CHRONICLES OF AN ACADEMIC PREDATOR
Published First at : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arbourtales/
Before you read this story, there are a few things you should consider:
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It contains graphic descriptions of sex between men. In some cases, these depictions may get kinky, and include borderline S&M.
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It is set in the early 1960s, an era before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when segregation and discrimination were the norm. African Americans were referred to as Negroes or Coloreds, although the "N" word was offensive then as it is now. I have retained the language of the era because it reminds me how far we have come on race relations.
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Be aware that the effects of inflation have been profound. A good rule of thumb is to consider that $1 in 1962 is probably similar to $10 in 2008. So just add a zero at the end of any number.
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Some authors are good enough to create a mood through their words. I need help, so I'll be posted recommended musical selections throughout the story.
CHAPTER 14
July 6, 1962
One of the problems with the Corvette was its size, or lack thereof. With the Pontiac I could cram all kinds of stuff in it. With the Corvette, there was barely enough room for my stuff and a bag for Jeff. But he and I had packed, and repacked the trunk until we'd gotten everything in. I stared at the bacon and eggs that Vella had made for us, forcing myself to wolf them down. I wasn't hungry, or it might be more accurate to say that I wasn't in the mood to eat. I just wanted to get out of town.
I'd said goodbye to my parents already, and both of them had already left. My father hurried off to work, as usual, while my mother had some sort of meeting. I don't know that I believed her, but she knew that I hated long drawn out farewells so I think she just said goodbye then left to make things easier. I gave Vella one last hug and headed to the door when the phone rang. I answered it.
"JP, I need to talk to you. I want you to come over and see me." How did I know it would be Tonto?
"I'm on my way out of town, and quite frankly, after yesterday, I have no desire to stop by." The coldness in my voice belied the pain that was beneath it.
"I can understand that." I was surprised to hear the lack of animosity in her voice. "I guess I can say what I have to say over the phone." I remained quiet. She paused as if gathering her thoughts.
"I'm not sure that I believe that it was just a kiss, a simple mistake, but Stefan doesn't want to talk about it and quite frankly, neither do I. So I'm going to leave this whole thing between the three of us and try to put it behind me, out of my mind."
"Thanks," I replied lamely. "I hope you know that I wasn't trying to hurt anyone, least of all Stefan. I mean, I've worked really hard to be a friend to him, and to help him adapt to life in America. And he's been a good friend to me. He was the one who stayed with me in the hospital, made sure the nurses came when I needed them. I guess I let my feelings carry me away."
"I understand," she continued, with her level voice. "But I think that, under the circumstances, it would be a good idea for you to minimize your contact with him. And I think it would be in both your best interests to avoid being alone together, something that I'm going to have to insist upon."
Being told that I couldn't be trusted to be alone with him was a major insult, one that my instincts and honor told me I must fight. But I was tired of Claremont, tired of Stefan, just plain tired. In the interest of easing my existence, I caved. "That won't be a problem."
"Good. I wanted you to come over so we could look each other in the eyes and I could tell you that I still love you, but that it will take some time to repair this breach in our relationship. But I think we're clear now." She had no idea how painful it was to hear that from her.
"We're clear," I said. Keeping it simple kept it short, and then I could maintain control of my emotions.
"Well then, you have an excellent trip to Chicago, and I'll see you at Thanksgiving." And with that, she hung up.
I walked out to the car and thought about what she said. I guess I'd gotten off lightly. She was really mad and disappointed with me, but she'd pretty much said she'd get over with. I'd have to make a point to suck up to her and ease the process. I have to admit that I'd been really worried that she'd make a big deal out of this, call the police, and have me arrested. But I realized that as mad as she was, she'd never create such a scandal. She'd never blight our names, and even if she tried, Barry would bring her around. No, she'd be pissed off, but this would stay between the three of us. And if not, well, I'd just have to deal with it, but at least I'd be dealing with it from 400 miles away.
