The Company - 14. Back to Arrowhead

i.

The bus ride to Arrowhead Lodge was quiet. Almost everyone either napped or talked quietly. Alan handed the bus driver a tape of his first show so Led Zeppelin played at a modest volume all the way.

I had hoped that Matthew would catch Chip Daniel's eye but, Chip was enjoying Danny’s company. Matthew was sitting with Rich chatting quietly.

Aaron and Rocky were sitting a row in front of Philip and Robbie MacDonald. Jacob Porter and Tommy Holloway were napping.

Steven, JJ, Cory and Scott were all in a row across from each other sleeping as were Charlie, Zack and the Knight twins.

I gathered with Tony and Chris, and we talked strategy. We wanted to get as much fun in for the guys between twelve and three when day shift would have to crash, so they could catch the bus at eight. Night shift guys wouldn’t have to crash until later.

Chris suggested, “We should do small group games like we did on our last get together. Everyone seemed to enjoy it last time.”

“I’ve got Bart working on that. We’ve got a ton of new people, so we’re going to make random groups to help the guys get to know each other. One of my surprises is Dr. Chang will be with us for a short while. His nephews are with us, and they were pretty upset about being sent away by their family. Frank is looking after them, and you know how sweet our kids are. Their family didn’t do it because they hate them. AIDS is eating up the Bay Area, and they wanted them far away from that.”

“That sucks for them”, Tony said. “What about the new boy from DeKalb?”

“That’s Robbie McDonald. When Philip and I were at the mall, we overheard a gross mall cop trying to extort sex from him. Apparently, his family is more into dope than parenthood, and he’s been badly neglected. I got him some clothes, and he cleaned up nicely. When I talked to the Sheriff about the Mall Cop he let slip a couple of things: the SO’s Narcs are going to serve warrants and clean out that trailer park in the early morning. Second: the powers at be had been looking for a reason why we shouldn’t have so many kids. One of the Shrinks was there today to find a reason but, instead he found out we’re doing a better job than many expensive clinics. They are going to issue a license for us to run a group home. Since we aren’t state funded, we don’t fall under their bureaucracy.”

Chris asked, “That’s good. I know you love them Tim but, how many kids do you want to have?”

“What we have are several groups: the ones that we’re directly responsible for like Toby, Brandon, Barry, Brian, Aaron, Adam, Ray, Walt and Juan. Then there are those that choose to closely associate with us like Cole and Jeb. The next group is the ones whose parents work so much they’re just better off with us, like Kevin, Lance, Steven, Scott, JJ and Cory. Even though they frequently visit with their folks, we barely miss them. Then we have my cousins Lee and Alan. Then we have those that live with their parents, and we see every day like Kelly, Jo-Jo, Larry and Tommy. The next batch is the ones that work with us, live at home, and we just see a lot of them. So, it seems like we have a lot more kids than we actually do.”

Tony said, “This is getting complicated. How many more did we get today?”

“We had a great day. You know Ritchie and his boys will move on Sunday.”

Chris said, “I love Billy and Little Robbie, but Tracy takes a little getting used to and, Little Dave’s buddy Todd has the makings of a real horn dog. I’m glad we’ll have Ritchie inside. Another grown up will really help, and everybody likes him.”

I chuckled and said, “Ritchie, a grown-up? He’s our age.”

Tony asked, “Todd isn’t bugging you, is he?”

Chris laughed and said, “When the day comes I can’t handle a puppy like Todd, I’ll retire and do something less stressful like join the Marines.”

Tongue firmly in cheek, “Are you getting pointers from Gunny Anders again?”

“I’ll never tell”, Chris responded coyly.

I said, “Today we hired Sharon Watts to help Maria and her boys are coming with her: Scotty is buds with Robbie and Billy and Gene plays ball with Ray. The other batch is the Bowers boys Mike and Rusty and their cousin Eddie. My Dad and grandfather and their father used to be hunting buddies back in the day. I’d met Mike, but he was so little I didn’t recognize him.”

“Then we have the boys from Sandy Hills. We’ll get Angel because Maria is his closest living relative, and we’ll probably be seeing a lot of the other three. Adrian Moss is my cousin Mike Porter’s best buddy. Joey insisted we get Rich Kelly, and there’s more to him than I thought.”

Tony said, “I’m going to need a scorecard to keep up but, you know, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Chris said, “Me either.”

Danny came and sat in the seat behind me and said, “We had a little drama at the Game Zone tonight you should hear about.”

I said, “What happened?”

Danny said, “A kid came in and claimed that someone had stolen his bike. I took him back to the cameras and asked him to show me where it was, and he confessed that he was trying to scam a bike.”

Chris asked, “What did you do?”

“I told him that wasn’t very nice, bought him a cheeseburger and gave him a bag of tokens.”

I grinned and asked, “Cute was he?”

Danny said, “As a button. The little guy’s name is Mark Polk, and he lives a block over from Ritchie and Sean's apartments. I have a feeling he’s going to be one of ours. He wants attention badly. When I was nice to him, he followed me around like a puppy for most of the night shift and offered me a hummer if I’d drive him home. I passed on the hummer but drove him home anyway. He lives in a crappy house down the street from Ritchie. Hearts and minds.”

I said, “I think Mark is another one of Billy’s buddies. Good work Danny. You’re getting it. I see you and Chip are getting along.”

Danny said, “And how. If the two of us wander off, don’t come looking.”

“Understood, but stick around long enough to hear about the Plan. Tonight everyone is going to hear what I’ve got in mind for the future— I mean besides for collecting strays.”

Danny said, “I wouldn’t miss that for the world.”

 

 

ii.

The hiss of the air brakes woke me from my cat nap. We arrived a few minutes after midnight.

I looked out the window and got my first look at Arrowhead Lodge after its makeover. Instead of a gravel road and a few parking places, there was a circular concrete drive, parking places and a basketball goal.

Instead of the scruffy bush-hogged grass on the grounds, it was now beautifully landscaped with a hedge of Azaleas around the house, newly planted Magnolias and a line of Lombardy Poplars along the fence line.

A twin of the swimming pool and support building from the park back home sprawled out behind the lodge. The lodge itself had been extensively renovated and looked great. I knew what David Bridges and his men had been up to and, I was sure the day crew guys were having fun discovering the difference.

I grabbed my overnight bag, stood, stretched and brought up the rear of the scrum making their way off the bus. Despite the hour, the guys were excited and got started quickly. I did a quick check to make sure no one left anything as I was last off.

As I passed the driver, a man in his forties and was wearing the uniform of the bus company asked as I passed by, “Mr. Shepherd?”

“Yes?”

The driver said, “When I got this assignment, I was dreading it. Hauling teenagers around is usually a headache. I was pleasantly surprised. You’ve got a great bunch of kids.” He handed me his card and said, “If you need us again, ask for me. They’re the best mannered bunch I’ve ever driven for— much better than elderly tour groups by far. You’ll have a different driver in the morning. I’ve put in the maximum hours today, but I wouldn’t mind driving this bunch anywhere.”

I looked at his card and said, “Thank you, Mr. Jenkins. We’ll be doing this again around the Fourth, so don’t be surprised to see us.”

As soon as I was off and clear, our driver used the big circular drive and headed out. Once the big diesel bus was back on the road, there was no sound but cicadas, crickets and night birds. As I followed the crowd in, Lee appeared at the door, welcoming the night shift as they entered the house.

This time, Arrowhead Lodge didn’t make me feel weird and haunted. It was different enough to avoid pushing the same old buttons in my memory.

The inside was just as different as the outside. Lee had all the new arrivals park their bags against one of the walls of the big, new family room. It had all new carpeting, furniture and a nice new ceiling fan. An entertainment center sat against the front wall opposite the couch, housing a big thirty-six-inch Mitsubishi television, VCR, receiver combo with Bose speakers and Technics components. The satellite brought dozens of channels the Valley had never seen, and an Atari video game console was hooked up.

A few of my cousins were parked in the den. According to Lee, they were the most enthusiastic practitioners of “the hobby”. All of them were wearing nothing but cut off blue jean shorts that showed off wiry muscles and golden tans, except for Billy Johnson. His warm coco colored skin covered long, wiry arms and legs. Lee’s next younger brother, Jason, was sitting with the Porter twins Joey and Bobby.

Jason said, “We appreciate everything you did up here, Tim. The pool alone would have been great. Now we have a place to go for fun that’s not fifty miles away.”

Billy Johnson said, “I thought I’d slipped a gear when I saw this place. It’s really nice now.”

I said, “Arrowhead Lodge just sits empty every summer. I wanted it to be useful to the families so, the last time I was up here, I sketched out some changes I wanted to make. My friend David Bridges came up here with his crew and got it all done. Where are Michael and Keith?”

Lee said, “After Aunt Jean got through fussing over Karl, my younger brothers took him and David over half the county and wore them out. They’re probably all in a dog-pile in the back sleeping. I had the guys park their stuff here. Bart told me that we wouldn’t be sure where we would be staying until the games start. The day shift guys got stuff ready and played around until about eight, and then got some sleep. There are leftovers in the kitchen from supper. I’ve been enjoying hanging with my boys.” He playfully bumped knuckles with Billy.

Billy J said, “We missed you too Lee. Please tell us you’re going to let us party with your guys Tim.”

“Of course. Tonight I’m going to tell my crew what I have in mind for us. I also have a plan for the Valley I’m going to talk to the adults about over the Fourth. I’ve been buying up all the parcels of land that didn't belong to one of the families in estate sales or, late for back taxes. We now own the whole Valley. In a few years, we may even incorporate and call it a town again.”

Jacob Henderson said, “So that’s why all those survey guys have been around.”

“Exactly”, I said. “Now the Valley belongs to us, we’ll have access to a lot more acreage. Have you seen the construction at the old Yarlburo place? That’s going to be the new Valley Co-Op. It’s never made sense for the small farms to have the sort of equipment the big farms use but with the Co-Op, you’ll be able to share bulldozers, combines and heavy stuff none of you could afford on your own. That’s just a start but, it’ll need staff. Can you guys think where we might find some people?”

The Porter twins looked at each other and said, “There will be jobs for us when we graduate next spring!”

I said, “More stuff will be coming but, it’ll take time. Give it four or five years, and the valley will be back in a big way. It’s not getting any earlier so, we had better get started.”

Joey Porter said, “We’ve got everything ready you asked for and, thanks for building our sweat lodge. We’ve always wanted one but why did you make it so big?”

I said, “It can double for a tornado shelter, and we’ll all be in it shortly. I’m expecting another arrival soon…”

Tony and Chris came down the stairs followed closely by Danny and Chip. Tony asked, “Is there any coffee here?”

