Terrified - 1. Chapter 1

Prequel

Granitestadt, Tennessee was founded by a wealthy German archeologist immigrant by the name of Hans Erickson. Erickson was excavating for Native American artifacts, but instead, discovered a rich vein of tan, speckled- with-pink granite; beautiful stone that became in high demand. Erickson set up a mining operation and opened a filling station, a grocery store and a small grocery store that would supply goods for several granite mine workers he expected to attract. Hans then hired a construction Company to build twelve small identical houses for the families who would work the vein. The houses were in a straight line and all facing west, three miles lower on the mountain side than the mine. That was nine years ago, and the town had grown at a snail’s pace because it was like an island surrounded by dense forests; miles from larger towns and cities. Nevertheless, the population is now big enough that the small country school had a football team on which Michael McGrainger played during his Junior and Senior years. The team competed with nearby naturally attracted that caliber of people. The children of poor Rednecks, as most people proudly referred to themselves, had no source for entertainment. All combined, it was a perfect setting for trouble, and trouble came.

Terrified!

I was eleven years old and taking a shower before going to bed when I discovered a short kinky blond pubic hair. It was so pale that I could barely see it. It was my first, and I was proud. It was a big deal to me.

At age thirteen my voice had begun to drop, and that’s not all that dropped. It took me another two months before I could ejaculate to completion. That really made me proud. Roger Jensen, a friend my age, had already been bragging about that achievement five months earlier, and I was jealous. Now, I could brag too. About mid way through my eighth grade, kids were beginning to tease each other about girlfriends. But none of us were brave enough to consider approaching a girl for sex. None, that is except Emery Jones. There was one particular girl who was very flirty and giggly with. Emery, and he picked up on that and went with it. Rumors spread like a wildfire. Emery Weatherford was sort of brutish and a bit of a bully. I made the mistake of teasing him about getting into Jenny’s panties. I was rewarded with a black eye right there in the school hallway with other students going from one class to the next. Gary Mc Grady, a husky student, saw it and stepped daringly in front of Emery. Gary was on the schools boxing team, and Emery wanted no part of fighting him. I was humiliated. I never tried that again. But the die was cast. Emery had it in for both Gary and me. But he had never acted on his anger.

Emery became a buddy of an ill tempered fellow classmate by the name of Brad Duncan. As a team they were constantly getting into trouble; small stuff at first like flattening the bicycle tires of students was their first bit of mischief. That evolved into they’re sneaking to school at midnight, and with a very wide brush and yellow paint, they scrolled lewd graffiti on the brick walls in large letters. An assembly was called by Principal. He asked who the culprit was. None of us students knew. If we had, did he really expect any of us to stand up and say? The Principal stubbornly sat on a chair in the middle of the auditorium stage with his arms crossed. After ten minutes of silence he cursed something under his breath and then told us to go on to our next class. But there was someone who had seen the mischief happen. A mister Ivan Britton lived across from the school. He suffered from insomnia and had gotten up and was smoking a cigarette in his easy chair with the lights turned off, and looking out of his front room window. The next morning, Mr. Britton was waiting at the school doors for them to open. He went directly to the Principals office with a good description of Emery and Brad. When school began, the Principal went to the math room and told Emery and Brad to follow him to his office. He refused to tell them who had seen the vandalism, so to them, every student was suspect. They were suspended for a week and made to remove the graffiti. Did that change their attitude? No. Mere mischief evolved into serious pranks which were not confined to school students. Windshields of cars on used car lots were smashed with thrown rocks. Again they got caught and spent a month in jail. Principal Aims had had it. They were kicked out of school and never graduated.

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By my Junior year, it seemed like at least half of the guys were dating, but not me. Four girls had mildly flirted with me, but although Susan in particular was beautiful and well stacked. I simple wasn’t attracted to her or any of them. I was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with me. It never occurred to me that I might be Gay until Sammy Simpson got an erection while showering after gym class. It was awesome, and I liked the feeling I got from seeing it. I wasn’t the only one who noticed, and Sammy got towels snapped at his hard on and his butt. It was all in good fun, but not for me. I knew then that I was attracted to the bodies of men. That discovery put me in an awkward state of mind.

