Be Rad - 25. Chapter 25

September 2, 1980

“Claire, can we just get going?” I asked, frustrated. Claire was riding to school with me today, the first day of school, and it was important, at least to her, that we timed our arrival at just the perfect time. That was ten minutes before the bell rang, when we were likely to run into the most people. Robbie and Billy had already left, while Ace was still getting ready.

“Brad, don't be a pain in the ass.” She looked at her watch. “Alright, let's go. Just don't drive too fast.”

“What's the big deal?” I demanded.

“I want everyone to see me riding in the hottest car with the hottest guy at school.”

We got into the car and I fired it up. God I loved this car. “I thought Jack Hobart was the hottest guy in school?” I teased.

“Maybe he is,” she said. We hadn't talked about that night, about her fucking Jack. She reached over and held my hand. “Thanks for not killing him.”

I laughed. “Claire, I have sex all the time. Why should it be any different with you?”

“Because I'm a girl. So things are different. And if people find out about it, they'll call me a slut.”

I swallowed hard. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

She rolled her eyes. “Go ahead.”

“Is Jack the first guy you slept with?”

“What, you think I've done the whole school?”

“Come on Claire. I just told you I don't give a shit if you do. I was just wondering if that was the night you lost your virginity?”

“It was.”

“Were you drunk?”

“No.”

She was still irritated so I tried to lighten the mood. “Was it fun?”

“Not the first time,” she said. Then she laughed hysterically at my expression.

About that time we got to school and we were swamped, mostly by guys wanting to check out my car. I looked around anxiously, trying to find Robbie or Lark, but they were nowhere to be found. I shrugged and headed to my first class. I was halfway there when I felt an elbow bump me.

“Hey, um, I'm really sorry about the other night,” said a very nervous Jack.

“Why? Did you do something wrong?” I asked him.

“I just figured you'd be pissed off that I, uh...”

I stopped him. “Claire's allowed to have a sex life if she wants to,” I said. Damn he was fine. “You run around and tell everyone you slept with her, though, and your face won't be so pretty anymore.”

He laughed, and then got serious again. “I really like her,” he said earnestly.

“Man, I got it. I'm glad she's not just a one-night-stand. Just don't hurt her, OK? And if you two start going out, let me run some interference with Ace first.”

“Start running your interference,” he said with a playfully raised eyebrow, and strutted off. What a cute ass he had.

I wandered into my first class: Algebra II. Lark was in there with me. Ace and Robbie were way better at math than the two of us, so they were in Trig. They'd done this last year, or at least Ace had. Robbie had done the Claremont version of Algebra II.

“Welcome to moron math,” Lark said, slapping my hand.

“There's a worse class. Try not to flunk into that one and embarrass me.”

“Embarrass you?”

“Yeah. Can't have everyone knowing how stupid my best friend really is.” He punched me.

Next up was English, and here I was with Robbie and Ace. English and History, Art and Spanish were my subjects. I was a right brained guy. Math and Science, in this case Physics, were not. We had a blast in English and got chewed out for talking too much.

At lunch that day we were sitting in our usual place with all the cool people when I spotted Jack and Claire heading over, holding hands. I saw Ace hanging out with Cass on the grass, his head in her lap, gazing up at her. How cute, I thought. They had become a “couple” now, which was cool. I liked Cass. I glanced over at Robbie, where he was talking to some of his football buds, and felt a wave of sadness flow over me. I knew what it was. I was jealous. Ace could be with the girl he loved because she was a she. Claire could hold hands with her boyfriend and it was OK. I couldn't because I loved another boy. I thought wistfully about how awesome it would be to have my head in Robbie's lap and just gaze up like that, and to have everyone think it was cute. I pulled myself out of my funk by telling myself that if I had my head in his lap, I'd end up blowing him. That made me giggle to myself, and armed with a new, good mood, I went over and stood above Ace and stared down purposefully. “Ace, man, we need to talk.” I held out my hand and helped him up, then grabbed his arm and pulled him off to the side.

“Ow man, you're hurting me.”

“Sorry. Listen. Claire and Jack Hobart are together,” I told him. I saw his eyes bulge. “You have to be nice and not kill him.”

“Why?”

