This is a story of love between two young men. If you are under age, or live in an area where reading stories that include sex between males is illegal, or if you're not into this type of story, please leave. The story began in 1969. While the characters and their story are completely fictional, it is set at places that are real and is told against a backdrop of some real events. This was a time when all sex was safe. It isn't now, so please respect yourself and others enough to always play safe.
I would like to thank all of those who have written to me with comments, suggestions and encouragement, especially my fellow writers in the Nifty Six. The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at NJMcMick@yahoo.com.
October 1974
Charles
The school year began with more promise than any I could remember. I actually had a few friends although I soon discovered that Keith and Doug weren't the best buddies I thought they were. At work they had hung together because they were the only teenagers there besides me. At the pool, all of the high school kids stuck together. But once back in school, they each had their own group of friends. It was no surprise to learn that Doug's friends were mostly white and Keith's were mostly black. I felt most comfortable with the black kids but I'd become closer to Doug over the summer so I split my time between the two groups. I saw each of them outside of school a couple of times a week. They were still friendly toward each other and sometimes the two groups of friends hung out together.
To be honest, part of the reason I saw a little more of Doug was a physical attraction. Keith wasn't bad looking but he was so much bigger than me, over six feet tall and solid muscle. He was impressive looking but I guess that isn't my type. Doug was closer to my size, a couple of inches taller and an average build. Aside from the wrestling at the pool he hadn't given me any definite reason to think that he was gay but I had hope.
Sometimes we'd hang out near the school or on the Green, sometimes at Doug's house. One Saturday I brought him over to my place. I showed him around downstairs and introduced him to everyone. Doug already knew Danny; he was his history teacher. It was a nice day so I grabbed a pitcher of iced tea from the refrigerator and we went out onto the patio.
"Damn, Charles, when you said you lived with foster parents I pictured some old do-gooder religious couple that took in kids. This place is like one of those hippie communes, except a lot nicer. I would have never expected Mr. Stephens to be living like this."
"It's a more traditional home than you might think, Doug, but I think it's a great place to live. I got lucky, for once."
"Yeah, that Lucy is really a fox. Who is she sleeping with, Mr. Stephens or that other guy? Or maybe both?"
"It's not my place to talk about their private lives. I'll just say that there's plenty of room for everybody to have their own space here. We're pretty much like a big family."
I managed to change the subject by asking him about some of the kids I was meeting at school. I had been nervous about him meeting my 'family' but it had gone well. Now that he knew everybody it would be easier to hang out here.
The first Saturday in October Doug's friend Jack was having a party. Usually Billy and Danny wanted me home by eleven so Doug suggested I stay over his parents' house so I could stay out later. He didn't have a curfew. I was really looking forward to the party because it was a chance to get to know a lot of the kids from school better. Because I was still so quiet I didn't know anyone much except Doug and Keith. Most of their friends knew who I was but I think they just thought of me as that skinny little black kid who was always hanging around.
I went over to Doug's in the afternoon and had supper with his family. Afterwards, we walked over to Jack's. Doug said Jack's parents went out quite a bit so he hosted a lot of parties.
"You don't really have to be invited. He just puts out the word and people show up. You'll probably know most of the kids from school."
"Maybe know isn't the right word. Recognize might be more like it."
"Yeah, well, stick with me then. I'll introduce you around."
The party got noisy and wild pretty fast. I had no idea who most of the kids were. Doug had warned me that the punch was spiked with vodka so I stayed away from it. I didn't have any experience drinking booze and I didn't want to make a fool of myself. Mostly I stuck to Coke. I stayed pretty close to Doug all night. I talked to some of the other kids, more than I did at school, anyway, but I wasn't very comfortable. Around ten o'clock Jack walked up to Doug, pulled a joint out of his pocket, and suggested we go outside. I wasn't sure I wanted to smoke pot but I knew I didn't want to be left alone inside with all of the other kids so I followed them outside. They lit up and showed me how to smoke. The first time I inhaled it burned like hell and I started coughing uncontrollably. I'd just stopped coughing when it was my turn again.
"Try this, Charles. Open your mouth and get ready to inhale." Doug took a drag on the joint and leaned toward me until his lips were less than an inch from mine. He blew the smoke toward my mouth and I quickly inhaled it. It went down much smoother that way but I had another problem. I got hard as soon as I felt his breath on my lips. It's a good thing it was dark in the yard. We finished up the joint and went inside. I didn't think I felt much from the pot although everything seemed a little funny the rest of the night. After a while I started feeling really tired. Doug had smoked a lot more than me and was drinking a lot of punch so he was pretty out of it by midnight and I was able to talk him into leaving.