Granite Town, Tennessee is definitely no place for an eighteen year old Gay man like me to live. But in the last quarter of my senior year, I discovered by accident that I was not the only person in the class who was Gay. The enlightenment came three months and a few days before graduation when following football practice, we seniors were showering after gym class. The team I was on lost, and it was all my fault. My team members were livid. Hell, it was just a game to me, but they didn’t see it that way. Devon Morse was the one who got the revenge started. Because I was light of frame and bulk, the next time we were in the showers, I was punched around rather badly. I knew that if I reported it to the principle I would be shunned right up to high school graduation day, so I didn’t. I was small of frame and shouldn’t even have been playing that sport, but there were barely enough guys in our senior class to make up a team, and I wanted to play some sport so badly that I talked the coach into letting me be on the football team. Big mistake.

Because I was so worn down and hurting after football practice, I took my time showering. Most of my classmates had showered and gone to the locker room to dress except for me and one other guy; the butch-as-they-get football team captain. He was the second guy to start showering, so I wondered why he kept soaping down instead of rinsing and leaving for the locker room ahead of me. My curiosity caused me to glance at him. I was exhilarated when I saw an unusual amount of soap suds traverse through his pubes and flow onto and dripping off of a growing erection. Being a closeted queer, I couldn’t help staring. My eyes moved to his and saw him drag his tongue across his upper lip and grin. Then he winked. As hard as I had tried to hide my interest in the same sex, Wade Duncan had evidently figured me out. I wasn’t sure how to react. I quickly looked away, but felt my cheeks flush. My interest was captured by his muscular body as was the image of his partial erection. His strongly suggestive flirting had eased my concern about being outed, not to mention how his rugged but handsome face and muscular body had always secretly attracted me. So I did a gutsy thing. I began lathing again to stall for time and to see what would happen. I risked looking at Wade out of the corner of my eye.

“Stop playing coy, Mike,” he said. “You want it, don’t you? Well, you don’t want it more than I do. But have the good sense not to let anyone else know!”

“I’m not stupid. How did you know?” I asked.

“I have twenty-twenty…you can’t fool me. Ever since I saw you sneaking glances at Sammy multiple times when we were showering, and twice at Ed, I’ve kept my eye on you. It wasn‘t hard to figure out, being that I too am Gay. So far as I know there are only two of us. What a shame it would be if we didn’t take advantage of what we know. Right Mike?”

“Sex? Wow! I’ve never had sex with anyone, girl or guy. But where?”

“A little over a mile out of town is a mountain stream. The rock bridge that crosses over it. I’ll pick you up at your house right after sunset and we’ll have some fun under the bridge.”

“Sure, if you think it’s safe.”

“It will be plenty dark an hour after sunset. No one will see us there. I’ll bring condoms and lube. A virgin, huh? I can‘t believe it.”

“Unfortunately, Wade, it’s true. Evidently you’ve been planning this for a while,” I said. “

“Uh huh. Let’s get out and get dressed.”

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That is how our act of sex evolved into a budding romance that grew stronger with each day through the three months preceding graduation day. As it turned out, I was Wade’s first romance too. Unfortunately, shortly after graduation is when all hell broke loose. As usual, we met under the bridge. But this time we met there at an hour past noon, and the sun was shining brightly. I strongly objected, but Wade persisted, and I really was in need, so I went along. Exposed like that during the day gave me a jittering feeling, but I was much too horny to say, “No“. Wade surprised me with a camping water flask filled with whiskey. Both of us being under twenty-one, I asked him how he got hold of booze.

“It’s home brewed. That’s all I can tell you. Figure it out, Mike.”

“Aw aw! Oh well…share,” I said, eager to find out what all of the fuss over alcohol was about.

