Chapter 2: September 1993. Boy meets Boy.
First week of my senior year at Amarillo High School:
I emailed my new class schedule to Daniel, he said we only had one together: PE, ninth period on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
One thing I forgot to put in my last chapter was something important about Daniel, I was so used to it I hardly noticed any more. He wears two hearing aids because he's legally deaf. Without his hearing aids he said his hearing sounded like listening to conversations in the next room by pressing your ear to the wall. He could hear music but it's not like it sounded to us, all the mid and high sounds were gone. He could feel the beat and thumping bass just fine. Daniel said voices sounded badly muffled and muddy to him but his hearing aids made them better but still very hard to understand on some people (female voices were usually the worst). He said people with mono-tone voices were usually unintelligible to him.
He tells me that I can easily simulate how voices sound to him. Firmly press one hand over my mouth and try talking. He said that's how most people sound to him. He can hear them speak but its all gibberish to him. He tells people often that our ability to understand speech requires a lot of interpretation done in our brain, we're not even aware of it. He says that even the slightest loss of hearing first decreases how much speech we understand. It does not take much hearing loss to have a big effect on understanding speech. He also says the same rule holds true for our vision and our ability to understand what we see (like reading or judging colors).
There were several girls at AHS who felt Daniel was adorable, but those were the same girls who fell in love with Kermit the Frog too. When you saw Daniel in the hallway he was usually with girls and he was usually the same size as them. At a glance with a group of girls he usually looked like just another girl, except his chest was flat and he was usually the shortest one. Some kids said he looked like one of the teachers brought their daughter to school for the day.
Today was Tuesday, it's ninth period gym. Our last names were far enough apart in the alphabet that we weren't likely to be close in the locker room. I saw Daniel wearing our dorky school gym uniform, shorts and an athletic tank top walking around in the gym trying to be invisible. Considering how excessive he normally dressed I was convinced the gym uniform was totally painful against his pale flesh, which also made it a little funny to see him wearing it and the priceless look on his face, like one of total defeat. It would have made a great photo for the yearbook, a senior class inside-joke.
I've seen Daniel naked hundreds of times but not since last June. He's as skinny as you can get without being accused of puking after meals, I can pick him up with one arm. Dan is thin and short because his parents and grandparents were thin and short too. I think his grandparents emigrated from Norway. I'd be surprised if his grandfather was even five feet (152cm) tall!
I'm pretty sure the only reason he let his hair grow long was to cover his ears. But he couldn't wear hearing aids during PE so I translated for him. I was usually his hearing person because he taught me some sign language, mostly the alphabet and a few dozen phrases, but he was constantly teaching me new signs.
The coach blew his whistle to gather us around then said we would be doing track and field for the first semester, weightlifting and gymnastics second semester, swimming and flag football the third semester. Our semesters end at Thanksgiving, March 1st, and June 7th.
After the coach finished his speech we took off running out to the track that looped around the football field. The track was 400 meters, he said four times around was one mile. Some kids were in sad shape after a summer of sleeping late and jerking off four times a day, they ran 300 feet then stopped to pant like dogs. One kid puked his lunch on the grass, and a few sweat like they actually did something. Dan and I stayed side by side and slowly jogged our laps. We slowed down to make it last the entire period, we were actually walking but moved our arms as if we were jogging.
You can always tell what kind of summer the kids had when they strip down in the shower after gym and you see who is pale and who got some sun, and who had a huge right arm and a skinny left arm. The ones we jokingly called Popeye were the constant wankers.
We ended up in the showers at the same time. It was nice to see Dan naked again, we stood under opposite shower nozzles facing each other, but like I said he really did nothing for me sexually. We've never seen each other hard but he did have a cute little school boy butt. I saw he still trimmed his pubes and his arm pits. I stood under the hot water facing him to let him examine me from head to toe. It was nice to see neither of us got hard doing that. Under his clothes Daniel looks like a 6th grade boy.
After gym I bumped into Daniel again in the hallway, our hall lockers were only ten apart. He bragged a little about going out with Carlos tonight, I mostly ignored what he said but thought it would have been nice if Carlos was in our PE class too, I wanted to see his body. I know those Hispanic boys can have really nice bodies. Most Mexican kids have perfectly formed belly buttons, which I think is totally cool.
When I walked up to him he tried talking but with all the noise and commotion in the hallway I could not understand him so I simply signed for him to sign to me, he chuckled and gave me the short version in ASL.
You know there are basically two languages in Sign. One is just the alphabet and numbers done with one hand, the other is two-handed and speaks phrases or common things people say. ASL is not a literal translation of what people say, it's very short and requires some training to understand. Even if you understand the gestures you still have to learn all the things each one can mean. There is a lot of interpretation in talking by ASL. Lots of words are left out or substituted. When Daniel teaches me ASL he teaches me common phrases.
When I got home I did something I'd been researching for a while on CompuServe, if I could join different groups without Mom finding out what I did. Daniel helped me find out by emailing CompuServe customer service and asking (they said no), and just like that I joined the first gay youth group in cyberspace. I used a 'handle' instead of using my account ID number. I was officially in the group and entered the chat room. I selected a member search by region and found seventy members from Texas, only one other from Amarillo. Gulp.
