Kombat Kids - 26. Do Unto Others, Before They Do Unto You

Tyler and Justin quickly dressed in the nearest clothes at hand, Tyler failing to realize that the clothing he put on still had price tags on them and belonged to Justin. After dressing, the boys went up stairs to the kitchen where they found James, Matt, Keener and a person that neither of them knew.

Matt looked at both boys with a funny expression on his face. James was talking to the new man as they entered the room; “There you are, Justin this is my lawyer, Mr. Lawrence, he has a few questions he needs you to answer for him.”

Mr. Lawrence stood and offered his hand to Justin; “Hi Justin, Matt and James have been telling me a lot about you, as you know the courts have made James your legal guardian for the time being. In order to insure that I get all of the facts, I need to record this conversation, is that alright with you?” When Justin said it was Mr. Lawrence pulled a small tape recorder from his coat pocket and turned it on. “This is a conversation being held with Justin Tannonligua at the home of James and Matt Bateman at 2:43 PM on Saturday 6 March 2004. “First off I need to know if you’re OK with this, I mean living here in the Bateman home?”

“Yes sir, James and Matt have been nothing but good to me since I came here. They’ve given me a warm place to sleep, nice clothing and good food. I feel bad that I have nothing to give to them for being so kind to me.”

The lawyer smiled at him; “I’m glad to hear that, from what I’ve been told by Doctor Bahari and some other people that were present when you were brought here, you were in pretty bad shape. Do you have other relatives who you can go and live with?”

Justin started to shiver, as if the temperature in the room had just dropped suddenly. Tyler seeing his reaction grabbed him by the arm with his right hand and put his left arm around his shoulders, then eased him into a chair at the table, never releasing his grip on the boy, his lover. Justin, with tears dripping from his eyes slowly shook his head no; “The only relatives I have, died last week, if not for señor Matt, I would be with them. Maybe... maybe it would be better for everyone if he hadn’t found me.” Justin lowered his eyes to the table and sobbed.

“God damn it Justin, I told you before to knock that kind of talk off didn’t I?” James knelt alongside Justin’s chair and pulled him into a hug; “What do I got to do to make you understand, you’re a part of this family now, God wanted you to live, that’s why Matt and Jeff spotted your Uncle’s Blazer, that’s why you didn’t die when the rest did. You’re safe now and we mean to keep you that way, understand?”

“Si’ señor James, I will remember what you have told me, but sometimes it is hard. Please forgive me?”

James looked in the boy’s eyes; “There’s nothing to forgive, just try and remember that in the short time you’ve been here, you’ve become a part of the family.”

Justin nodded his head yes; “Si’ Patron.”

Mr. Lawrence looked at James and then Justin; “Justin, I need you to be truthful now, if you aren’t, it could cause a lot of problems later on, OK?”

“Yes sir, I’ll answer all of you’re questions the best I can.”

The lawyer grimaced a little before going on; “I have to ask this question, I know what your answer will be because I’ve known Matt and James all of my life, but I must ask it. Has James, Matt or any adult in this household had, tried to have, or ask to have sex with you since you came to live here?”

Justin paled, a look of shock came to his face, He jumped to his feet balling his fists as if he was going to strike Mr. Lawrence; “NEVER!! Never have they asked or tried to do anything to me. The night James told me of my family’s death, I told him and Matt that I was gay; they said it didn’t matter to them. James told me that he and Matt were gay and that some people would think that I was nothing but their ‘fuck toy’, he also promised me that neither he nor Matt would ever try to have sex with me. It is a point of honor to them that they have promised each other never to have sex with a member of the Unit, OR WITH ME.”

Mr. Lawrence held up his hands, palms toward Justin; “Whoa guy, calm down, I know they wouldn’t touch you, but I had to ask. Your reaction to the question would be enough proof to me even if I didn’t know James and Matt, but like I said I had to ask, do you understand now?”

Justin picked up his chair and sat down, still shaking, he nodded his head yes but did not speak further. Tyler, as taken by surprise as everyone else at Justin’s reaction to the question put his arm around Justin’s shoulder and moved to his side in a protective manner. Tyler’s move didn’t go unnoticed by the adults in the kitchen.

