was being planned, but is present when it unfolded, he or she needs to stop it if the coach isn’t around or busy with another student or member of the team.

Since your captain lead you guys on what you did yesterday, I not only took away his position as team captain, I have suspended him from the team. I will relook at his suspension at the start of the next school year, but for now he is longer on the team. There is no way I can have a captain unwilling to do his job as captain or on the team.

If what I did this last year wasn’t clear to you guys where I stand as far as these stunts, let me make it crystal clear here and now. It doesn’t matter who it is done to, if you disrespect a team member, you are off the team no matter how good of a swimmer you are! If anyone repeats what happened yesterday or what happened during this last season, you are off the team! If any of you can’t deal with this or the rules I have for this swim team, get dressed, clear out your locker and leave. If you can accept and live by the rules, I will see you in the pool area in five minutes. Josh I need to speak with you in the hall please.”

Josh got up and followed the coach out of the locker room. “It was an easy decision for me dealing with the swim team captain, but not what you did. All night last night and all day today I couldn’t stop thinking about how to deal with what you did yesterday. You know what you did was wrong when you pulled a member to the side and beat him up.”

“Coach he lead the others on what they did to me and Chris. There is no way I am going to stand by and allow anyone to jump me like that. I am tired of being a punching bag for others to hit on. If anyone wants to hurt me, they have a fight on their hands now.”

“That will be a problem if you take that road Josh. You need to be able to turn the other cheek when someone comes up to you like they did to you yesterday. If you fight everyone that looks at you wrong or says something to you that you don’t like or hits you, well you will be in the principal’s office a heck of a lot.

Anyways we are way off of why I pulled you out here. Since your action was due to what he did, I am going to just warn you. If you do anything like what you did yesterday again Josh, you are off the team. I don’t care how good of a swimmer you are or who your father is, you will be off the team. So before you hit someone again in this building, you better think about it. Is that person worth you being kicked off of the swim team?”

The coach couldn’t believe that Josh is actually smiling at him after what he told him. Then when Josh thanked him and shook his hand as he walked away, Coach Montoya had no idea what is going through Josh’s mind. Is he going to make a scene with the swim team before quitting or is he going to just take what was said and be the student he was at the beginning of the year.

As Josh walked to the pool, he felt good. Finally someone that isn’t afraid to treat him as any other student in this school. This is exactly what Josh has been wanting and wasn’t getting ever since his father got elected. Everyone around him that is in an authority position is too afraid to lay down the law. Now that Coach Montoya is willing to do that, Josh has complete respect for him.

Soon after Josh walked into the pool area, the team, in small groups, made their way as well. Not one of them looked in the general direction of Josh. Minutes after the entire team finished their stretches, Coach Montoya blew his whistle to start warm ups. He worked the team until they thought their legs and arms were going to fall off. None of them complained about the practice, they did what Coach asked of them to do.

During practice, Coach Montoya kept looking over his shoulders to see Josh’s security detail standing there watching. He can’t stand anyone watching his swim practices, it doesn’t matter who they are. Back when he first started, he let people come in and watch the team practice the team didn’t get much practice in because they were showing off for their friends and girlfriends. So Coach Montoya doesn’t allow anyone that isn’t on the team in the building anymore during practices.

Josh hurried and changed so he could meet up with Cesar. All that Josh could think about during practice is Cesar standing outside waiting for him. He loves Cesar for doing that, but doesn’t want Cesar to keep doing it every day. If he does, Josh knows he will not be able to concentrate on practice. He would be thinking of Cesar the entire time.

On the way home Josh told Cesar what was on his mind and asked him to go home after school. At first Cesar took it wrong and Josh saw that. Before Cesar could say a word, Josh explained to him how much he loved him for watching over him, but he can’t stop thinking of him standing outside. That is taking his mind off of what he should be doing and that is practicing.