I clicked on his link to check out the bio, he was a senior at Caprock High School on the south-east side of town (my school is on the south-west side of town). His handle was RapidFire, mine was Eastwoody. I messaged him but nothing happened. So after a few minutes I opened Word to work on my English homework.
I was near the middle of writing page two of my report on Stephen King (born in Portland Maine in 1947, earned a BA in English at U-Maine in 1970) when there was a chime from the forum client, I've got email! My heart pounded. I clicked a few buttons to pop it open.
"Hey Woody..." he started. "Nice to know I'm not alone in town. Where you go to school? I'm a senior at Caprock. Write back when you can, R.F." was all it said. I clicked on REPLY, the window opened and my brain blanked.
After about three minutes of staring at the empty reply box on the screen I climbed in bed next to Crow. He moved one paw onto my arm and nudged me with his snout, he clearly wanted my attention.
"Hey boy," made his long bony tail whack repeatedly against the bedroom wall on his side of the bed. We stared into each other's eyes, I could tell he felt I had something weighing on my soul. He turned his head to glance at the bedroom door which was his style of body language.
Crow got off the bed and headed towards the kitchen, the room was quiet again.
Most of our house had hardwood floors. His nails tick loudly any time he walks around inside. So he cannot sneak anywhere inside. I heard him walk to the kitchen where the floor is linoleum and you can hear him there, but it's not as loud.
Moments later I heard a crash in the kitchen then prancing down the hallway. Crow returned with his short leash in his mouth. He must have grabbed it off the counter and knocked something else onto the floor. According to house rules, I was responsible for everything he did. So I got up to investigate. It was nothing really just an empty plastic water jug on the floor we usually kept in the refrigerator, luckily it didn't shatter.
I hooked him up and let him guide us out the front door heading towards the school ball field.
When we get to the front door I always stop to click the leash onto his collar, the excitement always gets him panting and prancing in place just inside the door. He touches the door knob with his big black nose and in a moment we're outside and he pulls hard on the leash because he gets really excited. Crow loves going for walks almost more than anything else, judging by how he acts. Ice cream makes him prance in front of the freezer too. He kind of marches in place with his front legs as if he really wants to jump up and rip it from my hands and dig in without even getting the lid off the ice cream tub.
I think it drives him nuts when we open the ice cream tub and get out the scooper and a bowl and scoop him several big chunks of ice cream. But we only do it because he likes being treated like a person instead of a dog. He likes ice cream in a bowl near the table instead of ice cream on the kitchen floor or in his dog bowl. We treat him with respect but sometimes it annoys him that respect takes so damn long, especially when it comes to three big scoops of vanilla ice cream!
And speaking of people food Crow does not like Coke, Pepsi, or Root beer. But he does like wine and liquor, but he does not like beer. I think carbonation bothers his nose, but he seems to like a small alcohol buzz.
We were down the block near my school when Mom's car rounded the corner. I waved, she waved back. The dog recognized the car (or the way it sounded), his tail swayed as he watched the familiar car drive by. Crow and I headed for the baseball field which was fenced-in and dog safe. I always had two oops bags in my pocket so that was never a problem or the maintenance staff would have banned us from the property for life.
We played tennis for about ten minutes. Then he got bored so we walked the long way home along the back side of our block then inside the front door. I don't think Crow realized he had near total control over our walks, he always went to the same places and never seemed interested in trying new routes or turning left where he always turned right. Back inside the front door he trotted straight to his elevated water bowl in the utility room. Mom was cooking dinner when he trotted past her.
"Hi Hon!" "Hi Mom!" "How was school?" she enquired.
"Oh, kinda boring, first weeks are always a waste of time. We just went to play tennis. He wanted to go the long way home." I said as Crow appeared next to me in the kitchen then leaned against my hip. Mom smiled at him. Water dripped from the sides of his mouth onto my right foot. Danes are sloppy drinkers and eaters. 'Great Dane Byproduct,' we called his messes. "How was your day?" I asked knowing she can't discuss work with anyone.
"Oh, same old stuff really. Make any new friends at school?" She always asked early-on in every school year hoping I would find someone to replace Daniel I think.
"No, really just kept to myself like always, got my best friend right here!" I proclaimed patting Crow harder on the shoulder as his tail swayed into the cabinet doors and counter edge. By now the water stopped dripping from the corners of his mouth onto my foot.
"You should try to make new friends, you know it's not good to be alone all the time. Have you turned in any more papers to Mister Levinthal?" she asked.
"Yep, I got one ready for next week. And I asked Bethany to go to Senior Prom with me, but she hasn't asked her folks yet."
"Good job! She's a nice girl. You should take her to the movies sometime."
"Okay Mother," I muttered as I walked towards my room, with my four legged shadow behind me. She got in the last word by shouting, "Dinner in twenty five minutes!" I closed the bedroom door, then opened it, let Crow in, and closed it again.
