The Apprentice

by Sahypo

Chapter 46

Wesley decided to take Timmy's advice, and just relax when it came to sharing a table with Megan at lunchtime. He had knots in his stomach as he inched his way down the railing in the cafeteria, pushing his tray ever closer to the end. He thought about bolting on the whole thing but standing Megan up would have been a loser's way out.

She was already at the table and smiled broadly when she saw Wesley making his way toward her. He sat the tray down across from her and sat down with Megan and three other girls. He did not know that she had engineered the seating arrangement so that Wesley had to sit directly across the table.

"Hi, Wesley!"

"Um, hi, Megan." Wesley replied as he sat down. As if by magic, the other three girls announced that they were going to hang out a bit before the bell rang for afternoon classes, and got up and left, taking their trays.

Wesley wasn't sure what was going on and looked around. Megan smiled and noticing Wesley's nervousness said

"I promise I won't bite you…unless you want me to." Megan joked.

"Oh, uh, not really, that's okay" Wesley replied with a chuckle. He found himself distracted by stirrings in his groin, but at least she couldn't see the effect she was having on him from where she sat.

"I'm really glad you're back. I thought about you a lot when you were gone." Megan admitted.

"Um, you did, really?" Wesley replied, somewhat surprised at that. "Gee, thanks."

"I think the whole school did…When we heard you had been…hurt…I guess everybody worried that you would be okay and stuff. And I never had the chance to tell you that since you've been back."

"Yeah, I'm okay. I still don't remember what happened, and they said I'm gonna have more operations on my arm." Wesley replied. "There's all sorts of screws and plates and gears and stuff in it."

"They don't put gears in your arm, silly." Megan said, as she dissolved in laughter. She looked into Wesley's eyes as he blushed and looked down, smiling.

"You're funny, Wesley." Megan said, as she felt attraction rise inside her, and there was a bit of an awkward lull in the conversation.

Wesley broke the ice by asking Megan how far she lived, and the talked about their neighborhoods and bus rides. Neither of them lived in walking distance, and they lived in opposite directions. It was almost time for the bell to ring, and Wesley suggested that they might meet for lunch more often. Megan readily agreed, and it was time to leave for class.

Wesley felt a lot more at ease that afternoon, although he spent the rest of the day totally distracted and unable to concentrate on anything other than Megan. He was grateful that the rest of the day was uneventful and he wasn't called on in class. His erection was constant, and he tucked it up under his waistband and pulled his shirt out to camouflage the condition. The fact that his boyhood was not that large at present worked in his favor. Another boy sitting across from Wesley watched with amusement as Wesley adjusted himself, giving Wesley a knowing smile when Wesley noticed that he was being watched.

Wesley returned the smile and gave the boy a nod of his head. He recognized the kid from his bus route, and knew the boy lived close by. He got off the bus first in the afternoon and was picked up in the morning after Wesley.

"Happens to me all the time too." The boy said as the class settled and the teacher walked in.

"Wanna sit together on the bus?"

"Sure…sounds good." Wesley replied.

The rest of the day crawled by and the final bell rang. Lockers opened and closed as students ended the school day and filed out to the buses. Wesley hung back until the boy from the afternoon class appeared, and they boarded the bus together. Moments later, William got aboard and plopped down in the seat in front of Wesley, and the brothers exchanged greetings.

"Hey, Squirt! Did your day go pretty good?" Wesley asked.

"Yup, not bad…you?"

Wesley's classmate broke in. "Wesley had lunch with his hot date!" William broke into a huge grin, pleased at the ammunition with which he now had to rib his older brother.

"Oh, really? Do tell, Wesley!" William chirped.

"Yes, do." The classmate egged Wesley on, clearly enjoying this.

"I just sat at her table and talked…I'm not sure she even likes me, jeez." Wesley protested.

"You gonna stick with that, Slick?" the boy challenged. "She likes you."

"How do you know?" Wesley wondered.

"I was going with her sister Meredith last year…Megan's got the hots for you, dude."

Wesley turned almost purple in embarrassment as William and the boy laughed themselves out of breath.

"And from the looks of things in History class, you're pretty into her, too." The boy said, putting his hand in his crotch and raising a finger to indicate an erection, as William looked on. Wesley dropped his head below the seat back in front of him and mumbled

"Oh, my God…Are we home yet?" with a huge grin on his face. He was pretty sure that William would be relentless with the teasing. "You're both enjoying the hell out of this I bet." he said.

William nodded enthusiastically, and the classmate replied

"Damn Skippy on that."

