The Cockney Canuck - 60. Chapter 60 Coming Clean

Sunday was overcast and a little cooler than the last couple of days. I welcomed the drop in temperature and even a few clouds, which meant that I could leave my sunglasses behind, as I went outside to help tackle an overgrown garden. My contribution wasn’t voluntary, but I didn’t complain either after being pressganged by Don and assigned to help Daniel cut the grass. Although I no longer felt guilty for accepting their hard-earned cash in a healthy allowance each week, I was still able to understand the importance of giving something back to a family who had, after all, welcomed me with open arms.

The only exception to this may have been Nicola, although recently she had been blowing hot and cold, making it increasingly difficult for me to read her moods. I wasn’t surprised to hear that she had somehow managed to worm her way out of the afternoon work party, but I wasn’t disappointed to see the back of her either. When Daniel passed on the latest gossip; the picture became a little clearer.

“Nicola’s got a new boyfriend,” he told me, as I helped him carry the lawnmower down the back stairs from the garage to the patio. It seemed to explain away some of her recent pleasantness towards me, but Daniel beat me to my next assumption. “She’s happy because she’s getting laid.”

“Really; who’s the lucky bloke?”

My sarcasm wasn’t lost on him. “I dunno; some guy from school, I suppose.”

I thought it a little odd that Daniel seemed to know about her sex life, but had no idea who she was dating. I decided to take this gossip with a pinch of salt.

“Her last boyfriend was a real loser…oh yeah,” he said, “you know him right?”

“You mean that fucking, asshole, wanker, Jake,” I said. “Yeah, we’ve met.”

He laughed. “You don’t like him do you?”

“What gave you that impression?”

“Ha, so what happened that day, he was really pissed with you?”

“Still is, but I don’t know why…he’s just a prick I guess. I can’t understand why Nicola would want to go out with someone like that.”

“They only dated for a few weeks,” said Daniel, “she dumped him pretty quickly. Dad never liked him; he thought he was a druggie. You know…he smokes pot.”

“Oh really?” It was something that I already knew, thanks to my so-called friend Alex and I wondered whether his drug dealing brother had managed to pull any strings, to save me from any future run-ins with Nicola’s ex. As much as I wanted to believe Alex, I wasn’t about to hold my breath on that one. Maybe I was being a little cynical, but I couldn’t help questioning his motives. Alex didn’t come across as the Samaritan type. He had used me before to get his kicks, and I wondered if his only reason for saving my ass, was so that he could have a piece of it.

Once we had the lawnmower on the grass, I assumed that it was just a matter of pushing the thing up and down, and I was thinking probably an hour at the most, meaning that I would be back in front of the TV for ‘The Price is Right’.

That was before Daniel had spent at least half-an-hour adjusting the blade and filling it up with gas and oil. Things that I would never have known about. Then I watched on as he got into a shouting match with Amy, who wanted in on the lawn mowing. She could have taken my place, but her brother was right to tell her that she was too young, although there were better ways of doing this than pushing her out of the way.

She landed on her ass, and it made her cry. It was nothing serious, and only her pride was hurt, but I instinctively jumped to her defense. I think it shocked Daniel as much as did me when I shouted at him to apologize. It was yet another milestone; the first time that I had even raised my voice at him, or had any kind of disagreement. I reacted before I could think and I wondered if maybe I was wrong for interfering and taking sides? It was easy to shout at Nicola because she hated me, and she was also a formidable opponent, but Daniel was still unknown territory. Because of the proximity of our ages, and the fact that we shared a room and so much time together, it was remarkable that we had managed to make it that far without fighting. He was a male and I was invading his private space, therefore by the rules of nature, I had expected him to provide my biggest challenge.

We had bonded quickly though and I attributed this mostly to Daniel’s easy going nature, his willingness to share everything he had, and his determination to make it work. They were all qualities that I never had and it made it difficult for me not to like him. He may have been a little annoyed at me that day for taking sides, but he did make it up to Amy and muttered an apology to his disgruntled sister.

It was probably a good thing to get it over with anyway, our non-aggression pact couldn’t last forever, and we were competitive in every other way, so the sooner we fought and made up again the better. I still loved him, and he made for a pretty cool brother; nothing would change that.

“You can help me instead Amy,” I said, bringing a smile to her face. That was never a difficult thing to do, and it always brought out the best in me.

“What are we doing?” she asked.

