Jacob Finding His Way - 58. Chapter 58

Still feeling the after effects of the drugs they gave him during the surgery, Jacob tried to stay awake but he kept dozing off. When he his family and friends walked in, he tried his best to stay awake but again, he just couldn’t. The drugs are still working through his system and no matter what he does Jacob won’t be himself at least until morning Dr. Whitmore told everyone.

Jacob’s grandparents, parents and sister kissed Jacob on the forehead the minute they walked in. His friends shook his hand and sat down on the floor. Dewayne came in last, walked up to Jacob and kissed him firmly on the lips. He didn’t care what the others thought this is his boyfriend and he is glad that he has made it through the surgery. After a few minutes of kissing, Dewayne broke the kiss and sat down in the seat nearest Jacob, grabbing Jacob’s hand as he settled in.

Just as they started talking about how better it will be now that Jacob doesn’t need to deal with that machine anymore, Dr. Whitmore walked in. The look on his face, everyone knew it was bad news. At first they thought that the bad news is going to be about Jacob, but when Dr. Whitmore started talking, they got another shock of their lives.

“I just came down from another one of my patients. Some of you might know, and some of you might not know, Jacob asked me to take care of Alex when he got stabbed in the center. Not to give detail away on that, we thought that we dealt with that injury without it coming back at us. Alex healed faster than we even thought he would, and maybe that is how we missed this.

Alex got rushed into the hospital with an infection from the wound that we thought had closed and healed itself. Being the type of person Alex is, just like Jacob here, he didn’t think it was serious enough to let anyone know. I should have caught it when he came to me complaining about a cold but all I looked at is a cold and told Alex he is okay.

Because none of us caught it in time, it spread. I think we got it all, but only time will tell us if we did. During surgery though, there were complications. At the time I was involved with the surgery with Jacob, I asked another doctor to take care of Alex. After closing and finishing with Jacob and went into the other OR to see what was going on.

We did everything we could, but he fell into a coma. The next twenty four hours are going to tell us if Alex is going to come out of this okay. He is a strong young man, like Jacob, and I believe he will come out of this just fine. If you want to see him, he is on the floor above us, room 406. I am sure he and his family would appreciate you guys popping your head in to see how he is doing.”

No one needed to be asked if they wanted to visit Alex, they all are going. Things have changed over the last couple months. Alex and Matt have become part of the extended family. Any of Jacob’s main or extended family is in trouble in anyway; everyone always will pull behind that person and support them.

Dewayne stayed back with Gloria and Andy Sr., while the others left to visit with Alex. Al asked the boys to wait for him at the elevator while he talks with Virginia. They nodded their heads and walked over to the elevator.

Al asked his wife to take Jeremy home and take care of him, Lorenzo and Ismail. Both of them agreed that Franseca isn’t going to leave Alex’s bedside until she knows for sure that Alex is going to be okay. In the mean time they are going to help out with her two young boys. They don’t want Franseca to worry about anything while she is here in the hospital. After agreeing on what needs to be done, Al and Virginia walked to the elevator.

While the others went to visit with Alex, Andy and Gloria stepped out of Jacob’s room to give Jacob and Dewayne some alone time! They could see that they wanted to talk to each other without the others around, but didn’t want to be rude. At the same time Gloria wanted to get some fresh air, so it worked out for everyone.

Neither of them talked to each other on the way down, but Gloria couldn’t help but think that she didn’t want to be here. She hates hospitals just as much as Jacob and had hoped that they wouldn’t be in a hospital again, at least not for something major like this. The last time around that Jacob was in, they almost lost him.

When they stepped out, they stood a ways off from the smokers that are in their little group. Andy Sr. decided to take this time to talk with Gloria about what had happened earlier and a few other things before they start to move to the new house.

“I know you’re having a hard time with everything that is going on right now with Jacob. Still that doesn’t give you the right to do what you did with Jeremy. I know I don’t have to right to say much on how you brought up Andy, Jacob and Marie, but I do with Jeremy. We both gave up on him and you sent him to a state school.

By the looks of it, dealing with Jeremy is going to be hard, but we can do it. You can’t yell out him or grab him like you did. He needs to be treated with kid gloves by the looks of it. We both will learn together how we can be better parents for Jeremy. At the same time though, you can’t do what you did earlier again.”

“Your right and I know there isn’t any excuse for what I did. I really don’t know how my dad and Jacob deal with Jeremy. By the looks of it, they have it down so well and Jeremy loves living with them. You and I will figure it out as we learn to live in a home with a lot of teenagers around.”

“Yeah, we will have to learn fast that is for sure. Talking about that, we need to see eye to eye on a few things before we actually get married again.” Gloria looked at Andy with a confused look on her face. “The main thing I am talking about is the same thing that seems to be coming up over and over again; Jacob being gay.

You need to find it in yourself to live with the fact that your son is gay. I can see that your words are hollow when you have said you’re accepting it. Your actions betray what you have told me. Too many times I have had to settle you down and keep you from saying something or doing something that you can’t take back.

Your son respects you and loves you, no matter how much you have done to him. Where he picked that up, I don’t know, because it wasn’t from you. He has a heart that cares about his family and friends no matter how many times they disappoint him. No matter what, he will never abandon those that he cares about.

You have to show him the same respect he has shown you. Without your son, there is no doubt you won’t have what you have today. You would still be living in the apartments that you have told me you hated. You’d be buried in debt you wouldn’t have been able to find your way out of. I can go on and on, but I will stop there. I made my point without Jacob helping you with what he has; your life would be a lot different.

You need to, once and for all, get rid of this hatred you have about your son being gay. That young man has accomplished more so far in his life than most people will accomplish I their entire lifetime. He is a great kid. You did a great job bringing them all up. Now it is time for you to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Don’t run off our kids after doing the hard work of bringing them up.”

As Andy spoke, Gloria knew he was telling her the truth. Jacob deserves a lot better mom than she has been the last couple of years. No matter what she has done, Jacob has never turned his back on her. Others would have and never looked back. Not Jacob. She now needs to be the mother that she should have been all along.

When it came time to go, there is no question in anyone’s mind that Dewayne is going to stay with Jacob. One at a time everyone shook Jacob’s hand as they left the room. Jacob couldn’t stay awake while they said their goodbyes so the guys don’t know if he heard when they promised Jacob that they will back late tomorrow night after work.

Major Moore looked up from his desk when he heard a knock on the door. At first he thought it was Jacob coming in, but it is his good friend Colonel May. Colonel May walked in without a response from Major Moore. He handed Major Moore a cup of coffee and apple pie from McDonalds as he sat down with his own coffee and apple pie.

“I didn’t know that we had a meeting on the books this morning. What do I owe the honor of your visit this morning? We settled everything on Tuesday; at least I think we did.” Major Moore didn’t look at Colonel May, he just poured in his sugar and creamer into the coffee.

