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In this chapter, Kevin meets a locomotive engineer, hoping to finally have a chance at sex with an adult. Eric asks how he and his teammates can get involved in the hiring of a new head coach at the high school.
CHAPTER 13 COACHES
<Wednesday, August 6>
[KEVIN]
I was excited and scared when I walked over to the tracks. Nobody but Kraig, Korey, Lars, and my dad, who had to sign the forms so I could ride in the locomotive cab, knew I was taking this trip. I guess I could have told people I was getting the ride. I mean they all knew I was friends with Mark, but this was more than riding with Mark and I wanted to keep it to myself for now. Besides, if I told Eric and Noah they would both get all worked up, and I decided to save that for after I rode.
When I got to the feed mart the train hadn't arrived yet. It was coming from the east, so I looked anxiously in that direction. It was coming from Clark Pass, would pick up cars in Kentburg, and finally come here to Mayfield. I saw there were four cars at the feed mart, but I was sure that not all of the cars were empty and ready to be picked up.
I was hanging around across the street by the hardware store and the feed store when I heard the whistle. Mark reminded me that the times for freight trains weren't exact, but he did call me when the train left Kentburg, so I knew what time it would arrive here. It didn't make any stops between Kentburg and Mayfield, since they were close to each other and there was nothing to stop for.
Mark was riding in the locomotive and climbed down after the train stopped. I walked over to him and said hi. He told me to wait across the street until they coupled on two empty cars. They had dropped off the other two in the morning on their way to Clark Pass and they were still full. I watched them do their work and was finally able to climb into the locomotive cab.
I was introduced to Sherman Perkins by Mark. He was a good looking dude.. He had dark hair and no gray. His body was in good shape, which he told me wasn't easy to do when he spent almost all of his day sitting on your ass, but he worked hard at it. I found out later he was in his late thirties. He was really friendly and I liked him right away.
"Now that you're all introduced, I'm going to sit back in the caboose," Mark said. "I'll let you guys get to know each other without my sitting in your way."
"It's cool," I said, "you can stay." Truth be told I was kinda nervous about being alone with Sherman. I mean I didn't think I was gonna be raped right there in the locomotive or anything like that, but still, I knew he was a man who perved on boys. But then, according to what Kraig kept telling me, I wanted to meet a man who perved on boys.
"You guys have around two hours to talk and see if you like each other. I think you will like each other and I think it will be easier for you to find that out if I'm not tagging along. Now, I better get to the caboose since I'm holding up the train." Mark left the cab, climbed down to the ground and went into the caboose which was coupled to the locomotive. I heard him say, "Highball," on the radio and Sherman put the throttle into the proper notch. I was used to seeing this from my first trip, but that didn't make this any less cool. The train started to slowly start with a little bit of jerking as it took up the slack between the cars.
I couldn't think of anything to say, so I was hoping Sherman would talk first. When he didn't talk, I wondered if he was as nervous as I was, so I finally started the chat by asking a lame question. "Do you like being an engineer, Mr. Perkins?"
"You can call me Sherm, Kevin. And the answer to that would be that I love it and wouldn't want to do anything else."
He didn't act at all like my question was a lame one which got me to liking him, so I decided to ask another one as soon as he finished blowing the whistle for the crossing at Grandview Street. "But if you like it so much, then wouldn't you rather be with a big railroad so you could go faster?" To my way of thinking, going fast was good, and going slow was boring.
"I love working for the CCP&P," he said. "The hours are steady, I am close to home every day, and it's a friendly group of people, from the owners to the maintenance of way." CCP&P stood for the Centralia, Clark Pass, & Pacific. It was what was called a shortline. "Mark tells me you rode last summer, and you'll see that the new owners have upgraded a lot of the track on this stretch since then."
I had seen the guys he called maintenance of way working on the tracks from the highway in places, so I knew what he was talking about.
"We have some places now where we can kick it up to forty. Our top speed used to be thirty, and it wasn't that long ago that it was only ten. Now that's slow." Forty miles an hour seemed slow to me. I was glad I didn't have to do the trip at ten miles an hour.
But when he opened up the locomotive throttle I could tell the difference from last year. Forty is faster than thirty. I don't mean to be a smartass saying that, but in something as big as a train you can really feel like you're going fast.
Sherm talked some more about the railroad, explained a couple of things about the controls, and let me blow the whistle for a couple of grade crossings. I was really having fun and we hadn't even talked about sex at all.