“Watching,” I replied, taking her hand and leading her away. It seemed like a good idea to me, although Amy was hoping for something a little more hands on. I had never pushed a lawnmower in my life and would have been happy to let Daniel take the reins, but he had other ideas.

“No way man,” he said, “you’re helping me. I’m not doing this on my own; there’s a lot of grass.” He was right; there was a lot of grass, and it took nearly two hours and several turns each before we had finished.

That afternoon, I did my first day’s work, and it nearly killed me. I thought that I was fit, and I should have been. I had been swimming from a young age with my mom, but that was fun, and this certainly wasn’t. When I collapsed into my chair afterward, I was a dirty, sticky, mess and aching all over, much to the amusement of Daniel, who had moved on from his little sulk.

“What are you complaining about? I’ve had to it on my own before,” he said. I believed him, but it did nothing to alleviate my aching body.

‘No fucking way am I doing that again. I’d rather run away from home’.

I allowed him to shower first; while I sat at my desk to recover in front of my computer screen. There was a missed call on Skype from Tom, but the time difference with London meant that it was too late to call him back. It didn’t bother me in the way that it once would have. Talking to Tom had become a little tedious lately, and it was increasingly difficult for us to find common ground. It wasn’t his fault; I was the one who had changed and I no longer shared the same enthusiasm for things that we liked in England.

As much as I hated to admit it, and often tried to fight against it. I was gradually turning into a Canadian. I suppose it was inevitable that I would pick up certain traits, and there were even things that I had openly embraced, like baseball and the fast food culture. I had become accustomed to removing my shoes at the door of every house I visited, knew the difference between a dime and a nickel, or a loonie and a toonie, and much to Sue’s relief, I was now looking the in the right direction when I crossed the road.

It was fun at first being different; it made me stand out, but it got a little tiresome after a while. I wasn’t about to lose my English accent or start adding eh to the end of every sentence, and I wasn’t going to start saying sorry to everyone either, or telling complete strangers to have a great day. I really didn’t care less what kind of day those people had, and I didn’t see any point in pretending otherwise. It wasn’t very English, and I wasn’t about to change that anytime soon, but there were certain things that directly affected me, which I was already addressing, without even realizing it.

There were small changes to my vocabulary, which were hardly noticeable to me, but necessary if I wanted to avoid having to constantly repeat myself. However, when I had talked to Tom recently, and included a few North American words he picked up on it straight away and made fun of me for it. He made me feel guilty for using the word ‘garbage’ and ‘sidewalk’ when we talked, almost as if I had switched sides and was betraying King and country. It may have been high treason to him, but borrowing an eraser at school was a lot less troublesome than asking to use somebody’s ‘rubber’.

It was small, almost insignificant changes such as these that were slowly setting me adrift from mother England, but despite my best efforts, there wasn’t anything about my former home, which I could honestly say that I missed. In the beginning, I had complained relentlessly about my enforced departure, but those sour moods and long faces had long since vanished, and even without Nathan tipping the scales, if I had been offered the chance to return to England, I would have turned it down.

My former straight boyfriend would have to wait until next weekend, but the boy who I now loved more than life itself could not, and after noticing that he was online, I had been hovering my mouse over the call button on the Skype screen. It was a temptation that I found difficult to resist, as I pushed the bedroom door shut and clicked to dial his number.

He answered quickly, but the picture was shaky, jumping from shots of his colourful bedroom wall to his beige carpet, and then up to the ceiling.

“Are you alone?” he asked, but I still couldn’t see him.

“Of course,” I said, “but probably not for long.” We both knew that I wouldn’t have called if Daniel had been in the room, but I guess he was playing safe, and moments later his smiling face filled the screen.

“You look hot,” he said.

“Thanks, so do you.”

“No,” he said, “I mean the other hot.” It was a decent observation and I told him that I was waiting my turn in the shower after I had been forced to work in the garden.

Talking to Nathan on Skype, with the family at home and Daniel in the next room was a risk, but dabbling with danger was a thrill that I always enjoyed, and my gamble paid off when he moved away from his laptop and his bare shoulders came into view.

“I’ve just got out of the shower,” he said, “your timing is perfect.”

I pressed my legs together and stared at the screen. “Are you naked?” I asked, after a quick glance towards the door.

“Like I’m gonna walk from the bathroom naked,” he replied, and then stood up and backed away from his desk, to confirm his statement. I could see from his head down to his knees, and the only item between him and nudity seemed to be a pair of gray briefs that only served to highlight the significant bulge at the front.

