Salvation - 1. Chapter 1

Caleb watched as the community gathered for the revival meeting. Most, like his parents and himself, came in horse-drawn carriages. A few of the more affluent farmers and businessmen arrived in Henry Ford's inventions, the latter being surrounded by curious young boys as soon as they were parked in the open field next to the big tent.

By the standards of the day, the revival was small - a one-family operation. The evangelist, the Reverend Edwin Carmody, was accompanied by his appropriately-meek wife, Emma, and their handsome seventeen-year-old son, Edwin Junior. The latter preferred to be called Eddie, presumably to differentiate himself from his pompous, self-righteous father.

The tent had been erected by the townsfolk themselves, or more correctly, the male members of the evangelically-minded denominations. The Lutherans had been lightly represented, and the Catholics notably absent.

Caleb had helped with the tent-raising, as he had with the circus tent a month before. He preferred the circus experience. Working with the muscular, shirtless, bawdy roustabouts had been much more interesting, educational, and... well... sexually stimulating. His interest was noted, and one conversation had gone much like this.

"Hey, Caleb. How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"Gotten laid yet?"

"Nope."

"I'd be glad to pop your cherry if you've got some spare time when we're done."

This produced laughter from the rest of the crew and confusion on the part of Caleb. Though he understood the reference, there seemed to be a gender problem, and he'd been naive enough to raise the issue. After a great deal of laughter at his expense, they provided him with an eye-opening explanation.

So guys did it with guys. He'd obsessed over the concept all month. A visit to his only information resource, the community library, had produced little more than a stern look, over her half-rim glasses, from the old-maid librarian.

Now, under Eddie's watchful eye, Caleb helped unload the portable pump organ from the Carmody's wagon and install it in the tent. Playing the organ was Eddie's contribution to the tent meetings, and he took the care of his instrument seriously. Caleb did note, however, that when giving the organ a quick test, he played a Scott Joplin ragtime tune. Perhaps Eddie used his talents in other venues as well.

The revival meeting ran the usual course. An introductory prayer for divine guidance was followed by inspirational music from the choir - a composite of volunteers from local congregations. There followed a lengthy sermon about sin, with emphasis on alcohol, masturbation, and fornication.

Caleb was already ignoring the warning about masturbation, and now he paid particular attention to the part about fornication. It was a subject in which he was becoming increasingly interested. Unfortunately, insufficient detail was provided to educate him further, either about the acts themselves or the reasons for their sinfulness.

There was lots of waving of raised hands, speaking in tongues, and at least two women fainted - whether from the heat or religious hysteria, Caleb wasn't sure. He was convinced one of them had an orgasm, but that didn't seem possible without male participation. Maybe it was that holy spirit she'd been inviting inside.

And finally, the collection and the altar call. Caleb had never succumbed to the latter, preferring instead to stand in the wings and watch the sinful and contrite kneel and beg for forgiveness. From the pleas and tears, some of the sins must have been pretty awful.

And all the time, Eddie quietly played gospel music in the background, as the choir softly sang:

I surrender all, I surrender all.
All to thee my Blessed Savior, I surrender all.

Caleb found it entertaining - but he preferred the circus.

************

As was the practice, the Carmodys were hosted by a family in the community, and this time it was Caleb's parents' turn. After dinner, the family's hospitality was rewarded with a mini-sermon, as anticipated, with more warnings about fornication. Eddie's attention seemed to be focused more on Caleb than the sermon, something the younger boy found a little disconcerting.

Bedtime came around. Edwin and Emma were given the guest bedroom. Eddie joined Caleb in his room next door. Like many rural boys, Caleb had simply abandoned his daytime union suit and nighttime pajamas for the summer, and crawled into bed naked. Eddie conformed to the local standard without hesitation.

Casual conversation was interrupted by the squeaking of bed springs and the not-so-meek sound of Emma's voice from the adjacent room.

"Oh, yes, Edwin! Just like that! Oh, Jesus! Oh, God! Harder! Faster!"

Caleb wasn't sure whether the references to deities were prayer or profanity, but in either case it seemed a little inappropriate for a preacher's wife. Since fornication didn't include sex between a married couple, that part was legitimate - but it was also sexually arousing. In two shakes of a lamb's tail, Caleb's cock was hard as a rock, a condition Eddie was quick to capitalize on. Gently stroking the younger boy's boner, his musician's hand began to make a melody of a different kind.

"Ever do it with a guy?"

"No. That would be fornication, right?"

"Don't pay too much attention to Dad. He's just an old windbag. Fornication is fun, and he thinks everything that's fun is sinful. If you read the Bible carefully, you'll find out they fornicated all the time."

"Really?"

"Yeah, read all about those kings with concubines. Know what concubines are, Caleb?"

"Nope."

"Nowadays, we'd call them mistresses. Those kings were fornicating like crazy. Then there's that country boy David and his princely chum Jonathan. If the truth be told, they were likely doing a little fornicating too."

Well, if they did it in the Bible, it couldn't be too sinful. The music exploded into a symphony as Eddie moved his hand down between Caleb's legs and teased the boy's pucker.

"I could show you what it's like."

At last, a resource better than the library!

"Sure!"

Caleb was never certain where the lubricant came from, but Eddie was obviously both opportunistic and resourceful. The preacher's son slid his organ inside, and began to make music the likes of which Caleb had never known. The tempo, at first adagio, quickly moved to allegro and ultimately reached a rapid presto. And through it all, Caleb's over-stimulated mind replayed a modified version of the altar-call hymn.

I surrender all, Eddie made the call.
Fornication's fun - it isn't sinful after all.