ITALIAN BROTHERS 2 TANO & MASO by Andrej Koymasky (C) 2005 written September 2nd, 1993 translated by the author English text kindly revised by Matt & Dave
USUAL DISCLAIMER
"ITALIAN BROTHERS 2 - TANO & MASO" is a gay story, with some parts containing graphic scenes of sex between males. So, if in your land, religion, family, opinion and so on this is not good for you, it will be better not to read this story. But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or because you think you really want to read it, please be my welcomed guest.
CHAPTER 2. A True Friend
On the following morning, the Moor acted as if nothing happened. Gaetano had a sore ass, but he also recalled with some pleasure the wild and intense orgasm he had had. He never enjoyed so much with Silvio -- evidently his cousin did not even know that way, or else he would have taught him, he thought.
Gaetano worked with a will all day long. When he could withdraw to his berth at night, the Moor took him again. He noticed that if he relaxed, it was less painful. Anyway, the pleasure was always strong.
Then Corsican's turn was added with Gaetano, followed then by Fiore, taking a couple of nights each. So, Gaetano thought, it would now be the assistant's turn, then that of the captain. And then, he wondered? Would the Moor start again?
He was still feeling pain, but less and less. Now, when they came to lie near him, he at once lowered his breeches -- he knew that he had to do it, sooner or later. Who was the best among the three men, till now? Gaetano asked himself while he was sweeping the deck. Possibly Fiore? With all three of them, everything happened in more or less the same way, but when Fiore was inside him, he moved it in a way that gave to the boy more pleasure, and caressed all over his body. The Moor was second, without any doubt. And the Moor had a more shapely body, and a really beautiful tool that he liked very much feeling in his mouth and sucking.
As he had guessed, the Moor told him after supper, "Tonight, go to the assistant's cabin, understood?" Gaetano looked at him and understood, then nodded, so the boy also passed into the assistant's berth and then from there into that of the captain's. The assistant was the one he liked the least -- he was rough, almost violent, and as soon as he entered his cabin, he made him undress, went on top of him, fucked him, then sent him away without a kind word, a caress, or a tender gesture as the other men had for him, especially Fiore and the Moor.
The captain instead, undressed him. He didn't ask him to give him head, but took him at once, with a kind of gentleness and calm, and remained inside him for a long while. Before he came, he masturbated the boy so that they came together.
Then, when he was sated, the man asked him, "So then, ship boy, do you feel fine here on board?"
"Yes, captain."
"Very good, this may not be a big ship, but we are somewhat like a family. And the men seem happy with you," the captain said while caressing his small ass.
"May I get dressed now?"
"No, you'll sleep with me," the captain said and blew out the lamp.
He pulled the boy against himself and they fell asleep in that way. And on the following morning, before resuming work, he took the boy again, enjoying him for a long while.
At last, after the assistant and the captain, as Gaetano had guessed, was the Moor's turn again.
After the sailor was satisfied in him, Gaetano asked him, "Why, if the captain comes before us all, I went on his bed last?"
"Because in this way, when you went to him, you were already broken in, weren't you? With me, the first time, you still didn't know how it was done..."
"And... all the ship boys have to do... that?"
"Sure!"
"You did too, when you were a ship boy?"
"Sure."
"And... did you like it?"
"It doesn't matter if one likes it or not. It is to be done, and that's all. This is the law of the sea. Men have the right to give vent to their yen, and that's why there are ship boys on board, and females are in the ports. And that's the law of the sea."
"And the ship boy before me... how was he?"
"Well... you are better you don't lay there like a piece of wood, like a rag doll."
Gaetano understood that this was a kind of compliment, also because the Moor caressed his little ass with a pleased smile in his eyes while saying these words.
They reached Civitanova's port. The captain paid the men and let them free for three days. It was the first time that Gaetano had money, all for himself. He toured the port with one hand on his moneybag, to protect his little treasure. He walked around all day long and went back on the ship only at night to sleep. Only Corsican was on board on watch, and since he could not leave his place, that night, for the first time, Gaetano could sleep alone and didn't have sex. In fact, the other men did not go back to the ship. On the following morning, he went ashore again and started to roam in the little city.
On the main town square, in front of Saint Marone's church, he saw a puppet show and stopped to watch it. He heartedly laughed at the show's scenes, together with the rest of the public. But when at the end of the show the performers passed to solicit some coins, Gaetano rapidly slipped away, not wanting to give away one of his few coins, and crashed into somebody. He apologized.
The man looked at him up and down, "You are a sailor, aren't you?"
"Yes, sir a ship's boy."
"Where are you from?"
"I am from Venice territory, sir."
"How old are you?"
"I think fifteen, or possibly sixteen,"
"Do you like being a ship boy?"