The lawyer had one more question; “Last question Justin, do you wish to remain in the custody of James and Matt Bateman as your court appointed guardians, or would you feel more comfortable living with a family who were of your nationality and ethnic background?”

Justin nodded his head several times rapidly; “Oh yes sir.” Looking at James and Matt with a shy expression on his face, he continued; “I owe them my life, they have been nothing but good to me and I want a chance to pay them back for their kindness. Besides, I am an American, I was born here, just because my ancestors came from Mexico doesn’t mean living with a Mexican family would be better for me than James and Matt.

The adults looked at Justin, then each other, Matt turned to Justin; “Welcome to the Bateman family.”

After Mr. Lawrence talked with Matt, James and Keener for a few minutes he said goodbye to Justin and Tyler and left the five of them in the kitchen finding his own way out.

Keener turned to refrigerator and pulled out five sub sandwiches from the Subway shop in Moreland, and some Coke in two liter bottles; “We got these delivered just before Mr. Lawrence showed up, I hope you like subs Justin.”

Justin had seen the Subway shop in Yakima but had never had one because of his family’s lack of financial resources for anything other than the basic necessities. All he knew was that the subs were the biggest sandwiches he had ever seen. The look of surprise when he took his first bite was apparent to everyone in the kitchen.

Matt chuckled; “So Justin, you like the sub huh?”

With a mouth full of sub all Justin could do was nod, which he did, several times. While they were eating and between bites Matt asked; “Tyler, looks like you’re dressed different than when you showed up, why’s that?”

Both Tyler and Justin blushed furiously; “Ahh, Ummm ... Well you see...”

James chuckled which caused the boys blush to deepen; “I guess we need to have a discussion, huh?”

Justin, not wanting to lie to the brothers looked embarrassed but said nothing.

James looked at the boys; “I’m not going to ask if you guys have had sex, to begin with it’s none of my business. What is my business is to insure you’re being safe and that neither one of you hurts the other.” James thought for a second before continuing; “You both are old enough to know about sex, with that knowledge comes responsibility. Tyler have you ever been with any one, I mean have you ever had sex with anyone, besides maybe Justin?”

Tyler once again turned bright red and looked down at his plate shaking his head no.

“How about you Justin, anyone besides Tyler?”

Slowly and with great embarrassment Justin nodded his head yes; “When I was thirteen, one of the other boys who was working in the orchard with me taught me about stuff.”

James looked at him; “What kind of stuff Justin?”

Justin blushed again; “Umm... he.... well he... you know.” Justin made the universal symbol of someone jacking off with his closed fist.

James nodded; “Anything else?”

Justin remembered his promise to the brothers never to lie to them; “Se’ Patron, he showed me how to suck his dick and then he sucked me. We did this to each other all during the harvest season, after the harvest I never saw him again. He is the only one....” Justin looked at Tyler who nodded to him; “Except for Tyler, he’s the only one besides Miguel that I ever done anything with, honest.”

James nodded; “Easy sport, I’m just asking, I want to be sure you know about the dangers. Did you and Miguel have anal sex?”

Justin got a confused look on his face; “I don’t think so, what is it?”

Now it was James turn to blush; “Did either of you stick your dick in the other guy’s butt and fuck?”

Justin had been taking a drink of his Coke when James asked the question and started choking, Tyler started to pound on his back, Justin was finally able to stop choking. He looked at James and shook his head no; “You can actually do that, I didn’t know that, it seems kind of gross.”

James remembered his promise to Justin also; “Yes it can be, it can also be messy and it can hurt too, but it can also be wonderful for both people involved.” James considered the situation briefly; “How old was this Miguel you were with?”

Justin took several minutes thinking about James question; “He told me his birthday was two months after mine so he had just turned thirteen before we started having sex.”

“OK Justin, here’s what we’re going to do, just to be on the safe side, I’ll take you in to see Doctor Bahari and have him give you a physical examination and do some blood work. I don’t think there’s a problem, but I want to be sure, OK?”

Justin looked worried now; “Yes sir, whatever you think is best.”

Justin’s simple statement shocked James; here was a boy who was giving him his full and total trust after only knowing him for five days.

