TJ - 11. Chapter 11

TJ

Chapter 11

Tuesday morning, I reluctantly walked into the school, half-expecting John to cause some big scene. Surprisingly, nothing happened. He walked into the classroom for first period just before the bell rang and left as soon as class was finished. Josh let me know John didn’t sit with the group at our table during lunch and he didn’t see where he had gone instead. I did notice him in the hallways speaking to some people I didn’t know, but since he wasn’t around me or anyone I love causing trouble, I didn’t care who he hung out with.

Sean’s week went as well as expected. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, he wasn’t “fuck-did” up on his pain killers when I showed up to check on him the rest of the week. I say unfortunately, because the now popular “Lupe Rodriguez” video- which had been viewed by practically everyone at school- was fucking hilarious. By Wednesday afternoon, he felt good enough to start working on his make-up work. At his doctor’s appointment on Friday, the doctor cleared him to go back to school starting Monday. He was even allowed to attend the football game on Friday night, as long as he promised he would leave immediately if he started feeling a headache.

I think Sean had fun during the game, at least he told me he did. There were a couple of times when I would look over at him and I could tell he would have rather been on the field playing and leading his team. I was seriously impressed with the way the team played, considering they were using the second-string quarterback, one defensive, and one offensive lineman.

Neither Smith nor Rogers played. In fact, they were both on the sidelines the whole game in t-shirts and jeans. At one point, I noticed Smith glaring at Sean and me. Shockingly, when Rogers saw him doing it, he whispered something in his ear. Smith turned the glare at his best friend, hissed out a reply I could tell was not pleasant, and then walked away. Rogers glanced our way before shifting his gaze to someone else in the crowd. I tried to follow his eyeline and see who he was looking at. Finally, I caught sight of a white-haired woman who couldn’t be more than five feet tall if she was standing on her tiptoes, sitting next to a guy around our age who looked a little like Rogers. When she noticed me looking her way, she gave me a friendly smile and waved. I smiled back and turned to watch the rest of the game, not thinking much of it.

Neither team was able to hold the lead for long. Luckily, right at the end of the fourth quarter, Patrick threw the game-winning pass and led the team to another victory. I could see the conflict of emotions on Sean’s face. Pride in his friend and protégé doing so well mixed with something between sadness and longing that he wasn’t able to be out there. As soon as he noticed me studying his face, he smiled and said, “I’m okay, I promise. I’m happy Patrick did so well. I just felt a little sorry for myself for a second that I wasn’t out there instead. At least starting next week, I’ll be on the sidelines with the team helping Coach call offensive plays. I think I’ll like coaching. You know what they say, ‘Those who can’t, teach.’ Well, since I can’t play anymore without risk, maybe this is the universe’s way of saying, ‘Maybe you should consider becoming a coach.’”

I smiled at him, kissed his cheek, and said, “I think you’d make a great coach. But right now, let’s go congratulate Patrick and the team and celebrate another win! We’re undefeated!”

While congratulating Patrick, Kevin, Mark, Castro and a few other players on a game well played, a commotion broke out. Suddenly, we heard Smith yelling at Rogers to get off his back and leave him the hell alone before he stormed off towards the locker room. Rogers went to follow but was stopped short in his tracks when the tiny older woman stepped in front of him and pointed our way. Without any hesitation or argument, he started walking over followed by the woman and the guy who was sitting next to her. Rogers walked over to Sean and stood there silently, unable to look up from the ground. After a moment of awkward silence, the woman reached up and smacked his shoulder and said, “Well, get on with it. You know what you need to do.” The guy standing next her crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Rogers.

Rogers grumbled, “Okay, Granma. I know.” He looked at Sean and mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

When he went to turn and walk away, his Granma slapped his chest. “You know damn-well that won’t cut it.” She then said to us, “What my idiot grandson meant to say was he wanted to apologize for everything he has said and done towards all of you. He regrets letting his good-for-nothing dumbass of a best friend to do the thinking for him. He regrets letting himself be talked into lying to his cousin, Hunter,” she indicated the guy with the crossed arms, “and allowing Tweedledum to tell him you were actually a gay-basher.” She looked at her grandson and continued, “Why don’t you tell him why y’all needed to lie to Hunter?”

