Shadow of my Father - 33. Chapter 33

Martha got pulled out of her cell right after she had eaten. After being checked by the guards, they pushed her down to the attorney room. She sat there alone waiting for her attorney who was supposed to meet with her earlier in the day.

She looked at the four white walls turning grey from lack of up keep. Some parts of the wall, the paint is actually peeling off. Other parts have been written on by those who waited in this room before her. By the looks of the total lack of up keep, the City doesn’t care how the place looks on the inside as long as it does the job it is built to do, which is keep the criminals inside until they go to court.

Trying to keep warm, Martha wrapped her arms around her body. She thinks her cell is cold, this room is even worse. That is another thing that she doesn’t understand. Why do they keep the place so damn cold all the time?

Just then she heard the door open, she looked around to see her attorney walk in with several others. They sat down on the bench across from her. Martha turned to face them in her orange jump suit.

“Mrs. Hernandez, you looking better than the last time I saw you.” Martha just shrugged her shoulders. “I am sorry for coming in so late, but I got tied up in court today. I also wanted to speak with the Assistant District Attorney assigned to your case. I had hoped the District Attorney’s Office would just plead this out so it will get out of the eye of the public, but they are not willing to do so.”

“I never asked you to see if I could get a plea. I want to go to court and I know I will be set free, or at least sent to the nut house for a couple of years. They don’t have a case against me and they know it and you know it.”

“Martha I have done it your way from day one. I wanted this case because it is making noise. At the same time my law firm is giving me a lot of heat for doing so. We have lost a lot of clients already and many more are threatening to jump ship. These are paying clients and you I took on free of charge.”

Martha is now getting steamed with what she is hearing from her attorney. By the looks of it, he wants to drop her case and move on. She didn’t go to him, he came to her. In return he has to stay with the case.

“So what are you telling me, you want to drop me as a client? You have to remember that I didn’t come to you. If my memory serves me right, you came knocking at my door begging for me to let you represent me. You had to know then there was going to be some kind of fallout”

“Martha I knew there was going to be fallout when I asked to be your attorney. I am not here to tell you I don’t want to represent you. No matter what happens, I will come out of this better than I went into it. Those clients that are jumping ship right now will come back. When they do, I get to charge them more because they didn’t stick with me when it looked as if I was going down.

Your ex-husband isn’t letting this go. I am here tonight to let you know if we win at the local level, they have so many other charges they can come back at you and prosecute you with. They can even hand over the future trials to the State or even the Federal Government because there were soldiers and secret service agents you fired at. If the Federal Government comes in and prosecutes you, they will get a guilty verdict. Simply put, they don’t have to do as much as the State and the City of El Paso to prove their case.”

“So are you telling me, I will never get out of this place?” Martha now looking at her attorney with a worried look on her face!

“Let’s just say we win on the insanity plea, you won’t go to the nut house like you said earlier. They are getting rid of the insane hospitals and making the people serve their time in real prison. There is no getting around that and I tried to tell you that.

Another problem we have is you are in the state of Texas. Although in this State the majority of people don’t like gays, at the same time they don’t like people that try to get away with what you did by pleading insanity. In this State we lock up more crazy people than any other state just as we execute more people in this State than any other state.

You need to face the harsh reality that you are looking at Martha. No matter how this goes, you will see an inside of a prison unless you are found not guilty. You know as well as I do that isn’t going to happen unless the DA does something really wrong. I doubt the DA will do anything wrong because of who you tried to kill.”

Martha sat there listening to her attorney in disbelief. He is giving her a reality check, a check she wished she had before pleading what she plead. Now no matter what she does, according to her attorney, she will go to prison, not a hospital.

“Okay, do what you can to get me off. If it gets to a point that it looks like there is no way I am going to get off, then approach the DA for a plea. In fact approach the DA for a plea now to see what they are willing to offer, but don’t take it.”

“That is no problem Martha. Let me test the waters with the DA. In the mean time you take care of yourself. I will try to get you back in front of the judge and get you bail so there’s some possibility you can get out of here while awaiting trial.”

Martha agreed with her attorney as she shook his hand. He got up and left her handcuffed to the table. Martha sat there hoping that he can get her bail, that way she can shop around for a good law firm that knows how to get around the law. That is the only way she is going to get off, and she knows it. She knows that she needs to find an attorney that is willing to bend the law until it is about to break to get her off.

Josh couldn’t believe it when he walked into the cafeteria no one looked at him or Cesar. They went on with their every day business. Don’t get Josh wrong, he loved it that they didn’t care on what his father said yesterday on the television. He just didn’t get much sleep because he tossed and turned all night long worrying over what didn’t happen.

He joined the others at the table and they just talked. None of them mentioned either about the news conference. Josh noticed Rusty a little more vocal today than he was yesterday. It looks like Rusty is starting to let down his guard with Josh and his friends. That is what Josh needs to read him better.

As they headed up to the library, Josh pulled Cesar and Rusty to the side. Cesar and Rusty had an idea why Josh is pulling them away from the group. They just followed Josh to the other side of the hall to see what Josh needed with them.

“Rusty I have a question, and please don’t get me wrong when I ask this question. Also you can tell me it is none of my business and I will shut up.” Josh looked at Rusty as he just looked at him with no emotion on his face.

“The first day we met you, you said something like you are like me and Cesar. I know I don’t have the words down to what you said, but pretty close. Again you can say it is none of my business, but I am wondering if you are gay like Cesar and me.”

Rusty looked down at his feet and around him, but he didn’t look at Josh again. He mumbled something underneath his breath, but Josh or Cesar couldn’t hear him. Josh asked him to say it again and that is when he finally looked Josh in the face.

“I had hoped you guys didn’t catch the slip I made the other day. I didn’t mean to tell you guys that and I hope you guys don’t think differently about me now. I am gay like you guys, but I am not in a relationship and have never been in one.”

“How can we dislike you for being like us? I thought that I was the only one like this when I gave in to the urges of loving a guy. I was scared all the time and tried to be normal like everyone else. I even dated girls, hence Elizabeth. That is how I got her as an enemy and she still feels that I am truly not gay and I will go back to her.

Anyways, the reason I ask you this is because I want to see if you like our friend Chris. He is a good guy and use to go out with him. Things happened that will take forever to explain. Some of it was my fault, some was Elizabeth’s and some was because we were way too scared being who we are. The end result, we ended up breaking up.”

At first Rusty just starred not saying a word. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke. “I do like Chris; I think he is very hot. I thought he might be gay, but I wasn’t for sure. I know you two are together, but never knew that you and Chris were together Josh.”

“Maybe one day Chris and I can tell you what happened when we are together? That way you get both sides of the story at once. I also know that you two would be great together. You both are at the same spot right now, trying to figure your way out of the closet and getting comfortable in your own skin at the same time.