“Dumb ass. She's allowed to have boyfriends. We talked about this. Now don't be an asshole OK? Be nice to the guy.”

“Or what?” he said, pissed off. He was overly protective of Claire. Way too protective.

“Look, cave man, nothing I would do to you would compare to what she'll do to you. She'll start telling all the girls that you pee in your bed and shit like that. You want a war with Claire? You're going down.”

He grinned. “Guess you're right. She can probably handle herself. But if he fucks her over...”

“We'll kick his ass together.” I shoulder bumped him and we headed back to the crowd. Claire glared at Ace, daring him to be a dick, and Jack looked pretty fucking scared.

“Hey,” Ace said to them in that high school way that said everything was cool. I winked at Claire and got a grin back.

“So Claire, you getting a Ferrari when you learn to drive?” One of the cheerleaders asked.

“No, only Brad, because Uncle Stef loves him best.”

“Everyone loves me best,” I shot back.

“I can't wait to drive. I should get my license by Christmas.” She had that wistful look that I'd only seen in guys before. In California, you had to go through “Safety Education” classes first, and then you got your permit. That's what Claire and Billy were doing now. Then they'd have to do a bunch of hours of real driver training, and after that they could get their licenses. Since they both would turn 16 on October 27, that would be the toughest period of time. October to Christmas, where they were legal age but weren't licensed. “Brad's gonna teach me to drive in his car,” she said, breaking into my reverie of thoughts.

“No way,” I said. I felt Robbie's warm presence next to me as he sat down. I wanted to give him a kiss, or hug him, but that couldn't happen. I found that I had to act really subdued around him to hide my feelings. “You can get Robbie to teach you in his Jeep.”

“I can't afford a new clutch,” he said.

“I'll teach you,” Jack said. Then he blushed. The rest of us started laughing, stifled laughs, but still laughs.

“Thanks Jack,” she said, and kissed him on the cheek. I was ready to restrain Ace but he just ignored it. Incredible.

Robbie had practice after school so I headed home and worked on my homework. I was one of those people who did my homework. Good grades were important to my parents. Without good grades I wouldn't have a Ferrari. A couple of hours later Robbie came in, still hot and sweaty.

“You didn't shower after practice?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No. I figured I'd come home and shower with you.” So we did, a hot shower with a smoking guy and an explosive orgasm.

September 5, 1980

We sat in the stands cheering and trying to start fights with Los Altos students. We were at their stadium for the kick-off game of the season. Billy made the Varsity squad. I watched him jog out onto the field, beaming with pride. My parents were here too, but sitting in the section where all the parents were. I glanced over at them and saw Mrs. Childers chatting up my mother. Doug was on the varsity squad too, as a safety like Billy. He and Billy were both on the third string, so we didn't expect to see much of them. Robbie was a different story. He'd earned a place as the team's kicker, so unless he was hurt or really fucked up, the job was his.

Los Altos is one of our key rival teams, so we did a lot of heckling in the stands. My voice was hoarse from cheering and yelling. Los Altos is an affluent school, just like Gunn, so there was always a rivalry to make sure we had cooler stuff than they did. Uniforms, mascot (we're the Titans), whatever it was, it had to be better. All the money to do that came from the booster club. I knew my parents funneled a chunk of money into it, and so did others.

At the end of the half, with Gunn leading 21 to 14, the Titans had worked the ball down to the 20 yard line. With just a few seconds left, they called out the Field Goal Unit. I beamed with pride as Robbie came out. He'd done just fine so far, kicking the conversions after each of our three touchdowns with ease. This one was well within his range. He approached the holder and then took three steps back and two steps to the side. The whistle blew, and I watched the play as if it were in slow motion. The snap was bobbled but the holder got it back under control, and Robbie took his three steps forward and pivoted, kicking the ball hard. It flew toward the uprights, and went to the left side of the left one. He missed.

A collective groan from the Gunn fans started. I shut them out, because I knew that as soon as some asshole said something about him I'd end up in a fight. I just focused on him, on his face as he walked back to the sidelines. He had that sad, beaten down look. His first major scoring opportunity for Gunn and he had fucked it up. I thought of all the things I was going to do tonight to make him feel loved, feel like the winner he was.

“He missed,” said Ace.