Rogers looked uncomfortable for a moment before he dropped his head and focused his eyes on our feet. Finally, Hunter uncrossed his arms and walked over to Sean. “I wouldn’t have gone along with their idea if they had told me the truth. Smith told me he felt sorry for some kid because he was being gay-bashed everyday by you. He said he and my dumb-ass cousin confronted you and you laughed them off. They knew exactly what to say to manipulate me and get me to knock you down as hard as I could.”

He took a deep breath, looking like he was trying to keep his emotions in control. His grandmother patted his forearm and smiled up at him lovingly. “The beginning of the summer before last, my best friend committed suicide because he was being bullied after someone found out he was gay and spread it around the whole school. I…I abandoned him because I didn’t want people thinking I was gay too. One day, some kids started saying shit to him and instead of sticking up for him and supporting him the way I should’ve, I laughed at their jokes. He took a full bottle of sleeping pills that night. I could’ve saved my best friend, but instead I laughed at him.

“I went into a depression and finally, after a couple of months, Granma convinced my parents to get me help. I’ve worked through my guilt, for the most part. The first thing I did when I got back to school last year was join the GSA and I kinda made it my crusade to stop bullying against gay people. Those two fuckers, sorry Granma, knew that and convinced me to,” he held up both hands in air-quotes, “‘help take him off his high horse and show him he’s not as big and badass as he thinks.’

“I agreed, and we came up with a plan. Smith would give a signal on the play and let me pass by him with no trouble and open a line straight to you. I would have no one to stop me from coming at you at full force. I would hit you with everything I have and damn the consequences. It would look like a clean hit. I’ve played football long enough, I knew where and how to hit you to cause the most damage. I knew it would probably break your arm and would more than likely give you a concussion.

“It wasn’t until Wednesday night, when I went to Pauly’s to make sure you got the message, that I learned the truth. They didn’t know I was coming over, so I was able to listen to their conversation. Pauly was pacing back and forth in the backyard, running his hands through his hair. I heard him say, ‘We fucked up, Joey. We need to tell Coach the truth and let him decide our punishment. Sean was really hurt bad.’”

“Smith laughed. ‘That stupid faggot got what he deserved. Coach can’t prove anything. Your faggot-loving, queer-bait cousin made it look like he really got past me. We’re fine. We’ll make a half-assed apology to McQueer on Monday, make Coach happy, and get our positions back. Then we find a way to get Kevin, Patrick and Mark to quit and we can have a team worth being on.’

“Needless to say, I was pissed. I stormed into the backyard and grabbed Smith by his shirt. I told him to get the hell away from me before I did something else I would regret later. He pushed me off him and made a half-assed remark about him leaving anyways. I turned to Pauly, ready to attack my cousin, and saw the tears on his cheeks.”

Rogers took over and said, “I told Hunter everything. What Smith and I had done to you, the things we said, what I said and did to Josh.” He looked at Kevin and then straight into Josh’s eyes. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was doing. I always let Smith take the lead and followed him. That day, when you accused me of being jealous, I wanted to show I was more than just his sidekick. So, I lashed out. I’m really sorry. Anyways, after I told Hunter the truth, he told me we had to make this as right as we could. I agreed.”

Hunter took over again. “I decided the first thing I needed to do was tell my coach the truth. Thursday morning, I went and told him and quit the team. I don’t deserve to keep playing after blindly following whatever I was told and not finding out the facts for myself. When Granma heard I was off the football team, and Pauly was benched indefinitely, she confronted us and made us tell her everything.”

Granma spoke up. “They knew better than to try and lie to me. I’m a walking lie detector, especially when it comes to my grandsons. I don’t expect y’all to be friends with Pauly, I would completely support y’all if you decided to kick his ass. As long as he doesn’t wind up hurt too much or in the hospital or dead. He’s genuinely sorry. I just want y’all to know that. I apologize for what’s been done to you. I thought I’d taught my grandkids better than this. First lying to family and manipulating them into hurting someone else. Then, using brawns instead of brains to deal with problems. All that leads to is people getting hurt and nothing getting solved. Now, I’m sure y’all have plans to go to a party or something. We won’t keep you any longer. I hope everything works out in the end for you Sean. I’m sorry about you not being able to play anymore. But, remember when a door closes, a window opens. If a window doesn’t open, kick the damn door down and make a new way.” She winked at Sean and patted his arm.