I was forced out because of who my father is. He took it well, but my mom didn’t. At first my bothers didn’t take it well either, but they came around and gave me a chance. Now we are closer than we have ever been. Chris wasn’t ready when I had to come out. That is why I think you two will be good together, because you both don’t want anyone to really know.”

They talked a little longer before heading over to the library. Josh told Rusty he will talk with Chris and see if he would go out with him. Rusty of course smiled all the way over to the library. He didn’t know how to ask Chris if he is gay. Rusty felt if he was wrong, Chris could take it wrong and beat the living daylights out of him.

When they rejoined the others in the library, they kept asking where they had disappeared to. But Josh, Cesar or Rusty wouldn’t answer them. All they said is they got sidetracked as they made their way to the library. Of course none of them bought it, but they let it go.

Josh kept looking over at Chris trying to see any signs that he might be ready to move on and start dating. Right before the bell rang, Josh got what he has been looking for. When they got up from the table and started walking out of the library. He saw Chris looking at Rusty’s front side first and then looked away. Then he spotted Chris looking at Rusty’s butt. If Chris looked any harder, he would have burnt a hole through Rusty’s pants!

He told Eric and Bernice what he had done. They agreed with Josh that Chris and Rusty would make a good couple. The only problem that lays in front of Josh is getting Chris to move on. They believe Chris is still stuck on Josh and won’t move on from Josh for just anyone. It has to be someone that takes Chris’ breath away.

As Josh sat down, he feels sure Chris is ready to move on. Josh is confident having seen the looks he saw Chris giving Rusty all morning long. He caught Chris looking at Rusty’s front side but his backside as well. He was checking Rusty out, which means he is ready and wanting to move on.

Eric looked over at Josh and saw the happy look o his face. He knows that Josh knows something that Josh isn’t saying. Whatever Josh knows looks like it will work in his favor when he tries to put Chris and Rusty together.

During lunch, Josh and Cesar made sure that Chris sat between Josh and Rusty. That way they can talk among themselves if they want to without anyone else hearing what they are talking about. At one point when Josh looked over at Chris and Rusty, he saw their fingers touching under the table.

Josh smiled seeing that maybe he doesn’t have to work on this at all. By the looks of it, they are doing it on their own. It could be that Josh only needs to nudge Chris over to Rusty if he gets cold feet.

Although it hasn’t really warmed up yet, they guys headed out to the stadium to hang after eating. They sat in their normal spot talking among themselves. At one point Josh, Cesar, Chris and Rusty broke into their own little conversation.

They started to rate guys they see once again. They know they are looking at straight guys, but it doesn’t hurt to rate them as they rate the women. Like they say, what they don’t know won’t hurt them. Now the shoe is on the other foot, the guys thought, as they sat there rating the guys on a scale of one to ten.

When the bell rang, Josh and the others dragged themselves into the building. It is getting close to the end of the week and they want it to end already. Once the afternoon comes around, Josh only looks forward to one class, and that is Glee.

This day though Josh hated every minute of it! Mr. Edger would not let up. He kept going on and on about this must be a must win competition tomorrow and about how they need to show the other districts that we are not a joke. When we come to compete, we mean business! When the bell rang, everyone jumped out of their seats and ran out of the classroom. Mr. Edger caught Josh as he tried to get out as well.

“What is going on with the class Josh? It seems as if they don’t understand what is at stake for us tomorrow evening. You and you classmates know that we earned the right to go and sing the day your father got sworn in but the other schools are making us a laughing stock. They are saying the only reason we got the chance to sing for the Governor is because we have the Governor’s son in our Glee Club!”

“Mr. Edger, you know I have gotten used to people talking bad about me. My father told me to never lower myself to their level. They just want a fight, and if I give them the fight they want, I am the one that will look bad, not them. I will look bad because I allowed them to lower myself to their level.

Like you said, we know we earned the right to sing for my father. Nothing has been handed to us because I am in this club. You have to understand, Mr. Edger we are willing to work our butts off but not to keep getting things smeared in our faces. We are ready for tomorrow. Now YOU have to trust us as you always have. We will bring the win home.”

Josh walked out of the classroom not giving Mr. Edger as chance to respond to what he said. He hated his last two classes, ROTC more than the rest of them. When the final bell rang, Josh ran out of his sixth period class to his locker. He wants to get out of the school and back home as soon as possible.

He waited for Cesar and Chris at his locker and once they arrived, they booked it. Josh kept looking at Chris in hopes that he will just spill the beans without him asking but by the looks of it, Chris is going to make Josh ask him what he is feeling about Rusty.

“I give up, Chris what’s up with you and Rusty? I know he likes you and I am confused about you. I really don’t know if you like him or not. I know you were looking at him this morning and that only told me you might be interested.”

“I really don’t know what to say about Rusty right now. I like how he looks and how he is. If I start to date someone, it would be Rusty. Let me tell you why I say that. We talked and from what I picked up from our conversation, he is what I need right now. We are both the same as far as not wanting people to know about us for starters.”

Josh and Cesar agreed with Chris. That is the same thing they are thinking about Rusty. Now it is up to them if they do go further. Of course Josh already decided that he is going to gently nudge Chris in the right direction; to get him back out there in the dating world! If not with Rusty, with some else at least!

As they walked up to Josh’s house, they saw Coach’s car parked on the street. They looked at each other knowing that Chris isn’t going to be staying another night with them. They kept walking to the house and before going in, they looked into Coach’s car, but didn’t find him or his wife inside.

The minute they walked into the house, they got greeted by Coach and Ana. They all walked into the den with their book bags still strapped to their backs. Josh looked around to see his grandmother sitting in the chair with a cup of coffee in her hand.

“Chris you foster parents just got into town and came straight over to see you. I have invited them to stay for dinner and they have accepted. Why don’t you boys go up and do your homework before dinner. We will call you down when dinner is ready.” Josh’s grandmother said in her soft reaffirming voice to the guys.

Josh walked back out of the den followed by Cesar and Chris. Just like the night before, they did their homework in silence afraid if they say something, it might get the other angry. Maybe there was some hurt because Chris is leaving and none of the boys wanted their little group to be broken up.

Same thing happened during dinner, Josh, Cesar or Chris didn’t say a word to each other. They ate dinner in silence. Before they knew it, they finished dinner and saying their good byes to each other. Through the last week and a half they have grown closer as if they became close like brothers in that short period of time.

As soon as Chris left, Josh headed up stairs. Cesar decided to stay downstairs and watch television with Daniel and Carlos. Brandon followed Josh upstairs and waited by Josh’s bedroom door for a few minutes before knocking. Once he knocked, Brandon walked in to find Josh just sitting on his bed starring at nothing; just starring.

