2. Nick and Joseph - 17. Chapter 17

Nick and Joseph -- Chapter 17

Copyright 2014 - 2016, Nick Brady, all rights reserved.

------------------------------

Joseph's music performance and impromptu party had run late. So late that even Kevin overslept. This Sunday we would be heathens and miss church.

Kevin was first up at 9:30 and left the sofa to relieve his bladder. The house was quiet. He tapped at the door of his bedroom, counted slowly to three then eased the door open. Peeking inside he saw Nick and Joseph sleeping in separate beds. Nobody stirred so he quietly closed the door. The door to his parents' room was closed and he left it that way. Going into the kitchen he fixed himself a bowl of cereal and sat down to eat it.

The sound of the refrigerator door must have awakened his mother because I heard her footsteps go into the bathroom and close the door. In a few minutes she appeared in her housecoat.

“I can't believe we all slept so late. Are you the only one up?” She inquired.

“Looks like it,” Kevin said as he munched his cereal.

“I'm sorry, I was going to fix us all a nice breakfast.”

“Don't let me stop you,” Kevin grinned.

“Hmmph, you don't think that cereal will hold you?”

“I'd have room for some of your pancakes,” he assured her.

“Your father is awake. When he gets out of the bathroom you might check to see if those boys are still alive,” she began pulling out the griddle and pancake mix.

Before long Mr. Brady strolled in dressed in slacks and an old sweatshirt. “We stayed up too late,” he said.

“Too much excitement,” Kevin offered and got up to wake his brother.

He knocked on the door, loudly this time and did a slow count to 5.

Opening the door he called “Hellooo? Anybody home?”

There was no reply but my head appeared from under the covers. “Hey,” I muttered. “Hey Joseph,” there was movement in the other bed

“Mom is making pancakes,” Kevin announced. Joseph's head appeared.

Kevin went back into the living room, folded up his blanket and stuffed it and the pillow into the hall closet. He turned on the TV, rotated it through an assortment of Sunday morning preachers, then turned it off.

The smell of pancakes and sausage filled the air and the sound of running water and flushing toilets came from the bath, followed soon by Nick and Joseph looking somewhat rumpled but hungry.

By the time they were all at the table there were plates for everyone and a large platter of pancakes and sausage patties in the center. They quickly disappeared as the butter and syrup went around. A fresh gallon of cold milk was dispensed into glasses, and pancakes were eaten faster than Mom could replace them. There was a minimum of chatter as mouths were otherwise occupied. There were lots of compliments for the cook. Finally Mom sat down to eat.

“Did you boys get enough?” She asked, and was answered with a chorus of moans.

“The day is young,” Mom said. “What is your plan?”

“I don't know,” I said, looking out the window. “What's the weather like?”

“The forecast is sunny and high in the 60s,” Kevin said.

“Maybe we could go for a bike ride,” Joseph suggested.

“Yeah, that might work. You want to go with us?” I asked Kevin.

“Thanks, but Dad and I were talking about going to a movie this afternoon. Do you still want to go Dad?”

Dad shrugged, “Yes, but if you would rather ride bikes that's OK.”

“I would rather go to a movie with you. We don't often get to do much together,” Kevin said.

“Then let's go to that movie,” Dad smiled.

“I can ride my bike over to Joseph's. Can you run him home?” I asked.

“Sure,” Dad said. “We have plenty of time before the show starts.”

“I can change at my house,” Joseph added.

I put on a hoody and a windbreaker and was ready to go. I took off on my 10-speed and Dad and Joseph started for the car. I followed them over. Joseph ducked into his house to change and square things with his parents and I waited outside. In just a few minutes the garage door went up and he came out wearing his jacket and a stocking cap.

He spread out his arms and announced. “I'm ready.”

“Did your folks go to church this morning?” I wondered.

Joseph raised his eyebrows. “I don't know. I didn't ask. I just told them that we were going for a bike ride and nobody said no,” so off we went.

From his house we wandered through the neighborhood to Riverside then across to the bike trail and south. It was turning into a beautiful day, sunny and mild with just a gentle breeze.

On the trail we passed lots of walkers, runners, bikers and skaters going in both directions. We rode single file at a good clip, but not so fast as to scare anyone.

When we got to 71st Street we veered left a couple of blocks and stopped at a Quik-Trip for a big fountain Coke, sitting outside with our bikes leaned up against the building. Despite the cool air we were both sweating from the exertion.

“Having fun?” I asked.

“Oh yes,” Joseph smiled. “It feels so free to just hop on the bicycle and race down the trail. I love it.”

