Kombat Kids - 51. Life Goes On Part 2

After the debriefing of the exercise was completed, Adrian and Cam sat in the back of the Cavern and watched as the Colors were posted and the P.O.D. (Plan Of the Day) was read. When the members of the Unit were given their assignments and as the Cavern slowly emptied, they sat talking to each other about what they'd seen and heard. They became aware of the two Bateman brothers approaching them followed by a teenager who looked to be about fifteen. As the two men and the boy drew near, Cam and Adrian stood up to greet them. "Good morning Mr. Bateman, Mr. Bateman, how are you this morning?" Adrian asked the brothers.

James smiled at Adrian;"Fine thank you, how are the two of you doing, it looks like the both of you've recovered from your run in with those boys at school?"

Both Cam and Ad nodded their heads yes;"If it weren't for your boys and their friends, I don't know what would have happened. My doctor said that the little redheaded boy did a good job of taking care of me before the EMT's got there. I never met anyone like your guys, they make me feel good to be around them; you know, safe and happy all at the same time."

Matt nodded his head in agreement;"That's what the Units' all about, we started it to help out a friend of ours' son, he'd just come out to his daddy and his dad didn't know what to do. I mean he knew how to love and protect him, but he knew he couldn't answer a lot of the questions that his son must have had. He knew we were gay, so he asked us to talk to Phil and try to help him understand about himself. Phil Martin was our first member and he's been with us ever since."

The two boys asked the brothers all kinds of questions, some about the Unit, and some about the members. While this was going on, Mrs. Jones walked up behind the two boys and listened to the questions they asked and the answers the two brothers gave them. Matt and James noticed that Mrs. Jones had a pained expression on her face. James noticed it too and moved to the side of the small group gesturing for her to follow him. "What's wrong Mrs. Jones?" He asked;"Is there a problem, I want to assure you that the boys will be safe and accepted if they decide to join the Unit."

Mrs. Jones sighed and shook her head;"I understand Mr. Bateman, it's not that." She stood there thinking for a short time before continuing;"I'm afraid that Adrian and Cameron can't join the Unit, I received a telephone call from my mother’s doctor this morning before coming out here, my mother suffered a stroke and is incapacitated. As soon as possible, were going to have to move back to Selma. There's just no one else who can take care of her but me, my younger brother is in Iraq and he and his wife have two girls, five and seven, so they can't help. They live on Fort Lewis in military housing over on the coast and are farther away then we are. I haven't talked with Mr. Lawrence yet, so I need to do that first thing on Monday." She thought for a moment before continuing;"It really bothers me that we have to move again so soon after we just got settled, I know the boys aren't going to like it, but I have no choice."

Matt and James nodded their heads in understanding, James spoke for the both of them;"I'm sorry to hear that, the Unit was set up for boys just like Cameron and Adrian, I know they would both fit in well with the other guys." Looking over at the two boys talking with Jap and Jacky, he sighed;"All I can say is that they'll be welcome if you ever decide to move back up here and I'll make sure they understand that."

Mrs. Jones nodded her head and sighed;"This the first time I've seen them really interested in joining a group, they both belonged to the Scouts back home in Alabama but they quit after a couple of months. I didn't realize that it was because they were gay until they came out to me, I just wish there was an organization like this for them to join once we get back home."

Matt wrapped his long arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a gentle hug: "We'll maintain contact by e-mail, if they have problems or need answers to questions we'll do what we can to help. I really think you have two strong boys that'll look out for each other; they can watch each other’s back just like they did at school. Don't worry too much; I think they'll be okay."

The day continued much the same way most of the meetings had in the past, around four in the afternoon, Cameron and Adrian walked up to Matt and James who were sitting in the EDF. Cameron was the first to speak;"Do ya'll mind if Ad and I talk to you for a few minutes?"