"Well... at least I can work and eat."
"I was a sailor too, in the Pope's fleet."
"Oh... and you were also... a ship boy?" Gaetano asked with curiosity, looking more carefully at the man.
"No, I was the navigator. But now I own a hides' store. But... tell me... wouldn't you like to work for me?"
"For you, sir? I only know how to be a ship boy."
"Well, I need a store boy. How much did the captain pay you?"
Gaetano answered by showing him his coins and said, "But I already ate twice, therefore they were more..."
The man counted the coins then said, "I'll pay you three times these coins, I'll give you a place to sleep and you'll eat with my workers. What do you say?"
"But the captain also gave me clothes."
"Alright, and new clothes each season"
"But I'm only able to work as a ship boy..." the boy repeated, thinking that the offer was good.
"That's just what I need... do you accept?" the man insisted. So in the end, Gaetano accepted. "Go fetch your belongings, then ask about the store of Galamini and come to see me."
"What I own, I have on me. I can come now, if you want."
"Alright then follow me."
They went uphill to the high part of the town and walked through a maze of narrow streets. Gaetano never saw such a big city and looked around, amazed and interested. They reached the store.
He new master explained his tasks to him, then took him to a small room, whose door opened behind the counter, and showed him a big crate with a pallet, "Here, you will sleep here. Here you have a blanket for the cold days; here is the ewer to wash yourself in the morning. The bathroom is behind that door -- keep it clean, as we all use it. At mealtime, they ring a little bell -- follow the workers and go eat with them. Here, I don't want any quarrel, wine or women. We close on Sundays and you'll be free. On Saturdays, ask them to leave you some food for Sunday, you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"I'm called master here."
"Yes, master. But... what is my job?"
"To simply do anything you are requested. Anything, is that clear?"
"Alright, like when I was a ship boy, you mean."
"Right, exactly as when you were a ship boy, nothing more, nothing less."
"And... how many men work here, master?" Gaetano asked, hesitantly.
"Besides me, twenty-three."
"Twenty-three? Oh my God!" Gaetano moaned and became pale, thinking of his night duty as a ship boy. Then he asked, "And I have to... to obey all twenty three of them? Besides you?"
"Certainly yes. Why?"
"No, nothing... to me... to me, it's okay."
"Anyway, your main duty will be at night time."
"Eh, I know that, master."
"You know? What do you know? At nighttime, from the closing to the opening of the store, there will only be you and Maso in here. You will sleep here, as you can see the main entrance of the store from here. Maso instead sleeps near the back door. If anybody tries to enter during the night, to force open one of the two doors, you and Maso have to ring this bell, and we, as we sleeps upstairs, can come down with firelocks, understood?"
"Only me and... Maso?" the boy asked, amazed.
"Yes, certainly, you two are enough."
"And... is he also a ship boy, I mean, a store boy, this Maso?"
"Yes, even if he is my nephew."
Gaetano was somewhat confused, something did not sound right. But, after going to the ship to inform them that he would not embark any more, he started to work in the store. All day long, it was not so different from the ship -- running here and there to move and clean things, to put things in order. Maso instead mainly had to go around for errands. Maso was a seventeen-year-old boy, thin and tall, with a thick mane of brown hair falling down on his forehead. He had clever, smart eyes, and an everlasting saucy smile. Gaetano was weighing the men and was asking himself who would take him on that first night. Since there was another store boy, he thought, possibly two men would come... therefore, twelve each.
Evening came and the store was closed, with the two boys inside. Gaetano looked around -- it was all half dark inside the store. After a short while, Maso appeared with two lit lamps in his hands.
"Here, this is the lamp for you. You name is Gaetano, right?"
"Yes... master. But I'm usually called Tano."
Maso burst into a silvery laughter. Gaetano looked at him, frowning.
The other boy then said, "Sorry, but... this is the first time that someone called me master. I'm just Maso, I, not a master. Ah, if I was a master..."
"But you are the nephew of the master..."
"Yeah, but I am a poor relative. Use just my name, with me. Where are you from? You have an odd accent that I've never heard before."
Gaetano told him his story -- how he had to stop playing violin (and showed him his rough hands), how he worked in the fields, how he ran away, worked as a ship boy... and how he was now there.
Tommaso, who put the two lamps on the counter, listened and nodded several times.
"Yes, I can understand you -- sometimes I also felt like to run away and to get on a ship, you know?"
"Run away? Are you not happy here?"
"No. It is not that I feel bad, but not so good either. Everyday is the same life... drudging, eating, drudging, and sleeping."
"But you are the master's nephew..."
"The poor nephew, never forget that," the boy said with a funny grimace, and started to tell him his story.