“I see you got your degree in rocket science,” I shot back moodily.

“Relax Brad, he'll get the next one and then he'll be a hero.”

“Yeah, but now he's just defeated. It's hard to watch.” He nodded. Cass came up and put her arm in his.

“Hi Brad. When are you going to take me for a ride in your car?” she said flirting. She was joking, we all knew it.

“As soon as you can dump that clod of a boyfriend,” I told her. Ace rammed me in the shoulder with his, knocking me back and making me laugh.

I wandered around and socialized. I found Jack and Claire walking back from the stands. “Jack, have you met my parents yet?” I asked. I was in a pissed-off mood, in a mood to cause trouble.

“I don't think this is the best time,” Claire said, warning me, or trying to.

“What's the big deal? Come on,” I said, putting my arm around his shoulder and guiding him over to the seats where my parents were hanging out. JP looked up at me with a quizzical look on his face, wondering who this hot guy was that I had my arm around.

“Hey Dad. This is Jack Hobart. Jack, this is my father, Professor J.P. Crampton.” JP took his hand in his normal friendly gesture. My mother turned around and I introduced them as well. Jack was putty in her hands. Claire came up on the other side, positively fuming at me. “Jack is Claire's new boyfriend,” I announced. I felt her hit the back of my head as I chuckled.

“Well, Claire certainly has excellent taste in men,” my mother said, almost flirting with him but not quite. “How wonderful to meet you! Would you have time to join us for dinner next Saturday?”

“Uh, sure, uh, that would be great,” he said. I could barely stifle the laughter inside. JP smiled at him and used that special twinkle in his eye to totally disarm Jack.

“Well, I won't grill you. We'll save that for dinner,” JP said. I saw Jack smile at him. Jack was way too hunky for JP to give him shit without a reason.

“We need to get back to our seats,” Claire said. As soon as we were out of range. “Remind me to kill you later Bradley!”

I started busting up, and even Jack laughed. “They seem like nice people Claire. It's OK. Really. Plus I got another date with you, and I don't even have to buy dinner.” That really made me laugh, but that was cut short when the team started coming back out onto the field. I caught Robbie's eye and gave him the slightest wink and he gave me a quick smile back. God he was cute. The smile was replaced by a determined look.

The second half didn't go as well for us. With thirty seconds left, the score was Los Altos 31, Gunn 30. Gunn had gotten the 2 point conversion after their last touchdown, which was good because of the points. Still, I thought it was a slam at Robbie, as if to say “we can't even trust you with the conversion point.” Now, though, with the game on the line, they had to trust this guy they'd been giving a bunch of shit to. And it was a long field goal attempt. A good 40 yards.

Dan Church, on the other side of Ace, started taunting him. “Kick the ball, not your helmet,” he chirped. I glared at Ace and Ace told him to shut the fuck up, but it didn't seem to affect him. What was his deal? I felt my anger rising as Robbie measured off his steps. “At least try to make contact with the ball,” Dan chanted. I stared at Ace and he growled at Dan some more, but it didn't stop him.

The ball snapped, perfect this time, and Robbie took his three steps forward and kicked the ball, sailing it straight through the uprights. I yelled myself hoarse cheering, so proud of him as he walked off the field. He looked up in the stands and our eyes met, mine full of love and pride, and his acknowledging that love. We kicked off to Los Altos but they couldn't do anything with the ball, so that was the game. We'd won, and Robbie was the hero of the hour.

We were standing there talking when Dan came up. “I'm glad he made that last kick. The first one sucked.”

“Shut the fuck up Dan,” I told him. I felt my temper starting to get away from me.

“You sticking up for your boyfriend?” he taunted. As a matter of fact, I thought, I am. “He's a crappy kicker. He just got lucky.”

SNAP. Just like with Stef, I felt my temper win the battle, only this time, instead of yelling at him, I flew at him and landed my fist right on his nose. I got in two more power punches before he came back to his senses and fought back. We rolled around on the ground, each trying to get on top and get an advantage. Before he could land a single punch we were pulled apart, me by Ace, and Dan by a couple of other guys. Dan's nose was bleeding and he looked as pissed as I was. I shook myself away from Ace and looked at him. “Keep this asshole away from me, or next time I see him I'll kick his ass again.” He tried to lunge at me, but it was too late. I walked off, feeling pretty proud of myself. I'd gotten in three really good punches, made him bleed, and then declared victory and walked away.

