Ring in Mine 3: Nephi & Jerome Chapter 8
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Nephi & Jerome: Chapter 8
It was too late to go to church. Nephi and Jerome went to IHOP for breakfast. They sat next to each other in a tall booth in the corner away from the other guests. Their attentive server Stan always enjoyed serving handsome guys. Jerome loved Pigs-in-a-Blanket,a link sausage wrapped in a pancake. Nephi was more of a crepe person. He liked things he didn't cooked at home. They shared the pancakes and ate the crepes for dessert.
Nephi cut the first crepe into bite-sized pieces. He speared the first morsel on his fork and offered it to Jerome. It freaked Jerome out a bit.
"How gay can you get?" Jerome thought for a moment and opened his mouth. Nephi slid the tender crepe filled with strawberries and topped with whipped cream between Jerome's lips.
"I just had someone else's fork in my mouth. Would I have done that with any of my girlfriends?" Jerome decided it was one thing to tickle their tonsils, but he couldn't see himself sharing their fork. "Do I want to tickle Nephi's tonsils?"
Nephi used a napkin to remove whipped cream from the tip of Jerome's nose. Jerome speared the next piece. He moved it toward Nephi's mouth, but at the last moment he popped the crepe into his own mouth smiling. Nephi took the next for himself.
Jerome selected the piece with the most whipped cream. This one made it into Nephi. Jerome decorated the end of Nephi's nose with whipped cream. Jerome picked up his napkin and leaned toward Nephi. Instead of using the napkin Jerome swiped the cream with his finger and stuck it into his own mouth.
"I can't waste the cream; it's the best part." Jerome said, realizing a second later how gay that sounded.
Nephi offered Jerome the next piece. Nephi waited until Jerome swallowed before he gathered the wayward cream on his finger. Instead of putting his finger in his own mouth he stuck the cream covered appendage into Jerome's mouth.
When Jerome offered Nephi his finger, Nephi sucked on the offered finger far longer than necessary, running his tongue over the intruder. The table hid Jerome's reaction. It began a game of who could outdo the other on seducing the offered digit.
There were four bites left. This time Jerome licked the offending cream off of Nephi's nose.
"Why did I do that?" Jerome thought. Nephi return the favor but sort of sucked/kissed Jerome's nose.
Nephi shifted at the last moment as Jerome fed him the last bite. The last of the whipped cream was on Nephi's upper lip. Jerome reached in to lick it up, but Nephi caught Jerome's tongue with his lips.
"Eww that's so gross! I had to see why Stan needed to make a mad dash to the bathroom. Seeing you two faggots kissing would make me sick too." A young waitress announced. "Your dad was right!"
"What's gross? This?" Jerome leaned in closer to Nephi, put his hand behind Nephi's head, and pressed his lips to Nephi's. He was planning on a lip kiss, but his tongue slid across Nephi's lips which parted to let him in. Nephi hadn't shaved while he was at the cabin. Jerome liked the mustache stubble.
Jerome compared this kiss to previous kisses. He always looked at kissing his girlfriends as a step toward getting them to put out, a hot Cha-Cha; an expense of energy and then exhaustion. This kiss was a slow sensuous Rumba. Jerome could do this all day. Reality dawned on him; He was kissing a guy in front of an old girlfriend.
"That is so sick!" She shouted.
"You're mad because he kisses better than you ever did." Jerome announced. Stan appeared toward the end of the kiss. He disappeared again to take care of the renewed bulge in his pants.
"I apologize for kissing you. You just met one of my ex-girlfriends." Jerome sighed.
"Never apologize for kissing me." Nephi said. The playful mood evaporated. They tried to pay for their meal. The owner was a `close' friend of Benny's and a client of Peter and Son snow removal.
"It's my pleasure." The owner insisted. "You've become my nephew Stan's role models and you got that bitch to quit. I wanted to get rid of her for months."
They arrived home to find Benny's car in the driveway with a huge purple bow on it. Nephi looked at the big gift tag attached.
"It's for you." Nephi announced. Jerome checked the tag and sure enough it had his name on it. He looked at Nephi not quite getting the joke.
"Every few years Benny trades in his old car and gets a new one. For him, it is a business expense. It looks like he didn't trade it in this time." Nephi explained.
A brand-new car pulled into the driveway. Benny and Luke climbed out.
"What do you think of your present?" Benny asked.