But perhaps the most amazing thing was that she didn't even ask me about my sexuality. She didn't say "Are you a fag?" She didn't ask if I liked girls. She didn't say anything about it at all. Does that mean she assumes it's just a mistake, and I'm not queer? Or has she decided that I am, and that she just isn't going to talk about it? Or worst of all, has she decided that the reason I'm fagging around with her grandson is because I don't have a woman in my life? If that's it I'll know it soon enough. She'll step up her matchmaking efforts to a crescendo. I so wanted to be out of this town.
Jeff was standing by the car. I decided to drive, at least for the first leg, so I motioned him to get in. "Come on Jeff, let's get out of here."
"Gladly," he said, and flashed me that killer smile of his.
I wanted to drive by Mr. Pratt's office in Columbus and get my packet. I'd get a safe installed in my condo. In the meantime, I needed to get a handle on my assets. Who knows, maybe I'll want to put solid gold wallpaper on the walls in my condo. I laughed at the thought of doing something so ridiculously tasteless and gaudy, which earned me a sideways glance from Jeff. "Jeff, I need to make a quick stop in Columbus. After that, you can drive, OK?" He simply nodded and said "OK with me."
Mr. Pratt was surprised to see me. He looked a little concerned too, when I told him that I wanted my packet back. I was tired of his duplicity, of him claiming to know nothing when he knew it all. "Certainly Dr. Crampton, but are you sure the packet will be safe?"
"For someone who is unaware of the contents, Mr. Pratt, you seem unusually concerned about its safety and confidentiality." I stared at him, willing him to admit that he knew more, but hoping that he'd just give me the packet so I could leave.
"Quite right," he said and disappeared. A few minutes later he returned with the familiar parcel. "Thank you Mr. Pratt," I said, then shook his hand and left. Jeff had pulled the Corvette up front to wait for me, so I just hopped in and we left. "To Chicago!" I said dramatically. "To Chicago," he repeated.
Musical Recommendation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ11y7pYl-8 "Walk Don't Run" by The Ventures
I was quiet for the first leg of our trip, and Jeff simply drove along. I wasn't sure what to expect, having him along, but I found him to be a great traveling companion. He wasn't a party guy, like Andre, or a comic, like Peter. I didn't think he was passionate like Stefan, but based on the way his biceps bulged, I don't think I'd be able to muster the courage to find out. No, he was just laid back. More than that, he didn't pry into my life or my thoughts.
I must have seemed frazzled when we left, right after talking to Tonto, but he didn't comment or ask any questions. When I came out of Mr. Pratt's office, he didn't ask me what I was doing or who I was seeing. Andre would have given me the third degree. When I put the packet that I'd gotten under my seat, he never asked what it was. I was finding Jeff to be totally disarming because he wasn't threatening. There was no reason for me to keep my defenses up with him because he never assaulted them.
"Look at that," I said, pointing at a ridiculous ice cream stand by the side of the road, shaped like a big ice cream cone. He just chuckled. "Wonder what they put in the roof?" That's just how he was. We stopped for lunch, eating and not talking too much. By the time we were half way to Chicago, I found that I was relaxed and in pretty good spirits. Who would have thought that was possible?
"So Jeff, they tell me you get good grades. What do you want to do with your life?" I felt kind of guilty asking him questions, since he didn't pry into my life, but I was starting to really like him as a person and I wanted to know more about him.
"I don't know really. I mean, I do well in all my classes, but I think I feel best when I'm working with facts. Like numbers, or science, or history even. I'm better at that than writing papers, or reading literature. We did Shakespeare last year and I never could get that guy." I laughed at that. "Me either," I said.
"So you're hoping for a scholarship?" I was really pushing it now, but I wanted to know. He swallowed a bit, so I stopped him. "Look Jeff, I don't mean to pry. You just seem like a good guy, and I'm enjoying your company, so I just wanted to learn a little bit more about you. So why don't you just share what you want to, and I won't ask you about stuff."
