This story is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations or business establishments or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this story may be transmitted or reproduced in in whole or in part in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the Author or Publisher, except where permitted by law. Copyright © 2012 by Flip McHooter.
Because it's based in the past, some of it may not be politically correct as I have tried to be true to 1969.
Thanks to everybody who has emailed me, I appreciate the tips and feedback. Comments are always appreciated! Flip. 1977.flip@gmail.com
Chapter 34c revised
We all went racing into the dining room to find Ace had untied his right arm. How he did it was anyone's guess. Maybe with his yellowed vampire teeth. But that's as far as he got before he passed out drunk.
I had to pull him up by his hair and slap his face a few times to make sure he wasn't faking us out. You never know. "Okay guys, let's get this over with. Where do we want to take the pictures?" I asked.
"I think we need to make sure that he's really out. Slapping him might not be enough. He still could be faking. I don't trust that son of a bitch. You guys don't want him getting loose, do you?" Lisa said. "Or hurting us, or the little men."
"Got it, sis. But how can we tell for sure?"
"I think we should hold a match under his hand and see what happens," Chris said seriously. I changed my mind about him and now I was starting to think he was going to be a CIA interrogator when he got older.
"Okay. Let's try it. He's not my dad, so I really don't give a shit anymore," Jake said. "Who has a match?"
That was a stupid question, since our favorite cannabis seller and resident pot-head was right here with us. "I do," he said. That made us all bust up.
Once we were sure he was out for good, we untied him, not an easy task I might add, since the guys used so many pieces of rope and they tied him up so tight. Then I asked again, "Where are we going to take the pictures?"
"Good question, picklehead. Hey! How about in the pool house? That way nobody will recognize it. We can push the furniture and rugs against the wall and frame it just so, and then we get him and the little men on the floor," Jake said. "It's white, so it might even look like a studio."
"Picklehead?"
"Yeah."
"Great idea, Jake. You're quite the cameraman, aren't you?" Enzo asked him.
"Yeah, he did great. You should see the pictures."
"Shut up Ryan!" Lisa said.
"Colt, Tucker, Cooper and Enzo. You guys go take the rest of the ropes off of him. Once you do that, can you carry him out to the pool house?" I got a chorus of yes' out of the biggest and burliest guys in the room. "Jake, can you and Kenji go get your camera from your house and maybe some extra film? Make sure we have enough to do a good job. Flashbulbs too. Go out the back way in case Mrs. Kravitz is looking out her front window over here. She probably isn't, but just to be on the safe side."
"Roger that Bucky! Be right back."
"Lisa, can you go make some more coffee for us and cocoa for the little men? Extra sugary for the little dudes? I don't want them falling asleep on us just yet."
"I'm on it!"
"Okay, little men, let's head to the pool house. You little muscle men can help me move the furniture around."
"Shebang! This is fun staying up all night!"
"I know! It's like a TV show," said Chris.
"Can we do it again tomorrow night too, Ry?" asked Jordy.
"We'll see little dude. Maybe. It's the Fourth of July, so maybe we can do something fun."
"Hot Dog!" yelled Chris.
We ran ahead of the bigger guys to open the sliding glass doors and turned on the overhead lights. The good thing about the pool house was that no matter how many lights we had on, you couldn't see it from the street. Just like the tree house, totally private. We were able to push the two couches to the sides of the room and then we rolled up the old rugs, like we did when we played Judge Jordy. Just as we were finishing up, the big guys came in carrying Ace, with Sloan trailing right behind. I had a pretty good idea that she wasn't about to let him out of her sight ever again. Ace was really out of it, his tongue hanging out like Sloan's does when she's having a really good dream.
"Where should we put him?" one of the guys asked.
"Just drop him on the floor anywhere," I said. "I don't really care."
"Who gets to strip him?" Colt asked.
"Anyone who wants to, I guess. Let's all do it right now," I said. "There's scissors in the drawer over there if we need them. I don't care if we wreck his clothes. They're gross looking anyway, and besides, he's not going to need them. Wait! Let me see that wallet."
Tucker whipped it out and handed it me. I was amazed, and yet, not really all that amazed. Inside, was another boat-load of money, more than the guy on the dock had, but even more interesting was the three or four sets of driver's licenses tucked inside. Who the hell was this guy, really? About that time, Jake and Kenji walked in carrying all of the camera paraphernalia. Following them up was Lisa, looking like a Pan-Am stewardess with all of our drinks on my mom's antique silver tray. I almost laughed. If her hair had been in a bun, a purse strategically placed on her arm and if she was waving at us like the queen, I probably would have laughed my ass off.
"Jake and Lisa, I'd like you to meet Anthony Sardinia, or Joseph Licata, or Luca Limoncello. He also goes by Ace Mariano. But I'm thinking his name is really Tony the Fuck-Up. Here, look at these."
"Hey! Licata was someone down at my dad's shop, I mean, my dad's office. I think that old lady receptionist," Enzo said.
"Yeah, I remember that. Think that old lady is his mom?" Kenji asked.
"No, she's dead. We never met her. Maybe some kind of relation, like a great aunt or something. This whole thing is so weird I'd believe just about anything right about now," Jake said. Then, looking at the naked Ace sprawled across the floor, he said, "See, that can't be my dad. Just look at him, Ry. His dick is way too tiny. It looks like a shrimp cocktail." That made all of us laugh, once again.