The good-natured ribbing continued, and the classmate did reveal some intelligence that Wesley found useful, small things like Megan's favorite colors, foods and some other interesting tidbits like her proclivity for collecting crocodile knick-knacks. The bus stopped at the boy's house and Wesley's classmate got off. William slid into the seat next to Wesley and asked

"So, like is this Megan thing a thing or…?"

"I just ate lunch with her, William. Really" Wesley replied. William was grinning ear to ear.

"What?" Wesley asked, exasperated.

"But it could be a thing, if you like wanted it to be a thing, right?"

"William, how the hell should I know? I never had a …thing…before. Whatever a thing is…What is a "thing" anyway?"

"You know…. a boyfriend – girlfriend thing…. thing" William clarified, still grinning like he had eaten all the chocolate Easter eggs.

"Dude…I sat with her and ate my lunch…Don't you have friends who happen to be girls?"

"Yeah, but not ones like this" William teased, using the same finger gesture the classmate had cracked them up with earlier.

"Don't worry, you are right behind me, little brother…Your turn's a-comin!" Wesley said as they stood up when the bus reached their stop. For all of his efforts to act so grown up about everything, it was very true that Wesley was completely twitterpated by Megan and found it almost impossible to concentrate for more than a few minutes without losing his train of thought and fixating on her again.

The brothers walked up the path to the front door, and William fished his house key out and unlocked it. Wesley had to do daily routines with a small dumbbell to rehabilitate and strengthen his arm, and he timed the exercises by doing them while watching his favorite afternoon television show. He would switch his routines when the incessant commercials would come on every ten minutes or so. William would always make a snack first before doing anything else. Their mother frowned on it, but William never had any trouble eating supper later in the evening and grumbled something terrible if he didn't get a snack.

William made a sandwich and went into the den and found Wesley doing curls with the weight, and knew that he was silently counting, so he waited until Wesley stopped before he spoke.

"Want something to eat?" William asked

Silence…Wesley stared at the TV but wasn't paying attention to the program.

"Mission Control to Wesley! This is Houston."

"Oh…What? Sorry."

"You want me to make you a sandwich?"

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks anyway. Besides, you don't have to do that anymore, you know."

William had literally been Wesley's man-in-waiting during his recovery from the injuries and surgeries he had endured, and he still looked out for Wesley's welfare even though the immediate need had ended.

"I know…I guess I'm used to it, and besides, I was already there and had the stuff out." William could see that Wesley was back out in space again as soon as he began speaking.

"I left dead snakes in your bed again. Puppy turds in your shoes."

Silence again. William snapped his fingers in front of Wesley's eyes causing his brother to blink.

"Huh, What?"

"Nice tent, Wesley!" William teased, giggling. "Going camping?"

Wesley blushed scarlet and stood up and unsnapped his jeans and took them off. He put his hand inside his briefs to do some scratching and rearranging, then picked up the jeans and took them to his bedroom. He returned to the den in a pair of shorts, sat back down next to William and stuck his tongue out at his brother.

William grinned and chomped on the sandwich. Claire came home at that moment and burst through the door.

"Bags, boys!" she said, as she lugged two grocery bags into the kitchen. William got up from the couch and went out to the car to pull a load of bags out of the trunk. Claire looked in on Wesley and said

"Can you give your brother a hand, please?" No response.

"Wesley? WESLEY!"

"Oh, yeah! Right, mom!" he said with a start and got up and went out the door. He did have one good arm, after all.

After all the bags were brought in and Clair began to sort items, she caught William and called him into the kitchen. Wesley retreated to his room with his school books.

"William, is Wesley feeling well? He seems really out of it lately."

"He's just horny, Mom." William replied with a big smile.

"Excuse me?" she said, almost dropping a jar of pickles.

"He's got the hots for this girl at school."

"Since when?"

"Um, like a few days ago I guess."

"Oh, he's way too young for all that."

"Um, not anymore…trust me, mom." William said with a giggle. "I gave him baths, remember?"

Claire stopped and closed her eyes…William would be in a position to know these things having bathed Wesley until his rods and casts came off and he had the ability to do it himself.

"Jeez, I was hoping you weren't going to tell me something like that." Claire lamented, half under her breath.

"You don't want us to grow up?" William asked, confused.

"Oh, of course I do, William…That's not it at all. I just thought….well, that it wouldn't happen so quick, maybe…those go in the pantry." She said, watching William pull cans out of a grocery bag.

"Yeah, I know." William replied.

"So, is Wesley chasing this girl?" she asked.

"Nope…it's the other way around."

"That ought to boost his confidence a bit." Claire observed.

"That and other things!" William threw in.

Clair blushed brilliantly red in embarrassment and exclaimed

"William, you are absolutely awful!" They both cracked up and had a good laugh at that, but Claire knew she had to sit her boys down for a talk, probably long overdue.