James smiled at Cameron and gestured for them to have a seat, once seated, Cameron spoke softly;"My mom told us about my nana, we really wanted to join the Unit, but she's gonna need me to help." He scrubbed his face for a couple of seconds before continuing;"I know we coulda done good, I mean all the guys in the Unit have really been good to us and I just know me and Ad woulda fit in with them." Cam looked over at his friend and lover before continuing;"What I, I mean we, wanted to say is, you know, I mean, well we just wanted to thank you and your guys for helping us and being so good to us, that's all."

Matt looked at James before saying;"We talked to your mom earlier, we told her that if you ever do move back up here there'll be a place in the Unit, no matter how old you are. I think that we want you as a member, even though you won't be with us, so, we want you to go see Phil Martin and get your clothing and gear issue after we're finished here."

Both Cameron and Adrian started to protest, but James cut them off;"No argument, we plan on heading down your way in the not too distant future, I'm sure Mrs. Jones will allow both of you to be with us when we show up. From what your mom said Cameron, the soonest you're going to be able to leave is three weeks, until then you can work with the Squaddies and get an idea how we do things. So now, both you get your skinny asses over to the supply room and get your stuff." Adrian was about to argue when Matt ordered;"Talkin's done, move your butts."

Cam and Ad smiled as they hurried out of the dinning facility and ran to the other side of the Cavern where they knew the supply room was located. Phil martin and his lover, David White were sitting just inside the door when they entered. Phil looked up from the conversation he was holding with David and asked;"Can I help you two?"

Cam took the lead;"Matt and James told us to get our butts over here and get our clothing and gear issue. I'm Cameron Jones and this is my buddy, Adrian Dujohn . . . . .”

Phil nodded his head;"Yeah, we kind of figured that, you guys have been the main topic of conversation around here since you got hassled by those assholes at school." David smiled at Adrian and Cameron and said (before Phil could;"Okay guys, take your clothes off."

Phil looked at his friend and flipped him a two fisted 'bird' before saying;"Hey asshole that's my line!" Turning back to the boys he said;"So take your clothing off, we got lots to do."

Ad and Cam looked at each other for a few seconds before shrugging their shoulders. Making sure they didn't look at each other, or, Phil and David, they pulled their T-Shirts off and then their white ribbed wife-beater shirts they wore under them. David and Phil watched as the shirts came off and enjoyed the appearance of the boy’s smooth defined chests and bellies. Both Ad and Cameron's skin coloration was almost like dark caramel; their pectorals were well defined as was their abdominals, not quite 'six-packs' but close. Adrian let out a breath and unbuttoned his jeans; unzipped and let his trousers fall to bunch up at his ankles. He bent over and raised first his left, then his right foot to remove the jeans from around his feet. Straightening up and folding his jeans he placed them on the chair with his shirts, while he was doing this, Cameron followed suite. Both boys were now standing side by side dressed only in boxer briefs, Ad's were blue and Cameron's were 'cherry' red, both still had their 'Nikes' on.

Phil waited for them to remove the rest;"Come on guys take everything off, we've got a lot of stuff for you to try on and you're just slowing us down," He urged.

Cameron sighed, Adrian's complexion seemed to darken, then both boys sat on the edge of the chairs their clothing was on and removed their trainers and ankle length socks. Standing up, Cameron sighed again and hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his boxer briefs and slid them off, Adrian seeing this quickly followed him. After placing their underclothing with the rest of their clothing, Cam and Ad then turned to face their tormentors, Cam placed his hands to his sides while Ad tried to cover his more than ample genitals. Naturally, Phil and David were checking the two out, very carefully, this attention made Adrian blush even more furiously than before. Taking pity on the two, Phil reached up on a shelf and grabbed two sets of O.D. boxer briefs and handed them to them. With grateful looks on their faces, they quickly pulled them on, noting that Phil had given them the correct waist size. After issuing close to a hundred Squadies their clothing, Phil had become quite good at guesstimating waist sizes. For the next hour, Phil and David issued the two FNG's (Fucking New Guys) their clothing and gear allotment. By the time the issue was complete, the two boys were overcome with the quantity as well as the quality of the clothing and gear they were given. As with most of the other Squadies, the first thing out of their mouths was;"Hey guys, how we gonna pay for all this stuff, there must be four or five hundred dollars worth of clothes and gear?"