“The reason I came down this morning to talk with you as friend and as your superior officer. I am very concerned about you my old friend. Never before have I had any problems with my flagship battalion. I never had to worry about this battalion because I have the best man in charge of it. The other battalions are a different story.”

Colonel May ate his pie and drank his coffee as he spoke. He can see that Major Moore has no idea where he is going with this. This is something he has put off way too long and now it is even harder. It is just hard being good friends with someone when you’re their boss as well. If the time ever comes that you have to crack the whip, it’s hard to do to a friend.

“When you got diagnosed with cancer, it ripped me apart in side Joe, it really did. Here we are, two men that went through two conflicts in our time in the military and made it home alive. Now this disease is going to rob us of you way too early. That is just not fair; I am telling it is just not fair. No one deserves to get sick like that, more so those who were willing to give their lives for a just cause and their country.”

“I am one of the lucky ones to tell you the truth! I should have been gone already, but I am still here. I am here because of the support from my family and friends. Without you guys behind me, I don’t know where I would be today.”

“That is why what I am about to ask you is the hardest thing I will ever do in my life. You know I believe in you Joe. I believe you in you so much, I never asked you to dial it back when you were told about having cancer. If anyone can juggle all the balls this program has and have cancer, it’s you. But lately I think the disease is beating you.

Never before in the past would you ever have done what you’re doing with Jacob. You and I think exactly the same and that is why I am so confused on why you’re doing what you’re doing. One day you support this guy and next day you’re after him. That is not right for this student or any student and you know that.

Then you said something in our meeting on Monday that left me with no other course to take. You and I have known gay men. In fact we served with them in the military. Never did you mind the fact that they were gay. You had the same belief I did that they should have the right to serve in our military openly, but what you said on Tuesday blew me away. It scares me that you’re thinking the way you’re thinking now.

Your cancer is getting worse and you know it. So why don’t you spend the rest of your time on this earth with those that love you and care for you. This job is so stressful; it is taking you away from us a lot sooner. My friend, I want you with us as long as we can. You can’t keep going like this; you just can’t.

Please my friend, I am asking you to retire now. That way you can go out on top with no one looking back at your last years in the program and say you were not on the top of your game. Don’t let your legacy be that people have to ignore the last couple years of this great man because what he did wasn’t him, but the cancer. Don’t do that to yourself my friend; retire.”

“I hear where you’re coming from, but I believe I have a few more good years in me. I can move on from what I have been doing with Jacob. Since our meeting, I have given a great deal of thought on what we talked about. I came to the conclusion that I have been treating Jacob wrong and I need to make amends for that.”

“It is good you see you heard what I was trying to get through to you earlier this week, but this keeps coming up. You have to be tired of the same old conversation we have been having. Every time I am down here or you’re at my office, we are always talking about Loraine, Jacob or the Governor’s kids. It is just gotten too much and I fear if we continue this way, I will lose you as a friend.

I am asking you as a friend to retire now on your own. If you don’t retire, you will leave me no other choice but to force you into your retirement. If you choose to retire, you will get your full pension and everything else you normally would get if you made it to retirement age. If you force me to go the other direction, it will be out of my hands. The board will put you out and leave you with a partial pension.”

Major Moore couldn’t believe his ears. He knows that he has gone a little too far on certain things, but to be asked to retire, that is over kill. At the same time Major Moore knows his friend is a man of his word. What he is doing right now is hurting him more than any one could imagine. Major Moore knows that his friend doesn’t want to be here asking him to do this.

“Do I get until the end of the school year?”

“No, the retirement has to happen immediately. The reason for that is if the board hears what I did, they will try to stop it. If you retire immediately, the papers will be signed and filed and there is nothing the board can do once that happens.”

“Okay, if you don’t mind me asking, why now? What I mean is you fought for me when the board demanded me to retire when I first was diagnosed with this. You stood alone with me and said no. We won, now you’re asking me to retire. It is going to send a clear message that the board was right when they wanted me to retire.”

“No, it will send the opposite message. The board believed that you would never retire, no matter how bad you got. Just like you said, we stood there and argued that you would know when it is time to go. You will never stay in the position when you were no longer able to perform the duties of the position.”

Major Moore looked down at his schedule he was working on when Colonel May walked in. He slid it aside and pulled out a picture of him and the Colonel; a picture they took while they were stationed in Vietnam. After looking at it for a few minutes, he passed it over to Colonel May to look at.

“Those were the days! I can’t believe we were ever that young and stupid!” Both of them started laughing. “We thought that we would never make it out of there alive, but we did. Here we are, old men, training the youth of our nation to go into the military. Never in a million years would I have thought back then I would be doing this.”

Major stopped talking to gather himself. “Who will be taking my place? You’re always a man with a plan. So when you walked in here, you already knew who is going to take over this battalion.”

“I spoke with Colonel Pigeon over at Austin High School. He runs the second battalion; it is just right to give him the first battalion. Plus he has three instructors down there. Major Thomson will take over as the senior army instructor, so there will be no need to hire anyone to replace anyone in the battalions.”

“If I had a choice to who would be taking my spot, I would choose him. He is great and knows Jacob from his freshman year. Those two get along very well. I better clear out my stuff, I am sure he is going to take over as of today.”

“There is no hurry for you to get out. I don’t want you to feel you’re being run out of town. Colonel Pigeon will be here today, but you can take as long as you want. He will take whatever desk is open for now until you have moved out. Just do me a favor and do a smooth transition. I know I don’t have to ask that of you.”

“No, I will give him his desk and office the minute he gets here.” Major Moore walked Colonel May to the door of his office. “Why don’t you and your lovely wife come down on Sunday like we used to. I miss when we used to put out feet up on Sunday no matter what was going on in our lives.”

“You can count us in, my friend. I will bring my famous cheese dip and you can cook your famous chili. It has been awhile since I have had my system cleaned out!” They both laughed as they finished making plans.

On his way out, Colonel May walked over to the range to talk with Sergeant Haney. When he walked in, the rifle team was already putting away their rifles. Colonel May waited maybe ten minutes before he and Sergeant Haney walked out to the parking lot.

“Sergeant Haney I want to cover a couple of things with you before I leave. First I had to accept my best friend’s retirement papers. He wants to spend what time he has with his family. I love that guy like a brother and things here won’t be the same without him running things.”

Sergeant Haney’s jaw dropped with the news. “The replacement for Major Moore is Colonel Pigeon and I know you and he don’t get along at all. I like you and Major Moore asked me to take care of you no matter what.

So with that said I would like is to give you a choice on two positions. You can come with me to the DAI’s office or you can work at Austin under Major Thomson. I understand you two know each other from way back.”