"It's way smaller than Chris's or mine's," Jordy said.
"Maybe he's cold, or that funny drink made him a shrinky-dink," said Chris.
"Okay. All you older guys, go on outside. The little men don't want you to see what they're gonna have to do with this guy. Go for a swim if you want. The pool is nice and warm. And I need you guys to be wide awake for later on when we move Ace's car. So drink Lisa's coffee and swim around a lot, but keep it down. Jordy, Chris, Lisa, Jake and I will be in here taking some good shots of this asshole," I said, pointing everybody in different directions. "We'll yell if we need you, and if we do, you guys come running, okay?"
The guys all agreed, then stripped and jumped in the pool and started playing around. I closed the door and turned down the lights. I thought it might be easier for Jordy and Chris to get naked and on top of Ace without everybody watching. As it turned out, they were both so amped up on the sugary cocoa that they probably would have jumped off the roof and into the pool if I had asked them. Jake took some really good shots, with their hard little peckers sticking out towards his mouth. Then somebody had a great idea. Lisa had to run inside the house and get her purse, and once she came back she had an evil grin on her face.
"Get your boners off his face, boys, and give me some room to work here. I'm going to put some make-up on him," Lisa said, once again making us all crack up. "Wait until the guys outside get a load of this!"
She rummaged around in her big purse, and pulled out a tube of cherry-red lipstick. Applying it liberally to his lips like a professional make-up artist would do, he was all dolled up in no time. Next came some pretty blue eye shadow and dark mascara, and a little bit of blushy stuff for his cheeks. That last part made him look like my grandma. But the effect was quite effective and he looked pretty freaky. Jordy and Chris couldn't stop laughing. In fact, Chris had to pinch the end of his dick to keep from pissing.
She put that stuff away and then dug around in her big saddle-bag sized purse once again for something else. "Ta-Da!" she said as she pulled out a leopard print bra and matching panties. That sent Jordy and Chris into another round of giggles. She explained that they were Lulu's, but since she decided to go braless when she joined the women's libbers, and she wouldn't miss them anytime soon.
"Hey, sis? You know what we should do with the panties? We saw this girl at that porn... I mean, at the theater, and anyway, she had on panties that had the front part cut-out," Jake said. "Right around her cho-cho."
"Yeah. It was like a reverse jock strap," I added, "but like in lace."
"That's a great idea. Give me the scissors."
Once the alterations were completed, Lisa handed them back to me. "Here, you put them on. I don't want to touch him down there."
"Oh, sure. What makes you think that I want to do that anymore than you do?"
"Because you're Jake's boyfriend and you'd do anything for him, right?"
"Yeah, I guess. Lemme have `em," I said. After flipping them around and looking them over for a minute, I had to ask, "How the hell does this bra thingy work? It's got loops and straps and clips and, man, your mom has big boobs just like you!"
"Just shut-up and put them on him," Lisa said, but she was smiling. She was damn proud of her big boobies.
I didn't really have any trouble putting the panties on him, but it was kind of gross fiddling with his cock and balls to get them through the opening in front. The hard part came when I tried to put the bra on him. I had to have Jake and the little men help prop him up while I got first one arm and then the second arm through the loops. But then snapping it together in the back was just impossible, so Lisa finally had to come over and help out.
"He really looks pretty cute, don't you guys think?" I asked, once we were done and we got a good look at him.
"Yeah boy, he shore's lookin' puuurrity," Jordy drawled.
"Or is it a she?" asked Chris. Then they erupted into another fit of giggles, while Chris had to pinch his dick again.
"How are we going to get him to the car?" I asked Jake.
"We'll get all the guys and then we can all carry him. We'll put him in the passenger seat and then someone can back the car out of the driveway and park it on the street. I sure hope no one sees us," he said.
"I think we should take him around through the backyard. Then our only exposure is out on the driveway and if we do it right, it will be only for a minute. Lisa, would you please go grab some towels out of the cupboard and tell the guys to get out of the pool and help us out."
"Sure thing."
The guys got dried off and dressed and then one by one they came in the pool house. They thought we did a good job dressing him up, and were really shocked to see the pictures of Jordy and Chris sitting naked on his face. We all felt that making kiddie porn like that would get Ace, or whoever he was, sent away to jail for a long, long time. I took all of the cash out of his wallet and gave it to Jake to add to the stash that he got from the guy on the dock. I wasn't sure what he was going to do with all of it, but now there was enough to get him a good used car if he wanted when he got his license. Lisa grabbed his torn up clothes and stuffed them in her bag. She said she'd burn them later on. While the guys grabbed Ace by the arms and legs, I took the wallet with the ID's, the Polaroid's and his car keys. Tucker gave me the gun and the dagger out of his shorts and led the way out of the room. We went around the other side of the pool, to the small side yard that separated Jake's and my house. Stepping out front first, I looked all around to make sure no one was watching. It was almost four in the morning now, but I doubted anybody would be up this early. The milkman and the paperboy weren't due for another hour or so.