"Wrong." Phil said;"We didn't issue your winter gear, so whatcha got now comes to only $2,800 and change. As far as paying for it you don't. Everyone in the Unit gets issued this stuff; the Bateman Brothers don't want anyone to be dressed or equipped any different from anyone else in the Unit. The brothers are multi-millionaires, according to Matt, they could give a shit if the stuff our guys get issued cost three grand, or even ten grand. It just doesn't matter to them, they want everyone to have the same chance to succeed, and they level the playing field by insuring everyone starts the same." Phil looked at the two boys for a second before continuing;"Take a guess, take a guess how many guys have joined the Unit and then quit?"

Both Cameron and Adrian had no idea so they both shrugged. David spoke then;"None." He continued on;"We had one guy try, the whole Unit came together, along with a couple a hundred adults that our Unit basically made to look pretty ridiculous, and we got his attention and made him see we weren't going to let him leave. Think about all the kids you've met and try to figure out who that kid was."

Once again they couldn't think of who Phil was talking about so they just shook their heads no.

David smiled at them;"I know you know him." David held out his hand to show them how tall the boy they were talking about was;"You both know him, he's that short skinny little red headed wise ass who kept you guys from getting hurt worse than you were. He's the one who saved several of our guy's lives last summer when we went in to get back one of our guys who had been kidnapped by a local criminal and his sons. He was hurtin bad, and we all came together and brought him out of his depression, a depression that could have killed him. The operation to get him back in the Unit cost James and Matt close to $350,000, they didn't care, all they saw was one their 'Squaddies' hurtin, and hurtin bad. I realize you guys are leavin in a couple a three weeks, it doesn't matter, once you’re part of the Unit we look out after you."

Cameron and Adrian stood there with shocked expressions on their faces, here was two more white boys treating them with friendly disdain, no, not disdain, it was acceptance. The two boys both had an epiphany, it didn't matter to these guys, and it probably didn't matter to the other guys in the Unit that they were black. Once the Bateman Brothers accepted them, they were a part of the Unit and that's all that mattered. Both Cam and Ad smiled and nodded their heads, Cameron spoke for the both of them;"Thanks guys, thanks for being straight with us, and thanks for accepting us."

Phil and David smiled back;"No problem dude, it's always good to get new people in the Unit, welcome aboard."

During the few weeks Cameron and Adrian had left in Washington State, they spent as much of their time as possible at the Unit. When they were in school, they could always be found with members of the Unit, especially Jap and Jacky. The Monday after they joined the Unit, Cam and Ad, along with several members of the Unit were eating lunch when they looked up and saw Miller, Johnson and Ames enter the dinning area holding trays of food. Miller saw Cam and the others sitting together and turned red, nudging Ames and Johnson, they moved to a table as far away from the group as they could. Jap, sitting alongside Jacky looked Miller in the eye across the expanse of the cafeteria and smirked, this seemed to really piss Miller off. It seemed physically impossible for Miller to turn any redder, but he accomplished it, it looked like he was about to blow smoke out of his ears. The fact that he was almost cherry red made Jap laugh which naturally made everyone look to see what he was laughing at. Seeing Miller doing his impression of a Maraschino Cherry caused everyone else to laugh also. Miller was so pissed at everyone sitting at Jap's table that he jumped to his feet and ran from the lunchroom with gales of laughter following him from the room and down the hallway. Johnson and Ames not knowing what to do got up and left the lunchroom, each carrying the piece of the pizza and a Coke they had bought for lunch.