Peter walked into Atherton's just after lunch time. His morning classes had let out, and he relieved Keith and logged into the point of sale terminal to start his shift.

"This came for you this morning in the mail, Peter." Keith said, handing Peter an envelope. There was no return address on the envelope; it only said "For Peter" on the outside. Keith got the mail for the store at the Post Office, so the sender probably left it at the counter and asked that it be put in Atherton's box.

Peter opened the envelope and found a letter and a photograph inside. It was a picture of Max, with his father and Ian.

Peter began to read the letter.

Dear Peter,

I wanted to let you know that after everything that happened, things are much better. Ian came out to his folks too, and both our parents have been really awesome. You were right when you said I should give my folks a chance and never give up. Thanks again for saving my life. I think of you a lot, and my Dad prays for you every night when we say grace.

- Max

Peter smiled and looked down as he tried to work down the emotions he felt. He slipped the picture back into the envelope and put the letter back inside.

"I'm out of here…call me if it gets crazy or whatever." Keith said over his shoulder as he walked out the back door.

"Have a good one, See you in the morning." Peter replied.

Peter pulled the door shut to make sure it latched and went back up front to wait customers. The store would usually close at six unless things got busy, or a customer was in a bind and called to ask Peter to wait a few minutes and that they were on their way.

It was a fairly routine afternoon, the van from the warehouse came with parts ordered that day, the battery man came and took the cores and restocked the battery rack, and the oil recycler came and pumped the oil tank.

Peter locked the doors at six, ran the end of day financials and texted Keith, sent the daily order to the warehouse and secured the cash in the floor safe. After he set the alarm, he left through the back door and got in his car.

Isaac greeted Peter in the kitchen with a kiss and said that he had news.

"The "what to do with Sean this summer" problem has been solved."

Isaac was referring to the fact that Timmy would be gone for six to eight weeks over the summer interning with the railroad museum, leaving Sean with Nicky and Kurt to hang with. Not too big a problem, except that Sean had already begun to show signs of melancholy at the idea of being apart from his friend and mentor. Serious moments of moping had begun to occur

"Yeah, how's that?"

"Melanie's got Sean signed up for a music camp in the Smokies. He has a scholarship from school."

"Doesn't surprise me. He should have a record contract." Peter remarked.

"That might happen too. The brochure said the camp has industry affiliations and sponsorships."

"So, is he all excited?"

"I think he's under the impression that it's a bluegrass camp…it's up in eastern Tennessee."

"Um, where are the anointed ones, anyway?"

"Out riding. Sean is all hyper, so Timmy went with him on the bikes."

"Did you guys eat already?" Peter asked, smelling the taco meat simmering in the skillet.

"No, they should be back any minute. We'll go ahead, they can make their own."

Peter and Isaac set about making plates of crispy tacos and sat down at the table. They ate in silence for a few minutes until Timmy and Sean burst in from the garage. They washed their hands and greeted Peter, then set about filling taco shells. The conversation between the boys had been about the music camp, and Timmy asked

"Okay, let's say it is a bluegrass thing…So how does that hurt your growth as a guitarist? You know, to be exposed to a different style?"

"Hmm. I guess it can't, really."

"Got to keep an open mind, dude." Timmy said as he sprinkled cheese on his tacos, followed by hot sauce. "Besides, the website didn't say it was a bluegrass camp."

"Damn, how can you eat that stuff? Just watching you makes my tonsils itch!" Sean remarked as he watched Timmy drizzle hot sauce on his taco filling.

Timmy responded by tilting his head back and shaking several shots of sauce into his mouth straight from the bottle.

"Mmmm. Love hot sauce! Smell my breath!" Haaaaaaaaa! Timmy teased, and lunged at Sean. Sean yelped and bolted into the living room, giggling.

"You're nuts, dude!"

Haaaaaaaaa! Another blast of exhaled breath brought more shrieks of laughter from Sean, as Peter and Isaac ate their tacos and shook their heads.

The boys ate their meal and undressed in the hallway, putting their sweaty school clothes in the wash machine on their way to the shower. Timmy turned on the water and climbed in followed by Sean. They took turns in the warm water and scrubbed each other with the loofah and shampooed each other's hair. Sean stood with his back to Timmy as his friend worked fingers through his short blond hair.

"Hey, I forgot to tell you." Sean began

"Oh, yeah?"

"Went to the hormone doctor the other day. The one I got the shots from." Sean continued, referring to the testosterone injections he had begun receiving before leaving New York and had continued to get from his new endocrinologist in Texas.

"Okay…How did it go?"

"I'm done. I had my last one the visit before that." Sean replied.