I stepped to the side of his Citroen and unlocked the passenger side door for the guys. This sure was a weird looking car, all slopey and swirly. Moving on the driver's side door, I opened it and got in. After tripping out on the weird steering wheel, I put his wallet in the glove box and then helped the guys put Ace in the front passenger seat. We got him positioned the way that we wanted him. I scattered the Polaroid's all around and on the floor. I even stuck one in his bra. Then I stuck the gun and dagger way under the seat where he couldn't reach them if he came to. The problem that we had was that he was still so drugged up that he kept tipping over. Jake had a great suggestion to strap him in with the shoulder belt. That worked out well and once secured, I jumped out so Colt could move the car down the street. He parked at the curb and then came running back to meet up with us.
"What do we do now?" he asked.
"Let's go back to my place and then make an anonymous call to the cops."
"Groovy!"
Back at my house, I sent the little men to bed. The sugar had worn off and they were about ready to drop any second, and in the event that the cops knocked on the door, I didn't want them to think that Jordy and Chris were the boys in the Polaroid's. They probably wouldn't have been able to tell anyway, since only their bodies showed from their shoulders on down.
The other guys, Enzo, Kenji, Colt, Tucker and Cooper, were all beat too, so they crashed in the family room while Lisa, Jake and I flipped for who got to call the cops. Lisa lost, so she got on the phone to the fuzz.
"Hello? Is this the police department?" She almost lost it because she was using a funny voice trying to imitate Mrs. Kravitz, or maybe Ernestine from Laugh-In. "Yes, well, there is an odd looking car with a naked man in the front of my house. You need to do something before the children in the neighborhood wake up and see him. They would be scarred for life! Yes, oh, all right, I'll hold. But hurry up."
"Here's Mrs. Jacobson's address," I whispered to Lisa, slipping a paper across the counter towards her.
"What took you so long? How busy can you possibly be at this hour? What? I didn't tell you because you didn't ask me. It's Ridge Top Drive. Yes, uh-huh, exactly. The same place where that hippie party was the other night. It's probably one of those deadbeat draft-dodgers. No, I'm not going to give you my name. I'm an old woman and you're supposed to protect me. I pay taxes, gosh darn it! Just send a patrol car and you'll see what I'm talking about," Lisa yelled, and then slammed down the phone.
"Hey, that was pretty funny. You crank call people a lot?" I asked.
"Um, maybe. Sometimes when we're bored. There wasn't a lot to do in San Pedro."
"How long do you think it will take them to get here?" Jake asked, changing the subject.
"Probably not long. Shoot, I can't ever remember the cop's being up here so much. You know, things sure have been fun since you guys moved in," I said.
"Let's go wait by the window. Turn off the lights so they think we're sleeping," Jake said. "I don't want them to see us and think we had anything to do with this."
We tip-toed through the family room so we wouldn't wake up the guys, but we needn't have worried because they were all sound asleep. We got comfortable on the living room window seat overlooking the front lawn and sure enough, not more than two or three minute's later two squad cars pulled slowly up the street. The uniform guys took their time getting out of their squad cars and when they finally made it over to the Citroen, we could see them becoming really animated. One guy was waving at his partner to come over and look.
I had second thoughts about something that I had done that wasn't too smart. After Colt came back from parking the car on the street, he handed me the car keys. Then as we ran back towards home, I threw the keys into the storm drain at the curb so no one would be able to find them. The problem with that was that the cops thought Ace might be injured, and when he didn't wake up after they pounded on the windows, one of the cops took out his baton and busted out the side window. That sound, plus the noise from their radios, started waking people up all around the neighborhood and porch lights started coming on.
Right about then, an unmarked detective's car came barreling up the street and pulled to a stop in front of the Citroen on the wrong side of the street. Out popped the detective that had been here a couple of times before. He was the one that my dad talked to about the broken brake line on the microbus but didn't want to do anything about it. I think his name was detective Bouner. He was also here for the showdown on the hill when the cop got attacked. I was pretty sure that he was going to be paying a visit to our front door pretty soon, and I was pretty sure he wasn't going to be on our side.
"Guys, I think we're in trouble. That cop has been here before. Jake, remember when my dad called him the day we cleaned out the garage?"
"Yeah. So what? I think his name is Detective Boner."
"Yeah, something like that. Anyway, the cops might be dumb, but they're not stupid. They're going to put this all together after they realize he's Lulu's husband! And then he's going to figure out that we had something to do with it."
"Relax," Lisa said. "Mellow out. All we have to do is get our stories straight. Here's what's up: We're over here spending the night with our friends while our parents are away. Maybe Ace came looking for mom in one of his drunken stupors. We were over here so we didn't hear anything going on, like him pounding on the front door. In fact, now that I think about it, maybe we should go out front and be looky-loos like the other neighbors are doing. Let's head them off at the pass, so to speak."
"I think she's right, Ry. They can't possibly think we did that to Ace," Jake said. "And it would look strange if we were the only ones who didn't come out to see what's going on. You know how nosy neighbors are and besides, we're right next door. In our old apartment building, anytime there was a fight and the cops showed up, everybody was out leaning on the railing watching the action."
"All right, if you say so. I guess we can go out front." I took another look out the window and this time I saw Mrs. Jacobson out on the sidewalk in her bathrobe and rollers. "Let's go see what all the excitement is about!" I said, trying to get into character.
As we walked out the front door and down the walk, we spotted the detective walking up the steps to Jake and Lisa's house. Just as he was about to ring the doorbell, Lisa yelled out, "Hey! Nobody's home. Who are you looking for?"
"You live here, Miss? Oh, and you two again," he said, looking back and forth between Jake and me. "How did I know that you two would be here?"