“Well, if it is up to me, I would like to stay with the students on daily basis. Austin High School is close to my house, so I would like to teach there. And you’re right about me and Major Thomson, we go way back. I was one of his platoon sergeants when he was the company commander. We got along really well and I know we can work well together now.”

“Good; that is settled then. You will report to Austin High School ROTC building on Monday. That should give you enough time to do what you need to do here. In the mean time you need to get along with Colonel Pigeon. He will be taking over as of today. Major Moore is still here, but the battalion and the program here is Colonel Pigeon’s as of this morning when Major Moore retired.”

Sergeant Haney promised Colonel May that he won’t give Colonel Pigeon any trouble. Until he reports on Monday to Austin, Colonel Pigeon is his boss. That was enough for Colonel May, he shook Sergeant Haney’s hand and left. As he drove out of the parking lot, he looked over to see his friend greeting Colonel Pigeon as he walked into the building. Being the man that he is, Major Moore looked in charge of everything.

Jacob woke up to find Dewayne asleep in the small chair near his bed. He felt bad for Dewayne because he is way too big to be in that chair asleep. He got up from his bed, walked over to Dewayne and kneeled down. It took every bit of energy that Jacob has to do that, but he wanted to kiss his boyfriend awake.

At first Jacob didn’t get any response from Dewayne. Then he felt Dewayne’s tongue entering into his mouth. Jacob didn’t fight Dewayne; he let his tongue slip in. All of a sudden, Dewayne broke the kiss, pulled Jacob gently into him and whispered another guy’s name into his ear. Jacob got angry and pushed away from Dewayne. He looked down as his boyfriend totally cracked up laughing!

“You mother fucker! You’re an asshole I hope you know that! I honestly thought you were thinking that another guy was kissing you!” Jacob hit Dewayne a couple of times lightly on the top of his head. “Don’t ever play that game on me again like that!”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” Dewayne trying to stop laughing in order to explain himself to Jacob! “You know you’re the only guy that will ever be in my life. There will never be another guy, I don’t care who they are, that could ever take me away from you! I love you Jacob and I will always be yours!”

By the time he said his last words, he had moved from the chair over to the bed. Dewayne sat down and picked up where they were before he played the joke on Jacob. They got into the kiss, they didn’t hear Matt walk into the room. Matt saw that Jacob is in high spirits in more ways than one so he walked back out.

Soon after Matt left, a nurse walked in with Jacob’s breakfast. “Okay boys, if you break the bed, you bought it. So why don’t you let our patient eat his breakfast so he can get his strength back up.” Looking over at Dewayne, she continued. “You want your man to have his strength back up as soon as possible, don’t you?”

Dewayne just nodded his head in enthusiastic agreement to the nurse. She moved the table over Jacob’s lap and put the trey of food down. She made sure that the IV machines are working right and then took his vitals.

“Plus you don’t want to roughhouse and tear the stitches out. It would be ugly if this young man made it through the surgery with no complications, then get complications because he ripped his stitches out.” The nurse turned and started to walk out the door of the room. “But I can see that our patient is ready to go, down below!” The nurse turned and winked at Jacob and Dewayne.

Dewayne looked at Jacob and broke out laughing again. He reached under the table and found that Jacob is hard as a rock. To make matters worse for Jacob, he isn’t wearing any underwear so his hard dick is pointing straight out for the world to see.

“After you eat, I will take care of this for you if you want.” Dewayne tugged on Jacob’s hard dick a couple of times. “By the looks of it, junior wants to come out and play. Don’t punish him because you can’t move your upper body.”

Jacob turned all shades of red. He reached over to Dewayne’s lap and found that his dick is as hard as his. The only reason he didn’t spot it is because Dewayne is wearing Dockers. Still his mouth watered for Dewayne’s sausage for breakfast, not the one that the nurse brought in. At least with Dewayne’s, he gets a free milkshake with it.

Just then, the door opened again, but this time Al walked in. Both Jacob and Dewayne pulled their hands away from the others dick. They both hoped that Al didn’t see what they were doing, but Jacob knows that his grandfather sees everything.

“Good to see that you’re awake Jacob and in good spirits this morning!” Al handed Dewayne a bag from McDonalds. “Here Dewayne, you have to be hungry this morning. I know hospital food is not that good Jacob, but until the doctor gives me permission to bring you in food, you’re stuck with it.”

“That is okay grandpa, I understand. It will be hard, but I will deal with it.” Jacob looked over to Dewayne to see him pull out several items from the bag, including two egg mc-muffins, his favorite. “When I get out of here, I am going to stuff my self with all the fast food I can get my hands on. When I woke up this morning, I was very hungry.”

“That is very positive sign Jacob.” Everyone looked at the door to see Dr. Whitmore walking in with a smile. “So far this morning, I am two for two in good news. You boys are giving me a run for my money, I’ll tell you that. All this white hair is caused by the worries I have for you and my other patient upstairs.”

“Did I imagine that I heard you saying that Alex was in the hospital to last night?” Jacob scratched his head trying to figure if he dreamed it or not. “I could swear you came in and told us that Alex is here and not doing great. If he is, can I go and see him?”

“Jacob he is here, but no you can’t move around a lot right now. I want you to stay in bed for the next couple of days. You just went through a major surgery. Put aside the possibility of ripping your stitches out, but you can do a lot more. For one you just had a new organ put into you. You don’t want to do anything that will make your body reject it. So just sit tight and if anything happens with Alex upstairs, I’ll let you know.”

“If he doesn’t let you know I will!” Dewayne sat up with a mouth full of breakfast. “Alex has become part of our family. So I will be going up to check on Alex and letting Jacob know what I see. Not that I don’t trust you Dr. Whitmore, it’s just you’re a busy man. You have more patients than just Jacob and Alex.”

“Thank you Dewayne, I really appreciate. You’re right and I need to get back to my other patients, so I leave it up to you to keep Jacob informed on what is going on with Alex. Again though, if anything major else happens with Alex, I will be here to get him through it. For now, we all have to keep our fingers crossed for both of you to recover completely from your separate surgeries.”

No one said a word; they just shook their heads in agreement. While Dr. Whitmore looked at the clip board at the foot of Jacob’s bed, Jacob couldn’t help but think about how Alex is doing. He hopes that Alex knows that if he could be there, he would. As soon as he can get permission to go and visit, he will do so.

“With what I can see Jacob, you’re doing really well. So far there are no signs of you rejecting the kidney. Normally if a body rejects a transplant, it starts to show signs within the first twenty four hours. You’re not, but we always have to be watchful in the future. No matter a day, a month, a year or ten years from now, we have to be watching what your body does. A simple spike in your temperature needs to be looked at closely.”