‘Am I the only one who get dressed in the bathroom’?

I cleared my throat and made sure that I could still hear the shower running, before quietly issuing instructions to my boyfriend. “Take them off.”

It was more out of hope than expectation and I never expected him to comply, but it looked as if he was actually considering my request, as he smiled seductively and held the sides of his underwear. He was teasing me by putting on a bit of a show and I appreciated his efforts, as I stared trance-like at the screen.

Then, to my surprise, he dropped his briefs and they disappeared below his knees as he wiggled his butt. It was sexy, without being erotic or crude, but to me, it was hardcore porn and I stared unashamedly at his impressive winkle. It was the first time that I had seen him totally soft and he looked gorgeous.

“Do you like?” he asked in a sultry voice. It was a silly question; he may have been flaccid, but I had boned up instantly.

“Oh yes…let me see you close up,” I said instinctively, without even thinking about what I was saying. Once again, though, he obliged by edging towards the camera and positioning himself to allow me a perfect shot of his most private area. I could see from of his navel to his thighs and everything in-between, as he stood still, happy to show himself exclusively for my benefit.

“Happy now?” he said, seriously underestimating the effect that his nudity would have on his highly sexed partner.

“You’re beautiful,” I replied, and although I was certain that I had never uttered a truer statement in my life, those simple words barely did justice to the sight before me. He looked just as enticing soft than he did when he was at full mast, and I feasted my eyes on his perfectly shaped bits. He was perfectly cut; with full, dark red glans that contrasted with the soft brown of his slightly ringed shaft and separated by the dark band of his circumcision. He hung probably no more than four inches in front of a tight, walnut wrinkled, sack, sparsely covered in wispy mouse brown hair.

My private showing, however, lasted only a few mouth-watering seconds before it was cruelly snatched away again when he sat down in front of his desk. It was a good move on his part and I knew it, even if it did rob me of some personally tailored wanking material. I was planning to take care of business, in the shower when Daniel returned and my hand—which had found its way into my shorts at the first glimpse of his tackle—was busy providing some pre-game stimulation.

“You know you’ll go blind doing that don’t you?” he said, flashing a smile at me.

“What…oh…yeah,” I said, removing my hand quickly and returning his smile with a bashful one of my own. “Sorry, I didn’t even realize. But if I do go blind; it’ll be down to you.”

“How is your eye now? It looks a lot better.” My right eye, which had received such heavy collateral damage on Friday, was now functioning as normal, although still a little red around the outside.

“It is better,” I said, “and I’m ready for round two, whenever that may be.”

“I have no idea dude; my parents are hermits. They go out like twice a year.”

“I can’t wait that long,” I said, and he laughed, but it was true. I was having enough trouble just waiting for Daniel.

“Me neither,” he said softly. “Oh, and you were right by the way. Once you try it, you just wanna do it all the time. All I can think about now is sex, and it’s all your fault.”

My hand was back in my pants before he had finished his sentence, drastically reducing the odds of me making to the shower before creaming my underwear.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be, I like it.”

“So do I.”

“Are you playing with yourself again?” he asked.

“It’s your fault that’s what you do to me; I’ve only gotta think of you and I need a…well you know.”

“Hot bath?”

“Yeah, a very hot bath,” I said, laughing, “but it’ll be a shower instead. When Daniel finally finishes in there.”

“What do you think is taking him so long?”

“He’s probably rubbing one out in there.”

“I think so too,” he said, “I would be careful not to slip over on anything if I were you.”

I could scarcely believe my ears. “Nathan, you’re disgusting. A sweet boy like you shouldn’t be saying stuff like that. That’s my bag,” I said. “Anyway, I need him to get a move on.”

“Only so that you can do the same,” laughed Nathan.

“I can’t help it; you get me all excited. What you did just then, you know showing yourself to me, was just fucking unbelievable, you know. That was so hot…I love your…dinkle.”

“Ha, you say the nicest things…but thank you, I kinda like yours too.”

“Not as much as I like yours.”

“Yes, I do.”

“No you don’t and I’ll prove it, next time I see you.”

“Really, how?”

I had another quick glance towards the door and strained my ears for the sound of the shower running.

“I’ll give you the best blowjob ever,” I whispered.

“Wow…but you do realize that the next time you see me, will be in school tomorrow?”

“Oh yeah. That’ll turn a few heads in the cafeteria.”

“Just imagine it,” he said, “the look on their faces.”