"Nice to see you again, Officer Boner," Jake said curtly.
"It's Detective Bouner. Do you know whose car that is parked in front over there?" he asked, pointing down the street. The cops had gotten Ace out of the car and laid him down on the sidewalk. One cop had pulled out a blanket or tarp or something and had covered up his lower body so the neighbors wouldn't see his privates. It looked like they were waiting for an ambulance to come check him out.
"That's our dad's car! What's going on?" Lisa asked.
"Is that him on the ground? Is he dead?" Jake asked, hamming it up. You'd think these two had gone to drama school.
"No, no, just calm down, kids. He's just passed out drunk. But I need to ask you guys some questions," he said. I don't know what it was about him, but he just seemed like he didn't really care about Ace. Maybe he knew Ace somehow.
"Where is your mother? Why are you kids over there and out this late?"
"My mom is on vacation and we're staying with Ryan and his family while she's gone. And we're out this late because you made so much noise it woke us up. So what's going on? Please tell me what's the matter. What's happened to our dad?"
"Well, it appears that Mr. Mariano has had way too much to drink tonight. Somehow he made it here to your house before he passed out in his car. I read the reports and I know that he and your mother have been quarrelling and that someone suspected him of tampering with the brakes on her Volkswagen bus. Any idea why he would want to come back here?"
"No, not really. We haven't seen that much of him for the last couple of years. When we do, it always turns into a big fight. He never gives my mom any money, and sometimes he treats us mean," Lisa said, quite convincingly. Most of that was probably true.
"I see. This might seem like a strange question, but do you have any reason to believe that someone, how should I say this, is sending him a warning? The reason that I ask is because he's wearing women's undergarments," the detective said, wrinkling up his face.
I don't know if it was the way that he said that, or if we were so tired and wound up, or if it was just really funny, but Jake and I stared at each other for a quick second before we both busted up laughing. Lisa almost lost it too, but recovered nicely by saying, "What in the hell are you talking about? Are you sure that's Ace? Our Ace? Our dad wouldn't wear ladies clothes. Uh-uh. No way."
"Well, not completely. He does, or I should say, the gentlemen in that car, seems to have a series of identification cards on him, so we're not one hundred percent sure who he is. But I've had dealings with him in the past, downtown, and I'm pretty sure I recognize him. Even in the state he's in, I'm sure I know him. If his fingerprints are on file down at the station, we should be able to determine his true identity. He was arrested recently for some shenanigans downtown at a local ... well, never mind." He had barely gotten that out when one of the younger patrolmen called him back over to the car. Apparently they found something that was quite interesting inside the car.
"Please stay right there. I'll be right back."
We stood there watching from our front lawn. Mrs. Kravitz had moseyed on across the street and came up next to us, but surprisingly didn't say a word. I think she was too intent on watching the action and didn't want to miss a thing. Apparently, they found the pictures and were showing them to the detective. Then another cop pulled out the gun and the knife from under the seat. It seemed that the cops didn't know what to do now. When they started passing around the pictures, they got more and more animated as they flipped through all of them. I got the feeling that the regular cops wanted to bash Ace's face in, but I think the detective thought this might be a set-up, which of course, it was. About that time the ambulance pulled up and two guys in white uniforms popped out to treat Ace. They put a portable oxygen mask on his face and in a few minutes later he came-to. Luckily for us, he couldn't see us because he was looking down the hill. Just before they lifted him on to the stretcher, one of the cops tried to handcuff him. That's when he really woke up and started to fight with the cop. It took a couple of guys to control him, and during the process, the blanket covering Ace's mostly naked body fell off to the delight of the crowd. There were cat-calls and boos yelled from both sides of the street. He didn't seem to notice and actually got a good punch to the face of a young patrolman.
"Oh, my word," Mrs. Jacobson said, and covered her mouth in total shock. "That's not your father, is it? Why would he be wearing those clothes? He looks like a harlot."
"I hope he's not, ma'am," Jake said. "That's not his normal outfit. At least, I don't think it is. We've never seen him this way."
"I see."
Both Lisa and Jake looked sad, and I'm not sure that it was all acting this time. I felt bad for them and wished that they had had a better father figure then the one that they got stuck with. Then I wondered who their real dad was, and if they would ever know him. We'd have to wait for the Lulu's to come home before we could get the rest of that story. That was going to be first question out of our mouths the minute the pulled in the driveway in a couple of days.
Ace was taken away in the ambulance, followed by one of the cops in a squad car. After looking at the Citroen one last time, the detective came over and joined our little group. "Who are you, ma'am?" he asked, looking at Mrs. Kravitz.
"I'm Daisy Jacobson. Don't you remember me? You should. You talked to me the other day right over there where their `Magic Bus' almost took out my roses. I live in that beautiful blue house," she said, pointing across the street. "What's all this about, anyway?"
"I'm not sure this concerns you right now. Would you mind going back across the street ma'am, if you please? I need to speak to these youngsters privately. Just go on home and if we need you, we'll come find you." Even though he asked her politely, there was no doubt that he was ordering her back home. With a loud huff, she went quickly on her way, but not before she had the last word. "Honestly!"
Ignoring her theatrics, the detective asked, "I need to ask you some questions, and I'd like to have you look at a couple of pictures. Actually, just the boys. Come over here. Young lady, would you mind waiting here for a moment?"