He looked at me sideways while he was driving. "Yeah, I'm not keen on people asking me a whole bunch of questions, but it doesn't really bother me when you do." We drove on for a few miles in silence.
"Well, my parents, even if they hadn't kicked me out, they don't have no money for college. Plus my dad's always putting it down, saying only dudes go to college, and that real men get real jobs, and shit like that. But he's real cool with me playing football, and that's probably my best ticket, so he sort of supported me without really meaning to. So if I don't get a scholarship, then I'm not going." As laid back as he was, I could tell the thought of being stuck in a factory like his father and brothers was his idea of hell on earth.
"You know, there are other ways to get through school. For one thing, you can join the service. You like boats or dirt?" He chuckled at that, although his "chuckles" were more like a snort and a laugh combined into one sound. A snaugh.
"Guess I never thought about joining the army, or whatever. Better than the mill, but I don't know that I want to do that. Maybe it would work as a last resort."
"So where do you want to go to college?" I knew that I wanted to go to Harvard every since I had started high school, so I just assumed that everyone had some dream campus.
"Never really thought much about it. Guess I figured Ohio State, just cause it's close and it's all I could think of. I've never been on a college campus before, so I don't know what to even expect." This boy was provincial beyond belief.
"Well, if you want to stay in Chicago for a few days, I'll show you around Northwestern, where I'll be teaching. It's up to you though."
His eyes lit up and he even took his eyes off the road to look at me. "That would be bitchin!" He seemed suddenly self-conscious. "Sorry, guess I'm pretty excited to see a big city."
"Don't be sorry. I'm having a really great time with you, and I'm looking forward to showing you around. Plus I know you're going to love my place."
"I'm sure. How many bedrooms you got?" I wondered why he asked me that. Was he worried that he'd have to sleep with me? I was on that abyss, where I could go into a paranoid state and just block him out, but I decided to take a leaf out of Peter's book.
"Why, you worried you'll have to sleep with me? Afraid I'll rape you?" I couldn't help giggling. He looked at me sideways. "Not likely." I started really laughing at that, and so did he.
"No, I didn't mean nothing by that. If we gotta bunk up, it's fine with me. I was just kinda curious." It would be easy to look at Jeff and see him as a big, dumb football player, but there was a great guy buried beneath that image. Guess he projected his own image just like I did. Maybe that's why he was so easy to be around. Not only that, but the more I was around him, the more relaxed we both became.
I decided that I should drive when we got to Chicago because I knew where I was going, and because I knew he'd want to stare at all the buildings. We got gas in Southern Indiana and I put the top down. That's really the only way to truly appreciate the Chicago skyline.
We passed through the South Side, which he didn't really comment on. Probably reminded him of Claremont's East Side, a place he was trying to forget. When we got closer to downtown, he couldn't contain himself.
"Holy shit, look at those buildings!" He suddenly became nervous. "Sorry, I should watch my mouth."
I looked at him, irritated. "What do you think I am, some chick at a debutante ball? You can even say fuck if you want to." That got a snaugh.
He babbled on excitedly as we cruised up The Drive. "This city never ends. Do you live far from here?"
"See that bend in the shoreline way up there," I said pointing, "That's close to my place."
He whistled. "This is just amazing." After that, he quieted down. I think he was overwhelmed by the size and scope of the city and needed to shut down a bit to process it all.
We pulled up to my building and he looked over at me. "You live here?" Then he looked up. "How high up are you?" I parked the car.
"Why, you afraid of heights?" I pushed his shoulder playfully.
"Don't know, never really been up high before." He seemed a little apprehensive.
"Well, I'm not on the top, only the 20th floor. It's a little weird at first, but I think you'll like it." He looked at me dubiously. I decided to challenge him a little bit. "Don't worry, I'll hold your hand if it will make you feel better." He rolled his eyes at me and said "Let's go."
I stopped in the lobby to check in with the Concierge and introduce Jeff to him. That way he'd be able to get in without getting hassled. I didn't have any mail yet. Guess that wasn't a big surprise. We got in the elevator and it rocketed up. I could tell Jeff was nervous. He looked at the numbers ticking away. "Is that the floor we're on?" "Yep," I said.