“Not as good as the look on your face; that’s just pure sex.”

“Stoppit,” he said.

“Or the cute little noises you make when you get excited.”

“Behave yourself; you’re getting me all worked up now.”

“Can I see?”

“No, you’ve had your peek for the day.”

“Please, just one more,” I pleaded, but he wouldn’t budge, and it was probably best that he didn’t as I heard the door to the bathroom open, and then realized that the shower had stopped running.

‘So much for me staying alert’.

I clicked the mouse to end the call, without saying anything, knowing that Nathan would understand the situation, then closed Skype down just as Daniel opened the bedroom door.

“It’s all yours,” he said, and I quickly rearranged my tackle and grabbed some clean clothes.

“What took you so long?”

“I wasn’t that long,” he replied.

“You were ages in there.”

“I was dirty.”

‘You were wanking’!

He removed the towel from his waist and tilted his head to dry his ears, treating me to the sight of yet another hot-bodied, naked teen boy, straight out of the shower. I badly needed to join the club.

‘I know why you took so long. You dirty bugger’!

I gave him a little smile, which had him looking away in embarrassment, as good as confirming my suspicions. It didn’t bother me; as Nathan pointed out, I was about to go and do the same thing, and I had a feeling that I would be finished a lot quicker than my roommate. I picked up my towel and held it in front, to hide my arousal. Then as I opened the door, I turned my head just in time to see Daniel, with his back to me, bending over naked to pull on a pair of boxers.

‘Such a cute ass; I might not even make it to the shower’.

I did make it, and I lasted a good couple of minutes before watching my seed follow Daniel’s down that trusty plughole.

* * * * *

At nine o’clock, the battle in my already overcrowded mind was joined by another player. I had long since deleted his number from my phone, but I recognized Alex’s deep tones straight away and braced myself, knowing that he wouldn’t call me to chat.

“How are you, Alex?”

“I’m cool man?” He sounded upbeat and I hoped that he was about to deliver some good news. “It’s not too late to call is it, you’re not tucked up in bed yet are you?” I knew that it was a joke, but he was almost right, as I was sitting on the couch in my pyjamas and a vest.

“Of course not; it’s only nine.”

“I thought maybe that was bedtime for you?” he said and laughed again at what was obviously meant to be a joke, but I didn’t find it very funny.

“What do you want Alex?” I said, losing patience and grabbing the attention of Daniel and Nicola, who had returned from her date, happy and annoyingly friendly.

“Don’t be like that,” he said, “I’m only fooling around. I just wanted to find out if you were still alive.”

“What do mean?” I could see Nicola staring at me from the other side of the couch, not bothering to hide her interest in my phone call.

“You know what I’m talking about,” he said, “that Jake guy.”

“Did you say anything to your brother?” I asked.

“Yeah, and he said that he’ll try to find out what Jake’s gripe is with you.”

“I already know why he hates me?” I said, a little too loudly. Daniel glanced over again and Nicola looked as if she wanted to grab the phone off me and intervene. I screwed my face up at her, to signal that it was none of her business.

“Well, why don’t you tell me; it might be helpful, considering that I’m trying to save your sorry ass from a beating?” He had increased his volume to match mine, forcing me to switch my phone to my other ear, to scuttle Nicola’s blatant attempt to eavesdrop.

“I did tell you.”

“What?”

“I can’t talk right now,” I said as quiet as I could into the phone, but it was a stupid thing to say, and was like a red flag to a bull as I saw her narrow her eyes at me. I could have easily taken the call into the sanctuary of the bedroom, but I didn’t want to get into a long discussion with Alex, which would probably have ended in a shouting match. That was how all of our conversations ended; after which he would inevitably hurt me in some way, before calling me his friend.

From what he had said so far, I got the impression that he hadn’t made any progress at all, with his attempt to save me from Jake’s wrath, and it made me wonder why he had called me in the first place. He sounded as if he had had a beer or two, or maybe he was high on something he got from his brother.

“Look, man,” he said, “I think it would help if you met my brother. He knows all my buddies, but he’s never met you. There’s no way that my bro will allow anyone to pick on any of my pals, but I need to show him that we’re friends, you know. Is that cool to you.”

“So you can introduce me at lunch tomorrow; I don’t mind.”

“That won’t work; he’s not at school anymore, he dropped out I guess. His last year anyway; it doesn’t make any difference for him, it’s not like he was ever gonna graduate.”

“So how?”