“Did you know that we can ride down Riverside all the way to 101st Street?” I asked him. “Or we can go north to Elgin then follow the old railroad right-of-way west to Sand Springs.”

“Really?” he seemed excited by the possibility. “Oh, this is wonderful Nicky. I feel so free!” and he laughed in a most relaxed way.

We finished our drinks and biked west to Riverside, then north towards downtown. When we passed 41st Street there was a public toilet and Joseph asked if I wanted to stop.

“The rent is up on my Coke,” he laughed.

“Those are pretty stinky,” I warned him. “Lets go on a little farther.”

When we got up around 32nd Street I remembered the little clearing at the edge of the river where Tony and I had our adventure. “I know a good place,” I told him.

I veered off the trail across a grassy area towards a stand of scrub brush, got off and walked my bike towards the river. “Follow me.”

We pushed our bikes through a little path that was not obvious until we got to it and rolled to the hidden clearing. We could look through the brush and see the wide river broken up by sandy stretches. I felt a stirring when I remembered this as Tony's place. “Here, we can pee here and nobody can see us.”

“This is very secluded. How did you know it was here?” he asked.

“A guy showed it to me one time. It's like a secret place.”

“Oh, how exciting,” Joseph said. “I guess nobody can see in here?”

“No. You could strip naked and no one would know,” I suggested. I laid my bike down in the grass and pushed my pants down to my knees, emptying my bladder in the weeds.

Joseph watched me pee and giggled. “Ooo, this is wicked,” he opened his pants and waggled his penis in the cool air, spraying his urine back and forth on the grass.

I shook myself a little more than was necessary and began to get hard. “We could do anything we wanted in here and nobody would know.”

”Really?” Joseph looked at me and began to smile. “Anything?”

I reached over and took his dick in my hand, feeling him start to get an erection. “This is a nice private spot. We could do more than just piss.”

He looked around at the little clearing. It was roughly a 10 foot circle of grass. “This is pretty,” he said. “The grass is still green here.”

I sat down on the grass and took my shoes off, then my pants, then pulled off my jacket and hoody until I was naked except for my white socks. “Come on,” I patted the grass beside me.

Joseph's expression was a mixture of suspicion and excitement. “Are you sure?”

I smiled. “I'm sure. Come lie down with me Joseph.”

There was no doubt that this was the wildest thing that Joseph had ever done. I doubted that he had even fantasized about lying naked with another boy on the banks of the Arkansas River, not 50 yards from a biking trail where people were passing by in both directions. It was time for him to make a momentous decision. He sat down next to me and began to remove all his clothing. Once the decision was made he undressed quickly and looked at me with a crooked smile.

“Perhaps you are not always a good influence on me Nicky.”

“Now you will always remember this as our secret place,” I said quietly.

He giggled. “How could I ever forget this?” then he leaned over and kissed me very purposefully. “You are evil Nicky. That is one of the things that I love most about you.”

“Maybe I'm really a good influence on you Joseph. Without me you would be home practicing your piano. Where would you really rather be?” then we both giggled.

We pressed our naked bodes together from knees to lips and began to make love. In the back of my mind I remembered having sex with Tony here. Now Joseph and I were making love to each other here in the same spot.

Tony was sexy and exciting, but that was nothing compared to what I was doing now with Joseph. It was ever so much more than just physical. If at fourteen I was too young to know what love was, this was close enough.

No matter what happened for the rest of my life, Joseph would be my first true love, perhaps my only true love. Time would tell, but this moment was perfect. The air was cool, the sun was warm, and a very slight current of air passed through the brush around us. We could look one way and see the wide river, and hear the sound of people using the trail from the other direction. Here in this small grassy clearing we were at the center of our own universe and nothing else mattered.

We reveled at the feeling of warm skin between us, the touch of our lips together, the urgency of our tongues moving in our mouths. We could feel the hardness of our cocks as they moved over one another, the light scratch of his pubic hair against my stomach, his strong hands under my arms, his fingers rubbing across my nipples. This shy reserved boy had become a powerful lover and we were giving ourselves to each other in every way we knew how.

“I want you to fuck me Joseph. Can you do that?”

“Oh Nicky, I love you so much. I would do anything for you. You make me so happy.”

I pulled my knees up near my shoulders and put my hands on his strong butt cheeks, pulling him to me. “I want you in me.”

He looked concerned. “I'm afraid I will hurt you. We don't have anything for lubricant.”

“Who doesn't?” I asked, and pulled the little jar of Vaseline from my jacket pocket.