"I guess not."
We walked a little ways across the grass and joined him by the porch. He pulled out two of the Polaroid's from of his pocket and said, "Boys, do recognize these children?"
"Oh my god. That's just sick," Jake said, covering his mouth. "That can't possibly be my dad, can it?"
"That's what I need to find out. You have a younger brother, right?" he asked, looking at me. "Does this look like him?"
I had to get into drama mode right now, but it was easy to do because I was protecting Jake and Lisa, and Jordy too. "Umm, it's not like I see my little brother naked, but I'm sure that's not him because his wiener is bigger than that. Besides, I've been with him all day, well, all night too, plus I know he would never do anything weird like that. He's sound asleep upstairs. That's totally sick. Are you sure that's Jake's dad?"
"No, we're not. Did you boys hear anything unusual tonight?"
"No sir. We hung out and watched a movie, and then we went to sleep around midnight. We didn't hear anything until you guys showed up," Jake said. "And like my sister said, we're staying with Ryan while my mom is on vacation. If that really is my dad, what's going to happen to him?"
"I'm not sure. We've been interested in him for a couple of things that happened downtown recently. The D.A. is going to be very interested in these pictures, and if they can be substantiated, he'll probably go to prison for a very long time. And anyway, we just found out he's a key suspect in a murder down in the Redondo Beach Marina."
"A murder? Oh, man! Who got murdered?" I asked.
"One of Mr. Mariano's employees was found floating face-down in the marina and his boat had been crashed into the rocks. The Redondo Beach police think it's some sort of turf war. Anyhow, that's not your concern right now."
"I knew my dad was scummy, but I didn't think he was that scummy. Detective, don't tell Lisa about any of this. It would break her heart. Just take him away and throw away the key. He deserves it," Jake said, very convincingly, I might add.
"All right, but if you boys can remember anything, please let me know, all right?"
"Yes sir."
"And have your mother call me the minute she gets home."
"We will," Jake said.
"Uh-huh. Well, good night, then." Detective Bouner nodded slightly towards Lisa as he walked across the lawn back to the Citroen. A tow-truck had just pulled up and was attaching the lift to Ace's car. It looked to me that they wanted this wrapped up quickly. I also was beginning to think that there was much more to Ace's story that I'd probably never know.
"Think he believed us?' I asked Jake and Lisa.
"I don't know and I really don't care. Just as long as Ace is gone and we never see him again," Lisa said.
"It's kinda funny that they think Ace had something to do with what happened at the Marina tonight," Jake said.
"Why? What are you talking about?" Lisa asked.
"They don't have a clue we were down there," I said. "He just told us that the Redondo Beach police are looking at Ace for a murder. I guess the guy we threw overboard really was one of his employees."
"Well, I'm sorry he's dead but I'd do it again in a heartbeat to save my little brother."
"Me too. Getting Jake back safe is all that matters. C'mon, let's go get some sleep."
##
I woke up a few hours later with a splitting headache in my forehead, right between my eyes, something that never, ever happened to me. And not only that, I had an odd and tingly feeling that someone was watching me. But when I looked around the room, all of the guys were sound asleep. I could feel Jake's piss hard-on sticking up between my butt cheeks as I pried my way out of his tan and meaty arms. I stood up and rubbed my temples for a minute, sticking my fingers deep into the flesh, and then quickly pulled on my dirty sweat pants.
Since it was still warm, I left my t-shirt lying on the floor. Sloan woke up and looked up at me to take her outside. The minute I nodded yes, she was rearing to go take a wiz, just like usual. As we wandered through the congested house, I could see that everybody was coupled up and snoring away, dead to the world. Enzo and Kenji were snuggled up and wrapped tightly in a couple of flowery old sheets next to us, while Tucker and Colton were snoring away happily on the other side of the couch, both of their naked asses sticking out proudly to the world. Colt had his right arm draped lazily over Tucker's broad back. I peeked in the living room and saw that Lisa was secured in Coop's long arms on the couch, holding her tight just below her naked and exposed humongous tits. Turning away, I guessed that the little men were still fast asleep upstairs, still in their clothes. It was just me and Sloan against the world.
It was still early, maybe a little past six, as Sloan and I quietly made our way through the room and then into my mom's big kitchen, where I grabbed a couple of aspirin out of the cupboard and downed them with a big gulp of cold water straight from the faucet. I couldn't believe that I was up again after only a couple hours sleep. We headed through the kitchen door and outside onto the big pool deck. The cold cement felt good on my bare feet. It was a spectacular July morning, warm and sunny, with just a slight, cool breeze coming down off the mountain tops. The few puffy clouds in the crisp blue sky were busy making bizarre shapes for the people living down below in the valley to try to figure out what they were. The little birds that hung out in our trees were darting around in a groovy way, chasing each other without a care in the world. A couple of pigeons were doing a crazy courting dance, while a red-headed woodpecker was darting from tree to tree looking for the right spot to start drilling. I watched them for a minute and decided that if I had to be reincarnated as an animal, I wanted to be a bird. Then I changed my mind when I figured out that I'd have to eat worms. Ick. Plus, my head was pounding so much right now that there was no freakin' way that I could ever be a woodpecker.
