Ring in Mine #3: Nephi & Jerome: Chapter 35
Somehow during my confused period after the car accident I named the Chaplain, Clark the same as Kenton's poor excuse for a brother. From here on if I have to reference Kenton's brother his name is Kage.
Sorry to have been so long between posts. I should be able to keep up for a while. If you check the list you should find my name.
http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html
I am thinking Jerry needs a little brother and Nephi needs a son of his own blood. I wonder which of the ladies would carry it for him?
Thank you for your emails. I appreciate hearing from my readers.
Thanks Zach for your editing skills. Here is Chapter 35. A Lot of plot lines get started in Chapter 35.
----------- Nephi & Jerome Chapter 35
Jerome and Nephi found Jared waiting at the airport.
"So, Jared, how big is the party?" Jerome asked
"Just family." Jared pulled into the Kmart parking lot.
"What are we doing here?" Jerome asked.
"You can't come home empty-handed." Jared answered. It was almost as much fun shopping for the littles as going on vacation. The guys soon had the cart filled. They had decided not to buy for the adults.
"There are three more to include on your gift list." Jared baited his brothers leaving the comment hanging.
Nephi and Jerome waited. Who would break down first? Time passed.
"Jerome, put Jared's present back." Jared watched the cassette tape of his favorite music group's new album make its way back onto the shelf.
"That's not fair! Eve is Rebecca's thirteen-year-old sister. Ester is Rebecca's sixteen-year-old sister and Phil is almost eighteen. Rebecca will have to fill in all the details." Jared helped choose for the newest members of the household.
"How are we going to explain why we are late?" Jerome didn't want to admit they hadn't bought presents until after the trip.
Nephi gave Jared driving directions. They pulled up to one of the service gates onto the property. Jerome unlocked the gate.
"Be sure to lock the gate when you leave." Jared dropped the pair off on the backside of the storage shed. Nephi had spent hours wandering in the maze under the compound. Nephi unlocked a closet door. He pulled on a ring in the floor. Nephi lead the way down a steep ladder. Nephi flipped a switch and a bare bulb sprung to life. They wound their way through the narrow tunnel from one pool of light to another. Nephi and Jerome waited under the house until they heard the chime announcing the front gate opening.
"They weren't on the plane. They sent a note. `We've found someplace we want to stay.'" Jared explained.
The guests buzzed with concern. "I hope they made the right choice." Nephi pitched his voice to carry.
"I can't believe they would choose anywhere but here." Jerome continued.
A shrill voice cut through the buzz. "Daddy!" Jerry pushed through the crowd. Then he stopped. Who should he hug first? His daddies helped him decide. Side by side they knelt. Jerry ran to both at the same time. After a good hug Jerry noticed a box of bright colored bags.
"Who are the presents for?" Jerry asked with hope-filled eyes.
"Let's see." He held up a box and tried to read the name written on the tag. "I think it says Jerome." He showed the tag to his son. "Jerome starts with a J."
"It says Jerry. Jerry starts with J." Jerome handed Jerry the package.
"Don't open it yet." Nephi requested.
Each little hugged the daddies and received their present with the reminder to wait until everyone had their package.
"This tag says `Eve.' Is there an Eve here?" Nephi called out.
Rebecca led her little sisters to the would be `Santas.' "Are you Eve?" Jerome handed the shy thirteen-year-old a bright pink package. "I hope you like ponies."
"This must be Ester." Nephi handed her a green bag. Nephi could see why Jared would let Rebecca explain Ester's situation. He had a firm idea how Phil fit into the picture.
Kenton was the first of the teens. Nephi surprised Phil when at the end he called Phil's name.
Nephi let Jerome do the honors. "Now you can open the presents."
With packages occupying the younger family members, the adults made the hugging circuit. Nephi noticed Paula hanging back. Silence filled the courtyard as Nephi made his way toward Paula.
A look of panic crossed her face. Benny and Margaret stood behind her for support and to cut off her retreat. Nephi was only feet away when he threw his arms out.
"Mom, I'm so glad you are here." Nephi pulled her into a tight hug. "Paula, no matter what happens, I will always love you."
"How can you love me? I was so nasty to you." Paula sobbed
"How can I not love you? You and Peter took a young man with no hope for the future and gave me that hope and your love." Nephi paused. "That's why it hurt so badly."