Unfortunately, we had created quite a ruckus. JP intercepted me with a scowl. “I expected better from you Brad,” he said severely. I could see the disappointment in his eyes, and that really hurt.

“I'm sorry Dad. That guy is such an asshole, always shooting his mouth off. He was really insulting Robbie, and I just finally lost it.”

“You owe him an apology. You can't initiate violence.”

I looked at him, astounded. “Apologize to him? I'll apologize to him. 'Gee Dan; I'm really sorry you're an asshole.' Think that will work?”

JP was trying to look at me and maintain his harsh look, but somehow I'd managed to hit his funny bone and the twinkle told me he was hiding a laugh. “That's not funny.”

“Then why are you trying not to laugh?” I said. That forced a smile out. “Look Dad, I'll work it out with him later. But he is a total asshole. I've never liked him. He wouldn't be anywhere near me if it weren’t for Ace.”

“You should ask Ace why he is friends with Dan. In the meantime, consider yourself grounded for the weekend.” He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving me wondering after him. There was some reason why Dan and Ace were friends, a reason Ace hadn't told me? Just as I was about to start really feeling like shit, I saw Robbie, finally free from team shit.

I forced myself to walk over to him and to just give him a “man hug.” “You were awesome. I'm so proud of you.”

He beamed. “Thanks. It was a lot easier to kick the ball when I pretended it was my mother.” That cracked me up. “So what's the plan?”

“I'm going home,” I said sullenly.

“Why? There's a major party tonight.”

“I'm grounded.”

“You? Grounded? You kidding me?” He laughed so hard he actually fell on the ground.

“Why is that so fucking funny?” I asked.

“You. Mr. Perfect. The guy who is so on top of things, who has everything all figured out. You're grounded? What did you do? Steal the Crown Jewels?”

“I wouldn't need to steal them. I'd just have Stef buy them for me,” I teased back. “I'll tell you all about it. You're coming home first, right?” He'd driven his Jeep to get here early.

Ace came up to congratulate Robbie. He stared at me, a little sad. “Can we have a ride?” he asked Robbie.

“Where's your car?” he asked.

“We rode here with Dan, so we need an alternate way home.” That got me a dirty look.

Time for me to make it up to him. “Here,” I said, handing him my car keys. “Take my car. I'll ride with Robbie.” Cass got a big smile, and so did Ace, figuring he'd get laid tonight. He nodded, grabbed my keys, and then took off.

“Why can't Dan take them home?”

I frowned at him. “Can we just go?” He shrugged and headed to his Jeep. I noticed that he treated the Jeep as well as he treated the Eldorado.

He cruised up I-280 and finally broached the issue again. “You gonna tell me what's going on?”

“I got in a fight with Dan.”

“Why?”

“He was talking trash and he wouldn't shut up.”

“What was he talking trash about?” He was giving me the third degree and it was pissing me off, especially since I realized I'd have to tell him why.

Still, I fought on. “What difference does it make?”

“Was he talking about me?” I didn't say anything, so it just sat there in the car like a big ugly, smelly turd.

We got home and headed to the shower. “You going to join me?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

I smiled back at him. “If you want me to.”

“I want you to.” We hopped into the shower but he just soaped himself up and then slid his body against mine sensually. “You can't fight all the pissed off fans in the stands. I mean, I know you're my knight in a red Ferrari, but you have to let it go.”

“Dan was just pushing and pushing, like he really wanted to piss me off. It wasn't just normal shit; he was really trying to get to me. And it worked.”

“He was probably trying to figure out how tight we are. And you just told him that we're pretty damn tight.” I looked into his eyes, the reality of the situation flooding over me. That's exactly what Dan was doing, the fucker. He knew about the rumors I'd spread about Doug. Doug probably told him his side of the story. He was trying to figure out if Robbie and I are together, and I'd just blown it.

“Fuck. I totally blew it.”

“I think it will end up OK. In the meantime, I think it's my turn to fuck you.” He smiled at me and kissed me, then turned me around and entered me carefully. I loved to fuck him, but on these occasions when he decided it was his turn, the sex was just un-fucking-believable. It made me wonder why we didn't do that more often.

