Second Chance, Chapter 14
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This story is copyrighted by the author known as David Lee and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without explicit permission.
This story contains descriptions of love and sexual fulfillment between people of the same gender. If possessing or reading this kind of material is illegal where you live, please leave this site at once.
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As always, I thank my editors Tom and David for their proofing my work and giving me suggestions and lots of positive feedback. They're an integral part of this effort.
Chapter 14
Eric and Josh slept late on Monday. They climbed out of their tent into bright sunshine. Breakfast was the first order of business. Since the Boyson's had fed them the day before, they had plenty of food and it needed to be used. So, it was almost like a big brunch with bacon, eggs, and pancakes.
After cleaning up their dishes, they packed and paddled back toward the opposite shore where their pickup was parked. The boys couldn't resist stopping at the big island on the way. There was nothing left to see and the police tape was gone. However, they did their best not to disturb anything just in case.
Neither guy was particularly hungry when noon rolled around, so they kept driving for home. They were met in the driveway by Blake who had just returned from his part-time job.
"Were you aware of a shooting on one of the islands in the lake where you went? There's a brief article in today's paper."
"We heard the shots and we talked to an officer yesterday, but he didn't tell us much."
Blake ran up to the apartment and returned a minute later with the newspaper. The boys scanned the article quickly to glean whatever information they could. The name of the guy who was shot was still being withheld pending notification of relatives, but it was expected to be released in time for the 10 o'clock news. The article did say that he was a resident of St. Paul.
"I hope our dads don't freak when they hear about it. They'll probably never let us leave the yard by ourselves again!" Eric said.
The boys had hosed off the kayaks, hung their tent on the clothesline to air, and packed away the cookware by the time their fathers got home. They were so full of energy that they pitched in to help "the old guys" do the same with their gear.
When everything was put away, Ben suggested a good hot meal was the next thing on the agenda – preferably one made in a nearby restaurant so that no one would have to cook. The boys were suddenly starved when they remembered that they'd skipped lunch. The only thing they'd had since their late breakfast was a can of diet Pepsi that they'd split on the way home. So the family was soon on the way to a favorite eating spot.
While catching up on the news he'd missed, Scott discovered the piece about the shooting. He asked the guys if they knew anything about it. Eric and Josh took turns narrating the tale for their dads. They even told about being invited to the party and not going.
"I suppose we should keep you locked in the attic until you're 18," Scott joked.
"I wouldn't do any good. They'd probably have too much fun up there together anyway, or else they'd climb down the fire escape and run away," Ben chuckled. "Besides, I think they both showed good judgment in weighing the risks of drinking with strangers and making the right decision in avoiding it."
"Thanks, Dad. You know how smart and mature we are." Josh grinned.
"Your dad is right." Scott stated. "I'm proud of both of you too."
The boys smiled in response. They didn't tell their fathers how close they came to making the wrong decision.
When the late newscast came on, the boys were glued to the TV to see if there were any new details about the shooting. They didn't have to wait long.
"This is Chris Philips with your 10 o'clock news update. Our lead story is about Saturday night's shooting in which a local teenager was wounded. We now know the name of the victim. Dylan Reid, 16, of St. Paul suffered wounds to his left shoulder and right leg. He was air-lifted to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition, but had been upgraded to fair condition. His parents would like to get in touch with the man whose phone call may have saved their son's life. If you're that person or know who he is, please call their number on the screen below.
In other news, presidential candidate, Barack Obama campaigned in Pennsylvania today amid growing concern over..."
"Oh my God, I know Dylan; he's on the swim team! We were in Cubs together and he's been in several of my classes in high school. We'd better call his parents to let them know about Max." Josh exclaimed.
"You'd better do it since you know him," Eric suggested. "It's pretty late..."
"I'll bet they're up if they've been at his bedside. In fact, they're probably at the hospital."
Ben and Scott convinced the boys that their news could wait until a more reasonable hour the next morning. Josh agreed that there was no urgent reason to disturb the family at that hour of the night.
Josh called the hospital to check about visiting hours before the pair had breakfast. Ben had left for work and Scott was buried under a pile of paperwork and emails that had to be dealt with, so the boys made their own breakfast and took it out to the gazebo to eat. Blake and Reese joined them with their cereal and toast on trays.