The doors open and we walked to my door. I was so excited to be back in my own space, my own condo. My home. Opening the door and walking in was almost as cool as the first time I did it, only that time Stefan was with me. The thought of him ticked me off, almost blew my whole mood, but I pushed it out of my mind.
Through the door and the entry way, the whole vista of Chicago was on display. I watched Jeff to see his reaction. His mouth hit the floor, almost figuratively. He seemed dizzy from the height. I wasn't sure if he was afraid, or if he just wasn't used to it, so I kind of nudged him toward the guest room. It and the study had smaller windows, so I figured he could acclimate there.
"This is your room. I just got this bed so it should be pretty comfy. Through that door is your bathroom." I'd had the foresight to change the sheets and towels before I left.
"This is just amazing JP. Just amazing." He seemed so overwhelmed he was paralyzed.
"Well, I'm going to go crash for about an hour and take a shower. Why don't you rest up too, and we'll go get some dinner." He still seemed kind of uneasy. "Before you sack out, you wanna see my room?" He nodded and I led him down the hall to the master suite. The tall windows were still freaking him out, but he didn't seem to want to leave.
"Uh, I didn't get a chance to change the sheets in the other room. This is a pretty big bed, so if you want to sack out here with me for an hour that's cool." I lied about the sheets, but I was upset that he seemed so nervous. It never occurred to me that being up 20 floors would freak someone out.
"That's OK, I don't want to be a problem." Funny, but I could tell from his voice that he wanted to stay, but he was too shy to say so.
"What, you still afraid I'm gonna rape you?" I said, standing in front of him in a pretend menacing stance, which must have looked pretty funny since he's almost ten inches taller than me. He picked me up and tossed me on the bed and said "Nope." I laughed.
"OK Superman, you take that side, I get this side." I took the side by the window. I lay down and turned my back to him, he did likewise. I liked having him here, liked feeling his warmth. I stared out the window at the skyline, thinking about the last time I was here, thinking about Stefan.
Tonto completely blamed me for "assaulting" him. He could have stood up for me, helped me out when she confronted me, his English was good enough. But he did nothing. Worse, he made it look like I had initiated something incredibly unpleasant to him. The little bastard had totally finked me out. He must have sold me down the river with her to preserve his own worthless ass. I was so pissed off at him I almost punched the bed, but then I remembered that Jeff was lying behind me. I knew that beneath the anger was pain and sadness. And disappointment. But I held on to the anger. That was easier to deal with.
I heard Jeff gently snoring behind me and smiled. I liked having him around. I was going to have to figure out a way to make him comfortable 20 floors up. I guess now is a good time for me to go buy curtains. I was starting to mentally decorate my apartment, something to fill my time for the next month until school starts, when the bed shook. Jeff must be moving. The next thing I know, he rolled over and snuggled up right behind me, wrapping his arm around my stomach and resting his hand on my chest.
At first I was shocked. I mean, it's not every day the hottest football player at the local high school decides to spoon with you. I let that pass, and I found that I felt incredibly safe and secure. Here was this big lug of a guy totally protecting me. I smiled and nestled back into him. Before I dosed off I contemplated that I should be excited, hard as a rock, but I wasn't. There wasn't anything sexual about the way he was holding me. It was just friendship, and, probably now more than at any other time in my life, I really appreciated it.
I slept longer than I planned because when I woke up, instead of the sunshine I saw the bright lights of the city blinking back at me. I also realized that I'd lost my security blanket: Jeff wasn't in bed. I got up and looked around the room, but he wasn't there. I wandered out to the living room and there he was, standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing out at the city.
"Hey," I said drowsily. "Enjoying the view?" He kind of jumped a bit. I put my arm over his shoulder and he put his around my waist, a nice gesture of friendship.
