Jacob Finding His Way

Jacob Finding His Way 73

Written by J.P.G.

{Jacob Finding His Way is partly fictional. As I am writing this story, I am above the age of 21. If you want a story with lots of sex, look elsewhere. This is a love story. Seeing as it is a love story, sex is in there, but it's in realistic balance in the characters' lives.

Any similarity to any real events, names, or life events is purely accidental. If you are underage, (according to your state laws, a minor), if this literature is offensive to you or to anyone around your viewing area, or it is illegal for you to view such content where you are reading it, stop reading the story.

This story cannot be distributed in any way, shape, or form without the author's expressed written consent.}

Story Written by: J.P.G.

Edited By: Ed

Chapter 73

"Why don't you let go of my arm before I yell rape?" Patricia looked squarely in the eyes of a person she has not met. The little does she know, the person holding onto her arm is the head of Jacob's security. "Are you dumb or something? I told you to let go of my arm or I am going to yell rape. Trust me those schools security guards are not just standing there to hold up the wall."

Not only didn't Riley let go of Patricia's arm, he pulled Patricia away from David and into the aisle. At that point, the school security guards saw what was going on and got on the radio to Principal Michaels. By the time Riley and one of his security agents got Patricia out the door of the cafeteria, Principal Michaels walked up.

"Gentleman please explain yourselves on what you are doing with this young lady." Principal Michaels took a breath as he looked back and forth from Riley to Patricia.

"This young lady, you called her a lady; walked up to the table that Jacob sits at and started trouble. We were letting it go until she raised her hand at one of Jacob's friends. We will not have that happen around Jacob or his family."

"When I spoke to Mr. Serna and Jacob about you guys, they told me you guys were not going to be seen or become a problem. By pulling out one of the students from the cafeteria as you just did is going against everything I was told you are going to be here doing. You are only here to ensure no harm comes to Jacob and that is it. You are not here to disrupt my student body and be pulling out students by the arm."

"With all due respect Principal Michaels, we cannot allow what happened last year to happen again." Principal Michaels looked over at Riley stunned. "Yes I know about the incident between the Governor's son and his ex-girlfriend. We did our homework before coming here today. We have talked to and working alongside of the security detail of the Governor son.

Last year you all allowed a situation to get out of hand that could have been fixed if you sir would have dwelt with it accordingly. Now you have a second chance at this and I am asking you to do it right. If you do not do it right, I will be forced to use every thing at my disposal to ensure she is not attending this high school from this moment on."

Principal Michaels told Patricia to go with the school security to his office and he will be there in just a minute. "I didn't know that you spoke with the security detail of the Governor's kids already. It makes it a lot easier with you two security units working together instead of running into each other.

With that said, I agree with you that many mistakes happen last year dealing with the incident concerning a female student here. I will not make any excuse for dropping the ball that resulted in two lives being lost. As I speak with Patricia, I will keep the incident that we are talking about in mind. In return I am asking you at the end of the day to except what ever punishment I hand down."

"As long as the punishment is expulsion from this school, I will go along with it. Because if you do not do that, you will leave me with no other choice but to do what I need to do to ensure she does not attend this school. If that means having her arrested and thrown into juvenile hall, I will do that but I would hate to destroy a young person's life when you have other resources at your disposal to keep her from having a record.

"I see that you and I are not going to get along. As soon as I finish up with Patricia, I will be placing a call to Mr. Serna informing him that you change either your attitude or that you need to be replaced. Because like it or not at the end of the day this is my school and I have the final say on what happens."

"I will not disagree with you that this is your school and you have the final say, but when it comes down to do my job in securing the young man in there I am going to do what ever it takes within the means of the law to get it done. I do not want to step on your toes in order to get my job done. So do what you feel you need to do, but I will be returning every day as long as Jacob attends this school."

Principal Michaels saw Riley's eyes that he was serious. He bitted Riley good day and headed to his office. He walked in he told the secretary to get Patricia's student file and call her parents. The secretary nodded her head and headed over to the filing cabinet as Principal Michaels made his way to his office.

Patricia looked up at Principal Michaels as he walked in and made his way around to his seat. She knew by the look on his face that she was in deep trouble. "Principal Michaels I am sorry for what happened in the cafeteria. I really don't know what comes over me when things do not go my way, but I promise I will not do that again."

"The problem I have Patricia is that I have given you so many chances and yet here you are again in my office. It seems that you get a boyfriend and you do everything you can to destroy that relationship. We have had this talk before and you have promised me time in and time again that was the last time, but you do it again. I cannot allow students to run around my school hitting each other because their relationship fell apart."

Just then, the principal's secretary knocked the door and entered. She walked over to the principle's desk, handed him Patricia's thick file, and then walked out. Patricia just sat there looking at the principal as he went through her student file.

"The last time you were in my office I told you if you messed up one more time that you were no longer be attending my school. Did you think I was playing?" Patricia shook her head nervously. "Well I wasn't! I asked my secretary to phone your parents to come and pick you up. As of this moment on you will no longer a student at this high school."

"Principal Michaels please do not do this to me, please! My parents are going to kill me when they find out I was expelled from school. Please, please do not expel me. I will do anything you ask in order not to get expelled."

"You did this to yourself, no one else did. I cannot keep you in this school because that is letting everyone else know that they could go around hitting people and there are no consequences to those actions. You went too far and I told you this day was going to come, but you said I was wrong. Here we are and I wish you were here to tell me I was wrong." Principal Michaels handed Patricia her expulsion papers.

"Either you or your parents call my secretary later this afternoon to find out when you start alternative school." Principal Michaels got up from his desk and walked over to his door. "Alternative school is your last chance Patricia. Please do not mess up over there because after that is juvenile hall."

Patricia got up and stopped halfway between the seat and the door. "Before I leave here Principal Michaels, let me tell you something that I just remembered. If you have zero tolerance against students beating up on other students you need to expel Kimberly, Carlos's girlfriend, from school as well. The other day she cornered me in the restroom, pushed my head into the toilet and didn't let me up till I almost drowned."

"Why didn't you come to me when she did that to you?" Patricia just shrugged her shoulders with a smirk on her face. "Since you did not come to me on the day this happened, how do I know you're telling me the truth? Your record with me about the truth is worthless. I am sorry, but I cannot do anything to Kimberly since you did not report it the day that it happened."