"Margaret helped me understand I wasn't mad at you. I was overwhelmed." Paula took a deep breath. "Peter and I lived a quiet life. We had our exciting moments. But our calm life would always return."
Paula stepped back long enough to wipe her eyes. "Florida never slowed down, and then there was the mugging. I wanted peace and some quiet. Look at your family. Is it ever quiet here?"
"I find it's calm about two in the morning."
"That's what I thought. My disappointment opened me up to the nasty comments of some of my so-called friends and I took it out on you." Paula pulled Nephi into her arms.
"I always knew what you did in the basement. Your first apartment didn't have doors. I saw the love between you and Jerome and knew he was your Peter and was happy for you. I still am." Nephi gave Paula a tighter squeeze.
"Now about this place." Nephi pulled away fearing what was coming. "Benny was right. This is something Peter would do. I'm proud of you and Jerome, but I need my own place."
"Paula, your happiness is important. We may not see each other every day but we aren't that far away." Nephi hugged his adopted mom one last time before they joined the family around the pool. Sean had chicken on the grill. The simple meal included potato salad, corn and tomatoes from the garden and baked beans. The food wasn't important. It was about being together as a family.
Nephi and Jerome had enjoyed their vacation, but this was home.
Jerome visited the maintenance teams checking on their performance. The progress on the Freed project pleased Nephi. The team didn't need him on site. He had trained them well and had planned the project covering foreseeable contingencies. This allowed Nephi to follow up on some new client referrals and work on the plans for future projects.
It was mid-morning when Nephi returned to the office. The compound seemed quiet. It took Nephi a moment to identify what was missing. Where were the littles? Standing at bottom of the stairway he heard the kids. Mary had moved the preschool to the compound. Nephi could hear Eve reading to the littles.
Nephi settled in his office fine-tuning the plans for the next project. He resurfaced when the teens returned. Phil's absence surprised him.
"I thought Phil would be with you." Nephi commented.
Rafe was quick to answer. "He seems to think he is better than us."
"He sits in his room watching TV until it's time to eat. Every time someone wants to use the phone he's on it." Zeke ranted.
"If he doesn't change, Uncle Nephi, I will deck him." Jared threatened. "He causes Kenton all kinds of grief, but when adults are present, he is the perfect kid."
"For now, do nothing. I have an idea to put things into perspective for him."
Nephi watched the next morning. Kenton may have been born and raised in the city, but he was a farmer to the bone. Under Kenton's watchful eye Ester and Eve were learning how to milk the goats. Sariah made cheese for the family and the farmer's market which took most of her time. He saw no sign of Phil. Phil appeared in time for breakfast. The same scenario played out each day. When someone asked for help, he claimed to be busy.
Friday, Nephi tried to call a client, and the phone was busy. After an hour he assumed something was wrong with the system. The main switchboard was in the basement. Nephi picked up the handset of the hard-wired phone.
"The place is full of faggots. They do all the work just like the women. I watch TV and eat."
Nephi had heard enough. Every door had a regular lock and a deadbolt. The room's occupants only had a key to the regular lock. Nephi used his master key and locked all the unused suites and the garages.
Back at the switchboard he followed the diagram and disabled the phone system's outgoing line. The only working phones were in Nephi's office and in the kitchen. Nephi disconnected Phil's TV where it connected to the antenna system in the basement. When Nephi reentered the courtyard, Phil was trying other doors trying to find a phone that worked.
"May I help you find something?" Nephi asked.
"Rebecca asked me to check that the doors." Phil lied. "The phone stopped working."
"I'll get a repairman out." Nephi headed back to his office.
After lunch Ester joined the teens in the classroom. Again, there was no sign of Phil. Nephi spent time on the phone. Benny wasn't the only one that knew people. Nephi informed Rebecca there would be extra guests for dinner. It was payday and Nephi had a plan.
Paychecks went into the employee bank accounts. The check stubs were in the office if anyone wanted them. After dinner Nephi stood with a stack of envelopes and cash in front of him.
"I have a couple of reminders for the family. Each room has a phone, but there is only one connection to the outside world. Please be courteous of others. We do not have maid service. Everyone keeps their rooms clean and doing their own laundry. Keeping the courtyard clean is everyone's job."