“Thank you for everything you have done Dr. Whitmore. I know I keep saying it, but I will always be thankful for the things you have done for my grandson. Before you leave I would like to know if I can bring Jacob food from the outside.”

“I know the food here isn’t that great, but for now he will have to eat it. I will look at it again tomorrow. If everything is as good as it is today, I don’t see why not. For now, let’s move him slowly into hard food. Again he just got a new kidney. We need to make sure not to put anything in his body that might cause the body to reject it. With us controlling the food that he eats, we can ensure that doesn’t happen.”

That was all the questions that Al and Dewayne had for Dr. Whitmore. After he had left, Jacob’s grandfather sat down and started to do work from the office while Jacob and Dewayne finished their breakfast. The minute Jacob pushed the table away from his bed, he asked his grandfather for some work to do.

“Jacob as far as work, you better forget it. I want to talk with you about a couple of things, but nothing that will stress you out. I will keep you in the loop, let you help me with decision making on some things, other than that, you will relax, watch some TV or play board games with Dewayne.”

“Okay grandpa, okay I will relax like you say. What are the things you want to speak with me about? Maybe we can talk it out since you’re here already. I know you can’t stay here all day or come day every day like this. You have the business to run, plus your other job for the Governor.”

“Well there are a couple of things I want to go over with you before I leave. First, I would like to talk with you about your mother. Right now I have a position in the company that suits her very well. It pays more than the job that she has right now and I will have her in the office to deal with her more closely.

No matter what you think, your mother is a great person. She has a few screws lose, but it is nothing I can’t fix. With the help from your father, I think we can fix her way of thinking on certain things. Somewhere down the line she was taught to hate gays and that didn’t come from me. I dropped the ball and I want to pick it up to fix that.”

“Grandpa, I love my mother no matter what she has done. I know that her behavior in the past is not her. Put aside the last couple of years, she has been and still is a great mom. So if you have a position in the company that will make her more money I say give it to her. I want her to get everything she has ever wanted in life.”

“That’s good to hear that, Jacob; very good! Now the other item I want to run by you is moving Martha into a higher position faster than we originally planned. I need her help and to tell you the truth she is the only one I can trust. You picked well when you brought her in. It is now time to put her in a position that is better for her.”

“You see grandpa that is why I keep telling you I want to work at the company in the evening. That way I can take some of the pressure off of you. This company is both mine and yours. It isn’t fair that I get paid for not working while you get the equal amount of pay, but do all the work.”

“Jacob, what I need her to do, neither you nor I know how to do. This is where her experience comes in. She has been around this type of business for years so she knows what to look for when she deals with the stores. Trust me when you get out, you will be going into the stores also to see how things are going.”

“Grandpa you’re there on the front line every day seeing what is going on. If you see something that needs to change or a hire that needs to happen, then do it. There is no need to come to me and ask me what I think. Just let me know what changes are being made, that’s all. I don’t want to walk into a meeting one day with my pants down.”

That satisfied Al. So instead of asking, he told Jacob what he planned to do in the weeks to come. After going over everything with Jacob, Al explained to him why he wanted Jacob in the decision making process. He agreed with Jacob when he said that he is on the front lines, but disagreed with him about the money. He went on telling Jacob that he is doing this to get Jacob used to making the hard decisions, because soon those decisions are going to be his responsibility to make.

Chase broke away from the group at lunch. No one thought anything of it when Chase excused himself from the group. Maybe they believed the excuse that he gave that he needed to get some extra credit done for one of his classes that he is having trouble in. What the guys don’t know, he is passing all his classes with straight A’s.

The real reason he needed to be alone is to think about what has been going on deep down inside of him. Ever since he and Linda broke up, he hasn’t been the same. No matter how hard he has tried, he can’t seem to get himself to go and ask another girl out. There have been several chances that he could have gotten a date, he just couldn’t bring himself to ask the girl out.

After leaving the guys, he walked down the main hall, to the main entrance of the school. No guys ever come down here, at least during lunch. Chase sat down near the double doors, looking out to the street. He got stuck in his mind trying to figure out what is going on with him, when something caught his attention through the corner of his eyes.

He looked up to see a large group of kids teasing someone. At first he couldn’t make out who they are picking on due to the group completely surrounding the kid. At first Chase decided to ignore it, but ignoring something isn’t in his nature.

Several minutes passed when he decided to go and see what is going on. He got up and walked over to the group to see what has gotten them all riled up. When he looked over the shoulder of one kid and he couldn’t believe his eyes. He turned to see if the school security is going to come and do something. He looked around and didn’t see a security officer anywhere in the area.

Chase looked back over the shoulder of the kid he is standing behind of. Still not able to believe his eyes, the kid that they are picking on looks like he could easily take on everyone around him. At the same time, he can see why they are picking on him. The kid is dressed like he lives on a farm.

He looks like he stands over six feet, with blond hair, blue eyes and a chiseled face. That is not what the others are giving the hard time for. They are making fun of him because he is wearing bib overalls! The overalls are the type you see the farmers from Minnesota and places like that wear! They aren’t something anyone would wear here in El Paso at home and even more so at school!

When one of the kids stepped up to the kid in the middle of the circle and hit him over the head, Chase had enough. He squeezed through the crowd and walked up to the kid that is being picked on. Taking a closer look at the guy, he looks scared out of his mind. This guy doesn’t belong here that is for sure.

“Why don’t you guys leave this kid alone? Even if he did something to one of you guys, this isn’t fair!” Chase pointed around the circle. “There is way too many of you ganging up on one kid. He looks like he is new here and doesn’t know what is going on.”

Chase pulled the kid through the crowd before anyone could say a word back to him. They walked into the main building and didn’t stop until they reached the men’s restroom. The entire way, the kid didn’t say a word to Chase, he just followed him. Once in the restroom, Chase walked over to the sink, while the new kid just stood by the door. Chase looked behind him to see the kid just standing there as scared as he was in the middle of the circle.

“By what I saw, you probably don’t trust anyone at this school, but I am going to ask you to trust me. My name is Chase Watkins, I am a junior. I know you’re new because I would have seen you around if you weren’t.” The kid just stood there, not moving.

Chase walked over to the kid to look him straight in the eye. “There is blood rolling down the side of your face from where the kid hit you on the head. Let me take a look to see if you need to go and see the nurse.”

The kid still not saying a word, he knelt down where Chase could take a closer look at his head. Since he wears his hair buzzed cut on the sides and the back, it makes it a lot easier to see without a lot of hair in the way. The only thing he could see is a couple of scratches, nothing that big enough to take to the nurse’s office.

“It doesn’t look like more than a scratch. Let me wash the dry blood away to make sure there is nothing to worry about.”