Miller could not believe how everyone was siding with those faggots. It was bad enough that even his mother was on his case, but to have the rest of the people he'd known all his life flip him shit spun him up even more. Sitting outside the main entrance of the school, Miller fought to keep the tears that threatened to flow from his eyes from doing so. He knew that he was straight, he knew that all the faggots, the one's he was sure of and the one's he knew were out there, just waiting for him to let his defenses down were all going to Hell. He knew this because his Uncle Don had told him so. His Uncle Don and his cousins Del and Launy had tried to cleanse the town and the Boy Scouts of the malignancies the queers represented. Unfortunately, the faggots and the faggot lovers stabbed his Uncle and his cousins in the back, causing his Uncle to go into hiding and putting his cousins in jail on trumped up charges. No matter what his mother or his father said, Uncle Don, cousins Del and Launy were his heroes. He knew, HE KNEW that queers were an abomination before God; He also knew he had to do something about them. To this end, Miller had taken his father’s .357 Magnum and two speed loaders of ammunition from his parents' closet. Today he would avenge his Uncle Don and his two cousins. Today he would destroy the very real minions of the Anti-Christ; he would send them all to Hell. As he sat there in his reverie, he shook himself and stood up and started back into the school. As he neared his locker, he pulled his T-Shirt out of his trousers so that he could conceal the revolver until he was close enough to the Spawn of the Devil to make sure he would be able to kill them all. After opening his locker, he reached into the back and withdrew the revolver and the two speed loaders, as he was about to shove the revolver into the waistband of his trousers, he heard a deep voice behind him say;"Place the revolver on the floor son and place both of your hands on the lockers, do it now."

"Nooooooooo!!! He couldn't' be stopped before he completed his work, he had to kill the work of the Devil, he couldn't be barred from his Holy Task, he had to kill them. Once again shouting his negation to the forces of evil;"Nooooooo!!!!" He tried to turn and bring his revolver in line with the person who was attempting to stop him. As he started his turn, he felt the most unimaginable pain of his short life, and then he felt nothing.

As John Thompson, a Private Investigator (PI) out of the Pendleton Oregon branch of National Investigations picked up the S&W Model 686 (stainless steel) revolver and quickly swung the cylinder out and dumped the six rounds of 158-grain hollow point ammunition. He then bent over the quivering body of the teenager and pulled the darts from his Tasser out of him. Setting the Tasser on the floor, he quickly bound the boy’s hands behind him using plastic cable ties. Just to be on the safe side, he also bound the youth's feet together using more cable ties. As he was finishing, another man, Tim Albrecht arrived;"You Okay John?"

Turning towards Tim he said;"Yeah, if I hadn't tassed him when I did, I think the little fuck would have shot me, damn I don't understand kids now a days."

Tim shook his head in agreement;"Luckily you were able to see him getting his gun, if he had a chance to use it, a lot of people woulda been hurt. . . . or worse." Tim knelt beside the unconscious boy and checked his pulse;"Well he's out of it, but he's still breathing and he's got a good strong pulse."

Mr. Murphy arrived on scene as Tim finished making his last statement;"John, Tim, what happened?"

As John filled him on what happened, two police officers arrived, John once again went through the story of him seeing the Miller Kid pulling a gun from his locker and subsequently using the Tasser on him. Looking down at the kid, Officer Golden just shook his head before saying;"We got an Ambulance coming, it should get here in a couple of minutes." Without thinking Bert Golden said;"Fucking kids, why do they do this kind of shit?"

With a large majority of the student body watching, Buddy Miller was strapped to a gurney and moved to the ambulance waiting at the front entrance of the school. This being the second time Miller was escorted from the school by the police in just under three weeks, none of the students or teachers expected him to return. As the students and teachers watched, the gurney with Miller strapped to it was pushed inside the ambulance and the doors were shut. As the ambulance was pulling out of the school’s drive, Jap noticed one of the Unit One HUMVEE's pulling into the parking lot, after it stopped, the doors on either side opened and James, Matt, Keener and the Gunny climbed out. Much to the Squaddies surprise, the four men walked directly to the small group of Unit One boys. Without so much as a hello, James asked;"You guys okay?"

Looking startled they all replied;"Yeah, no problem, why shouldn't we?" Jap being the quickest of the bunch replied succinctly;"Huh?"

Ignoring their questions, James turned to John Thompson and Tim Albrecht;"What happened, was it the three kids who beat up Jones and Dujohn?"