We got out and dried off. “You need to get going. The parties are going to kick up soon.”

“I'll stay here with you,” he said.

“You're the man of the hour. Go enjoy your moment in the sun. I trust you. I'll be here when you get back.”

“No. I want to stay here with you.”

I started to argue but he put his finger on my lips. “No. I want to stay here with you.”

I smiled at him. “I'll bet you're hungry.” We headed to the kitchen and raided the fridge. We competed to see how much we could eat. He won.

We were about to go swimming when JP came in. “Nice game Robbie. I'm proud of you. You did really well.” He gave Robbie a hug, and I got the best view of all, JP's back with Robbie's smiling face looking at me as he hugged him. “You're not going out?”

“Brad and I are staying in,” he said.

“It's OK Dad. We'll be fine. We're going to go swimming and kick back,” I told him. For some reason, I didn't want him to feel guilty for grounding me.

“Well, maybe I can make it up to you on Sunday. Would you guys like to go with me to see the 49er game?”

“The San Francisco 49ers?” Robbie gasped. “I love them. They're my favorite team.”

“Not Cleveland or Cincinnati?” I asked.

“Nope. The 49ers. Joe Montana, their new QB, he's awesome. You watch, he'll be great.”

“If you say so,” I said dubiously. Then I sensed there was something else. “Is it just going to be the three of us?”

JP looked a little nervous. “No. Roger's taking us. The winery owns a box.”

“A luxury box?” Robbie was beside himself. “I wish Sunday was tomorrow.”

“Is this a double date?” I teased.

“Do you want to go or not?” JP snapped.

“Shut the fuck up, Brad. Hell yes we want to go.”

September 7, 1980

As successful as Roger was, a partner in and the head of one of the Bay Area's largest wineries, he still drove a pick-up truck. Granted, it was a top-of-the-line model, with all the bells and whistles, but it was still a truck. He had a really easy way about him, the kind of guy that you could just hang out with and have a good time. He strolled into the Great Hall where the three of us were waiting and greeted Robbie and me with a big bear hug. For JP, he saved a kiss, a kiss that became very passionate very fast. The two of them looked so good together. Even with that brief interaction, I could see JP mold his body to Roger.

They broke their kiss and Roger just looked into JP's eyes. It was really romantic. “It's been a while. I thought you didn't like me anymore,” Roger teased.

“I like you,” JP said, but with a flirtatious lilt to his voice that I rarely heard. Robbie and I giggled, breaking their romantic mood.

We hopped in the limo and drove up to Candlestick Park. Roger and JP were so cute, like new lovers. They couldn't keep their hands off each other, they were constantly touching, hugging, kissing. I whispered to Robbie: “How does it feel to be the old married couple out with newlyweds?” But it was really great to see JP respond to someone like this. With Frank, they were friends and it was all fun. With Sam, the love had been fading for so long it was like they were pals. But with Roger, with Roger he was a lover. And it was really cool.

Just as cool was the luxury box. There was room for 12 people, and Roger had invited eight other people for various business reasons, but we got there early to set up. As soon as we got there they vanished together into the bathroom. I caught a quasi apologetic look from JP as the bathroom door closed. We kept quiet and just listened to their stifled moans. There was finally a louder moan, almost a muffled shriek. We sat there giggling. When they came out, I dragged Robbie in.

“We can't do this,” he said.

“Of course we can. They just did,” I said and pulled down my pants, exposing my hard dick. He dropped to his knees and engulfed me, using his tongue to tantalize me. We didn't have a whole lot of time, so he worked quickly to bring me off.

“My turn,” I said, taking his place on the floor and taking his rock hard dick into my mouth. I licked my finger, getting it slick, and then, while I blew him, I probed his willing hole. That set him free. I knew how much he liked that, being blown while I fingered him, and he really really liked it today. After our interludes, the guests started arriving, all relatively nondescript people that we were polite to but pretty much ignored.

I didn't watch much of the game; I spent most of my time watching the interaction between JP and Roger. There were little signs, the extra attention they paid each other, the courtesy they showed, the caring, the way they did everything they could to make the other one happy. The little signs of two people falling in love.