They walked over to the sink. As soon as they got there, the kid knelt down again to give Chase a clear view at the area of the head. After wetting a couple of paper towels, Chase started to wipe away the dry blood from his head. As he worked on that, he took a closer look at the kid. When he first saw him, Chase thought he might be on the chunky side, but now that he has a closer look and he doesn’t have that much fat on him. It had to be the overalls that he is wearing that makes him look fat.

The kid cleared his throat, bringing Chase back to reality. Chase looked into the mirror to see the kid looking back at him. See the piercing blue eyes looking back at him, Chase felt a weird feeling that he never felt being around a guy before. It’s the type feeling that he normally gets when ever he was around Linda or any other girl but never a guy.

He pulled his hands away from the kids head, letting him stand up. “I was right; there is nothing to worry about. It is only a few scratches; that’s all. More than likely you got it when that stupid fuck hit you on the head. For that I am sorry. I know it wasn’t me, but no one should be treated like that for any reason.”

The kid turned around and glanced down at Chase’s mid section. Chase caught the guy taking a quick glance at his midsection, making him feel even more uncomfortable. For some weird reason, he is dick is half hard. This is something that has never happened to him being around another guy! Again this has only happened to him whenever he is around a girl that he likes and wants to be with.

“Thank you for everything you have done for me. It is nice to meet someone here that is nice for once. So far everyone I have met has been a jerk in one way or another to me. Maybe it is my accent or the way I dress, but whatever it is they have treated me like crap. You haven’t and I am thankful for that.”

“Like I said, they should not have done what they did to you. Not everyone in this school is a jerk. Still there is a few that are. You just had the bad luck to run into all the jerks we have in the school. I hope that doesn’t make you think the worst of us here.”

“After meeting you, I see there are friendly people here. By the way my name is Ethan Critchfield. It is nice to meet you Chase and I hope we hang sometime. Maybe you can tell me what I can do to get these guys to leave me alone.”

“It is nice to meet you Ethan. You’re more than welcome to join me and my friends when ever you want. There is no need for you to not have any friends here. As far as what you’re doing wrong; nothing. Everyone has their own style and no one should tell another how to dress. Maybe as time goes on, I can show you the difference in style of clothing, but don’t change what you’re doing unless YOU want to.”

“That would be nice if I could bum around with you. That way the other kids at this school will see that I have a friend and will stop picking on me. And yes if you could show me the style that is worn here, I would like that. Like you said, over time I could change my clothes. For now I am stuck with what I have because, well you know.”

“No need to explain anything to me Ethan. I think I know where you’re coming from. I have been there and still there now to some degree. So there’s nothing you can say that I probably haven’t been though or going through right now. Why don’t we get out of this restroom and talk a little more before the bell rings?”

Ethan agreed and they walked out and over to the lockers. They took this time to get to know each other. Ethan told Chase that he and his family just moved here from Montana where his father owned a farm, but had to sell it. Now they live here in the house that his father’s parents owned.

Since they had no other choice but to sell their farm, they don’t have two cents to rub together at this point. They certainly don’t have the money to go out and buy new clothes because the ones that he has are not in style here! Chase could see that Ethan doesn’t like being the center of attention the way he has been. It looks like he wants to crawl under a rock.

As Ethan went on telling Chase about his family and how things have been rough since they lost the farm, Chase couldn’t stop looking at him like he looks at woman. He doesn’t understand what is going on with him. He knows he likes women because he has only had sex with women. He’s never looked at a guy in the way he is looking at Ethan right now. The more that he looks at Ethan, the harder his dick is getting!

You can tell this kid grew up on a farm. He did chores in the morning before school and as soon as he got home from school. He stands well over six feet tall. In fact he stands six feet four from head to toe. He is white; with blonde buzzed hair cut that looks like his mother did the cut. He has these beautiful blue eyes that once you look into them, you can’t look away. His chiseled face is like a god, ending with lips that you would want to press yours against his and never want to let them go.

The way that he dresses can be improved, but why, Chase asked himself. It makes him who he is. The overalls fit him just right where it counts. You can see a nice bubble butt and some of his package in the front. When Chase caught himself looking at Ethan’s package, he knew there’s something wrong. He looked back up to Ethan and hoped that he didn’t see Chase looking where he shouldn’t have been.

“Ethan, you seem to be a very cool guy and I want you to join my group of friends. I know that the guys will take to you like I have. There’s is no need for you to hang by yourself at a new school, in a new town.”

Just as the bell rang, Chase told Ethan where to meet him in the cafeteria in the morning. Before heading their different directions, they traded numbers. Chase couldn’t stop thinking about the way he was acting around Ethan. There is no doubt in his mind, there is something going on with him that he needs to get an understanding of.

Dewayne didn’t leave Jacob’s side the entire day. Even when lunch and dinner got served, Dewayne sat there watching Jacob eat. Jacob felt really bad eating in front of Dewayne, so he gave half of his plate to Dewayne. It took a lot of back and forth to get Dewayne to accept it, but he finally did.

Just like the guys promised they popped in to see Jacob a little after eight. They talked about what Jacob had missed in school that day. Two at a time left Jacob’s room and went up to visit a little with Alex and Matt. They only have forty five minutes before visiting hours are over, so they wanted to make sure they visit both of them.

Ten minutes before nine, Jacob and the guys tried to talk Dewayne into going home for the night. No matter what they said, Dewayne wouldn’t budge from his decision on staying with Jacob. He made it clear that he will go home when Jacob goes home; not a minute sooner. Finally the guys gave up and said their goodbyes with the same promise they made the night before, they will be back after work tomorrow.

Jacob and Dewayne stayed up talking for another couple of hours. Jacob noticed that Dewayne is nervous about starting his new business. He is afraid of letting Al down since he is the one fronting the money for the business. Jacob assured him that there is nothing to worry about. Al will be there every step of the way. That way they won’t fail in any which way shape or form.

When they got tired, Dewayne tried to get comfortable in the chair. “Hey handsome come over here and sleep with me. There is no way I am going to let you sleep like that. You will screw something up and I won’t forgive myself if anything of your awesome body gets messed up. I love every inch of your body too much to have to get tarnished.”

Dewayne got up from his seat red in the face. He crawled into bed, on the side that doesn’t have the IV. Jacob covered them up with the blanket before wrapping his arms around him. He kissed Dewayne up and down his neck, breathing in Dewayne’s scent; the scent he must smell now every night so where he can fall to sleep.

“I love you handsome and I always will!”

Dewayne tilted his head to his left in order to face Jacob. “I love you with all my heart Jacob. With you in my life, I don’t need anything else!”

They kissed each other until they heard the door open. Quickly they broke the kiss and pretended to sleep while the nurse came in to check Jacob’s vitals. Both of them thought that maybe if she thinks that they are asleep, she wouldn’t ask Dewayne to get out of the bed. They were right, she left without disturbing them.