John answered for the two PI's;"Nope, just the Miller kid this time. I caught him pulling a piece out of his locker, when I told him to put it on the floor he tried to cap me and I let him have 65,000 volts. The little fucker was still quivering when they strapped him to the gurney. The other two were just coming out of the lunchroom when I put him down; they saw him hit the floor and went back into the cafeteria. I guess they didn't want any part of what he got. Some fucking friends huh?"

As James and Matt were talking to the two PI's, John Murphy, the School’s principal joined them. After shaking hands he said;"Why don't we go to my office and talk there, that way we won't so many people listening to our conversation. The others agreed and after gathering the Gunny and Keener they moved towards the front doors of the school. As the PI's and the Unit One adults moved towards the office, Murphy turned to the crowd of students and spoke to them;"Okay people, get back inside, and head for your next classes, lunch is almost over." Murphy heard the grumbling of most of the students and even some of the teachers;"Nobody tells us shit; sure leave us in the dark, what the fuck. . . . over?" Words to that effect and others that he couldn't quite make out drifted back to him as the crowd broke up and moved back in to the school.

The principal, the four Unit One adults and the two PI's walked to John Murphy's office, after closing the door Matt looked at the PI's and asked what happened. Tim Albrecht explained how he'd been watching Miller and his friends on the surveillance monitors, how he observed Miller leave the lunch room in a state of agitation and how he notified Thompson of his observation. John took over and explained how he went to the area where Miller's locker was and observed him pulling the handgun from his locker and the subsequent events that followed.

James asked;"So the cameras we have in place worked as advertised?"

"More or less." Tim replied. I did come across some blind spots that need to be looked at closely, if Miller's locker had been near or in one of them, things might have 'gone south' on us. If we plan on keeping our surveillance operation in place, we need to address the dead spots. Other than that, it's working pretty much the way we thought it would."

Turning to John Murphy, James asked;"What do you think of the way everything was handled John?"

John Murphy seemed to stare right through James for a moment, framing his reply in his mind before speaking. "I think that a great tragedy was prevented today, if the Miller kid had been able to use that gun, we'd be on national news right up there the way Columbine was. According to what John has told me, the kid had eighteen rounds of high performance ammo with him, to my way of thinking, that means he could have wounded or killed eighteen students and/or faculty members. I'm really glad that John prevented that from happening. As it stands right now, according to Tim, we have the whole thing on tape from two different angles. That along with the gun and ammo he took off of the Miller kid, justifies the use of the in-school monitors and the security officer's presence. The only problem I have is the fact that we have so many blank spots, areas like the restrooms, utility rooms and some of the outside areas." Murphy stopped speaking for a second or so, then continued: “Another problem I foresee, is when your kids move on to highschool, you won't have any reason to continue the surveillance program. I doubt very seriously that the Moreland School Board will want to continue it, mainly due to its cost."

Before Murphy could continue, James spoke;"That's one thing you can forget about, we plan to underwrite the cost for a minimum of ten years. Matt and I have discussed this in great detail over the last week or so, I want this to work so that the rest of the schools in Moreland will implement the same or a program similar to ours. We think that with a little fine tuning and the use of other technologies, we can adequately address the problems that have been brought to light without infringing upon anyone's rights of privacy." Matt broke in to add;"James and I are willing to set up a trust fund for this program to insure the necessary funds are available and easily accessible for the operational needs of the program. We're truly unhappy that this sort of thing is needed, but we want it to work and work properly.

John Murphy looked at the two brothers for over a minute before replying;"I fully agree with you, while there've always been fights, bullies and racial problems in the schools, until just the last ten or fifteen years it was very low key. Now every time one of my teachers has to discipline a student, they have to wonder if the kid's going to whip out a gun and blow him or her away. I, and a lot of other school administrators, feel like we're presiding over an armed camp, a sort of 'Fort Apache' so to speak, instead of a place of learning. I've always felt that a school should always be, first and foremost, a place of safety where the student's only job is to learn and the teachers' only job is to teach. Saying that, I'll do everything in my power to see that our program works and that there isn't any problem at the schools, or the school district’s end of it."