“Of course, I’ll share. Just keep your mouth zippered about it.”

I pressed my thumb and index finger together and drug them across my lips. Wade chuckled.

“We’ve always had sex in the dark,” Wade said, “and except for the school showers, I’ve never seen you nude in good light. That’s why I wanted to do it in the light of day. And I’ve thought of a way to make it more exciting.”

“I’m for that, but how?” I asked.

“A game. One sip of booze…shed one item of cloths. We take turns, of course.”

“Sounds interesting and fun. Sort of a striptease.”

“You got it, Mike. As when playing strip-poker, with each swig, an article of clothing comes off. Shoes first, a swig, sox next, then another…”

“I got the point, Wade! It is your idea, so you go first.”

“Fair enough.”

Wade handed me the bottle when it was my first turn. The home-brewed swill burned my lips and tongue and I wanted to spit it out. But I was determined to not look like a wimp, so I quickly swallowed. By the time we were down to our underwear, not only was I getting accustomed to the strong brew, I was getting bombed too. When totally nude, Wade put his arms around my waist and pulled our bodies together and we began kissing passionately.

Suddenly, we both heard a noise near by. We looked in that direction and saw Brad Thurston and Emery Jones watching us from the bank. They were squatting side by side, peering through the tall grass and ferns at the top of the bank on the same side of the coldwater stream as we were, and smirking. My throat tightened with fear. We could not have gotten caught by anyone worse than those two trouble makers. Our drunkard sheriff had arrested them four times; always together. But when each court date in the next county came around, our worthless sheriff was too drunk to show up. The charges were automatically dropped.

Wade and I both knew that we were in deep trouble.

Panic! Both of us! As quickly as we possibly could, Wade and I grabbed our jeans only and draped them around our shoulders and started cautiously running along side the stream in our bare feet on the same side of the bridge and stream as Brad and Emery. The whole excuse-for-a-town knew how mean those two were, and I was so frightened that I couldn’t hold my pee.“They’re getting away! The only good fag is a dead one! Let’s get em, Brad!”

I knew it was Emery’s voice. I also knew what Brad’s voice sounded like.

Being the stronger of the two of us, Wade was in the lead, that is, until he slipped on the slick bank and ended up knee deep in the frigid trout stream.“Quick! Give me your hand!”

I helped Wade regain his footing on the bank and we continued on. The fact was, we were at a gross disadvantage. We had no shoes to protect our feet from the rough stones that lined the bottom if we were forced to cross. But I saw that was our best chance of getting away. I was in the lead now and looking for a place where we might be able to scale the bank on the other side and possibly escape.

I finally spotted a cut in the bank were a tiny tributary emptied into lazy stream; the name itself being anything but metaphorical. It was full of fast moving shallow rapids and the occasional deep pool that seldom measured more that a few hundred yards in length, and barely over my head. I had swum there many times after the heat of the summer had warmed the waters somewhat, so I knew.

“Up there!” I yelled to Wade and pointed.“Shit!

We knew that he was too close for comfort.

I hit the water and the rough bottom a split second before Wade did. My foot slipped on a smooth round rock and hit another rock. Dull pain made me grit my teeth, but there was no turning back. I reached the other side first and quickly, but cautiously made my way up and into the tiny rocky tributary. Wade was right on my heels. A rock sailed over my head. We squatted behind a huge clump of wild ferns.

“Maybe they won’t see us here,” said Wade.

“Surely you’re not serious! I can hardly believe you said that. We’ve got to keep going. Come on!”

It only took a couple of long steps to be out of the tributary and into the ferns, and wading through high wild grass and weeds.“I see them!”

yelled Emery. “I’ll follow them, and you’ll run around them on the other side of the stream. We’ll have the fags cornered between us and the river. We’ll catch them and drown em. Let’s go!”

“This can‘t be good,” Wade whisper as both of us pulled our jeans on and zipped up. “I have an idea. Confuse them. Those two thugs are typical bullies and find greater power as a pair. We need to split up. Then it will be one on one. I know I can easily handle either one of them. Then I’ll come and fight along side you if you get caught.”