Cesar understood where Josh is coming from. He promised him that he will go straight home after school. Once Cesar agreed, they dropped the subject and moved on to finishing up their plans on what they plan to do when they go up to Austin. Everything that they planned included Brandon, eventhough Brandon hasn’t told them that he plans on tagging along with them.

After they completed their homework, Josh and Cesar went looking for Brandon. They found him sitting in his room. At first they chatted with Brandon about another girl he wants to ask out. Trying to be a big brother, Josh gave him pointers. He figured what he does with Cesar should work with a girl as well. Not the sex part, but the asking and going out part.

Brandon felt more confident after speaking with Josh and Cesar on asking the girl he likes out. So tomorrow he plans to walk up to her in the hallway at school and ask her out. Like his brothers just said, the worse she could say is no! If that happens he can walk away and ask another girl out if he sees another he likes. Plus he will know one way or another if the girl he likes, likes him!

Josh changed the subject over to what Cesar and he planned to do while they are in Austin. As he explained the plans, he told Brandon that they included him in their plans. That put a big smile on Brandon’s face and that smile answered the question that Josh and Cesar went in to ask Brandon.

Their conversation got cut short when Rose called them down for dinner. Josh felt good on how things are going in his life right now. He hopes that nothing comes up and blows his world apart like has happened in the past when things are going good for him. From his home life to his school life, and everything in between, Josh can’t complain.

TO BE CONTINUED………….

WRITER’S CORNER:

{Welcome one and all to another exciting chapter of “Shadow of My Father”. This chapter covered a lot of time in it. For the next five or six chapters I will be pushing through the time line in order to catch it up with the other three stories. There will be a few chapters in there that will slow down and only cover a week, like spring break. Other than that, I am hoping to have the time line of this story caught to the other stories within eight chapters. So hold on to your seat because you are about to go on a fast rollercoaster ride.

Even though I sped up the time line, I covered a lot of things in detail. The chapter picked up where it left off at in the last chapter. My editor was right when he wrote in his last Editor’s Corner that he doesn’t see the inmates just going back to their cells. He believed that there was going to be bloodshed, and as you read there was.

Let me say this before I go on. My editor doesn’t get the next chapter until I finish writing it. Normally by then he has sent me back my last chapter of the story already edited with his Editor’s Corner. The reason I say this is because when he writes out his Editor’s Corner he has no idea what is going on in the next chapter. He just has gotten to know the way I think and what I do in my writing.

Now back to the uprising at the prison. Daniel had backlash on how he handled the situation. Just like today, back then both sides of the political arena couldn’t agree on anything. As written in this chapter one side felt the Governor didn’t go far enough and the other side felt he went too far. They took this opportunity and went out and bashed the Governor in the press. Boy did it come back to bite them in the butt! When will the old guard and press get smart enough to learn to stop fighting the Governor?

In spite of the fallout resulting from his handling of the uprising, the Governor got two key pieces of legislations passed. Enough of the legislators realized having the Governor in their corner will pay off and voted for his bills. With the passing of these two bills, the Governor is two steps closer to delivering on the promises he made to the voters.

It is good to see Barbara being there for the Governor when he needed someone. Once again I will go back to my editor and what he said in his last Editor’s Corner. Behind every successful man is a strong woman or something to that effect. What do you guys think is really going on between the Governor and Barbara? Are they getting serious? They have been having dinner together every night. What else have they been doing?

I can understand that Mr. Edger saw that he and the Glee Club needs Josh, but they made their collective bed so I think they should sleep in it. If I was Josh I would at least make the Glee Club finish off the year without him so those that they really feel the pain and consequences of a bad decision, but I am not Josh. By the looks of it Josh plans to go back to the Glee Club. I only hope he is making the right decision. What do you guys think he should do?

Bernice and Eric are really showing they are in love. It will be rare to have loves scenes between these two, but there will be some in my chapters. After all I do have bi and straight readers reading my stories. I think their relationship is going to make it even though in Eric’s perceptions Bernice’s father doesn’t like him!

