The Castaway Hotel - 9 - 15. Chapter 15 - The Days of ‘Auld Lang Syne’

Right after Christmas, I received another email from Frankie.

Dad,

Hope you had a nice Christmas and I sure missed being there with all of you. I’m sorry that my earlier emails were kind of vague, but you know how that goes. I have to be careful about what I write and say. I wish I could tell you that things have improved here, but they haven’t. In fact, I’m beginning to wonder what country I’m serving, because we don’t seem to be acting in a way that would uphold our national values or improve our image as a nation. I can see why maybe some countries don’t believe us. We sometimes seem to contradict our own standards – I mean I think you’ve heard about what happen at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, although the situation isn’t quite the same here. Again, I can’t clarify, but some day I will be able to explain all of this to you.

I hope Jesse had a great Christmas. I wish I could have been there and seen him, since this was his first Christmas with the family. I still think about Jesse and Andrew and when you guys came to visit me for the graduation and how cute they looked in their army clothes. One of my friends is here with me and he still asks about them too. They certainly became instant celebrities with my buddies.

I’ll try to keep in touch as much as possible and I’m quite safe, although not really happy, where I am. I should be home by next Christmas, but until then I know I’m going to miss all of you. Take care and I know you’re going to write back.

I send my love to all,
Frank

Again, he is alluding to problems, but I have yet to figure out what they might be. I think he was trying to give me a clue of sorts, by mentioning Abu Ghraib, but I can’t see the U.S. doing other things like that, seeing how much furor was generated because of the scandal there. However, it does sound as if he’s being asked to do some things that go against his personal beliefs and standards. I’m not quite sure what types of actions those might be or why they would cause such a dilemma for him, but I hope it doesn’t get to the point where he has to choose between the two. If it came to that point, it could put him on shaky ground with the military and threaten his future.

I wrote back immediately and told him how Christmas went. I explained about Jesse getting the tent, which he thought was an army tent, and how he picked out the army canteen to use on his bike trips. I also told Frankie how the two boys camped out in the rec room, after putting on their army clothes, plus I informed him that once the weather broke and it got warmer, I was certain they’d be doing the same thing outdoors. I knew Frankie would get a kick out of it.

I also urged him to hang in there and consider all of his options before he made any decisions or acted in ways that might come back to haunt him later. I reminded him that his army record would follow him through life, so he had to walk a fine line between his own beliefs, the army code of conduct and what he was ordered to do. I told him I’d be here for him if he needed my input, but I knew he already understood that. However, it was all I could think to tell him, since I didn’t know the details surrounding his current situation. Knowing Frankie though, I’m sure he’ll be very careful about doing what is required, while not lowering his own standards.

I did show the email to Jake later and we speculated about what he was alluding to, but there had not been anything in the news coverage of the war, other than what happened at Abu Ghraib, to indicate any such potential problems. There were some unsubstantiated reports that some prisoners were being sent to other countries to be tortured, but I can’t believe they’d be doing anything like that on an American base. Of course, if they were, I’m sure the government would try to suppress any mention of it and claim national security reasons for doing so.

Oh, I almost forgot. We also received a Christmas card from Peter, which arrived the Monday after Christmas. I guess the boat was a little slow this time of year. Anyway, he seems to be doing well and says he misses all of us. He also said his parents sent their best wishes too and wanted to thank us, once again, for everything we’d done for him. The reason I almost forgot to mention this was that we webcam chat with Peter on a regular basis, at least once a week, so we’ve pretty much kept up to date about what everyone, on both sides of the world, was doing. I’m thinking about taking our vacation there next summer, so we can all spend some time with him again.

On Tuesday, I received a very strange phone call. It went like this. “Mr. Currie, you don’t know me, but my name is Chester Pell and I believe I have a belated Christmas present for you, or at least someone in your household,” he began and I was totally confused at what he was getting at.

“I’m a county legislator in the county where a young man you are raising used to live, one Jesse Cornell. I believe you know he was apparently molested by his stepfather, John Wells, who was a county employee.” He paused here, so I felt he was waiting for me to respond.

“Yes, Jesse’s mother made me his guardian and I was the one who brought that matter to the attention of the authorities,” I confirmed.