“Do I look like I could take on either one of them by myself?” I asked facetiously.

“What do you suggest, Mike? I think it’s our best chance.”

“You’re much stronger than me, Wade. If one of those assholes gets hold of me, I‘ll…”

“Shut the fuck up, Mike. There‘s no time to argue. They’re crazy and mean as they come. We’ve got to move now! Ready?”

“I guess I’ll have to be, won’t I?” I said.“Go!”

I watched as Wade leaped out of the shallow inlet and started running away from me towards the road. He left me with no choice. I rose as quickly as I could and ran deeper into the woods in the opposite direction.“Get Wade! I’ve got the puny one!”

Again it was Emery’s voice. My brain boiled with anger for having been referred to as puny. Yet the fact was that Emery in particular was hefty and much stronger than me. He would have been a far more formable force on the football team than me had our coach not rejected him because of his bad reputation. Escaping from him was first and foremost in urgency. I wasn’t accustomed to running over rough terrain barefooted. Grass caught between my toes and I nearly went down. My pulse was throbbing in the veins around my throat and I was scarred stiff. Emery was known in our tiny community as a cat killer and dog beater. Cruelty excited him. Shoulder high bushes scratched my bare chest and arms as I charged through the underbrush. Small dead tree branches dug into my feet. I wondered what was happening to Wade. I had already fallen in love with him, and prayed as I ran that he would be okay.

“I’ll get you , you fucking fairy!” Emery yelled.

I knew he was gaining on me. His threat now came from my left and behind, so I turned sharp right and jumped over a dead branch and wedged my way through the heavy undergrowth of trash fauna. By the direction from which Brad was yelling at Wade, I should have expected it when I found myself on the edge of the river bank looking down at the frigid water, twisting and cascading wildly over a rugged pallet of rocks. A deeper fear charged through me. Nevertheless, the river harbored no malice toward me, but Emery, who was closing the gap between us, did. There was only one choice. As I jumped, I angled my body so that my bare feet would lead the way, lessening the chance that I would tumble head over heals against the river rocks. If that happened, not only would I likely hurt myself badly, I would also be at the total mercy of what ever Emery’s intentions were. The soft mud gathered ahead of my feet, offering at least a little cushion between my bare feet and the rough rocks at the edge of the stream. Luckily, the concept worked. I looked up when I heard the snapping of twigs. Emery broke through and looked down at me with both malice and sadistic joy.

“Gotcha now, cock sucking butt fucking fag,” he hissed past a curled upper lip that reminded me of a snarling dog.

Fear temporarily paralyzed my urgent need to escape until I saw him quickly scan the bank in search of the quickest path to reach me. Panic brought me out of my stupor and I ran along the bank, slid, got up, and ran again to put distance between us. The rapids quieted as they flowed into a long stretch of smooth but quickly flowing pool of water that looked to be eight or so feet deep. As much as I dreaded the coldness of the mountain trout stream, I bent my knees and sprung head-first into the crystal clear pool. As I leaped, I inhaled deeply. I expected a rain of stones to be flung at me if I swam on top, so I held my breath and stroked hard beneath the surface. The quickly moving water helped carry me faster and farther away from Emery. That didn’t stop him from throwing the rocks, even though he could only guess my position beneath the glitter of the sun on the rippling surface. With my lungs filled with air, I was far too buoyant and therefore to close to the surface where he might get a glimpse of me. A rock splashed not far from my head. I exhaled completely and hoped that the surface ripples would not allow the bubbles to be seen. The thrown rocks ceased as I swam along the bottom, but I badly needed air. Again I was faced with no choice. I turned sharply to the right toward the bank opposite Emery. In fact it was the same side of the stream as all of us had originally been. I feared surfacing so much that I stayed under until I thought I might pass out. I stroked upward. When I broke surface, I gasped for air as I reached for rocks at the edge of the bank. A stone hit the soft mud directly in front of my face, splattering mud on my forehead and running down the side of my nose. My temper suddenly snapped! I grabbed the same rock and stood up in ankle deep water and furiously flung the stone at my pursuer. I surprised myself as well as him when it glanced off of his left thigh.“You fucking lousy fagot!”