My friend Bethany sometimes gets too clingy. I hoped she'd figure me out on her own, that we're never gonna have sex or start dating. Sometimes I thought she's too lonely to realize what's going on with me. Someday I'm going to have to discuss sex with her, but she's more like family than a friend. In my mind taking Bethany to prom was the same as dating your cousin.
Back at my desk, I clicked the mouse on the message composition window and put my fingers on the keyboard hoping that would cause words to flow.
`Hey Fire. I'm a senior at AHS. You been in this group long? I just joined. Thanks for writing back.' I clicked SEND and the window disappeared.
A few more clicks, a fifteen second wait, and I was back in Word trying to summarize the life and career of Stephen King for my report. Luckily there's a really decent library and encyclopedia on CompuServe that saved me from going to the public library. Most of the kids and teachers at school were on AOL, so I didn't think many of them would know my real sources or how often I directly quoted the encyclopedia article. I got two more paragraphs done when the email chimed and my heart skipped a beat again.
A few mouse clicks and a small window opened, it was from RapidFire again.
"Hey Wood. So what kind of music you like, I'm into pop and dance. Wanna go see Lethal Weapon-4 with me next week when it comes out? It's playing everywhere. I guess you're into Clint Eastwood, right? Harry Callahan is my hero too. How's school on the south-west side?"
I clicked on REPLY and fired off: "Thanks for writing back Rapid. I think my Mom's a bigger fan, she got all his movies on VHS because he's a hunk! I like the revolver he carries. So what you taking this semester? Yes, I would love to go see LW4 with you. I think it opens next weekend, right? Got wheels?"
After re-reading it a few times I clicked on SEND. Then I sat there staring at the screen. BEEP! And a window opened.
"You wanna chat instead? Go to the forum chat room, click on PRIVATE CHAT, and my user name, I'll be waiting." I deleted his messages.
A few clicks and I was over in chat, found the private chat icon, located RAPIDFIRE on the list and clicked on INVITE. A new window opened with dots tracing a line across the screen.
Here's how it looked on my laptop screen:
RAPID> Hey!
WOODY> Hey...
RAPID> whazup dude?
WOODY> So you have a real name?
RAPID> Tom, Thomas. You?
WOODY> Robert, Rob, Bert, and Woof. HA!
RAPID> Not sure if I want 2 know abt the woof, but nice to meet u. Where u frm?
WOODY> I live near AHS with my mom, I'm a senior. U?
RAPID> Near Grand and 35th Ave about 5 blocks from skool. U in a relation?
WOODY> Wow. No. Not right now. You?
RAPID> Wow huh? Did I stun you? No. I'm single too. U work?
WOODY> Yes, at the dog hospital on Bell St. by the malls. U?
RAPID> Stars Diner on Grand Street. Car?
WOODY> Mom's once in a while. Otherwise bicycle. U?
RAPID> Same. Parents?
WOODY> Me and Mom only. Her car. No sibs. U?
RAPID> Same. Dad died in 1988 - car. No sibs. U college?
WOODY> No. Taking time off. I need to relax for a few months. Then maybe ACC. U?
RAPID> No. I want to go to business-culinary school in Lubbock then open my own restaurant.
WOODY> Wow! I may write for a newspaper or start my own online service.
RAPID> U see LW3?
WOODY> Y. I liked LW2 better. U?
RAPID> Same. Well I gotta go, dinner calling.
WOODY> Mine should be ready soon 2. Email me sometime I'm 345672.1442 bye
RAPID> Cool, will do. I'm 122884.183, bye
The window sat there with the cursor blinking next to the word `bye,' I looked at the bed. Crow was there watching me, "Its fine boy, he seems like a good person." He lowered his head and let his tail thump against the wall a few times. Then Mom called, "Robbie, dinner!"
After dinner I did a CompuServe search and found the name that ID number was registered to Thomas Riley Jr., Amarillo, TX. I relaxed in bed after homework thinking what a Thomas Riley Junior would look like, he has an Irish sounding name. I pictured wavy red hair and freckles. I was asleep by 9pm still in my clothes.
On CompuServe when you sent an email to someone you used their ID number as the name. But if someone emailed you from AOL they used your ID number. So if you gave someone your email address is looked like this: 325447.2654@compuserve.com .
The next morning I wrote two emails to Daniel but never mentioned Tom or our plans to see LW4.
Seconds later I was in the back yard with a small poop bag. Crow did his stuff quickly then I took a shower. By 6:50am I was almost ready to leave for school. Crow was alone in the yard, I was sitting in the kitchen reviewing my homework assignment list for the month and checking off what I got done already, then came the special woof.
Crow had a unique `woof' which was different from any other bark. He used it just for calling me, it was my name in Barkish. I opened the back door. He stood on the sidewalk with his tail wagging. He was so proud he trained me to listen for my name and come when called! There was a constant pack leader competition between us and he was constantly talking down to me. I'm sure he thought picking up his poops was evidence that I worked for him. I honestly didn't care what he believed as long as our lives went smoothly.