"That's not fair Principal Michaels, not fair at all!" Patricia stormed out of the principal's office and down to the waiting area. She sat down with her arms crossed waiting angrily for her parents since they have not arrived yet.

Meanwhile Jacob was heading to the ROTC building as he normally does, but all of a sudden turned around and started running to the stadium. Riley ran right behind him wondering what was going on. He asked Jacob, but Jacob did not answer. It wasn't because he refused to answer, but it was because he did not hear the question.

He ran all the way to the guys and when he arrived, they were surprised to see him. Out of breath, Jacob leaned down trying to catch it. Once his heartbeat slowed down and he was breathing normally, he stood back up and looked at them.

"With the mess dealing with Patricia, it did not dawn on me why Alex and Matt were not at lunch with us. Mr. Baird passed away and today is his funeral. He told me about it over the weekend but as you guys know this has been one roller coaster ride of a weekend." They shook their heads in agreement.

"So I'm going a go to the funeral and if any of you guys that want to go, you are more than welcome to join me but if you are going to join me, you are going to need to make up your mind now so we have enough time to stop at the mall and get suits. There is no way I am going to show up at a funeral in Levi's and a T-shirt."

Not needing to say a word to each other, they knew what each of them thought by just the expressions on their faces. They followed Jacob quickly to the truck and left leaving Ethan, Kimberly, and David standing there at the stadium. Those are the only three out of the group that do not live with Jacob so they cannot go.

Jacob made the trip as quickly as he could to Sunland Park Mall. Since it was a weekday and Monday to boot, Jacob was able to find a parking spot right in front. As soon as he parked the truck, he and the guys got out and headed in. Without discussing which store they are going to go to, they all automatically made their way to JC Penny's.

As the guys started to pick out their suits, Jacob walked to the corner and called Dewayne at his office. A few rings later, the secretary answered, placed Jacob on hold and seconds later Jacob heard his love of his life voice. Just the sound of Dewayne's voice made Jacob dick stir in his pants.

"Hey handsome I was wondering if I could ask the hottest guy on this planet to join me this afternoon." Jacob whispered, trying to trick Dewayne into thinking that it was someone else on the line with him.

"I don't know about me being the hottest guy on this planet because I believe my boyfriend is the hottest guy on this planet." Jacob started to laugh seeing that he could not fool Dewayne. "So if my hot boyfriend needs me for the afternoon, I am more than willing to ditch work and join him."

"Yes handsome, your boyfriend would love it if you would take a couple hours off to be with him at a funeral this afternoon. I will go ahead and pick up a suit for you here at the mall that you can wear at the funeral since I already know your size."

"As long as the suit is the same one you're going to pick out for yourself, go for it. All I need from you is where to meet you. If you want me to meet you at the mall, I will leave right now and be there in twenty minutes."

"Yes if you could meet me and the guys at the mall we are shopping at JC Penney's." Dewayne agreed and promised to be there less than a half an hour. Before they hung up they kept telling each other how much they love each other and wouldn't let the other have the last word. Finally, Jacob said I love you and hit the end button before Dewayne had a chance to say a syllable.

Jacob headed over to the shirts and started to pick out Dewayne's and his. Once he got the right shirts sizes, he headed over to get the pants and suit jackets. Just as he pulled down Dewayne's jacket, he felt arms come around his lower chest. He leaned his head back to see the most beautiful face looking back at him. Not saying a word, Dewayne leaned in and kissed his boyfriend squarely on the lips.

Somehow, Jacob was able to turn around with barely breaking the kiss. He dropped what he had in his hands, wrapped his arms around Dewayne, and pulled him closer. They stood there kissing each other in the middle of the aisle for the whole world to see. It did not bother Jacob that people were watching him. The only thing that mattered to him at that point of time is his boyfriend's lips on his.

When they finally broke the kiss, Jacob looked straight into Dewayne's eyes. "I know I have been a major ass this weekend to you and I am sorry for that. I really hope that you know how much you make me happy. Somehow, whenever I am with you I am able to forget all the bad stuff and just be happy. You make me smile and laugh whenever I am down and angry. For that and so much more, I thank you. I really love you so much I cannot stand being away from you as long as we are away from each other throughout the day." Jacob leaned in and kissed Dewayne on the lips.

"I can see it in your face every time you look at me on how much you love me. There is no need ever to apologize to for being who you are. I know this last weekend was horrible and you have a lot on your mind but I want you to know that I will always be here for you no matter how much you try to push me away. I am here in this relationship for the long haul so there is nothing you can say or do that will make me love you any less than I do. You are my life and my reason for waking up every day."

Jacob was all choked up, and Dewayne knew that so he picked up the things from the floor that Jacob dropped before pulling Jacob into a changing room. Although it is against store policy, they shared a changing room to try on the suits that Jacob picked out for them to wear to the funeral.

After making sure the suits fit them right, Jacob and Dewayne made their way to the cashier register where the others were waiting for them. Jacob paid for everything and they headed back to the dresser rooms to change. Once they were all in their suits, they headed out to the vehicles in the parking lot.

On their way, Dewayne gave the keys to the Camaro to Tom to drive. He wanted to be with Jacob and Jacob wanted to be with him. So of course, when Dewayne gave the keys to Tom he did not mind at all. In fact, if it were possible he would have liked everyone to go in the Camaro so where he and Dewayne could be alone, but there was just not enough room. That left Jacob with the only one option of holding Dewayne's hand, but he wanted to do a lot more than that!

The funeral was a lot shorter then Jacob thought it would be. They got started on time and Ron's priest did everything that was asked of him. By the time, Josh got up with the Show Chorus to to sing, everyone that wanted to say something about Ron had done so. The most emotional statement came from Alex, Jacob thought.

He sat there in aw of how different Alex is today than he was several years ago. If you were to meet Alex today for the very first time, you would never guess that he was ever in a gang. He no longer shows that in his presentation or the way he talks. Now he looks like and acts like the nerd that he is.

By the middle of Josh's song, Jacob was grabbing a hold of Dewayne's hand and holding it tight. At first, he was able to hold in his emotions, but that all overcame him and Jacob was no longer able to hide how much it is touching. A steady stream of tears was rolling down both sides of his face.

When Jacob thought the emotional part of the funeral was over, he found out how wrong he was. As soon as the casket got to its final resting place, the nine-gun salute and flyover got Jacob tearing up again. He looked around and saw that he was not the only one, so he did not feel like a drama queen he thought that he looked like.