"Hey, that's awesome…So you're cured and they think you'll live?" Timmy joked.

"That's what they told me!" Sean responded, giggling.

Timmy had his hands on Sean's head, massaging shampoo into the boy's scalp and asked

"Could I get a job there taking measurements?" Timmy asked, bringing a handful of lather down to Sean's boyhood, which instantly began to respond to Timmy's touch. Timmy's other hand found Sean's nipples.

"Be a lot better than how they do it!" Sean declared.

"Really?"

"Yup. They grab the end of it and stretch it when it's soft, and measure that."

"Ow! You don't even get hard?"

"No way."

"Man, that sucks…"

"Now that's a great idea." Sean replied, and they both cracked up.

Sean's organ withstood less than ninety seconds of Timmy's soapy ministrations before his knees sagged slightly and he moaned softly and tilted his head back on Timmy's shoulder. Timmy felt several strong pulses in Sean's member before the stiffness subsided and Sean caught his breath.

The boys traded places, and Sean returned the favor Timmy had bestowed upon him. After Timmy's climax several minutes later, they dried off and each put on a pair of shorts.

It was Friday night, and Isaac suggested some cards, and the foursome spent several hours playing Spades, Gin, Texas Hold'em and a few other games that Sean and Timmy had not played before.

Sean was having a pretty good run and received a bit of teasing about his "beginner's luck". It soon became apparent that he was actually pretty adept at keeping track of cards in play and would probably be a poker player to be wary of in the future. During the game, Peter got up to use the restroom and Isaac went to the kitchen to get a batch of popcorn going. He noticed the photograph Peter had brought home from the store sticking halfway out of the envelope. He took it out and looked at the images of the two boys and the smiling man behind them. Peter read the note from Max, and knew that he had chosen the best man he could have found to be his partner.

Up the street at the Jarvis's, Saturday dawned bright, sunny and a bit cool for the season. Kurt got up first, and after relieving himself, padded into Nicky's room and gently woke his best friend. He sat on the bed and waited for Nicky to become conscious.

"Hey…Umm, you got anything planned for today?"

Nicky stretched and tried to get his eyes to focus "Uuurrrrrghhh…Ahhhhh!" "Um, huh? Uh, I don't…no, I don't have nothing going on."

"Will you do something for me?"

"You're not going to rob a bank, are you?"

Kurt gave Nicky a look that said that he was serious and didn't reply.

Nicky realized that something was troubling Kurt, and responded.

"Um, sure…What do you need me to do?"

"I have to go back to the trailer…I…want…I need … you to come with me." Kurt whispered.

"Is this about the dreams, Kurt?"

Kurt nodded.

"Let me ask if mom or dad will take us."

"No, I was thinking we could ride there on our bikes."

"Okay. I need to pee and brush my teeth." Nicky said as he got out of bed. "Breakfast first too."

Nicky began to dress after he brushed his teeth and went into the kitchen to find something to eat.

Jerry was sitting at the table drinking his first cup of Saturday morning coffee, and Nicky walked around the table and punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"Hey, Killer." Jerry mumbled "Good Morning"

"Hey Dad." Nicky acknowledged.

"What are you two doing today?" Jerry wondered.

"Kurt wants to go visit the trailer, and he asked me to come with him." Nicky replied.

"I wonder why?"

"Has something to do with those dreams he has."

"Do I need to drive you guys over there?" Jerry asked.

"No…He wants to do a bike trip."

"I see. You guys go down the trail through the river park, Nicky. It's a bit longer but I don't want you boys on Sherman Boulevard. That's six lanes of cars and you can cross under in the wildlife tunnel in the park. And you're going to take my cell phone in case you have trouble or break down or something."

"Okay, Dad." Nicky said as he poured milk into his cereal.

Jerry was just going to ask Nicky if Kurt was okay, when the boy came into the kitchen and sat down at the table between Jerry and Nicky.

" G'morning, Kurt." Jerry said.

"Morning, Dad" Kurt replied as he poured out a bowl of cereal.

"Kurt…um…if you're going back to the trailer to get something, I'm pretty sure whatever we didn't take that day is probably long gone." Jerry offered.

"I know…I'm sure of that. I…I don't know what I hope to find…I just have to be there for some reason. I'm sorry if I'm not making any sense."

"Nobody said it had to, son. I hope you find it, whatever it is."

"Thanks." Kurt replied. The boys ate their cereal without conversation, and Jerry got up and retrieved his phone from the docking station on the secretary. He brought it over to the table and set it down next to Nicky.

"Don't lose it, or break it, or you'll be buried with it."

Nicky giggled. "That makes no sense, Dad. If I lose it, how can you bury it with me? And if it was found again, that means it isn't lost, so I'm innocent to begin with…Ha!" Nicky grinned from ear to ear, very pleased with himself.