Sometimes I think Crow's goal in life was to break free and run around town meeting people and have a great time, but the big problem is he's been sheltered his entire life and does not even understand how dangerous traffic is. He would joyfully walk out in front of any car or truck because all he knows about cars is they're a fantastic adventure machine any time you ride in the back seat with the window down, so how can any vehicle on the street possibly be dangerous?
The other problem is one of speed; I think deer have the same problem. I don't think most animals understand that something can move faster than they can run. You never see deer or dogs running and crash into each other because they understand that speed but above say 35mph they have no understanding, and that is partially why dogs and deer get hit and killed by cars. They understand cars quite well, the part they don't get is 45mph, nor do they understand braking or momentum.
School let out early today. We had an assembly in the gym, the entire student body for several speakers about drugs-gangs-crime, bullying. They recruited for the cheer team and the student choir. We got out about 2:40pm instead of 3pm; I had the same routine at home. Dog goes out first, an hour later we go for a walk where he leads the way. He liked the backwards loop on the sidewalks because he got to sniff and leave some pee markers. I noticed for the first time there was some graffiti on the mailboxes we walked past. Just what we didn't need were gangbangers in our neighborhood.
Why do almost all dogs pull on the leash? Because they think that means they're in charge of the person holding the leash. To them the leash works both ways. One problem with walking a Great Dane on the sidewalk is sometimes we get charged by small dogs. Some small dogs get super pissed off just looking at a Great Dane, and they attack despite that it could easily be a suicide mission. So I always walk with at least two weapons of some type, often just a can of pepper spray. Sometimes I forget but the pepper spray holder is fastened to the leash.
After we got home I got a call from Bethany, we chatted for maybe ten minutes, when Mom got home we got off the phone.
I carried in the groceries and helped make dinner. I'd already showered and was only wearing school gym shorts. I'm like the only man in Mom's life, she seemed to warm up when I dressed in shorts (it's just something I noticed).
After dinner I dialed into CompuServe and checked my email; two from Daniel, two from Tom. He attached a photo of himself in what looked like a family Christmas party. He had black hair and eyes, looked medium build and very well dressed. His hair was part over his ears and almost to his neck. He had a nice smile, big hands, thick eyebrows was about all I could see. The rest of the people in the photo looked Mexican. He looked younger and lighter skinned than everyone else in the photo. The more I looked at him I noticed he looked like he'd been lifting weights, his upper arms were bigger than mine. But everyone's arms are bigger than mine, except Daniel.
Mom worked the digital camera for me, so I took Crow into our back yard and had her shoot us close-up, me shirtless, on my knees beside Crow with him staring at her as if to intimidate. Of course Crow leaned against me, because he's too lazy to stand up on his own when he's with family. Crow leaned on me, Mom, Daniel, and Bethany. Daniel said he wanted Carlos to meet Crow because he freaked out around big dogs and Crow was very tall. The top of Crow's head was a few inches above my belly button lump.
I took the camera, plugged it into the computer, cropped the photo above my belly button and sent it to Tom with a better description of myself. Five minutes later I got a "Wow-huge! You look good too!" back from him then nothing the rest of the evening. I understood his humor. My BB is just a small lump so I always crop it off in photos, especially if I'm showing it to a Mexican because they are really into belly buttons.
Saturday was a work day for me, which was normal. Before we left I emailed Tom my phone number. Since we're using dial-up Mom got me my own phone line in my room. Otherwise we'd be fighting over the phone all evening. She liked to use the cooking forums and chemistry nerd group on CompuServe too. I emailed her sometimes instead of writing her a note. She said that's dumb, but she always emailed back. Maybe I forgot to tell you that after almost two seasons as a volunteer when I got my driver's license the animal hospital offered me a part-time job doing the same stuff: cleaning cages and entertaining dogs.
After work Mom took me home then I drove across town with my sunglasses on to the diner where Tom said he worked. I sat at a table near the front door and ordered a Coke and onion rings. Then I saw him but he was too busy to notice me. He wore a white apron and a paper hat but the face was exactly the same as the photo. He looked like he was around 5'8" or 9" and fit, black hair not too long, partially over the ears, average nose. He seemed happy but I couldn't see his face straight on but I could tell he wasn't 100% Hispanic. I ate my stuff then left for home. When I got home I took Crow for a walk (his choice) again, this time I saw more gang graffiti around the neighborhood. Now it was on sidewalks and signs too, seemed to spread overnight. We just got the spiel about that at school on Friday. We were told a drug gang was coming to town and should secure our homes, bicycles, and stuff at school and use the buddy system while the police were working on the problem.
The thing the Mexican drug cartels didn't understand was that Amarillo was an important military weapon manufacturing town that the feds watched closely. I heard the city was crawling with FBI informants watching for anything that might affect the smooth operation of the Pantex plant. They were not the only company in town that made weapons. There are a lot of small components that go inside a nuke and those are made at other factories around town and the plutonium triggers are made up in Colorado.
