Reggie: Matt's New Friend - 2. Skinny Dipping - Family Style, and a Barbeque

Once we wake up and take care of early morning bathroom needs, Reggie convinces me that since we're all skinny dipping later, it'd be OK to go downstairs for breakfast nude.

"Good morning boys. Did you sleep well?"

"Um, yeah."

I try not to stare, but it's har...difficult. Mrs. Lincoln is standing there, stark naked talking to me.

"It's OK to look Matt. I know the first time it seems strange. I don't mind."

"Um, thanks. I'll try not to stare. Sorry, but you're the first nude woman I've ever seen."

"It's fine. Scrambled eggs okay?"

"Yes."

I try to act normal. Then Mr. Lincoln walks into the kitchen.

"Holy sh... Oh, God. I'm sorry."

"It's OK Matt. I've heard that reaction before. I heard you tell Cal she's the first woman you've seen naked. I'm guessing I'm the first man?"

"No, I've been naked with my dad in the pool changing room. It's just you're so..."

"Big. Yes, I know. Don't worry about your reaction. I knew you'd be a little uncomfortable the first time we were all naked together."

A little uncomfortable? Getting a root canal without anesthesia would be less uncomfortable than this. But I'm sticking it out. Well, not literally. Actually, my dick is back in its tiny mode right now. Sticking it out would be pretty close to impossible. It's kind of embarrassing so I finally sit down at the table so at least I'm not as visible. Things finally settle down and we finish breakfast without any more shocks. I'm slowly getting used to the idea of seeing them all naked. Candy looks nice naked, but I do like the way Reggie looks more, so the jury's verdict is guilty of being gay. So be it.

It's time for me to head back home to pick up the papers. Reggie wants to go along, so we both get dressed and ride to my house. I realize he's never been here. That surprises me even though I've only known him a short time. It seems like we've been friends for ages.

"Hi mom. I'm home to pick up the papers."

"Hi Matt. I assume this is Reggie?"

"Good guess. Reggie, my mom."

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Harrison."

"Same here Reggie. It was nice of you to come back with Matt."

"Yes, I figured I could help with the papers any way he might need."

We get them wrapped up and in the bag.

"OK mom, I'll see you after dinner."

"OK. Try to make it before dark."

"I will."

Oak Road isn't necessarily the friendliest place after dark. I have no intention of being late.

We finish with the papers and head back into Reggie's house. It's quiet.

"They must all be out back."

There are 4 of them now. There's an older teen too. I figure he must be Candy's boyfriend. They see us walk outside and come over. I can see why she likes him. He's built like a linebacker. Muscular, thick in all the right places. Yes. All of them. He's nowhere near as big as Mr. Lincoln, but I bet he's close to as wide. Candy makes the introduction.

"Ken, this is Reggie's... friend, Matt Harrison."

He holds out his hand to shake. I've never shaken a naked guy's hand before, so I hesitate.

"New to nudism? No worries. I won't bite."

"Sorry, yeah."

I shake his hand and he moves in close.

"You can look, but touching's reserved for Candy. Got it?"

I can barely whisper an answer.

"Yeah."

(Ken, Louder) "Can you swim?"

"Yeah."

Before I know it, he picks me up and throws me in the pool.

"Geez, give a guy some warning."

Reggie complains, but gets maybe a quarter of a second warning himself.

"Your turn Reggie."

Reggie comes flying into the pool. Reggie and I are trying to dunk each other, then we decide to gang up on Ken. Unfortunately, that didn't work. He ends up grabbing each of us by an arm, but he lets go of Reggie. He lifts me so he can grab an arm and a leg, spins me around a couple times and lets me go. I'm laughing as I hit the water. I think he likes throwing me more because I'm a little smaller than Reggie. He gets more lift. We fool around in the pool for another hour or so. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln head into the house.

"We'll take our showers first. After we're done, we'll come back out and get you so you can shower and then we can go to dinner."

Then the four of us kids just hang out together for a bit. Candy gets curious, although I'm pretty sure she knows the answer and is trying like she's not telling Ken directly.