Aside from being so tired I felt pretty good. Doug was staggering and kept bumping into me. I didn't mind. When we got up to his room I flopped onto the spare bed. He stripped down to his briefs and jumped on his bed. He had a goofy look on his face.
"You aren't going to sleep in your clothes, are you, Charles?"
"No, I guess not." I got up and undressed, being careful not to look at him. No way my underwear would hide a boner. I quickly got back into bed and pulled the sheet over me.
"Hey, come over here, I've got something to show you." Doug was leaning over the foot of the bed feeling around for something under it. His cute round little butt was sticking up in the air. I grabbed a pillow to hold in my lap and went over and sat on the edge of his bed. He straightened up and held out a Playboy magazine.
"I found this in my brother's room. Sit over here and we can look at the pictures."
I'd never seen pictures of naked girls before but I was pretty sure I didn't have to worry about them making me hard. Sitting next to Doug was another story. He kept leafing through the magazine, stopping at the pictures, talking about tits and pussy. I glanced down and could see by the bulge in his white cotton briefs that he was hard. So was I. The girls didn't turn me on but thinking about guys being with them did. Knowing that Doug was sitting next to me with a hardon was almost more than I could bear.
"Hey, ya want to jerk off, Charles?"
"Huh?"
"Oh, c'mon. You don't drink, you don't smoke, but you've got to jerk off. Everybody does."
"Yeah, I do, but that's kind of a private thing."
"You never heard of a circle jerk? A couple of friends and I used to beat off together when we first learned how. You want to? Those pictures made me so horny I could explode. C'mon, let's do it."
I really wanted to watch him do it but I was scared. He kept after me until I finally agreed. We pulled our briefs off and sat sideways on the bed, leaning against the wall, slowly stroking our dicks. I tried not to be obvious but I got a good look at his. I keep hearing that black guys are supposed to have big dicks but mine is just a little under six inches. That's supposed to be average, I guess. Doug's looked like it was a little longer than mine but not as thick.
"Have you ever had a blowjob, Charles?"
"No," I answered truthfully. "Have you?"
"Yeah, once. I was at a party last year and there was this girl there who would blow just about anyone. It was great. I tried to get my girlfriend to do it after that but she wouldn't."
"Your girlfriend?"
"Yeah, but that was last year. It didn't last long. But I've wondered what it must be like to give a blowjob. I mean, that one girl loved to do it but my girl wouldn't do it. So that makes me wonder what it's all about."
I thought about the guys last year who had forced me to blow them. It wasn't like I did anything much. They just stuck their dicks in my mouth, grabbed my head and forced me down on them. I had fantasies about sucking a dick but not like that.
"Hey, Charles, you want to blow each other? Then we'd know what it was like from both sides."
"I don't know, Doug." Actually, there was nothing in the world I wanted to do more but I didn't want him to know that.
"C'mon. It doesn't mean we're queer or anything. It's just an experiment. I wouldn't do it with anyone else but you're such a close friend. Let's help each other out. I'll go first if you want."
He jumped off the bed and knelt on the floor between my knees. He grabbed my rock hard cock and held it pointing straight up, then leaned over until his mouth was just over it. He licked it around the head and then put it in his mouth and began sucking. His mouth was so hot and wet. I'd never imagined anything could feel that good. He started bobbing up and down, taking more of it in his mouth each time. His hand was wrapped around the base of my dick and stroked it up and down in rhythm with his bobbing head. It seemed like it took less than a minute before I was on the edge.
"I'm gonna cum, Doug," I whispered.
He kept right on going.
"You better pull off, man. I'm gonna cum."
He didn't stop and I began to shoot. I don't know how many times I shot but I'd never cum that much before. He kept sucking me until I was dry and started to go soft. My dick got really sensitive so I pushed his head off me.
"Man, that was fantastic, Doug. I'm sorry I came in your mouth, though."
"That's okay. You warned me but I got carried away. Maybe that's good 'cause now I know what it's like for a girl. Your turn."
We switched places and I knelt there staring at his hard thin dick. I licked at the head a bit and then took it into my mouth. I ran my tongue around it a few times and felt Doug's hands on my head pushing down. It reminded me of the guys in Newark last year and I panicked and backed off.
"Don't push me, Doug. I'll gag. Let me take it at my own speed."
