Rustic Chivalry
Chapter One
Red Craven was parked outside the state prison waiting for his friend Bobby to be released on parole. Bobby Thatcher had served seven years of a ten year sentence for statutory rape. The girl had lied to him, of course, and swore she was nineteen. She may have looked that old, but she was just past her fourteenth birthday, when Bobby was arrested at the complaint of Sue-Ann's father.
The state did not buy his defense that she had deceived him, or that she had, in fact, seduced him. It made no difference in the eyes of the law. Bobby was quickly convicted and shipped off to prison, leaving Red sad, bewildered and broken-hearted.
Red had visited Bobby in prison over the years, but it wasn't a steady thing, and he was anxious to see how his friend had changed. He was only eighteen when he was incarcerated, and now he and Red were twenty-five.
The two boys had grown up together in the same rural Southern town. They attended the same school in their small community, and were forced to attend the same church. They played hooky often, and ran off to a deserted forest, where they had discovered a pristine lake. They had kept the lake their secret. It was their sanctuary, and nobody else knew of its existence. They would strip down and go swimming, enjoying the cool soothing waters, and allowing themselves to forget the cruel outside world.
It was in their little Eden that they discovered each other's bodies, and began to make love to each other. They learned to satisfy themselves strictly by instinct. They had no instructors, or older boys, to show them the way. But more importantly, they did not know that what they were doing was a sin, punishable by an eternity in hell. When their preacher railed against homosexuality, they had no idea that what they were doing together was homosexual activity, or that the preacher's rantings had anything to do with them.
As they came into their puberty years, it was only right for both of them to seek the company of young girls. It was expected of all maturing young men, but the girls didn't do for them, what they did for each other.
When Bobby met Sue-Ann Robinson, who was a new girl in town, his whole attitude regarding sex changed. He paid less and less attention to Red. She introduced him to a new way of making love, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. Sue-Ann happily instructed him into a variety of heterosexual techniques, and Bobby desired it more than what he had with Red.
Red was unyielding in trying to urge Bobby back to the lake, but to no avail. Bobby tried to fix Red up with one of Sue-Ann's friends, so that he would see what he was missing, but Red was totally disinterested. He wanted Bobby back, along with all the joys that Bobby had given him, and he had given to Bobby. Then before he knew what had happened, Bobby was in jail, and they were separated by the state and the law.
Over the next seven years, they both learned well enough what it meant to be homosexual, and to live a gay lifestyle. For Red it meant keeping his yearnings hidden, and to himself. For Bobby it meant fighting off the advances of other prisoners in the jail. It was a good thing that he was a strong, strapping six foot, two inch young man. The offenders soon learned what a fist in their faces felt like, and they backed off. It never occurred to Bobby that Red had not outgrown their childhood play games, as he had. It never occurred to him that his best friend might be gay.
As he waited for Bobby to exit the prison walls, time passed interminably slow for Red. Every second seemed like several hours. He wanted to cry out in anguish, but he waited in the sweltering pick-up, waited for Bobby. Finally, the prison gate opened and Bobby came out with a guard. They shook hands; the guard returned through the gate, and Bobby turned around. There was Red waving at him and yelling, "Over here, Bobby, over here."
Bobby saw his old, and only friend, and started to run toward him. Red's first instinct was to grab Bobby, and give him a bone-crushing hug, as well as a slobbery wet kiss on the mouth, but he restrained himself, and the two old friends simply shook hands.
The buddies drove to Red's home in uncomfortable silence. After all these years it seemed that they had nothing to say to each other. Finally Bobby said, "It's great o' ya to put me up until I land a job, Red. I don't know what I'd do without ya."
"Take all the damn time ya need, pal. It'll be fun fer us to be bunking out together again."
Bobby was strangely agitated by that last remark. It prompted him to ask, "Do ya have a separate room fer me? If yer trailer has only one bedroom, I'll sleep on the sofa."
"Relax," Red laughed. "I got two bedrooms. Would it be such a tragedy if we slept in the same room in separate beds?"
"O' course not. I just wondered."
Once again they were plunged into an uncomfortable silence.
Red drove his ten year old Ford pick-up truck into a run-down trailer park. Neither the park nor the houses were even minimally maintained. Some of the homes were dilapidated, single-wide manufactured motor homes, and others were real trailers. He parked in front of one of the broken down pre-fabs, and started to exit the car.