“So you did,” he reiterated. “Well, the county has been in a bit of a dilemma about something, but we’ve finally worked the remaining details out so it will benefit young Master Cornell and maybe make up for some of the suffering he endured at the hands of Mr. Wells.

“Even though Mr. Wells committed suicide,” he continued, “his life insurance policy, which had been maintained through the county, has been in force long enough so it qualified to be paid out. Since Mr. Wells never changed the beneficiary on his policy, which initially listed his father, who is also deceased, and he had no secondary beneficiary given, we were in a quandary about what to do with the money.

“At first, we were planning on giving it to his wife, Alice, but when researching their documentation, we discovered they were never actually married. It appears as if Mr. Wells talked a guy he knew into pretending he was a justice of the peace, so he could marry them. The gentleman worked for the justice of the peace and stole paperwork from the office, which made it look legitimate, but the man had no authority to do anything of that nature, so the ceremony wasn’t valid. Therefore, as far as the insurance policy was concerned, there was no next of kin to pay the proceeds to.” He paused again, so I felt I should speak.

“I can see where that would create a dilemma,” I told him.

“Yes, it did,” he confirmed, “and because the county paid the premiums on the policy, the insurance company wanted to give the proceeds to the county, but the legislature didn’t think that was the correct way to handle the matter. Instead, we have selected another individual we think is more worthy to receive the proceeds, so we have convinced the insurance company to pay the money to the young boy Mr. Wells molested. Let’s just say we did it to compensate him for the pain and suffering he endured at Mr. Well’s hands. The coverage was for twice Mr. Well’s annual salary, which was $38,000, so I need to get some information from you as to whom to make the check out to and where to send it.”

“Wait, you’re going to be sending Jesse a check for $76,000,” I wondered.

“Well, we’re putting the check in your name, since Jesse is a minor and you are his legal guardian,” he replied, “but we expect you will either use this money to raise him or put in an account until he is old enough to make such determinations for himself.”

“Of course. I’ll set an account up for him, just as soon as I receive the check,” I agreed.

“Then I’ll just double check to see if I have your full name and the correct spelling, and then I’ll jot down your address. I’ll see to it that the check is sent out to you, right after I have given this information to the insurance company,” he announced. “Please wish the young man a Merry Christmas from the county and our apology for what Mr. Well’s did to him.”

“I certainly will,” I concurred.

“Oh, and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too, sir,” he added, after taking down the information and before ending the call.

What do you know about that? No matter how magnanimous this act might appear, I am convinced their generosity was motivated more as a means to improve their image, reduce future liability and avoid legal action being taken against them, since they had been negligent in how they handled the previous situation. The county, but more specifically the sheriff’s department, failed to investigate the claim against Wells when it was brought to their attention and essentially downplayed the entire allegation, so as a result they could be conceived to have acted in a negligent manner in performing their duty. I hadn’t planned to take legal action against them anyway, but at least now Jesse will end up with something positive out of this mess. I’m not sure if any sum of money will ever be able to make up for what he had to endure, but it will help provide him with the funds for college and give him a decent start in life, as I have tried to do for the other boys as well.

I spent the rest of the week making plans for our New Year’s celebration. Everyone would be at our place again, including Duck and his girlfriend, so I wanted it to be special, although not too elaborate. Jake and I brainstormed with the boys to see if we could come up with anything new and exciting, but we ended up mainly relying on the things we had enjoyed in the past. It keeps getting harder and harder to come up with new and unique ideas to celebrate the various holidays.

Nick arrived from Oklahoma on Wednesday and would spend the week here with Shannon and the rest of us, before returning to spend more time with his parents. He was thrilled to see Shannon again, and Shannon was equally as excited about Nick being back. In fact, Nick hardly spent any time with the rest of us, before Shannon dragged him off to their room to spend time alone. I don’t believe Jake was happy about it, but I assured him that I knew the boys would take appropriate precautions, if they did anything.

When the boys were alone, they actually spent most of their time just hugging, holding on to each other and kissing. No matter how strange it may seem, neither of them appeared to be in a hurry to do more. Instead, they were merely enjoying being together again, after six months apart, and were more than satisfied to have the other in his arms and enjoying the sweet taste of his lips. Even though we all realized they would eventually move to fulfill their more animalistic sensual urges, they managed to take their time getting there.