Jacob did not want anyone to think wrong of him, but when Ron's casket finally was lowered into the ground, he was happy. Not because of the loss, that is hurting him even though he really did not get to know Ron as Alex and Matt did, but it was because he wanted the water works to stop. With the funeral at its end, now he hopes he will stop crying.

Just as he and Dewayne made it to the truck, Alex called everybody over. He invited everyone else to eat at the Texas Road House to celebrate Ron's life. Several people brought up to Alex's attention that it was not what Ron wanted, but Alex did not care. He made a simple statement saying that they are going to celebrate his life.

With that said, everyone got their vehicles and headed off to the restaurant. When they arrived, it was just after the lunch rush hour so they pretty much have the entire restaurant to themselves except for a couple of tables.

Jacob and Dewayne sat together at the edge of the table and did not pay attention to any of the conversations that was going on. They were in their own little world not caring about what is happening around them. When the server came round for their drink orders and again for the food orders, she had to ask them several times what they wanted.

At one point before the food arrived, Dewayne moved his chair so close to Jacob that they were almost sitting on each other's laps. Once again, they did not care because all they wanted to do is be with each other so if anyone from Ron's family or another fan in the restaurant was looking at them; neither of the two realized it.

Finally, Jacob has come to a realization that in order to be happy with the one that he loves, he needs to stop thinking about what others think. He decided that he is no longer going to hide his love that he has for Dewayne. Instead, he is going to do the opposite and that is for sure every minute of every day as long as he lives.

While they ate, they cut each other's food and fed each other from their own plates. They were laughing and having fun being with each other. The other couples at the table just looked on and wished that they could bottle what Jacob and Dewayne have, and take it home to use on their own relationship.

On the other side of the table, Marie was entangled in her own little love nest with her boyfriend Greg. Although they are not as bad as her brother and his boyfriend, but they were very close. Gloria and even Al saw it several times. They even interrupted them several times and asked them to cool their jets.

Marie tried to tell her mother and grandfather that her older brother is doing it, so why not her? Both her mother and grandfather gave her a simple answer; she was still too young to do what her brothers doing. Not just, what he is doing here at the table, but also in the privacy of his own room. Marie did not like the answer, but had no other choice but to accept what she was being asked.

If only Gloria and Al knew what those two have already done, they might not be allowed to continue going out. They have not gone all the way, but they have gotten close several times. The only thing that has been stopping them is that Greg has not been able to buy a condom and they have not had more than twenty minutes alone together.

Meanwhile back at the high school, Kimberly was called in to the principal's office during sixth period. When Patricia's family came to pick her up and found out that Principal Michaels refused to do anything to the girl that dunked their daughter's head into the toilet, they were angry to say the least. They ripped into the principal, but at the end, they were sent home no closer on getting their daughter back to school than they were when they first arrived.

Still Principal Michaels needed to talk with Kimberly and make it clear to her that she got away with something that normally would have gotten her suspended. So Kimberly got to the principal's office, she had no idea why she was called. The incident between her and Patricia never crossed her mind.

"Kimberly, why don't you follow me to my office please?" Principal said in an authoritative voice as he walked into the office. Kimberly got up from her seat and wondered why he even asked since she did not have a choice in the matter, but she did not say that aloud. She did what she was told, and followed her principal into his office.

"The reason I called you in is because Patricia claimed that you pushed her head into a toilet and held it down to the point that she almost drowned. I need you to tell me the truth on this matter. Did you or did you not corner Patricia in the woman's restroom and pushed her head under the water in one of the toilets?"

Trying to figure out what she should say here, Kimberly tried to read the principles facial expressions. Not getting a good read from the principal, she was left deciding whether to tell the truth or not. By the sounds of it, either he does not believe what Patricia said or he does not have enough proof to suspend her without her confession. She decided to roll the dice and lie to the principal for the first time.

"I don't know why Patricia is lying about me and the others in the group or even why she came after us today except that Chase broke up with her but the answer to your question is no I did not do any such thing to her. I will not lie to you, I have thought about getting her in one way or another, but I never acted on it."

"Let me make this as clear as I possibly can to you Kimberly. If I find out that you are lying to me and you actually did what Patricia is claiming you did, you will be joining her at alternative school. I will not tolerate that kind of behavior in this school."

"I know for fact that I will not be joining Patricia in alternative school because I do not do what she said I did. It is plain and simple, she flat out lied to you so do whatever you think you need to do, but I know you won't find anything because nothing happened."

"The constant denying of not doing it is telling me something else. For now since I do not have the smoking gun that you did it, I have no other choice but to let you return to your class. Trust it Kimberly, if there is something out there to find, I will find it. Someone saw you and Patricia that day and I will find that student. When I do, you and I will be having a completely different conversation."

Kimberly did not say a word for fear that she might give away more than she wanted. Finally, after a couple minutes of silence, Principal Michaels told Kimberly that she could return to her class. She got up and actually thanked Principal Michaels as she walked out and headed to her classroom.

Since Ethan knew that Jacob and the guys were not going to return to school, he called Derek to see if he could give him a ride to work. Derek jumped at spending more time with the guy he's falling for harder and harder every day. Although they have not done more than kiss each other, they both wanted more. Derek had slowed things down, as he wanted a relationship of love, and not just sex.

As soon as the bell rang, Ethan went running to his locker and quickly threw in whatever books he didn't need and grabbed whatever books he needed before running out to meet Derek in the parking lot. Little do they know, Ethan's father is also parked in the student parking lot waiting for him.

The minute Ethan crossed the street and walked into the student parking lot, he found Derek's car. As he started walking over, Derek saw him and got out of the car. At the same time, Ethan's father saw his son and started honking his horn. Both of the boys heard the horn, but did not pay any attention to it. They both thought it was other kids fooling around as they left.

When Ethan's father realized that his son did not hear him honking, he got out of his car and started walking over to him. He yelled out his son's name, but due to the cars going leaving and the students talking, Ethan did not hear his father. He greeted Derek and they got into the car. Ethan's father was confused on what was going on. Then he saw his son doing something that stopped him in his tracks.

Standing there maybe fifteen feet away from Derek's car, he saw the older boy lean over the armrests and kiss his son right on the lips. They held the kids for almost a minute and even when they broke it, they kissed again. When they finally broke the second kiss, Ethan's father quickly ducked into the ROTC restrooms so his son and that guy he is with don't see him.