"So did you two sleep together nude last night?"

I look like I've been in the sun for half a day, not just a couple hours. I'm embarrassed. I realized she knew since she woke us up, but I was able to pretend she didn't.

"You're embarrassing the kid Can. Why'd you do that?"

"It's fun."

Reggie's parents come out a couple minutes later and say it's our turn in the shower. We dry off, only so we don't drip all over the house, and head upstairs to the bathroom. Reggie and I under one shower, Candy and Ken under the other. Unexpected, but considering the family being naturalists, not completely unexpected.

Afterwards, Reggie and I head to his room, they head in the other direction, apparently, to Candy's room. We all come out a few minutes later dressed nicely, without a trace that we were in the shower together visible. Except maybe on my face. Therefore Mr. Lincoln directs his question at me.

"There they are. We thought you four were going to use up all the water in the reservoir. I'm guessing you all had a nice shower?"

"Um. Yeah, I guess."

He laughs.

Oh, geez. He knows. But apparently, it doesn't bother him. Cool.

"I'd guess too. It's good to see the four of you get along so quickly. But, dinner awaits."

Dinner is great. My experience with steak is limited to hamburger. I think I might have had one in a diner once. Mr. Lincoln suggested I try as much as possible. They all ordered appetizers, so I did as well. I had the 'Wild West Shrimp.' Reggie ordered the 'Spicy Chicken Bites' and we shared. Even though it was extra, Mr. Lincoln said try it anyway, I had asparagus with my 'Renegade Sirloin.' The sirloin was one of the few things I could get in a smaller portion. With the appetizer, I didn't want to waste any food. Apparently the Lincolns didn't care, but everything seemed so expensive, I tried to be careful.

Mom had given me a $10 gift card to give Reggie for his birthday. I didn't think it was much, but he seemed to appreciate it more than the other presents he got after we returned to his house after dinner. After presents and birthday cake, it was time for me to head home. As before, Reggie followed me out.

"Thanks for coming today. The dinner would have been nice with just the family and Ken, but you being here made it extra special. I realize you can't keep coming back and staying every day, but don't wait too long. I'll miss you."

"You'll be coming to a barbeque at my house tomorrow. You can't handle, what, 16 hours without me?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Holy shit, we'll have been together on 5 straight days. OK, see you tomorrow. Can I have a kiss to hold me over?"

"No."

"What??!??!"

"KissES."

"Oooh, if I didn't love you, I'd hate you."

"You love me?"

"Oh, um..."

"Slipped out, huh? It's OK. I like you a lot. I'm not sure about love, but it's fine if you feel that way. I may get there."

With that, he gets his kisses and I head home. I'm thinking about his final comment all the way there. Fortunately, the smile I had on my face was explainable with a description of dinner. I wasn't ready to share the fact that I was probably gay with my parents yet. Or with my brother Bruce Jr. either. As difficult as that conversation would be with my parents, the fallout from Bruce would be almost unbearable. Sooner or later, I'll have to deal with it. Oh, joy.

Sunday's Barbeque

I don't know why I'm so nervous. I guess I'm worried about what the Lincolns' impression on my house and family will be. They're nice people, so I don't think they'll say anything. More importantly, will they think I'm not worthy of their son's friendship? I seriously doubt that, but it's still a fear I can't control. They're supposed to arrive around 2:00 because Bruce will be getting out of work at that time. That way, he doesn't miss much. Turns out, him not missing much doesn't pertain to just the company and food. But I'll get to that.

I run to the door when the doorbell rings at 1 minute to 2. I see Reggie first and break out into a huge smile. I was kidding him yesterday about not handling 16 hours apart, but I found it to be difficult. I give him a kiss hello and invite them in.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln. Welcome to our house. (I don't mean to, but I think I sound disappointed when I say that.) Mom's just finishing getting things ready. Can I get you something to drink? Beer, wine cooler, soda?"