There was little doubt in my mind that if he caught me he might eagerly follow through with his threat. Chills, colder than the water, ran down my spine. I’d never known such fear. I threw all of my effort into getting out of the water and scaling the slick bank. I grabbed even the slightest exposed tree root and pulled myself to the top of the bank. A rock zinged past the my left shoulder. I quickly crawled on hands and knees through the grass and weeds to achieve a lower profile. As soon as I thought that I had enough cover to stand, I leaped upright and surged through the thicket of weeds and a grove of Bur Oak saplings.

I heard a loud splash behind me and knew that Emery had taken to the water. With heart pounding, I surged on. The twigs of low tree limbs dealt stinging blows across my body from the top of my soaked jeans to the top of my head as I pushed on as fast as I could manage, considering the circumstances. I felt warm blood trickled down my forehead. When I was several yards from the edge of the bank I was in such a panic that I had forgotten that the stream changed course and curved around in front of me. When once again I faced the stream I froze. The bank there was at least eighteen feet above the water, and I feared breaking a leg or something if I jumped from that height. I listened in an effort to know if Emery was still following. When I saw the bright red of his deer hunting cap advancing rapidly, I took off running again, deeper into the forest of varying types of oaks and a few pine trees.

“Won’t that sick bastard ever give up?” I said, gasping for air.

I was thin and light on my feet, but short on endurance. So I knew that Emery would eventually catch up. The stream had saved me once, so I veered left and was soon again standing on an edge of another high bank looking down. The bank was more like a cliff than a bank. Almost straight down. A large pool was directly below. The water was barely moving, so I knew that the water must be deep. I heard the rustle of leaves behind me. I had to think fast. I whirled around and saw Emery stopped and standing no more than twelve feet away. His feet and arms were spread far apart, hands raised high and palms open His thick fingers looked formidable. His head was bent forward and low. I saw hate in his squinted eyes. He resembled a wild animal that had its prey cornered and was about to attack. I took three quick steps toward him. He looked puzzled as if wondering if I was actually going to charge him. Then I whirled around and drew on all of the strength in me as I ran to the edge of the cliff and leaped. As I cascaded down through open space, I drew my knees up against my chest and locked my fingers around my ankles in a cannonball posture.

The water seemed to rush up to meet me. I knew I might drown. The water’s ambient light grew dim before my butt gently touched the mud bottom. Fortunately, the pool was much deeper than I had expected. I had jumped without injury. At that depth, my assailant couldn’t possible see me, nor could I hear him if he were yelling. Although the quiet peacefulness had to be brief, it was a welcome relief. I needed air, and fast.

I swam downstream under water near the far edge until I had no choice but to come up. I used my feet in the shallows as a springboard, and burst almost completely out of the water, gasping for air. It didn’t take long for a baseball size rock to land in the ferns less than two feet away.

“Oh God! He‘s…going to…kill me!” I gasped aloud.

But survival is an instinctual trait of humans and animals. I quickly scanned the bank for a place where I could climb up, but found myself facing a tall shear bank. There was no way that I could scale it. I was at last truly cornered. I turned, looked up and watched as Emery searched for a suitable missile to throw at that distance. He picked up another rock, and I prepared to follow its path and be ready to dodge. I was far too weak to go back into the water. A well placed rock could be the end of me, and I was sure that Emery would maintain his barrage until I was too broken up to survive. His arm holding a rock rose high and back over his shoulder. It would soon cut a path, seeking its target. It was a horrible feeling to think that I might get stoned to death. But by now I had resigned myself to that fate and wished Emery would hurry and get it over with. All of a sudden the totally unexpected happed. A gunshot shattered the quietness. Bits and pieces of oak leaves showered down on him like confetti. Only a shotgun shell would scatter that way. I was no less shocked than him as he dropped the rock and whirled around with his back to me. .“Flat on your fat gut…now, you cowardly piece of shit!”