The next morning, Jacob found himself alone in the bed. He looked around the room and as he turned to look at the seat where Dewayne has been sitting, he didn’t find him, but he did find someone he didn’t expect. Jacob moved into the sitting position, trying to comb his hair with his hand.

“Good morning Jacob, I am sorry for just walking in like this. When I found that you were rushed into the hospital on Wednesday, I needed to come and see how you were doing. I knew you were not feeling good in the last couple of weeks, but I never thought you were this bad off. Why didn’t you say anything to me? I would have tried to ease the work load on you!”

Never before Jacob has seen Major Moore in Levis, a polo shirt and sneakers! He thought that Major Moore came out of his mother in a uniform! Now that he sees that Major Moore is as regular as he is and Jacob sees him in a different light.

“Thank you for coming to see me, Sir. I know you’re a very busy man. You should have woken me the minute you came in. How long have you been sitting there anyways? And where is Dewayne at by the way?”

“The young man that was here when I arrived was heading out to get some breakfast before you woke up. He told me to make myself at home. You always wake up early no matter what. That is one of the reasons I didn’t wake you and the other is because you looked so calm and happy as you slept. I couldn’t bear to wake you from your dreams.”

“Thank you sir, I just feel bad that you had to wait. I should be back to school in a week or so. Don’t worry though; I made sure I was ahead on the newsletter and the other items I am in charge of. The only thing I didn’t take care of is uniform day this coming week. I am sorry for leaving you in such a bad position on Tuesday.”

Major Moore leaned forward as if he thought that someone is listening. “Don’t you worry about any of that Jacob. All you worry about is getting well. The program needs you in the long term, not the short term. As far as Tuesday is concerned, your XO will run things. That is why you have a chain of command. They take over when needed.”

There is something wrong, Jacob can feel it. One thing Jacob is good at doing is reading people’s faces. Major Moore’s face is telling him that there is something that he is not telling him; something that isn’t good news. Add to that Major Moore being in street clothes, which is a dead give away that something is at the very least, out of the ordinary.

“Is everything okay with you sir? I have never seen you in civilian clothes before today. Are you feeling well?” Jacob looked at Major Moore with a worried look.

“For what I have, I am doing great Jacob. There are two reasons I came down to see you this morning. The first is to make sure you were doing fine. That is the most important thing that has been on my mind since I heard you were in the hospital. The other reason I came down is to tell you know something before you hear it from someone else.

Yesterday I medically retired from teaching. I have been battling with cancer for several years now and I should have retired a while back. I just don’t want to give up, so I keep fighting this thing. Walking into the building everyday helped me fight this cancer, but lately I noticed that I haven’t been the instructor that I once was.”

“Major Moore, what are we going to do without you? I have learned so much from you, I don’t understand it when you say you’re not the instructor that you once were. In my eyes and so many others you’re the best instructor in the school. When I transferred in, you made me love the program that I was only in for the PE credits. You showed me how to be a leader, not a follow anyone. ”

“Jacob, you of all people I have wronged a lot. I wouldn’t have treated you the way I have the last couple of years if I was the instructor I was when I started. I am supposed to teach you to lead no matter what you decide to do with your life. Instead I have showed you how to beat up the people under you. That is not the way to do things. I know it and now I am telling you.

You said it right one time in my office when you said that there are two ways to lead; a right way and a wrong way. You need to earn the respect of those that you lead, not have them fear you. You have earned the respect of those in the battalion and that is why you can lead so effectively. I went from earning the respect of my cadets to making them fear me. I have lead wrong and you have opened my eyes to that.”

“Major Moore, I don’t want to see you leave. I have always thought that I would return on my ten year reunion and find you still teaching. You’re that good of an instructor. What am I going to do with you gone now? Who is going to yell at me when I get lazy? I do that a lot and you keep me on my toes.”

“To this day I have never seen you get lazy on anything, but thank you. Please Jacob; I am retired so call me Joe. As far as me being gone, I won’t be. I won’t be at school every day, but I will be here if you need me. You can call me or come down whenever you want to. In fact if you would, please stop by every now and then and let me know how things are going. The energy you bring to projects makes everyone involved feel alive.”

Major Moore handed Jacob a paper with his address and phone number. Jacob took it and as he looked at it he started to think about the past. Yeah he knows that Major Moore at times was a major jerk, but he also had as many good if not more times that he was great. Major Moore in Jacob’s mind is a great instructor, no matter what others think.

“I would be honored to come and visit with you. Since you’re retired, I am wondering something. You’re a great teacher and that talent should not go to waste. My grandfather and I are going to open a training program for our stores. Every new hire will come to our main office and get trained there before going on the floor in a store. You would be great in running that part of our company.

It certainly won’t be the pressure it was as running a ROTC program. Over the years I have gotten to know you really well. If you retire and just sit at home, you might give up. I don’t want to lose you anytime soon, Major Moore. Would you at least think about the offer and let me know. You don’t have to worry about me being your boss. You will be your own boss only reporting to my Grandfather.”

“There is always someone to report to when you work for a company. As far as you being my boss, that wouldn’t bother me at all. Let me talk it over with my wife. I will let you know in a couple of days. But I want you to understand I didn’t come down here hoping to leave with a job. I came down to make sure you’re okay and you heard it from me that I retired and why.”

“I know that sir and still the offer stands. One of the things I learned about you is that you love to work. To all of a sudden stop might actually do more harm than good. Since you love what you did, if you take me up on my offer, you will also be running the program that donates the money to the ROTC programs. At least you will still be involved with the thing you gave your entire adult life to.”

Major Moore and Jacob got to know each other more in the hour they spoke than they learned about each other in the last two years. After Major Moore left, Jacob had more respect for him than he did when he walked in. He knew that Major Moore is sick, he just didn’t know how bad off he is. The last thing Jacob promised Major Moore before he left is to get him an appointment with his doctor. His doctor worked miracles for him; maybe he could do the same thing for Major Moore.

A couple minutes after Major Moore left, Dewayne walked in. While Major Moore visited with Jacob, Dewayne went up and sat with Alex. He gave Franseca a little break while he sat with Alex. At the least he could do something instead of hanging out in the hallway waiting for Major Moore to leave. He also wanted to check on how Alex is doing.

Jacob told Dewayne what Major Moore had told him. “I know you have some bad run-ins with him, but I could see you respected the guy. That is why you did what you did for him. I am sorry to hear that he is sick and it has gotten to the point for him to retire. For your sake, and his, I hope he takes you up on the offer.”

“I don’t see him retiring no matter how much others are telling him to do so. He needs to work in order to make it from one day to the next. If he does take the position, can he train your employees as well? I am afraid that we will only have enough hires to have him around on a part time bases.”