James trying to lighten the mood chuckled a little; “Hey guy, take it easy, I just want to make sure you’re OK, besides if you caught that terrible Russian disease you’d know it by now.”

Justin had never heard of a Russian disease; “What’s a Russian disease, I never heard of it.”

“Me either.” Blurted out an obviously worried Tyler.

James shook his head sadly; “What’s this modern school system coming too, you guys mean you never heard of ‘Rotcher Kockoff’ disease before. Damn that’s sad.”

Matt and Keener had to get up and look in the refrigerator before they broke out laughing. Justin and Tyler looked at each other for a moment before it sunk in exactly what James had just said. James saw it dawn on them that he was joking and stood up hurriedly and ran from the kitchen closely followed by two highly irate boys, shouting dire threats and screams of outrage at being hoodwinked.

The month of March seemed to speed by and before anyone knew it the first Unit meeting of April was upon them, Justin had become a true member of the family, slipping into the day to day routine of the Bateman household like he had never lived anywhere else. There were still times when he would go to one or the other brothers for comfort after waking from a nightmare about the snow storm, but he was over it by the next morning. Justin was rapidly assimilated into the Unit, quickly making friends with the other boys and becoming closer to his first friend, Tyler.

The doctor had examined him and completed the necessary blood work for STD’s and AID’s, Justin, Tyler and the brothers held their breath until the results all came back negative. To be on the safe side, Justin had a blood test scheduled once a month and would continue being tested for another six months.

After the posting of the colors for the first meeting in April, James dropped a bomb.

“As you know, we have been asked by General Stanton to set up an aggressor force scenario to test the Marine Recon Units prior to their deployment to the Middle East. Starting today, Gunnery Sergeant Mcnaughten will be assigned to the Unit full time to help us get ready for our part in the upcoming exercises. The Unit is up to 61 members, after talking to Staff Sergeants Babcock and Webb, Gunnery Sergeant Mcnaughten, Mr. Townsend, Mr. Morton, Mr. Peterson and Matt Bateman; it has been decided to break the Unit into three sub units, Airborne, Armor and Infantry.”

James gave the Unit members a few minutes to let what he had just said sink in; “The Airborne Unit will be made up from the qualified jumpers we already have and the parents who have qualified to pilot Ghostryder15 and will be supervised by me and Mr. Peterson. Armor and Infantry personnel will be selected from the remaining members of the Unit. Sergeant Babcock will be in charge of the Armor Unit and assisted by whomever he determines is needed to bring his group up to speed. Gunnery Sergeant Mcnaughten, Mr. Townsend and Matt Bateman will run the Infantry Unit. The most aggressors we will have to deal with at one time will be between 20 and 30 Marines, depending upon their qualifications, they will be inserted by HALO, Helicopter or on foot.

All exercises will be accomplished between 18:00 Friday through 12:00 Sunday, we won’t know when they’re coming, other than the specific weekend of the month. No more than two exercises per month will occur for the first two months. Are there any questions?”

About thirty hands leapt into the air, James pointed to Carson McMillan; “How we going to do this, I don’t think they want us to use live ammo on these guys, so are we going to point our fingers at them and go ‘Bang, Bang?”

James looked at Carson; “You know Carse, everyone likes a little ass, but nobody likes a wise ass.”

After the laughter died down, “Actually that is a good question. Gunny you want to answer it for him?”

Gunny stood up, in his hand he had a harness assembly that looked a lot like an LBE harness; “Yes sir,” holding up the harness so everyone could get a good look at it, “This is a Miles Gear Harness, what it is, is several laser sensitive detectors. When they’re illuminated by a laser they make a really obnoxious sound.” Saying that the gunny pointed a laser pointer at one of the detectors and a shrill beeping sound could be heard throughout the Cavern.

He then took a green key and inserted it into a black box mounted on the harness, the beeper shut off. “As you can see, when you’re hit, everyone knows it. All the vehicles that will be used during the exercises will have a vehicle array mounted on them. Each squaddie going against the aggressor forces will wear one, as will the aggressors. Any questions?”

There were none; “Other Questions?” James asked.