Although I couldn’t see Wade, I knew that it was his voice. I also knew about the shotgun he carried on a rack above the rear window of the cab of his truck. I watched as Emery fell forward toward the ground and out of my sight.“Wade! I’m down here! On the other side!”“Wait there a minute!”

Wait? Hell, what else could I do? I couldn’t see Wade and had no idea what he was doing, but I stayed where I was. The blast of a shotgun? Emery falling forward toward Wade? Did some buckshot hit him? Is it over? Is he dead? Where is Brad and what is he doing?

I hated not knowing the answers to any of those questions. Wade was near and he knew roughly where I was. That, and the fact that he had a gun made me feel somewhat safe, at least for the moment. It was over ten terribly anxious minutes before Wade appeared at the edge of the cliff where Emery had stood. Why had it taken so long? I managed a meager wave, and he saw me.“I’m coming around!”

I was in pain, confused, still very frightened. Not knowing where Brad was, was now my biggest concern. Paranoia was mushrooming. One minute seemed like five as I waited for Wade to appear somewhere. My feet were cut so badly that they stung with pain. Them and my ankles were still in the water. I saw a tiny ribbon of blood being carried down the stream from my left foot. I couldn’t walk if I had to. Adrenaline from fear had kept me unaware of how badly they had gotten torn up when I was running from Emery.

“Mike! Where are you?”

“Follow my voice!”

Soon, I heard him tromping through the weeds. Then I saw the barrel of his shotgun. He pushed through and saw me.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Hell no! I’ll never make it up this bank.”

“You won’t have to. The ground up here slopes down toward the stream a few feet farther downstream. Get back in the water and swim downstream about thirty feet. I’ll meet you where the bank is not high and help you out.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said.

I struggled to get back into the water.

My feet were so painful and I was so tired that swimming has hard, even though I was swimming with the current. Wade was right. Not only was there a place where the bank was probably no higher than my waist standing up, it gently sloped to the water’s edge. I stroked toward the shore and tried to stand up. It wasn’t till then that I became fully aware of how damaged my bleeding feet were. I fell forward into the shallow water on my belly, and slowly drug myself halfway out of the water with my hands, and then I gave up and collapsed on my belly. I heard an occasional snap of a twig.“Wade! Is that you?”

Wade broke through the underbrush.

“Were you expecting a welcome party with bottles of Champaign?”

“Not fucking funny!” I spat, as he made his way toward me.

“Jesss…us! You’re all cut up and bleeding. Your feet are bloody! Oh, man! I’m sorry I was so flippant. I’ll have to piggyback you all the way back to the truck while you hold to me with one hand and carry my gun with the other. I’ll help you up.”

“You’re fully dressed, Wade!”

“There’s much to tell, but not now,” Wade said as he put both hands under my armpits and lifted.

My ripped up feet stung when I tried to stand, but Wade was quick to turn his back to me and crouch down. I flung both arms over his shoulders and held on tight while he lifted me off of the ground.

“Wrap you calves around my thighs and lock your ankles together, and then take my gun. I’ll hold on to your other wrist. Here we go.”

Carrying my weight while he forged through the undergrowth had to have been a struggle. But Wade didn’t complain, nor did either of us speak one word until we caught site of the road and the bridge. In the drainage ditch along the road I saw Brad lying on his belly with his wrists and feet bound with Duct tape. There was another strip across his mouth.

“Don’t ask,” Wade said before I had a chance to. “I’m too tired to explain.”

“And Emery?”

“Same thing. When I shot over his head, and then threatened to empty the other chamber on his gut, he knew the chase was over. I got a great joy over watching that evil S O B wilt out of fear like a cut flower, and beg me not to shoot. He’s at the top of the cliff where I shot over his head. I duct taped him too.”