When we got to the town of Orkney, Sherm slowed the train. Orkney was a small town off the highway. It was so small it had a B size high school instead of an A size like Mayfield had. Because it was off the main highway and there was nothing there, I can only remember being in Orkney a couple of times.
"How come we're slowing down?" I asked. The one time I rode before we went right through town without slowing down.
"We have to stop here and then back down to the gravel pit. We pick up seven cars there today. It's not a daily pickup for this train. Normally we run a train up here for just the gravel cars, but one of the cars had a knuckle break on the coupler this morning, so they left the last seven cars behind until the coupler could be fixed. Usually a train carries spare knuckles, but I guess somebody didn't replace the ones they had. So, we're going to back down to the gravel pit and pick them up."
Mark uncoupled all of the cars except the caboose. Sherm said we didn't need to pull their weight up the hill. After Mark gave Sherman the signal we crossed over the switch.
I could see the branch line that went to the gravel pit. It was just outside of town. We stopped and waited for Mark to throw the switch, and then climbed on the caboose as we backed down to the pit.
"How will you know when to stop?" I asked.
"That's Mark's job as the conductor," Sherm said. "He'll get on the radio and tell me how close the cars are."
At the rate I was learning things I was going to know more about how trains worked than Eric or Noah pretty soon. I stayed quiet in the cab while Sherm and Mark did their work and got the gravel cars coupled on. When Mark gave Sherm the highball we started up the hill out of the gravel pit.
"These were supposed to go on a mainline train this afternoon, but they've been manifested to a train going through Centralia tomorrow. They needed to get as many cars as they could coupled on to that train this afternoon, which is why they left these seven cars for us to pick up."
We were going up the hill pretty slow. Sherm said the gravel cars were heavy and our locomotive was working pretty hard to get the whole train back to the mainline. "They have more power on the gravel train," he said. "But this is all pretty last minute. The guys with the computer figured out we could get this load out. They're usually right."
"Usually right? You mean they're not always right?"
"Lots of factors go into pulling a train. Like if it was raining, there could be slippage and I'd have to drop sand on the rails for traction."
"What happens if we can't get out?"
"They'd send us more power. But we're doing fine."
I was wondering when the sex talk was going to start. I got the idea from Mark that sex was what this was all about. Instead Sherm started talking to me about baseball, which was cool, because I loved talking baseball. We had to talk pretty loud because going up the hill had our locomotive working hard and making a lot of noise.
Finally we leveled out and got to the switch. After we got on the mainline, we waited for Mark to reset the switch for the main. He gave us the proper signal and we backed into the cars we left behind. Mark coupled the cars to the gravel cards, gave us the highball, and we started up again.
"We would've slowed down for Orkney no matter what," Sherm said. "They have a twenty-five limit through town. Which suits me fine, it's where I live. Can't have reckless engineers barreling though my home town now, can we?"
I laughed and said no way, especially when he's got important cargo like me riding. That made it Sherm's turn to laugh. He's got a loud laugh and he seemed to enjoy laughing. I was liking him more and more.
It was going through Sherm's town that the subject changed to the one I thought we were going to talk about. "Mark tells me you have an interesting reason for wanting to meet me."
That got my heart to racing real fast. "Yeah," was all I could think of saying.
"I guess we could say I have a similar reason for wanting to meet you," he said. "He told me you were a very personable young man, and also very good looking. I met him when he was your age you know."
"He said he was twelve, and I'm actually thirteen."
"Close enough," he said with a big smile. "He told you the whole story, right? I mean all of it, including what we did when he stayed over at my house at night?" He started to blow his whistle for a grade crossing coming up.
Before I could answer, he spotted something and leaned on the air horn the same time he pulled the brake lever hard. The train slowed down fast with the brakes full on and then I saw what he saw. It was two boys about my age running their bikes around the crossing gates and racing across the tracks in front of us. We missed them, but it looked pretty scary for a moment.
The train came to a stop and Sherm started cussing. "Goddamn kids. I know those little fuckers and I know their parents and trust me their parents are going to find out tonight what just happened. It's dumb shits like them that are the reason we have to go slow through this little burg."
I found out that since Sherm had made an emergency stop he and Mark had to get out and inspect the train and the wheels to make sure everything was okay. "You stay up here and guard the locomotive," Sherm said. "Don't let anybody take it." I told him it was safe with me.