He cracked the big black door and looked out to see his son driveway. Once the car turned onto Schuster Street, Ethan's father walked out of the restroom. He stood there at the edge of the building frozen in thought trying to come to terms on what he just saw.

It should not have been a surprise to him, because he has had a feeling that Ethan might be gay. He does not act gay, talk gay or even dressed like the gays he sees on television. He has done just little things over the last couple of years, that his father and mother have picked up. They have even had a conversation about having a gay son.

At first, Mr. Critchfield was not happy about the idea of having a gay son, but after talking it out with his wife, he has come to terms with it. All he wants for all of his kids is happiness and joy in their lives so if Ethan is gay and loves a guy, he will accept it because he loves his son.

The only problem he has now is that his son is not comfortable or does not trust him and his wife to tell them the truth. Now that he knows, he and his wife are going to find a way to get their son to open up to them. That way he can protect him from the world and all those people that are out there that would love to hurt him for being whom he is.

The sound of clicking rifles brought Mr. Critchfield out of his thoughts and back to reality. He looked to his left and saw two rows of kids coming out of the building. One side was pure girls and the other side was pure boys holding rifles. It looked at first they were going out to shoot something, but after hearing what the one that is walking on the outside of the rows say, he knew differently.

Once the students passed him, Mr. Critchfield made his way back to his car. As he was driving out of the school parking lot, he looked down at his watch and saw that he had forty-five minutes to spare so instead of going straight to work, he decided to go home and talk with his wife about what he saw here today.

When he walked into the house, his wife was surprised to see him. "What is wrong? Is there something wrong with Ethan?" Mrs. Critchfield looked around her husband and back at the door for Ethan. "Where is our son? Why isn't he with you?"

"Hon you need to settle down and stop asking me so many questions. Ethan is okay and is on his way to work. How about the other boys, have they are ready left to work?" Mrs. Critchfield had a worried look on her face as she shook her head. "I need you to take a seat and not say a word until I'm done. I don't have that much time before I have to leave." Mr. and Mrs. Critchfield made their way to the couch and sat down.

"Now again do not see anything until I am done. You know that thing we've been talking about the last year or so about Ethan?" Mrs. Critchfield had no idea what her husband is talking about. "Hon we have been talking about maybe Ethan being gay." Now she knew what her husband was getting at.

"Well today I got our answer when I went to go pick up Ethan. He has a special someone that we have not met yet. The reason that we have not met that special someone is because it is a boy. Our son is dating a guy!"

"Are you sure that he is dating a guy? Maybe you miss understood and it's a friend that we have not met yet."

"I am sure the guy our son was with is no friend. At least I never kiss my male friends on the lips several times when I get in a car with them." Mrs. Critchfield's jaw fell to the ground. "Yes you heard me right, our son got into a car with an older guy them once they were in there they started kissing like you and I do.

We have known that this day might come. The question I have is how we are going to approach our son. I think if we do it together, it might go over a lot better than me or you doing it by ourselves. What do you think?"

"What I think is that we need to stay quiet about it. If we approach him and tell him what you saw, he might pull completely away from us. We might even lose him if we approach him about the subject. The best thing for us to do is sit back and wait for him to come to us when he is ready. Please promise that you will not say anything to him that you know. I don't want to lose my son!"

"I don't want to lose our son either, but we need to find a way to get him to open up to us. He needs his family more now than ever. There are people out there that are waiting to run into people like him so either they can kill them or hurt them, and I want to know that kid he is dating. He looks several years older than our son and I want to make sure that he is not taking advantage of Ethan."

Mrs. Critchfield understood where her husband was coming from, but did not agree that they should confront their son. She figures if they do that he might completely block himself off from them. He might misunderstand them to the point that he runs away and that she cannot live with. She cannot live losing one of her kids because of something that is not their fault.

"Look, we need to take a deep breath here and settle down. Let us talk more about this tonight when the kids are asleep but for the meantime, you cannot confront our son about what you saw this afternoon. I'm not only asking you, but I am begging you to please not confront our son until he is ready to talk about who he truly is."

Ethan's father got up, not happy with what his wife is asking of him, and she can see that in his actions. "If you confront our son, we will lose him." Mrs. Critchfield got up and ran to her husband. She grabbed a hold of his shoulders and turned him around to face her. In his eyes, she could see frustration, anger, and disbelief all at once.

"This is why I don't want you to confront our son." Mrs. Critchfield pointed to her husband's face. "You are mixed up inside and don't know if you're coming or going! Because of all these mixed emotions, you will say something that you do not mean to our son. Please give it time and let yourself think about what you saw. I am begging you not to lose our son because you want an answer." Mrs. Critchfield started crying.

Seeing that his wife was all torn up about the possibility of him confronting Ethan at work, Mr. Critchfield promised her that he would not do anything until their son is ready to tell them what is going on. He wiped the tears away from his wife's face, kissed her goodbye, and promised her repeatedly that he will keep his mouth shut.

Back with Jacob and Dewayne, they left the restaurant after paying for their meals and headed up to scenic drive. Alex promised that he would take the guys to work so Jacob didn't have to worry about that. He saw that they wanted to be alone for at least a couple of hours before they have to return to reality.

When they got up to scenic drive and they parked and got out of the truck. Holding hands, they walked over to the wall looking over the entire west side and downtown El Paso. As soon as they got the wall, Dewayne stood behind Jacob and wrapped his arms around Jacob's waste. They did not say a word to each other. All they did was stand there, together looking down at the city.

Dewayne started to kiss up and down the back of Jacob's neck, making Jacob laugh. He loves it when he hears Jacob laughing. It is a very rare emotion coming out of Jacob and when it does, Dewayne tries to make it last.

"You know you should laugh a lot more than you do because you have such a beautiful laugh that spreads." Dewayne said between his kissing up and down Jacob's neck. "You take life way too serious and I'm going to make it my mission to get you to stop doing that. If you continue worrying the way you do, you are going to get sick or die young. If you leave me before your time, I swear I'm going to join you."

That grabbed Jacob's attention. He turned around to face his boyfriend as he sat down on the wall. Dewayne kneeled between Jacob's legs, placing each arm on one of Jacob's legs. Jacob reached down to him and placed his hands on Dewayne's shoulders.

"I have said this so many times, but I'm going to say it again. I do not know what you do to me, but what ever it is makes me very happy. You bring out that side of me every time I see you. You are my happiness! Thank you for being you and loving me for being who I am. I love you with all of my heart."