“Josh I know this isn’t a good right time, but I need your opinion. You are the only one I can trust and talk to, besides dad. Now that dad isn’t here, I can only come to you.” Brandon walked in shutting the door behind him.

“What’s up Brandon lay it on me. I have missed our talks and us hanging around with each other. I thought you might have out grown me and moved on.” Josh lightly punched his little brother on the shoulder as Brandon sat down next to him.

“You Josh; I haven’t seen you alone in a very long time. I have wanted to talk with you, but you have had Cesar or Chris around.”

“Sorry about that Brandon, I promise to be a better brother in the future. You were there when I needed you the most. I can at least be there whenever you need someone to talk with. Now on if you need something, just stop me and we will talk.”

Brandon looked at his big brother and smiled. “Thank you Josh, you don’t know how much that means to me. The question I have for you is when I should have sex. What I mean by that is should we do what our friends are doing or go at our own speed? We are getting pressured by our friends to do the deed. They keep teasing us is the reason we haven’t done the deed is because I am like you.”

Josh looked up his little brother as he talked. He sees confusing and sadness in his face. He can’t believe his friends are trying to put his little brother in the same pot as he is because he hasn’t had sex yet with his girlfriend.

“Let me say this to you as clearly as I can. You don’t let others decide what you should or shouldn’t do. We are leaders in this family, not followers. You know who you are, and you are not gay. Fuck them if they think that of you.

Don’t do anything until YOU are ready to do it. If you and your girlfriend are not ready to have sex, don’t do it until you guys are ready. Build up your relationship to the point it last through all the tests that you guys will face.”

“This might not be any of my business, and if so, please tell me.” Brandon looked at Josh for his answer. Josh just nodded his head up and down. “Have you had sex yourself yet? I know this is weird of me asking you this. Just you were with Chris, and now you guys are friends. You are now with Cesar, and you guys are sharing the same room.”

“I really don’t know how to explain this to you Brandon. This feels like I have been through this already, but with someone else. You have been honest with me, so I owe you the same. I will always be honest with you when you ask me questions.

With that said, yes I have had sex already and it with Chris when we were together. I have also had with Cesar. I know you don’t want to hear the details of it because it would probably gross you out……”

“Nothing you do Josh would gross me out. I know what you guys do when you have sex. So there isn’t anything you can say that will gross me out.”

“Okay than, thank you for letting me know.” Josh slugging Brandon again in the shoulder! “Let me answer the second question you asked me. Don’t have sex yet Brandon. You are way too young. I know it sounds stupid coming from me, but don’t have sex yet. The reason I say this is because most first relationships never work in the long haul.

More than likely you won’t be dating this girl once you get to high school. You guys are learning from each other. Both of you are coming out of the phase of life where you both hated the opposite sex. You guys are now discovering that you love the opposite sex. Make your first time count with a person you truly love. I truly loved Chris and I don’t regret that he was my first. Make sure you feel that way before you have sex.”

Brandon sat there in Josh’s room until Cesar came up to go to bed. Josh told his little brother how he felt about Chris and when they finally had sex. How it felt and why he should save himself for the one he truly loves. Of course Brandon kept asking if it is at all possible that if he and Chris are going to get back together right before Cesar walked in. Josh answered that question without a pause with a firm ‘no way!’

They said their good nights to each other as Brandon left his brother with Cesar. Josh and Cesar both took showers before hitting the hay. They both wanted the other in their showers, but knew better. Before they went to sleep in their separate beds, they kissed one another for a very long time.

After the Governor had dinner, he went right into his evening meetings. His day doesn’t end at five like a normal nine to five day. He is up before anyone else is, and goes to bed way after everyone else does. He feels there is no time to sleep until he fixes the problems that his state is facing.

His first meeting of evening is with the Democrat leaders of both houses. They reconfirmed their stance on the budget. They will have their party behind them as they vote for the budget the Governor put forward. But they made it clear if he doesn’t get his own party on board, it will fail. His party is the majority right now in both houses.

As the Democrat leaders pledged, the Governor made a promise he will deliver enough of his own party to get the bill through. Just as he sat down at his desk, Rich walked in to let him know that the Republican leaders and the Lieutenant Governor are waiting to see him. Daniel asked Rich to show them into the office.

A few minutes later, the leadership of the Republican Party, along with the Lieutenant Governor walked into the office as if they have Daniel by the short hairs. They sat down with smug looks on their faces. In return, Daniel didn’t even look up from his desk for a couple minutes. He knows that bothers the leadership.

“You called for this meeting with us sir, so just get on with it. We have a lot of other business to do instead of sitting here in your office watching you work.”

“I thought you gentlemen learned something on Monday when you tried to hold up my first piece of legislation.” Daniel looked and straight into their faces! “You all are in love with power and keeping power. It doesn’t look good if a Governor from one party gets support from the other party to get his legislation through. If you keep this up, you won’t be in the majority for to much longer.

It is time to stop playing these games and get down to work. I want my first piece of legislation on my desk to sign as is by the end of next week. That means it needs to get through both house in eight days. In order for that to work, you all need to stop holding it up and just pass the damn thing.”

“With all due respect sir, we need more time with the bill. We need to offer up our amendments to the bill before passing it. You don’t think you are going to get your bill passed and on your desk as originally written, do you?” The Lieutenant Governor looked at Daniel with that damn smug look on his face that Daniel hates.

“What is it that you’re proposing to change with your amendments to this bill?”

“There is no way we will pass the bill with a tax cut and you know that. We might agree to pass the bill with the taxes frozen for now, but not with a cut. Also cutting the programs that you want to cut; no way! Those programs are needed in our districts. This is just for starters. There is a lot more we need to change in your bill.”

“Those programs that I want to cut aren’t employing one person in your districts; not one. The money is being spent on groups or organizations that helped you get elected. You are having the taxpayers of this State pay your donors back.”

The Governor pulled out files from his desk and handed one to each of them. “My staff uncovered all this before we came to Austin. Here is proof that you are taking taxpayers’ money and sending it to you donors under the umbrella of shell companies. All I have to do is release this information to the public, and they will eat you alive with it. I would much rather keep this in house and clean it up, but if you want the public to clean up the mess, I will be more than happy to give them the opportunity to do so.”

No one said a word; they just looked over the files. The smug looks they had on their faces when they first walked in are gone. Now they have a look of fear and they are all stunned at the same time. The Governor doesn’t take pride in this, but he had no other choice.

“One thing I have learned through my election, getting ready to come up here for my first week is that all of you sitting here are dirty as hell! The minute you got here, you started to do everything you can to get rich. That includes robbing the citizens of this State. I won’t play this game, yet you guys keep trying to get me seated at your table.

I won’t lower myself to your level. If I do that I can’t face myself in the mirror in the morning. Those files are the only copies I have and you can keep them. If my staff can find this information, others will be able to easily find it as well.