"You're not on the Supreme Court yet, Nicky!" Jerry chided. "You get my message, right?"

"I'll guard it like the family jewels, Dad" Nicky replied, slipping the phone into his shorts. Jerry shook his head and put his hand over his eyes. Kurt shook his head and chuckled at the whole spectacle. "Just kidding, Dad." Nicky said as he took the phone out and put it on the table.

"Can I borrow your purse, too?" he teased, referring to the fanny pouch Jerry sometimes wore to keep his keys and wallet handy if he had no pockets.

"It's not a purse! Now, would you like the deed to the house?" Jerry replied.

"I already have keys, Dad." Nicky snapped, grinning. "And it's a purse…trust me."

"You're killin' me, kid." Jerry said as got up and went back to the master bedroom. He came back with the "purse", and two ten dollar bills.

"Do you know when you'll be back?" Jerry asked.

"I'm not sure, Dad. When do you want us back?" Kurt asked quietly.

"Just be back before dark, guys. Here's some money if you get hungry." The boys got up and hugged Jerry from both sides, and took their bowls to the sink. Nicky strapped the "purse" on and slipped the phone inside.

"I don't trust it in my shorts pocket." Nicky said as they walked out to the garage.

Nicky found the thirty-minute ride fascinating as the boys made their way across town. Neither of them had been in the wildlife crossing under Sherman boulevard, and all it actually consisted of was a wide bridge with a green belt strip underneath rather than a road or river. They stopped to rest a few minutes, and Kurt seemed to relax a bit, even though Nicky could tell that this adventure had Kurt's anxieties elevated.

Nicky reached over and squeezed Kurt's knee. It made Kurt smile and say

"Thanks for doing this for me."

Nicky simply replied "You're welcome." He couldn't think of anything clever or witty that fit with the moment, so he just stuck to what works. The boys were minutes away from the trailer park, and Nicky followed Kurt down the driveway.

They stopped in front of trailer space 12, and Nicky recognized the old unit from his visit here with Jerry to collect Kurt's things. A woman in her late twenties was sitting on the step watching two small boys rip around the tiny patch of grass between the units, screaming and laughing and waving cap guns.

Kurt had stopped in the drive and just watched the woman and the boys, who appeared to be about five years old. Nicky pulled up beside Kurt and stopped, and the woman noticed them.

"Can I help you two with something?" she asked, somewhat defensively. Kurt appeared to be in his own world and Nicky put his hand on Kurt's shoulder and asked "Are you okay?"

Kurt nodded and wiped away a tear or two, and the woman looked totally confused. Nicky got off his bike and put the kickstand down, and turned to speak to the woman when he was grabbed from behind and felt a small figure thud into him.

"Hands up, Mister!" the preschooler thundered at the top of his lungs. The woman put her hand over her eyes and shook her head.

"Chase, for God's sakes." She muttered.

Nicky immediately threw his hands up with a grin on his face and replied "Don't shoot, Sherriff! I'll come quietly!".

The concerned look on the woman's face evaporated into a smile, as the little boy, who still had Nicky by the legs, said

"You gonna see the judge!"

Nicky was marched over to the woman, and the boy let him go and took a seat next to his mother on the steps and looked Nicky over from head to toe.

"Brung ya a wanted one, judge." The little boy declared.

"Um, Hi…I'm Nicky, and that's Kurt."

"Ellen. You just met Chase, and that's Cameron running around."

"Nice to meet y'all…We don't want to bother you or nothing like that. Um, Kurt lived here before you moved in."

She looked from Nicky to Kurt, as she realized who Kurt was.

"Oh, My God"…You're not….uh, never mind. I guess you just can't believe everything you hear."

Kurt and Nicky looked at each other in confusion.

"Um, what's that?" Kurt asked.

"That you was dead, honey…Your momma done went too far and kilt ya, and got sent up to Huntsville for it."

"Everybody here thinks I'm dead?"

"Uh-huh. They said you up and went missing and two days later, the Sheriff came for your Momma."

"He wasn't missing…he packed up and got out…Kurt's been living with me ever since." Nicky said quietly.

"If everyone knew she was beating me, why didn't someone do something?" Kurt said, turning his face away and down so Ellen and Nicky wouldn't see his pain.

Nicky stepped back over to Kurt's bike and reached out to touch Kurt on the shoulder. Ellen stood up and walked out to the street as well and approached Kurt from the other side. The little boys stopped playing and stood still in the yard, watching.

"You came here to put stuff behind you, right?" Nicky asked. Kurt nodded and smiled. His eyes were wet.