Up again went the hands, the question were really no surprise. James, Matt and the other sub-unit leaders had hashed out the probable questions before the meeting. All but one.

James pointed a small boy who had recently joined the Unit; “Yes sir, I was wondering, do we have to be apart of these excursions?”

James smiled; “That’s exercises, Bobby, that’s a question we never even thought anyone would ask. The Unit and everything we do is strictly voluntary, if you don’t want to do any of the things we do, we won’t make you.”

Bobby thought about the answer to his question for a minute or so and then said; “Thank you sir.”

The morning briefing broke up after the Squaddies were told that if they had a preference as to which sub-unit they wanted to be part of, they were to talk to one of the designated sub-unit leaders. As the boys scattered, Bobby Bauer came over to talk to James.

“Sir, umm.... I was kinda wondering.... well I’m new to the Unit and I.... I.... I guess I’m kinda scarred of all this stuff. I didn’t mean to cause no trouble, but I don’t know nothing about what’s going on.” Bobby looked like he was on the verge of tears and that anything James said would set him off.

James put his hand on Bobby’s shoulder; “What say we go for a ride?”

Bobby nodded his head yes and followed James up to the garage where they climbed into a FAV; “You ever rode in a dune buggy Bobby?”

“No sir, we only got a little Ford Escort and I don’t know anyone who gots one.”

“OK sport; Make sure all of your safety belts are fastened.” James then started the FAV and drove out of the garage and headed to the area outside of the fenced inner area. Observing Bobby from the corner of his eye, he couldn’t tell if the ride was exciting or scaring the boy, after climbing a sharp incline, James parked the vehicle on the top of a hill overlooking the Unit facilities.

“Come walk with me.” James said as he got out of the FAV. “What’s really wrong Bobby, why’d you join the Unit in the first place?”

Bobby blushed and looked up at James; “I heard some of the guys in school talking about the Unit, they said there was nothing but queers and faggots in it. I guess I wanted to join so I could find out if I was queer or not. I mean when I asked my dad about it he just brushed me off and said it was a phase I was going through and to not worry about it.”

James nodded; “Do you think about being with other boys, do you really like one particular boy and want to be close to him?”

Bobby turned red; “Ahh... umm sometimes, but other times I see Jenny and I feel all funny and I bone up, but I also bone up when I see two or three of the boys in my class, especially when we’re in PE.”

James chuckled; “I used to do the same thing when I was your age, except I always knew I was gay and never felt anything for the girls in my class. I’m not going to say you’re gay or straight, that’s for you to figure out, like I told one of the other boys in the Unit, you may be walking in the Mall or in the hallway at school when all of a sudden you see a girl who will really ring your chimes. Then again it may be a boy who really turns you on; right now you shouldn’t sweat it. Think about what you want, look at both sides of the question, but don’t be in a hurry to choose one or the other.”

Bobby looked at James and his next words shocked the shit out of him; “Sir, can I blow you?”

James blushed and looked Bobby in the eye; “Thank you for the offer Bobby, if I were your age I would probably say yes, but I’m not. My brother and I made a pledge to each other; you know what a pledge is don’t you?”

“Yes sir, it’s like a promise, only stronger.”

James nodded; “That’s about the best definition of the word I’ve ever heard. Anyway we made a pledge to each other that we would never have sex with a boy in the Unit, besides being illegal, we consider it to be immoral. So the answer to your request is no, if you were an adult, I would have no problem having sex with you, you are a very handsome young man.”

Bobby sighed; “I figured you’d say that, but thanks for not laughing at me.”

James nodded; “So what exactly are you really worried about that you don’t want to be part of the exercises?”

“I guess it’s because I’m so small, everyone laughs at me when I can’t do something in PE. I’m kind of a nerd, I mean I get straight ‘A’s’ in everything but PE. I’m already two grades ahead of everyone else in my age group and that just makes it worse. The only good thing is that I graduate next year so I don’t have to put up with the shit my classmates keep slinging at me.”

James and Bobby walked for a while, both thinking deeply, the older one about how he might help the younger one. James stopped and looked down at Bobby; “Bobby, do you know what an ‘Aid de Camp’ is?”