Soon most of the night shift was downstairs in the kitchen fortifying themselves with coffee or Mountain Dew. I went into the downstairs bedrooms and started waking up the day shift guys.

Toby, Cole, Brandon and Barry were all in the same room that Toby and Brandon had been in on the first trip. They required a few wake up hugs but were eager to get started. They helped me pass the word.

Randy, Frank and Jeb came out of the room we had shared with Minh and Sang who were laughing and running around with Matty and Joey.

The kitchen soon became crowded and soon spilled onto the big screen porch. The porch had been upgraded too. It was glassed in and had ceiling fans and central air. All the original furniture was there plus a bunch of new stuff. Outside was a row of four big concrete picnic tables similar to the ones in the park.

While we were getting everyone up and circulating, Dr. Chang arrived and hugged his nephews who looked a lot happier than they did this afternoon.

I noticed that Larry and Rusty were chatting up Tommy and Jacob. That was good to see. There were several reunions that went very well. Joey was delighted to see that Rich was with us as were Cory and Steven. I didn’t expect Robbie McDonald to have anything in common with Matty, but they appeared to know each other.

Dr. Chang got blood samples from the new guys and my cousins. Once everyone was awake and caffeinated, Jeb passed the word and people started to vanish and return wearing Speedo and flip-flops. My older cousins didn’t have Speedo but, their blue jean shorts left little to the imagination. Jacob Porter and the younger Henderson boys seemed to have borrowed some Speedo.

While everyone was preparing for our get-together, Dr. Chang approached me with a big grin and said, “Minh and Sang are much better tonight. They said they’ve had a lot of fun.”

“I’m glad. They were pretty miserable this afternoon. Did you get their surprises?”

Chang said, “Yes. Billy is taking care of them. I’ve got rounds tomorrow so, I’m going to head back.”

“It’s your plan too.”

He chuckled and said, “It’s your charisma making it work. Besides, I look terrible in Speedo.”

Dr. Chang got a big cup of coffee to go and headed back home.

I took my bag upstairs and settled in the Master bedroom noting mysterious post-it notes and a box with interesting things on the foot of the bed.

The master bedroom had been re-modeled and redecorated. The big king-size bed still dominated the space, but the carpet was new, and the bathroom had been completely redone. It was now twice as big because the room next door had a bathroom, the wall had been taken out. It now boasted a big open shower with four shower heads that several people could use at once. I got out of my clothes, donned my red Speedo and put on a pair of flip-flops. It was almost showtime.

As I was coming down the hall back to the stairs, I came up behind Larry and Rusty, put my arms around them and said, “You two look good enough to eat.”

Larry said, “Promises, promises.”

Rusty asked, “How did you know Larry would like me?”

I pulled them close together and said quietly, “Because as cute as you are, Rusty, I had a feeling. Was I right, Larry?”

Larry gave Rusty a peck on his cheek and nodded vigorously.

I said, “Cat got your tongue?”

Larry said, “Ummm, talking isn’t working so well for tonight. I’m with the cutest guy in the place, and I don't want to say the wrong thing.”

Rusty returned Larry’s peck with a big wet smack on the lips.

“That was the right thing to say”, I said.

Speedo clad Juan followed Ray out of the room they were staying in saying, “…pretty sure you won’t be the only one with a boner.”

Larry responded, “Ain’t that the truth.” 😁

 

 

iii.

When everyone arrived in appropriate attire, I spoke up and said, “Tonight we’re going to meet in a new structure built here based on a Native American concept called a sweat lodge. My cousins Joey and Bobby here did the research and David Bridges worked with them to come up with a design that takes traditional elements and merges them with new technology. I’ll let them tell you about it.”

Joey Porter spoke up and said, “We Porters have a generous dose of Cherokee blood. Bobby and I have always been curious about our heritage but, we’ve never lived around any Cherokee other than our family so, all we’ve really got are the good looks.”

I noticed Alan and Mike perk up and take a keen interest.

There was some laughter and Bobby continued, “Some tribes have a tradition of using sweat lodges. They are usually small, specially built structures where they go to endure the heat and seek answers to their questions in vision quests. Many cultures have similar things like saunas or steam baths.”

Joey restarted, “When we started looking into it, we found that the sweat lodge and their traditional uses are sacred and aren’t spoken of outside the tribes. We decided to move away from anything that might be disrespectful and created a very generic design. Then David Bridges looked at it, offered some suggestions, and built it.”

Bobby said, “I thought he was nuts building it so large but, it will also serve as a tornado shelter and that’s a big deal around here. So, if you guys are ready, let’s go.”

Joey lit a torch, Bobby lit his from his brothers, and they led past the swimming pool on a new concrete path.

The group followed our guides to a modest hill where the path ended at a heavy wooden door that appeared to open right into the hillside. Bobby opened the door and Joey went inside.

Bobby said, “David Bridges took the top off this hill, built the sweat lodge inside it and then put the hill back on top of it. My brother is basically turning on the lights and getting everything ready for us.”

Mike Porter asked his cousin, “Have you used it yet?”

Bobby replied, “Of course. David wanted us to be sure everything was working and that includes ventilation. Some people have died in sweat lodges but, that was mostly due to their not knowing what they were doing, or they had underlying health issues. We’ve taken the heat and the steam in here several times and everything is just fine.”

Joey stuck his head out the door and said, “Everything is ready. You can start coming in. There are two steps up just inside the door and then the interior is flat. There are three rings around the central altar so start filling in from the back.”

Joey and Bobby went inside and to guide everyone into what looked like a dimly lit cave.

As Chris passed me, he asked, “No snakes?”

On the inside, Bobby responded, “No snakes. It's built up off ground level, so it won’t flood.”

The procession was slow in the dim light, but everyone looked to be having fun. Little Karl, Little Dave, Keith and Michael Henderson took up the very end.

I said, “How do you like your cousins Karl?”

He said, “They’re really cool.” He bumped knuckles with Keith and Michael and added, “They wore me out showing me around this afternoon. I’ve got to get up here more often.”

I followed Karl inside and said, “We’ve got the place booked for the weekend of the fourth so, we’ll be back soon.”

Once inside, Bobby closed the door and a plume of blue flame rose from the altar. There were three semicircles of what appeared to be stone around the central altar structure. On closer inspection it was a lot more technology than tradition in play. The altar had a device I was familiar with in saunas that heated stones you could splash water on for steam. The torch from the altar was obviously natural gas.

As my eyes became accustomed to the light, I could make out more detail. The floor was smooth stone like shale and the walls had every appearance of being the same material. There were paintings on the walls which I realized lined up with the cardinal points of a compass. Excluding the entry door which came from the North, in the South there was a bear, the east a fox and to the west there was a lynx. Apparently, our tribe liked carnivores. I had seen them at enough barbecues to know the truth of that.

 

iv.

Everyone got settled, looked at me expectantly, and I stood facing them in front of the altar. I could feel the heat rising from the machinery behind me and said, “I wanted us to get together because I haven’t gotten a chance to spend much time with you and get to know you. I’m sure you’ve all been wondering what I’m up to but there’s a purpose far beyond seeing all you cuties in Speedo. That’s fun too but, tonight I’m going to talk about our present and future.”

They laughed and I grinned back at them. “We come in all sizes, shapes, colors and cultures but, we all have something in common.”

Jo-Jo added helpfully, “We like cocks.”

There was laughter in the dark place and I said, “Right. We all like cock. Some of us are gay.”

Jo-Jo piped in again, “As Liberace.”

“… and some of us are bi and some of us are still figuring things out. But Jo-Jo just mentioned Liberace, and there are credible rumors he has AIDS. All gay and bi people have a grave problem that strikes right at the heart of who we are. Many of us have already started taking precautions, and I’ve spoken with most of you about the fear that creates.”

“AIDS isn’t big in rural America yet but, it’s coming. Many gay people that live in the sticks go to big cities to party and let their hair down. The only cases that we know of in our county got it in Memphis, Atlanta or New Orleans and brought it home. They’ve all been adults: one in his thirties and the other two in their forties.”

“I met my friend Liu Chang, Minh and Sang’s uncle, in San Francisco a little over a year and a half ago. He was a doctor working in the Bay Area, and he was absolutely heartbroken and burned out over losing so many patients. He was plastered when I met him. I picked him up, took care of him, and let him sleep it off. The next morning we had breakfast and talked until lunch, kept talking until we had dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf. While there is no cure for AIDS, it is preventable so, we came up with a plan.”

“Liu was badly burned out by the AIDS epidemic so, I talked him into relocating. Our area is short of doctor’s and I offered to set him up in private practice here where he could practice his specialty, and prepare this area for when the virus does get here. For the last year he has been doing testing and education to teach individuals how to avoid the AIDS virus. That’s why we’re all tested and get his talk.”

The pieces clicked together for someone, and they started clapping. It quickly spread. Soon there were whistles and the racket in the enclosed space was appalling. They understood immediately, even the younger kids, what we had been doing.

When the racket subsided, Brian Bullard asked, “Why isn’t the government doing stuff like this? Isn’t that their job?”

I replied, “The government is doing quite a lot now. They were very slow off the ball early in the crisis. Because of internal politics inside the Reagan Administration, the Feds missed a chance to get a handle on AIDS early. Politics have made the response to AIDS a raging clusterfuck. We didn’t even identify the virus until three years ago and thousands were already dead. The Surgeon General is doing something similar to what we’re doing with testing and education. There is a lot of research going on but, that is all taking place at the federal level. There is a lot done at the state and local level in the big cities but, we’re out in the sticks.”

“Many local politicians are afraid to even say the word AIDS. I think they’re hoping they can close their eyes, and it will all go away. Anytime one does bring it up, they get a lot of backlash from religious conservatives in both parties. When it comes right down to it, it’s up to us as individuals and a community. We have to educate ourselves and act responsibly.”

“We have to be careful. All of our test results aren’t back but, when we get this round of testing behind us and another in a few months, inside our circle we will have a bubble of safety. We still have to be careful but, we won’t have to worry all the time.”

Kevin Stone spoke up and said, “This is great. I’m sure everyone here has had that worry in the back of their minds but, I’m certain that’s not all of your plan.”

I said, “You’re right. There is more too it. First we deal with what’s actually on fire. For now, that is AIDS. Now we have to think about the future. I’ve got some plans for going forward that I hope you’ll all elect to be a part of. The Game Zone is just a start. It’s the first in a number of businesses that I plan to start in Lakewood, here in the Valley and a place called Acadia Ridge.”

“The way I see it, Game Zone is my farm team. I get you guys started working, doing a fun job, and you get to learn a lot and make friends. For many of you it’s your first job. Game Zone is geared towards our younger members but, even some of our older guys are learning valuable skills there too like supervising, scheduling, timekeeping and dealing with customers. Those are skills that will easily transfer to other jobs.”