"This is not a normal family. It works because everyone pitches in and does their share." Nephi started with the adults calling each by name and handing them an envelope.
Starting with the oldest teen, Nephi handed Jared his envelope. "We don't get paid for chores. That is something everyone does to keep the family running. I wanted to say thanks." Nephi handed Jared a twenty-dollar bill.
Even though Kenton didn't work on a landscaping team, his work with Clark earned him a paycheck.
"Ester, even though you've only been here a week, Kenton tells me you are a great help with the goats." Nephi didn't have a check for her, but she received a twenty-dollar bill. Eve thanked Nephi for hers. The littles gathered eggs, fed the chickens and helped when asked. They each received a five-dollar bill.
"Thank you everyone. Let's clean up the dinner dishes. Phil, Rebecca and Sean would you two please join me in the conference room. Nephi turned and left.
Jerome, Rebecca, Sean, Uncle Leonard and Chief Thompson in street clothes waited with Nephi in the conference room in the office complex.
"I don't think he is coming." Rebecca didn't know how to handle Phil without upsetting her sister.
"He'll be here and he'll be angry." Jerome promised.
Phil stormed into the office. "Someone locked my room!"
"Phil, thank you for coming. Have a seat." Nephi motioned to an empty chair.
"You locked my room. All my stuff is in there. Unlock it now or I'll call the police." Phil threatened.
"The police are already here. I will unlock your room after this meeting." Jerome informed the belligerent teenager. "You may as well have a seat."
"Or stand if you wish." Nephi began. The office deadbolt clicked. Sean stood barring the exit.
"Phil you have been living here for a week. Everyone that lives here does a share of the work. First thing in the morning everyone helps on the farm or around the house. Tomorrow at 6:30 check with Clark, our farm manager for your assignment."
"And if I don't?" Phil stared at Nephi.
"Then you will need to find somewhere else to live." Nephi returned the stare. Phil looked away first.
Phil shifted his gaze to Rebecca. "You would let them throw me and your little sister out?"
"That is a sticky point. First no one is throwing anyone out. You may live within our rules or walk away. It is your choice." Nephi scanned the faces of those around the table. "Second, Ester is not going anywhere."
"She's my wife. She goes where I go."
"That is another problem." Leonard began. "There is no recorded marriage on file."
"We are married in the eyes of God. She is carrying my baby."
"That's the next problem. You were seventeen and Ester was fifteen at conception." Chief Thompson continued. "In Utah that counts as rape, even if you both agreed to have sex."
"What do you know?"
"Let me introduce two of the directors of the Samaria Foundation. Leonard Lewis is with the district attorney's office. Carver Thompson is the Chief of Police.
"Rebecca, I'm your brother-in-law, how can you let them treat me like this? They are just a bunch of fags."
"Phil, let's put this in perspective. I am the fag that owns this place, buys the food, pays the bills, signs the paychecks, and makes the rules." Nephi looked Phil straight in the eye.
"Phil, Nephi isn't asking much. Do your share of the chores, treat house members with respect, and attend class in the afternoon." Rebecca took Phil's hands in hers. "I know where you came from. Living here is a piece of cake, plus you get your wife and child. Do you think, your father, Simeon would have let you keep them?"
Phil could no longer look Rebecca in the eyes. "You know Simeon's solution for boys who couldn't keep it in their pants. Here you even have the possibility of a summer job if you play your cards right."
"But they are fa..." Phil must have been learning. "... homosexuals."
"Phil it is not a disease. You don't always choose who you connect with so much you are miserable when they aren't with you." Chief Thompson explained.
Nephi looked Phil in the eye. "Give the boys a chance. Get past the labels and you will find they are great guys. One more thing, Kenton is off limits. Your harassing him stops now!"
Rebecca, Sean and Phil talked as they left about life in the compound and Phil's contribution to the family.
"What's this about a foundation?" Leonard queried.
"It's something I have the lawyers writing up. Jerome and I have been thinking of helping more kids in trouble. A foundation would make a lot of our expenses tax deductible. Sean doesn't know, but the lawyers have pushed to speed up his divorce. That would give us a married couple to add respectability for DFS."