"Hello Matt. Thank you. If your father is going to join me, I'd enjoy a beer. Cal?"

"I'll try a wine cooler, thank you. You don't have to sound embarrassed by your house Matt. We're not ones to judge. What you do have is very nice, clean and well furnished. Nothing to be embarrassed about."

I show them into the living room and then head for the drinks, thinking Reggie would take a soda.

"Um. Thanks. I'll be right back with the drinks. Coke OK, Reg?"

"Sure."

"Hey mom. The Lincolns are here. I'm getting them drinks, beer for Mr., a wine cooler for Mrs."

"OK. I'll be in there in a second. Pop your head out the back door and let your dad know too."

I do so, then bring the drinks into the living room, also dragging a kitchen chair with me so there are enough seats for everybody. Mom follows a minute or so behind me, with dad appearing a few seconds later.

"Mom, dad, Calista and Elias Lincoln. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, my parents, Carol and Bruce Harrison. And dad, this is Reggie, obviously."

Handshakes and 'pleased to meet yous' all around. Dad grabbed himself a beer and mom a wine cooler, she also brought me a Coke since I forgot to grab one for myself. I sit on the kitchen chair next to the end of the couch where Reggie is. Small talk commences and mom suggests I show Reggie my room. We didn't get there the day before he helped with the papers yesterday.

"Your room's nice. Bunk beds, that's cool. I like the posters. But Penguins, not Flyers?"

"It's small, Bruce and I share. Well, we're sort of in the middle of their minor league teams here, the Flyers have sucked for so many years, and dad's taken us to a couple games in Wilkes-Barre, so..."

"It's cool. We'll just have to have our own fights during hockey season. Hey, not everybody can have a big house. Don't worry about shit like that."

"Thanks. Your house is so big and nice, I feel inadequate here."

"Stop it. I like YOU. I don't care about what you have and don't have. And I don't want you to be jealous of what I have. You're welcome to any of it. Now shut up and give me a real kiss."

That last part I can deal with. The rest is going to take some attitude adjustments on my part. After our kiss we head back out to the living room. There's not much we could do in my room. Read, or listen to the radio would be about it.

"We were just about to head out back. Why don't you boys take your drinks and come along?"

"OK mom."

I had set up chairs outside as well. Fortunately, our back yard is shaded by a lot of trees. There's a reason the road is named Oak Road. The whole neighborhood is surrounded by around half a dozen species of oak trees. Mom had borrowed some chairs from a friend that ran a card club; bridge, canasta, who knows. I wasn't sure if Candy and Ken were coming or not, so there are two extras. I put them off to the side. The rest are mostly in a circle next to the picnic table.

"That's a nice table Bruce. I'm guessing you made that yourself?"

"Thanks, and you're right. Carpenter by trade, executive by circumstance. I've obviously met you before, but Calista, Matt tells us you're a nurse?"

"Yes. Actually a nurse supervisor at the hospital in Stroudsb... Oh, my... I just realized why you both looked familiar. That's where I've seen you before. I'm so sorry about your son."

Mr. Lincoln looks confused, so mom clears up his confusion.

"Thank you Calista. Elias, Matt had another brother that was killed about 7 years ago. We spent an awful lot of time at the hospital with Jerry."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that as well. That had to be a terrible time for you all."

"It was. He was only nine and we still miss him every day. It's also the reason we live here. The hospital and doctor's bills almost ruined us, financially. We're much better off now than a couple years ago, but it's been a struggle. But, I shouldn't burden you with our problems. We appreciate your sympathy though."

I'm tearing up a little as mom's saying this. I'm usually OK when the subject comes up, but for some reason it's hitting me harder than usual today. Reggie notices and takes my hand. I look at him and force a smile.

"Yes, thank you. Anyway, Bruce Jr. should be home any minute now. Nothing fancy, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken and salads. I'll start the grill and you can all decide what you'd like."

"I'll join you at the grill Bruce."

"Thanks Elias."

Mom and Mrs. Lincoln pair off as well.