I took him in my mouth again and began sucking, slowly sliding further and further down his shaft. I think I managed to take the whole thing. My nose was buried in his pubic hair, anyway. I loved the feel of that hard flesh inside me. Doug didn't last much longer than I had. He didn't give me any warning, either. The first sign I had was when his hips started bucking and I tasted his cum in my mouth. He kept cumming and I kept swallowing. After all, he had swallowed all of mine.
As soon as he finished he pulled my head off him. I crawled up onto the bed next to him, pressing against him slightly. He lay there trying to catch his breath.
"You'd better get back to your bed, Charles. We don't want anyone to walk in on us like this."
As I got into my bed he turned out the light. He didn't say anything for a while. In a few minutes I could tell from his breathing that he'd fallen asleep. It took me a while to doze off. I had been so tired when we got back to the house but the sex had stimulated my mind as well as my dick. I wasn't sure just what this all meant but I couldn't wait to talk to Doug in the morning.
Of course, we couldn't say anything over breakfast with his parents there. His family was going to church so I had to pack up and get home. I threw the clothes I'd worn to the party in my bag and was trying to think of a way to bring up the night before when Doug beat me to it.
"Man, was I high last night. Too much to drink and too much to smoke. I don't remember anything after we got back to the house. I hope I wasn't too rude or sloppy, Charles."
I stopped and looked into his eyes. I wasn't sure exactly what I saw there but I knew there would be no talking about our little 'experiment' the night before.
"No, you weren't, Doug. You were nice."
Billy
Danny felt bad about 'making' me go to his reunion on our anniversary so he insisted on us going out to eat at The Restaurant to celebrate our birthdays a couple of weeks later. We hadn't been there since the spring so we were both looking forward to it. Wayne was still running the place and Fred was still the chef but other than that just about the entire staff had changed since we worked there. It was still like a second home to us, though. We'd spent almost as much time there as at Rutgers.
Mark was our waiter so needless to say we got somewhat better service than the other customers and Fred paid extra attention in preparing our food. It was a wonderful, romantic evening. Toward the end of the night things were less busy and Mark was able to spend a little time talking to us.
"So are you feeling old now that you're twenty-three, guys?"
"Billy will have to answer that. His birthday was yesterday. I'm still twenty-two."
"Yeah, for like another hour and a half, smart-ass."
"Actually, it's another eight hours if you want to get technical, Billy. You're just going to have to accept that you're old and I'm not."
"Good thing I'm into younger guys."
"Yeah, and you're lucky I'm into older guys."
"I'm lucky? I think you may be a little lucky yourself, white boy."
"Okay, truce, guys. I've got some news for you."
"News or gossip, Mark?"
"Maybe a little of each, Billy. Todd was in here the other night. When his 'date' was in the men's room we talked a bit and he gave me some info about your old boss, Danny."
"Dr. Swanson? I don't really want to hear about him, Mark."
"Well, you'll like this. Last summer I had run into Todd after work one night and told him about all about what his 'client' had done to you. He was really pissed. He said he always thought you were sweet, Danny."
"Jeez, even the hustlers are calling me sweet. I've got to do something nasty to change my reputation."
"I can think of a few things we can try when we get home, babe."
"That wasn't what I meant, Billy. Only you would know about that so how would that help my reputation?"
"It would work for me, Danny, that's all that matters."
"Well, anyway, guys, like I said, Todd was upset about it. So he spread the word to some of the other escorts he knows. Now whenever Dr. Swanson calls, they are all busy. They've made it clear their services are no longer available to him. His right hand must be getting awfully tired by now."
"Maybe his wife is taking care of him."
"You didn't meet her, Billy. I think Mark is right with the hand comment. In any case, I'm happy to hear the news. It's a nice birthday present. That creep deserves everything he gets, or in this case, doesn't get."
Danny didn't usually gloat over other's misfortunes but he had a right to in this case. As for myself I wished a lot worse for the guy, but I supposed that would do.
Danny
As we got into the school year I enjoyed being at Morristown High more and more. I began to look at my year in Chatham as extended student teaching. This seemed so much more like the real thing. It took a while but I started warming up to Mike Romano, my department head. He wasn't as stodgy as I first thought but he was hard to get to know. He knew more about American history than anyone I'd met and we had some fascinating discussions but he rarely spoke about his personal life. I didn't think he had one. One night when Aunt Connie was over for dinner I asked her about him.
"He seems like a nice guy but it's so hard to get to know him. The only time he shows any real enthusiasm is when he's talking about history. There seems to be an underlying sadness with him. He wears a wedding ring but I never hear him talk about his wife."