By the time the exchange was finished, I noticed our whole group plus Robert, Lori, and Jacob was present. We all looked at each other, not exactly knowing what to say or do. Finally, Lori spoke up. “Well, if someone doesn’t invite those two to go to dinner with us, and give them a chance to prove they’re sorry, I’ll be pissed.”

Robert cleared his throat and looked at me pointedly. “I really don’t want to deal with a literally pissed off drama queen. Do something.”

That made the group laugh. Finally, Chase started walking after Hunter and Rogers. He turned back and said, “Well, come on. If we’re really starting this GSA, this would be a good first step to building a relationship with the S part of the group. Let’s go get them.”

So, next thing I knew, there were seventeen people yelling for Hunter and Rogers to hold up and wait. It must have been a bit intimidating, but they both stopped and turned around. When we caught up to them, I don’t think anyone knew what to say or who should speak first. I figured, since Sean was the victim here, he should extend the olive branch. I nudged him with my shoulder and said, “Sean has something he wants to say. Go ahead, Sean.” Everyone behind us started agreeing and encouraging Sean to speak.

He smiled his cockiest grin and spoke without hesitation. “We were wondering if you two and your Granma would like to go get some dinner with us?”

Rogers looked apprehensive, Hunter smiled, and Granma said, “I think that would be a lovely idea, but only if I’m allowed to pay. I’m old, have more money than God, and nothing but these two brats and their cousin to spend it on.”

Robert and Jacob both started to protest, but Granma held up her hand and said, “Don’t argue with me Robert Kennedy and Jacob McNair. Jacob, you know I’m loaded, you’re my damn financial advisor! Now, no more discussion, let’s get some damn dinner. Where are we going to eat?”

Nobody argued after that. Dinner was a loud, boisterous affair at Outback. It’s not easy to fit a party of twenty in right before closing. However, Granma promised the waiter if he took good care of us, she would take care of him. She handed over a black credit card and the server jumped into action with a smile. I convinced Sean to sit next to Rogers and I took a seat across from Hunter. I introduced myself to Hunter. He seemed like an honestly nice person. He apologized again to me for what happened to Sean. I looked at him and asked, “Have you forgiven Rogers for lying to you about why they asked you to help take Sean out?”

He replied, “Honestly, not completely. I’m getting there. The fact he used my most vulnerable spot against me hurts more than anything. I would give anything to go back and be there for Benji. Pauly knows I see red and lose all thought for consequences whenever I think someone is being bashed. If they had said Sean was a conceited asshole who needed to be taken down a couple of pegs, I probably would’ve gone along, but not made the hit as bad as I did. I still would’ve been in the wrong. What he doesn’t understand, I don’t think, is that by telling me it was about protecting someone who was being bashed, but in reality he was the one who was being bashed, he made me the bully. He turned me into a gay-basher. It’s hard to wrap my head around.”

I nodded and pondered over his words for a moment. “Actually, you’re wrong. You didn’t know Sean was really gay and being bashed. You thought you were protecting someone. In this case, I think it’s important to look at your intentions, not your actions. People judge others all the time on their intentions or their actions, depending on what suits them best. If they want someone to look like the bad guy and their actions were wrong, but the intent was good, they would judge on the actions. If they wanted to view someone as a hero, they would focus on the good intentions. Right now, focus on your intentions, not your actions. Don’t think about Smith’s or Rogers’ intentions or actions. You’re only accountable for yourself. You know where your heart is. You thought you were doing the right thing. Let Rogers, Pauly- I think I might have to start calling him that- let him deal with what he’s done. He’s going to need your forgiveness before he’ll be able to fully forgive himself.”

Suddenly, I had an epiphany. It was like the clouds parted and the sun shined down from the heavens and everything suddenly became clear. I needed to take my own fucking advise and let Scott know I forgave him for what happened and ask if he could ever forgive me. I needed to do it right then. I looked at Hunter and said, “I’m sorry. I need to make a phone call. Turns out, I need to listen to myself more often. Evidently, I give awesome advice.”