“If he is looking for a full time gig, no problem he can train those new employees we hire for our stores as well. There is nothing I won’t do for you.” Dewayne leaned in and kissed Jacob. “As far as Tom, I don’t see him objecting to this either. The less we have to know right off the bat, the better for us.”

Jacob couldn’t help himself as he pulled Dewayne into him. All Jacob wants to do is crawl into Dewayne and stay there. He makes Jacob feel like a king! Something he has never felt in his last relationship.

Dewayne lay down on the bed, making sure that he is careful on not tangling himself in Jacob’s wires and IV. Also he didn’t want to get near the area where they opened him up. He has seen them take off the bandages, clean the area and put new bandages on; it isn’t a pretty sight to see.

The boys actually dozed off in each other’s arms. They didn’t wake up again until they heard someone clearing their throat. Jacob opened his eyes to see Dr. Whitmore looking down at him and Dewayne. All that Jacob could do is smile up at Dr. Whitmore. He can tell that he isn’t that happy with him.

As soon as Chase walked into the cafeteria for breakfast, he started to look for Ethan. He found Ethan standing where he asked him to be. As Chase walked up to him, he couldn’t stop checking him out. Just like the day before, Ethan is wearing overalls, but they are different pair because these pair has a small tear in the knee. Put aside the overalls, Chase see Ethan is built, maybe a little fat, built mostly built.

“Hey buddy, how are you doing this morning?” Chase reached Ethan extending his hand out for Ethan to shake. “I hope you haven’t been waiting too long for me. When there is a big group like us leaving the house, sometimes we run behind.”

“No I haven’t been waiting that long at all, maybe ten minutes or so.” Ethan shook Chase’s hand, but looked very nervous. “Are you sure your friends are not going to have a problem with me hanging with you? I don’t want you to go out on the limb for me.”

“They are cool bunch of guys! You will see once you meet them. When I got home last night, I told them all about you and they are excited to meet you. So as you can see, there is nothing for you to worry about with my friends. After this morning, they will be your friends as well, I promise!”

Ethan didn’t say anything; he just followed Chase to the line to get breakfast. Chase noticed as he picked up his tray, Ethan didn’t pick one up. For a moment Chase debated with himself about asking him what is going on. He doesn’t want to embarrass him right now since he knows somewhat Ethan’s story but he threw caution to the wind.

“Grab yourself a tray and whatever you’re hungry for. It is on me this morning because I am celebrating my first paycheck.” Ethan looked at Chase funny. “I just got paid from my job yesterday. I didn’t know that I have to work almost three weeks, before getting my first paycheck, something about keeping a week back. Anyways I got paid yesterday and that makes me happy that I have my own money. So breakfast is on me for now!”

Chase almost dropped his plate of pancakes when Ethan smiled at him. When he saw Ethan’s smile, it threw shock waves through his body that he hasn’t felt for awhile. Instantly Chase turned away from Ethan to get his body to settle down. As he walked through the line, getting what he wanted to eat, Chase cursed at himself to stop feeling this way about a guy. There’s nothing wrong with it; it’s just not him.

Once they got to the cashier, Chase showed her his school discount card and paid for both meals. He an Ethan walked over to the table and sat down. The guys looked at Chase for him to introduce the new kid. Chase didn’t even look up at first, and when he did, he realized why the table was so quiet.

“Sorry guys; my head is somewhere else right now. I would like you to meet a nice guy his name is Ethan.” Chase pointed to Ethan and than pointed to the others as he said their names. “Ethan I want you to meet a great group of guys and a girl you will ever have the honor to call friends. This is Tom, David, Tony……”

As soon as the introductions were made, they all started to ask Ethan question after question. Never before Ethan has been the center of attention, at least in the positive way. He took it all in, loving every moment of it, taking his time to answer every question that the guys and Heather asked him. Even when they headed outside, they kept talking with Ethan about the farm and the differences between Montana and Texas.

When the bell rang for first period, they walked back into the building in a group. As they walked past the group of students they were teasing him the day before, Ethan didn’t pay them any attention. But they weren’t going to let it slide, so they started calling him names. Everyone stopped, turned and walked up to those yelling out names at Ethan.

“What is your problem, you stupid fucks?” Carlos walked up to the student that did most of the yelling. “From now on you will leave this guy alone. If you mess with him in any way, call him names or even look wrong in his direction, you will have to answer to us. Trust me when I say that you don’t want to answer to us.” As Carlos turned to walk away, he pushed the student that looked like he is the ringleader of the group.

When Carlos pushed the student, he fell back into his friends, but he didn’t come back at Carlos. Carlos didn’t look back once as he rejoined his friends. For the first time he used his muscle for good and that made him feel good. He has never been the one standing up for the one being picked on because he was normally the one doing the bullying.

Ethan looked at Chase with a surprised look on his face. Chase knew by the surprised look that he never had anyone stand up for him, as if he needed that kind of help Chase thought. He stands six feet four, all muscle by the looks of it. He doesn’t need any help to defend himself. Chase thinks he just has never had to fight someone before.

Dr. Whitmore gave permission for Jacob to eat food from the outside, just asked him to drink at between eight to ten cups of water throughout the day. That way it flushes everything out of his kidney that is not supposed to be there. Of course Jacob didn’t object since he wanted to eat normal food.

So at lunch, Dewayne went out and got him and Jacob lunch at the Burger King across the street from the hospital. Instead of getting Jacob a soda to drink, he got him bottled water instead. When he handed Jacob his lunch and water, Jacob wasn’t too happy about not getting a soda to drink, but he didn’t say a word about it.

As soon as they finished eating lunch, Officer Jackson walked in. Jacob looked up and recognized him for the Detention Center. The only question he has is why he is here in the hospital visiting him. If anyone that he should be visiting should be Alex since he is the one that Officer Jackson knows.

“Hello Officer Jackson, what a surprise to see you here. To what do I owe this visit from you this afternoon?” Jacob slid up in his bed as Officer Jackson walked up to him.

“Good afternoon to you young man, it is good to see you’re good spirits. Since I am retired, there is no need to call me Officer. In fact since you’re my employer now, you can call me by my first name if you want, which is Tustin or Mr. I am fine with both.

The reason I came down is by your grandfather’s request. He is worried that people might want to do you harm or kidnap you if they know what you’re worth. There are crazy people out there that see you as a quick ransom payday. So your grandfather and I have discussed that over the last couple of days and decided to put a guard detail together.”

“Oh no you guys don’t! No way will I have a group of people following me everywhere I go! I see what Josh, a kid at our school, is going through. His father is the Governor and the poor kid has a security detail that doesn’t let him breathe. At times he looks like he is suffocating with all the people around him. I am not about to become another Josh!”