At dinner Mom mentioned a story on the front page of the newspaper about the Mexican drug gang. We sat in the living room talking for a while and noticed people were unloading a U-haul truck into the house across the street, which was the only rental house on our block. They didn't look like the happiest bunch of guys. The truck left around 8pm then all was quiet. Crow growled a few times at the strange noises and voices outside, I shushed him every time. The sun shining in the window made it hard to see much of what they were doing across the street. We rarely used the living room, it was more for show. We used the TV room instead which had the best furniture in the house.
Sunday afternoon I drove back to the diner to check (spy) on Tom if he was there. We'd been emailing daily but I never mentioned I'd been there. I walked in and got a table with a tiny view of the kitchen. After looking at the menu I was shocked when Tom walked up. "You must be Robert! You look like your picture." He said holding out his hand to shake mine. My heart pounded in my chest and I felt sweat drip down my ribs under my arms. I could barely speak he was so hot. My mind feared he saw my lanky body and my super skinny arms and was turned off.
"Hey, I'm Robert Davis, nice to meet you. Sorry for the surprise visit."
"Not a problem. Wish I had time to sit and talk but I'm waiting tables, all twelve of `em myself, our regular waitress is sick today. I usually work in the kitchen." He said gesturing behind him.
"Ahhh yeah, wish I could help. Well maybe I should go."
"Oh no, stay and order whatever you like, it's on me."
"Oh I shouldn't." I stammered hoping he would pressure me to stay.
"Stay, that's an order!" Then he leaned over near my head and whispered, "Tell me what you want in a minute. I gotta get table three a glass of water without ice this time." He made a face like he had been scolded a few times already.
"Cool, thanks Tom."
"Be right back."
I watched his butt as he walked off knowing he was being visually scanned. He looked muscular in his snug-fitting T-shirt. His butt in his jeans looked full and round and his upper body had a nice V-shape. He wore an apron and on both sides of the straps I could almost see two nipples puffing out under his shirt. I suspected that was done on purpose.
A couple minutes later he came back with an order pad. "Whaddya have?" He said with a toothy smile.
"Coke and a hot dog, Chicago style, no peppers please."
"Cool, have it right out." He said walking towards the cook at a brisk walk. About five minutes later my food arrived, it included fries that I never ordered and some onion rings too. "Sorry about the extra stuff, the cook got the order wrong. You can have that all at no charge." We both laughed as he set the basket in front of me and walked off after being called by another customer. As he quickly left for another table I noticed there was no ketchup at the table, I reached over to an empty table and grabbed that one. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tom watch me do the reach-over, so he was keeping an eye on me already.
I ate everything on my plate, drank the entire Coke and left a three dollar tip, which was a lot of money for me!
That night I only got one email from Tom: thanks for stopping by. He said I was really cute and looked forward to going to the movie on Friday. I got my homework done, took a shower then walked Crow to the baseball field again. Our game is catch and return' to me, it's keep-away' to Crow. It eventually became chase the doggie with the tennis ball and about the time his tongue stayed dangling out the side of his mouth I knew it's time to head for the water bowl at home. I think dogs like us to chase them because most dogs can out run most humans, so that is one game they know they can win.
Crow did not have a huge list of games he knew but whatever we started off playing it always turned into him wanting me to chase him to try to get the ball back. And by the time I got a grip on the ball clenched between his jaws it was always slimy and gross. We always stopped at the water fountain on the way home so I could rinse my hands and get a drink.
Sometimes Crow would stand-up and drink from the water fountain just like everyone else but sometimes it was hard to hold-on so I had to help keep his front paws in place. I think it showed that an average dog was much smarter about understanding the function of human things than most dog owners realized. He watched people walk up, press the button, bend over and drink water so he figured he could do it too and I would work the button for him. I think he saw himself as sort of a human-dog hybrid. I also knew he very well understood he was taller than most people and dogs, and that was important to him. Everywhere he went in public he was often the center of attention and he really loved that too. Crow was addicted to attention, the attention he got because he was a very large dog. That was nearly his most favorite thing in life.
But despite his size when he was around small children he was always super cautious and never knocked down a single toddler. So for his thoughtfulness and gentle nature I rewarded Crow with food treats almost daily, and told him with great emotion that he was a very good dog and I loved him.
Many places we went Crow became the center of attention. People shrieked and walked over and asked to pet the horse-size dog. He always stood still and let dozens of strangers touch him and pet his soft fur. He loved that more than almost anything else in life. He was very cautious around small children. I stood beside his shoulder and held his collar because dog behavior never comes with a guarantee. With little children around Crow was a powerful kid magnet.
How do you tell a dog you love him in a way that would make sense to him? That was a problem I worked on in my head for years.
We fell asleep like always a mix of six legs, four eyes, two noses, and snoring from both ends of the bed. He woke me up around 2am kicking in his sleep. I slapped him on the thigh which usually stopped it, and then I slept until the alarm went off Monday morning at 6am to restart our regular routine. When he had dreams like he was fighting or running in his sleep it convinced me that dogs also had an imagination and could stay home alone all day, and day dream while they were wide awake. I think dreaming was proof that dogs thought about stuff, and had an imagination and creativity. Just like dreams I think dogs think about scenes from their lives, things they enjoyed, things they wanted to do, etc. I think dogs are a ton smarter than humans realize, they think with mental images, and memories of situations, smells, scenery, and their own desires.