It was about fifteen minutes before Sherm climbed back onto the cab. We were blocking the grade crossing and a couple of cars had to wait for us. They weren't happy, but one of the drivers knew Sherm and Sherm told him why they were stopped. "We can't move the train until we're sure everything is okay," Sherm told me as he did a couple of tests and then engaged the throttle and got us moving again. I was really happy we hadn't hit those kids.
"You've never done anything stupid like that have you?" Sherm asked.
"No way. Everybody says to keep off the tracks and to obey the signals and that is exactly what I do." I figure the train is way bigger than me and there was no way I wanted to tangle with it. After watching us almost hit those two boys, even if I'd ever thought about going through a crossing, I never would again.
"Okay, where were we before the youth of Orkney got in our way?"
"You were asking me if I knew what you and Mark did at night. My answer is yes, I do know."
"And that doesn't bother you?"
"I bet you didn't do nothing I haven't ever done." I figured he might as well know I was an experienced boy. Since I liked him I didn't feel nervous about telling him.
"That's my house over there." Sherman pointed to a white house on a large lot at the edge of town. It was a nice looking place. "I take it you're sexually active then. That was what Mark told me, or I wouldn't have agreed to this meeting."
"Oh yeah, I'm really...um...sexually active. But I never did anything with Mark."
"So I gathered. It's not really his thing, but he says he had fun for those almost four years we were lovers. And he said he learned a lot from me."
"He told me that, too. But don't worry he didn't tell me who you were."
Sherm laughed and then went on. "Why are you, at age thirteen, interesting in having sex with a grown man?"
We had our speed back up to forty now and it felt way faster. "I dunno. I just liked Mark and he was cool to talk to and kind of hot looking for an adult, but he didn't want to do it. But he told me about you and said you were nice and pretty good looking for an old guy..."
Sherm laughed loudly again. "Old guy? Is that what he called me, an old guy?"
"I think maybe he said adult. I don't remember exactly." I felt a little bit embarrassed. I was worried that I had insulted him or something.
Sherm laughed again, then quickly got serious. "Are you gay or are you like Mark was, a boy who likes to play around?"
"Oh, I'm gay for sure."
I waited for Sherm to laugh again, and then tell me there was no way I could know I was gay because I was too young to know. That is what my dad told me. Even Mark had told me to keep my options open. But Sherm surprised me with what he said next. "It's good you can admit your gayness at a young age. It will make your future life a great deal easier." Wow, he believed me and didn't laugh at me. I liked him even more now.
"If you haven't figured it out, I am gay as well, and I am smitten by young boys, not that I have any problem sharing my bed with a peer. But I don't currently have a partner."
"It's cool. Do you like me?" I needed to know that before I went any farther.
"Very much. You are polite and smart and have a very pleasant personality. You are also very good looking and have a nice body for a young adolescent. So, yes, I like you, and I would like you even if you were just a kid riding in the cab not at all interested in seducing...seducing an old man," he said laughing again.
Sherm slowed the train down. We were out of the forty zone and in a twenty-five zone again. Centralia was getting close. "I'd love to meet up with you again," he said. "Providing you're willing, of course." We slowed down as we came into a ten mile per hour zone. "Yard limit," he said, as if that would make sense to me.
"Yeah, I am. I like you a lot. You're a really nice, just like Mark said."
"I'm going to be driving you home, so we can talk about maybe having lunch together to learn more about each other and eventually your coming to my house."
"For sex?" I asked.
That made him laugh. "Let's meet to get to know each other and let the sex end take care of itself. I hope that's okay with you."
"Yeah, it is." And the funny thing is, I was thinking just like him. I'd meet up with him again just because he was really nice and great to talk to, just like Mark was. I didn't need to have any sex with him, but that didn't mean I didn't want to.
When we got to the Centralia yard, we added another crewman and they split the train into three parts in the yard. Then Sherm took the locomotive and the caboose to where the CCP&P office was and did what he called "tying down" the locomotive.
It was fun to watch them at work. I bet working for a railroad like this could be fun. I thanked Mark for introducing me to Sherm and for setting up the train ride. Sherm called my house and told them what time he'd have me home and I rode with him in his Dodge pickup.
"Even if we don't ever have sex," he said on the way to Mayfield, "I'd like to be your mentor. Maybe help you with some of the pains of growing up gay."