If you hold up my bill, I will take it to the people to vote on each bill you vote down. I will call for special elections and have them vote on this bill and any other bill you kill. Trust me when I tell you if this bill goes to the voters, they will look into the bill. They will see the programs I am cutting and they will investigate those programs. When that happens, they will come up with what I did and, more than likely, more. I won’t release the information because I am not like you. They can and WILL find it on their own.

So go ahead and leave, but think twice before you kill this bill. Pass the bill without any amendments. Stop fighting me or you will be on the losing end. That is all I have to say. Y’all have a great evening!”

The Republican leadership and Lieutenant Governor got up, not even looking at the Governor as they walked out. Rich just stood there in disbelief with what just happened. He didn’t know that the Governor had all that on them. He wondered who helped him get that information and then it dawned on him; Al! As he walked out of the Governor’s office, he bid the Governor goodnight before heading back to his office.

Rich looked at his clock before picking up the phone to call Al. Al is an hour behind him, so in Rich’s mind there is a good chance on catching him awake. After few rings, the phone got picked up. It is young male’s voice on the other end. Rich asked to speak with Al, and the younger boy placed him on hold as he went to get Al.

Not even a minute later, Al picked up the receiver. “Hello, this is Al, how can I help you?”

“Al this is Rich, how are you doing this evening?” Both of them greeted each other and told each other how they are doing before getting to the reason for the call. “Al, the reason I called you is to see if you were the one that got the dirt on the Republican leadership in the State Houses.”

“Governor Lopez called me up and asked me to help on getting the Republicans to pass his bill. I explained to him they are set on trying to make him look like a fool. The only way they are going to accomplish that is by holding back all of his bills.

Now, as I explained to the Governor, the only way they will listen is if they see he means business. To a politician today, the only language they understand is the fear of losing their seat and even more so if it is due to a scandal that makes them leave office in shame.”

“Well Al, we don’t want to run our office that way. Governor Lopez promised the voters that he is going to clean up this government as he hands it back to them. How is he going to clean it up if he himself gets as dirty along the way?”

“Rich, he had no plans on using the information that I had got him. He needed something to show to them that he isn’t afraid of them. They now know that the Governor knows where their skeletons are. They don’t want the voters to know what he knows, so in return they will pass his bills.”

“We don’t threaten in that manner to get things done Al. Don’t you understand what we are trying to do here? We need to get this place cleaned up and at the same time pass the right bills for the Governor to sign. If you can’t get on board with this, then I will ask the Governor to let you go. Please don’t put me in that position.”

“Do what you think you need to do Rich. I know what the Governor is willing to do and I won’t do anything that he doesn’t want me to do. He called me for help and I told him what I had planned, he agreed with it and I went to work.

Governor Lopez is a politician I would elect if I had the chance to. He won’t get into the mud with them, but at the same time he is willing to show them he isn’t afraid to hit back when they come out hitting. Rich trust him to make the right decisions. After all, he ran for the office and got it. He will never let the voters down by getting into the mud with the old way of doing business. Didn’t he give them the files to take with them?”

“Yes he did, but that doesn’t mean there is more copies out there Al. If they go out and tell the press the Governor blackmailed them, we won’t get anything done for the next four years. We just handed them a silver bullet to use against this administration.”

“I know Governor Lopez didn’t blackmail them. He gave them the files and showed them that if he can get this information, then others can as well. In return they should pass the bill, correct their mistakes and move on. By them voting for the bill, and if this information gets out, they can say they corrected mistakes by voting for the bill that just passed. The Governor is giving them a way out without getting his hands dirty.”

Rich and Al spoke for a few more minutes before hanging up. Rich still didn’t like the game that just got played. If that game is to be played, it should be him or Al, not the Governor but at the same time, he knows Al is right.

As Rich sat in his office replaying the conversation in the Governor’s office, the Governor never threatened that he will use the information. He just said that if he can find it, others can as well. The Governor does know how to put the fear of God into people! Daniel definitely garnered some much needed respect this evening.

Jonathan hates when he has to bring in extra security in order to secure an area where they normally don’t go. He pulled in extra security in order so the original security detail can stay with Josh and his brothers. The extra security is brought in to secure the school where Josh will be going to perform later in the evening. After what happened with the substitute teacher, Jonathan knows he can’t drop the ball on this.

As he gave out assignments to the security detail, Josh and the others had no idea this is going on. Daniel left standing orders for Jonathan to try his best to let his kids live a normal life so Jonathan had the teams come in late at night while the boys slept. By the time they wake up in the morning, the house and grounds would look the same.

Josh woke up before the alarm went off. He turned over on his side and saw that Cesar is still sound asleep. With the light coming through the cracks of the blinds, Josh can see Cesar’s face. He looks like he is having a very good dream. Cesar has a smile across his face as his head rested on his pillow.

Josh got up and walked across the room. He knelt down in front of Cesar. Without hesitation Josh bent down until his lips touched Cesar’s. At first Cesar didn’t return the kiss, but he slowly woke up. Once Cesar got his bearings, he returned Josh’s kiss.

“You know I was just dreaming about you. Now I woke up with your nice soft lips on mine. Who says that dreams don’t come true?” Cesar laughed as he started to kiss Josh again. This time allowing Josh’s tongue into his mouth!

They broke the kiss when they heard voices near their door. Josh got up from the floor and walked back over to his bed. Just as he pulled the covers over himself, the door opened. Jonathan popped his head in to wake up Josh and Cesar.

“Hey guys it is time to get up. It looks like your alarm didn’t go off this morning. So get your lazy butts out of bed! Only one more day left before the weekend” Jonathan waited at the door until he saw movement from Josh and Cesar.

Josh looked over at Jonathan and told him that he is awake. As Josh crawled out of bed, Cesar tossed the covers off of himself. Jonathan closed the door once he saw both of the boys awake. Josh looked at Cesar and smiled as he stood up.

Both of them stood up with their dicks at full mast trying to get free from the underwear. Josh walked into the bathroom first and by the time he got out, his dick went soft. While Josh was in the bathroom, Cesar got dressed. By the time he went into the bathroom, he had already lost his hard on. They know that they need to have sex soon, or they won’t be able to get their hard-on’s to go away if they spring up again.

As soon as they got to school, they headed to the cafeteria. They found everyone at the table except Chris and Rusty which, at first would worry someone. But once common sense sets in the worry goes away,. Josh just figured that they are somewhere in the building getting some alone time with each other.

Patrick and Frank excused themselves right when Josh and Cesar sat down. Josh looked at Cesar and as they looked at each other. They both have the same look on their faces, looks of being confused about what is going on. First Chris and Rusty are off somewhere on their own and now Patrick and Frank excuse themselves once Josh and Cesar sat down.