Jacob leaned down and kissed his boyfriend for the very first time out in public for all to see. He did not care if people were bothered by them kissing. All he cared about is being in a private world with Dewayne. They held the kiss as long as they could, but eventually they had to break in order to breathe.

The two lovebirds sat there on top of scenic drive side-by-side, holding hands as they looked down at the city. They talked a little, but nothing important. Instead, they did more kissing and cuddling than anything else. They both wanted to crawl into each other skin and stay there for the rest of their lives.

No matter how hard the boys tried to stop time, they were not successful. Before they knew it, it was time for them to head back to work. They got up from the wall and wrapped their arms around each other, trying to pull the other into them. Finally, when they could not get any closer, they leaned in at the same time and kissed.

All the way to work, they refused to let go of the others hand. Even when the pulled into the parking lot and knew that they had to, they did not. They tried to steal as much time as they could to be alone with each other. Finally, reality hit them like a ton of bricks when Jacob's cell phone started to ring. They both knew we could only be one person, Al.

They got out of the truck and made their way into the office. Before the elevator door opened on Dewayne's floor, Jacob pulled him in to steal one last kiss. As soon as the door opened Jacob let him go, laughing at what he did. Dewayne turned and blew his boyfriend a kiss just as the door of the elevator closed.

Before Jacob could even make it to his office, his grandfather called him in. Jacob turned around and walked over to his grandfather's office. He sat down and waited for Al to stop what he was doing and get down to the reason why he was called in their for. While his grandfather was busy writing things in files, Jacob's mind went crazy. He thought that his grandfather was angry with him for being late, but soon he is going to find out that he was wrong on that assumption.

Al closed the file he was working on and looked out at his grandson. He saw a glow in his grandson's face that he thought was burnt out a long time ago. Now he sees not only the glow was not burnt out, but also burning a lot brighter than it has ever burned. He loves seeing that glow and he knows that it is because of Dewayne.

"The reason I called you on the cell phone is because I need to talk with you about the house. We need to start working on it now in order to get the house built in time."

"Grandpa with what I understand we cannot do anything until the fire marshals finishes their investigation plus I want to hire our own investigators to go over their investigation. I do not trust the fire department because of the way they were with me the night the house was burning down so we pretty much cannot do anything until all that is done, and that's going to take a while."

"I agree with you about hiring our own investigators and I have already started working on that. With that said, I believe we need to look elsewhere for land and build our house from scratch this time around. That way if we do it this way, we can start construction on the house the minute we agree on land and get the blueprints drawn up."

Jacob agrees on what his grandfather said about building their home from scratch but what he does agree on is building a home somewhere else. If they do that, he and the ones that live with him more than likely will have to switch schools, something Jacob is dead set against.

"I have several concerns about what you just said grandpa. First and most important is where we are going to find land that we can buy immediately and will not cost us an arm and leg. Second is the likelihood of finding land on this side of town. I do not want to go to any of the school except El Paso High."

"If you would have let me finish Jacob, you wouldn't have these concerns. I have spoken with the Governor and he has a huge chunk of land that he is not doing anything with. He is willing to sell us that land at the price he paid for it, which is well below the price of land today. That land is on this side of town and you will still be able to attend and graduate from El Paso High.

Moreover, we will have a lot more advantages as far security by building next to the Governor's house. First, there is only one road into and around the Governor's land and it is blocked off to the public. That means we will never have another issue as we had with the house being burnt down.

Secondly, the security around the Governor's House will help us out. Like it or not Jacob, we are now part of the elite of this city and probably this state. So there's going to be people that not only will harm you because of you being gay, but also there is a very big possibility of one of those idiots wanting to kidnap you for a quick payday. We've got to have security around us more now than ever before."

"You know I haven't fought you about security. I have accepted that is part of my life now and will do what ever that is necessary to make their jobs easier in order to keep me safe so if you feel better buying the land the Governor is offering I will back you one hundred percent. Just as long as I do not have to change high schools.

Now the only question that I have is what we are going to do with the land that we do own. Eventually the fire department is going to release the land back to us and I do not know about you, but I do not want it on our books. We already pay too many taxes to the government at the end of the year. Let's not give them a chance to tax us more."

"Now as far as the land where our house was at, we will be selling it the minute we get it back. Just like you, I do not want it on our books at the end of the year. The most expensive tax out there is land tax and having a piece of land that we are not doing anything with, is it wise to sell."

Jacob agreed with his grandfather and they discussed how they plan to get rid of the land once the fire Department releases it back to them. As soon as they got that taken care, they moved on to the land the Governor was offering. It didn't take long for them to agree that it was their best option as far as getting a house built quickly.

"After I got off the phone with the Governor, I spoke with the construction company he used to build his house. The reason I did that is that they are already cleared to be around the governor's house plus they got the Governor's house built in just two months and that is without them being rushed.

When I talked with the construction company earlier today, I asked them if it was possible that they could build a house faster than they did with the Governor's. They said that by putting more men onto the job, they could probably get the house up in a month. Now that timeframe is after we get the blueprints drawn up and all the permits from the city.

What I need you to do Jacob is to sit down with an architect and draw out the house that you have always wanted. The reason I am asking you to do it is that after all the house is your house, and nobody else's so you have to be happy with the final product more than anyone else. But let me tell you do not take too much time getting the blueprints drawn up, because it will delay the actual construction of it."

Al handed Jacob the business card of the architect that the Governor's family used. He took a glance at the card as he put it in his wallet. "I will get on at the minute I leave your office. The only question I have for you is if it is okay that Dewayne worked with me on this. The reason I am asking this is that I know he is the person I am going to spend the rest of my life with. So I want him to be as happy in our home as I am."

"I have no problem with Dewayne working with you on the blueprints. If you had not asked, I would have asked you to let him work with you. I am glad that you are so happy and it is he that is making you happy. Please do not ever lose that joy and the fire that you're burning right now, because it looks good on you."

Jacob could not help but blush on what his grandfather just said. He tried to hide the blushing, but he was not successful. Al saw that when he embraced his grandson so he quickly changed the subject back to the house. Once the house discussion was done, Jacob got up to leave when his grandfather called him back over.

"Jacob one more thing, the car dealerships, they were given to you so you are responsible for them. You need to get down there and start learning how things work, maybe not the everyday things, but the whole picture, as soon as you can! Once you get that down, you then can learn the little things in each of you car lots."

