Kenny had done the usual things with his folks and grandparents....Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Universal Studios Tours, Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm and even the LA County Museum...not to forget the La Brea Tarpits. It actually was fun..after a while he felt just as lonely as he was back in North Carolina...in his room, alternating between masturbation and internet chatting. "Leave him be....we can go to Pasadena..let him go on his own" His grandmother said, winking at him one sunny and hot morning. His own mother and father didn't seem to understand..but his grandmother did. "Yeah, a kid has to experience life" even his grandfather said. That clenced it. Then his own father said "Go, do, have fun, call the hotel and let us know where you are." His mother still objected but she lost the vote three to one. Kenny waved good-bye and grabbed his skates and got on a bus to the Santa Monica pier. He felt free for the first time in days..no actually months..maybe years. There were other kids his age around laughing, eating, sunning, skating and biking. He put on his skates and joined them...feeling the freedom even more as he sped up and down the so called boardwalk..actually a paved path for skaters and bikers. As he skated and the sun got hotter, Kenny joined the others around him stripping off needless clothing until he was in his tight calvin klein underwear/shorts. He knew people looked at him as he sped by. His butt and basket were clearly outlined..he didn't care. He saw other men and boys doing he same. The hot air bushed around his bare chest and legs....caressing as well as blowing the sweat off his body. Kenny skated harder and faster..as if trying to go so fast that he'd disappear into another life. He was an only child. And back home, secluded on the acres his family owned outside Charlotte...it was a farm, but not a working one. His folks worked in Charlotte and he lived more of his time with his grandparents on their neighboring farm then in his own house. There had been school of course. But now he was a graduate, going to classes in Statesville but only part time. "You have to decide what to do with your life" his father's impatience grew as the months past. "Let the boy relax a bit ..." His grandmother would say. He thought about joining the military just to get away and on his own. But he would rather go to college somewhere. "When you decide, we'll see" his mother would say "We don't want to waste money for you to drink beer and have a good time only" So, time passed by very slowly...and Kenny just didn't know who he was or where he should be or what he should do. In high school for a short time, everything was clear. Steve, a classmate, who lived two miles down route five, had become his best friend. They biked everywhere together, went to movies, camping and double dated as well. And in the darnkess that makes everyone feel safe, they explored each other's sexual drives as well. "Lovers" was too serious a word. "Fuck buddies" was another phrase that made Kenny feel he was odd, different and queer. So, they preferred to acknowledge that they were best friends and leave it at that. "Do you ever wonder if we're gay?" Steve asked one night as they shared a sleeping bag during a camping trip far from home. "I just know I'm happy" Kenny answered and that was good enough for the two of them. But College pulled Steve away from North Carolina and into a military institution in Virginia. Kenny visited him one weekend, but Steve had changed. He shook hands, talked as if they were casual former classmates and wouldn't even hug Kenny good-bye.
"We're different now" Steve said to him when Kenny asked what was wrong. So Kenny was alone again. "Hey kid, you skate pretty good" A tall muscular black man smiled and said to him as Kenny stopped for a rest on a bench. They talked and Kenny was delighted to make a new friend. "You cruising for a date later too?" the man, Winston, asked. Kenny didn't know what to say. But heard himself attempt to be witty "Hey I'm always hoping for something to come along". Winston began to point out men that biked or skated by. He didn't even ask if Kenny were gay or not. Kenny too, responded his opinion of various bodies, smiles, faces of the men who passed by. It was so natural..nothing surprising...no shocked faces...no reactions..he was just being himself. "Hey, Greg" Winston yelled at one of the boys who had skated by earlier and was returning "This is Kenny, new meat from your neck of the woods". Actually Greg was from D.C. but knew the area that Kenny lived in. His place as a huge one room appartment on a top floor of an apartment building overlooking the ocean. "Wow, this is great" Kenny responded naturally. He was reacting to the view of the ocean as well as Greg's lack of modesty as he stripped buck naked in the apartment. "Want to share a shower?" he asked. And Kenny blushed. "Hey I don't mean to rush you..just relax" Greg's hand on Kennys bare back felt warm and comforting. "No, it's just that I hadn't planned...." Kenny's words faded away as he steppedout of his shoes and tossed them with his discarded skated. His tee shirt was in the same pile as were his shorts next. He walked naked and erect following Greg into the bathroom. "Wow you ARE horny" as Greg fondled Kenny's curved erection. The shower was full of hot water, carresses and kisses that even Kenny hadn't been able to share with his former best friend Steve. He did enjoy some of the same things they did together with Greg..rolling around the bed naked, sucking cock and pinching nippples too and as he lay face down on the bed....Kenny imagined that it was Steve laying on top of him, sliding in and out of him. But this was not Steve. Greg's cock was longer and he seemed to know what he was doing, taking his time to fuck instead of the quick jamming that Steve and Kenny did to each other. "Wow, that was something I never knew I'd like" Kenny rolled over and kissed Greg long, deep and hard. "I'd better call the folks" "Hi, no I'm at the beach, made some friends, gonna stay the night" He looked at Greg who nodded and bent over to suck his cock. "Honey, that's not a good idea...you don't know them.." his mother began to whine. "Here's the number where I'm staying" Kenny said. He surprised himself. He wasn't asking, he was telling. No permission was needed...Kenny knew that this was where he needed to be. "So who is your new friends?" the many questions came when he appeared at the hotel the next evening in time to go to dinner with his parents and grandparents. Deep inside him, Kenny felt odd...as if there was supposed to be something inside him but it wasn't there. And his gut felt strangly empty as well...as if it had been challenged to create more sperm but couldn't. His cock was soft..and he was exhausted. Little sleep and lots of sex had told him of things his life was missing. "I want to go to UCLA" he said during dinner suddenly. "It's 3000 miles from home" his doting mother said. His father was silent. "You said that when I knew where I wanted to go, that would be ok" Kenny reminded his folks. "Let's go to the school, look around and see what Kenny is talking about before getting all excited" his grandfather championed on his behalf. The campus was nice, grassy, typical campus looking. There were lots of Asian students there which made his mother remark several times. Finally his Dad asked the big question "What do you want to study?" Kenny didn't know. All he knew was that Greg went to this school and said there were lots of others "like us" there. "Economics" Kenny blurted out. It was Greg's major..and Kenny didn't really know what it was all about. But his father and grandfather were impressed. Kenny waved good-bye as the four of them walked towards the plane. Desite his mothers objections, it had been decided that he would stay a week or so to look around before making his final decision. He'd get applications and meet with the admissions people at UCLA. And Greg, who appeared at the hotel on his behalf, said Kenny could stay with him..so no hotel charges. He pulled off his shirt as he walked out of the terminal. Greg, also shirtless, was waiting in his old convertible. And they drove to Laguna Beach for what turned out to be a hedonistic few days before returning to the beach in Santa Monica. "I love to watch you skate..it's like you're flying..free....and your buttocks look great too..like muscular wings on a bird soaring" Greg said to him. Kenny skated down the path, knowing that Greg's eyes were watching him, making him feel warm, needed, wanted yet free for the first time in his life. And like all soaring birds, he had a place to circle and return to....until he was ready to get back on his wheels and soar to another spot..another time..another nest..for the rest of his life....a new life...of being who he was, being where he needed to be and doing what he had to do.