I stood and walked to Sean and said, “Hey, I’m going to go outside for a second. I need to call Scott.”

Sean’s eyebrows rose into his hair. Then I heard, “You need to call who?” and “Why in the hell would you call that son-of-a-bitch after what he did to you?” come from both sides.

I looked around and noticed Robert and Josh on either side of me looking like I’d lost my damn mind.

“I said, I need to call Scott. Like, right now. And Robert, I need you to know I forgive you.”

He didn’t question what the forgiveness was about, his eyes filled with knowing tears and he nodded. I walked over to him and gave him a hug, and whispered, “I’m sorry. I should have told you that months ago. I didn’t realize how important it is to hear those words until I told Hunter he needed to let Rogers know he forgave him in order for Rogers to be able to forgive himself. I need to let Scott know I forgive him and need to know if he could ever forgive me.”

He whispered in my ear, “I love you, Teej. Thank you for saying that.”

I pulled away and surreptitiously wiped at my eyes. I said to the group, “Enough of this fucking mushy emotional shit. Oh, oops sorry Rogers’ Granma. I mean enough of this stupid mushy emotional stuff.”

The table erupted in laughter and Josh spoke, “No, you didn’t. You meant exactly what you said in the first place. Rogers’ Granma, you’ll have to forgive my brother. The things that come out of his mouth don’t get filtered, like at all, ever. He cusses more than a sailor and says whatever he can to get a rise out of people.”

Rogers’ Granma smiled at me. “Young man, first off call me Doris or Granma. Second, I honestly don’t give a flying fuck what you say, as long as you are honest and not saying shit to intentionally hurt someone. Otherwise, have fun.”

I smiled back and said, “I think I’m going to like you, old woman. We need to be friends.”

She shot me a mockingly shocked look and gasped. “Old woman? Why you little…didn’t you say you have a phone call to make or something? Now go on and hurry back. I won’t stop any of these big hunks of men here from eating your steak if you’re not back in time.”

I walked out the door and pulled out my phone. I pulled up Scott’s name and hovered over the green call button for a few long moments. Finally, I hit it and held the phone up to my ear. I didn’t change my phone number after I moved down here, since I’ve had the same number since I got my first cell-phone five years ago. Hopefully, he didn’t erase my number. The phone rang a few times and just before I thought the voicemail was going to pick up, I heard an unfamiliar voice answer with a laugh. “Hello?”

I hesitated for a second before saying, “Sorry I guess I got the wrong number.”

Before I could hang up the unfamiliar voice said, “Wait! TJ is that you? Hold on let me find Scott.” There was a brief pause and then I heard the voice call out. “Scott! Hey babe, get out of the pool. You need to get this call.”

The voice said into the phone, “He’ll be here in just a minute. Sorry, I should’ve answered with ‘Scott’s phone,’ but I didn’t want to miss the call. He’s been wanting to talk to you for a while. He wasn’t sure if the call would go through though. Oh, by the way, my name’s Ryan. Ryan Nelson. I don’t know if you remember me…”

Before he could continue, I interrupted. “Yeah, I remember you. I wasn’t aware you were friends with Scott.”

Ryan laughed. “I wasn’t until this summer. Hold on, here he is.”

I heard Scott’s familiar voice ask, “Who is it babe? I thought my dad was spending the night at Jim’s. He made it sound like they would be fucking all night, like we’re supposed to be doing.”

I was flabbergasted. Ryan laughed and said, “It’s not your dad. You know he and Jim are spending the night at the Gaylord. They need a little romance. We’ll discuss our events later. Right now, speak.”

Next, I heard, “This is Scott.”

“Umm, hey Scott, this is TJ. TJ Kennedy,” I added unnecessarily. “Hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”

“TJ? Is it really you? Oh, my god! I umm yeah, I mean no you’re fine. I mean I’m not busy. I was just swimming at Ryan’s. He’s, umm, he’s my boyfriend. I guess you can say things have really turned around for me since you left.”

“Turned around for good or bad?” I ask cautiously.

“Honestly, both.”

“I hear that. I guess you can say the same for me. Look, I need to tell you something. I want you to know I forgive you for everything that was said and done, and I hope one day you can find it in you to forgive me for outing you. It wasn’t fair to you. I had no right to do it.”