"That would be really cool," I said. "I got gay friends. Maybe you can coach them, too."
I could see him giving that some thought. "We'll see. I could be a life coach easily, but I'm not getting involved with a group of middle school boys sexually."
I guess I gave him kind of a hurt look which he must have seen. "You excepted, of course."
That got me smiling. I thought the day had worked out pretty good, and I was happy when we drove up to my house. I had him get out and introduced him to my dad. I figured it would help if dad knew who Sherm was when I asked to be able to do things with him. I could tell right away that dad liked him.
Sherm had my phone number and told me that he would call me soon. I couldn't wait.
<Thursday, August 7>
[ERIC]
Today was the team banquet. Well, it wasn't really a banquet, not like the school teams had. We held it in the party room at the Bear's, where we all enjoyed pizza by the ton and soda by the gallons. After we ate Coach Miller got up and talked.
First we had a moment of silence for Bobby. The jersey and picture had been hung up in the room by Noah, just like he did in the dugout before a game. Coach Miller praised us for how much we'd improved during the year and how we'd gone from a team that wasn't real sure it belonged in an elite travel league to one that was solid fundamentally and played with confidence. We each got a trophy for winning the Salem tournament to go along with our championship t- shirts. Marty was named the MVP, which didn't surprise anybody. By now we all figured the MVP trophy belonged to him permanently. Rodney was named our best pitcher. Carl got the most improved player award. Then Coach talked about how hard we would have to work to be even better next year, and that ended the banquet.
I missed baseball already and I hadn't even left the room yet. The season was over, the Go to State Team was going to take the month off and meet again the day before school started, and the Mariners sucked so watching them was usually boring. I was thinking that other than playing catch there wasn't much I had to do that was baseball related. Then something happened that made me realize I had to get back into action. While we were getting ready to go I overheard Noah's dad talking to Coach Sanders.
"Have you had your final interview yet?" Noah's dad, Seth McCall, asked.
"It's tomorrow. I understand there are three of us left since one person had to drop out. He needed a decision now, something I can identify with from when I've gone hunting for a coaching job."
"So, it's you, Coach Gardner, and whoever the outside applicant is."
"Yep."
"Good luck. I know the boys would love to see you get the job."
"That's pretty unlikely. I don't have any head coaching experience, not even at the middle school level."
"But you have a very impressive baseball background. And you have run your JV team extremely well. The kids love playing for you."
"When will the decision be made?" came another voice. It belonged to Mr. Bednarzyck. He had been standing behind me, listening in like I was.
"The school board meets on Tuesday," Coach Sanders said. "They get the recommendation from the AD and the principal and then make the final decision."
"What can us kids do?" I asked. "We all want you to be our coach in high school."
It was then that everybody noticed me standing there. Even Mr. B hadn't noticed me and he was standing behind me. I was wondering if maybe I was wearing an invisibility cloak or something.
Coach Sanders looked startled and then said, "There is nothing you can do on this one, Eric. I know how you like to get everybody involved, but in this case, there is nothing that you can do except sit back and accept the final decision."
That wasn't good enough for me. There was no way I was going to let the decision be made without telling people what I thought, and what the team thought. I didn't know anything about the outside coach, but I did know about Coach Gardner. The Donkey told me that he was kind of a jerk, that he was lazy, and that he didn't know a lot about baseball. But he also said that the JV coach had lots of friends in town, that Coach Collins had recommended him. That recommendation meant a lot. Even after the way the coach had been fired, Coach Collins still had a lot of friends in town.
The Donkey wanted to see Coach Gardner be the head coach even less than we did, but he said there may not be anything that anybody could do about it. All I knew right then was that I had to find Noah.
I found him out in the main restaurant of the pizza parlor. He was talking to Rich and Marty. While he still wasn't the Noah we all knew, he was getting better and was acting more and more like his old self.
"Hey, Eric," Marty said. "Noah was saying that Coach Sanders has his final interview tomorrow." How was it that Noah knew this already? I thought to myself. That was proof that Noah was getting to be his old self; he was back to being right on top of things.
"I just heard," I said. "We need to do something to help him out."
"I agree," Marty said. "Coach Sanders is the best." That meant a lot coming from Marty, who had been in trouble with him more than once since I knew him. "But what can we do?"
"It seems like every time we get involved with school business we screw it up," Rich said.
"Not true," I told him. "We got the things started that got us our money from the fence ads and Coach Collins got fired over it."