"Is there something you need? Um, there wuddn't nothing in the trailer when we moved in, so if y'all came back for something you forgot I'm sure it's long gone." Ellen explained, in the heavy drawl of a dirt farmer's daughter.

Kurt shook his head

"There was nothing, no. I just… watching your kids play and be happy…it helps. This place wasn't happy for me."

Ellen hugged Kurt tightly, and the little boys' jaws dropped open. She began to speak softly to Kurt,

"Honey, we ain't got a bucket to piss in or a window to throw it out of. Times is a bit hard for us right now, but the boys get lotsa lovin', and this trailer is a home now, Kurt. Their daddy come home to me every night, and these kids ain't never had a hand laid on em'. I wish you'da been able to have that too."

They stayed in the embrace a few more moments, then she let Kurt go, and stepped back.

"Thank you" Kurt said softly. "I have an awesome family now." He tilted his head toward Nicky, who blushed, and Ellen smiled.

"Thank God. Late's better than never, ain't it, honey?"

Kurt nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Um, Ellen? Is it okay if we leave our bikes here for like twenty minutes, maybe?" Nicky asked.

"Sure, I'll watch'em. Do whatcha y'all gotta do."

"Thanks…Kurt, show me where those dreams end up." Nicky said as Kurt got off his bicycle and they walked them over to the side of the trailer and crossed the tiny yard and went into the woods through a hole in the thickets that the trailer park kids had kept open over time. There was a well worn path in the dirt, which relieved Nicky. He had gotten a poison ivy rash a few years back and was glad that he wasn't walking through patches of the low growing three leafed vegetation. He had spent an entire week that summer with nothing on until the rash dried up.

Ellen was sitting on the steps again and her boys looked up at her. "Mommy, who….why'd you hug that kid?"

"You know how you need a hug when you need it?"

"Uh-huh" both children said in unison as they nodded their heads.

"Well, that boy needs a lot of them, honey." She said. The boys went off to play again.

In the woods, Kurt led Nicky down the path until they smelled the pungent odor of tobacco. Kurt stopped Nicky with a wave of his hand and they stood and looked around. After several minutes, Kurt pointed to the base of a large tree about twenty yards from where they stood. A teenage boy sat on the ground with his back against the tree, facing away from Kurt and Nicky. He was thin like Kurt, but taller and had blond hair.

Plumes of cigarette smoke curled into the air above him. Kurt motioned Nicky to follow him back up the path away from the older boy. When they had some distance, Nicky whispered to Kurt

"You know him?"

"Uh-huh" Kurt replied. "He's the guy I saw getting head that time I told you about."

Nicky's eyes widened. "Really…the one with the big dick?"

Kurt nodded. "It's huge."

They made their way back up to a turnoff on the path and took another route until they got to the edge of a clearing in the woods. Kurt looked up at the sun through the trees and laid down on the ground.

"This is it"

"What is?"

"Lay down here with me."

Nicky wasn't sure what was going on, but figured he would find out soon enough, so he lay down next to Kurt.

"This is what I see in the dreams just before I wake up. I hear you saying "go to sleep, go to sleep" and that's it. Next thing I know is I'm waking up in the morning."

"Did you used to lay under this tree when you lived here?"

"No. This is the first time…but it looks just like it does in the dream. Weird, huh?"

"Yeah…I guess."

They lay there for several more minutes looking up through the leaves until they became aware of flapping noises and footsteps close by, so they got to their feet and soon the smoker approached the edge of the clearing.

"Hey…didn't you used to live in trailer 12? It's Kurt…right?" the boy asked, thoroughly surprised. He was clad in cut off blue jeans shorts and a ratty concert tee shirt, with flip flops on his feet.

Kurt nodded. "Nicky, this is Doug."

The boy acknowledged Nicky with a "Hiya" and a nod, then turned back to Kurt.

"Whoa, dude …everybody said you was… "

"Dead. Yeah, I heard. Believe me, that's bullshit." Kurt said softly. Nicky and Doug broke into laughter and Kurt smiled.

That broke the ice, and everyone relaxed a bit. The visit to the trailer park and woods with Nicky had brought some closure for Kurt, and the brief visit with Ellen had done the most good.

"There's a family in your trailer now, man. Salvation Army came and took everything in it."

"Well, it's theirs now. I split, Mom's in prison, and we lost everything…that's about it."

"You're in a foster home now?" the boy asked. Kurt nodded.

"Shit, that sucks…"

"Not the way I see it." Kurt said quietly. "I'm much better off living with Nicky."

"Oh, I meant things here sucked, not that Nicky's place does. It's got to be way better than here."

"It's cool. I know what you were trying to say." Nicky responded.