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On the following Monday, October Fifteenth, Cameron, his mother and Adrian boarded a Delta Express twin engined (turbo prop) aircraft at the Twin Cities Airport. The 'Puddle Jumper' aircraft would transport them to the SeaTac Airport forty-five minutes after leaving the Twin City Airport which would allow them to make their connection to Selma, Alabama with time to spare. All the members of the Unit, including the adults, had formed a convoy to escort the three to the airport. Matt had hired a stretch limousine for Mrs. Jones and the boys for the trip to the airport as a parting courtesy to the departing family. Sheriff Martin provided two patrol cars to act as an escort for the convoy, the adults, and Squaddies who possessed driver's licenses drove the Units' vehicles. This really pissed off the four crewmembers of GhostRyder Two Five and Two Six. David White, Phil Martin, Tyler English and Justin Tannonligua, the nominal crews for the LAV's could only piss and moan amongst themselves because everyone else was tired of hearing them bitch. Keener Webb and George Babcock were the drivers for the evolution, and they had told the boys that there was no way they (the boys) would be driving on the public highways. What it came down to was, either they shut the fuck up or stay home because like the rest of the Unit, George and Keener were tired of their complaining.
Arriving fifteen minutes before Mrs. Jones and the two boys, the Unit parked the vehicles on the south lane of the three lane access road in front of the terminal. When the vehicles were all shut down, the Squadies lined up alongside of their vehicles, shortly after they were in ranks the limousine arrived. As the big car came to a halt the Gunny yelled out;"Unit, ten-hut!" Close to a hundred pairs of heels clicked together as the Unit came to attention. Matt moved to the rear door of the limo and opened the door.
As Mrs. Jones and the boys climbed out of the Limo, four members of the Unit moved to the rear of the vehicle and opened the trunk lid that been released by the driver from inside the vehicle. Jap, Jacky, Carson and David White started pulling the luggage from the trunk. Mrs. Jones was stunned at the turnout by the Unit; standing there she looked at the boys carrying their luggage and then at Matt and James. Shaking her head she smiled up at James and said simply;"Thank you." She reached up and pulled first Matt, then James down to her level and kissed them on the cheek. She grabbed Ad and Cam's hand and walked through the automatic doors and with her head held high moved to the ticket counter. Once they had their boarding passes they moved through the security checkpoint and disappeared from sight. The Unit fell back into ranks and waited, less then tem minutes after the three disappeared from view through the check point, the small twin engine aircraft leapt into the air halfway down the runway. James turned to the Unit;"Unit, ten-hut!! Mount up, movem out."
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The first few days passed slowly, most of the guys in the Unit missed Ad and Cameron and thought about them a lot. Eventually, time passes and people, as well as their thoughts move on. Two weeks after Ad and Cam left, the Unit held its second annual Halloween Party. Outside of the Christmas Party, the Halloween Party was the big event of the year. This year with close to a hundred members, people were looking forward to an exceptional time. James and Matt decided to have a contest, the categories were; best costume, most original costume and worst costume. James put a restriction on the 'Worst Costume Category,' there had to be a clear attempt by the costumes’ wearer to make it the ugliest. The party, unlike the others held by the Unit, was going to be for members and their dates only. At the meeting a week before the party, Matt put the word out that there would be no sexually explicit costumes allowed. During the party members were cautioned that women and girls would be present and that any Squaddie that showed un-appropriate behavior would be sent home and would be assigned JJ's. The night of the party approached and the kids of the Unit got more excited. If the truth were to be told, the adults of the Unit were looking forward to the party with as much enthusiasm as the younger members were. Gunnery Sergeant and Mrs. MacCarver who had just moved into the house James and Matt had built for them along side the Gunny's had plans for their first Unit Party. James and Tim had been talking about nothing else since they had found out about the party. Even the Gunny seemed to be looking forward to it. As the Saturday got closer, the frantic activity of the Unit’s members reached greater heights. Parents of the Squaddies found themselves being drawn into the construction of costumes, some of the parents got so involved that an outside observer may well have thought the parents were the ones vying for the prizes the Bateman Brothers were promising.