Once Patrick and Frank got out of the cafeteria, they started walking as fast as they could without looking like love sick fools. Patrick walked faster than Frank, but finally Frank caught up to Patrick.

“Where are you taking me now? I think we have had sex in every place possible in this school. I can’t think of any other place for us to have sex.” Frank trying to keep up with Patrick, talking out of breath!

“Why do you think that every time we separate from the group I want to have sex? Why don’t you think nice thoughts like I just want to be alone with you to talk?” Patrick looked over to see Frank’s reaction. All he is getting from Frank is a surprised look.

“Man, you take things way too seriously!” Patrick started to laugh as he pulled Frank up to him. “On the baseball field are metal bleachers. A person can get underneath those bleachers and have some alone time with each other. That is the only place that we haven’t had sex yet and I would like to.”

“Are you crazy Patrick? Damn, it is freezing out here and we are wearing clothes and heavy jackets. Once we get naked, we are going to freeze. They will have to take us into the building butt naked and thaw us out!”

“I am not saying we are going to get naked under there. The parts of us that won’t have clothes on will be warmed up with each others body heat. We won’t freeze to the point we can’t move. It isn’t that cold yet.”

As they reached the baseball field, they found no one around. Frank started to tease Patrick that everyone else is smart enough to be inside. Of course Patrick ignored him as he pulled Frank under the bleachers. They walked with their heads down so they don’t hit their heads on the bleachers.

Just as Frank opened his mouth to say something, Patrick placed his lips over Franks. All you could hear is mumbles than just their lips smacking against each other. Frank stepped back a couple steps until his back hit a pole. He wrapped his arms around the pole as he and Patrick kept their lips locked in a kiss.

Breaking the kiss, Patrick fell to his knees. As he put his hands on Frank’s zipper, he looked up into Franks eyes. Their eyes locked and nothing needed to be said after that. What they didn’t say, said more than what they could have said in words by the way they are looking at each other.

Patrick slowly unzipped Franks zipper, at the same time noticed Franks dick getting harder. By the time Patrick got Frank’s zipper completely down. Frank’s dick got hard as a rock. It made it a little hard for Patrick to pull Frank’s dick out of his pants, but he got it out already leaking pre-cum.

Frank looked down at Patrick as he leaned in. At first Frank thought that Patrick is going to deep throat him, but instead. Patrick started to lick the head of Frank’s dick. Driving Frank crazy as he does that, causing Frank to moan! At one point Frank realized that he is getting louder so he put his fingers in his mouth the muffle his moans.

Not even realizing it, Frank started to slide down to the ground. Patrick tried to hold Frank up, but couldn’t. They both landed on the ground, Frank’s dick wavign in the wind. They looked at each other and started to laugh.

Not saying a word, Patrick moved Frank so they can get into the sixty-nine position. Frank slid Patrick’s zipper down and reached in. Being afraid to hurt Patrick, he didn’t pull Patrick’s dick out. Patrick is so hard his dick won’t bend.

Frank started to fumble with Patrick’s belt. Once Frank got Patrick’s belt undone, he unbuttoned Patrick’s jeans. He pulled down Patrick’s underwear and once Patrick’s underwear passed his dick, his dick jumped out to freedom.

At this point Patrick already deep throated Frank’s dick several times. Frank rubbed his finger across Patrick’s dick head. Causing Patrick to shiver as he did it! Frank lowered his head until he got Patrick’s entire dick in his mouth.

Both of them went down and came back up on each other at the same time as if they practiced doing this. They didn’t even hear when a group of kids started to walk up the bleachers to sit and talk. When they realized they are not alone is when Frank felt dirt falling on his head.

He let Patrick’s dick slip out of his mouth as he looked up. As frank looked up, he can see several shadows walking up the bleachers. Quickly he reached down and pulled his dick out of Patrick’s mouth and stood up.

Patrick lay on the ground confused on why Frank is taking his tasty dick away. He watched as Frank stood up, put his hard dick back in his pants and zipped up. He got up with his hard dick swinging in the air.

“What the hell is going on with you Frank? You have….” Frank put his finger over Patrick’s lips to shut him up.

He pointed up with his other hand. Patrick looked up and smiled. He walked up the Frank and wrapped his arms around him. He leaned in and started to kiss up and down Frank’s neck as his hard dick went between Frank’s legs.

“This is why we have sex at school, for the excitement of being caught. If you don’t want to get caught, then we should have sex only in our rooms when our parents aren’t at home. Come on; let’s make love under the bleachers with an audience above us.” Patrick whispered in Frank’s ear.

Not even giving Frank a chance to answer, Patrick lowered his hands to Frank’s waist. He started to undo Frank’s belt, then his zipper. Once Patrick got Frank’s zipper down, Frank’s pants feel down without any help from neither of them. Patrick pulled down Frank’s underwear to his knees.

Together they walked over to the pole. Frank bent down, wrapping his arms around the poll. Giving Patrick a clear shot to his hole, Frank prepared himself for Patrick to enter him. Just like the every time they have had sex, Patrick went slow and gentle.

First Patrick made sure they are both lubed up and ready to go before he even starts. Once he made sure Frank is open enough to take his dick, Patrick leaned in and gently pressed his dick against Frank’s hole. Once Patrick broke through, he slowly buried his dick inside Frank’s butt.

As Patrick started to get into a rhythm, he reached around and grabbed Frank’s cock. He started to jerk Frank off as he kissed up and down Frank’s back. It didn’t take lot for them to reach climax and once they did they just let each other go with the passion.

Patrick started shooting his load into Frank’s ass, as Frank shot his load all over the pole in front of him and the ground. They both shot eight strong shots before they shot a couple small ones.

Patrick clasped on Frank’s back to catch his breath. His dick still inside Frank, they both leaned against the pole catching their breath. Patrick finally moved his head up until he could start nibbling on Frank’s ear.

“You always make me feel like a man Frank. You are the greatest love maker of all time and don’t ever think otherwise. I love you and thank you for giving me this. I know that you don’t really like it, but you give it to me because I like it. I love you for that.”

“You never have to say that to me. I know this makes you happy. Whenever I ask you to do something that you are not comfortable doing, you do it. I need to be the same or not ask myself. You are a great love maker as well and I love you so much.”

They stood there with their butts in the air whispering to each other. That way the students sitting on the bleachers above them would not hear them. They kissed each other one last long kiss before breaking it in order to get dressed. Trying to be as quiet as possible, they cleaned each other off and got dressed.

Once they looked each other over, they started to walk to the other side of the bleachers. Patrick stuck his head out to make sure no one could see them coming out from beneath the bleachers. Once he saw that the coast is clear, he walked out pulling Frank with him.