He laughed a little and said, “Wow, the world works in strange and mysterious ways. I actually have been avoiding calling you for a few months. First, let me say the day you found me with Kim, I was coming off almost a full week of a drunken bender. I don’t remember anything from the time the door opened till I was outside yelling at you to get off my property. When Kim and I went inside, I started freaking out. I made her tell me everything that happened and when she was finished, I couldn’t believe it. I told her to get the fuck out of my house and never speak to me again. I also told her to never speak about you in a negative way. If I found out she did, well let’s just say I might have threatened her ability to continue existing on the mortal plane. I was hoping she had made most of it up. When you wouldn’t answer my calls or return my texts, I decided to try and talk to you face to face. I wanted for what Kim had told me to not be true so badly, but I could tell by my greeting from Josh and what you said, it was all true and there was nothing I could do. You were leaving to live with your brother and nephew and I would never see you again.

“I tried calling you and texting you for that first week you were gone. I realize now how obsessive my actions seemed. When I saw that post, I lost my mind. I was alone in the house. My mom was out of town visiting my aunt and my dad was working late. So, I raided the liquor cabinet. I’m not sure how much I drank or how I managed to get behind the wheel of my car. What I do remember is waking up in the hospital with a broken arm, cuts all over my upper body, two black eyes, and ten stitches above my right eyebrow.”

A sudden wave of guilt flooded over me and I gasped out, “Oh my fucking god! Scott, I’m so sorry I did that to you. I…I…” I couldn’t get any other words out through the tears and sobs.

Finally, I heard Scott’s voice soothingly repeating, “Calm down. It wasn’t your fault. I promise.”

I responded, “How can you not blame me? If I hadn’t been so fucking vindictive, you wouldn’t have drank so much and then driven your car.”

He interrupted, “Listen to the last two things you said. I drank the alcohol and I decided to drive my car. I made those choices myself. There were other factors that led me there other than the post. I was avoiding seeing the truth that my parent’s marriage was falling apart, and I lost the person who, at the time, I thought I would never be able to replace.

When I woke up in the hospital, my dad laid down the law. He asked me how much drinking I had been doing and when he heard what he feared, he told me I was going to start going to AA meetings. I was going to take them seriously by finding a sponsor. His name is Pete and he’s Ryan’s older brother. I was going to work the steps. He told me he was going to personally take me to the meetings, wait in the parking lot, then take me straight home. I was basically grounded, and I don’t blame him for doing that.

“When we got to the house, he told me he and my mom were getting divorced because he finally admitted to himself he was gay. He told me before he met my mom, he had sex with guys. He never cheated on her. They just finally realized they weren’t happy together anymore. She moved in with her sister and my dad and I were going to stay in the house.

“I thought I was in hell,” he said with a laugh. “I was convinced I was going to hate everything about AA. But, turns out, I needed it more than I realized. When I walked into the room and saw the steps hanging on the wall and read Step One- ‘I admitted I was powerless over alcohol and my life had become unmanageable,’ it hit me hard. I turned to alcohol when I didn’t want to face the truth about my parents. Then after I lost you, it was there waiting for me. Crashing my car into a tree with a blood-alcohol level of .25 sounds unmanageable to me.

“I’m letting you know all this, so you know where I’m coming from. I’ve been working the steps with my sponsor and got stuck at Step 8- ‘Make a list of all the persons we have harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.’ Which leads to Step 9- ‘Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.’

“I couldn’t bring myself to face you and try to make amends for what I did. I was scared. Making amends isn’t just saying ‘I’m sorry.’ It’s acknowledging your mistakes in the past. It’s making a promise to the person you harmed that you are going to live every day trying your hardest not to repeat the mistake. Finally, it’s following through on the promise by living your life a better person.

“I needed to prove to myself I was capable of making and fulfilling that promise. Ryan has helped me realize I can promise you I will never do anything to hurt someone the way I hurt you, emotionally, physically, and verbally. I’m in a good place now and hearing you say you forgive me helps me more than you’ll ever know.

“You asked if I could ever find it in myself to forgive you. The answer is easily one-hundred percent YES. As long as you promise you’ll forgive yourself.”