Saturday the twenty seventh of October finally arrived, the party was scheduled to start at 15:00, Squaddies and their dates started arriving at 09:00, most carrying duffle bags containing their costumes, a couple came already dressed. Jap and Jacky were two of the last to arrive; Jap carried a medium size duffle while Jacky was carrying a box that was four foot by two foot and about eighteen inches thick. Greeting everyone they met, the two went to their room down in the berthing compartment to change into their costumes. Like them, Conner Beck and his boyfriend were keeping their disguises close to their vests, unlike Jap and Jacky, their costumes were both held in a small duffle bag.
At 15:00 James comes over the 1MC;"Gooooooooooooooood afternoon Squaddies, it's time for the Second Annual Halloween Party, let's get ready to party!!"
While most of the Squaddies are already in costume and have been milling about the Cavern, some are notably missing. Jap and Jacky, Conner and Jared and Phil Martin and David White to name just a few. After James had called the Party to order, music stared to play over the Caverns' sound system. Just about everyone started to groan when the instrumental version of 'Moon River' started playing, the longer it played, the louder the complaints got. Suddenly, there was scratching sound and the song ended abruptly, everyone in the Cavern applauded loudly. The next sound they heard was James calling their attention to north end of the Cavern where he stood in the middle of the stage that had been set up for the party. "May I have your attention please?" He asked;"By the sounds of all the moaning and groaning I hear out there, you all don't seem to care for the music we're providing." The boys and a few of the girls attending the party hooted and yelled their agreement to James' last statement. James chuckled a little before continuing;"Well, how bout this then?"
James strode to the left of the stage as curtains started to open, while he was moving he yelled into the mic;"Give it up for 'Pearl Jam."
At his last word a huge guitar riff burst through the sound system and Pearl Jam started their first set of songs that they'd made popular. The Cavern once again exploded in noise from the shocked teenagers, only a few of who had ever seen the group perform live. The kids started dancing, boys with other boys, boys and girls, even a few of the adults joined in. Matt and Keener among the adults seemed to really get into the swing of things. While everyone was engrossed in the music and dancing, two sets of boyfriends joined the party, Jap and Jacky and Conner and Jared. Soon people were looking at the two sets of guys, not because they were dancing, but because of their costumes. Jacky was dressed as the 'Devil,' he was wearing a form fitting ultra thin body sock that showed off every part of his body. It was almost like he wasn't wearing anything at all, his six foot tall body was clearly visible through the material, so much so, that he wore a cup to hide the size and shape of his balls and cock (Jap tried to talk him out of it). His face and hands were covered with body paint that was the same color as his suit and he had on black lipstick and his eyes were ringed with black mascara. His forehead had two horns and a tail was attached to his butt, it had some kind of spring or stiffener to make it look like it was real. As he walked or danced, it jumped up and down and back and forth.
Jap wore what almost looked like a diaper, white sandals, a halo and a huge set of white angel wings. His young body showed the definition he was attaining from his workouts with his lover Jacky (weight training and exercise, not what you’re thinking) and carrying a thirty five pound rifle all over the Bateman property. When his friends first saw him in his angel costume, every one laughed. Not because he was funny looking, but because they thought that Jap should of come as the devil, not Jacky.
As everyone went back to dancing, Conner Beck and Jared Littlelk entered the Cavern. Jared was wearing a blond wig and a Viking helm on his head. His only other clothing was a breach clout held up by a three inch wide metal studded belt with a dagger on one side and a two handed broad sword on the other. His whole body was coated in a talcum powder like paint, giving him the look of a pale Viking god. Conner on the other hand was wearing a Tarzan like breach clout with only a sheath knife on the rawhide rope that held hid breach clout in place with a long black wig on his head was a head band with a single feather. Like Jared his body was coated with the dry body paint, only in his case, it was a dark brown. Together, they were stunning, an Indian warrior and a Viking God.