“I certainly understand where you’re coming from Jacob, but the detail you will have will be different than your friend’s at school. The school is already secure because of the governor’s kid attending it. There is no need to have a huge group around you there. Maybe a few will stand in the halls to make sure you’re safe when you leave the school grounds for lunch or outside in the open. But yours won’t be near as big as your friends at school have. They have already done all the hard work.

The only time you will have a complete detail around you is when you go out and about by yourself to places like the mall and stores, away from the house. While you’re at the house, you won’t see them. They will be around, but not in your private life. They will be there to secure the house and make sure no one can get in.”

“I understand why my grandfather is doing this. If I have the freedoms that I have now, and I mean EVERY single thing, I am fine with it. I won’t change my life in any way, shape or form. So if you or the guard detail plan to limit me on going places, seeing my friends, getting into my personal life or anything else I am doing now, you better forget it. I rather take my chances with the crazy people like you said.”

Tustin, Jacob and Dewayne sat for little half an hour putting together Jacob’s detail. When Tustin left, Jacob felt good with the outcome. One thing is for sure is that his life won’t change in anyway with the addition of having a guard detail around him. The only thing that he has to deal with is the kids at school when they see another student walking around with a security detail.

Dewayne was glad that Jacob accepted the guard detail. At least now he doesn’t have to worry as much anymore when Jacob is away from him during the day. Ever since the other day when the crazy woman had her boyfriend beat up Jacob, he hasn’t been able to sleep! Now with Jacob having a guard detail around him, Dewayne knows he can relax just little more than he has been.

TO BE CONTINUED…………..

WRITER’S CORNER:

{Welcome back one and all and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it. It had a lot going on in it; he had you and me on our toes. Although Jacob was in the hospital, it didn’t slow down the excitement in the story. In fact I think it had more excitement in it than you probably thought it would have.

Let’s start at the beginning of the chapter. It picked up where I left off in chapter 57, Jacob coming out of surgery. Now if you guys wanted an answer on what is going on with Alex, sorry you will need to read “Beneath the Mask” to get your answers. I dropped a few nuggets, but nothing to give away what has happened to Alex.

We all know what is going on at the hospital dealing with Jacob and Alex, so I won’t go into a lot of detail on that. What I would like to start out with is Andy Sr. laying down the law with Gloria. He took her to the side and told her what’s up. He doesn’t want to get married with her thinking that she can continue doing what she has been doing with Jacob and Jeremy. Basically he told her that she has to change her tune or she will lose more than anyone else.

Now anyone that has been paying close attention to this story, you can’t be surprised when Colonel May asked his friend to retire. It was hard for Colonel May to ask his friend to retire; after all they have known each other for years. They were in the same company and same wars together.

Major Moore couldn’t balance his personal life with his professional life anymore. He is sick and needs to focus on getting better. It took a lot for Colonel May to finally ask his friend to retire. But when the dust settles on that, Major Moore will see that his friend is actually looking out for him. At least he got his full retirement. If he was forced out, he would have lost a chunk of his retirement that no one deserves to lose.

Then Colonel May goes and has Sergeant Haney removed from the school as well. That I believe was the right decision to make. Sergeant Haney couldn’t tell Major Moore no. Because of that, he doesn’t have his own personality. Basically he is a yes sir, no sir type of person. Not a leader but a follower when it comes down to it.

I threw in a surprise in this chapter. I know none of you guys aw this coming with Chase. If you did, well I say to you, you saw something that I had not planned to do. Now there are hints where I am going to take Chase, but I can still change it. We know for sure Chase loves girls and has had sex with girls. There is no way he is going to leave that part of his life behind. Still he is feeling things for this new guy that he has never felt before about another guy. Let’s see what Chase does in the chapters to come.

What is going on with Officer Jackson appearing on the scene? I know you guys are saying ‘not another main character with security detail’. The difference in this story to “Shadow of My Father” is going to be the security detail won’t be written a lot in the story. We will know they are there, but nothing like what is happening with Josh’s.

Final thought; Major Moore is not going anywhere. He will be in the story, but in a different position. He and Jacob are going to become very close and good friends. I am going to give away a part of the chapters to come by telling you Major Moore will take Jacob up on his offer. So he will be around and you learn and see a different part of Major Moore, the human part that I got to know when I was in high school.

As always I can go on and on about the open plots in the story! If I do that, I can actually write several more chapters. There are so many plots that can take a turn at anytime. You might think it is going to go one way, but is lands up going another. Don’t miss out on anything, or you will be kicking yourself for it.

I keep saying over and over again don’t forget about Chase. He will be spending time between two of my stories. I am giving that away, but look for him in “Beneath the Mask”. He is going to come back full and what is happening in his life will stun you.

There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Stick around and keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacobmillertex@aol.com, Thanks!}

EDITOR’S CORNER:

As our author said, this was a busy chapter with lots going on. I’m glad to see that Jacob is coming out of the transplant in good shape. Perhaps this will be the final bout he will have with the health issues. We can hope. Of course we have to keep an eye out in “Beneath…” to see how Alex fares in the long haul. Karma says that he should come out alright in that he did something good for someone else with no hint of a selfish motive.

Andy Sr. laid it all out to Gloria in a way that left her no wiggle room whatsoever. I hope that his talk got her to snap to reality and how much she has to lose by holding on to her hatred and bigotry. Of course the issue of her dealing with Jeremy is vitally important too with her and Andy Sr. moving into the “compound”.

I so respect Colonel May for keeping his objectivity when it comes to Major Moore. He is guilty of being a bit slow on the draw, but he ultimately did the right thing for both his long time friend and the ROTC program. I remember having a few teachers that were past retirement age. They had “lost it” and were no longer truly effective educators. As an educator myself and at age 59, I will keep tabs on myself to ensure I don’t extend working past the time when I truly benefit my students. Now Jacob offering Major Moore a training position with the company was a twist I didn’t see coming. When a business has multiple locations and as many staff with significant turnover, a training center is a good idea that will reap benefits. My only question is what experience in fast food and convenience store operations can Major Moore bring to the table?

I absolutely HOWLED when Dewayne played the joke on Jacob whispering another guy’s name in his ear! Jacob’s reaction was priceless! I really enjoyed seeing some playful humor between the guys. They need more of that kind of thing in their lives.

Chase meeting Ethan and his internal reactions are curious, to say the least. Ethan is a quiet guy, so it seems, but he’s appearing to be keenly observant. Did he actually catch and understand Chase’s reactions to him? What is Ethan’s sexuality? Chase, once again, shows he’s an ethically centered person and acts on his convictions. Carlos stepping up in Ethan’s defense was true to his form too.

Jake’s security detail; I wonder what twist our author has in mind. I sense that there’s more to this than meets the eye at the moment.

Until next time,

“Daddy” Rick