"Yes, Danny, sad is definitely the word for Mike. He was anything but sad though back when I first started teaching. Evan and I socialized quite a bit with Mike and his wife Celia. They were always so much fun to be with. They were so in love and were amazing on the dance floor."
"I can't imagine him dancing. So what happened?"
"Cancer. Celia was sick and struggled so long but it took her in the end. Mike was devastated. He absolutely adored her."
"How long ago was that, Aunt Connie?"
"Over twenty years, Billy."
"Wow, and he never got over it? He just shut down his life?"
"No, he never got over her, Danny, but he kept going. They had a son who was maybe eight or nine at the time. Mike devoted himself to raising him and did a wonderful job. Paul was such a beautiful charming boy, so bright. I taught him a couple of years."
"You said was. Don't tell me he died too, Aunt Connie."
"No, nothing so tragic, Billy. He went to college out west. Stanford, I think it was. When he graduated he stayed out there so I don't think Mike sees him much any more. So now teaching is Mike's whole life."
I tried to imagine what I'd do if I lost Billy. I couldn't even think about it without hurting. Even with the support of all of those I loved so much I don't think I would survive. I made up my mind to try to be even nicer to Mike. It wouldn't be easy to be friends with him though, having to keep most of my personal life a secret.
November 1974
Charles
I wasn't sure what to expect from Doug after that night at his house and his apparent memory loss. For a few weeks everything was just as it had been before. We saw each other in school and hung out afterwards several days a week. I did find myself taking quick glances at his crotch quite a bit, remembering what was there. When he mentioned that Jack was having another party and suggested I spend the night at his place again I didn't know what to expect.
It turned out to be almost an exact repeat of the other time. Doug got sorta sloppy drunk at the party and when we got back to his room we took turns blowing each other again. Afterward, he fell asleep without a word. In the morning, he acted as if nothing had happened. A few days went by and this time Doug seemed to be avoiding me. By Wednesday I couldn't take it anymore and confronted him after school.
"What is going on here with us, Doug?"
"What do you mean? You got a problem, Charles?"
"You know what I mean. I know you got drunk at Jack's parties but you weren't that out of it. You know what we did. We've got to talk about it."
He was silent for a minute.
"I don't want to talk about it. It doesn't mean anything. I was just experimenting. It won't happen again."
"That's what I thought after the first time but then it did happen again. Face it, you liked it as much as I did. What's so bad about that?"
"Yeah, maybe I did like it but that doesn't mean anything. I was just fooling around, trying it out. I'm not a fag and I'm not gonna be one."
"I don't think that's something you can just make up your mind about, Doug. Either you're gay or you aren't. The only thing to decide is what you're going to do about it."
"Well then, I don't think I should see you anymore if that's the way you feel about it. We're obviously don't think the same way."
"Whoa, take it easy, Doug. You're my friend more than anything else. Can't we just go back to being friends the way it was before? We don't have to have sex if you don't want to."
Doug glanced over my shoulder and his eyes widened. His whole attitude immediately changed and he got hostile.
"Friends? Why would I want to be friends with a faggot like you? You think everyone's queer because you are? You'd better stay away from me and keep your hands off me if you know what's good for you."
With that he stormed off, leaving me stunned. I turned to go home and saw Jack and his girlfriend standing about ten feet away, their mouths hanging open. 'Fuck! How much of that did they hear?'
Danny
I was doing some paperwork alone in the history department office after school Friday afternoon when I heard a noise at the door.
"Mr. Stephens?"
"Keith! What's up? Is there something I can help you with?"
"Um, I'm not sure if this is any of my business but you are Charles' foster father, or something like that, right?"
"Yes, something like that. Is something wrong with Charles?"
"Yeah, Doug is going around telling everybody that Charles is queer, that he came on to him when he was drunk after a party last weekend. He said he passed out and when he woke up Charles was trying to blow him. I thought maybe I should tell you because you're bound to hear about it sooner or later. It's all over the school."
Shit! Charles had been quieter than usual the last couple of days and I'd meant to ask him about it. What could this be all about? I thought Doug and Charles were getting along great.
"I think I know Charles pretty well and that doesn't sound like him, Keith."
"Yeah, it sounded a little strange to me, too. Charles is pretty shy and I can't imagine him doing anything like that. I talked to some of the kids who were at Jack's party and they said he wasn't drinking so that couldn't be it."
"I know he wouldn't force himself onto someone like that. It's just not like Charles. He's one of the most passive guys I know."