"This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he said wistfully. "Being so high up kind of spazzed me out, but now it's cool." I was relieved. No need to figure out a way to help him adapt.
"It is amazing isn't it?" I said, following his gaze. "I could stand here and stare at this all night, if I wasn't damn near starving to death." He looked down at me and gave me a snaugh, then simply said "I could eat."
There was a small pizza place close to the condo so we walked there. Jeff is a big boy, with a big appetite to go with it. We ended up ordering two pizzas, and he ate all of his and some of mine. I realized why he didn't talk when he ate...he was too busy shoveling food into his mouth. I made up for it.
"So I thought that later on we could unload the car. I don't know about you, but I'm still kind of wiped out so I figured we could make it an early night?" He nodded in between gulps. "Then tomorrow I thought we could go do some shopping. I need to get some stuff for the condo, furniture and shit like that. Sunday, I figured we could go explore the city. That sound good to you?" He nodded. "When do you have to be back?"
He stopped chewing and thought for a minute. "Well, we usually start football practice around the end of July. Plus I'll need to get a job. So I guess I'm really in no hurry." He seemed suddenly concerned. "I don't want to get in your way though."
"You're not in my way. I like having you around. Besides, maybe you can help me get the condo set up. You know how to paint?" He looked at me like I was a complete idiot. "Yeah, I've been painting over the summers for the past three years now. I can even wallpaper."
"Well then, sounds like you'll be pretty handy to have around." I smiled at him and he grinned back at me.
We got back to the condo and I took a shower while Jeff unloaded the car. I was going to help him, but he wouldn't hear of it, so I decided to wash the grime of Claremont off my body. As the shower flowed I relaxed and I couldn't help thinking about my tall, strong friend. He really was like a big teddy bear. Then I started thinking about his big muscles, dark blue eyes, and his strong chest, and the way he held me in bed. Suddenly, what didn't seem sexual before, now, in my fantasies, seemed very sexual. I looked down at my raging hard cock. Some soap and my right hand soon calmed that problem down again.
I was walking out of the shower, still flushed from jacking off, when I came face to face with Jeff. My dick was plump but not hard, thank God, but I was intensely embarrassed at standing there completely naked in front of him. He eyed me up and down (what was that all about?) then sensed my discomfort. "Don't worry man. I spend half my life in a locker room. You don't have anything I haven't seen before."
I wrapped a towel around my waist pretty fast anyway. "So you're telling me that I'm nothing special, not exceptional?" I was almost flirting, but feigned anger to make it jovial humor.
He stared hard at my body now. "Yep, that's what I'm saying." We both laughed. "I piled a bunch of those boxes in the guest room so the bathroom is kind of hard to get to. Mind if I use your shower?"
"No," I shrugged, "go right ahead. Here, let me get you a towel." I went out to the bedroom, digging through boxes to find linens. I desperately needed to unpack and get organized. I walked back into the bedroom to find our roles reversed. There he was, standing in front of me stark naked.
He was beautiful. No, that's the wrong word. Magnificent. That's it. His chest and arms bulged with muscles. His stomach was smooth as silk; a thin layer of fat shielded his six-pack from bulging out. His cock, decent sized when it was limp, dangled there over two huge balls, and his legs were like tree trunks. If I had to use one other word, in addition to magnificent, to describe him, it would be "beefy."
I realized that I'd been staring, and his look at me and his smirk told me that I'd been busted. I could ignore it, or comment on it. I frantically searched my mind for locker room banter, wondering what the other jocks would say.
"Damn, do you work out all the time? You got bigger muscles than Jack La Lane." I must have gotten it right. He smiled and did a body builder pose. The veins on his biceps stuck out prominently. I was worried that my towel would start to tent. "Now that is exceptional," I said, and then threw the towel in his face. He laughed and hopped in the shower.
He came out in his boxers and I was glad that I'd put mine on. I would have looked like a raging queer if I'd gotten in bed naked with my ass in the air. Just like Stefan had done to me. That thought made me uneasy. He kind of stared at me, hesitating. I'd just assumed he'd sleep in here again, although there was absolutely no basis for that at all.