Joseph laughed. “You think of everything don't you? You had this planned from the start, you devil.”

“Shhh, I just happened to have this with me in case one of us got a bug bite,” I put a gob on my asshole and handed the jar to him so he could apply it to his penis. “Come on Joseph. Fuck me good.”

He found my hole and began to press himself inside me. A little at first, being gentle as was his nature. Then deeper until his pubes were scratching at my hole. It felt very full, and when he was as deep as he could go, it rubbed on a magic spot inside that felt electric, and I moaned with pleasure. He found his rhythm and began to stroke me inside with a steady cadence, playing my body like a musical instrument. I could swear I heard music.

“Do you hear it? Do you hear the music?” I gasped.

“Yes, oh yes! I hear it,” Joseph cried and pumped faster.

“Cum when you are ready,” I told him and held onto his shoulders as he pressed down on me.

His movement became faster and when I looked at his face his eyes were closed tightly and his breath had become ragged. Then he plunged as deep as he could and held still, giving out a low guttural groan as he filled me up with his hot semen. The warm fluid poured out on that most sensitive place deep inside me and I knew ecstasy for a long minute. I was close to cumming myself but held off as best I could until he was spent and fell limp on top of me.

He fell quiet and I could hear his rapid breathing. I let my legs fall to his sides and we held each other in the afterglow of our passionate lovemaking. We began to hear the sound of the slow movement of the tree branches clicking together, the sound of tires crunching on the gravel trail, voices calling to each other, children laughing. We had returned to the reality of our surroundings, still hidden in this special secret spot. Aware mostly of ourselves but now planted on the grass again.

“Oh my God Nicky. Are you OK? Did I hurt you?”

I just held him and kissed his eyelids, running my hands over his strong lean back.

He raised himself up on his arms and looked at me as if seeing me for the first time. “Oh Nicky, you are so beautiful. I have been so involved with myself and my music lately that I have not stopped to appreciate how wonderful you are.”

I ran my hands over his face, his high cheeks and long nose. “You are very beautiful to me Joseph. Don't ever forget how handsome you are. Don't ever doubt that for a moment.”

“You are so kind to me Nicky. I have been so wrapped up in my own situation that I think I may have leaned too heavily on you.”

I shushed him gently. “If I am the Dr. Watson to your Sherlock Holmes then that's who I want to be. It's all good Joseph. We will cheer for each other.”

I began to sing in my off-key way, “We belong to a mu-tu-al, ad-mir-a-tion so-ci-e-ty, my Joseph and me,” then I laughed. “You'll never make a good singer out of me.”

“That's not so,” he assured me. “You sing like an angel, my own special off-key angel. I do love you Nicky. I can't imagine being without you.”

Then he looked concerned, “What about you? You need to get off too. Would you like to do me now?”

I leaned back on the soft grass. “It gives me pleasure to give you pleasure.”

“Surely I can do something for you,” he worried.

“I'll tell you what I would like. I would like for you to take me in your beautiful strong hands and jack me off while I look at you. Can you do that?”

“Anything for you, if that's what you want.”

Joseph sat next to me and took my penis in his hands. He began to touch me gently, stroking my cock with light delicate fingers until I was rock hard. Then he wrapped one hand around my dick and began to stroke me, pulling my foreskin up over the end of my dick then pulling down until the skin was stretched tight and the head stood alone and dark red.

With his other hand he caressed my balls and rolled them around in my loose scrotum stretching them down, then pressing up against the base of my penis, his other hand moving up and down and twisting as if unscrewing my foreskin. He stroked me faster and faster until my hips began to raise up off the ground and I started to shoot long ropes of white cum up over my shoulder, onto my face, lacing over my white belly then dribbling onto my orange pubes. He was looking into my eyes, smiling, giving as much pleasure as he could. I began to hear the music again, beautiful music.

I lay still for a few minutes then there was some noise from over on the trail. “We better go,” I began to pull on my clothes, and we dressed.

Rolling our bikes back to the bike path we started riding back to Joseph's house. “This has turned out to be a beautiful day,” Joseph exclaimed.

When we got to his house we parked the bikes and he asked me in. “Will it be OK?” I asked.

“Yes, of course,” he answered.

We went into the kitchen and Joseph opened the refrigerator, finding a bottle of orange juice and some bran muffins. We sat at the kitchen table and feasted.

“Good old Alice,” I mumbled with a mouthful of muffin.

“Yes, she always leaves goodies for us,” Joseph agreed.

“Where are your parents?” I asked.

“I don't know. Dad's Mercedes is gone, maybe they went somewhere together.”