“The Red Team is still forming. Tuesday we’ll fly to Pensacola to do some training and then after the fourth, we’re going to hit the road and do a few jobs. We’ll be installing telephone systems and working on the road off and on a lot later this summer.”

“The Blue Team is Philip and his team that will be looking after Dockside Park. Soon we will be adding the grounds of the St. Luke’s Recreation Center, and we’re going to do a makeover of City Park in Lakeview this summer. Blue team guys need to be around sixteen but, the same thing goes for them as Game Zone: you’ll learn a lot, have fun and get a killer tan.”

“This is as much a learning experience for me as it is for you. I’ve never run anything like this but, I have been preparing for it. All along the way you guys have been adding suggestions and asking good questions. Keep it up! I need the feedback, and I will always listen.”

“There are other areas of business I’m actively looking at or proceeding with: I plan to buy up a number of houses in Lakeview and surrounding communities, renovate them and use them for rental properties. In time, property management will become another one of our business units. Some of you might decide to work with Bridges Construction. In the next decade advances in computers, networking and telecommunications will open up new opportunities worth billions to people who are ready to jump in.”

“Here is the part you’re really going to be interested in. if you are interested and want to stay with us, when it comes time for college, I’ll fund it as long as you agree to stay with me for four years.”

There was a collective gasp in the chamber.

“Study whatever you are passionate about. Business, art, science, engineering, writing— we can use it all.”

“Our society has taken a step back. In the seventies many gay people came out of the closet. With the AIDS epidemic in the eighties, lots of them are going back or staying in. It’s especially tough to be gay or bisexual in the South. Preachers talk about us like we’ve got horns and forked tails.”

Someone quipped, “They’ve got the horn part right at least”, causing a round of laughter.

“My point is that social changes like gay tolerance and acceptance take place very slowly. We can’t expect a politician to wave a magic wand and make it happen overnight. Some of us are adults and all of you will grow up quicker than you thought possible. There’s a lot of anti-gay hostility and discrimination out there. If you haven’t run into it yet, it won’t take long. We’ve got to take care of ourselves and each other because no one else will.”

“One of the things I hated most about being a gay kid was how isolated I felt. I had to keep quiet, didn’t have anyone I could talk to and, made many mistakes. There’s no rule book, and you have to blunder through it one mistake at a time on your own. That’s why this family we’ve created is such a good thing. A creep like Andrew Lawrence wouldn’t have stood a chance with kids that aren’t lonely, afraid and ignorant.”

“This isn’t just a summer job. I’m training you guys to be the team I want around me in the future. If at some point, some of you should turn out straight, don’t worry about it. I’ll dance at your wedding and spoil your kids. If somewhere down the road you want to go your own way, we will part as friends. Those of you that stick with me, you will be millionaires before you turn thirty.”

There was a moment of shocked silence. I heard Robbie MacDonald say, “Philip, you were right. This is the luckiest day of my life.”

Tommy Holloway spoke up and asked, “I’ve heard that those of us that want to can go to the Academy next year. I thought you had to be a genius to get in and, will they have sports?”

“We will have a number of seats at the Academy this fall. While the Academy doesn’t offer sports, we’re working out an agreement, so there will be team sports in cooperation with Lakeview High and the new St. Luke's Community Center. The Academy offers classes for every academic level but, it’s tailored to the student. You’ll get more individualized attention. The harder you work at it, the sooner you can graduate. Jeb will be graduating a year and a half early this December. If you are having a hard time with harassment in public school, the Academy will be a lot less hostile. I would like for you all to be able to play some team sport. Teamwork is something we’re all about.”

“Oh. To you, younger guys, from now on, one of you will be my assistant for a day. Tommy Holloway was so helpful today, I think we’ll try it and see how it works out until school starts.”

“OK. Enough serious stuff, it’s time to have some fun. Joey, I believe you and Bobby have the party favors.”

Joey said, “Yes we do.”

Bobby and Joey Porter opened the ice chest, the ubiquitous red Dixie cups came out and a couple of corks pop. They passed them down and made sure everyone had one.

Billy Johnson had another task. How he did it, I couldn’t see, but a skylight in the roof opened that allowed us to see stars. Then he dumped a baggie on a brass brazier and hung it over the gas jet that illuminated the chamber. By the time the last cup made it around the pile of weed on the brazier was smoldering.

I raised my glass and said, “Gentlemen, to the future.”

Those that knew a little etiquette, rumbled back, “To the future.”

One of the younger kids, I think it was Matty giggled and said, “Is that weed? I thought drugs were against the rules.”

Bobby Porter said, “In sweat lodges, things were burned for their smoke like powdered hallucinogenic mushrooms to power vision quests. We didn’t go that far but, we wanted you to have the authentic experience. Just think of it as incense.”

I said, “We’re not working. I define drugs as something that goes up your nose, into your arm or a pill you swallow. When I was in college, the kids who got into the worst messes as freshmen were the kids who had been too sheltered. They got involved with some drinking, a little pot and pretty soon they forgot all about classes. Something you’ll learn about gay people, many of us party hard, and there is a lot of full-blown alcoholism and addiction. Let's not fall into that trap. Better you learn social drinking now among friends than later getting blasted in a dorm room.”

Zeke Smith said, “Could I ask a question?”

“Sure Zeke, go ahead.”

His voice betrayed his nerves as he asked, “What about sex? What are the rules?”

I answered, “According to the strict letter of the law, no one under sixteen can have sex.”

There was laughter at that, some of it with genuine mirth at the ridiculousness of something so completely idiotic, and some of it was nervous.

“It’s true. In most of the South, if you got caught making out with a girl and the cops caught you, they would just tell you to go home. If you were caught with another boy, many cops would charge you with delinquency or some nonsense and arrest you both. We’ve had some experience with cops whose power has gone to their head. The law is not our friend in many instances.”

“Our rules about sex are to be discrete and use common sense. Everyone has the right to say no. I won’t tell you that you can’t cruise but, you really don’t have to. There are plenty of hot guys sitting right here. If you do cruise, meet people, then go somewhere safe and practice safe sex with anyone outside our circle. There’s no excuse for getting in trouble and no appeal if you get infected. Are there any other questions?”

Angel asked, “So… it’s OK for us to do stuff with the younger guys?”

I said, “I wish I could give you homework. In high school I had to write a paper where we had to look up the records of our families back four generations. My Dad was seventeen when he married my mother at fifteen back in the early forties. A generation before, my grandfather was twenty when he married my grandmother who was fourteen. Before that, my great-grand-father was sixteen and married my great-grand-mother at thirteen.”

“All the hang-ups we have about age are a relatively new phenomenon, motivated by the very same churches that married your grandparents and great-grandparents at what we would now consider ridiculous ages. I’ve talked to a lot of you about this subject. In old farm families, early marriages were the rule. Daughters were married off as early as thirteen because farms lived or died on male labor so, the bigger the family, the better.”

“Of course those were heterosexual relationships. Guess what happened if boys were caught together? The hammer came down. Many boys were disowned, others were labeled delinquents and all were punished harshly— for doing exactly what their heterosexual counterparts were doing.”

“Often, the law that is supposed to protect boys from abuse is flipped on its head and becomes a cruel whip to punish them. Historically, there’s nothing at all weird about teenagers having relationships and sex with other teens a few years younger or older than they are. We are simply living under a code of laws written by people who were heavily influenced in their thinking by their faith. Even biblical scholars cannot say one way or the other about homosexuality because Jesus never spoke of it. The only biblical figure who did was Paul, and he had some kind of complex about my namesake Timothy.”

“To the older boys I say, be respectful and responsible. The younger boys look up to you. Be kind, gentle and treat them like the special little guys they really are. The easiest way to seriously piss me off is to be mean or bully our younger kids. I love all of them. I’m very protective of them.”

“To my younger boys my advice is similar. I know you are attracted to the older boys but, the law is what it is. We have to protect them too. If there’s a problem, always come to me. We will sort it out.”

“We’re not all about work. We will be playing a lot too. I know some of you have hobbies. Jeb is into distance biking. Sean builds models. Toby is really into art. Mihn and Sang are talented musicians. I am seriously into electronics and technology. I’m sure there are all sorts of interests out there many of us share. We will have a lot of fun, learn a lot and make some coin.”

When I paused after my last statement, Philip spoke up and asked, “What should we do if we know some good candidates to join us? Robbie and I both know some kids who really need this.”

I said, “Good question. First, talk to me about it. I’m certain that Frank and some of our other guys are relieved to hear it but, I think we’re going to max out somewhere between a hundred to one-twenty. We’ve got a good bunch now so be very picky. So far, we’ve very been lucky with this group because there has been very little unnecessary drama and a lot of cooperation. Let’s try to keep it that way.”

Frank said, “When you talked about forming a company, I had no idea you were thinking so big.”

“Sorry about that. Historically, one hundred men units have been the most coherent organizations like the Roman Century or a modern infantry company. They are big enough to accomplish a great deal but small enough to manage and know everyone. This group will be our core. We will have other employees and workers for our different business units but, you will be my inner circle— my trusted officers if you will.”

There was silence as my words resonated. They were not used to thinking in these terms. Then they started standing, clapping and cheering. They understood and were fired up.

This went on for a couple of minutes until they settled down.

I heard a snuffling sound and looked up.

Lee said, “Hey, look at the skylight— it’s Edgar. Hey buddy!”

Sure enough, we could see the cute little bear’s face peering down curiously trying to figure out what the silly humans were doing down in a hole. He looked at us and cocked his head quizzically. I noticed Joey and Bobby stiffen.

While everyone else was happily chattering away and laughing at Edgar, I asked Joey quietly, “Hey man. You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s up?”

The two brothers were stunned speechless until Joey said, “The bear is a powerful symbol in Native American myth. This is the first time we’ve ever used this place for anything more than an oversized sauna.”

Bobby said, “It’s a sign Tim: a mighty and powerful sign.”

 

 

v.

We sipped our Champaign and chatted for a while but, when I asked if we were done, Frank stood up and said, “Not so fast Tim. I know what our next activity will be when we get back to the lodge, so we’re going to beat you to the punch.”

Frank, Chris, Tony, Toby, Brandon and Jeb stood and surrounded me.

Frank said, “We were the first group Tim took to Arrowhead Memorial Day weekend. The seven of us, we became a family. We’ve watched Tim work from up close. It can be a lot of fun, but it has its scary moments like when he’s being heroic or getting smacked by runaway trucks.”

There was scattered chuckling and Frank forged on, “We love Tim, and we got him a present. Tim, this is from all of us.”