This didn’t happen until after they came down for dinner and spent some time with the rest of us first. During the meal, Nick filled the others in about what he’d been up to, including the things he’d done with his family at the end of the summer and what he thought of his college and campus life. Nick then assured us, because I think he had already done this with Shannon in private, that he had not been with any other guys and hadn’t even had the urge to be. He said that other than focusing on his studies, he has just thought about Shannon and when they would see each other again. Unbeknownst to Jake or myself, the pair had been speaking to each other on the phone and keeping in touch via the Internet, which helped convince Shannon of Nick’s sincerity. He figured between his schoolwork and the time they had spent chatting with each other that Nick wouldn’t have had much time to find or spend with anyone else.

When Shannon and Nick returned to their room, surprisingly it was Shannon that made the first overture concerning sex.

“You know, I’ve been waiting to see you for a long time, so I hope you plan to do more than just kissing and hugging me,” he stated, in an attempt to push Nick into a more aggressive role. I think Shannon actually missed Nick being the predator that attacked and nearly molested him in his haste to appease his sexual desires, as Nick had been known to do in the past.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve got big plans for you,” Nick assured him, while flashing him a devilish grin.

“I hope it includes the big treat between your legs,” Shannon teased, “because I’ve missed it AND you.” Nick just chuckled.

“Oh, my little buddy has missed you too,” he quipped back, while grabbing his crotch and stroking it.

Seeing that, Shannon reached out and quickly unfastened Nick’s jeans and lowered the zipper. “Wait, hold on,” Nick screamed. “You know I have to cover it first.”

“Come on. Do we still have to do that?” Shannon whined.

“Absolutely,” Nick stated. “I was foolish before and jeopardized my own health, but I won’t do anything to risk yours. Remember, you agreed and promised your dad and Pop that we would always use protection.’

“Okay, but hurry up and get ready then,” Shannon relented. “I want to feel you inside me NOW!”

Since Shannon left no doubt as to his urgency, Nick rushed off and prepared himself for a night of fun. It wasn’t long before he returned, with his member appropriately sheathed in latex, and then Shannon literally turned the tables and attacked him.

“Whoa, when did you become so aggressive?” Nick asked. “I always thought I was the one that instigated things all the time.”

“Maybe you used to,” Shannon replied, “but since you’ve started being more interested in just being close, it seems like I have to force you to do things with me now.”

“Not force, baby,” Nick assured him, “but it’s just not my only focus, like it was before.”

“Well, focus on it now, because I need it,” Shannon announced, as he grabbed Nick by the dick and pulled him onto the bed.

Nick seemed to be getting a kick out of the role reversal and let Shannon take the lead. He even remained the passive partner, at least until he had penetrated Shannon, and then his old instincts took over. Suddenly, he was a beast again, happily ravaging his partner. Oh, don’t get me wrong, because Nick didn’t hurt Shannon in any way. In fact, Shannon was thoroughly enjoying how Nick was behaving. Nick was loving and considerate the whole time, but the sex was rough and stimulated Shannon beyond belief. In fact, Shannon ended up cumming without anyone touching his dick, at nearly the same moment Nick exploded inside him. Both boys were thoroughly spent, yet satisfied, and they remained together, alone in their room, for the rest of the evening.

New Year’s Eve Day, while we were resting up and getting ready for the big night, I checked my mailbox and found another email from Frankie.

Dad,

Just wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year. I’m sure you have big plans for tonight and I hope everyone will be there. I know I wish I was, but I’ll be there with you next year – I promise.

So, what else is going on at home? Are my little soldiers on bivouac yet? Hehehe I’ll bet they sure look cute doing it, even if its just happening in the rec room for now. Hope the college guys are having fun and glad to be back home for a while too. I know I would be, if I were them. And how’s Uncle Jake, after his operation. I know you didn’t tell me, but I’ve been writing to some of the others and they filled me in. We figured you didn’t say anything because you didn’t want me to worry, but I can handle it. Just let me know if he’s going to be all right now.

Things are a little better here. I’m only observing and assisting when it comes to the hard stuff and not actually doing very much. I do have to guard the prisoners while they’re locked up, but that’s about it for now. I did question if some things they were doing might be unlawful, but they answered that question by showing me documents confirming that they were legal. Those opinions came from people pretty high up, so I guess it takes care of what I was worried about. I’m still not comfortable with it, but like I said, I’m just observing and assisting for now.