Just as they thought they were in the clear, they heard someone calling out for them. The sound of the voice they know it isn’t a student but a grown up. They both stopped and didn’t even bother to turn around to see who is calling them. Once the person walked in front of them, they started to breathe again.

“I understand you guys are young and want to experiment with each other, but, and yes there is a ‘but’; if you guys were to get caught and taken to the principal’s office, I would have no choice but to drop you from Josh’s list.” Jonathan walked up closer to Patrick and Frank so that they are the only one’s able to hear what he is saying.

“Josh can’t have anyone around him that gets in trouble. It doesn’t matter if the person only gets in trouble here at school. Josh and his family are under a microscope and people out there wanting them to screw over.”

“With all due respect Jonathan, we are the ones doing wrong, not Josh. How should our love making effect Josh?” Patrick whispered loud enough for Jonathan to hear.

“If someone got a picture of you two having sex under the bleachers like you were doing, it will come down on Josh. Let me tell you why that will happen. First they would not care to step on you two. These people just want stories to write about and you are giving them a whopper of a story.

Second, they will sell what you guys were doing to the public that if you guys are doing things like this that means Josh must be. By the time you get around to telling your side, you guys are so smeared your word is worth nothing. No one will believe what is coming out of your mouths. All they will see when they are looking at you are two guys having sex wherever they can without a care in the world about others!

Finally, but most importantly, you guys are already fighting an uphill battle just being gay. The far right of this country is waiting for Josh or anyone around him to screw up like you guys are doing. They will beat Josh and his father over the head until they run them out of the country. They don’t like the fact that the voters of this state have elected a Governor with a gay son. They know he will change how the law looks at gays.

What you guys do reflect on Josh and because of that it reflects on the Governor as well. If you can’t do this stuff in private, then you guys need to end your friendship with Josh. That way when you get caught, and yes you heard me right because you WILL get caught, it won’t come back to bite Josh and his family in the butt.”

Patrick tried to get his thoughts together, but Jonathan walked off before he could. He looked over to Frank and saw that he is embarrassed. They walked back to the building not saying a word to each other. Patrick knows that he needs to give Frank time to calm and down so he can talk with him without getting into an argument.

Josh ran into Chris and Rusty in the halls as he and Cesar walked to their lockers. Neither of them wanted to say anything that might embarrass Chris or Rusty so when they walked up to them, they just all started talking, ignoring the big grey elephant in the hall.

For some reason, Josh felt that the morning just flew by. In a blink of an eye he found himself walking back to the cafeteria for lunch with Cesar. As he sat at the table talking and eating, Josh tried to pull Patrick and Frank into the conversation. It didn’t take long for everyone to see that Patrick and Frank are not happy with each other. They decided to let it go and not pull them into the conversation unless they start talking.

Just like at breakfast, Patrick and Frank excused themselves from the table. Patrick had asked Frank to leave with him so they could talk. They put their food trays where they belong and walked out of the cafeteria. Not saying a word to each other, they walked out to the stadium. They walked to the very end where no one sits.

“What the hell is going on with you Frank? Ever since Jonathan talked with us this morning, you have been a dick to me. I know it doesn’t feel good getting caught, but we shouldn’t get like this with each other.” Patrick said talking a higher voice than normal!

“You walk off as if everything is fine a dandy. You don’t want to take on any responsibility for doing wrong. We were wrong doing what we did this morning. I know it and I know you know it even if you don’t want to admit it.”

“Damn it Frank, we had the most incredible sex with each other this morning. Then you go and spoil it by acting like this. Yes we did wrong and we knew we were doing wrong when we were doing it. We don’t need anyone to point it out to us.”

“I know that Josh was your friend first, but I don’t want to stop hanging out with them. I like being in that group of friends. If Jonathan pulls us off the list, we won’t be allowed near Josh or the others. That is what I don’t understand about you not seeing. You have to feel something about what Jonathan said to us this morning. I know the person I love has a heart and soul in his body.”

Patrick sat down on the stadium with his head between his legs. He has been feeling bad all morning ever since they got caught. He just didn’t want Frank or anyone for that matter to see it is bothering him so much. He doesn’t want to lose his friendship with Josh and the guys, more so over something this stupid.

“You’re right Frank, you’re right on everything. I went way too far this morning having sex under the bleachers. I know Josh and the others wouldn’t care about that, but at the same time Jonathan is right that if we would have been caught and a picture taken of us that would harm Josh more than it would harm us. Yeah they would look at us for awhile, but it would be Josh’s family trying to dig their way out of it.

From now on when we have sex we will have it in the closed doors of my house or your room where no one can see what we are doing. I just loved how it felt when we knew Elizabeth was watching us having sex. I wanted to keep feeling that same high.”

“We don’t need an audience to feel that high. We just need each other and that’s all. We will find ways to replace that high with something else that’s safe and at the same time that won’t hurt us or anyone else.

I really didn’t like the way Jonathan looked at us this morning. I don’t want to ever be looked at like that again. There isn’t anything that will break us apart that I promise. We just need to use common sense from now on.”

“I agree with you on everything Frank. Let’s do this for now……”

“Look what we have here girls, two of my ex-boyfriend’s gay friends. Why are you two apart from the herd of gays? Are you two having a lovers spat and you don’t want your friends to know that you are fighting? Trust me, your other queer friends know when you’re fighting. All of you gays are worse than women.”

Patrick and Frank stood up the moment they heard Elizabeth’s voice. She walked up to the guys with her little group of followers. Patrick or Frank didn’t want any problems, so they started to walk away when Elizabeth slapped Frank on the back of his head. They both turned around wanting to toss Elizabeth down the stadium.

“Don’t think that because you are a girl that I won’t hit you. The next time you lay a hand on Frank or me again, you will get hit as well. If you test me on this I will make what happened to you the other day look like a walk in the park you bitch!”

Elizabeth’s friends stepped back from Elizabeth after hearing Patrick. They can see in his face that he means what he says. They don’t want to get caught in the cross fire between him and Elizabeth. They love their pretty little faces.

“I dare you to hit me you stupid little fudge packer. Before your hand hits me, you will be taken down. So why don’t you just walk off with your small little dick tucked between your legs with your boyfriend there.”

“You should know that my dick isn’t small nor is Frank’s. You couldn’t unglue your peeping Tom eyes from my window when Frank and I were having sex. I could swear that you were getting off watching two guys going at it!

Ya know, now that I think about it and put all you have done together, maybe you are a closet case lesbian. You seem to know all the words we are called and you loved watching us have sex. Yeah, you are a closet case lesbian. I can’t wait to go and tell Josh and everyone else that wants to hear the news. The bitch Elizabeth hates gays so much because she is one herself!”