"The master had two sisters. The older one married an ebony worker here in High Civitanova. The younger one instead became pregnant by a Pope's officer who said he wanted to marry her. However, he was already married, and so she was thrown away from home. And I was born. Mom, to make the ends meet, became a washerwoman. Well, we were poor, but we felt well, she and I together. But when I was thirteen, mom fell ill with a weird illness that not even the doctors understood what it was, and so she died. And I remained alone. Then my uncle, the master, took me in as a store boy. For charity, he says. But I earn all my money, I, therefore am no fucking charity. And also, although my family name is Galamini, like his, he lives comfortably upstairs, in luxury, while I am here... He doesn't ill-treat me, no... but to him, I am almost like a stranger. I am just his store boy."
"And... here, at night, you and I are here by ourselves? Nobody ever comes?"
"Who has to come?"
"Well, what do I know... the workers, or the master?"
"To do what?"
"To... to be... with us."
"To be with us? And why? No, it will just be you and I. Are you by chance scared to be here?"
"Scared, me? No way!" Gaetano said readily, then asked, "And before he hired me, you were alone, here?"
"No. Until three days ago, there was another store boy. His name was Checco. But he now enlisted in the army."
"How was that Checco?"
"How was he? He was eighteen. He worked here as a store boy for six years. He never talked. You are better. He stank. I hope you wash often. Tell me, are you able to read and write?"
"Me? No, why?"
"Nothing, just so... Checco also couldn't. I can, instead," Tommaso said, but without arrogance. "My mom taught me, and I read what I can find whenever I have a chance. If you come to my place, I'll show you my books."
"Do you own books, you?"
"Yes, some. Do you want to see them?"
"Yes... yes, sure."
Tommaso guided him with one of the two lamps to the cubicle where his pallet was, near the back door. He raised his pallet and pulled out a box from the crate, and from it, his "books." In reality, they were pieces of booklets of different sizes, often without a cover.
"Here, this is the story of a sailor named Simbad, but I don't know how his story ends, as the last part of this book is missing. This instead is a book about other countries, like the Two Sicilies Kingdom, the Tuscany Grand-duchy, the Piedmont Kingdom... but it is rather boring..." and Tommaso continued to describe his poor treasures, mainly showing the illustrations to his companion.
"Tell me, Maso, is it that good, being able to read?"
"Sure, there is a little of everything in the books."
"And... is it difficult?"
"Well, when you become able to do it, it isn't. At first, possibly it's a little difficult... Would you like to learn to read?"
"Me? I don't know if I would be able to..."
"If you could learn to play violin and to recognize the notes, you for sure can also learn to read... so I think. If you want, I can try to teach you. At least our nights won't be so long..."
So the two boys, after closing time, sat on Tommaso pallet and he taught Gaetano how to read and write. He was a good teacher.
"You see? This is an 'F'. Do you understand? It's name is 'f' but his sound is 'fff' like in 'flower' or in "fun' or in 'coffin'... Now look if you see another 'f'."
"This one!"
"Good."
"And here there are two together."
"Right."
"And this one!"
"No, this one is called 'Ti' and I have still to teach it to you. Do you see the 'f' is curled on its top? This is different, isn't it?"
"Yeah, you are right. This one is curled at its bottom."
"Now, try to write an f here in the dust, with your finger..."
In a couple of weeks, Gaetano was able to recognize all the letters in the alphabet without any mistake, both the uppercase and the lowercase ones, and he was also able to write them. Then, gradually, he started to read and write complete words. He needed more time to learn not to read laboriously but to read with a certain assured flow, but after just two months, some good results were already seen, and in four months, Gaetano managed to read rather well. The boy was enthusiastic and Tommaso was proud of him, and of himself, of course.
Both boys received new clothes for the summer and had saved a scanty sum of money, although it seemed huge to Gaetano. Then winter came, and the boys got new heavier clothes. Now Gaetano could read quite well, under the careful guidance of Tommaso, at the flickering light of the lamp.
On Sundays, after going to mass with the master's family, the two boys wandered in the fields or went downhill to the port. Occasionally, they walked as far as to Potenza Port or Saint Elpidio Port. During the warm season, they sometimes bathed in the sea or in the Chienti River, and if nobody was in sight, they did it in nude. And at night, they often masturbated on their own pallet, unbeknownst to each other. Several times, Gaetano felt the impulse to ask Tommaso if he also did it, and to propose doing it together -- he liked how his friend's body looked, and he thought that doing it with him must be beautiful. But he also thought that the older one had to take the initiative, and since his friend never said or did anything, he thought that possibly Maso was not interested in doing it, or else that he even didn't know about it.