Time is actually going pretty fast. Can you believe I’ve been here for four months already? I thought the time was dragging, but dang, I’m a third of the way done with this tour. It’s supposed to be for a year, but I’ve heard they’ve been extending some guys for up to two years and I hope that doesn’t happen to me. I think that’s mostly the guys in Iraq, but who knows, they may ship me from here to there. I hope they let me come home for a few months in between, so I can be with you for the holidays next year.

Well, I guess this email is long enough, so I’ll end it for now. Tell everyone I miss them and wish them a Happy New Year.

Love you all,
Frank

Well, that email didn’t have him sounding as depressed as the others, so maybe he’s adjusting to life there. It appears as if he’s resolved some of his problems, so I hope he is able to successfully complete his tour of duty.

After replying to Frankie’s email, I went back to getting ready for tonight. The boys seemed to be fairly excited about this too, so I was hoping it would go over fairly well. The extended family would be joining us for dinner, but I also told the boys they could invited some of their friends to the later festivities.

Duck and his girlfriend showed up just after noon and he eagerly introduced her to all of his brothers. She was a cute young thing and slightly shorter than Duck, but they made an attractive couple. I was sure he had told her all about us, so she wouldn’t be shocked when she saw some of the boys holding hands or kissing, and we all spent time chatting with them.

The evening began at our favorite restaurant, where I had reserved part of a room for us. In addition to my family, Duck and his girlfriend, we were joined by Steve and Mary Shay, Margaret and John Spence, and they brought Arlene with them, Sally, Mark’s mother, Jay and his parents, and Brandon’s mom and dad. Brandon’s folks had been planning on joining us for Christmas, but his mother came down with something a few days beforehand, so they stayed home until she was feeling better. Since she was now back to her old self, they had decided to join us for this celebration instead, so they could spend a little time with both Brandon and Danny.

After enjoying a wonderful meal and some delightful conversation, we all went over to the local Elk’s club, where we were going to spend the rest of the evening. I know, it probably sounds lame to you, but I had rented the place out this year for a private party. The Elk’s club had tried to throw their own bash the previous year and it was poorly attended, so this year they jumped at the opportunity, when I offered to rent their hall for our family celebration. Since they had a fully stocked bar and offered to provide the snacks and party favors for this joyous night, all I had to do was to hire a DJ to provide the music.

I hired a local guy, at the recommendation of my college sons. They said they knew him and he did a great job, so after explaining to him that we’d have a mixed crowd, meaning a wide range of ages, he agreed to provide an appropriate selection of tunes, so everyone would find something they liked.

Some of the boys had invited dates and many had invited their friends to join us too. I knew most of them, so it wasn’t a problem, at least about them being here. The bartenders were doing a good job making sure that no one underage was drinking, which took a big load off my mind. It was one of my concerns when I agreed to let the boys invite some of their friends, since I felt a few of them might try to get into the booze. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind if the kids have a drink or two – hell, it’s New Year’s Eve, but I just didn’t want anyone getting drunk and hurting himself or anyone else, especially if it involved a vehicle. We had asked for everyone’s car keys when they arrived, even the adults, and the keys were kept behind the bar. They wouldn’t be given back until we were convinced the driver was sober and could make his way home safely.

We ended up with a fairly decent crowd and, as promised, the DJ played a very wide selection of music. He had big-band music from the forties, classic rock and roll from the fifties, sixties and seventies pop and rock, some disco music from the eighties, and then some pop, rock, hip hop and country music from the nineties on up. I think we all found something to dance to, including the boys’ friends, so the dance floor was always packed.

All of us spent a lot of time dancing, either with our partner or with someone else. Jake and I danced with each other quite a bit, but we also took time out to dance with Sally and Susan (Mark’s mother) too, so they weren’t merely sitting by themselves. To my delight, I also saw Mark, Duck, Dustin and Pat dancing with them as well, so both women seemed to have plenty of opportunities and were enjoying themselves. I also received another special treat later in the evening, when I caught Sally and Susan dancing with Andrew and Jesse. It was just so dang cute and precious that I snapped a few photos of them together, so I’d never forget the moment.