"Yeah, which probably really screwed it up for us. I mean Coach Collins and Coach Gardner are friends and have coached together for a long time. You know Coach Collins is going to have it in for all of us on the Go To State Team."
"Whatever," Marty said, "he can't win anything, let alone State, without all of us playing for him in high school."
"We won't have to worry about that if Coach Sanders gets the job," I said. "But how do we help him out?"
Noah had stood there saying nothing. But I could tell this was different from his silences since Bobby's accident. I could almost see the wheels turning behind his glasses. Then he broke the silence and said, "I have an idea. We need to find Carl."
We looked around but didn't see him. Then I saw Danny, his best friend, who was just leaving The Bear with his parents. "Hey, Danny," I called out.
Danny stopped and looked at us. I asked him if he knew where Carl was. He said he'd just gone home with his dad.
"Noah and I need to talk to him, like now," I said.
Danny looked over at his parents and asked if we could ride with them. Danny lived a couple of houses away from Carl. They were cool with us riding and we were quickly at Danny's house.
"Can I come over to Carl's with you?" Danny asked.
"Sure."
"What's going on?" he asked as we walked over to Carl's house.
"We want to talk to him about if he knows anything about who the new high school coach will be. Coach Sanders is having his final interview tomorrow. None of us want Coach Gardner," I told Danny. Carl's father was the president of the school board.
"Amen to that. Everybody says Coach Gardner is kind of a dumb shit and an asshole."
"I don't know what everybody else says, but I know what the Dawg and the Donkey think and that's good enough for me."
"Um...and what do they think?"
"That he's a dumb shit and an asshole," Noah told them.
Danny rang Carl's doorbell and his mom answered it. "Hello, boys," she said. I could tell she was surprised to see all three of us there.
"Is Carl here?" Danny asked.
"Yes he is boys. But it is a little bit late." I knew it was almost eight- thirty, but I didn't think that was so late.
"We just want to talk to him for a minute if we could please," Noah said. Noah could charm a snake with his sweet politeness.
"Okay, but only until nine."
"That's cool," Danny said.
"Yeah, we have to be home right after that," I added.
Carl's mom called him and he came down to the door. While he was still a little heavy with some extra fat, he wasn't the fat boy I met when I moved to Mayfield. In fact, he looked pretty good. I knew he and Danny worked out almost every day. Danny was, plain and simple, a thirteen year old stud and I think Carl was on his way to being one as well. Carl had changed his clothes since the banquet and was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts.
"Hey, guys. What's up?" Carl asked.
"We need to ask you something," I said.
"Sure, let's go up to my room."
I had never been in Carl's house before. It was a really nice one. Carl's dad was the only dentist in Mayfield. It was because his dad was on the school board that we wanted to talk to Carl.
Carl let us into his room. It wasn't totally neat like Noah's room or my room, but it wasn't a total zoo like Marty's either. It was pretty much a boy's room, kind of messy and disorganized, but not dirty if that makes sense. I liked his room, it felt really homey.
"So what do you guys want to know?" Danny and I let Noah do the talking, since this meeting was his idea.
"Did you know that Coach Sanders has his final interview tomorrow?" Noah asked.
"Yeah, with the athletic director and Mr. Wilson, the principal. Why are you asking me about it?"
"We want to help him."
"How?"
"By talking to your dad."
Carl thought that over and then said, "You guys don't know my dad. He keeps things pretty private when it comes to being on the school board."
"We want to at least talk to him."
"You mean now?"
"If he's home."
Carl laughed and said, "You and Eric are both crazy you know."
"We know...that's what makes us so good."
"I don't want to be yelled at for bothering him."
"Tell him we threatened you with all kinds of heinous punishments," Noah said.
"What does heinous mean?" Carl and Danny asked at almost the same time.
"It means wicked."
"Wicked I understand," Carl said. "His punishment will be more wicked than anything you could think up."
"Will he tie you up and tickle you to death with a feather?"
Carl shrugged. "I guess not."
"We're running out of time," I said. "We told your mom we'd be out of here by nine."
"Don't worry about my mom. You could stay here until midnight and she would barely notice. Now my dad...that would be a whole different thing."
I was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea, but Noah was on a roll and before I knew it we were standing in Dr. Benson's study. He was dressed in a Mayfield Mustangs t-shirt and a pair of lounge pants and looked comfortable. I saw that he had a drink on his desk that looked like it was probably some kind of alcoholic drink.