“That's nice. How are they doing?”

Joseph looked up from his muffin. “Better I think. Mother is not drinking right now and they seem to have drawn a bit closer. It is nice. Her court date is in a week and things are sort of on hold.”

“Jack said she might have to go to a rehab place,” I surmised.

“I heard them talking about that. She doesn't much want to do it but I suppose if the court tells her to go she will have to.”

“At least she seems to be trying. I guess she hasn't been drinking since she went to jail.”

“I think she is trying. There have been times when she has stopped for awhile but she always starts again,” Joseph looked hopeful.

We leaned back and drank our orange juice. Joseph raised his glass. “This is almost the color of your hair,” he observed. I just laughed.

“I can't believe we had sex in the Riverpark,” he said in a softer voice.

“No, we didn't have sex, we made love to each other,” I said, thinking of Tony.

As we finished our snacks Joseph noticed that the Entertainment section of the Sunday Tulsa World was open on the kitchen table. There was an article circled in red at the top of the page. He turned it around and looked at it.

“Nick, look!” Joseph pointed to the article. At the top was a photograph of Joseph sitting at the grand piano, intent on playing. With it was a headline that read “Local Prodigy wins Standing Ovation”, and a write up of last night's performance praising the Tulsa Youth Quintet for their performance at Trinity Episcopal Church the evening before. Special mention was made of their brilliant young pianist Joseph Anderson who anchored the quintet then went on to dazzle the audience with solo pieces by Chopin and Gershwin.

“WOW! You are famous,” I shouted. “This is cool stuff!”

Joseph was more excited than I had ever seen him. “Oh my, I never expected this. Oh how wonderful!”

“Look, there is a note scribbled in red at the bottom of the article. I can't read it,” I pointed to it.

“That's my father's famous physician's scrawl. It says 'Congratulations Joseph – we are very proud of you.' My father wrote that!” Joseph was jumping up and down like I had never seen before.

He skipped into the living room and turned a somersault on the deep pile carpet, leaped up again and did another flip. “Wow, this is so COOL!” he turned and slammed into me with a huge bear hug, knocking us both to the floor where we embraced and rolled around like little boys at play.

I had never seen Joseph so excited and demonstrative but was delighted for him and we wrestled and hugged all over the spacious carpet. After a few minutes Joseph stopped but continued to hug me. “Oh Nicky, this is a dream come true. Please wake me, I must be dreaming. No, don't wake me. I want to enjoy this,” and he laughed and giggled like a little school boy.

It was obvious to me that this was something really special from the normally reserved and taciturn Dr. Anderson, and was a recognition that meant the world to Joseph. “Congratulations, you must be very happy,” I shouted.

Joseph lay on his back in the deep gray carpet with tears streaming down his face. “I'm sorry to be so silly Nicky but this is just off the scale. Something wonderful is happening with my family that has never happened before,” he was laughing and crying at the same time. “It is like I have been given a big trophy from my father, my cold, uncaring, wonderful father. I think he just told me for the first time that he accepts me, loves me!”

I was delighted for him and sat back on my heels and applauded loudly. “Hooray, good for you. You are the greatest, Joseph!”

“Oh Nicky, and you are here to share it with me. That makes it even better.”

Just then Alice ran into the room. “What is the matter? Is everything alright? I hear all this screaming.”

“Look Alice, look!” Joseph jumped up and showed the paper to her. “Father is proud of me. Isn't that wonderful?”

Alice looked at the photograph and quickly read the article with surprise. “Oh Joseph this is so nice. I know he loves you but he doesn't say so much. This is good, very good,” without thinking she hugged him, then stepped back. “I'm sorry, but I am excited for you.”

“Yes, thank you Alice. I am excited too,” he hugged her again, holding her tight. “Oh, this feels so good!”

Then he sat down as if he realized that he needed to compose himself. I sat down next to him and took his hand in mine. “I'm so happy for you Joseph, and I'm proud of you too. You are wonderful and I didn't need the newspaper to tell me so.”

Alice smiled warmly and slipped out of the room.

We sat holding hands for several minutes not talking. Then Joseph said, “Maybe prayer really does work Nicky. This is what I have been praying for. Now if Mother can be strong and stay sober, then maybe Father will be part of us again, and we can be a real family. Keep praying Nicky. It's working.”

I confessed, “I really haven't been praying, not like get down on my knees kind of praying. But I have been hoping that these things would work out for you and your family. I think about it all the time. Is that the same as praying?”