“Thank you so much. I promise I’ll forgive myself as long as you do the same.”

“Sounds good. So, do you think we could be friends? We never really were, but I know you were the best part of my life when you were in it. I also want you to meet Ryan. I think the two of you would get along well.”

“I think friends sounds good. I have someone I want you to meet as well. His name is Sean and we’ve been together since the Friday before school started. You won’t believe this, but I landed myself a hot-jock who is smart as fuck and kind also. You also need to meet my brother’s boyfriend Kevin.”

“Robert has a boyfriend now? I thought he was straight. Wow!”

I let out a loud laugh and said, “Oh shit! I didn’t tell you! That day I went to your house, I had been at the lawyer’s with Robert to settle our parent’s estate. There was a letter for me written by my mom…” I told him everything.

By the time I finished the story, all he could say was, “Wow! That’s just…wow that’s fucked up.”

“Yeah. So, now I love confusing people by introducing them to my brother Robert and his son Josh, who’s also my brother.”

I guess he put me on speaker phone at some point, because I could hear both his and Ryan’s laughter. I was happy we both ended up finding happiness with someone. Who knows if things had been different what would’ve happened between us, but I really don’t want to imagine a world without Sean in my life.

Just as that thought entered my mind and I was about to say my goodbyes to Scott and Ryan, I felt a masculine arm and a cast wrap around my waist. I turned with a broad grin to see Sean. He smiled back, but I saw a little bit of worry in his eyes too. I said into the phone, “Hey guys, I have to go. I must have been gone long enough for Sean to get worried. Call me soon. I don’t know if it’s possible or when it could happen, but maybe Sean and I could make a road trip up to Dallas area and we can all get together for a bit. I would like to officially meet Ryan.”

“Will do. Talk to you later. And TJ…I…ah…I miss you.”

“I miss you too, Scott. I’ll never forget how you refused to leave my side that weekend. That’s how I choose to remember you from now on. The friend who leant me his strength in my worst moment. If I don’t hear from you soon, I’ll do something dramatic. Who knows what I’ll post next.”

Thankfully, Scott understands my sense of humor and I know I can now joke with him about our past. Who knows, maybe somewhere in the future, the two of them will somehow join our little family. Well, little being anywhere between seventeen and twenty-five people.

After I hung up, I smiled up at Sean. He asked, “I take it that went well?”

“Very well. Turns out, he needed to talk to me too, but was too scared to try. He didn’t think I would want to speak to him. Not gonna lie, a few months ago I would’ve laughed in your face if you had suggested there would be a time I would willingly call Scott and be able to forgive him. Now, I’m glad I’m here. Thank you for helping me be a better person. Now, let’s go eat. I’m fucking starving. The food hasn’t been sitting out for like twenty minutes has it?”

“No, that’s why I came out here. The food just made it out. Come on. The quicker we eat, the quicker we can get in bed,” Sean said through a chuckle.

“But, I’m not really tired. I don’t want to go to bed. What is there to do in bed with my boyfriend?” I teased.

“Ha. Ha. Ha,” Sean deadpanned.

I noticed Rogers and Hunter were sitting next to each other smiling and laughing at something Ethan was telling them. I also noticed Jacob, Robert, Lori, Mr. Landrum- who somehow made it here and snuck in while I was on the phone- and Granma were sitting away from everyone else deep in conversation. They looked like they were plotting something. I tried to casually sneak by and maybe hear what was being said but had no luck. The second Granma spotted me, she told the others to shut-up and start eating, they could discuss anything else later.

Great, my curiosity was spiked and there was nothing but blank poker faces staring back at me. Granma barked out at me, “Sit your scrawny ass down and eat your damn dinner. Stop trying to be in everyone’s business.”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” I replied with a half-assed mock-salute.

“Boy, don’t get smart with me!” she replied with a smile.

I smirked, “Sorry, Granma. Next time I’ll just be dumb.”

“Shouldn’t be t-t-too hard for you then, T-T-Teej,” I heard from the other side of the table.

I shot Ethan a glare. He just smiled back at me before he turned to Patrick and said, “Ya-ya-you’ll protect m-me, won’t you?” The puppy-dog eyes he was throwing Patrick would’ve melted butter in Alaska in winter. Patrick stood no chance against them. I thought to myself, ‘Damn, if Ethan and Josh ever teamed up, we would all be doomed. They could take over the world between the blue puppy-dog eyes and those fucking dimples.’