“Can you can come over to my house…my parents are out on Friday and my brother’s having some of his friends over for a few beers. It’ll be a cool way for you to meet him.”

I felt my stomach sink and alarm bells ringing in my head. “I can’t,” I said, “I’ve already got something planned for Friday.”

“Then cancel,” he said as if it was obvious. “Saving your skin is more important. Besides, this will be a lot more fun.”

“You don’t even know where I’m going?”

“I don’t need to; believe me you’ll have more fun with me.”

His arrogance finally got the better of me and I flipped. “Like before, you mean? Is that the kind of fun you want?” I said, before wondering what Nicola would decipher from that statement.

“IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK MAN, DO YOU THINK THAT I WANNA FUCK YOU? Geez, I’m trying to help you. When are you gonna realize that and stop being so ungrateful all the time? Don’t you trust me?”

I had to think about that one and be honest with myself. It was a lot easier doing this over the phone than in his company, where I would have been pinned to the floor, and I opted for clarity.

“No,” I said, and he hung up.

I didn’t say anything to Nicola or Daniel, but they probably had guessed that all was not well between Alex and me. However, even he wasn’t able to remove the smile which had barely left me since Friday night, and my honest appraisal of his character only added more hot air to my already over-inflated ego.

That night in bed, I contemplated what had been a truly eventful weekend in my life. It was dominated, of course, by the ridiculous, but an insanely hot evening spent at Nathan’s house. I had my dick in his mouth that night, before flashing it carelessly to Nicola the following morning. Then I finally made it over to cute little Rory’s house to watch the big game on TV, only to have my sight hampered by some of Nathan’s rogue sperm still swimming in my eye. I still had no idea what to make of Rory, and now I had a sleepover to contend with at the end of the week, as well as whatever payment he planned on extracting from me, in return for his co-operation in my story. He had made it clear that I owed him one, and I would have been more than happy to give him one too, had it not been for my commitment to Nathan.

Now, Alex had added to the mayhem, almost insisting that I go to his house to meet his dodgy, ne’er-do-well brother. I had been there twice before, and they were times that I wanted to forget about and sweep under the carpet. I also needed to keep those regrettable experiences from Nathan. I was certain that he wouldn’t understand; I didn’t even understand it myself and let’s face it, Alex was just about the last person I wanted to be hanging around my sweetheart.

I was now convinced that Alex was deliberately using my fear of Jake to gain my so-called friendship, and if he could make it look as if he had been able to stop that brute from rearranging my face, then I would be indebted to him. It would give him a lot of leverage and owing favors like that, to a guy like Alex, was definitely not a good thing. I was perhaps, the only person who knew of his gay tendencies, and he knew now that he could trust me to keep his secret for the rest of my life. I suppose I should have expected him to try his luck with me again; he had enjoyed what we did together, and two nights of sex was never going to satisfy his hunger.

Alex was obviously bi-sexual, but he would never admit to such a crime, and that made him particularly dangerous. He had issues that put mine well and truly in the shade, but he was also smarter than his tough guy image allowed him to be, and he had shown how capable he was, during the whole ‘Boy X’ episode. I was gullible to fall for it and foolish to get involved, but it was fun at the time, even though he had used me. What he did was wrong, and probably by allowing him to get away with it; there was a good chance that he would try again. It made sense, therefore, that he would choose a well-worn path, which had worked for him before, rather than try to find a new one.

It all made for a bizarre mix that would keep me awake for most of the night, but unlike previous occasions, I wasn’t overly worried or consumed by fear of impending doom. Even as the storm clouds gathered overhead, and the very real possibility that everything would come tumbling down around me, I was sure that somehow we would be spared and be able to emerge from the rubble unscathed. Despite numerous mistakes and leaving enough clues behind us to make it glaringly obvious to everyone that Nathan and I were more than the casual friends that we were supposed to be, so far nobody had picked up on it.

I didn’t want to tempt fate or challenge my good fortune, but it was almost too good to be true and I was beginning to believe in my own invincibility. It made perfect sense to me that following two extremely bleak years, during which my world fell apart, that there would be a time when everything would go right. It was compensation for the pain that still burned inside of me, and nobody could take that away. It was mine by right because I had already paid for it during those dark days of my early teens. I was certain that nothing could ever hurt me like that again, and thanked my mom, with a couple of stray tears, as I continued to float around on my Nathan induced cloud until falling asleep. Tomorrow though was Monday, and I always hated Mondays.