"You shouldn't have gotten me a car. The insurance will cover the old one." Jerome stated. Benny didn't have the heart to tell him his dad had canceled Jerome's insurance. "Today is January 28th. The car is just the wrapping for the real gift."
"January 28th! I almost missed it." Nephi said hitting his head.
"What's important about January 28th?" Jerome asked. Luke handed Jerome a box of cheap kazoos.
"It's National Kazoo Day. Honk the horn and let's get this party started." Luke announced.
At the sound of the car horn Paula, Maria, Jared, Drake and Hope came out of the house dressed for the cold. Thanks to Jerome there wouldn't be any snow to climb. The youth held rounds of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Nephi came out on top.
"I get the horn." Nephi announced. Nephi disappeared into the garage and returned a huge brass horn. When he squeezed the black rubber ball, it made a loud honking sound. He handed cowbells to Jared and Drake. The kids wore a paper hat. The adults wore their own imaginative creations on their head.
Nephi helped Jerome with a box similar to those hot dog vendors at the circus wore. A stupid looking hat with a kazoo on top finished Jerome's costume. "You are the official keeper of the kazoos this year."
At two o'clock Nephi blew the super loud air horn on the plow truck and the procession started. Jerome felt stupid in his get up. What would people think?
Neighbors came out of their houses. Many were wearing simple paper hats and crowns, others elaborate creations. It was obvious some of the neighbors were trying to outdo each other's hats. As the procession passed the audience became participants. The path wove around the blocks until they arrived at the chapel's cultural hall. Those not up to the walk were already at the hall. Everyone wore a nametag. Some used the provided stickers, others wore colorful homemade creations.
After a prayer everyone enjoyed hot chocolate, spiced cider, Bertram Brownies and Marco Junior's Italian meatballs on toothpicks. Jerome recognized the big twenty-gallon coolers with Peter and Son Landscaping printed on the side. There were similar coolers in the garage.
Marco Junior introduced Bertram as his `business' partner. When Bertram brushed his hand across Marco's ass, Jerome realized what type of partners they were.
Judging for the best hat and nametags was spirited and loud. The winners received cheap trophies.
Young children played games like Duck-Duck-Goose. Older participants received a list of questions. Each question had to be answered by a different person. You earned extra points for asking a person you didn't know already. It was all designed to get people talking.
After a couple hours of getting to know each other, everyone helped pick up. The parade broke into small groups each taking the closest way home still blowing the kazoos and ringing bells.
When they arrived home, Jerome asked Nephi what Kazoo Day was. Nephi let Paula tell the story.
"Fifteen years ago, Peter had been the leader of the ward. Driven by the cruelty of two bullies a young man took his own life. His death was tragic. The families of the two boys blamed the other family. The young man loved music and often played the piano for the Sunday School. Peter checked the calendar and found that January 28th was National Kazoo Day. He ordered a gross of plastic kazoos and cheap hats and declared a ward remembrance of the young man.
When the ward came to the chapel signs pointed to the cultural hall. Peter enlarged a photo from the ward album with the young man wearing a stupid hat and playing the kazoo with the Cub Scouts at the Pioneer Day Parade. In memory of the young man they held the first Kazoo Day Parade around the church building.
The two families pointing fingers never changed. Both moved from the ward. Kazoo Day brought the ward together, no longer pointing fingers of blame but helping hands supporting the boy's family.
Over the years it has become a highlight of the winter season. The second year was the first parade through the neighborhood to the church. The third year the hat and name tag contest became part of the celebration."
"Who pays for all this?" Jerome asked.
Nephi looked at the floor. "At first it was Peter. Then it was Paula. Now I own the company so I do. It's only a couple hundred dollars. It is a tax write off. That's why the kazoos all have Peter and Son printed on them."
It had been a big day. At home, Nephi and Jerome settled down for a quiet cup of cocoa. Nephi put an extraordinary amount of whipped cream on his causing a whipped cream mustache hoping for a repeat from the morning. It seemed Jerome didn't notice.
Jerome had noticed, but felt uncomfortable about what they had done at the restaurant. His time inside the church had him thinking how inappropriate their behavior had been for a good Christian boy.
Snuggled together in bed with his head on Nephi's chest Jerome thought about the day. It was a fun day. He had been so relaxed around Nephi. Why was the day different? With his dad out of the picture could he be himself? One thing Jerome knew, he didn't feel this way about other guys, only Nephi. Maybe love didn't respect gender lines.