“It must be,” Joseph laughed. “Whatever you are doing, keep it up. Mother has a lot of work to do and she will need prayer, encouragement, whatever you want to call it. But good things are happening.”

Joseph looked at his wrist watch and said, “It's 5:30 Nicky. I wish you could stay forever but you need to get home to have dinner with your family. I want to be here when my parents come home so we can have dinner too, a family dinner. I know Alice will make something nice, even if it is Sunday night. She understands this is an important time.”

I stood to leave and Joseph walked me out to the garage. “I'm glad you were here with me Nicky. I think you are my good luck charm. You bring me luck and make me happy.”

I didn't really know what to say but hugged him back. “You make me happy too Joseph. I love you. Good luck with dinner. I'll keep praying or thinking good thoughts or whatever it is that I'm doing and maybe it will bring you luck.”

“That's enough,” he smiled. “Keep it up. Be safe riding home.”

I rode over to the Rivertrail then north to Denver and up the hill to our apartment. I felt as happy as I had been in a long time. Happy for Joseph.

-------------------------------

At school on Monday, Tony was looking for Kevin. Now that he knew that Kevin was Nick's brother he wanted to talk to him. He caught up with Kevin in the cafeteria at lunch.

“Hey Kevin, do you remember me?”

“Sure Tony. How are you doing?”

“Good thank you. Did you talk to Nick about me?”

“Yes, he said you were a good guy and hopes you are OK. He was kind of worried about you. How are you doing at the Boys Home?”

“It's OK. I didn't like it much when I first got there but it is getting better. I am making some friends now.”

“That's good. I will tell Nick you are OK.”

“Yeah, tell him. You know Nick is a real good guy for me. I think he is the best guy I meet since I came here. He is my true friend I think. I wish I could see him some time,”

“OK, I will tell him. But he goes to another school so I don't know if that will happen.”

“Yeah, right now I am a new guy and I can't do much. But I am trying to make good grades and stay out of trouble so maybe I can do some things later. Right now I don't really know how stuff works there.”

“Sure, I understand. I hope things go right for you.”

“Hey, I think you are a good guy like your brother. Maybe we can be friends too. You think so?”

“Sure,” Kevin said. “I will see you here at school. If I can help you let me know.”

“OK, thank you. I see you later, OK?”

Tony sat down with his sack lunch and Kevin went to get in the food line to buy something to eat. It didn't work out for them to sit together but Kevin had a feeling he would be seeing Tony again. He wasn't sure what kind of friends he wanted to be with Tony but he did seem like a pretty nice guy in spite of his problems.

That evening at home Kevin told me about talking with Tony at school. “I think Tony really likes you. He said you were his 'true friend' as if that meant something to him.”

I thought about that. “I feel bad for Tony. He is really a warmhearted guy. I mean, he wouldn't try to hurt anybody, he is just kind of messed up.”

“Yeah, I think so. He seems like he is real lonely. There is something sad about him,” Kevin observed.

I just nodded. “He is lonely, I think.”

Later that night after we had gone to bed and the lights were out, my thoughts went back to the time Tony and I had played around at the YMCA. I liked him and did feel like we had been friends. We got off together but it was a little more than just sex. There had been a real connection, at least at the time.

It was a little confusing. I loved Joseph completely, but just thinking about little Tony turned me on. I kept thinking about Tony's tight brown body and his flashing smile as we swirled around in the water, his hands on my balls under the water, the feel of Tony's hairless uncut cock, hard in my hands.

I remembered the day at the park, naked in the grass, the hot August sun shining down on us as Tony showed me about sex. Tony knew a lot, too much in fact. But it was exciting and the memory turned me on in a big way. My hands went to my erection and I turned away from Kevin's side of the room and began to stroke myself.

The memory of the pretty little Mexican boy was vivid and I wished we could do something again. I remembered how Tony's dick felt in my mouth, the shaft hard as steel and the long foreskin so soft against my tongue.

I picked up a used sock from the floor and slipped it over my dick to be filled with a load of cum. I was highly aroused and the feeling was intense. As soon as I had orgasmed I lay still for a minute then found myself feeling a sense of guilt.

I never felt that way with Joseph. I wondered why that was. In a moment of clarity I realized that the difference was that with Joseph it was an expression of love and our concern was for each other. With Tony, even though we liked each other, we were using each other to get off and the concern was for ourselves. It was different.

I dropped the wet sock to the floor and rolled back over. Tony was exciting, no doubt about it, Tony was a turn on. But in the long run, Tony was trouble, at least for me, and a reunion was not to be.

......................to be continued.

Email comments to y2kslacker@mail.com