Patrick and Frank walked off hearing Elizabeth swear up and down that she isn’t gay. She is yelling so loud almost everyone in the stadium can hear her. Patrick felt good because it is going to take her awhile to un-plant the seed he just planted in her friend’s heads. He saw their shallow little minds working as he talked. They started to put two and two together.

Although there is no way Elizabeth is gay, she will have a few bad days ahead of her trying to convince her friends of that. She doesn’t seem to want to learn to stay away. Every time she opens her mouth, she ends up putting her foot in it.

They joined Josh and the others. Just as they walked up, Josh looked at them. “What did you say to Elizabeth to make her scream like she did? She doesn’t look happy at all with whatever you said to her.”

“We didn’t say anything except what might be the truth. Now she will see how it feels dealing with others ragging on her.” Patrick responded to Josh as he sat down.

Josh dropped it and returned to the conversation they were having before Patrick and Frank walked up. It didn’t take long for those two to join the others in their conversation. All of them realized whatever was going on between Patrick and Frank got fixed. They are back to their normal selves.

When Josh walked into Glee Club, he thought that Mr. Edger is going to make them practice until they couldn’t speak. Instead, Mr. Edger gave them the period off. They can’t leave the room, but they don’t have to practice.

He explained to the class that he feels they are ready for tonight. There is really nothing else they can do to get any better for tonight. He wants them to rest their voices and walk in tonight rested and ready to kick some butt.

Mr. Edger pulled Josh to the side after talking to the class. “Josh, thank you for what you told me yesterday. After you left I took a hard look at what I was doing and realized I was pushing you guys way too hard. This Glee Club is the best I have ever had the privilege to teach. It took you to make me realize that!”

“I actually felt bad telling you what I told you yesterday. I am just a student and you are the teacher. You are the one with the experience, not us. From now on I will be the student and leave the teaching to you.”

“No problem, but sometimes it takes a student to call a teacher on what the teacher is doing wrong. Don’t get me wrong I am not telling you to stand up every time you think you should to a teacher. Here I was working you guys way too hard and you told me I was without over stepping. You did it without stripping me of respect or going overboard. I don’t mind when I am told to look at myself the way you did it. We have the rest of this year and three more years together. We will get to know each other really well.”

Josh and Mr. Edger sat talking about the trip to Austin. They didn’t mention anything again about Glee Club or the competition tonight. Mr. Edger found it interesting as Josh told him about all the old stuff in the Governor’s mansion. He knows the mansion is old, but he never thought they would have stuff out that should be in a museum or something.

Since it is Friday and Josh has a competition later in the evening, Josh and Cesar put off their home work until Sunday. They ate their snack as always, but they watched television instead of doing their homework. Josh’s grandmother didn’t like the idea, but let it slide just this once.

By the time Josh headed upstairs to get ready to go, his friends had called to tell him that they are unable to go for one reason or another. Josh couldn’t believe it when Chris called and gave him a lame excuse on why who couldn’t go. He just let it go and hung up the phone with Chris. That means no one from his family or circle of friends will be there to watch him perform with the Glee Club.

After Josh got ready, he went downstairs to wait on Jonathan. It didn’t take long for Jonathan to join Josh. They walked out to the SUV not saying a word to each other. Jonathan could tell that there is something on Josh’s mind because he is normally not this quiet. Normally he has to be asked to settle down before a competition.

“Josh I know you aren’t happy that your father and I made the decision to not let Cesar come. There is going to be cameras there and with what is out there about Cesar’s father your father felt it best to keep Cesar out of the spotlight. The only way to do that is to keep him at home. I really do hope you know that is the only reason that Cesar isn’t coming tonight.”

Josh just nodded his head in quiet response. He knows that the press wants to hear from Cesar about his father. He doesn’t want to put his boyfriend in a position that Cesar isn’t used to such as the press corps throwing question after question at him about what he is going to do and on and on.

They pulled behind Ysleta High School when they arrived, trying to dodge the press. As Josh got out of the truck, several members of the press either started to take pictures of Josh or ask him questions. Josh just looked at them and smiled, waving or giving them thumbs up. But he didn’t answer any of the questions they asked. Mainly he couldn’t hear or understand what they are asking. Some many are talking at the same time.

He joined the rest of the Glee Club that had arrived about thirty minutes earlier. Mr. Edger looked at Josh pointing to his watch. Josh nodded his head trying to convey to Mr. Edger that he knows that he isn’t on time.

For the first hour they sat back stage listening to the other Glee Clubs as they performed. The larger the Glee Club is, the better they sound, Josh kept thinking. They are one of the smaller Glee Clubs in the competition, but not the smallest. What they are missing in size, they make up for in talent.

When they got directed to the stage, Josh got up and stumbled as he started to walk. Unable to catch his balance, he fell face first into the floor. Jonathan and other members of the Glee Club ran over to help Josh up. He couldn’t believe that he just fell like that in front of so many people!

As he got up, he looked around to see the other Glee Clubs that saw him fall laughing at him. Josh just shrugged it off and walked on the stage not even noticing that he had actually got cut at the hairline. When Josh noticed is when he felt the blood leaking down the side of his face. He just wiped it off as the curtains opened.

The El Paso High Glee Club performed their numbers knocking one after another off as if they have been together for years! When it came time for Josh to do his solo, the lights dimmed until they were almost off. Once the lights turned back on, Josh stood in the middle of the stage with the other members of the Glee Club behind him. He started to sing, just as he has done time and time again.

When Josh finished his solo, the audience stood up and applauded. Immediately Josh rejoined the others and they took a bow as the curtains shut. They quickly got off the stage so the other Glee Club could start performing.

They had to wait for another four Glee Clubs to perform before they knew their fate. At times Josh thought that they had gotten beaten by other Glee Clubs. To him they just sound a lot better, but again they sound like that because they are almost double the size. More voices does make a Glee Club stand out.

The judges handed in their final score card on the last Glee Club that just finished performing. The host settled the crowd down before he started to bring out the winning clubs from third place on up. Third place got called, no surprise there, but when second place got called, the audience and the Glee Clubs were stunned.

The host called out EL Paso High and it just got quiet. Mr. Edger walked out on the stage followed by his Glee Club and took the trophy. The first place team is the hosting school and they came out chanting they are the best as they accepted their trophy. Josh and his fellow Glee Club members just looked on as they smeared in their win over them. At one point they yelled out they should have been the club to perform for the Governor.

After all the thanks were given, the Glee Clubs exited off the stage. El Paso High made their way to their bus with their heads hanging down. Mr. Edger noticed that and asked for everyone to join him in the middle of the parking lot.

“Don’t you guys EVER hold your head down like that again! This school has never placed in the top three before. In fact this school never got out of the high teens until tonight. We took second, which means we get to perform at state as well!

