Jimmy & Richie - 22. Chapter 22

I woke up with Rich kissing me, his hands were where they shouldn’t have been. “We need to be careful. I’d be embarrassed if Brand or Charles came to wake us, and I was in the throes of an orgasm.”

“Aw, I like to hold this.”

“I know you do, but can we wait till we take a shower?”

“You’re a party pooper”

“I’ll make it up to you”

“What are you going to do to make it up ?”

“Go back to sleep, Nick, this is a private discussion.”

Nick turned over and placed his hand on Rich’s. “I see what’s going on.”

“No, you feel what is going on, and I don’t like to get stabbed in the back.”

That did it. Rich started to laugh. At first, it was a giggle, and then it got louder. Of course, that set me off, and then Nick was laughing as well.

Brand stuck his head in the door, “Why are you guys making such a racket? Come on get up, breakfast is ready.”

We quickly went to the bathroom to take care of a pressing water problem. Washed out hands and headed to the kitchen in our briefs. Breakfast over, showers done, dressed we head out to see the metropolis called Ames.

“Let’s take my car until you can get yours clean. I’ll show you where you can take it.”

Ames isn’t a big city, but we saw the school where Brand teaches, the building housing the law practices of Eastering and Eastering. We stopped at Nick’s favorite places and managed to meet some of his friends. It was a fun day. We had a nice lunch at an Italian restaurant. They must have known Nick because they served him a large platter of spaghetti with meatballs.

Dinner that evening was Chinese take out. Again the amount of food was unbelievable. Although after that evening, I could have eaten a snack. I did call Gram and told her where we were, she said to tell Brandon and Charles hello.

“Jimmy, want to go and get some ice cream?”

“Sure, is Brandon and Charles going to come with us?”

“I’ll ask,”

“Rich, we’re going to get some ice cream, so put your shoes back on.”

“They said to go without them.”

We followed Nick out to the car, he picked up some of the big stuff from the floor in the back, “Tomorrow we can take your car to get it cleaned.”

Nick took us to one of his hangouts. As soon as we walked in, he was in the middle of a bunch of guys. I just looked at Rich as they were asking where was he this summer, who are those two guys, did he meet any girls, the questions just kept popping out of the air. I saw a table in the corner and headed in that direction. It seemed for a minute Nick forgot about us, then when I started to move, he grabbed me and yelled, “Hold it, too many questions. Give me a minute, and I’ll answer them. I went back East with Brandon and Charles to visit Brandon’s grandparents. When I got there, I met Jimmy and Rich. Jimmy is Brandon’s brother, and Rich is his friend. They were in high school together, and now they’re both enrolled at Ohio State. When Brandon and Charles had to return, I decided to stay. So all summer I was with them, then we went to Niagara Falls to visit Rich’s dad. He’s a troubleshooter for a large construction company. We spent the last days traveling from Niagara Falls to here. And yes, Bobby, I did meet a girl.”

One of the guys came up to me, “So you’re Mr. Ricardo’s brother?”

“Yes, I’m his younger brother.”

Rich started to laugh. The guy looked at Rich.

“You know that I’ll be going to Ohio State, and my brother has been teaching for a while. He’s older than me. Don’t be upset because of the laugh. He wasn’t making fun of you.”

“Oh, ok.”

“Chuck, these are terrific guys. I consider them brothers.”

“Nick, let’s get our ice cream, and you can invite your friends. I’ll pay.”

Nick did just that. A couple of the guys pulled together the tables to make a large table which we all sat around. Two of the waitresses came over and took our orders. “Nick, I expected to see some girls here.”

“No, we all swore off of girls until they realize that we don’t want them gossiping or being sluts.” I just looked at Rich.

Then the ice creams started to come, dishes, cones, sundaes, and milkshakes. When it was time to leave, everyone said thank you. It was nice to meet us. I was sure by the looks we were receiving that there would be questions for Nick.

“Nick, we should get some ice cream to take home for Brandon and Charles.”

Nick order a half-gallon of chocolate fudge ice cream to go. They placed it in a special bag with a chip of dry ice. “We pay an extra dollar for the bag, and when we bring it back, we get the dollar.”

Over the next few days, we did get the car cleaned, washed our clothes, and even did a little shopping at one of the malls. Leaving was hard, I knew I’d miss Brandon, but I didn’t realize how much I’d miss Nick.

On the day we‘d be heading back, as I placed our luggage in the boot, Brandon came and gave me a package. I was told not to open it until I got home. Nick came and hugged us, promised to keep in touch, and said he expected to see us over breaks. As I pulled out from their apartment, I had a few tears in my eyes.

We drove home in one day; the only stop we made was for gas. We grabbed some sandwiches, filled our thermos with coffee, and we were back on the road. While I drove, Rich slept, while Rich drove I slept. It was early morning when I drove into Gramps gate and the garage. I knew Gramps would be at work. We stopped at the house to be welcomed by Frick and Frack as well as Miss Marie and Gram.

Miss Marie made breakfast for us. Gram sat in the kitchen and had a cup of coffee. I got the impression that Gram spent many hours in the kitchen with Miss Marie. We had to tell them about our trip. How Richard’s dad was doing, how Brandon and Charles were doing, you get the picture. Sometimes when you don’t travel much, you sort of live through the eyes and experience of someone else.