Frank handed me a jeweler’s box. I angled it toward the light, so I could see it and opened it. It was a heavy gold signet ring engraved with an Old English script ‘S’ with a shepherd’s staff running down the middle.

I took it out of the box and put it on the ring finger of my left hand too choked up to say anything. My original seven pulled me into a group hug and my eyes were suspiciously wet. I had to wipe them and muttered something about the smoke getting to me.

Frank motioned for us to have a seat and said, “When we have these meetings, it’s traditional for all the new people to stand and introduce yourselves so, starting with our newest members, tell us who you are.”

We spent the next twenty minutes welcoming Bobby and Joey Porter, Billy Johnson, Jason, Michael and Keith Henderson, Rocky Anderson, Robbie MacDonald, Minh and Sang Chang, Rich Kelly, Mike, Alan and Jacob Porter, Gene and Scotty Watts, Mike and Rusty Bowers, Eddie Taylor, Philip Holmes, Angel Denardo, Adrian Moss, Gary Jones, Seth Wilder, Rodney Carlton, Sean Yelverton, Leo Lewis, Stacy Frazier, Mike Sims, Zeke Smith, Charlie Scott, Joey Ashcraft, Matty Lamb, Ritchie, Billy, Tracy Barnes, Robbie Roberts, Ray Kent, Walt Harrison, Juan Sanchez, David Bridges, Todd Brent, Grant Stewart, Aaron and Adam Pate, Big Ted Jorgenson, Bobby and Tommy Knight, and Marcus Jackson.

When we were done, Frank said, “I counted fifty new guys since our last get together. Is that right?”

Tony nodded and Chris made a show of counting on his fingers and shrugged.

I said, “We’ve got fifty new people, and we need every one of them to keep Game Zone and the Park running while our Red Team guys are on the road. Who is ready for fun and games?”

That met with unanimous consent.

I said, “With a group this big, we’re going to break up into groups: over 16 and under 16…”

I was surprised when the crowd instantly answered with boos and catcalls.

“I take it you would all rather play together?”

Barry spoke up and said, “We did last time. It’s fun!”

Someone else agreed and there were whistles and cheers.

I sighed and said, “Ok, let’s head back to the house. We’ll divide up into teams and have some fun.”

After Bobby and Joey Porter shut everything down, we made our way back to the lodge. With everyone crowded into the big family room, I said, “Minh and Sang Chang and Joey Ashcraft: please join me for a moment in the kitchen.” I read the looks on their faces and quickly added, “No. You aren’t in trouble.”

Most of the crowd kept chatting in the big room but, Frank, Chris and a few others that were in on the conspiracy formed a tight little knot in the kitchen. The three boys came into the middle of the huddle looking curious and cute.

I said, “You three have been through quite a lot in the last few days, and we all wanted to let you know how special you are to us. Bobby, Joey and Billy— you’re on.”

Billy Johnson appeared from the screen porch carrying a pet carrier and Bobby and Joey Porter came from the hall carrying two identical black cases.

Billy knelt and said, “Joey, come meet your new buddy.”

Joey’s eyes got huge as a fluffy little Golden Retriever pup waddled out of the pet carrier. He said, “No way! You got me a dog!”

Joey ran at me and jumped into my arms. I caught him and said, “Thank the Johnson’s for this. They are AKC certified breeders of Golden Retrievers. You’ll have to share him with the rest of the boys.”

I put Joey down and he hugged Billy.

Billy said, “This isn’t just any dog. This little fellow has papers. He’s doggie royalty.”

Big tears rolled down Joey’s cheeks as he choked out, “I’ve always wanted a dog! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Joey sat on the floor and the little pup crawled into his lap wagging his tail, and you’ll never convince me that pup wasn’t smiling.

There was a boy, a dog and all was right in the universe of Joey.

While Joey was getting his pup, the Porter twins presented the cases to Minh and Sang. They opened them to find matching high-end Yamaha keyboards. The Chang twins were both completely astonished and, reverting to Chinese in their excitement, absolutely incomprehensible.

I said, “Your Uncle brought them up. We know how important your music is to you. We both support and encourage you to keep at it. There’s also a baby grand at the house my Mom used to play. One of my regrets is never having learned an instrument.”

Sang said (in English), “These boards are spectacular! These are DX7s like U2 and many rock bands use!”

Minh said, “We can play anything with these… They’re pure digital synthesizers. We’ll have to learn how to program them but, we can play everything from Mozart to Twisted Sister on these boards.”

Joey Porter asked, “Metallica?”

Sang flipped his board on, it took a moment to light up, but he played the chords for Enter the Sandman perfectly.

Minh said, “Metal is easy to play. They mostly use guitars with limited chord progressions. There’s other rock that’s a lot harder like ELP, Rush, Yes and Pink Floyd. Those guys are spectacular musicians.”

Sang said, “We had to wait until Dad was out of the house. He got cranky when we played anything but classical.”

I said, “Play whatever you like. We’re going to find someone good to work with you. Now, let’s go play, people are waiting for us.”

Mihn smiled and said, "Wait until you get a load of my brother's ragtime.

 

 

When we were all elbow to elbow in the big family room, I said, “Since Bart has the most experience with games, I’ve asked him to help me with this. Bart: let the games begin.”

Bart spoke up and said, “Let’s give a hand to the day shift guys for helping to set this up this afternoon.”

Everyone clapped on Bart’s que, and he said, “Our games have two purposes: to have fun and for you to get to know each other. You can pass if there’s anything you don’t want to do. We will break up into eight teams of ten. A couple of teams will be short. Each team will have a Captain and the rest will be players. There will be two proctors who will act as our referees. Each team will be assigned to a general area. You’ll go to your area and work through a task list. You won't finish, we just don't have time. We'll save some for next time. When you find out which team you are on, pick up your overnight bag and follow your captain to the assigned room.”

There was a murmur of agreement and Bart continued, “Our team leaders will be: Tim, Frank, Tony, Chris, Jeb, Roderick, Randy and Ritchie. Our proctors will be Danny and Chip.”

Bart handed out envelopes to the team leaders and then said, “I’ve put everyone’s name on these index cards.” My envelope was thin and had Team 1, master bedroom written across it.

He made a show of shuffling the index cards, and then he dealt them like playing cards.

I looked at my cards and read, “First Team is Rory Burns, Kelly Stringer, Charlie Scott, David Bridges, Rusty Bowers, Tracy Barnes, Minh Chang and Billy Barnes. We’ll be upstairs in the master bedroom.”

Frank looked at his cards and called out, “Second Team is Joey Porter, Big Ted, Chance Stevens, Larry Holloway, Zeke Smith, Todd Brent, James Jackson, Brian Bullard and Aaron Pate. We’re upstairs, 3^rd bedroom on the right.”

Chris called out his team as Bart handed him an envelope, “Third Team is Steven Sanders, Matthew Stevens, Toby Rankin, Seth Wilder, Philip Holmes, Doug Mitchel, Robbie Roberts and Stacey Frazier; our fun and games will be upstairs in the 2^nd bedroom on the left.”

Bart handed Jeb his envelope and Jeb said, “Fourth Team is Tyler Reynolds, Michael Henderson, Rich Kelly, Eddie Turner, Adrian Moss, Karl Carter, Bobby Knight, Marcus Jackson and Bart Dale: we’ll be on the screen porch.”

Tony took his envelope and said, “Fifth Team is Rodney Carlton, Tommy Holloway, Jason Henderson, Juan Sanchez, JJ Curry, Sang Chang, Adam Pate, Leo Lewis and Bobby Porter. We’ll be on the first floor in the 2nd Bedroom on the right.”

Roderick took his envelope and read his cards, “The Sixth team is Alan Porter, Keith Henderson, Cory Roberts, Scottie Watts, Ray Kent, Kevin Stone, Joey Ashcraft, Mike Bowers, Lance McCormick and Billy Johnson. We’re on the 1^st floor, 5^th bedroom on the right.”

Randy took his envelope and said, “The Seventh team is Lee Henderson, Sean Yelverton, Gene Watts, Gary Jones, Jeff Blake, Grant Stewart, Matty Lamb, Barry Anderson and Robbie MacDonald. We’re on the 1st floor, 4th bedroom on the left.”

Ritchie Barnes took his envelope and said, “The Eighth team is Jo-Jo Smith, Mike Sims, Brandon Rankin, Scott Dodd, Rocky Anderson, Walt Harrison, Cole Matthews, Tommy Knight and Travis Meadows. We are in the parlor at the end of the hall on this floor.”

Bart asked, “Did we get everyone?” No one spoke up, and he said, “When you get to your assigned spots, you’ll find a package with the stuff you’ll need. It’s all explained in the instructions. For tonight, everyone stays the night with their team. Now… let’s have some fun.”

 

vi.

I gathered my team, and we made our way upstairs bumping elbows and bantering with Frank, Chris’s teams. Boys straight, gay or alien are competitive and the idea of teams had their spirits high.

As we made our way down the hall, I noticed that someone had labeled the rooms with post-it notes. The 2^nd bedroom on the left was labeled 3^rd team and the 3^rd bedroom on the right was labeled 2^nd team. I also noticed other labeled doors: team 3, team 2 and finally some labeled team 1.

Members of 2^nd and 3^rd teams fanned out to their assigned rooms and 1^st team followed me to the master bedroom at the end of the hall.

I arrived in the master bedroom to find a post-it note saying 1^st team and a box on the bed. As I stood over the box looking at the contents, Billy, Minh and Kelly looked at the various stuff curiously.

I opened my envelope and looked at a series of tasks and grinned. The stuff looked like a combination of summer camp, the kinds of parties teenagers threw when their parents were out of town and a burlesque show. I pulled the legal pad and pencil on the top of the pile out of the box and laid it on the bed.

Rory asked, “OK, what do we have to do.”

I read, “Everybody in the group introduce yourselves. Makes sure everyone knows each other’s names.”

Most people in this group knew each other from the Game Zone or school. Our group was even split: five under 16 and five 16 or over. The older boys knew each other and most of the younger boys knew each other but Minh and Rusty had just arrived this afternoon.

I said, “This is timed so, we need to move on.”

I read from the instruction sheet, “Decide on a sufficiently bawdy name for your team based on your team leader’s name.”

Billy asked, “What’s bawdy?”

David Bridges answered helpfully, “A little dirty but not nasty: like the burlesque dancers from New Orleans that will show you lots of leg but no titties.”

I stifled and urge to laugh as Little Dave nailed it so well.

Rory suggested, “Tim’s tigers?”

Charlie Scott suggested, “How about Tim’s Toasted?”

Rusty Bowers said with confidence, “Tim’s Tarts.”

Kelly said, “That makes us sound like hookers.”