You’ve got to see what is going on with Martha right now. She is currently locked up in the mental hospital and hoping to get out soon. Do you guys think what she is thinking about the Governor trying to pull every string he can to keep her locked up? Is that what he is doing? What did Martha see on TV that got her going crazy and caused her to end up in the padded room? We know she likes seeing the Governor suffering and now he isn’t.

I really don’t know what to say about the swim team. One thing is for sure, they went a little too far. Josh and Chris were wrong and deserved a talking-to from the team, but not a beating. In any sport in high school if a member of a team messes up, their fellow members go up and give them a little talking-to in order to make sure it doesn’t happen again. In fact it happens even in professional teams now-a-days.

Also what Coach Montoya did suspending the team captain and talking with Josh was wrong. He dropped the ball by leaving the kids unattended. When it boils down to it, the fault falls at the coach’s feet and no one else’s. What do you guys think? Is it the coach’s fault or the kids on the swim team? Don’t get me wrong the swim team is at fault as well.

There are a few characters out there that I haven’t written about in awhile. We saw a little of Brandon, but not much. We know things are going better for him except the fact that he is staying in Josh’s room. In the chapters to come you will read more about Patrick and Frank; they will reappear. Plus you guys will get more into the personal lives of Josh’s brothers, Isaac and Rose. On top of those plots, all the other plots that are open will be written about in the chapters to come.

So many open plots and so many more plots to come in this story. I love the political scenes a lot and I hope I am not offending anyone with them. Keep in mind it is only a story and I am trying my best not to preach my beliefs. Please stay tuned and I promise that you guys will not regret opening every new chapter.

I could stay here all day long, with all the open plots already in this story, but I won’t. I warn you though! Do not skip a chapter, or you will be lost. There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacobmillertex@aol.com, Thanks!}

EDITOR’S CORNER:

As Jacob said, welcome back! I really enjoyed this chapter and there was a lot of excitement and action.

You may have noted that that Jacob is crediting me with the writing of love scenes. I sincerely appreciate the acknowledgement yet have a touch of trepidation. On one hand I get the credit for writing the love scenes, but I am now “on the line” with each of you for the content of those scenes! It is an honor to ‘ghost’ the scenes yet a somewhat intimidating responsibility. I hope that you will find the love scenes are written well enough to be believable and that they compliment the story.

Jacob gives me the job of writing the love scenes and then, what does it do almost right off the bat? He gives me a STRAIGHT love scene to write! When I saw the task laid before me, all I could think was “OMG”, putting it in modern chat and text vernacular!

The inclusion of a straight scene in a gay story was a daunting task. Yes, it needed to be included, but what tone should I set? How much detail should be there without it getting “gross” for a predominately gay audience? Let me know if I struck the right tone; letting you know what’s going on without getting overly detailed. I suspect that there will be some other straight relationships that will be chronicled, so if I need to adjust, I’d like to know.

Now, just because Jacob has a ‘ghost writer’ for love scenes, don’t think that the frequency of scenes will increase. Jacob has and will continue to hold to his style that sex will be in the stories, but in realistic proportions. Love scenes are not “THE” story here, but they are part of real life and need to be included. This is still a coming-of-age saga and that is what attracted me to Jacob’s stories in the first place so long ago.

If you have thoughts or ideas about love scenes and the sexual persona of any characters, I would appreciate hearing from you. Am I striking the right tone? Do you want more detail and, if so, of what nature? Again, I won’t draw focus away from the author’s intent and the “style” of his work, but I will certainly, within those parameters, take your input into serious consideration. Let me hear from you!

Jacob, I just thought and looked back. I have now been editing your work for A YEAR! My first edited chapter was Chapter 8 of “Jacob Finding His Way” and was submitted back to you on December 24, 2010.

Happy Anniversary!

Until next time,

“Daddy” Rick