Bobby thought for a few seconds; “Some of the books I’ve read, like W.E.B. Griffith’s ‘Brotherhood of War’ series went into how important the ADC was. It’s kind of a job so a junior officer would get exposure to the way a general and his staff did things and why. Griffith described one of his characters as being on the fast track for promotion.”

James looked at Bobby; “How many of Griffith’s books have you read?”

Bobby looked surprised; “Why all of them.”

Without further hesitation James asked Bobby; “Would you like to be my Aid de Camp? If you accept, you would still have to learn how to shoot and the other skills the rest of the Squaddies learn. Oh yes, you’ll also have to learn how to parachute.”

Bobbies eyes almost popped out from their sockets; “WHAT, I.... I haven’t even been in an airplane let alone jumped out of one I...”

“We can fix that up right now, I mean you flying in an airplane. I’m going jumping this afternoon with the Parachute Sub-Unit, how about going with us and watching how it works?”

The next thing Bobby knew, he was aboard the Unit’s C-47 being strapped into the co-pilot’s seat in the cockpit. James was helping him get settled; “Once we get airborne, come on back to the after cabin and watch as we go through jump preparations.”

All Bobby could do was nod, right then, he didn’t know whether to shit or go blind.

James went aft and strapped himself in, a short time later, Mr. Morton advanced the throttles for the engines and the big aircraft lumbered forward and lined up with the runway. The pilot talked to the control tower and when he said; “Roger tower GhostRyder One Five rolling.” He pushed the throttles all the way forward and the plane surged down the runway, it seemed like it was only moving for a few seconds when the tail lifted off the concrete and then the whole plane was airborne. Never having flown, it seemed as if he was flying in a fighter plane, the low G-force the plane generated was enough to push him back into his seat. As the aircraft cleared the airport pattern, Mr. Morton started a gentle climb to jump altitude; Bobby unfastened his seat belt and went aft to find James. Remembering a part of the book “The Berets” he carefully stayed as far away from the open cargo door as he could. In the book the hero of the story was talked into dressing out in the necessary gear to jump with, ostensibly so could watch how a HALO jump was done. Then at the last second, two big paratroopers grabbed him and jumped out of the aircraft at 30,000 feet. He was determined that he would not have the same type of surprise perpetrated on him. Seeing James at the rear of the cabin on the starboard side of the plane (right side), Bobby grew nervous. James patted the seat next to him and Bobby hurriedly sat down quickly fastening his seat belt. James went through the procedure they would follow and how the jump would only be from 2,500 meters; “ONLY Bobby thought, ONLY two and a half klicks, ONLY a mile and a half up, sheeeesh.” As they neared the jump point, the Jump Master yelled “Stand Up!” (Almost making Bobby shit himself.) “Hook Up!” The jumpers attached a static line to a cable that ran the length of the cabin. “Check your equipment!” Every one of the jumpers turned to the guy next to him and made sure everything was hooked up properly. “Stand in the door!” The two lines, or sticks as they were called, moved aft with the first person actually standing in the doorway holding on to the edges of the doorway. James was the first one to be jumping. Suddenly, a bell started ringing and a green light came on at the side of the door. The Jump Master yelled GO! When he looked at the door, James had left the aircraft. Bobby giggled to him self, remembering a line from the movie ‘2000 Miles to Graceland’ when Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner were flying away from the casino after they robbed it; “Elvis has left the building.” It only took about 25 or 30 seconds for all the jumpers to exit the aircraft, before he felt the plane turning to the right and heading back to the airport. Bobby strapped himself back into the co-pilot’s seat and watched as Mr. Morton landed the big plane. He seemed like he was having no more problems making the big bird do his bidding than Bobby’s father had driving down the street in the family Escort. The wheels screeched as they kissed the runway, the plane bounced a little and the wheels screeched again, this time the wheels remained on the runway. Soon the tail dropped so the tail wheel was on the ground and the big plane taxied down the runway, like an elderly dowager princess, the mistress of all she beholds. Bobby noticed when the aircraft stopped moving, Mr. Morton pressed hard on the left brake and ran the RPM’s up on the right engine, the plane neatly pivoted until it was facing the runway again. Mr. Morton shut the engines down and then looked at Bobby, “Well what did you think of your first flight?”