Monday afternoon when we were almost home from our walk I saw some dude sittin' on a chair on the front porch of the rental house across the street. He looked Mexican and a little sinister in sunglasses, cowboy hat, and black clothes. I tried not to stare or look like I even noticed him. He acted like he was a look-out. He gave me a bad vibe, which was something I didn't feel very often. I pretended I never noticed him but I felt his eyes on me. He had on a black T-shirt, sunglasses, and a black cowboy hat. I couldn't see his lower body but all he needed were spurs and riding pants and he'd look just like a cowboy from Argentina.
The rest of the week was our normal routine. School, walk the dog, homework, eat-sleep, etc. I asked Mom if we could keep our living room curtains shut because of the strangers across the street, she agreed (but soon forgot). The week seemed to go on forever but Friday finally arrived. Tom and I had agreed to see LW4 on Friday night at the Westgate Cineplex in the mall on my side of town, 7:15pm showing. It was all I could think about.
I paced back and forth across the driveway waiting on his arrival. Tom cruised into the driveway with a big smile on his face and leaned over to unlock the other front door, I climbed in and said I was glad to see him again and gave him directions. His mother's car was a big four door Chevy Impala, early 1980s I think but it looked great inside with broad bench seats. We drove up Bell Street so I could show him my school, to 34th Avenue, then west to Coulter to see where I worked, and north to the mall entrance. We had the radio on and talked the whole way. I sort of didn't want the trip to end. We got to the theater about thirty minutes early so we parked and sat in the car with the motor off and talked. For some unknown reason he parked about as far from the entrance doors as he could park, not sure why he did that. As soon as we started talking I noticed Tom was really direct in what he asked. There was nothing he hesitated to ask me.
"So you ever been with a guy before?" Tom asked me without raising an eyebrow.
"Ummmm no not really, you?"
"I had a friend last school year but they got deported then I was single all summer." I figured there was a lot more than what he told me so I pushed for a little more info.
"You guys do it then?" I asked Tom.
"Every weekend!" He boasted growing a smile and a chuckle in his voice.
"Wow, that's cool. I guess I'm a little slower, maybe a little shy too," which was my way of warning him I was not a fast mover and perhaps secretly a virgin, something I was embarrassed about.
"Yeah, I saw wet armpits on your shirt at work last weekend, I knew you were nervous. Trust me, you got nothing to be afraid of, I'm as nice as they come."
"Good, ummm, so you like buttered popcorn?"
"You ever kiss a guy then?" He asked ignoring my ploy to change the subject. In my mind I remembered hugging and kissing my grandfather at Christmas twelve years ago.
"Uhhhhh nnnnnot really." I stammered and felt scared.
"You know you're cute as hell right?" He stated matter of factly.
"Uhhhh my Mom says it too, mostly I avoid people at school so I don't get shoved into the lockers."
"Wow, you get hit?" He asked.
"Mostly just shoved, but people shout stuff at me too, you?"
"Can I kiss you?" Tom asked as his facial expression went from surprise to sexy.
"Uhhhh sure, I guess." I wanted to warn him I didn't know how to kiss but everything happened too fast.
He turned a little and leaned closer a bit with his eyes open. He tilted his head and stopped about 18 inches short looking in my eyes. I leaned closer too `till we were inches apart. He quickly put a small kiss on the corner of my mouth and leaned back against the driver's car door. My heart pounded away in my chest, I was nearly frozen with fear and excitement.
"Hmmmm, that felt nice." I managed to squeak out in a suddenly quieter voice, I felt my body start to tremble all over like I was freezing. I was afraid he would see and make fun of me, but he never said a thing.
"First time eh?" I looked down at his thigh and nodded yes, and wished I knew what to do; I've never been kissed by a dude before. I felt the slight razor stubble below his nose, which was completely unexpected.
We paused in silence. He could see my brain was working hard to comprehend what just happened. To him it was no big deal, but to me it was a major milestone in my life: first kiss!
"That kiss didn't kill you so let's try again." He whispered leaning back towards me. Tom put his right arm on the seat back and scooted closer.
Tom leaned over and planted another kiss but this time centered on my lips, this time it lasted a little longer, our mouths never opened. I had no idea what to do so I sat there and let him be the boss.
I felt my dick start to move, so I gestured with one hand for him to do it again but this time I puckered a little.
"I thought you said you're shy?" Tom asked with a smile that also complimented my slight kissing style.
"We should..." I was going to say: `We should go inside.' But he leaned in and kissed me centered on my mouth while I was talking. He backed off with a nice smile on his face. I could tell he was being super patient with me, I sort of felt some kind of calming energy coming from his soul into mine.
"Why the rush?" He asked as his mouth changed to a broad smile.
"Doesn't every new Mel Gibson movie sell out?" was all I could think of.