Angelo chuckled and said, “It’s for fun. Roll with it.”

I said, “Think it through because the next one is to write a stanza about your team and sing it.”

Tracy Barnes asked, “You mean like a song?”

Minh said, “That’ll be easy. Settle on the name and give me a minute.”

We batted a few names around for a minute as Minh scribbled on the legal pad. As we wandered about searching for a name, Minh sang out:

“We are Timmy’s Angels,
We are all sweet boys,
But when the lights are low,
We like to share our toys!”

 

Everyone looked at Minh stunned and then clapped and hooted. Everybody hugged him and gave him high-fives. This is what this exercise was for. Even our youngest, shortest and cutest had hidden talents.

I said, “I think Minh just nailed it for us. All in favor say Aye.”

It was unanimous. Minh had written our stanza.

I said, “Moving right along: Designate an alternate leader so, Rory, you’re my second.”

Rory gave me thumbs up.

“Next it says for everyone to get in a circle.”

We moved into a circle and I continued: “Starting from the guy on the leader's left, count and write the numbers down. There are instructions for groups short of ten, but we’re good there. The leader will always be number 10.”

Rory took the pencil and pad from Minh and started recording. We started with:

“Rory Burns #1”

“Kelly Stringer #2”

“Tracy Barnes #3”

“Angel Denardo #4”

“Charlie Scott #5”

“Minh Chang #6”

“Billy Barnes #7”

“Rusty Bowers #8”

“David Bridges #9”

“Tim Shepherd #10”

I looked at the instructions, grinned and said, “OK. Everybody, have a seat where you are. For the next part, you’ll need a pencil and some paper.”

I rummaged in the box and pulled out a bowl with many pieces of index cards that had been cut into smaller squares. I handed out the small pencils, paper and said, “For the next part, there will be a question: excluding me, who are the three cutest guys in the room? Put your number on the back.”

Charlie asked, “Are we picking partners for five minutes in heaven?”

“Yes but, there’s a twist. You won’t know who you’re with. I take you to the room blindfolded. Then I bring your partner blindfolded. It’ll be dark in the room, so you won’t know who you are with. You can do whatever you like in five minutes, then I knock on the door. It’s against the rules to talk or remove your blindfold. Then you have to guess who you were with. There will be three rounds so pace yourselves.”

Billy asked, “What about you?”

“I get five minutes with whoever is left, so I can’t lose.”

Everyone began writing. While they were writing, I rummaged in the box and found cheap blindfolds night workers wear to sleep during the day.

I passed the plastic bowl around and got the results back. As I looked through them, there were a few surprises. I continued until I had seen them all and said, “I know you younger guys might think none of the older guys picked you. Minh got four votes, Billy got four, Tracy got five and Rusty got five. Apparently, the older boys think you are all pretty cute. Let’s get started, shall we?” I passed out the blindfolds.

“Rory, let’s start with you.” I led him to one of the rooms designated for our team and sat him down on a bed.

He asked, “Can you give me a clue who it is?”

I said, “Nothing other than he’s pretty cute. I’ll be back in a minute with your mystery guest.”

I went back to the room and got Kelly, who appeared nervous as a cat. I walked him to a bedroom and said, “Relax, Kelly. It’s just for fun.”

Kelly said, “I know.”

“By letting me run this, it allows me to cheat a little. Is there anyone you really want to show up here? You appeared on several guy’s short lists.”

“Really?”

I said, “Maybe you don’t see it, but you’re pretty cute, Kelly. I think next round I’ll keep you for myself. Now, have some fun.”

My next victims were Angel Denardo and Charlie Scott. I got them situated in empty rooms, and then it was time to distribute their playmates.

David Bridges, Rusty Bowers, Tracy Barnes, Minh Chang and Billy Barnes were all clearly excited and were chattering anxiously in their blindfolds and I said, “David, I think it’s your turn.”

I helped him up and guided him out of the room and closed the door. When we were in the hall, he asked in a whisper, “You aren’t sore about catching me and Karl earlier?”

I whispered back, “Not at all. How was Tracy?”

“Tracy is sexy but, I really like Karl. He’s… special.”

“Anybody you want me to hook you up with?”

David’s hand found my cock and said, “If I can’t have this, how about Mihn?”

I said, “Done. Now, quiet. Here’s your mystery guy.”

I opened the door and Rory was sitting on the side of the bed with his blindfold on. I led David to him and had him sit beside Rory.

I said, “You guys can do anything, but remember there are two more rounds. You’ll have a little more than five minutes.” I put my hand on Rory’s shoulder and said, “There’s a towel a few inches to your right in case things get messy. I’d love to stay for this one, but I’ve got work to do. You two have fun.”

I went back to the master bedroom and said, “Rusty, You are next.” Rather than lead him, I picked him up and said, “You won’t stub your toe this way.”

Once in the hall, I whispered in his ear, “I’m going to break the rules and tell you that you will be with Angel.”

He hissed in surprise, and I added, “Told you I’d look out for you.” I gave him a peck on the cheek.

I took him in the room, sat him down beside Angel and told them the clock would start when I got the last two settled and there was a towel right beside them. Before I was even out of the room, Rusty had one hand inside Angel’s Speedo and was kissing his chest.

My next delivery was Billy Barnes to Kelly. If Kelly’s shyness could survive Billy, I’d have to check his pulse.

When I picked up Tracy, he was beside himself with excitement. He tried to get me to tell him who he was paired with, but I wouldn’t say. I put him down beside Charlie Scott, and the two blindfolded teens were kissing and groping before I closed the door.

I went back to the room, set the timer and said, “It’s just me and you, Minh.”

He sighed and took his blindfold off. “I understand. No one else wanted me because I’m so little.”

I sat on the side of the bed, patted a spot beside me in invitation and said, “You’re wrong about that. You and Sang are both so cute it’s ridiculous. You are on several of the boy’s wish lists. I just wanted to speak with you first to make sure you were OK with this.”

Minh took my invitation and sat beside me. “I am. I’m eagerly awaiting it but, I’ve always been with Sang when we did stuff so, I’m a little nervous.”

I put my arm around him and said, “Minh, I hate to ask but, what happened? I just heard generalities.”

“It started last summer on our swim team. We were all naked or almost naked around numerous cute boys our age. They looked pretty interesting to me and my brother.”

I chuckled and said, “You both look pretty cute in Speedo.”

He smiled and said, “My friend Cody had a birthday party and invited us to a sleep-over after a match. Five of us ended up spending the night in their pool house, and we did it for the first time. We stayed up most of the night doing it. Everything was cool until we got caught about six weeks ago. They started watching us closer and kept catching us. Catching us in the tool shed with the gardener’s son, Miguel, was the last straw. They sent us away but, I think, we’re going to like it here. Sex isn’t forbidden, so we won’t be in trouble all the time. All of you have been very nice.”

I gently gave him a one-armed hug and said, “Whatever we can do to make you feel at home just let me know. There will be a swimming team here too, and we’ll let you grow up without looking over your shoulder too much.”

Minh said, “Would you do something for me?”

“What do you need?”

Minh said, “Would you hold me the way you held Joey? I’d really like that.”

I picked up Minh, he wrapped his legs around my waist, and he put his head on my shoulder. He sighed, and I felt him relax like he was sitting in a comfortable chair.

He said, “My father is a millionaire many times over. He has businesses in Hong Kong, San Francisco and Vancouver. He’s an incredible man but, he could never do this.”

“Every man can father a child but, not every man can or knows how to be a Daddy Minh. It’s a shame and their loss.”

Minh said, “I’ve noticed that you are excellent at it. This afternoon, Sang and I were terrified. Frank couldn’t have been nicer and more welcoming. We talked to the other boys, and they all love you. I am glad to be here. Sang is too.”

“I almost had a Vietnamese step-brother.”

“You did?”

“When my Dad was in the war, his unit fell in love with the people. There was an orphaned boy that they all sort of adopted. One of the officers’ families jumped through all the hoops and adopted him. He grew up in Texas. I heard he graduated from Texas A&M.”

Mihn said, “My mother got out in 1970. She met my Dad in San Francisco. We were born in California and met many refugees.”

“My Dad sponsored several families after Saigon fell. He always wanted to go back but, that wasn’t going to happen.”

The timer dinged and Minh sighed. I kissed his forehead and said, “Don’t be sad. We’re going to have a lot of fun together. Anybody you want to play with next?”

Minh shrugged and said, “David is really nice and good-looking too. Sometimes it seems that combination doesn't always travel together.”

“You’re a sharp one Minh. Remember that lesson well. Hang out, and I’ll get round two started.” I put Mihn down with a hug and went to retrieve the participants.

 

 

 

 

David Bridges was first. I listened at the door and heard heavy breathing. I knocked on the door and said, “Times up guys. Catch your breath and recover for round 2.”

David Bridges and Rory Burns both sighed, and I led David back to the Master bedroom. David’s huge boner in his Speedo was almost comical but, I wasn’t going to laugh. Poor guy was hurting.

Next it was time to interrupt Angel Denardo and Rusty Bowers. I knocked and told them their time was up. As Rusty was just a little guy, I picked him up and carried him back. I assured him that he would be back at it soon.

Billy Barnes and Kelly Stringer were next. I think Kelly was grateful to be rescued. I carried Billy back and asked him if he had fun. He kissed my cheek and whispered, “Oh yeah. Hope I draw you next.”

The last couple to be interrupted was Tracy Barnes and Charlie Scott. When I reached the door, there was heavy breathing. I knocked and told them time was up. Tracy and Charlie were in a tangle of ecstasy on the bed. Tracy was on top of Charlie grinding together.

Neither boy was ready to stop as evidenced by their boners and wet spots on their Speedo. Tracy whimpered when I picked him up. I said, “Sorry to have to break this up. If you want, I can put you two back together next round.”

On the way back to the Master Bedroom Tracy whispered, “I’m never going to miss one of your parties. This is great.”

I kissed his cheek and asked, “You’ve got a standing invitation Tracy. Who do you want next round?”

“Surprise me.”

After retrieving Rory, Angel, Kelly and Charlie, we all settled back into our places in the circle. Everyone had removed their blindfolds and were still smoldering from the exercise.

I said, “OK. With a show of hands, how many of you think you know who you were with?”

Five of them raised their hands.

I asked, “OK, how many of you would like to go right back with the same partner?”

Seven raised their hands.

I looked at the script and read, “The point of this exercise is to get to know each other and have a little fun. Another point is to show you how much fun just making out can be. Many Bi and gay teens go right to the main event and miss out on this part. Blindfolds in sex are a little kinky, but it’s often part of the fun. I’m going to pass index cards around. Write your name, who you think you were with and any comments.”