"Yeah, that's a good word for him. Do you think he's queer, Mr. Stephens?"
"The word is gay, Keith, and it isn't such a bad thing, you know, but I think if you really want an answer that's a question you should ask Charles."
"Well, it really doesn't matter to me. He's a nice kid and a good friend. I just thought you should know what people are saying about him."
"Thanks, Keith, I appreciate your coming to me about this."
Keith had no more than walked off when Mike Romano appeared in the doorway.
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, Dan, but I came up right behind Keith and didn't want to interrupt. You handled that very well, better than I would have if someone had sprung something like that about my son on me."
"Well, Charles isn't exactly my son, Mike. I've know him less than a year but I think I have a pretty good idea what he's all about and he just wouldn't do something like that."
"I still think you took the news well although things like this seem easier for your generation to deal with. Then again, with your lifestyle maybe you weren't surprised."
He didn't elaborate on that comment and I certainly didn't want to go any further into that subject area. I'd suspected since my first interview that he knew about Billy and me but I wasn't ready to come out to him yet. He went over to his desk and got out some papers to grade. I left soon after.
Billy
When I got home from work I found Danny in the nursery changing Tyler's diaper. He hit me with the news about Charles.
"Damn, how does that boy keep getting himself into situations like this?"
"I don't know, Billy, but I feel like this is partially our fault. Charles should have come to us if he was having problems but apparently he didn't feel comfortable doing that. What good is it for him to be in a gay foster home if he can't talk to us?"
"I guess maybe we thought it was enough just to be here. But we're going to fix that starting tonight. He's got to know that we love him, that he can always come to us with anything."
Charles had spent the afternoon in his room and was silent all through supper. After we had cleaned up Lucy took Ty upstairs to give us some privacy. Charles started to follow her up but we directed him to the sunroom where Danny started things off by repeating the conversation he'd had with Keith.
Before he'd finished Charles was sobbing. I put my arms around him and held him while he cried. It took quite a while before he got himself under control.
"I'm sorry for acting like a baby, guys, but this has all been so horrible. Doug has been so mean to me the last couple of days. Nobody's talking to me at school. Everywhere I go the kids stare and whisper. And then this afternoon somebody wrote 'faggot' on my locker in black magic marker. I feel like I just want to die."
"You're not acting like a baby, Charles. Why don't you start at the beginning and tell us what this is all about and we'll figure out what to do about it." I continued to hold him as he told us everything that had happened between him and Doug, including their conversation on Wednesday.
"How could he do this to me? I thought we were friends?"
"It sounds like he's running away from this and his fear is stronger than your friendship was. Even before his friends overheard you he was backing off, right?"
"Yeah, Danny. He never denied liking the sex but he did say he wasn't gay. How can that be?"
"Lots of teenagers experiment, Charles. But I would think that after having a dick come in your mouth one time you'd know whether or not you liked it. And he did initiate the sex both times so I'd say the odds are he's at least bisexual. It's sounds like he has what some guys at the Alliance refer to as the 'boy was I drunk last night' syndrome. He likes it but he doesn't want to have to deal with it."
"Yeah, Billy, that's what I thought at first, that maybe we could talk it out, but then Jack showed up and Doug turned on me, like it was all my fault."
"He probably freaked out when he realized Jack had heard you talking about having sex with each other. That doesn't excuse what he did to you, though. He was supposed to be your friend and instead he made up lies to protect his own image."
"Yeah, Danny, it looks like I lost a possible boyfriend and best friend at the same time. So now what do I do?"
"Well, it looks like you're out at school now whether you want to be or not. You just have to figure out how you're going to deal with it."
"I suppose changing schools is out of the question?"
"Yes, Charles. Billy and I aren't moving to another town so you can go to a new school. You're going to have to face this. I know it's hard but maybe the hardest part is over. Everybody knows now. The worst is past. If you hold your head up and don't let people intimidate you they'll leave you alone. I know that isn't easy but you have no choice."
"Yeah, and from what Keith said to Danny you might still have a friend. He still likes you. Maybe some others will give you a chance as well."
"You think so, Billy? I'm not sure I can do it."
"Sure you can. It'll be tough but remember, you're not in this alone. Danny and I love you and will always be there for you. You can come to us with any problem."
"You guys love me?" Charles looked like he was going to cry again.
"Of course we do. We may never have come right out and said it but we do. You're family which means you're stuck with us."
Charles finally smiled and grabbed us both into a hug.
"I love you guys too."