Carl told his dad that we wanted to talk to him about something and said he tried to talk us out of it. I knew Carl was covering his ass and I didn't say anything. Noah and Danny stayed quiet, too.
"Okay, what is it you boys want to know?"
I waited for Noah to say something, but he looked at me and I could see he wanted me to do the talking. I was hoping he would be the one, but it's not like I haven't had to have a lot of tough talks with adults since we started the Go to State Team.
"Well, sir, Coach Sanders has his final interview tomorrow and I know the school board meets next week and, well, we just wanted to put in a good word for him."
Carl took a step back. He looked like he was waiting for his dad to yell at us to mind our own business or something. But that isn't what happened.
"Well, boys, it's nice of you to take that kind of interest in the hiring process, especially since you are still a year away from entering high school. But, I really have little to say in the matter."
"You're the school board president and the school board has to approve of the new coach, right?"
"The answer to both of those questions is yes. However, even as the president of the board I still only have one vote. Chances are the board will go with whomever the athletic director and principal recommend, which could be your old coach, of course."
"When do they decide who to hire?" I asked.
"They will finish their interviews this week. The board meets next Thursday. We will know who they want by then. When the board is ready to decide we'll have an open hearing."
"So we could go there and talk about Coach Sanders?"
"You could, but be aware that if we hire one of the other two candidates you will have to live with what you say." He gave us a warm smile and then asked why we liked Coach Sanders so much.
All four of us talked then, starting with me. I told how he helped me so much when I moved to Mayfield and was new student and new player. Danny talked about how he knew so much about baseball and how much he cared about all of the players. Noah talked about how fair he was and how organized he was and how hard he worked even in the off season.
"He's been around for almost all of our games this summer," he said. Of course he didn't mention the part that might have been because our summer coach for the Falcons was his boyfriend.
Carl gave the best answer of all of us. "He said if I worked hard and started to get in shape I would make the team and get to play. I did what he said and I started on the JV team almost every game." Then he looked over at Danny and said something none of us knew before. "And he had Danny come here to help me get in shape and Danny and I went from kind of knowing each other for, like forever, to being best friends."
"Danny started you running because the coaches told him to?" Dr. Benson asked. Carl and Danny had never told him that little fact, nor had Coach Sanders.
"They didn't tell me to," Danny said, "they asked me to. And yeah, I was just kinda friends with Carl and now we are BFF."
I couldn't tell if Carl's dad was mad or happy about what he just heard. "Well, I'm not surprised. I have always been impressed with your coach and how he handles things. Now I am very impressed." This, I guess, meant he was happy about what Coach Sanders did. "You boys are welcome to come to the board meeting. The decision will probably be the same one way or the other, but you might learn a little bit about how the process works. But I want you to promise me a couple of things."
"What?" Noah asked.
"Keep quiet with no yelling, cheering, booing, or applauding during the proceedings. And when comments are asked for, you are welcome to step up to the microphone, but I ask that only three of you comment."
We agreed that sounded fair. Dr. Benson thanked us for our interest. He then complimented us on our work with the Go to State Team. "When you start looking for more sponsors, be sure to see me."
We never thought about a dentist being a sponsor. Even Carl never mentioned that his dad might be interested. But I knew we would be talking to him before spring.
"Do you guys want to come up to my room and talk about what we're going to do?" Carl asked.
"It's almost nine," I said. "We told your mom we'd be gone by nine."
"Yeah, but she's probably in bed already. She goes to bed early half the time and reads or watches TV or just goes to sleep." I thought it was weird somebody would go to bed before it was dark, but I didn't say anything.
"I'll need to call home," Noah said. "I told my dad I'd be right home." Noah took out his phone and made the call. He told his dad he was still at Carl's and that they could stay until ten. He nodded and smiled. I heard him say I was there, too. He nodded and smiled again, then hung up. He looked at me and said, "Dad says he'll be here at ten and give us a ride home."
"Sounds good," I said.
We agreed that the four of us would call as many players on the team as we could to attend the board meeting. I said I would split the team phone list into quarters and email who each of them would call. I said I would also phone the Dawg and Donkey to join us. Maybe they would even bring some of their teammates.
Then we talked about how Danny had been asked by the coaches to help Carl and how Danny didn't really want to do it, but did it anyway. We all thought it was cool that they ended up being best friends and almost boyfriends.