Jesse also wanted to dance with Jake and me too, so he dragged Andrew over to ask us. We quickly agreed, much to his delight, and I danced with my two youngest angels. It was almost as emotional as when I danced with my daughters at their weddings and I saw Steve and Sally taking pictures of it, so we’d always have the memory to talk about and share.

I also spent plenty of time walking around and chatting with various guests, when I ran across Shelly Novak. She and Dion had sung the duet at the Christmas concert and Dion had invited her as his guest. He introduced her to Trey and even danced with her a couple of times. I was glad to see he was making sure not to ignore her, seeing he was spending most of his time with Trey.

Arlene wasn’t doing too badly this evening and although it wasn’t one of her worst times, it also wasn’t one of her best. Little Ricky was able to spend some of the time with her and even danced with her a couple of times, before her condition started to deteriorate. When that happened, he took his mother back to the Spences, so they could take care of her, and then he went off to do his own thing.

Duck and his girlfriend were spending most of their time with Mark and his date, but they did move around and spend time with everyone else as well. Besides getting acquainted with the others and dancing with Sally and Susan, Duck and Mark often danced with each other’s girlfriend too, so they could all get to know each other better. It was nice to see them getting along so well and before the evening was over they each thanked Jake and I multiple times for inviting them.

Danny and Brandon made sure to dance with Brandon’s mom, which I think Brandon’s father enjoyed as much as she did. He had been complaining of some minor back spasms, after injuring himself doing some work around the house. It wasn’t a bad or debilitating injury, but it did make doing some simple things painful, and some of the faster dances were on that list. Therefore, he appreciated the boys for taking him off the hook and entertaining his wife when he didn’t feel up to it.

It was also nice to see Jay and his parents again. Jay had grown into quite a handsome young man and definitely overcome the awkwardness of his early teen years, as well as doing very well in college. He was an architectural major and had just spent his summer working as an intern for a very well-know architectural firm. It was unusual that he got the position in the first place, since most interns were between their junior and senior years of college. He was obviously doing well enough to impress someone with his ability, since he got the internship the summer before starting his junior year. It appears he will do quite well in his chosen field, so his parents and I were thrilled with his achievements.

Jay and I did spend some time chatting about some of our past memories, including the vacation we took to Washington, D.C., shortly after Ricky and Danny had come to live with me. Jay surprised me when he confessed that was when he first got the bug about getting in to architecture. He said that after seeing all of the fantastic and beautiful buildings, and then learning about Thomas Jefferson and how he designed his home and the University of Virginia, he was hooked. He thanked me for that, and so did his parents, but I pointed out that it still wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t taken the initiative to pursue it, even if the seeds had been planted on that trip.

Jay was also going to come to the house afterward and spend the night. He and Ricky had a lot of catching up to do and he wanted to spend time with the other boys too, which he would do the following day. Hell, I could tell from his comments that he was probably going to be at our place almost as much as he would be at home with his parents this break.

As the evening wore on and we got closer and closer to midnight, the bartenders turned on the various televisions and put them all on the channel featuring the festivities in Times Square. Nearly everyone wanted to watch the ball drop and countdown with the announcer, so we obliged them. Starting with the final ten seconds, we all counted down together and then began wishing everyone around us a ‘Happy New Year,’ once the magical hour had arrived. There was a great deal of kissing and hugging going on, and I must say that I also did my share, and then we began dancing as the DJ played ‘Auld Lang Syne.’

Even though the Spences left shortly after that, and took Arlene with them, the party continued on. The younger crowd didn’t seem to want to leave and I can’t really say I blamed them. I didn’t want the night to end either, but there were restrictions on how long these various establishments could remain open. When the bartenders finally announced last call and told us they be shutting down within thirty minutes after that, the crowd began to thin out. Luckily, no one had gotten carried away to the point where they were deemed unfit to drive home, and the few borderline cases had someone else that was going to drive their vehicle for them. I was pleased how that went.

Once we returned home, the boys began to disappear. Some of them had plans to celebrate privately with their partner, while others were tired and merely went to bed. Jake and I didn’t doze off right away either, since we wanted to ring each other’s New Year’s chimes, but we did go to sleep once that had been accomplished.