“Gram, Miss Marie, thank you for breakfast. We’re going to go to bed and try and get a few comfortable hours of sleep. We drove straight through, only stopping for gas.”

“Be sure to come for dinner at six. Your grandfather will want to see you.”

We gave Gram and Miss Marie a kiss on their cheek and headed to our apartment. We didn’t even unpack, just took off our clothes and hit the bed, in less than two minutes we were soundly asleep.

The phone rang and woke us. I glanced at the clock; it was five. I answered the phone. It was Brandon checking that we got home ok. We talked for a few minutes. Then Nick wanted to say hello. Only with Nick, it wasn’t a few minutes. “I saw the guys this afternoon. They thought you and Rich were pretty cool, and thanks for the ice cream.”

“Nick, we miss you already. Listen we have to go to dinner soon, how about Skype this evening.”

Nick agreed, I hung up. Rich took my hand and led me to the shower. Showering with Rich is something else. It has got to be the longest shower ever. Drying each other also takes a little time.

“Let’s get dressed for dinner.”

“I already had my dinner.”

“That wasn’t dinner, that was dessert.”

“Hm the best cream dessert ever.”

We did get dressed and walked to Grams holding hands. We had our usual guides, Frick and Frack. “Have you ever thought about having a dog.”

“No why would I want three dogs, these two are enough.”

“I meant when we have our place.”

“We have our place.” “

You know what I mean.”

“Yes, I know what you mean. I’m not sure what the future holds. First, we need to concentrate on getting our degrees.”

“Good evening Miss Marie, whatever you’re cooking smells delicious. We have missed your cooking over the last few days. Rich, make a note, when we get our place, we will steal Miss Marie from Gram.”

Walking into the drawing-room, “Good evening, Gram. I just told Miss Marie when we get our own home; I’m going to steal her from you.”

I always like the smiles on Grams face. They are smiles of love. “Is Gramps home yet?”

“I hear the gate. He must be coming now.”

Frick and Frack headed for the door. As soon as it was open, two dogs were sitting in front of the door, waiting to be petted. When they were greeted, they came and sat in front of Rich, and I.

Gramps walked into the living room, “Good evening Richard, James. How was the trip?”

“It was great Gramps, Rich’s dad was surprised to see us, and he said that he’d be taking a few weeks off after this job is finished to spend with Rich. I think that’s a good idea.”

“Are you ready to come back to work?”

“Yes, when do you want me to start?”

“How about tomorrow? Maybe you could come as well Richard, I think I can find something for you to do.”

“Thanks Gramps, I’d like to help out since I’ll be living here. I’ve always paid my way by doing chores. Maybe helping out at the plant might be a way to pay you back for your generosity.”

“Well, come into the office and fill out some papers.”

“Gramps, here is your credit card back. I have all of the receipts tallied. I’ll bring them with me to the office tomorrow.”

“Keep the credit card. It’s yours. I know you won’t use it foolishly. Think of it as a gift for uncovering a very ugly mess.”

“Thank Gramps." I gave him a hug and a kiss on his cheek. "You have been very generous to me, and I’ll do my best to make you proud of me.”

“You already have my boy.”

I watched Rich sit down and sign a bunch of papers. Gramps made a phone call, the same two men came and picked them up.

“Which one of you is James Ricardo?”

“I am James Ricardo, sir.”

“We just want to thank you. If you ever need any help, let us know.”

Rich’s eyes opened, Gramps smiled, and I guess I had a confused look on my face.

“Those two men are the best friends you’ll ever have. They’ll watch out for you two.”

“Is this because of the tapes?”

“Yes, you saved the government a lot of money by bringing a long drawn out case to a conclusion. If it weren’t for the tapes, they wouldn’t have the conclusive proof of the tie in to the Russia. We, you primarily, gave them the bow on the prize.”

I felt right about that. “Gramps won’t Rich have to wait for his clearance before he starts at the plant?”

“Yes, but that’ll be done tomorrow so he can start the day after tomorrow.”

Miss Marie announced dinner is served. There are a lot of people who can’t cook a roast of beef. They either overcook it or undercook it. Miss Marie always cooks it so it’s pink in the center and very tender.

That evening as we walked back to the apartment, “Rich, tomorrow you can drive me to work, and then you can do the laundry, including the sheets. I’ll phone you when it’s time to pick me up. We can have dinner in town, just the two of us. Be sure to remind Miss Marie. I’ll let Gramps know.”

That evening I still wasn’t hitting on all of my cylinders. I Skype with Mike, he was getting ready to go to Florida. Rich and he talked for a little while and then we said goodbye. Next we Skype with Nick, we both said we missed him. I told him my back was cold and I couldn’t sleep very well. He just laughed and it seemed my family was growing based on friends, Rich was the exception, but Nick and Charles are both getting close to us.

“Rich I’m going to bed. Tell Nick we can chat again tomorrow.” I kissed him on his cheek, and I knew Nick saw it and figured out that I was heading to bed