"Well, if we were gay we'd be boyfriends," Danny said. "But we are good bed buddies, and we've even double dated to the movies in Centralia once."
"We've got almost an hour to kill," Carl said, changing the topic quickly. "Want to play a game of something."
"I want to jerk off," Danny said right out of the blue. "I've wanted to sit and jerk off with Eric for a long time, and right now I am horny. Talking about me and Carl got me horny."
I looked over at Carl and he had a big shit eating grin on his face. Before Noah and I could say anything, Danny was standing up and unzipping his shorts. He had them and his boxers off so fast it was almost a blur. I figured, what the hell, and I pulled off my shorts and briefs.
I looked over at Danny's already hard cock. It was around five inches and had a nice bush of hair at the base. He was almost eight months older than me, which made me feel a little better about not having any pubes yet, even though I just turned thirteen.
Carl had his shorts off pretty quick. He wasn't wearing any underwear. He was even a little bigger than Danny and had a few wisps of hair. He was getting hard really fast.
Noah didn't move to do anything. We all looked over at him. He was sitting on the end of Carl's bed. He grinned at us, but didn't make a move.
"Aren't you going to join us, Noah?" Carl asked.
Noah shook his head, no. We all knew why he wasn't horny. I wasn't going to push him. He would get horned up again in his own time. But Danny wasn't quite as diplomatic.
"Come on, Noah. You're a boy. You at least have been jerking off, right?"
Noah shook his head again.
"Well, it will do you good. I mean just seeing the three of us boned up has got to do something to you, right?"
"It wouldn't be right to do anything yet."
For whatever reason, I piped up. I wasn't going to start anything, but Danny did have point. He is a boy and he needs to take care of himself. "I don't think Bobby would want you sitting around doing nothing. He'd want you to live your life."
"It wouldn't be right."
"It's right for you." We've all been working at bringing Noah back to life, and I guess sex was a part of that, even it it's just jerking off sex.
Noah sat and looked at each of us. None of us were touching our hard dicks. He took a deep breath and said, "It's just jerking off, right?"
"Right. It's not sex," I said.
"I've wanted to do it really badly, but I've been scared."
"Scared of what?" Carl asked.
"That...that...well, that I couldn't do it."
He suddenly stood up and opened his pants, pulling them and his blue briefs off. His cock was soft. Now all four of us were half naked.
Noah sat down on the bed and looked at me. I could read in his eyes that he was hurting and wanted something. "Help me," he whispered, placing his hand on mine. "I need your help."
And that was how I ended up giving Noah his first orgasm since the accident as I used my hand to get him hard, to get him excited, and to bring him off to a bed-shaking climax as he squirted a ton of clear cum over his exposed belly and over the front of his shirt.
Danny and Carl jerked themselves off watching me take care of Noah. Danny had yanked his shirt off while I worked on Noah and he shot his thicker cum over his chest and belly. Carl came a minute behind Danny.
I was so turned on my dick was jerking back and forth. I placed my hand on it, but Noah moved it and put his own hand around my cock, getting me off to a mind blowing orgasm after about ten strokes. I came over my bare pubic area and over his hand.
We were all breathing hard after our little circle jerk. "That was good," Danny said. "It was really good of Noah to get off. I know he needed it."
"I did," Noah said. "Thanks guys."
We cleaned up and got dressed. Danny and Carl decided that Danny would spend the night at Carl's house. Noah and I were out of the front door at ten just as his dad pulled up.
"Call your mom," Noah said. "Ask her if you can spend the night with me." I did just that and she said yes. I think she was happy that Noah wanted company.
For the first time since the accident I spent the night with Noah and slept in his bed with him, just like that night we slept naked, but didn't have any sex. Just like the night of the accident when I was there to comfort him, it was all about us being with each other. I knew I felt something special for him, but I couldn't describe what it was. It meant a lot for both of us to sleep together that night. It was another part of us healing from what happened to Bobby.
That night I felt really good. Noah was coming more and more out of his shell and getting back to being the outgoing Noah we all loved. It was good to see it happening. But what none of us knew that night, even as Noah let me jerk him off on Carl's bed, and even as he asked me to sleep with him, and even as he seemed to get a little bit happier, was that there was a demon sitting in his mind and heart who was determined to keep Noah from becoming happy.
Next: August Crunch