After dinner, Hunter and Rogers made their way over to Sean and me. Rogers had his hands in his pockets and was looking at the ground. He glanced in Sean’s direction and asked, “So, do you think we could maybe hang out again soon? I’m serious when I say I’m tired of Smith telling me how to think and act. I hope you’ll forgive me. I’m going to talk to Coach Wilson on Monday and tell him everything. I’m just going to miss playing. Hopefully, I’ll still be able to get on a decent college team and they’ll overlook me not playing half of my senior year.”

Sean contemplated Rogers’ words for a moment and said, “If you’re serious about wanting to change, help us start the GSA at school. Start eating lunch with us. Hang out with us. We accept all kinds around here, as you can see. If you do all that, Coach doesn’t have to know the details of what really happened. We all know Smith will never come clean. He’ll deny everything till his last breath. You’re our best defensive linesman. We need you on the team. I forgive you both. Let’s not punish everyone by losing you.”

Rogers looked hopeful for a moment, until I spoke up. “However, if anyone of us sees you talking to, hanging around, or having any contact with Smith, or if we hear you say anything hateful to anyone, we’ll go directly to Coach and Robert and let them deal with you.”

He nodded emphatically. “I can get with that. I don’t know when the last time I had this much fun was. Normally, if we don’t go to the team party, Smith just wants to drive out to the boonies and drink beer. I hated going with him, but he would refuse to take me home and always told me I could walk if I didn’t want to be around him. I think it’s time I started ‘using the sense God gave a goose,’ as Granma would say.”

“Don’t bullshit them Pauly. I would say, ‘Use your damn brain, or be a damn idiot the rest of your life. It’s your choice.’ But I would tell you if you made the wrong choice and let you choose again.”

She came over to me and grabbed me by the arm. She threaded her arm through mine and told me, “Now, be a gentleman and walk a nice old lady to her car. You wouldn’t want me to get mugged or something, now would you?”

I looked down at her and grinned. “If I see a nice old lady anywhere around here, I’ll do that. Right now, all I see is a Munchkin who can probably barely see over the steering wheel of her land barge.”

Hunter and Rogers looked at each other in surprise. Hunter finally said, “Damn, nobody talks to Granma like that. I’m surprised she hasn’t told you off.”

“Hunter, dear, I love you. But haven’t you realized the reason nobody talks to me like that is because they’re all afraid I won’t leave them as much when I die if they don’t kiss my ass? Now, I have no idea where that idea came from, but all three of my children think they have to worship the ground I walk on. Who am I to tell them differently? I get treated like my word is law and they foolishly think I’ll leave them everything. Here’s a little hint. You and Pauly and your cousin Katie need to be prepared to be stupid rich when I die. My ungrateful offspring have talked so much shit behind my back they don’t think I know about, it’s almost laughable. So, I decided to leave everything to y’all. It’s your decision if you share with your parents.”

Pauly’s mouth was hanging open and Granma laughed loudly. “Hunter, help your cousin. I think I gave him a stroke.”

Pauly shook his head and said, “No, no, I’m fine. I’m just realizing I get to decide how much allowance my dad should get each month sometime in the future. Let’s see how he likes depending on everyone else for a ride because he’s too cheap to buy me a car.”

Granma looked like a proud grandmother when she started dragging me toward the door. She said loud enough for Pauly and Hunter to hear, “I knew he had some of me deep down in him. I’ve always thought he should be more in touch with his inner-bitch. Don’t you agree TJ?”

“I think Pauly will fit in just fine if he continues to channel you through his inner-bitch. Wait. Did I just indirectly call you a bitch to your face? You set me up! Good job!”

Pauly groaned. “Great! Are all of y’all going to start calling me Pauly?”

Patrick spoke up, “Hey, it beats the hell out of Pattycakes.”

Josh laughed and reached up to pinch Patrick’s cheeks. “But we wuv our Pattycakes. We like to roll him up, roll him up, throw him in the pan.” He paused for a few seconds and then continued, “That sounded so much better in my head. Dammit! Oh well, you’ll always be our Pattycakes.”