"I hope that we're not imposing ourselves on you too much," Blake commented. "We don't have any classmates who live nearby and you're beginning to feel like brothers to us."
"No problem," Josh said.
"We enjoy your company," Eric added. "We feel a kinship to you guys too, especially since we have a big thing in common."
"I wonder how big our common things are," Reese quipped.
"Down Boy," Blake commanded with a grin. "I'll never get my Wildman tamed."
"Would you really want to?" Josh asked. "Wouldn't that take some of the fun out of it?"
"This Paleface speaks truth!" Reese laughed.
"Fun is okay, but I don't want to have to bail him out of jail for molesting underage boys."
"I think 16 is the age of consent in Minnesota if I read it right. If we were 15 or below, the other person couldn't be more that four years older" Josh said.
"Jeez! Don't tell him that! Now neither one of you will be safe from his flirting," Blake asserted, shaking his head.
"As long as it doesn't go further than that, it's okay," Eric reminded them. "You know that Josh belongs to me and I belong to him."
A couple of minutes later, Blake steered the conversation toward Saturday night's shooting. The boys mentioned the victim was a friend of Josh's and that they were heading for the hospital to visit him soon.
Dylan Reid was really happy to see Josh coming into his hospital room. He'd been poked and prodded by a veritable army of doctors and nurses and hadn't been allowed visitors other than family up to that point. Josh hugged him gently so as not to hurt him.
Josh introduced Eric as his new housemate and didn't elaborate on the circumstances that had brought them together. Dylan high-fived Eric like he would a long-time buddy. The two of them took an instant liking to each other.
"You got a vase for these?" Josh joked as he handed Dylan the "bouquet" of balloons that they'd purchased in the gift shop.
"Could you do me a favor and tie them to the TV shelf so I can see them easily? It's good of you to bring them, but I'm even happier to see guys my age. Even the nurses on this floor all seem to be over 40."
Then Dylan's mood became serious as he explained what had happened at the party and expressed embarrassment at having been there.
"It was really stupid of me to party with a crowd that I didn't know. I was visiting my cousin who lives a few miles from the lake and one of his acquaintances said there was going to be a bash with lots of beer and no one to check ID's. I wanted to know what it felt like to get a good buzz, so I pushed my cousin to take me.
I was having fun dancing, well more hopping around, with a cute girl and I thought it was great. Then some jerk, I think his name was Rick, accused another guy, Lance, of stealing his stash and things got nasty. I wasn't doing any drugs and it didn't have anything to do with me, but I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rick pulled a gun and fired at Lance, but only hit him in the foot. Lance ducked behind me to shield him and I took the other bullets before Rick's fried brain got the message. I guess the bullet in my leg hit a major blood vessel and I was bleeding a lot. I know that I passed out quickly and woke up for a minute realizing I was in a chopper. I'd like to ride in one when I'm conscious sometime so I could enjoy it!
I feel like an idiot for getting myself into this mess! At least I've learned my lesson without having to pay the ultimate price. I know Mom and Dad don't believe that, but it's true. They'll probably ground me `til I'm 18!"
"Make that 21!" Dylan's mother teased as she entered the room.
She delivered the line without cracking a smile and the boys wondered if she was serious. They hoped that she'd heard enough of Dylan's confession to eventually forgive his youthful lapse of judgment.
"Mrs. Reid, this is my housemate Eric," Josh said, hoping to change the subject.
"Nice to meet you, Eric. Please call me Beth."
"It's good to meet you, Beth. Josh has something important to tell you about the person who called for help on Saturday night."
"I hope that you can clear up the mystery. We have had nearly a dozen calls from people claiming to be that person. One of them went so far as to ask how much reward we were planning to give him! It's like a bloody circus."
"The man's name is Max Boyson, but I don't know exactly where he lives. I do know that he and his wife, Marian, were talking about a hardware store in Edina, so I'm guessing that they live in that area," Josh informed her.
"How do you know all of this?"
"We were camped a ways away from the island on the far shore and they were camped a bit beyond us. They came to check on us after the shots were fired. In the conversation, Marian told us Max had called. He was career army, I think. He recognized the sounds as gunshots and thought that he'd better alert the authorities. When the chopper landed, he recognized it as a flying ambulance even in the dark and at that distance."