"I'd rather spend the time here kissing you," he whispered with a flirty tone. Then suddenly it clicked in my brain, now I knew why he parked all the way across the parking lot. He had no intention of ever seeing the movie, in fact I doubt he even had ticket money with him!
We sat in silence. I wasn't sure how far things would go but I was hard and bent over in my pants, my hands were sweaty, my voice was shaky, my heart was pounding - I even heard it in my ears, and I felt a little dizzy. He raised his arms and gently grabbed both of my shoulders. One of his hands rubbed the back of my neck the other slid across my jaw line and gently touched my lips and then he slid it down to my arm and squeezed my upper arm. I was sure he would comment about how thin my arms were, especially compared to his.
Then he leaned back a bit and looked at my entire face.
"You look a little pale dude." He said looking at me with concern.
"I feel funny." I was actually starting to feel dizzy and pukish.
"Here, come'ere." He said motioning for me to slide across the bench seat and out the driver's door. I got out, stood up, (noticing I was about four inches taller), he opened the back door and helped me lie down across the back seat. Tom got on his knees in the front seat and closed and locked both doors then leaned over the seatback staring at me on my back.
"Put your legs up high, against the window." I moved like he told me. After a while I felt better, but when I climbed in the car my legs were getting weirdly weak and the world started to look glassy and sparkly.
I was lying on my back, Tom hung over the back of the front seat staring down at me stretched out across the entire back seat. He reached over and carefully unbuttoned my shirt. Nobody'd ever done that to me before 'cept my Mom when I was a kid. It was starting to get too dark to see everything in the car. We'd been like this for about an hour now just talking. We missed the movie start time and I had no idea when the next show started, neither did Tom.
While we talked he sort of alternated between holding my hand and sliding his hand from my stomach to my collar bones, it felt awesome because his hand felt soft and warm and gentle.
"So you part Hispanic then?" I asked after the sparkly stars disappeared from my vision.
"Yeah, Mom's Mexican born in Brownsville, Dad was Irish but born in Germany. They met in Germany after Vietnam, you?"
"We were British a hundred years ago. We don't know who my dad is. It's just Mom and me and the dog. I'm startin' to cool off, thanks." I wiped the sweat off my forehead and smiled at him leaned over the front seat.
"No problem. You're really cute y'know." He repeated what he told me earlier.
"You keep sayin' that."
Tom reached down and spread more open with one hand exposing most of my chest. He kept glancing at it and rubbing his hand around and around.
"I could probably do that kiss again." I offered trying to slow down his advances.
"Sure." He said with a broad smile. I was starting to feel more comfortable and at ease around him.
It surprised me when he got out of the car opened the door by my legs and climbed-in kneeling on the floor, (I doubt I could fit there). He shut the door and pushed the locking button down turned to me and unbuttoned his shirt. I stared at his hairless and somewhat muscular chest. I saw right away he had actual chest muscles and a very nice masculine shape that I really liked, it gave me a mental image of being held firmly in his muscular arms with my face against his smooth chest and I could rub my lips side to side and taste his brown flesh.
He leaned over to my face and placed a series of little kisses on my lips and ran his fingers through my hair.
Just then we heard people walking near us so he relaxed partially on top of me while people got in the car next to us and drove off. I think they never noticed my legs pressed against the back window. We had our smooth chests pressed together while we tried to be invisible in the back seat of his Mom's car.
After their car drove off Tom raised his head so we were just inches from touching noses.
He pulled back with a smile and put his hand back on the center of my chest then he slid it over to the side, right on top of my tit. He looked down at my chest and slowly lifted that side of my shirt to see my flesh. I felt one finger slide around on my left nipple, he looked at me and smiled. "Yours are big, like mine." Then he slipped his hand to the other side and gently pulled the shirt over to expose the other side of my chest.
With a gentle fingertip motion he gently rubbed my tit in a way that started to re-awaken my dick. He looked me in the eyes and whispered, "You got big nipples for a boy." I just smiled back as he leaned closer to my face. Tom looked down and pulled one side of his shirt over and showed me his chest, he had a large oval puffy nip about the same size as mine, but mine are round. I wanted to lick it because his puffed way out like an oval pleasure dome.
"Y'know how to French?" Tom asked with a sexy look on his face as he pulled my shirt together.
"I think I know what it means but I never done it."
"Follow my lead. You kiss with your lips and teeth open, tongues rubbing, not too hard, just enough to make it feel nice. Okay?"
"I guess."
Tom moved in and closed his eyes, turned his head, pressed his soft warm squishy lips into mine and slowly opened his mouth. I felt his nose breathing on my face, I inhaled his air sometimes. His lips felt really large squishy and soft, his lips were almost like African lips. He pressed into me slightly and I felt the tip of his tongue slowly enter my mouth, then it touched the tip of my tongue, then like two separate people our tongues met, shook, then started to embrace and dance together inside our mouths. It was wonderful. He whimpered softly in my mouth as our tongues rubbed. I felt my dick get bent over in my pants as it grew longer.