I passed around the index cards and the group dutifully filled them out and passed them back. I flipped to Rory’s card and said, “Rory, you thought you were with Charlie Scott. Did you enjoy it?”

Rory blushed and said, “Well… yeah. He’s passionate and hot as fire.”

“Kelly, you thought you were with Tracy Barnes. How was it?”

Kelly said, “My partner was… very passionate.”

“Tracy, you thought you were with Charlie Scott. How was it?”

Tracy said, “It was fun. I could have stayed in there the rest of the night.”

“Angel, you thought your partner was Rory Burns. How was he?”

Angel said, “I agree with Tracy. I really regretted it when time was up.”

“Charlie, you said you thought your partner was Rusty. How was it?”

Charlie smiled his goofy stoner smile and said, “It really was five minutes in heaven.”

“Minh, you were with me, so there’s no mystery there. Billy, who did you think you were with?”

Billy said, “I think I was with Angel. He was tall, thin and really nice.”

“Rusty, you thought you were with Angel. How did that go?”

Rusty chuckled and said, “You practically had to drag me out of there.”

“David, you thought you were with Rory. How was it?”

David replied, “I’d go back in a second.”

I said, “With as many hot guys in the room, you really can’t go wrong. A lot of you were wrong about who you were with. Rory, you were with David.”

The two teens looked at each other and blushed.

“Kelly, you were close, but you had the wrong Barnes. You were with Billy.”

“Angel, you had the wrong redhead. You were with Rusty.”

“Charlie, you were with Tracy.”

I looked at the script and read, “Now, what did we learn?”

Angel said, “I wouldn’t have chosen Rusty because of his age but, after spending some time with him, I’d pick him again in a second.”

Charlie said, “I agree. I wouldn’t have picked Tracy, but he’s a little hottie.”

The discussion was off and running but, there was a knock on the door. I stepped over and opened it and Danny said, “Hey Boss. We need you a minute.”

I handed the script to Rory and said, “Take over for a minute, they need me for something.”

 

 

vii.

I followed Danny out in the hall and asked, “What’s up?”

“Chip got a page. There’s good news and bad news.”

I said, “Good news first.”

Danny said, “Alan’s show was a huge hit. It lit up the phone lines at the station with calls from as far away as Memphis. They had like seven hundred calls demanding more. They ended up playing his spot again at midnight. Everybody wants to know what group he is going to feature next week.”

“That is good news. Now what’s wrong?”

“A fire in the Decatur relay knocked out the power to the Lakeview, DeKalb and Rivervine area. There’s no way they can fix it before late tomorrow afternoon. Important stuff in town has back up power, but most everything else is blacked out.”

I sighed and said, “Well, that sucks. It looks like we’re going to get to sleep in tomorrow. Have you handled the bus?”

“I called their dispatch company in Memphis. We’ll have two buses here for everybody tomorrow. We’re still figuring out what time.”

“Thanks for handling that. Is everything going well?”

Danny chuckled and said, “Yeah, they’re having a blast. How did you get a bunch of self-conscious teens to all wear Speedo?”

“If it was just one, it would be a real chore. Since they’re all doing it, we’re all pretty much horn dogs and, it’s private out here, and they seem to like it. Have you let everybody know we’ll be late getting back?”

“I wanted you to know first. Chip and I will make the rounds and let the other teams know. Now, get back to your squad.”

“So you noticed that.”

Danny said, “I was a Marine for a few years. Your methods are very familiar. You’re much gentler than the Corps in the way you apply it but, I’ve even noticed the way you are developing your squad leaders: the way you got Ritchie to handle hiring Sharon Watts, all sorts of things you are doing with Randy, Big Ted, Frank, Chris and Tony. It’s like you read the book, took the good parts and chucked the rest.”

“That doesn’t bother you, does it?”

“No way. Now, I’m fascinated and want to see how this will all work out. When Bill told me about this gig, I was dubious but, I needed it. Now, I’m sure I’m in the right place.”

“I am too, Danny.”

viii.

I slipped back into the Master Bedroom, and they all looked at me quizzically. I said, “There has been a fire that caused a power failure back home. They won’t get electric power restored until deep into the afternoon. We aren’t going back until at least two o’clock, so everyone will get to sleep a little late. Thanks for the assist, Rory. Now, let’s start round two.”

The boys put their blindfolds on, and I said, “Think I’ll reverse the order this time. I’ll start with Billy and work my way back around.”

I helped Billy stand up and led him to the door. Once outside, I picked him up, hugged him and quietly said, “Are you having fun?”

Billy said, “Yeah, but I’m getting sleepy. You should probably check on Robbie.”

As I took Billy to his room, I said, “I’ll do that after this round. Any requests?”

I put him down on the bed, and he said, “If you aren’t available, how about Charlie? Tracy said he was fun.”

I took a knee, hugged him and said, “I won’t spoil the surprise for you but, you know I like spoiling you.”

Billy grinned at me and said, “I’ve noticed that about you, and I really like it. It makes me feel special.”

I ruffled his hair and said, “You are special Billy; cute, sweet boy special, not short bus special. I’ll be back in a minute.”

 

I went back and picked up Minh. He was a lot looser this time and less nervous. I asked quietly, “Any requests?”

He whispered, “You could send David in here. I like him.”

As I put him down I said, “You were on each other’s lists.”

Surprised, he asked, “Really?”

I put him down on the bed and said, “You shouldn’t be surprised Minh. You are a real cutie.”

He reached out to hug me and I hugged him back.

 

I decided to mess with my victims by changing up the order. I selected David and parked him with Minh. Then I took Rory to a room, and then I parked him with Rusty. I couldn’t resist pairing up two smoking hot redheads. Finally, I parked Charlie with Billy and Tracy with Angel.

 

I returned to the master bedroom, set the timer and gave my full attention to Kelly. I locked the door and helped a blindfolded Kelly to his feet. He already had an impressive erection and wet spot.

“Kelly, I think you can ditch the blindfold.”

“I think I’ll keep it. It’s a real turn on— not that I need another turn on after Billy.”

I chuckled, pulled Kelly’s body into mine and asked, “How far did you two go?”

His breath hitched at the contact, and he said, “Not as far as he wanted. His dick is incredible for his age. He’s bigger than some guys on my track team.”

“Billy has hit puberty at the early end of the curve.”

Kelly asked, “What does that mean?”

“Imagine a graph with age as the X-axis and the y-axis is the number of boys going into puberty that year. There might be a few dots for people that start really early at eight, but they are rare. The earliest batch start at ten, a few more at eleven, then most start at twelve. That’s the peak of the graph at seventy percent. Then a few more start at thirteen, fourteen, fifteen and by sixteen, unless something is wrong, most boys have hit puberty. That graph forms a curve that starts slow, then goes up rapidly, peaks at twelve or thirteen, then starts to decline.”

Kelly said, “You explained graphs better than any math teacher I’ve ever had and when puberty starts better than… anyone has ever tried to explain it to me.”

I said, “It’s why we’ve got to keep an eye on Billy. He’s got a dick, he’s not afraid to use it but, he’s not as emotionally mature as most boys at the onset of puberty. He can’t really do stuff with his peers because he’s way ahead of most of them. I found that out when he made a pass at me.”

Kelly chuckled and said, “At least he has good tastes. Billy is a sweet little guy but, very different from Jo-Jo. Smart is sexy but enough math. Let’s make out.”

“How far do you want to go?”

Kelly slid his hand into my Speedos and said, “I want a taste of this.”

I reached around him, slid my hands into his Speedos and grabbed to globes of his ass and said, “I can take you far in five minutes.”

 

 

When the timer dinged Kelly was still recovering in my arms. He sighed and said, “That was five minutes?”

“You’re sixteen, so I can go a lot farther with you than I can with the younger guys. I’m the first person other than Jo-Jo aren’t I?”

“Yeah, except for my cousins.”

I said, “I thought it was only one cousin.”

“I haven’t told anybody what really happened until today. My cousin’s older step-brother caught us. He made us do stuff for him— and he wasn’t nice about it.”

I hugged him and said, “I knew it had to be something like that. Jo-Jo is smart Kelly. A lot smarter than you might think unless you know him as well as we do. He knew there was more to that story, and asked me to get you to talk about it. I’m honored that you did. I suggest that you talk to Dr. Patrick about it during one of his Friday sessions.”

Kelly grinned and said, “I already did. I knew that I needed to, so I just slipped in when no one else was on the schedule today. We’re going to talk again next Friday.”

“I’m proud of you Kelly. It’s better to confront something like this than to let it stay stuck in your craw for decades until it messes with your life. I’m going to talk to Dr. Patrick myself about some things. Now. I’ve got to gather our team.”

 

 

I left Kelly curled up on the bed and made my way to the room Minh and David were sharing. I knocked lightly, gave it a moment, and entered.

Minh was asleep in David’s lap. Dave was holding him gently, stroking his hair and took off his blindfold. He whispered, “The little guy just plain ran out of gas.”

I said quietly, “I’m sure the younger guys are up much too late.”

I pulled the covers back and David put him down with his head on a pillow. David pulled the covers up over him and kissed his forehead.

On our way back to the room I hugged Little Dave, and he asked, “What?”

I said, “The way you were treating Minh, I know for sure now that you’re the right boy for Karl.”

David said, “I always wished I had a little brother. I hate it when I see my friends being mean to theirs.”

“You really are like your cousin. He told me the same thing when we were your age.”

 

As I was going to check on Rory and Rusty, the central air kicked on. The door to their room popped open a crack and I could see they were lying on their stomachs side by side, propped on their elbows chatting amiably.

I knocked, entered and said, “You guys are breaking the rules.”

Rory chuckled and said, “It didn’t take long for us to figure out who we were. Besides, I know how your mind works. You couldn’t resist putting two redheads together.”

I chuckled and said, “I’m busted. Did it work out all right?”

Rusty said, “Yeah. We figured out who we were almost right away and then spent the rest of the time just talking. Rory is pretty cool. He told me about how you guys assign a big brother to the new guys. I think I’ve found mine.”

I said, “This is just the sort of thing I was hoping for. I couldn’t have picked a better one for you Rusty. Now, head back to the room. I’ve got more horn dogs to round up.”

 

I passed Angel and Tracy’s room and could tell they weren’t done and neither were Billy and Charlie.

I went back to the master bedroom where Kelly was zonked out on the bed and Rory, Rusty and David were chatting.

“I think some of our guys are too sleepy to continue. David, see if you can put Kelly with Minh. I’m going to make the rounds and check on a few things.”

 

I ran into Chip, and he said he would check with the teams downstairs. It was near two-thirty and closing in on the time I figured we would knock off. Bart’s list of tasks and challenges would have been ambitious for a whole weekend but, the boys were getting tired.