As Nephi and Jerome locked up the office they realized everyone else had called it a night. Lit only by the underwater lights they dropped their clothes and swam laps reliving their short vacation.
"I can see why Jerome makes you so happy?" Sariah called out from the gate. They had forgotten her late-night stroll around the compound. Nephi noticed she must have had something to talk with Clark about. The lights in Clark's window went dark.
After some heavy kissing, Nephi shut off the pool lights, and they moved their passion indoors.
The next morning Phil's eyes still drooped, but he grabbed a cheese and egg roll with the rest of the household.
"Phil, I signed us up for milking. It's better than shoveling shit." Jared announced. That sounded good to Phil. With nine cows producing milk Benny had found two individual milking units from a guy who was upgrading to a larger system. Sariah used any milk the family didn't drink in her cheese making.
Phil answered questions about what it was like being married. Did they love each other so much he missed Ester when she wasn't there? They talked about fathers that don't approve of their sons. Phil's because he fell in love with the wrong girl and Jared for falling in love with a guy.
They had similar tastes in music and liked the same authors. Jared invited Phil to his apartment after breakfast to peruse Jared's music library.
"Jared, I am not gay." Phil reminded his new friend.
"If you were I wouldn't have invited you. I wouldn't mind having a friend. I already have someone I miss so much I want to cry." Jared answered.
Phil noticed Jared's eyes tear up.
"What happened?" Phil seemed concerned.
"He was more important to me than I was to him." Phil could imagine what he would feel like if Ester didn't return his love. He felt bad for his new friend.
"After breakfast everyone has twenty minutes to meet at the mini-bus." It would be a tight fit but everyone should fit. Nephi wasn't telling anyone beside the driver where they were going.
Clark and Sean loaded the huge cooler into the back of the van. Sean drove into Salt Lake and took the freeway north. Nephi and Jerome followed in their car. As the van pulled into the parking lot, a white wooden roller coaster dominated the landscape and their imagination.
None of the littles had been to Lagoon, Utah's Premiere (and only real) amusement park. Mick from the Oasis met them at the front gate.
"I'm glad you took us up on our offer. The company always buys more tickets than necessary just in case. We have the Davis Pavilion rented for the day. Just leave your cooler there." Nephi introduced Mick to meet the family Nephi had talked so much about at the Oasis. There were enough tickets for the adults. Nephi just had to pay for the littles.
Rebecca, Holly, Ester and Sariah took the first shift with the kids. Ester would have liked to ride the wilder rides, but the bun in the oven, preempted her participation. Phil promised to bring her after the baby came.
Jared insisted that the teens hang together. Phil needed to see that Rafe and Zeke were regular guys. Kenton was nervous about the crowds. He hadn't been out of the compound since the rape. It took some convincing but Kenton relented and joined the teens.
All the men stood in line for the white roller coaster. Phil and Jared took the front seats. There was an odd number of riders. Zeke sat with Kenton, not wanting him to feel abandoned. The teens all had their hands over their heads even though the attendant requested the riders to hold on to the lap bar. The roller coaster stripped away the labels with the shared excitement. As they ran down the exit ramp, it was a just brotherhood of guys.
"I guess we will hang out with the old guys." Nephi turned to Jerome only to find him missing.
"Who are you calling old?" Clark retorted. Nephi located Jerome getting on the next coaster train sitting with Kenton.
After riding all the coasters, Phil took a break from thrill rides to ride with Ester. Eve joined the group often riding with Kenton. They stood at the crossing waiting for the miniature animal train to pass when Kenton felt a push from behind. He lost his footing and fell toward the tracks. Phil reacted running across the tracks taking Kenton with him.
From the other side of the tracks Kenton scanned the crowd. The push had felt intentional. Three older boys looked familiar. Kenton shook off the rising paranoia. "Thanks Phil."
"I've got your back, bro." Phil realized he meant what he had said.
On the bumper-cars, the same three boys seemed to take great pleasure in bashing into Kenton's car.
When the teens headed for the funhouse, Nephi let the women spend time while he enjoyed the company of Jerry and the littles. He had been to the fun-house as a child and broke his arm on a giant spinning disk. He could think of nothing fun about the fun house.
"Daddy, ride Puff with me." Jerry shouted as he ran to his dad. Nephi felt oversized as he folded himself into the bright green dragon kiddie-coaster. The women were more than ready to watch Nephi handle the four littles.