"Are you OK Matt?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I don't usually get weepy when the topic comes up. Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize about everything. I'd be more surprised if you didn't get weepy."

Reggie reaches out and gives me a hug. Of course, it's just my rotten luck that it's exactly the moment Bruce walks into the yard. He gives me a look, like 'what the hell is going on here?' but then he notices my mom crying too. He comes up to Reggie and me first.

"Jerry?"

"Yeah. Reggie's mom works at the hospital where he... Um, Bruce, this is my new friend Reggie. Reggie, my brother Bruce Jr. BJ for short, ha ha."

"Grrrrr, BJ. If you weren't upset, I'd belt you. It's not BJ, Reggie. He's trying to be funny. I should go say hi to your parents. I'll be back."

After he walks away, I realize he didn't offer to shake Reggie's hand. He does shake Mrs. Lincoln's when mom introduces them, and then Mr. Lincoln's as well, but he doesn't look too happy about it. I'm going to have to ask him about that later. The rest of the afternoon passes without any more crying. Our parents are getting along fine. After we ate, Bruce made himself scarce, apparently heading to our room. Finally, it's unfortunately time for the Lincolns to leave. I'd obviously love to give Reggie a kiss goodbye, but I settle for a hug. Since both Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln got hugs as well, it didn't raise any eyebrows. Bruce never made a reappearance.

Later, in our room, I confront Bruce.

"What the hell was that this afternoon?"

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't shake Reggie's hand, and it looked like someone was forcing you to shake his parents' hands. Then you disappeared right after we ate."

"I would have stayed late or gone out after work if I'd known."

"Known what?"

"Don't be dense. Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"Apparently, because I don't have a fuckin' clue what you're talking about."

"I don't like them."

"You only said hello. How could you know you don't like them?"

"Not your friends them. THEM."

"You are such a dick. Because they're black?"

"I'd use another term, but yeah, we'll stick with that."

"Oh, my God Bruce. Really? What, why?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"No shit. I can't understand. Help me."

"THEY killed Jerry."

"What? You're nuts."

"No. I'm not. I guess mom and dad never shared the whole story with you because you were so young. I was already 11. I saw what really happened, but they made me promise not to tell you."

"Well, I'm not 7 anymore. I think I can handle it now."

"Geez. Fine. Jerry didn't get hurt in an accident at the park. He was standing in line waiting for ice cream. A bunch of THEM apparently didn't have any money so they dragged Jerry into the woods and took his. They didn't just take his money though. They beat the shit out of him. You probably don't remember, but he spent almost two months in the hospital before he died."

"How do you know they were black?"

"I FUCKING SAW THEM. I lost track of Jerry for one fucking minute. I saw him in line, then a minute or two later, I didn't. When I looked around, four of them were coming out of the woods, laughing and acting like total jackasses, congratulating each other. I heard one of them say 'did you see the blood coming from his ears?' Another one bragged about kicking him in the face. I headed over to where they came out of the woods and maybe 15 feet in, there was Jerry, lying on the ground all bloody."

"Oh, my God."

"I ran back out of the woods and found someone to call 9-1-1, then went back to stay with Jerry. He was unconscious. I held his hand and tried talking to him anyway. But he never woke up again."

Bruce is crying by this time. I don't want to believe him, but I know he's telling the truth. My almost 18-year-old brother never cried before that I've ever seen. Maybe he did at the funeral, but I was too young, I don't remember.

"God. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. But just because some black kids did that, it doesn't mean you have to hate them all."

"If you saw Jerry, you would understand. Plus, didn't you ever notice how mom and dad treat me compared to you?"

"Only that for years they treated me like a baby and you like you were way more grown up than you were."

"Yeah, I guess it could have looked that way. They blamed me. They didn't act like I was more grown up, more independent. They ignored me. They still do, just not as much. They realize I'm about to turn 18 and they'll never see me again when I move out."

"You can't mean that?"

"I can't? They treated me like shit for 6 years. Only the last year or so have they been marginally civil to me. They act all sweet and shit when you're around. But when you're not, they act like I'm not there either. I was 11. It wasn't my fault."