While Sloan took a good, long, hard piss on one of my dad's favorite bushes, the one with the crazy red flowers, I slowly walked around the pool deck and sucked in the morning air, deep, deep into my lungs. It felt amazing and it woke me up, but it didn't take away the pain in my head. For this time of year it was unusually quiet, and oddly calm. I didn't even hear the normal small-plane drone going on overhead. Nobody was mowing their lawns or firing up their old, rusty cars. It was totally, totally quiet. But then I remembered that it was the Fourth of July and was a holiday today, so I guessed that all of the neighbors were taking advantage of the day off and sleeping in.
I looked around the yard and then over to the path that went behind the garage and led to both the pool and tree houses. It was cool and shady, silent, and still somewhat dark over there, but I could just make out a lone figure standing there looking back at me. Our eyes locked on each other. It was a man, very tall, and standing perfectly straight, wrapped up in an old and worn red, white and black wool Indian blanket, with crazy fringe at the bottom. He was also wearing a dusty black derby hat. It seemed to me funny at first, but then completely normal after a second or two. Like this was his place. Like he had been here, like forever. For some crazy reason, I wasn't scared, and instead, felt compelled to go over and meet this guy and see what he was doing in my backyard. Or maybe it was his backyard. I wasn't quite sure. I wanted to talk with him and see what was up. Maybe he was a ghost of a native Gabrielino-Tongva that inhabited this area for centuries before us gringos, like the dudes my dad told us stories about. They got screwed a hundred years ago. Up the butt, and not in a good way. Anyway, Sloan saw him too, and like me, instead of going ballistic, she just cocked her head in wonderment. I could almost swear that she even smiled. She seemed unusually content. Surprisingly, I wasn't bothered either by seeing a strange dude standing in the pathway in the middle of our backyard, this early in the morning.
The more I stared at him, the more I had this odd, magnetic attraction to him, and so I started to walk around the pool and towards this guy. Sloan followed a couple of steps behind me, excited but not barking like she normally would have been doing. As we got closer to the path, I could see that he had tossed off the blanket and threw his hat to the ground and was standing there buck-ass naked with all of his prominent assets hanging out front for the whole freakin' world to see. He stood tall and erect, his meaty arms crossed over his taut chest. He had a dark brown tan all over his whole body, and long, shiny black hair crept down his neck, way past his shoulder blades in the back, and almost to his big brown nipples in the front. Two thin sections of his hair around the top of his forehead were braided with what I figured were dark feathers and silver beads. The beads shined bright in the low light. His stomach was tight and had defined ridges like he had lived a hard, work-filled life. He had a big black bush of curly pubes hanging over his dark, un-cut cock and droopy balls swinging to and fro. I noticed that the guy had sensuous, long hard legs that ended in big, really big, flat feet. I still wasn't scared or worried by this guy, and not even interested in his nudity. I was just compelled to go towards him for some unknown reason.
As I got closer and closer to this guy standing in the middle of the path, his look seemed to morph into a bunch of familiar faces. It made me wonder if I had just taken some acid tabs instead of the two aspirin.
Shaking my head to try and clear it, I looked long and hard at this dude again. At first I thought he was the Dark Man, because for a split-second his face got all hairy and scraggly and he seemed to put on weight, but then I soon realized that he was too clean and buff to be him. Then I thought it might be the guy that tried to break in the back door last night and got whacked and thrown down the canyon, but his face shifted too fast for me to be completely sure. And besides, that dude didn't have long hair like this guy did. The morphing faces sent shivers down my spine, but I still didn't feel any fear. In fact, it kind of tickled running down my back. Blinking a couple of times to clear my eyes, and then taking another hard look at him, I thought he might be a ghost of the cop who fell down the cliff after getting bit in the crotch by that coyote.
But no. Oh no. Oh freakin' no. He wasn't any of these guys. He didn't seem to be anybody that I had ever met before, and yet, he was so familiar. We were almost ten feet away from each other now, when his face settled down and went blank, like an artist's pale canvas. The pain between my eyes suddenly went away with a hard jolt, and on came a crazy realization that this guy was my dad's long-ago friend Red Crow. Wow! I scrunched up my face and tried to figure out how that was even possible since I had never seen him before. My dad had told me he was dead, maybe twenty years ago or more, and this guy didn't look much older than Colt. Not much older than a teenager. The naked guy just stood there looking at me, cracking a slight smile as he somehow sensed my acknowledgement of who he was.
We were maybe three feet apart now, when I stopped walking right in front of him. We both stood there sizing each other up, but I felt a strange calm and I wasn't the least bit scared. Sloan plopped down hard on my foot and I swear, when I looked down at her she had the biggest, shit-eating grin on her face as she stared up at this guy. Dogs just seem to know what's right and what's wrong.
Sucking in a bunch of fresh, cool air, I asked quietly, "You're Red Crow, aren't you? For some reason I know you." I didn't really need to say that because I already knew the answer to my question, but I had to start with something since he wasn't going to talk first -- he was waiting for me. I could just feel his thoughts, coursing through my mind. It was really strange, but energizing at the same time. I got the feeling that he was pure energy, and I wanted to spend hours talking with him. He was like nobody I had ever met before.
"Indeed. I am him. And you, my friend, are Wiley's number one son. Ryan Jacob Miller. Is that correct?"
"Right on! How the heck did you know that?"
"You are special. I've been watching you for a long time now. You should know that."
"Really? Me? All the time? I've never seen you before."