Beth excused herself to hunt for a phonebook leaving the boys to continue their conversation.
Dylan admitted that he was in pain, but said he didn't want to take too many pills.
"I know that I could be asking for more Tylenol with codeine, but honestly I'd rather feel a little hurt than to have green monkeys jumping on my bed. That stuff is like a bad trip - not that I know from experience what that's like. After my recent escape from the Grim Reaper, I have no desire to run away from reality! Besides, I don't want anything in my body that will keep me from passing a drug test when the season starts."
"It'll all be out of your system by then," Josh assured him. "It's not like you're taking steroids anyway. You need to stay ahead of the pain in order to heal."
"How do you know that, `Dr. Brady'?"
"Uh, my mom..."
"God, I'm sorry, Josh!"
"It's okay. Did the doctors say if you'll be well enough to swim this fall?" Josh asked to change the subject.
"They say that my biggest problem was being about a quart low. After the transfusions and a few weeks to heal my muscles, I should be almost as good as new. I've got to start strength training as soon as I can because if I sit around too much, my muscles will atrophy. Why did I have to be so stupid?"
Beth swept into the room bearing a piece of paper with Max's number on it. She used the phone in the room to make the call.
"Mr. Boyson? Yes, my name is Beth Reid. I have a son here who is alive because of you. I can't begin to thank you enough. There may have been a few times in the past couple of years that I'd have liked to put him in a space ship and send him off the planet, but we do love him dearly."
Dylan bit on his lower lip to keep from showing his emotion. Josh squeezed his hand to let him know that he understood.
"Well as fate would have it," she continued. "there are two young men here who met you – Josh and Eric. Yes, they're here right now."
Josh and Eric both spoke to Max for a minute before handing the phone to Dylan. When he got on it was difficult for him to talk.
"Mr. Boyson... Okay, Max. I don't know how to thank you... (sniff) If it hadn't been for you... (sniff, sniff) You're the greatest, Man!"
Beth took the phone again because she could see that Dylan was too emotional to continue. Max told her that he would like to visit Dylan when he was up to it. She invited him to come that afternoon.
In their attic studio, the boys put in several hours of work that afternoon. Eric created a fictional short story based on Dylan's experience. He changed the names and some of the circumstances. His hero was a boy at the party who applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Eric's intent was to write a story with a moral that could be used to remind kids not to make destructive decisions. He thought that perhaps an organization like SADD might be interested in it.
Josh was also creative. His painting was of a shirtless camper seated cross-legged by a tent hunched over writing in a journal. The pose kept the viewer from having a good look at the writer's face, but it didn't hide the beautiful muscles on his body. It was another fine work on the level of the one he'd done of Eric kneeling nude by the water. Josh wasn't sure that he could sell this one either, but he might substitute it for the nude one if Norm would allow him to. The painting of Eric naked might be more than he wanted to share with strangers.
The next morning, Josh and Eric both searched for diving clubs in their area. The only thing that they came up with was a list of scuba diving schools. Their aim was to see about learning synchronized diving like they'd seen in watching the Olympics. Surely someone in the upper Midwest should be training people for that event.
After numerous phone calls to lots of people including the high school swim coach, the boys gave up. They would have to content themselves with standard low-board diving and training for swimming meets. It was probably for the best since their plates would be full enough with school and their creative pursuits.
Just after noon, the boys went to the hospital to look in on Dylan again. Once more, he was pleased to see them. His younger brother, Aaron, was visiting him and was beginning to get on his nerves.
Aaron was a cute kid with shoulder length blond hair that had obviously been styled by a professional. He was thin and about medium height for a kid going into ninth grade. When he spoke, his voice cracked like many boys in the throes of puberty.
From the minute that Aaron was introduced to Eric, he practically attached himself to the older boy. Eric was initially somewhat uncomfortable with the amount of attention he was getting from the kid. He wanted to tell the boy to find another playmate, but that would be ill-mannered. Besides, Dylan seemed to be pleased to have his brother out of his hair for the time being. So Eric tried to make polite conversation, hoping that this wasn't turning into hero worship or a crush.
Josh would have spent longer at the hospital, but he sensed his boyfriend's uneasiness. He found an honest excuse to leave, saying that they needed to swim a few laps if they were going to stay in shape for the upcoming season. Dylan could empathize with that and expressed his hope of being able to get in the water soon too. Aaron said he'd like to be included when they all went to practice because he was going to join the team too.