It felt like my heart had slowed tremendously and I wasn't scared any more. He started to feel lighter and lighter. I moved my arms to embrace his upper body and feel his back muscles. I slid my hands down to his butt cheeks and rubbed his cheeks for a long time over his jeans. I surprised myself that I actually did that. He never reacted to it so I kept my hands there. He whimpered into my mouth which was very hot! This was the first time I had someone else's saliva in my mouth but his mouth really had no taste or smell, except maybe sort of a faint Coke taste.
He slowly retracted his tongue, pulled his lips shut and placed several full-lip contact kisses on the corner of my mouth as he pulled off me, about ten inches between our noses. He had a very relaxed smile and the most wonderful dark eyes that just pulled me inwards. I could have laid there staring at that wonderful smile and those deep dark eyes forever. It was as if I was hypnotized. Time stopped. We smiled and stared into each other's eyes but I had no idea how long it lasted. He moved his hands so they were flat on my chest on the outside of my shirt. I heard other car doors close and engines start as more cars drove off. I think we missed our movie. I bet we laid there like a sandwich just staring into each other's eyes for quite a while without speaking or moving. I've never had a moment with someone like that before in my life. I think I actually felt his soul. I had no idea what to say or do, but I was truly mesmerized.
I started to get some mental signals from him, it was something I learned to do with Crow. Tom seemed to be thinking that he was unsure about me, he felt we were too far apart in status to have a relationship. I think he felt I was a spoiled rich kid and our friendship wouldn't last. I got the same kind of mental images from the dog and Daniel, they're always correct. It's like having someone else's thoughts in your brain, except the mental voice is different.
We stayed there in a pile for a while longer after the cars around us left. We didn't talk for the longest time. I think we were both waiting for each other to make a move.
Tom rose up and grabbed my shirt and pulled it wide open again and looked me over, my entire front side now exposed again.
He put his hand flat on my chest and slid it out to my shoulders so he could feel how thin I was. My body was very different from his, I think he might have been put off a little by my very skinny body.
He moved his hand to my left chest again and pinched my left tit and stretched it way out. It started to sting he pulled it so far. "Mine stick out, you okay with this?" I just smiled and nodded yes so he'd keep doing whatever he wanted. Nobody'd ever touched my chest like that before.
I wanted to feel his skin but decided to let him keep leading. He started to button-up my shirt again then leaned forward and put a kiss on the middle of my stomach. After that he buttoned his shirt too. I'm sure by now both of us were totally hard, I knew I was. As he got moved around to get out of the car he was ready to push himself up but he placed one hand directly on my crotch and then opened the door. That was the first time anyone grabbed my dick, even though it was outside my pants. I was sure he did it on purpose to see if I was hard. I didn't mind, too bad he didn't stay longer.
He twisted around to open the door and climbed out. While he climbed out I quickly sucked in my stomach and shoved my hand down my jeans to straighten out my boner. Tom bent over and reached in offering me help out of the back seat, just as I was pulling my arm from my pants. We got to opposite sides of the car and sat in the front seat staring at each other again.
Most of the parking lot out here was empty except there was another full size car, it reminded me of an unmarked Crown Victoria the local cops use. It sat about 30 feet away but it looked empty. I only knew that because Mom showed me once.
He drove slowly around the mall, as the street lights shone across the front seat I saw he was turned on too. I turned in the seat to face sideways to watch him and I noticed he kept glancing at my lap. "Hey look, if you need me to stop so you can jerk off that's not a problem." I mumbled that I'd be fine. I wasn't sure if I said yes what would happen, something I wasn't ready for on a first date. I didn't know much about him and couldn't tell if he was joking or not.
As we exited the nearly empty parking lot and followed the same route back to my place he turned on the car stereo. I wanted to lean over and kiss his shoulder but was afraid to touch him. Instead, I pointed out stores I knew on my side of Amarillo.
We parked in the street near the end of our driveway. I noticed our sheer living room curtains were wide open again. I assumed Crow heard the car stop and came to the living room to watch the front yard and the street. He often stood on the floor with his front feet on the sofa and watched out the living room window anytime he heard stuff outside. We sat there and talked about school for a while. It felt like my erection was totally gone too which was good but I'm sure I still had a big wet spot that Mom would certainly notice.
Several times I turned to look at our big living room window for signs of the Great Dane when there was a loud knock on the driver's door window. I leaned forward to look and saw the guy from the rental house across the street. He still had his black cowboy hat on.
"Be careful." I warned Tom in a very serious voice and reached over and touched his arm.
Write the author: borischenaz mailfence
Note to readers: When I first wrote this story long ago my initial research showed that the Star's was a mom and pop diner. But it turned out it was more like a Sonic Drive-in. So if you know the Star's chain of drive-ins I apologize for getting it wrong. Just pretend that the location mentioned here was actually a typical 1940s diner with a counter, stools, booths, a juke box, and stainless steel skin on the inside and outside.
If you've never seen a genuine 1940s diner... on shorpy.com do a search for: `Jack's Sandwich Shop'