"Hey Jeff, since the guest room is packed with boxes and the sheets are still dirty, you mind bunking up in here tonight?" I saw the relief on his face.
"Nope," he said, and climbed in on his side of the bed. Like this afternoon, he laid on his side facing away while I did the same. And like this afternoon, in a few minutes I felt him roll over and wrap his arm around me, spooning up against me. Only this time, I hadn't heard snoring first. I nestled back into him, reveling in his warmth and the security he emanated; only this time it was sexual. This time, the feeling of his massive muscles against my naked back had brought my cock to full attention. I controlled myself, working the sexual feelings out of my mind, and just enjoyed my big teddy bear.
July 7, 1962
I woke up first, still lying against Jeff, only sometime during the night I had wrapped my arms around his hand that was on my chest. There was something very hard poking me in the ass and I laughed to myself. I was about to extract myself from the embrace so as not to embarrass him, when I felt his body suddenly stiffen, and he hurriedly tried to pull away from me. But my arms were gripping his hand, so all he did was pull me over on top of him. In that position, his rock hard cock was driving into my ass cheeks. If only I hadn't worn underwear, I joked to myself.
"Oh man, I am so sorry," he said as he pushed me off him, landing me on my broken arm, which brought a cry of pain from me. "Oh shit, now I hurt your arm. Are you OK?"
I recovered from the pain quickly. "I don't know what's worse, you throwing me on my arm or stabbing me with that spear of yours." He could tell I was joking.
"Morning wood man." He got up to go to the bathroom and his boxers were tented way out. I'd guess he was about seven inches long. He came back a few minutes later, his erection now gone.
"I'm sorry about grabbing you like that. I guess I'm used to sleeping with people. I grew up sharing a bed with my brothers and it gets cold in the winter. I'll clear out the guest room so I don't bug you again." The poor guy was absolutely mortified.
"Actually, I liked it. Not the spearing part," I joked, trying to ease the tension, "but it's kind of nice to have someone there. It makes me feel warm, safe, protected. So if it was up to me, I'd have you stay in here. You can do whatever you want." I watched him roll that around in his mind, but he really didn't say yes or no.
Instead, he just stood there looking at me. "We got a lot of stuff to do today, so I'm gonna get ready. Plus I'm hungry."
"When are you not hungry?" I asked sarcastically. I bowed to the inevitable. "Fine, I'm getting up." No more than 15 minutes later we were walking out the front door. I looked at my watch and it was 9:00AM. I needed to teach this boy how to sleep in.
Breakfast woke me up and I made a list of all the things I needed to buy. It was a prodigious list. I needed furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom, den, and guest room. I needed a safe for "the packet" and anything else I might want to secure. I needed patio furniture, maybe a barbeque grill. Plus I needed to pick out paint colors and/or wallpaper, get new towels and sheets for the beds to complement them, get a television and radio, not to mention some serviceable dishes, pots and pans for the kitchen. And that was just a start. I checked my wallet to make sure the BankAmericard was in there. That was something else I needed to do, go to the bank and get my own card so my parents didn't end up paying for everything. Jeff looked at my list skeptically. I couldn't tell if he didn't think I could get all that stuff done, or if he just didn't know what most of it was.
So we downed our breakfast and went tearing through the city. A break for lunch, a break for dinner, and by 8pm we arrived back at the condo with everything done except for the BankAmericard. We were both exhausted so we decided to call it an early night. I took a shower first and was almost asleep by the time he got out. I woke up and listened to his footsteps, wondering if they were heading to the guest room or not. In just a few seconds I had my answer when the bed moved sharply with his huge bulk as he got in. If I didn't have my back to him, he would have seen my big smile.
This time, he didn't start out on his side facing away from me, he just slid over and wrapped his arm around me, and I relaxed back into him like I'd done last night. A few minutes later I could hear him gently snoring, a beautiful rhythm that sang me to sleep.