"Yes you have. You just weren't aware. You have a big brain, but you don't use it to your benefit. We've been here all the time. I know all. I have seen it all."
"Seriously? All the time? Everywhere? Even in the bathroom?"
"Yes. Even plopping in the great white bowl."
"Oh my god. Yuck! And you watched us in the tree house when I was naked with Jake and doing our most private things together? But how? And why? Why would you do that?"
"Walk with me, boy."
"Are you going to answer my questions?"
"Maybe. Soon. Walk with me."
"Where to?"
"To one of your secret places."
He stuck out his arm and motioned for me to follow him. I guess I didn't really have a choice. Sloan happily jumped up and ran ahead of both of us towards the trail. He turned and followed Sloan, his hard and tight butt cheeks facing me. If he had some clothes, they weren't around here, other than the blanket and that crazy hat. I guess he traveled light. He looked nice being naked but he didn't turn me on, and instead, just made me feel comfortable and intrigued. I wanted to ask him a million questions, but I'd have to wait. We walked silently and steadily for maybe ten minutes, maybe more, until we reached the rock out-cropping that Jake and I had hiked to so many times before. It felt even more sacred and special now that he was here.
Even though I had a so many questions in my mind that I wanted to ask him, I couldn't speak when we finally stopped walking. I didn't know what to say or which question to ask first. Plus, I had this immense feeling that this guy was going to tell me things that maybe I wasn't ready to hear and the thought of that overwhelmed me. Maybe I was too young to hear this stuff. Or maybe I was too inept. But then, I was my dad's age when he had his experience with Red Crow, so maybe I was able to understand it after all. I felt totally conflicted and was starting to freak out.
"Ryan Jacob Miller, please sit. Turn down your mind. It's moving way too fast. Your brain is big, but you are not using it correctly. Don't get ahead of yourself."
"Okay. I'll calm down. Sorry. You know, you can call me just Ryan, if that's okay, or Ry. That's what my friends call me. And what should I call you?" I asked, jumping up and sitting on the ledge of the big granite rock so I could look him in the eyes. "Is Red Crow all right?"
"No, Just Ryan, oh no. Call me Sam. Sam, Sam, Sam. Sam I am," he said, and then he started laughing. But I didn't. I didn't think it was that funny. When he calmed down he started talking again, "Seriously, just call me Red Crow. I don't think you could pronounce my real name, even if you tried. The literal translation in English is Red Crow, but I don't have the time to help you learn the translation into Navajo. The Navajo language is very complicated, and you'd probably botch it up."
"Yeah, right. Okay, Red Crow it is. Red Crow is what my dad said he called you when he was a teenager and you guys hung out together. He just told us the story about you a couple of weeks ago. What you guys did at that lake. And Sam just doesn't fit. Sorry, but Sam seems goofy to me."
"That's fine. I like Red Crow. And I know his story. I am him but I am not him. We are both, but not together."
"Seriously? Both what?" Red Crow just looked at me and smiled. "Okay, I kinda get it. Both and together. Like my mom's tuna casserole on toast. Separate but equal. Tasty, but not really so tasty. Good, but not so good, depending on how you make it." I was really running off at the mouth. "I get it. So are you dead? Or are you like a spirit or a ghost, maybe? You're not a vampire, are you? And why the heck did you come here to tell me this stuff?"
"Are you done with your questions? I'm not a ghost, but something more like energy from another plane. It's hard to explain. You are not yet ready to understand all of it. You are smart, but not so quick."
"Well, make me understand. I may be young, but I'm not stupid." Changing the subject I said, "You know, my dad loves you like, well, like he loves my mom. But not like my mom. Geez, now I sound like you! Does that make sense? He cried over you when he told Jake and me the story of your life and when you died. We all did. It was sad."
"I love him. And, I love your mother too, but she is not open to me yet. Sometime, she will be. But that is not a concern of mine. Right now, the spirit of my people flows through me. They are here with me. For thousands of years. And they are laughing with joy and wonderment. But do not be embarrassed. This is normal to them and they love you. All of you."
"Wow. That's heavy. Okay, so what do you want to tell me?"
"I am nadleehi. I am what you would call two-spirit. I am both male and female. Masculine and feminine. I take the male form, but know all things female. I am male and female inside, deep inside my soul. But you already know that. I am the earth and the sky. Black and white. Positive and negative. Yes and no. A real dichotomy, dontcha know? In this form, I have a cock, but not a slit-skin pussy. I am hastiin achak (man spirit). Your dad is not. You are not. You both have cocks. Jake is not and neither are your friends. You and your friends are not nadleehi. You are all most definitely male, male who loves other males. Except for Lisa. She has a pussy but acts like a man. That has caused us overlookers much humor, Just Ryan."
"Wow. Seriously? You guys watched all of us naked? Lisa too? And what we do with our dicks? Bummer! Even when we're making out together? And smoking Coop's weed? I can't believe it. Don't you have more important things to do? Do you overlookers like watching that kind of stuff?"
"Yes we do. We can't do that in our plane and it gives us great satisfaction to watch you. It is very rewarding to see you enjoy and share your love and your bodies so unconditionally and freely with each other. It makes us happy. But we are not voyeurs. It is your freedom and love that you share that makes us happy."
"But still, that's kinda gross. It's like watching my parents do it. Do I have to look up and see if you're spying on us from now on?"