"This here's my castle," he stated matter-of-factly.
Bobby eyed the structure. It badly needed to be painted, and it lacked a front door. All that separated the house from the elements, was a torn screen door. He followed Red into the house. It stunk badly of cat, but Bobby didn't see any animals around. The kitchen sink was full of dirty dishes. He wondered about that, since Red himself was fresh scrubbed, and smelled nicely of after-shave lotion. Actually Red only bathed occasionally, but he wanted to make sure he was clean smelling for Bobby's return.
"The guest bedroom is over there," Red pointed to a door off the living room. "Unless, o' course, you want to change yer mind and bunk in with me." He could see how uncomfortable that last remark made Bobby, so he started to laugh to ease the tension.
Bobby didn't answer. He opened the door and went into a room furnished only with a twin bed and a dresser. He threw his knapsack on the bed, and muttered, "This'll do just fine."
"Are ya hungry?" Red inquired.
"I wouldn't mind a cup o' coffee with somethin'," Bobby answered. Red motioned for him to sit at the kitchen table, while he set up a kettle to boil water for the instant coffee he removed from a cupboard.
"It's awful hot in here, don' ya think?" Red asked. He didn't wait for an answer. "I'm gonna go strip some." He went into his bedroom and came out seconds later wearing only a pair of briefs.
As they were sipping their coffees, and munching on some stale saltines that Red dug up from the back of one of the cupboards, Red asked. "How'd ya like to go down to our swimmin' hole, and cool off some, a bit later on?"
"I think I'd like that a lot," Bobby smiled at Red. Suddenly he wiped the smile off his face. "But it ain't gonna be like the old days," he stated emphatically. "I just spent seven years fightin' off a swarm o' cocksuckers. Please don't spoil our friendship, Red," he implored.
Red was thunderstruck. "O' course not. I'd never do a thing like that," he muttered.
There may not have been any hanky-panky at the swimming hole that day, but at least Red got to gaze upon Bobby's magnificent naked body. He was hard and muscled; his body was virtually hairless. His pubic hair was shaved almost clean, and Red wondered when he started to do that. He promised himself to do the same.
He savored that succulent cock. It was uncut and four flaccid inches. Red knew that it shrunk some in the water, and that it nearly doubled in size when his buddy had a hard-on. Seeing Bobby naked satisfied Red for the moment, but he wanted more, much more.
Over the next several weeks, Bobby tried diligently to find work, any kind of work, but prospective employers were not willing to hire an ex-con, especially a rapist. Poor Bobby rarely got a chance to explain the nature of the "rape" before he was dismissed. He was getting really depressed. He wondered how much longer he could go on sponging off Red. Red had told him to take all the time he needed, but heavy guilt feelings were beginning to settle in.
The conditions of his parole did not allow him to leave the area. He often thought of going to a big city like Atlanta or Birmingham to seek work. He believed that if he was unknown, and if they didn't ask too many questions, he might make out better. But alas, he couldn't get away.
In addition to all else, Bobby craved a woman badly, and there were no girls in town that would have anything to do with him. Even Sue-Ann, who was now legal, had long since left town with her family.
He was feeling at his lowest one Friday, and he was even considering violating parole and being returned to prison. Then Red came home at the end of the day with a big grin on his face, and a six pack of beer in his hand.
"I've got great news for ya," Red smiled. "I spoke to my boss, ole man Hicks. I explained to him how ya got fucked by an under-aged girl, in every way possible, and ended up in prison. He was most sympathetic, and told me that he started to have sex with his wife when she was thirteen and he was eighteen. In those days, they had shot gun weddin's, and that's exactly what her daddy made them do. Anyway, to make a long story short, I got ya a job, and you start at the lumber yard on Monday.
Bobby jumped up, and forgetting all his resolve, he hugged Red tightly. Red pushed hard against him. He wanted Bobby to feel his erection, and Bobby did. He pulled away quickly.
"Ya been so damned good to me," Bobby slobbered. "I owe ya everythin'. I don't see how I can ever repay ya."
"Really?" Red asked incredulously. "That's funny. I know just how ya can repay me."
To be continued...