"I'm gonna get the hell out of this place too. Already talked to the Marines. Just have to get my grandpa to sign for me when I'm seventeen, and outta here!" Doug said, making a motion with his hands like a plane taking off.

"So, did you quit school?" Kurt asked.

"Can't. I'm only fifteen and the Marines won't take dropouts …Why?"

"I stayed home with the flu one day a couple of months before I left, and I saw you and the short kid with the black hair in trailer 14 before they rented it out again. I figured you guys might have quit school or something."

Doug looked nervous and stammered as he replied.

"Uh…no, we uh, decided to uh, play hooky that day." He turned beet red as Kurt and Nicky tried to hide smiles.

"What?" the older boy protested until he realized that Kurt must have watched them through his bedroom window. They had thought the trailer park was deserted at that time of day during the week. His eyes grew wide as he began to panic. He immediately realized that he and his friend had been caught breaking and entering, as well as engaging in fellatio.

"Oh, God…You…you won't say anything, will you? Please?" Doug begged. "It would fuck up my shot getting into the Marines."

"Nah, relax… We're cool, Nicky doesn't know anyone here, and I'm supposed to be dead, right?" Kurt joked, and the boy loosened up.

"Does he know?" Doug asked, indicating Nicky.

Kurt nodded. "You can talk in front of him" Kurt replied.

The teenager glanced at Nicky, smiled then continued.

"I keep telling that silly dumbass we're gonna get caught, but he don't care."

"So, are you and him boyfriends?" Kurt asked.

"No, he's my best buddy, but it's not like that…I like girls, he's gay…I've never touched him…he doesn't let me. It's kinda like a game."

"What kind of game?"

"He only jerks off when he's sucking me, and I don't jerk off at all unless he says I can."

"That's, um… different." Nicky observed.

"Well, it's the way he likes it, and I let him make the rules…it works out good for both of us. He likes to jerk off a lot, so…" Doug broke into a big grin.

"How often?" Kurt asked.

"Every day after school…um, maybe two or three times on Saturday and Sunday."

"So, where…" Kurt began.

"It's his mom's weekend…you know, visitation."

Nicky and Kurt smiled and looked at each other.

"Um…Just curious, but…how big?" Kurt began.

"Nine inches." Doug replied, cutting to the chase. Nicky's eyes went wide and he looked down at the front of Doug's shorts. Kurt chuckled at Nicky's reaction.

"Guess you get asked that a lot?" Kurt offered

"Constantly, yeah."

"It must be really cool to have a monster like that!" Nicky beamed, and Kurt nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, well." Doug replied, "It is kinda fun to see the looks on people's faces and shit…But, there's times when it would be nice if it was six inches hard instead of almost ten."

"Yeah, six would be cool, if we ever get there!" Kurt joked, causing Nicky and Doug to crack up in laughter.

"You guys want to see it, don'tcha?" Doug asked.

"Hell, yes!" Nicky exclaimed.

Doug was only too willing to please his audience. He had first noticed the reactions that exposing himself caused at the age of eight, at the pool. By the time he had turned ten, his erect endowment had already reached adult size, and only got larger until it ceased growing in his thirteenth year. Doug fed his exhibitionist urges at the pool locker room, where he would go to swim several times a week in the evenings, and let the regulars have a show. Once, when Doug was twelve, a man he used to see there invited Doug to come to his house. The man let Doug smoke pot and drink beer, then asked him to pose nude and masturbate to orgasm on video camera while the man shot stills. He left the man's house with eighty dollars in his pocket and a good buzz on. He was unaware of the fact that his images had been an internet sensation for almost three years among those trading illegal pornography.

"I gotta pee anyway.."

Nicky and Kurt watched intently as Doug unsnapped the shorts, and lowered the zipper, dropping the shorts to his ankles. He was clad in a pair of boxers and slid his shirt up his skinny torso. He slipped the boxers down and the boys gaped with their mouths open. Dangling off Doug's thin frame was the largest penis either of the boys had ever seen, easily seven inches long. Circumcised, and capped with a cherry sized glans that didn't appear to fit the rest of the organ. The long shaft tapered sharply in girth the last inch or so from the circumcision scar to the corona behind smaller diameter of the cone shaped glans. Doug's pubic region was completely shaved and smooth. Doug swung his hips and the floppy phallus gyrated around in circles for the boy's entertainment.

Doug lifted the huge organ, which was obviously flaccid by the way it flopped and jiggled in his hand and held it as urine began to flow. The golf ball size scrotum looked tiny tucked tight under the huge phallus.

"Holy cow, THAT's soft?" Nicky squeaked. Doug nodded.

"As soft as it gets, yeah."