When we go to state, we are going to take Ysleta down and when we win. We won’t stand up on that stage and do what they did. There is such of a thing called a sore winner just like a sore looser. They are going to get a back lash on what they did on that stage tonight. Come Monday we and the other clubs will get an apology from them.

Now, go home; relax and know that you guys did great. Come Monday we will start getting ready for state. Once we win there, this school or any other school in state can never say again that we didn’t deserve being picked to perform for the Governor!”

Everyone started to make their way onto the bus with their heads up high, talking with each other as if they had taken first place. Josh walked over to Jonathan who stood back at the SUV. He jumped in and they drove out of a different exit than anyone else.

On the drive home, Josh couldn’t stop but think that Ysleta High won because they performed at their school. Every year the Glee Clubs perform at the last years winning team for their city. If the second place team would win state, then the place where the performance is held would be changed to that school. But for the last eight years, Ysleta has won city, but never won state.

If only El Paso High could win state and bring back that to the city that hasn’t had that honor before. But Josh got brought back to reality when he started to think that he might not be able to go. That would be a nightmare for his security detail. He needs to talk with his dad over the weekend to see if he will be able to go, because if he can’t, he needs to tell Mr. Edger to find someone else to perform in his place.

TO BE CONTINUED……………….

WRITER’S CORNER:

{Welcome back everyone to another filled chapter of “Shadow of My Father”. This chapter took me a little longer to write than ones in the past. I wanted to work in every character that has been developed in this story. I think in one way or another I actually got every character in play in this chapter.

We started off in this chapter with Martha talking with her attorney. She finally got a dose of reality herself when her attorneys told her what the future looks like. She couldn’t believe what her attorneys were telling her. She really thinks what she did was right in her mind.

I really hope that she doesn’t get bail, because if she does well, let’s just say put yourself in her shoes. If you were facing what she is facing, what would you do? If you are one of the very few that would stick it out, hats off to you. Well I think Martha is the type of person that would not stick around if things are not going her way.

We finally got to see Patrick and Frank. It has been a long time since we have seen them in this story. When they appeared, they were doing the same thing they were doing when we left them. The only difference now is that they got caught. We all knew that they were going to get caught, but the only questions that were out there are by whom, where and when?

Jonathan made it clear to them they need to stop this fooling around. He has nothing against them having sex, just in places where they can get caught. He said it best when he told them it not only reflects badly on them, but on Josh and his family as well. They won’t get the worst of it. Josh and his father will because the far right is waiting for a screw up like this where they can smear it in the face of the Governor.

Through all this, Patrick and Frank fought with each other. Then Elizabeth appeared at that point. I am glad that Patrick told her what he told her. She deserved that and now it will take time to get her friends to believe her that she isn’t gay. Just like her, her friends are narrow and single minded and won’t see the truth if it even slaps them on the face.

Josh was right about Rusty, at least by the looks of it. Once Chris and Rusty started talking, it looks like they want to be more than friends. I hope they don’t move too fast if they go that direction. If they do, they might destroy something that could be good if they take their time. Rusty is just right for Chris and Chris is just right for Rusty. They both know that and I think that will keep them at a slow pace.

Governor Lopez is having a hard time with his party. They don’t seem to want to let go of their stranglehold over the government. On one point I agree with Rich and to another point I don’t. The Governor had to show them he’s not afraid to fight back. At the same time the Governor did what was right and gave them the files of the information that Al found out about them. I really do think Governor Lopez is a politician we all want to have. He won’t compromise himself no matter how hard his party tries to get him there.

A lot happened in this chapter with Josh. First he’s lost Chris to a point. Chris went back home with Coach and Ana. He knew that was going to happen, just not as fast as it did.

It does seem strange that these two are not dating anymore, yet he and Chris have become great friends in such a short period of time. I can see why Josh didn’t want to see Chris go so soon why he felt sad when he didn’t go to watch him perform in the competition.

He feels like the others in Glee Club feel. They failed by not taking home first place. I think Mr. Edger is at fault for that because he kept stressing how they need to take first place in this meet. Now he is trying to back track and sell to them second is just as good. It is and the kids know that. Now they have another chance to prove what Josh is thinking. The only reason they hadn’t won first place is because of where the competition was held.

So many open plots and so many more plots to come in this story. I love the political scenes a lot and I hope I am not offending anyone with them. Keep in mind it is only a story and I am trying my best not to preach my beliefs. Please stay tuned and I promise that you guys won’t regret opening every new chapter.

I could stay here all day long, with all the open plots already in this story, but I won’t. I warn you though! Don’t skip a chapter, or you will be lost. There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. 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:

Daniel proved to the Republican leaders that he is not to be trifled with! He may be new to politics, but he knows people and how they operate. Daniel knew, going into the meeting that the die was cast and it was up to him to break the traditions. He also had to protect the integrity of the office. If, as Governor, he’s going to clean up the state political landscape, he needs to start by setting an example with his own office being squeaky clean. He doesn’t dare to even have dirt under his fingernails, let alone have dirty hands.

It appears Rich had a wakeup call with the meeting and his phone call with Al. Rich was nearly snared in the old system traps until Al set him straight and got him thinking along the same line as the Governor and getting him to see that Daniel was doing the right thing, the right way and at the right time.

It was only a matter of time before Frank and Patrick got caught with their pants down. (pun intended) It was probably a good thing it was Jonathan that caught them and focused them on the realities they were messing with. I hope the two can find other ways to drive their passions rather than with risky behavior.

Hey, does Patrick have a big set of brass ones or what with the way he stood up to Elizabeth? Bernice got physical with Elizabeth, but Patrick’s tactic was probably more effective. When he put Elizabeth’s sexuality in question, he did more to undermine her than any physical response could have. Had he lashed out physically, he would have been brought down to her level or even lower. Rather, he was a credit to the gay world using a sharp tongue to do the damage. Yes, I think Elizabeth is going to have some ‘splainin’ to do!

Martha is getting the idea she’s not in a good place and her future isn’t looking pretty. I hope that justice prevails and that she is kept incarcerated. There’s no therapy or magic medicine to get her to change her bigoted thinking. As a friend of mine says, “…you just can’t fix stupid”.

I’m daring to hope that Chris and Rusty will find common ‘interests’. Yes, Chris and Josh have overcome their past and become friends, but Chris is still hanging onto Josh. I can tell you from past experience that someone hanging on that way can be draining. Josh has his plate full and needs to be free of the “care and feeding” of Chris.

Brandon has THE dilemma going of whether to bend to peer pressure and “do it” or to be true to himself and his girlfriend. Josh’s advise to do what’s right for the two of them was solid. Josh is also right that this girl will, most likely, not be ‘the one’ for Brandon. He needs to wait until he finds a girl he is totally in love with to give his virginity to.

Like Jacob, I could go on and on, but I’ll let you all up….

Until next time,

“Daddy” Rick