Not only were the kids looking good in the many and varied costumes, but most of the adult members had put a lot of effort into coming up with some really remarkable outfits. James had his lover Thompson Gettrick make him a complete 'Darth Vader' costume, Thompson had contacted the Costume Company that had supplied props for the 'Star Wars' movies and had them overnight the boots, helmet and belt to him to complete James outfit. Tom also included the moccasin like shoes Luke Skywalker wore, along with the utility belt for Matt's costume. For himself, Thompson wore a bridal gown and had a really big set of knockers.
Just before 15:00, the Gunny entered the cavern with a very pretty woman on his arm. In his right hand he carried a pitchfork, he had shaved most of the hair off his head and was wearing a set of faded blue overalls over a checked flannel shirt. His friend (Mrs. Brewton, a widow lady he had met several months earlier), was wearing an ankle length blue gingham dress, her hair (a realistic looking wig) was pulled into a sever bun. Anyone who had ever seen the portrait 'American Gothic' realized the look they were going for.
The party continued well into the evening, at 20:00, just after the last set performed by 'Uncle Cracker,' James. with Matt at his side, called for everyone's attention;"Okay guys and guyettes, it's time to award the prizes. Before we start, Matt and I have decided to ad another category, 'The Most Ridiculous Concept." Before he continued he chuckled;"The prize for 'The Most Ridiculous Concept' will go to costumes that really do not fit the wearers' personality."
"The winners of the first category; 'Best Costume' goes to Gunnery Sergeant Mcnaughten and Mrs. Brewton" James gestured for them to come up on the stage to receive their prize. When they were on the stage, Matt handed them each an envelope;"Congratulations, you both win an all expense paid six days, five night trip to the Big Island of Hawaii." The Gunny blushed, Mrs. Brewton couldn't believe it, as they both left the stage in shock, the crowd roared its' approval.
Matt took over for the next category;"The most Original." Matt held up his hand to get everyone to quiet down before continuing; “We have a tie here, Jared and Conner, front and center."
As the two boys mounted the stage, each had a big shit eating grin on their face. Matt Shook their hands and said;"Congratulations, you each have won a course of instruction from 'Frontier Aviation' in Yakima. The training will allow you to get your private pilots license, upon completion of the fixed wing course, you'll transition into 'rotary winged aircraft. Once again, congratulations guys."
James once again took over the MCing;"For the worst costume, Bobby Bauer, front and center." Bobby hesitated until two of the Squaddies standing next to him picked him and bodily carried him to the stage. Once on the stage his body took on a bright red coloring from head to toe. Bobby was about five feet one inch tall and weighed in at about ninety pounds. His costume was made up of a jock strap and a sandwich board (made of heavy card board). The sandwich board read; 'Adonis for Rent, dial 1 800 LOVEGOD' and just barely covered his crotch and bare ass. James laughed at the blushing boy;"Congratulations Bobby, you've won a six day, five night all expense paid vacation to Disney World in Orlando Florida for you and your entire family."
Matt took over once again; “Now for the 'The Most Ridiculous Costume,' once again we have a tie. Jap and Jacky Hoffman front and center." As Jap and Jacky crossed the stage to Matt and James, everyone within a hundred feet could see that Jap was spun up.
Matt saw it too, the first thing he said was;"Jacky get ready to grab him if he goes into attack mode." Everyone in the audience heard Matt's order and laughed, Jap turned to them and was about to shoot everyone the bird when he thought better of it because of the women and girls present. Jap looked at the smiles on James and Matt's faces and then on his boyfriends' face and relaxed, all the time thinking of ways to get back at them. Matt continued;"Congratulations guys, you've won a six day, five nights all expenses paid trip to Disney Land in Southern California for both of you and your families."
That was almost two weeks ago, James stood in the hallway watching as the last of the Squaddies followed Matt to the third deck and the arms room. He squared his cap on his head and headed up to the first floor and on to the range, remembering both the good and the bad times he had experienced since the Unit came in to being. Sighing, he climbed into a HUMVEE and drove out of the garage and on to the rifle range, a slight smile on his face.