Sean and Clark arm in arm with their special women strolled along the midway trying to prove their manhood by winning a special prize.
Ester and Eve stood on the sidelines as the boys and twenty other stocking footed teens with more hormones than sense piled on a huge slick disk. The boys had been lucky enough to be toward the center. The disk began spinning picking up speed. Centrifugal forces shot riders off the disk and into the padded walls. A guy grabbed Kenton and let the spinning force throw him from the disk twisting Kenton's arm.
"You need to be more careful. You could get hurt or even killed if you make the wrong decisions." It didn't sound much like an apology.
The paranoia returned. Was that a threat? What did these guys have against Kenton? Did he know them from somewhere? Kenton sat out with the girls as the guys piled back onto the disk.
"It's not the first time he couldn't take it like a man, but then he isn't much of a man." The boys and their dates were laughing. When Kenton turned one boy bent over while another ground his crotch into the denim-covered ass. They laughed even harder.
Kenton stayed with the girls. Dread and foreboding destroying the day's excitement. Then even the girls grabbed a gunny sack from the bottom of the slides. Kenton didn't want to ride, but he feared being left alone even more. There were plenty of dark corners in the fun house.
Kenton made sure he was in the middle of the group as they climbed the five flights of stairs. He had visions of a single push sending him backwards down the stairs. His mangled body lying in a pool of blood with his limbs bent in all the wrong ways. Kenton knew he would be too unlucky to die a quick death.
Zeke and Rafe had already flown side by side down the pair of thin ribbons of shiny steel sitting in their gunnysacks. It hadn't looked that bad from the bottom. The steep incline was broken by sections that weren't as steep.
Standing at the top of the slide Kenton was having second thoughts. He kept letting others go ahead of him. Kenton watched the pregnant Ester enjoying her downward flight with Phil by her side. Kenton should have felt safe; Jerome and Eve were in line behind him. Jerome had let a kid half Kenton's age go ahead of him so Eve wouldn't be riding alone. The easiest way down would be to put his feet in the sack and ride. Kenton bent over the end of the slide putting his sack in place.
He felt Eve stumble against him. Kenton grabbed the bottom of his sack. He watched the first flattened section grow nearer in slow motion. At least he wouldn't be falling all five floors. His head hit the sack and the slide. The rest of the trip to the bottom was a flash of steel. Jared was the first to reach Kenton.
The guys from the disk stood behind Jared looking solemn. If he was down here, who had pushed him?
"I told you, you needed to be more careful and make good choices. The wrong choice could get you killed."
Jared turned ready to punch the guy's lights out, when an employee interrupted telling Kenton he had to leave the fun house for not following the rules.
Eve and Jerome slid down the slide as soon as Kenton moved off the slide. "I am so sorry. Someone pushed me and I bumped into you." Eve sobbed.
The park's first aid responder declared Kenton would live with only friction burns on his fingers.
The boys gathered their dates from the bottom of the slide and walked away. One stopped long enough to turn, pull a blue bandana out of his back pocket and wipe his forehead. That one action filled in all the blanks in Kenton's memories. These were members of the gang his brother, Kage had hung with. He wasn't sure why they wanted to make his life miserable. Kenton got the message. If these guys wanted him dead, he would be dead. Today had just been a warning. What decision would get him killed?
Nephi and Jerome had always planned on leaving early; someone needed to milk the animals. Sean had to stay even though he wanted leave with Kenton. Besides Nephi, he was the only one comfortable driving the big van.
Kenton fell asleep on Rebecca's shoulder. The five of them made quick work of the milking and feeding. They left the chores that could wait for the morning. Kenton wasn't up to sleeping on his own. Rebecca lay next to her lover's adopted son pulling him close. Kenton kept his fears about his brother's gang to himself. Saying something could leave him dead.
The family arrived home late. Each of the older teens carried a sleeping little into bed. Sariah and Hope removed their shoes and pulled the covers over them. Nephi and Jerome had tried waiting up for the family. Hope spread a blanket over the men on the couch and turned the television off.
Monday morning Phil was waiting with the guys after breakfast. "If I am going to be a father, I should start earning a paycheck."
The guys welcomed Phil onto their team.