"So how much bigger does it get when it's hard?" Kurt wondered. He had seen this penis erect before, but most of it had been in Doug's buddy's mouth at the time.

"Maybe two inches more, but mainly it just gets stiffer." Doug replied. The boys watched as Doug continued to urinate, then finally the flow stopped, and Doug flipped the last drops off into the dirt. He pulled the boxers and cut-offs back up, zipped and snapped.

"Um, have you done it…you know, gone all the way with a girl, and stuff?" Nicky wondered.

"Nah…got jerked off a couple times by some lady that used to babysit me."

"Does your grandpa know?"

"Huh-uh…He wasn't there at the time, and I sure as hell ain't gonna say nothin'."

"So, what happened?" Kurt asked, eager to hear the story.

"She gave me a bath, made sure it was very, very, very clean." Doug replied with a leer.

He had fond recollections of the surprised look on the woman's face as she looked into the bathtub to check on her nine-year-old charge. It was the first time he had been sexually stimulated by another person. He had insisted that she bathe him on two subsequent occasions when his grandfather had hired her to babysit.

The wind rose for a moment, causing the trees to sway and wave, and the leaves to shimmer. The boys watched and listened and enjoyed the cooling breeze for a few moments, before Doug spoke again.

"Well, I'm glad you got out, dude…how long does your mom have in the joint?"

"Six years."

"Gonna see her?"

"Can't…No contact allowed until I turn 18 and then only if I want to."

"You gonna let her?"

Kurt shook his head.

"That's pretty much over with."

"I wish you luck….glad to see you ain't dead." Doug grinned and the boys shook hands.

"Good luck with the Marines, Doug. I hope it's everything you want when you get in."

"Thanks. You guys gotta go?"

"Yeah, we should." Nicky replied. Kurt nodded. "Catch you again, sometime, maybe?"

"Yup, that would be cool." Doug threw back.

Nicky and Kurt made their way back to the trailer yard, and they stepped up to the porch where Ellen was still sitting watching her pre-school sons. Chase opened the screen door behind his mother and came out of the trailer. Standing on the edge of the porch, he motioned Kurt to come closer, and the teenager did, curious as to what the child wanted. The little boy threw his arms around Kurt and squeezed him tightly in a bear hug.

"Oh, gee!" Kurt woofed in surprise.

"Momma says you need lots of those!" the small boy said in a very serious voice, with a very serious look on his face.

Kurt returned the hug and said

"Well, thanks little buddy. That's the best hug ever!" Kurt smiled at Ellen over the child's shoulder and waited until the boy let go.

"Thanks for watching our bikes." Nicky said.

"Maybe y'all will drop by again and see us?" Ellen offered.

"Might have to come back for more hugs." Kurt replied, as Chase flew off the porch in pursuit of his brother.

"If you can catch him! You boys take care and ride safe, y' hear?"

"Yes, ma'am. We will…bye!" Nicky said as they rode out onto the street.

Nicky and Kurt rode in silence until they got back to the overpass in the park, and Nicky asked

"You okay?"

Kurt looked at Nicky and thought for a minute before he answered.

"Yeah…I think so. Going back there….it….I think that did some good. I feel a lot better now."

"Well, then, I'm glad we did this." Nicky said quietly.

"Um…Thanks for being my best friend and coming with me, Nicky."

"Kurt….Um, thanks for letting me in…asking me to come with you. It might sound corny, but I think I understand that dream a little better, now that I have been here…All those times I came to you in the night when you were in the dream…uh, it's almost like I'm with you…" Nicky trailed off.

"You are there….I can feel you…hear you….and see you under the tree."

"Does it ever change…like do you think you will know me sometime in the dream?" Nicky asked almost in a whisper.

"I…I don't know." Kurt replied.

They rode home after stopping to eat lunch at a burger place on the way.

That evening as Nicky finished his shower and got ready for bed, Kurt came to him and said that he didn't want to be alone. Nicky moved over and let Kurt into his bed, as he had done so many times before. The boys were asleep within minutes.

Kurt never had the dream again.

Talk about this story on our forum

Authors deserve your feedback. It's the only payment they get. If you go to the top of the page you will find the author's name. Click that and you can email the author easily.* Please take a few moments, if you liked the story, to say so.

[For those who use webmail, or whose regular email client opens when they want to use webmail instead: Please right click the author's name. A menu will open in which you can copy the email address (it goes directly to your clipboard without having the courtesy of mentioning that to you) to paste into your webmail system (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo etc). Each browser is subtly different, each Webmail system is different, or we'd give fuller instructions here. We trust you to know how to use your own system. Note: If the email address pastes or arrives with %40 in the middle, replace that weird set of characters with an @ sign.]

* Some browsers may require a right click instead