Frank’s Fornicators were just recovering from round two and no one was fading but, a couple of Chris’s Catamites were dead on their feet. I carried Robbie Roberts to bed and Doug Mitchel followed.

Robbie whined, “I don’t want to go to bed. This is too much fun.”

I said, “We’re not going back until sometime tomorrow afternoon because of the power failure so, we’ll have more time to play tomorrow. Better?”

Robbie nodded and, Doug pumped his fist and said, “Yes!”

Robbie rolled over and went right to sleep so, I had Minh, Kelly and Robbie stashed away.

I hadn’t interacted too much with Doug Mitchel. He was a cute little guy with auburn hair, a shy smile and a sturdy build. He was one of the kids from the park that had attached himself to us but mostly stuck close to his buddy Travis Meadows.

After the other kids lay down he asked, “Uhhh… Mr. Shepherd, could I talk to you a minute?”

“Sure Doug, let’s get out of here and let these guys get some rest. I’ve got to check on the rest of my team, and we’ll talk.”

I checked on Angel and Tracy, and they were sound asleep in each other’s arms. The same was true for Charlie and Billy. I stuck my head in to the master bedroom and there was a big lump on the king-size bed where the rest of the team had collapsed.

 

ix.

Doug asked, “Could we step outside to talk?”

“Sure. The second floor rooms on the front have a balcony that runs the length of the house. Hopefully, it has cooled off a bit.”

He followed me through an empty room and out a French door onto the front balcony. There was a collection of chairs, and we sat on a stationary swing.

Doug said, “I know a lot of your guys: Brandon, Toby, Barry, Adam and a few others. I talked to them to find out what you’re really like. I wanted to thank you for taking out that Dalton creep. He cornered me in the park once. He made me do stuff for him and scared the hell out of me. You probably won’t let me give you the blow job you deserve, but I hope you’ll smoke this with me.”

He pulled out a plastic tube that looked like a ballpoint pen from his Speedos. He popped the end cap and a very well rolled joint and a stove match slid out.

I said, “I’m sorry you had to go through that. It’s late, and we’re about to go to bed. Sure, I’d love to burn one with you.”

Doug said, “Cool”, struck the match on the concrete column next to the swing and lit the joint.

It had the skunky smell of high-quality weed. Doug took a drag and passed it to me. I hit it, and it tasted strong; very much like some bud Brandon and I had liberated from Andrew’s stash.

I asked, “This is good. You know where it came from?”

Doug took a drag, let it go, passed it and said, “Andrew gave me an ounce of it. I realized how good it was and rolled a bunch to save. I had some cheap ballpoint pens that I could use to seal them up like cigars to save them. Now I just take one out occasionally for special occasions.”

“You did it right. You used Joker papers, and I’ve rarely seen a better roll. Thanks for sharing it with me.”

We finished smoking the joint and Doug asked, “How much do you know about me?”

“Very little other than you’re a freckled, dark auburn haired cutie who is friendly with my boys, you were in Andrew’s Red Book with five stars and your best friend seems to be Travis.”

He grimaced and said, “Andrew taught me to be very cautious trusting people. I was… I thought I was in love with him for a while.”

“You aren’t the first person I’ve heard that from.”

“Knowing some guys in your group, I’m not surprised; especially Brandon and Toby. We were smart enough to figure out Andrew was headed for a big fall and distanced ourselves from him but, God he made me feel good. It makes me hard just thinking about him.”

I said, “I went to high school with Andrew. We even did some things. He must have learned something because he wasn’t that great.”

Doug grimaced and said, “I know. A lot of it was a mind game. He would get me so high and then tell me I was his favorite. That goes a long way when you are really shy and insecure. Then I found out he was doing it with all the other boys. I do know he wanted me. I got to the point of not wanting him.”

He fidgeted and said, “When it comes to people, I’ve learned to shut up, watch, listen and learn. After talking to my friends and hearing what you said tonight, I’m not going to hide in the crowd anymore. I want in.”

I put my arm around him and said, “I’m glad to have you Doug. You want a spot at the Game Zone?”

Doug sighed and said, “I’d like to but, I’m not certain I am up to it. Most people don’t know much about me. They just think I moved here when I was ten and lived with my grandparents. The truth is, when I was eight, I was in a bad car accident with my parents. It killed my Mom and Dad and messed me up pretty bad. That’s why I’ve got the scars on my back and legs. I missed a lot of school, have some metal inside me, and I still get tired when I have to walk or stand for a long time.”

I asked, “Are you still in physical therapy?”

“No, but I probably should be.”

I said, “We’ll work it out Doug. We have a couple of places in the Game Zone you can go to rest and, the more you work, the more stamina you’ll develop. My guys have privileges at the gym next door to the Game Zone and slip off in twos and threes to get a workout. The guy who runs it served with my Dad and has enough time in the body and fender shop himself to know how to rebuild your strength. There’s something else that might help: I’ve got a sauna and hot tubs at my house, and I give a pretty good massage.”

Doug said, “I’ve heard about your magic fingers. A good massage be perfect after that joint.”

“Sure. Come on. We’ll use this room.”

Doug followed me back inside. It was dark, but there was enough light from outside that we could see at least a little. He lay down on his stomach with his head on a pillow.

I said, “Are there any sore spots I should avoid?”

“No. Nothing really hurts anymore— I just get sore. I was in two casts for months and my legs got weak. They get sore and so does my lower back after a long day.”

I went to work on him, and he seemed to purr with contentment. There was a lot of tightness in his lower back and gluts. I couldn’t see his scars in the dark, but I felt them. I could tell he had really been through it. His arms and shoulders were well-built from extended time on crutches, but his legs lagged far behind.

As I was working on his lower back Doug said, “I have a theory about you.”

“What’s that Doug?”

He said, “Please don’t be mad. I’m high and horny as hell.”

I chuckled and said, “I’m pretty buzzed too so, let’s hear it.”

Doug said, “I think the guys have been asking you the wrong question. They want to suck your dick, or they want you to fuck them.”

I said, “True.”

He rolled over on his back displaying a very respectable throbbing Speedo clad boner and said, “You are a giver, not a taker. I bet none of them have asked you to blow them. Would you do me, please?”

“You’re not wrong. If you can keep that little secret, if I can’t find a boy closer to your age, I’ll do it.” I put my arms around Doug and asked, “Before I go find you a pal, I don’t know Travis at all. What is his story?”

Doug said, “My grandparents knew I needed a lot of help. My grandfather is a retired judge and adopted Travis when I was still in casts. My grandparents offered to pay him to help me, but he refused to take any money other than the occasional pizza and root beer. He’s a couple of years older than me, and it’s like we became best friends from the start. He stayed with me day and night helping me dress, go to the bathroom and get around. He kept me sane and was there when I woke up from the nightmares. Best friend doesn’t really cover it. As far as I’m concerned, we’re family.”

“I like him already. Thanks, Doug. I’ll be right back.”

 

I checked on my team. Kelly, Mihn and Robbie were all sleeping peacefully.

Billy and Charlie were in a naked embrace on their bed. Angel and Tracy were in a similar tangle. I pulled sheets over both couples and let them sleep.

When I stuck my head in the Master Bedroom, Rusty and Rory were softly snoring, but David was missing. I quietly closed the door and approached the bathroom. The door was open a crack and the nightlight was on inside. As I got closer, I could hear David furiously jacking off.

I startled him when I entered, but he smiled when I closed the door. He was naked on the bathroom jerking off with his Speedos around his ankles.

I whispered, “Just like your cousin. He never could go to sleep with a boner. What are you feeding that thing? I think it’s bigger today.”

“Rory really got me going, and Mihn and I didn’t do much but hug. Please help.”

“Do you know Doug Mitchel?”

David said, “Yeah. He’s the really shy kid that hangs with Travis. He’s smart. He was in advanced science class last year and cute but, I didn’t even know he was into guys until he showed up on the bus.”

I said, “He’s across the hall in the same shape you’re in. I’ll owe you one if you help him out.”

David pulled up his Speedos and said, “I like Doug but, I’ll keep the favor.”

I hugged him and whispered in his ear, “A cock like yours will gain you many favors. Just be sure to stick it in safe places you big sweet rascal.”

He ground his big cock against me and said, “Aww. You love me.”

“Well of course I do. You might as well be family. Now, let’s go across the hall before we forget all about poor Doug. By the way, what can you tell me about Todd?”

David leaned against me and said, “He’s hornier than I am. We’ve been jerk off buds since we were little squirts. He has a little brother named Stevie that’s Karl’s age. He’s scared that if it gets out that he likes dick, his Mom will kick him out. She is a nut case, so he’s worried.”

I sighed and said, “That’s not at all uncommon. Some churches are really hateful that way. Thanks, Dave. I’m trying to figure out a little about Todd.”

In a much more serious tone than was usual for Little Dave he said, “Todd is my best friend, and he’s in a bad situation. His Mom is no prize at all. Todd and Stevie have two different Dads she is shaking down for child support. She’s fat, mean and a real bitch. You did him a big favor giving him a job to get him out of that house for a while.”

I said, “That explains a lot. I’ll see what I can do to help him. He’s not the first one of my boys that has had that problem. Now I’m hooking you up with an auburn haired cutie, and you might decide you owe me one.”

Doug was delighted to see David. I gave them both a big hug, made sure their ceiling fan was on and left hearing them laughing and speaking softly to each other.

 

 

x.

My team was down, so I checked on Frank and Chris’s groups. Apparently, the late hour had taken the starch out of most of them. Frank was crashed with Big Ted, Joey Porter and Zeke Smith. The rest were scattered in the surrounding rooms.

As I passed one door Aaron Pate popped out and Brian Bullard and James Jackson were laughing inside. I said, “You guys are in a good mood.”

Aaron said, “This has been a lot of fun. I’m so glad I got to spend some time with Brian and James. Be right back.”

I said, “This is the reason we scattered you guys randomly. We wanted you to get to know and hang with guys outside your circles.”

Brian patted James ass and said, “I can’t believe this stud is just fourteen.”

Not to be outdone, James ran his hand over the big bulge in Brian’s Speedo and said, “I’m surprised this doesn’t drag the ground.”

Aaron returned to the room with their overnight bags, dumped them on the foot of the bed and said, “We were just getting ready to get some sleep.”

I chuckled and said, “I’m not confident if there’ll be much sleep with you three hotties in the room.”

James said, “Maybe a little.”

I said, “Brian, I plan to take you and Grant on a driving lesson Sunday afternoon, Aaron and Brian we’re going to see Judge Vinson Tuesday morning, and I’m not certain how soon we’re going back tomorrow. We’re thinking two but if the power is out, there’s no point. So… enjoy the company, relax and have fun.”