"Grandpa that is going to be lot since Mr. Dick owned almost every brand except Honda and Cadillac, maybe a couple more I cannot think off of hand but I now own a lot of dealerships and it is going to take time for me to learn the picture more less the every day things. Why do I need to learn the every day things?"

"Because Jacob you might need to run one of your lots if you fire another dealership manager or they quit. If that ever happens, you will need to know everything in order to step in to run things. You do not want to go down there to one of your lots and find that one of your employees actually knows more than you do. Right now the guy that washes the cars knows more than you do and you need to correct that."

"Okay grandpa I will get right on that as well. First, I will go down, speak with Dewayne about the house, and get that ball rolling. Once I do that, I will go down and start to learn the dealerships." Jacob stood at the doorway waiting to see if his grandpa had anything else to say. When he did not get anything more from him, Jacob left.

Before heading down to Dewayne, Jacob decided to drop a few things off in his office. When he walked in, he found his desk cluttered up with many files. He walked over to see what these files were and just as he started looking at them, he heard a voice he was dying to hear, Dewayne's.

"Hey handsome you shouldn't be hiding yourself behind all those files. A gorgeous person guy like you needs to be out for all to see." Dewayne had an evil grin on his face as he walked over to Jacob and wrapped his arms around him. "What is all this stuff by the way?" Dewayne pulled one of the files up from the top of one of the piles. "It looks like employee files from your car dealerships."

Jacob turned around and leaned against his desk bringing Dewayne into him. "You know that I have been wrong making you drive my car now that we own all these dealerships."

"We, I don't think so, you do!" Dewayne said between giving little pecks of kisses on Jacob's lips. "You know I love how sweat your lips taste. In fact I love how sweet your body taste." Dewayne started to lick up Jacob's arm, making Jacob laugh. "I can get full just licking you all day long."

"Don't get me wrong, I love it when we are together like this, but we need to get serious." Dewayne stopped kissing Jacob's arm and looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. "Do we have to?" Dewayne said in a soft, but pleading voice as he returned to kissing Jacob's arm. "Yes we have to talk about getting you your own car and also about the house. I just got out of my grandfathers office and the topic was the house."

Dewayne got serious and stopped kissing Jacob. He started to walk away, but Jacob pulled him back. "By getting serious doesn't mean you have to go and sit in a chair. We can talk seriously at the same time be like this." Jacob pulled Dewayne closer to him that they were almost touching noses, neither of them minded.

"Let me do this for you Dewayne? Let me buy you a car that is your very own. Not a hand me down that I was using before I bought my truck. I love you and all I want to do is spoil you as much as I possibly can. That means if you want a new car every month, I will make that happen."

Trying to keep a straight face, Dewayne was not successful. He poked Jacob's nose a couple of time as he giggles like a lovesick fool. "I don't want a new car every month or every year. All I want is you at my side. If you want to get me a car, I will take, but only because you want to give it to me. So let us go out tomorrow after school and look at the cars together. I want your input because what ever is mine is yours."

"You took the words right out of my mouth! What ever I own you own and I do not want to ever hear you say I own things separately from you. As long as we are together, we share everything equally, which means for the rest of our lives everything is going to be evenly owned by the both of us.

Now with that said let's talk about the house we are going to live together in until we turn old and grey." Jacob started to laugh as he pulled out his wallet and handed him the business card his grandfather gave him to call. "This guy our grandfather wants us to use to make the blue prints of our new home. He worked on the governor's house and the governor liked his work so he recommended him to my grandfather."

"What about the..."

"Don't say it, I already went through it already with our grandfather." Jacob went into details on what he his grandfather spoke. From the land, they are going to buy next door to the governor's house to the amount of time it might take to get the house built. Dewayne was surprised to hear that a house could go up so fast. He thought that the faster the house is built, the chances of it lasting is slim.

"Wow, I mean wow that is a lot of information to digest. Are you sure that you want to live right next door to the governor of Texas. There is no doubt that guy is going to be president one day. When that happens, it is going to be a circus getting in and out of our house and you are forgetting one thing, Alex and Matt. Since they have a criminal record, are they allowed to live close to the governor?"

"The last part I do not know, but I am going to find out. If that is true, it is a no go. Even though they now have their own house, they are going to come down and visit, at least I hope. If that rule exists, they will not even be allowed to come down to the house and hang with us. There is no way I am going to trade a nice piece of land for a good friendship."

"I thought so, but I wanted to make sure you find out about that before building a house that Alex and Matt cannot come down and step foot in. Now let's talk about how we want our house to look." Dewayne walked out of the office and returned carrying a box of dot matrix printing paper.

He opened the box and rolled out the paper on the floor as you would a rolled up carpet. Once he had enough paper on the floor, he grabbed the pens and pencils off Jacob's desk and threw them on the ground before sitting down Indian style. Jacob could not help but see Dewayne like a little kid sitting there on the floor with his favorite coloring book and crayons. That is how Jacob is seeing him right now.

"I am going to ask you a question babe and I do not want you to get mad at me for asking." Jacob talked in a low voice as he sat next to Dewayne. "Don't you have work to do down stairs?" Dewayne looked over at Jacob.

"When we got back, most of the employees were already leaving. Those that were staying were staying because of Tony and me. Normally we go out and visit stores getting our hands dirty learning everything we can on how things are ran but Tony needed to study for several important exams that he has tomorrow, so I told the staff to go home. Giving me the time I wanted to spend with my gorgeous lover!"

For the second time in an hour, Jacob blushed, turning all shades of red. Just like Al, Dewayne knew he made Jacob uncomfortable, so he changed the subject. They started working on a drawing on how they want their house to look like. By the time it was time to go home, they pretty much had the house drawn out the way they wanted.

Once they were satisfied with what they had, they turned their attention to the files on Jacob's desk. Between the two of them, they got through the files in an hour. It was employee files from the car dealerships, but not all of them, just the managers.

At first, Jacob did not know why they were left on his desk, but he remembered what his grandfather has been telling him about how office communications are going to go. Every thing that needs to be talked about outside of meetings will be done via emails so Jacob got up and turned on his dumb terminal. A few minutes later, the green screen came up and Jacob accessed his email account.