Getting out of the ditch was another struggle. I thought Wade might collapse before he reached his truck, but he didn’t. With his free hand he opened the passenger door and turned us around with my back to the cab.

“Butt on the seat, Mike. Pull your legs around so I can shut the door.”

He took the shotgun from me and went around the front of the truck and got behind the wheel after putting the gun in it‘s rack. Then he sagged back against the seat and went limp.

“Oh man. That took it out of me. Carrying you that far was like carrying a gunny sack filled with sand.”

“But you did it,” I said wearily. “You’re one hell of a man. I don’t understand what makes people be like those two dicks.”

Wade turned to look at me. His head sagged back against the seat. His breath came in sort bursts. Then he patted my thigh twice and left his hand there and smiled.

“We’re leaving, honey,” he said in a whisper. “Fuck this place. First, I’ll go under the bridge and gather your cloths and mine. Then I’ll take you home and your mother can cleanse your feet put medication on them and wrap them with plenty of gauze while I go home and pack. When your mother or anyone ask what happened, tell them you’re far to tired to talk and that you’ll tell them all about it tomorrow. Then go to your room and quietly pack a suitcase, even if you have to crawl around to gather things. I‘ll do the same and then come and pick you up after you call and tell me you‘re ready. Then tell your mom or dad that I’m coming over to take you to a doctor. Of course we’ll get out of here instead. We don‘t belong here, Mike. We need to live in a big city.”

“What about those assholes, Brad and Emery? We‘re good people. We can‘t just leave him and Emery there to be found or not found and die. They’re the animals, not us.”

“After I’ve gone home and packed and ready to come pick you up, I’ll call that damn drunkard sheriff and tell him where they are at, and then slam down the receive. Please be ready to leave before you call. I want out of here fast. I love you, Mike”

“I love you too, Wade. I think I’d be dead right now if it hadn’t been for you. The sooner we get out of this reptilian environment, the better off both of us will be.”

Mom kept bombarding me with questions, and I kept being evasive until I got tire of the back-and-forth report. I finally told her that I refused to talk about it for at least a day. She was furious, but the questions stopped. I waited till she said she had to go downstairs and prepare dinner before I began frantically packing the basics that I needed plus a couple of framed pictures; one, a family picture and the other was of my Golden retriever that I dearly loved. I sighed when I though of never seeing him again. Under my upstairs bedroom window was a huge lilac bush. I dropped my suitcase into the center of it. Then I hobbled downstairs. The TV was on with no one watching. I turned up the volume a little and phoned Wade. He immediately answered.

“Now. As quickly as you can,” I said, and then hung up and sneaked out the front door and retrieved my suitcase from the bush and waited. .

“Open the glove compartment, Mike,” Wade said when we were out of town and nearly to the highway. “I got maps for Nashville, Chicago and New York. You choose.”

“Chicago,” I said without hesitation.

“My choice too, Honey. At the first truck stop, we eat. Then we‘ll look for a motel where we can make love properly in the comfort of a bed. Before hitting the road again in the morning, I‘ll find a drugstore and get what it takes to get your feet well again.“

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After work when I opened the door to our modest one bedroom house ten years to-the-day after we left Granitestadt, Tennessee, setting in the middle of the living room floor was a fairly good sized box with a wide red ribbon around it and topped with a big red bow. I glanced at Wade who was sitting nude in the middle of the couch and grinning.

“It’s for you, Mike. Open it,” he said.

When I started removing the ribbon, something inside moved. I thought that whatever it was had shifted position. I folded back the lid.

“Wow! Oh Wade! A Golden Retriever puppy! Thank you, thank you sweetheart!”

“You’re welcome. But you owe me one payment,” Wade said smiling as he stood up and fondled himself.

“Hell, you were going to get that anyway,” I said, and laughed.

Pieces of my clothing left a trail to the bedroom where Wade was waiting for me with opened arms. I had never imagined that I could find such happiness and contentment. I named the puppy Beau.