At times, Tommaso also felt the desire to do it with Gaetano, as he often did in the past with Checco. But not knowing how his companion would react, and fearing that besides a refusal, Gaetano could tell his uncle, he preferred not to try.
Anyway, between the two boys, with the passing of time, a strong and true friendship was born, filled with affection, which helped both to feel less lonely.
And Christmas came.
Tommaso gave Gaetano a Christmas present -- a small copybook and a pencil.
His friend was moved, "But I didn't give you a present... and now I feel embarrassed..."
"You didn't have to," Tommaso cheerfully returned.
"But you thought of me, and I didn't think of you..."
"My mom always made me a small Christmas present... But after that, nobody ever did it. Did you ever receive Christmas presents?"
"No, never."
"That's why it didn't occur to you to give one to me, isn't it?" Tommaso said with a smile.
"Wait a moment..." Gaetano said, brightening up.
He ran to his pallet, raised it and rummaged in the crate. He took out his sailor's bag and pulled out a beautiful shell that the Moor gave him on the ship, and took it to Tommaso.
"Here, this is my Christmas present for you!"
"How beautiful! It's really beautiful, thanks."
"And if you put it at your ear, you can hear noises of the sea, you know?"
"Come on... It's true! I can hear it! Oh, thank you, Tano, this is the most beautiful present I've ever got... after those of mom," Tommaso said, and on impulse, he hugged his friend and kissed his forehead. "Happy Christmas, my friend!" he then said, parting from him.
"Happy Christmas, my dear friend!" Gaetano answered, feeling happy.
"At tomorrow's Mass, I'll pray for you, Tano."
"And I for you... and for your mom, who is in heaven," the boy answered, moved.
They went to sleep, each one on his pallet. Tommaso fell asleep with the shell at his ear, and Gaetano, with the small copybook and the pencil near his head, on his pallet.
Tommaso didn't talk about running away any more, after he became friend with Gaetano. The two boys fitted well together, and when everybody left the store and they were alone in the wide and dark store, they at last felt at ease -- physically tired, but full of joy of living, of communicating. They talked about a thousand things. They exchanged their memories, their experiences, and their thoughts. But Sundays were their best days, as they were free to wander together.
With the start of the wet season, they stopped going out on Sundays, especially if it was rainy. They didn't have a change of heavy clothes. They didn't even have a stove or a fireplace. And having to wear wet clothes was annoying, painful, and they also would take ages to dry.
Once Gaetano got a tear on his breeches, his friend pulled out thread and needle from his pallet ("They belonged to mom," he explained with a mix of pride and nostalgia) and mended them while Gaetano waited, wearing only his long shirt, sitting on his friend's pallet.
"You're able to do lot of things..." Gaetano admiringly commented, looking at the mend, before wearing his breeches again. Then he added, "And you also know a lot of things."
"You too!" his friend readily said, "Moreover, you traveled. Was it good, being a sailor?"
"Well... it was a hard job. There, you could not even have peace and quiet at nighttime. And we talked very little; there was no time for that on board. Possibly it would be different on a bigger ship, I don't know. And then, I was the only ship boy and... and at times that was tough," Gaetano concluded. He never dared to tell his friend what a ship boy had to do at nighttime.
Even if the two boys had seen each other naked several times, and without pretend modesty, sexuality was felt as something different, more personal, more private... something that one didn't talk about. Especially from where Gaetano came, nobody ever talked about sex. It's not that the words were never mentioned or they never hinted at that, but they never talked about sex openly, especially in front of children or women. Even about the animals, they talked about "in heat", about "mounting," but without going into details, without being explicit. These were things that one did but did not talk about. Even with Silvio, they never talked about what they did together at the hayloft. The more explicit hint about their common sexual activities was the expression "to make it pass".
Also, with the sailors on board, it was somewhat like that. There, the most explicit expression was "it's my turn tonight" or "tonight go to see the assistant." And even during the sexual activities, the men guided Gaetano to satisfy their desires without a word. The only exceptions had been the two requests from the Moor during his first time, when he didn't understand what he had to do, and the young man said "lick it, suck it" and then, "don't make me feel your teeth." And when they used terms about the genitals or sex on board, it was usually with a completely different meaning, like "go fuck yourself" or "what the fuck is that?" or similar expressions.
Therefore, the two boys never talked about their sexual experiences, about their nightly activities, about their sexual desires or drives, although they confided to each other many things, even things that were really intimate. It was like an unspoken code that they learned from the adults without even being aware of it, the simple rule of "Do it, but don't tell."
CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 3
In my home page I've put some more of my stories. If someone wants to read them, the URL is http://andrejkoymasky.com If you want to send me feed-back, or desire to help revising my English translations, so that I can put on-line more of my stories in English please e-mail at andrej@andrejkoymasky.com ---------------------------