I don't know what to say. All I can do is just hold him now that he's crying uncontrollably. How could my parents do that to him? Now I realize when dad made a comment about Reggie's father being black, how he had to recover by saying something about Elias being a professional. He must not like black people too much either. But he seemed to get along fine with Mr. Lincoln. Bruce finally gets to the point where he's just sniffling.

"Thanks for the hugs. I need to lie down and think about things. It's been so long since I really thought about what happened."

"OK."

He climbs up on his bunk, throws an arm over his eyes, and lies there quietly. After a few minutes, he's snoring quietly. I'm so angry at my parents, I end up doing something stupid. They're sitting out in the living room. Actually, a couple stupid things.

"Do you hate all black people dad, mom, or do you pick and choose? You seemed fine with the Lincolns this afternoon."

"Where's this coming from?"

"I asked Bruce why he acted the way he did this afternoon, dad. He told me what really happened to Jerry."

"Shit."

"And I didn't realize it, but when Bruce pointed it out, I knew he was right. You've treated him like shit for years. He says you both blame him for what happened. How the fuck could you do that to your own son?"

"You don't need to use that language young man."

"Bastard, shit, fuck, fuckity fuck. You're both fucking assholes for what you did to him. I can't fucking stand you right now."

"That's it. Go to your room. You're lucky I don't whip your ass."

"Fine. I'll go to my room. I won't be there any longer than it takes to pack a bag."

I storm out of the living room. I don't wait for a response. I lock the door to our room. I throw a couple changes of clothes into my backpack and climb out the window, closing it as best I can from the utside. We don't have a garage, just a shed. That's where I keep my bike. I jump on it and ride away. I ride around, seemingly aimlessly for about a half hour before I'm calm enough to think.

After thinking they're letting Matt blow off some steam for a few minutes, Matt's dad is banging on the bedroom door. Bruce Jr. finally realizes that Matt's not there to open the door.

"Where's your brother?"

"Matt? I don't know."

"He had to come in here, the door was locked."

"He's not here now dad."

"He must have gone out the window. The window is closed, but the screen is up. Shit. I bet he went to the Lincoln's."

"What happened?"

"We'll get to that soon."

"Fine. Keep pretending I don't exist."

Matt's dad hesitates, but leaves the room.

"Call over to the Lincoln's Carol. Matt's gone."

"Gone? Oh no, OK..."

"Hello, Calista... Matt's run away. Is he there?"

"No Carol, he isn't. Why would he have run away?"

"It's a long story. Can you call me back if he shows up there?"

"Of course."

I'm in front of Reggie's house without even realizing it. I'm crying as I ring the doorbell.

"Matt? What are you doing here? What's the matter?"

"I hate my parents. I can't stay with them anymore Mr. Lincoln. Can I stay here?"

"Come in. Let's talk about this... Cal, can you give the Harrison's a call, tell them Matt is safe and he's here."

"NO! You can't tell them."

"Matt, we have to."

"Fine. Then I'm leaving."

I turn to go but Mr. Lincoln grabs me by the arm.

"Sorry, Matt. You're not going anywhere. Please. Come in and sit down. We won't call your parents right away. Tell us what's going on."

"Did I hear Matt?"

"Yes, Reggie. He's apparently trying to run away. Give your mom and I a few minutes with him. We'll call you back out in a little while."

"But, I want to stay."

"I know. But please listen to me. We need to see what's going on. Please, go to your room."

"OK dad. But I want to know what's going on too."

"We'll tell you once we get him calmed down and find out exactly what's wrong."

Reggie heads to his room, I reluctantly follow Mr. Lincoln into the living room and sit down. For the most part, Mr. Lincoln drives the conversation.

"Do you want a drink or water or something?"

"No. Not right now."

"OK. Can you tell us what happened?"

"I'm not sure you're going to like what I say."

"Let us be the judge of that."