Before he knew what he was saying he blurted out; “Out-fucking-standing, I had a hard on the whole time we were up.” Bobby blushed scarlet, put his face in his hands; “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.”

Mr. Morton laughed so hard he almost pissed his pants, when he was calm enough, he looked at Bobby and said; “Don’t sweat it son, that’s the same way I felt the first time I flew.” Bobby giggled as the two un-strapped and left the aircraft.

When the Jumpers returned to the airfield, James found Bobby and Jeff Morton in the Jump School talking about the flight; “Well sport, what’d ya think, is it something you might want to try?”

Bobby thought about how he was going to answer James’ question; “As much as I hate to admit it, I think I would. I’ll have to talk to my father and see if we can afford the cost for going through the school before I can give you a definite yes.”

James shook his head and sighed; “What’d we tell you when you first joined the Unit, didn’t we say we’d pay for everything you needed?”

Bobby thought for a second, replaying in his mind what was said to him when he joined; “Yes sir you did, but I didn’t know this was included, let me give my dad a call and I’ll be able to tell you one way or the other in a few minutes.”

James nodded and Bobby ran to find a telephone, James looked at Jeff and asked; “How was he, I noticed he was nervous when he came back after we were airborne?”

Jeff laughed; “When I asked him how he liked his first flight he said, ‘Out-fucking-standing, I had a hard on the whole time we were up.’ Then he turned red and apologized for what he said. As far as being nervous back aft, he told me that all he could think about was a part of a book he read, ‘The Berets’ where the hero was forced into doing a HALO when he was carried out the back of a C-130 by two big paratroopers.”

Both men laughed; “If it even seemed like I was going to do that to him, he would have shit himself right then and there.”

Bobby came running back to the table where Jeff and James were sitting; He looked at James and said, “My dad said that if I shit myself on the first jump, you’re going to have to give me a bath.”

James and Jeff broke up laughing; James ended up on the floor holding his side, but couldn’t stop laughing.

“Deal Dude!” James said and all three of them broke up laughing.

James took Bobby into the office and filled out the paper work for the class. Bobby would complete the ground school the following day but wouldn’t be allowed to make his first jump until the following Saturday because he had to get his dad to sign the necessary paperwork.

After making two more jumps, everyone headed back to the Unit. As they were entering the Cavern, a boy about 5’ 6” came running up to them; “Hey dad, how’d the jumps go?”

Jeff hugged the boy and said; “Fine, the old girl works just like a Timex wristwatch, ‘it takes a licking and keeps on ticking’. Oh by the way son, this is Bobby Bauer; he’s going to learn how to jump out of a perfectly good aircraft for no other reason than it being fun.”

Bobby stuck his hand out to shake Jeff’s son’s hand. That is until he looked the boy in the eyes, they were the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. Bobby continued to stare into those beautiful eyes, eyes that seem to draw him into their depths, hypnotizing eyes.

Suddenly he heard; “Earth to Bobby, Earth to Bobby, are you there?”

Bobby shook himself like a bird dog just leaving the water and then blushed; “This blushing shit has got to stop.” He thought to himself.

After pulling himself together, he said; “Hi, I must have had a brain cramp after being up in the air all day, sorry but I didn’t catch your name.”

Marty smiled; “It’s Martin, but everyone calls me Marty, I’m glad to meet you Bobby.”

As the two boys walked toward the dinning facility Jeff sighed; “Shit, I was hopping it was a phase. I guess not, it looks like both of them just got stung, bitten or just plain kicked in the ass by the ‘Love Bug’.”

James and Matt put their hands on Jeff’s shoulder and squeezed lightly; “You gonna be OK with this?” asked Matt.

Jeff gave the brothers a wane smile; “Yeah, after talking with Bobby all day, I guess Marty couldn’t find a better first love. Oh well, I got two other boys and a daughter, I’m bound to have some grandchildren.”

While they were talking Justin and Tyler walked up to them; “James, Matt, sorry to interrupt, but Tyler and I want to be in the Armor sub-unit.”

Jeff snickered; “Another pair of potentially good kids gone bad, what are you going to do, you can’t live with them and you can’t shoot them.”