After retrieving his grandfather's email to him, he knew exactly why the files were left on his desk. He was supposed to go through them and look at the contracts that are signed. All of them are going to be redone, but he was supposed to make a list of managers contracts that were about to expire and see if there was any notation about the contracts being renewed and if they were not, why not?

When they finished the last file, they got up, called Tony, and headed out. All the way to the lobby, Jacob was holding onto Dewayne's hand tight. It was as if he thought they were not going to hold hands ever again. When the elevator door opened, Dewayne expected Jacob to let go of his hand, but was surprised when he did not. They walked out of the elevator holding hands for everyone to see, which Dewayne loved. It looks like to him that Jacob is moving past his fear of people thinking the worse about him because he loves the same sex.

Back in the Critchfield house, things were not running as smooth. Ethan's older brothers felt something in the air, but could not put their finger on it. All through their shift, the two older brothers that work at the print shop with their dad noticed that their dad was not present most of the night. Physically he was there, but mentally he was somewhere else.

As soon as they got home, they warned their other siblings something was up with their father. It did not take them long at all to see what the two older brothers saw. They were able to figure out what ever has their dad angry has something to do with Ethan. All through dinner, their dad would not even look at their brother. At the same time, their mother looked over at him, but with a peaty in her eyes.

To prove that their assumption was right, every time Ethan tried to talk with his father, his father ignored him. It got to the point it was very uncomfortable. No one said a word for fear that it would set off their father, or worse make their mother cry. It looks like she is right on the verge of breaking down in tears right there at the dinner table.

One by one, they finished their meal and asked to be excused before leaving the dinner table. When Ethan was done eating and asked to be excused, his father said no, but nothing else. The others that were still there recognize the warning sign and asked to leave, which they were given permission to leave. Once everyone was allowed to leave, but Ethan, they knew he did something bad and his is going to get his butt chewed out.

Mrs. Critchfield got up from her seat and walked over to her husband. Leaning down to his ears, she started to whisper. "If you do what I am think you are about to do, I will leave you." Mr. Critchfield looked up at his wife with a stunned look on his face. "You heard me right! If you comfort our son on what you saw earlier, I will leave. I will take our son and move out of this house."

"I don't think you will!"

"Try me and you will see! I already packed several bags for just this. If you do not believe it, go up to our room and look. I will not lose one of our sons because you cannot go by what you promised me today and the other times we talked about this. You told me that if what we feared came true, you would accept it without question. But here you are ready to destroy our relationship with one of our sons."

Mr. Critchfield got up from his seat to go and see if what his wife said is true. When he passed his son, he stopped and spoke a complete sentence for the first time to his son since they had sat down for dinner. "You do not move from that spot until I get back!" Ethan looked over at his father and was barely able to shake his head.

Once his father left, Ethan looked over at his mother with a mixed look on his face of fear and terrified. "Mom please tell me what I did wrong?" Ethan was barely holding himself together as he spoke to his mother. She walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"You didn't do a thing wrong son. You are what we have always wanted you to be. Why don't you go ahead and do your homework. Your father and I need to talk in private." Ethan shook his head, refusing to leave. He feared what his father would do to him for disobeying his instructions. "Go ahead and do your homework and get ready for school tomorrow. I will make sure you do not get into any trouble with your father."

Hesitantly Ethan got up from the table and walked out. He does not know how he was able to walk from the kitchen to his little corner in the living room since he was trembling really badly. Somehow, he mustard enough strength to move, but now he is drained as he sat there in the corner of the living room with his head between his legs.

Mrs. Critchfield made sure the stove was off before heading up to her and her husband's room. As she passed the living room, she looked in to find her son, sitting there in the corner scared to death. That gave her the final push to go up and lay down the law for the first time with her husband. Something he has never done because there has never been a time that she needed to step in and stop her husband from doing something stupid.

When she walked into their room, she found her husband sitting on the bed. He looked up at her as she shut the door. "You are willing to leave me after all these years of marriage for one thing? Haven't I made you happy all of our years together? Haven't I given you everything you wanted, even when things were bad?"

"Yes to all of your questions, but that doesn't matter at this point. You could give me all the gold in this world and I still will not stay with you if you choose to comfort our son. I don't care what you give me, if you do what I know you are ready to do, I am out that door and filing for divorce tomorrow." Mrs. Critchfield walked over to husband and sat down next to him. She placed her hands around his face and lifted it so they were looking into each other's eyes.

"You have been a wonderful husband and father to our kids. You have never disciplined our kids for something they did not do wrong or was out of their control. You have never disappointed me in all of our years of marriage, until tonight. No matter how much it may hurt, if you go ahead and do what I think you were going to do, I am out that door. I mean it!"

Mr. Critchfield did not say word. He sat there looking into his wife's face and could see that he meant every word she was saying plus the suitcases in their hallway sells it to him that she is not fooling around. At the same time, he is fighting the urge to going out there and talking with Ethan about what he saw.

"Our son is down there curled up in a ball thinking that he did something wrong. He is going over everything he has done in the last several days trying to figure out what he had done. When he figures out he did not do anything wrong, he is going to get even more scared. Do you want any of our kids feeling the way he is feeling right now?"

"No but I cannot act like I do not know that he is going out with a guy, I just cannot!" Mr. Critchfield got up from the bed and started pacing around the room. "He cannot love another guy. All the boys are going to get married, give us grandkids, and live their life as we have, happily. There is no one that can tell me that he is happy with that guy."

"You said it yourself when you told me what you saw. In your own words you said our son looked happy with that boy in the car when we talked over the phone during you break. Your own words prove to you that you are wrong. Our son is happy with him. So why don't we just let him be happy. In his own time he will come and talk with us."

Not liking how his wife is using his own words against him, Mr. Critchfield realized that she was right. He sat back down go over the scene he saw this afternoon. As he went over it several times, he saw a smile on his sons face that he has never seen before. There is no doubt that their son is happier than he has ever been.

Meanwhile Jacob and Dewayne walked into the restaurant of the hotel just as the others sat down to eat. They all turned to see a glow coming from both Jacob and Dewayne. Not the kind of glow you have after having sex. The kind o glow you have when you are head over heals in love with your significant other.

Neither of them said a word. They just joined the others and started to dig in. Just as they finished eating and were about to get up and help with the dishes, Jacob asked them all to stay for a few minutes, he needed to get something off his chest. They all sat back down, putting their plates back on the table.