"OK, Mrs. Lincoln. Well, I guess the short version is I found out my parents are bigots and treated my brother like shit because they blamed him for Jerry's death."

"I doubt that Matt. They were fine with Mrs. Lincoln and me this afternoon."

"I think they only acted OK because you're professional people. I don't think they like blacks in general."

"Why would you say that?"

(Deep breath) "Because it was a number of black boys that killed Jerry."

They seem a little shocked at this revelation.

"Can you tell us more?"

"I asked my brother why he was so cold to you all this afternoon. He told me exactly what happened. My parents told me Jerry had an accident in the park, but the truth is that four black boys beat him and took his money. Bruce was there. My parents blame him because he wasn't watching him the whole time. Which was stupid, he was only 11."

"And where were you?"

"At home, sick, I think."

"Wow. And you just found all this out today?"

"Yes."

"I can understand why you're angry at your parents, but I'm sure you're misinterpreting their actions and attitudes."

"I'm not. Bruce pointed out how they've treated him and I realized that he was right."

"OK. Why don't you go be with Reggie while Mrs. Lincoln and I discuss this."

"You're still not calling my parents though, right?"

"Not right away."

"OK."

I head up to Reggie's room, unaware that the first thing his parents did when I left the room was call my parents.

"Are you OK Matt? What happened?"

"My parents are bigoted shitheads; I can't stand them anymore."

"They seemed nice this afternoon. Your mom was nice when I met her yesterday."

"Seemed nice is right. They acted like that because your parents are professionals. They don't like blacks because blacks killed Jerry."

"That's not true. Is it?"

"Yes. Bruce was there. That's why he acted the way he did and completely disappeared after he ate. But he wasn't hiding the fact he hates blacks. All blacks."

"He thinks blacks killed Jerry too?"

"HE KNOWS IT!"

"OK, sorry. Don't get more upset."

"Sorry. I don't mean to. He was there, he saw what happened, or at least most of it. My parents blame him for Jerry's death because he was supposed to be watching him when they took Jerry into the woods and beat him for his ice cream money."

I start crying again and Reggie holds me. I settle down a little, but then his dad knocks on the door.

"Reggie, can you and Matt come downstairs?"

"Yeah, we'll be right out, he's trying to calm down again."

We wait another minute or so for me to calm down again and leave his room. When we get to the stairs, I hear my parents' voices.

"I'm not going down. Your dad said they wouldn't call them right away."

"Come on. Show them you're better than they are. Don't hide from it."

"No. Can I get out from your room?"

"Only if you want to break some bones jumping out the window."

"I'll risk it."

"I'll carry you down if I have to. Don't make me do that. I don't want you mad at me too."

"Geez. Fine, let's go. But if they act like assholes, I'm coming back up."

"OK."

Of course, I pretty much realize he won't let me leave even if I want to. I listen anyway and follow him down. We get to the living room and I just stand there.

"Matt. You need to come home with us."

I don't say anything, just hide behind Reggie.

"We're sorry you feel that we hate blacks and you think we treated Bruce badly."

"May as well say you're sorry I found out. That's all that apology amounts to."

"Matt, they're trying."

"Not hard enough, Mrs. Lincoln."

"Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln agreed to let you stay tonight so you can calm down some more. We brought you pajamas and toiletries."

"I don't need the pajamas. Reggie and I sleep together naked. We're both gay."

That ought to surprise them. It shut them up for a minute anyway.

"Now you're just being hurtful. That's the only reason you said that."

"Keep thinking that mom. I know better."

She looks at dad. I don't think either one believes it and that I really am only saying it to be hurtful. I could say more but I decide against it and just stand there quietly.

"We'll talk again tomorrow, once you've calmed down some more. Thanks for letting him stay Cal, Elias. We should have this straightened out by tomorrow."

"You're welcome Carol. I think he'll be better off, at least for tonight. Goodnight."

"Goodnight. Goodnight Matt. We love you."

(Almost under my breath) "Tell that to Bruce."

Next up - "Relationships Grow and More Conflict"