 

 

Chris’s group was settled in, so I went downstairs to check on things. Jeb and Randy were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coke on ice.

Jeb looked up and said, “Cool, I was hoping you would come down. I just got off the phone with my contact at the Memphis Operations Center.”

“I forget you had connections with Deep South Power. What did they say?”

Jed said, “Pardon my French but, they’ve got a first class shit show going on.”

I chuckled and said, “I speak it too.”

Jed continued, “One of the four big transformers blew and took one of the others with it. If that wasn’t bad enough, the stabilizer oil caught on fire and burned up a lot of specialized wiring. They have parts for one transformer on site, but the closest spares for the second are in New Orleans. I think their estimate of two tomorrow afternoon is optimistic. Five or six is probably more realistic.”

I said, “I’m not surprised. Every engineer has a story of a fifty cent part failing causing a multi-million dollar disaster. You seem to know the family business.”

Jeb chuckled and said, “At this point, I probably know it better than Dad. He seems more interested in things going on across the pond. I’ve been fascinated by it for years. The guys who run the company like that I’m interested and have been teaching me how the systems work. I think they hope I’ll take over since Dad spends most of his time in Europe now. Our power comes from the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant at Athens, AL. It feeds the grid via a web of high-tension wires to North Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. Those big high-tension wires require relays or substations, and they don’t work so well when the relay transformers burn up.”

Randy snorted and said, “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near one of those stations when they are having problems.”

Jeb said, “They’re safe. They have breakers that automatically shut down in emergencies.”

I said, “There’s nothing we can do about it. In the morning we’ll let the kids call their folks and let them know we’re staying until the power comes back. How did your groups go?”

Randy said, “I had mostly new guys except for Barry and Lee. The more I get to know Grant, the better I like him. Matty and Robbie MacDonald met each other while he was cruising with that Cole fellow. Oh, and I got Matty’s suitcase before we left. He has a book called Off the Beaten Path of places to cruise in small southern towns.”

Jeb said, “Little Karl and Marcus hit it off pretty good. Karl and the Henderson boys did too. I can tell they’re going to be pals. I had Rich Kelly in my group and that new kid Eddie Turner. Rich surprised me. I’d seen him around but, he was like a different person. Everybody had fun. I talked to Bart about it afterward. He said the idea was to mix and match, so they could get to know guys from outside their usual circles, and it seems to have worked.”

I said, “Karl really likes having cousins. My Aunt Jean is his grandmother, and she was glad to see him too. That dirty Sheriff’s Deputy did a real number on Rich’s head. He’s bound to be a lot happier with his tormentor on ice. Since we’ll be staying longer tomorrow, I think we’ll let them have some unstructured play time tomorrow.”

Randy asked, “Should we call the bus company and delay the buses until three or four?”

“If you don’t mind, have a word with Danny about that and see what you think. There’s no point in getting there without power. Things like this make me grateful Dad was so paranoid. Our house has a backup generator that kicks in when the power goes out.”

Randy rose and said, “I’m going to talk to Danny and then get some sleep.”

Jeb and I both wished Randy a good night.

I stood and Jeb asked, “Are you turning in yet?”

“Not yet. I wanted to check on a few things first. Then I might jump in the pool for a few minutes.”

Jeb followed me and said, “That sounds good. Lee took his brothers and Little Karl back to their house tonight. They need to keep the chores done, so they won’t have a mess on their hands. They’ll be back in the morning.”

I checked on Joey who was asleep on the chaise lounge in the screened in back porch with his puppy snoozing under his arm. I spotted one of the Knight twins asleep on a couch but didn’t wake him.

Jeb and I had the pool to ourselves.

We grabbed a couple of towels and made the short walk to the pool house. Like the pool house at Dockside Park, we had to go in through it to get to the pool. This one was a little different since it was built for private use. There were differences like a sauna inside and a hot tub built next to the pool.

Jeb said, “Today when we got here, Lee’s brothers were all in the pool naked.”

“I’m sure our boys liked that.”

Jeb chuckled and said, “Yeah, there was some serious skinny-dipping going on, even more so after dark. I had to warn them about parts that aren’t used to getting any sun like you did last time we were here.”

I slipped out of my Speedo and said, “When in Rome.”

Jeb followed suit, and we walked into the pool down concrete stairs into the shallow end. The water was a cold shock compared to the muggy night air. I waded into deeper water and Jeb followed until we were in chest deep water.

Jeb asked, “Why did you make me a team leader? I was the youngest one.”

“Because, James Somerset, you are in line for your father’s title— Earl of something or another, if I’m not mistaken. You need experience with leadership, teamwork and self-confidence. I have learned to trust you. You have been around since this whole thing began and, although I haven’t told you, I consider you a part of my inner circle.”

Jeb asked, “You know about that?”

I put my arm around him and said, “It wasn’t that hard to figure out. Many Royals leave dear old England rather than have to deal with the paparazzi and the circus. I think having a Southern accent and living in the South, your secret is safe with us. One thing puzzles me: Why Jeb instead of Jimmy or James?”

He laughed and said, “I absorbed the Southern accent when I was little. My father said I sounded like ‘Jeb’ Clampett from the Beverly Hillbillies. He actually got it wrong-it was Jed Clampett but, it stuck. I’ve had people ask if I was named after the Confederate General Jeb Stuart.”

“How far are you from the throne?”

“I’m thirty-seventh in line behind my father last time I checked.”

“That’s high enough for respect but, far enough away from any serious danger.”

He sighed and said, “It’s a royal pain in the ass. If I were a public figure, my being gay would be all over the tabloids. The anti-Royalists would love a scandal like that.”

“Your secret is safe with me Sir Jeb.”

“Awe man, not you too. Lee is bad enough.”

“Lee knows?”

“He thinks it’s hysterical. After he got through laughing, he said the sweetest thing: he lucked out and found a real Prince.”

“I’ll bet that line got him laid.”

Jeb replied in his most British accent, “Bloody right it did.” He continued in his regular drawl, “This water it a little cold. Let’s slip into the hot tub.”

I followed him to the edge of the pool, slipped over the barrier and into the warm water of the hot tub.

Once we were settled I asked, “Jeb, you have options the rest of our guys don’t. Are you going to stick with us?”

He said, “You should know a little about our family history. My grandfather was too young for World War I and too old for World War II. He was a small-scale industrialist of sorts and in the twenties and thirties. He acquired or established several small factories that produced musical instruments. When World War II broke out, the factories weren’t considered essential businesses and were about to be closed when Grand Dad found out that there was a big need for wood working shops.”

I said, “He started building parts for the Mosquito fighter bomber.”

Jeb said, “Exactly. He made a very nice pile doing it. My father took a small stake, came here in the late fifties, acquired a moribund local power company, modernized it and eventually built up DSP. We’re builders Tim. What you have in mind strikes me as a chance to be a part of building something new. I think my father and granddad would heartily approve. I have a surprise for you.”

“You do?”

“We’ve been studying those big red notebooks. I’m pretty sure all of us can pass the level one and two tests. A few of us might be able to take on the level three test.”

“That’s excellent. We can start bidding on contracts almost immediately. I’m looking forward to and dreading Tuesday.”

“Why?”

“I’m eagerly awaiting our Pensacola trip but, that morning I’ve got to go to court for Brian, Adam, Aaron, Ray, Walt, Juan, Joey, Matty and Robbie. I sure hope I didn’t miss anyone.”

Jeb sloshed around in the hot tub and asked, “You aren’t worried about that are you?”

I chuckled and said, “Not really. Judge Vinson knows some of my plan and is supportive. I’ve never really been comfortable in court. Not being a lawyer, I’m out of my element, so it's nerve racking. How did it go with your team?”

“Well, I had Bart, so that helped a lot. He was my second. I had an odd mix of younger boys like Marcus, Karl, Tyler and Michael Henderson versus older boys like me, Rich, Adrian, Bart and Bobby Knight. Just the randomness of it made for some older and younger pairings, but nobody complained.”

I said, “That’s what they wanted. The younger guys are attracted to the older teens, and our younger guys are all cuties. Even the average ones are a cut above.”

Jeb chuckled and said, “That Tyler is horny. I drew him on the second round. I’m pretty sure Karl and Marcus are buddies now. Eddie Turner is a really sweet boy. I drew him on my third, and we cuddled and talked the whole time. Everybody was having fun but after round three, they were all going to sleep.”

“I talked to Eddie this afternoon and that little guy has been seriously hurt. His Mom caught him fooling around with another boy a couple of years ago. She left him and his Dad as soon as his father got back from his deployment. Eddie stays with the Bowers since his Dad is at sea so much.”

Jeb sat up and said, “She ditched a marriage because her preteen son was fooling around with another boy?”

“Yes and believe it or not, that’s not the worst thing I’ve heard of parents doing to gay or bi kids. Southern culture makes some people really insane when it comes to homosexuality.”

“I’ve heard stories”, Jed said looking perplexed. “Eddie is such a nice kid. I can’t imagine anyone just dumping him.”

I chuckled and said, “Do you want a little brother?”

Jeb said, “I think so. I like Eddie.”

“Careful Jeb. You don’t know how easy it is to wake up with eighty of them.”

Jeb chuckled and said, “I’m not quite as charismatic as you.”

“Don’t sell yourself short on that count Jeb. There’s a reason why I encourage you older guys to be big brothers. Not only does it help the younger boy, it helps you grow up some too. Jeb there’s nothing wrong with you that a little self-confidence won’t fix. That seems to be coming along nicely.”

He looked my direction and asked, “Really?”

I ran my hand over his shoulder and said, “Think about it. Things have changed so much for you over the last few weeks. You’ve got friends, a boyfriend and many kids look up to you, and not just because you’re tall. All of that should be telling those doubts and fears in the back of your mind to shut up, things are working out.”

Jeb laughed and said, “Things are better. I do feel different. I used to be so shy; I could have never worked in the Game Zone. All of those people would have freaked me out. Now, it’s like they’re glad to see me.”

I said, “Of course they are. To them, you’re the tall, cool and handsome big kid. They want to be like you. I’ll bet you have a couple of dozen kids a day basically looking to you for attention— like Justin, the one that tried to run over me my first day there.”

Jeb yawned and said, “Yeah, he’s a trip. It took me a little while to figure out when it seems like he was trying to bug me, he was really looking for attention. Thanks, Tim. Sometimes we all need a perspective check. I’ve got to get some sleep. This warm water is making me drowsy.”

We got out of the hot tub, dried off, put our Speedos back on and went back inside. Jeb rejoined his team and I went back upstairs to rejoin mine.

Rory and Rusty were sound asleep in the master bedroom. I lay down beside them and fell into a sound sleep.