The room so quiet, they were able to hear the humming of the refrigerators. Jacob looked over at Dewayne, winked as he stood up. "The last several days have probably been the worse days we have had in a while, and that is saying something." Everyone started to laugh. "I know each of us is dealing with what happened in our own way. I got angry and took it out on my friends instead of those that burnt down the house, for that I am sorry.

All of us in the room pretty much grew up together." Jacob started to chuckle. "It is not like we are old men already!" They all joined in laughing with Jacob. "Anyway the reason I am going there is because we came from the same side of town. None of our families were rich. It has just been recently that a few of our fortunes have changed.

For example, my mother as you all know was the only one that was bringing in the money as my brother, sister and I grew up. Although we have had our run ins with each other, I can always say she went without in order that we didn't. We never had expensive clothes, fancy television sets, or video game systems, but we had what we needed." Jacob looked around the table and saw in a few of their faces that they were lost.

"I know I am talking all weird and stuff, but let me get down to what I am trying to say. I have been lucky in the last several years, but I will not ever forget how my first fifteen years on this earth was. Even though things have gotten a lot better for my family, and me I do not think I will ever change whom I really am. You know not buying things at the mall when I can get the same thing at Wal-Mart, just not with that fancy label on it.

Here I go again sounding all weird!" The guys started to laugh again. "Please forgive me for acting the way I have been acting the last couple of days. Dewayne pretty much put me back in my place, thank you babe." Jacob turned to Dewayne and winked at him. "I plan to try and get a lot better on not taking out my anger on the wrong people.

I need to learn to relax and enjoy the fortunes I have so I plan to start by doing something for you guys. As you know, I inherited those car dealerships, but really have not enjoyed that piece of good fortune. I felt if I celebrated it, I was celebrating the death of a friend, which I now know I was wrong. So for my family, which all of you are, I am going to give you a choice of any car from any of my lots except the Jaguar." The guys started to boo and then yelled out kidding.

"Come on you guys we all can not show up at school sporting these Jaguars. This coming weekend we are going to go out to the lots and get your cars that you want, how does that sound?" Everyone at the table yelled in one way or another hell yes.

Jacob moved his seat as close as he could to Dewayne's and sat back down. The table broke into chatter on what car or truck they were going to get. Jacob and Dewayne just sat back and watched the guys got into debates about what kind of car they are going to get. They started teasing one an other that they are going to get the better vehicle than the other. As they debated, Jacob actually felt good seeing what he was seeing. Not as good as he felt when he and Dewayne were alone, but close.

TO BE CONTINUED...

WRITER'S CORNER:

{Welcome back one and all to another filled chapter of "Jacob Finding His Way". Although it did not even get through an entire day, a lot did happen in the time that was covered in this chapter. I do not even know where to start, I guess at the beginning, which picks up right where I left off at the end of the other chapter.

First, let me say to my editor, I am sorry but I changed who grabbed Patricia's arm. I know what I said, but I think this works better. With that said, what a surprise on who grabbed Patricia's arm. Many of you guessed at it, but you were all wrong, SORRY! Anyways back to Jacob's security. People watch out, as there is another person in the school that now has security around him.

The security is long over do for Jacob. Many of you were wondering what happened to Mr. Jackson, well we are going to see a lot more of him now that Jacob and other have security agents. I am glad they reacted as quickly as they did and I think they dealt with the situation damn good.

Riley pulling Patricia out of the cafeteria and then handing her over to the principal was the right thing to do. The only thing I did not like in that whole thing is how the principal reacted but I think he reacted the way he did is because just like anyone in his position he does not like being told how to deal with things. But when it was all said and done, he expelled Patricia and hopefully that is that. Remember Elizabeth was expelled as well, but that did not stop her from doing what she did. HINT! HINT! HINT!

The funeral I barely touched here because it was in complete detail in "Beneath the Mask" chapter forty-three. I know some of you do not read that story, but I am telling you that you need to, especially this scene. It is an emotional scene and at the same time a very beautiful scene. So go on over to that chapter and read it if you have not yet. I hope that it is already posted, if not it is coming next, LOL!

You all saw a different side of Jacob in this chapter. Not the broody, serious kid, but the love struck kid. He really loves Dewayne and I see him spoiling the living day lights out of him. Although Dewayne does not want it, Jacob is still going to do it. I am glad that Jacob found Dewayne at this point in his life. He has already been through one relationship that he learned from. Now this relationship is going to past the test of time.

The house we now know where it is going to be built. I hope they can get it up as quickly as they want to, but as you all know things never go as planned. By having the house next door to the governor's, it is going to open many new plots for both stories. The funny thing about this plot is after I finished writing it; I got an email from a reader telling me that is what he thinks is going to happen. Man you people are getting to know me way to well and I need to change things up a little.

I am going to touch a little bit on the Dewayne issue. The only thing I am going to say about this plot is that it is going to be there in the background for a while. When it comes full circle, it will not be what you are use to with the adult characters in the stories, so you need to stick around and see how that unfolds.

Let's see what can I say about the ending of this chapter. Well it was put in because I got several emails (and a phone call from his editor Ed, J) not liking how Jacob reacted in chapter seventy-one so I went back and wrote why Jacob acted the way he did. Before I go any further, I would like to say to those readers that wrote me about this plot, thank you. Please do not be afraid to send negative comment about a plot in a story. That is the only way I know if something is not working. I might not like what is said, but I read it, really look at it, and then decide if it is worth going back into as I did in this chapter.

Now back to the plot! Jacob reminded everyone how he grew up and why he will never find himself shopping at the mall as they did the other day. He also said to the guys in a round about way that they were the same. In other words, they took advantage of the situation on getting all their clothes from the mall, when the majority of the clothes that went up in flames were from Wal-Mart and K-Mart. I like how he did it with tact and did not ruffle any feathers.

After getting his point across, he gave them something they never suspected. Now let me clear up who is getting the cars, David, Tom, Tony, Chase, Alex, Matt and Jacob's family. Not anyone in Joey's group because they are not really part of Jacob's family, sorry guys. Now Dewayne I see something more for him from Jacob as far as a vehicle. I dropped a hint here in this chapter and hope you caught it.

As always I can go on and on about the open plots in the story! If I do that, I can actually write several more chapters. So many plots can take a turn at anytime. You might think it is going to go one way, but is lands up going another. Do not miss anything, or you will be kicking yourself for it.

There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Stick around and keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacob@jacobmillertex.com Thanks!}