On the way to the country club pool, Josh teased Eric about having a new potential boyfriend.
"If you and Aaron had been alone, I don't know what might have happened. Did you notice how he was undressing you with his eyes? You watch; he'll be hanging around when we change in the locker room just to get a look at your goods!"
"He's bound to get the chance in the locker room once practice begins – unless I come in with my Speedo already on." Eric snickered.
"You might as well let him get a good look on the first day. Then maybe he'll leave you alone after he's satisfied his curiosity. Besides, your Speedo doesn't hide much!"
Josh and Eric swam laps for about 15 minutes before stopping to rest. Both were pleased that they didn't seem to have lost what they'd gained from watching the Olympic swimmers. After a brief rest, they took turns watching and coaching each other. Then they practiced a few dives before leaving.
They hadn't gotten to the locker room when the sports facilities manager intercepted them.
"Our golf pro watched part of your workout and said that you're obviously experienced swimmers. Are either or both of you interested in a part-time job? We'll be running classes on Saturdays and evenings this fall for members' kids. Our swimming instructor quit because her husband has been transferred to Chicago. You seem to know what you're doing and how to give instruction."
"Thanks for asking, but I'm not sure that we could work it into our schedules once school starts," Josh replied. "But if you give us your number, we'll discuss it and get back to you."
"Please do. I heard that you drove up in a new convertible, so you probably don't need any money, but you would be helping a number of over-privileged kids hone their skills."
"We're not too lazy or `too good' to work, but we do have a lot to do. Besides swimming on our high school team, I'm writing and Josh is painting. He's going to have an exhibition at Mr. Hadley's gallery in late winter." Eric informed him.
"Whoa, that is a big deal! I can understand if you can't, but please keep it in mind. And if you can't do it, you might know of someone else who could."
After exchanging information, the boys went back to the locker room to shower and change.
At dinner, the boys told their fathers about the job offer. Ben and Scott agreed that it was up to the boys to decide what they wanted to do. As far as the dads were concerned, the main occupation their sons had at present was to study hard to keep up their grades so they could get into a good college.
"You do need to keep in mind that when the sports guy said `over-privileged' about the country club kids, he was being polite. Some of them are absolute brats! I'm not sure that I'd want to be in charge of that bunch."
"Thanks, Dad, I'll keep that in mind. I noticed how a couple of the boys were acting today when we were there. And, do you remember that scene in the dining room last spring when a kid threw a fit over something he didn't want to eat? I'm thinking I should pursue my painting this winter."
"We might see if Blake or Reese would like the job before we call Mr. West back." Eric suggested.
After the late news, the boys got ready for bed by undressing each other. They weren't wearing that many clothes, so the process didn't take very long. However, a part of both of them was getting long.
"Just pretend I'm Aaron," Josh teased as he knelt to lick Eric's `nads.
"Maybe I won't have to pretend. Maybe I'll get the genuine article if we'd invite the brothers over. You can share your room with Dylan and Aaron can sleep with me." Eric grinned, teasing back.
"That's not gonna happen because you looked really uncomfortable when he was that close to you today even with you both dressed." Josh replied. "Besides, you and I belong to each other."
"Yeah, but you said I should probably play with other guys to make sure I was really gay before I settle down." Eric continued. "Aaron's only a couple of years younger, so it'd be legal."
"I suppose I meant that at the time, but I've really gotten attached to you. I think I'd feel hurt. Are you serious about wanting to do it with him? If you are, I guess I shouldn't stand in your way."
"No, I don't see that happening. I'm only joshing; no pun intended," Eric smirked. Then he gazed deeply into Josh's eyes and said, "Now quit worrying and let me demonstrate how much I care about you."
Author's note: Thanks to all who wrote since last posting. These include: Baruch, Vann, Jim C, Jim We, Aaron W, John Mc, Tom A, Tim E, Richard Y, Rad, Tom D, Paul R, Polar, and Danny F.
Your emails keep me going.
I don't know if you heard, but the Florida Supreme Court ordered a school district to recognize the LBGT club as a legitimate organization that must be allowed to meet in the school like any other student organization. Score one for sanity!
David