By the time we got home, I was ready to crawl in bed and pass out. It had been an interesting, emotional, entertaining, fun as fuck night. I let Sean take the first shower. I guess I fell asleep waiting for him to finish, because next thing I knew, I woke up with the sun shining through the curtains while Sean spooned me from behind. I didn’t even remember taking off my shoes the night before.

As I stretched and snuggled in closer to Sean, I felt his lips kiss my neck. I groaned as I rubbed my ass against his morning wood. He moaned into my shoulder as he pulled me tighter to hold me closer to his body. Just as I was about to roll over and kiss him probably and grab his hard cock, I heard a knock on the door, followed by Robert yelling, “Get your asses out of bed. Don’t make me come back and tell you again.”

Sean sighed, and I smiled at him. “You know, he’s been saying that every Saturday morning for the past two months and he has never once come back and opened the door.” I slipped my hand into his basketball shorts and grabbed his thick shaft. I placed a light kiss on his lips and whispered, “When was the last time either of us took care of this for you? I forgot, you’re crippled and need my help with some things. Do you need a hand with this? Or a mouth? Or maybe an ass?”

“Don’t tease me Teej. I haven’t been able to jack-off all week thanks to ‘no strenuous activities’ combined with the cast on my dominant hand. I actually had a wet dream the other night and had to change my fucking sheets in the middle of the night. Thankfully, I washed and dried them after dad left for work and before you got there during the day. I haven’t woken up with wet sheets in like two years.”

I started sliding down under the covers and lowered his shorts as I went. He stopped me and said, “If we’re going to do this flip around here and let me have some fun too.”

I smiled and kicked off my shorts and threw the sheets back. We were both naked, Sean was laying on his back, and I was straddling his chest with his dick in my face. We both attacked the other and took the cock before us to the root. Just as I was lifting my head, I heard Robert’s voice right before the door flew open. “I thought I told you…oh fuck!” The door slammed shut. About five seconds later Robert yelled, “I’m heading to Lowes to buy a fucking lock for all the bedroom doors. Everyone better be out of bed and dressed by the time I get back, so you can put your new locks on yourself. Come on, Lori. Are you ready?”

I heard my drama teacher’s laugh echo through the hall as she said, “I told you to leave them alone. One day, you’ll listen to me. Don’t take too long boys, you never know when we’ll be back.”

After I heard the front door close, I couldn’t hold in my laughter any longer. “What the actual fuck just happened?”

From next door I heard Josh and Kevin laughing uncontrollably. Sean finally spoke up and said, “I don’t know what the fuck you all think is so fucking funny. It was my hard dick the assistant principal just saw. Not any of y’alls.”

The laughter from Josh’s room intensified and I laughed out, “Hey he also saw my ass. At least most of your cock was hidden in my mouth. You had my ass on full display with your left hand grabbing my cheek.” I plunged back down on Sean’s cock. Hey, why let a hard dick go to waste?

Once we finished and came down from our orgasmic highs and the grunts and groans and pants stopped from the other room, I realized out loud, “Why the fuck was Lori here this early in the goddammed morning. Fuck, she knows what we were doing in here! I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

I heard movement from outside my door but was still too spent to move. Suddenly the door swung open and I looked up to see my little brother standing in the doorway buck-ass naked with more than a semi. I realized my little brother isn’t really little. He’s about as big as his big brother. As he ran back towards his room, I yelled, “What the fuck Josh? Where the hell do you hide that fucking thing?”

The snickers and laughter I heard through the walls got louder and Kevin yelled back, “In my throat or my ass. Same place I hide mine, only with him.”

In a quieter voice I heard Josh ask, “Okay, your turn. Truth or dare?”

I laughed, slipped on my shorts, and started heading to Josh’s room when Kevin said, “Truth. I don’t want Teej to see my dick. He’ll make a joke about it later.”

I swung open Josh’s door and saw a naked Kevin next to a naked Josh. I laughed louder and said, “Damn Kevin, is that a baby’s arm or are you just happy to see me?”

Before he could respond, I closed the door and went back to check on Sean. Josh surprised the shit out of me when he said, “You should see it when it gets hard,” followed by a peal of laughter.