"No. And it's not like that. We enjoy watching your life forms make love, with total compassion and understanding. However, after today we will have no contact with you in that regard and we won't be watching anymore. Today is an important and last lesson for you."
I leaned back on the big rock and thought about that, looking deeply into the tall man's face. I hoped it was true. I really didn't want to be making out with Jake and keep thinking that we were being watched, even if they were only ghosts or spirits or overlookers or whatever. I guess it sunk in because I said, "My dad told me you were special. And now I kinda know why. You know, he loved you. He loved you very much. He cried when he talked about you."
"I know. He is my Bich'áayaa íí'áhí, my, how do you say, boyfriend. But that's not really the correct translation. He is more than that; so much more than that. Inside. Inside my heart. My being, my soul. But not my soul. It's hard to describe. I think he knows that too. But it was not meant to be for us, at least not on this plane. Not now. It's not our time. It could never have been, and that made me so sad. So sad that I had to go away, so long ago. I'm so sorry that he had to be hok'ee (abandoned), but I did not have a choice in the matter. At least he met a wonderful girl and had two smart and intelligent free-spirited boys." He was staring straight at me with his dark, piercing eyes. But I wasn't the least bit uncomfortable.
"He knows. I know he does. He holds you right here in his heart," I said, pounding my fist hard to my chest. "I know he loves you like a brother." I was starting to tear up. "Maybe more than that. I think that's why he loves Jake so much and embraces us together. Maybe he sees you and him when he looks at Jake and me."
"Indeed. He is my shilah (brother). I love him very much. I will always love him. That is why I am here, Just Ryan."
"You put that snake on Jake's step, didn't you?"
"Maybe. Focus please, young warrior."
"Okay, cool. So what do you want to talk about? I wish Jake was here. I think he'd go crazy meeting you."
"That can't be."
"Why not?"
"Because he is on a different path than you are. Don't get me wrong; you are both born to be together and do great things. It's just that he comes from the dark side and you are from the light. Do not look worried, Just Ryan; he is not evil. But that side will always be there just under his skin. It will be a constant challenge to him. But together, you both will do much good. It will be difficult and will test your love for one another. He has to go down his path and you will have to travel down yours. But the paths will always cross and you will always be together."
"What do you mean, his challenge?"
"He is night and you are day. He is black and you are blue. Turquoise blue. You are holy boy, born of water. He is black yei'ii, or black slayer. Monster slayer. He will always protect you. He has no fear; indeed, he is fearless. And his love for you is absolute. He is north and you are south. He dives off cliffs while you swim below."
"Oh wow. Okay, I kinda get all that. But anyway, my love for him will overtake all of our challenges, right? I'm certain of that. Like rescuing him from the boat last night. Why else would he have moved in next door to me? I didn't even know that I liked boys until the first second I saw him." I couldn't believe I was saying this out loud, but then it didn't really matter since these voyagers or whatever they are had seen us humping. "I think it was the same with him. I think we are soul mates destined to be together forever. Doesn't blue water overtake everything? Wasn't this world created from blue water? I think we learned about that in our science class."
"You are very wise, Just Ryan, but you run at the mouth. As for you and your Jake, that may be, and probably will be done. But it will be a difficult life for the two of you. It's not easy for two boys, well, young men, to be together like you two are in a sexual and romantic way. You have much on your side: good friends, great parents, and strong love for one another. Plus, the spirit warriors above are looking out for you. But don't get me wrong; the two of you will have tough times ahead. But I know that together, the two of you will be incredibly happy and live a full and rewarding life."
"What about Jordy? And Lisa?"
"The one you call Jordan is a new spirit. It is unwritten. It's anybody's guess. So guide him with peace and love and in a positive direction and he will do great things as well. The girl Lisa is one with the earth. She always will be. She is special in her own right, although she will never admit it. Nothing will bother her and she will have lots of babies. That's the Mother Earth in her. But make no mistake: She is a wolf and will protect her cubs to her dying day. Do not ever cross her -- she will be a tempest. If you keep her close to your heart, she will always be an amá to you and protect you and your Jake."
"Okay, thanks. I will. What else do I need to know?"
"Listen close, Just Ryan. You have forged a special bond with your boy, your Jake. And with your tribe. They are all good men. You have good people who love you both very much. That is not common and it is very special. Keep them close to your heart, always. You must seal that bond. You and your Jake must become blood brothers and unite your souls to each other and to the world. You must do this in front of your tribe. And you must do it today."
"What are you saying? Blood brothers? And why today?"
"Today is special. You and your boy have proven yourselves. Your spirit warriors will guide you for the rest of your lives, but after today, we will no longer be here to protect you. You don't need protection from us now that you are proven," Red Crow said.
"Why do you talk in rhyme? Do you guys read Dr. Seuss when you're not watching us make out? You sound like the Dark Man."
"That is because I am. We are both. He is me and I am him."
"Oh, man. Really? So after today he will be gone too?"
"Yes, really. Now go; time is of the essence. I must shed this skin now."
"Where will you go? You can't go yet! I have like a million questions for you. Will I ever see you again?" I asked.
"It is not up to me to say. But you already know the truth, don't you, Just Ryan?"
"Yes, I guess I do. You're right here," I said, pointing to my chest.
"And right here," Red Crow said, pointing at his head. "Now watch! This is freakin' bitchin', as you say."
He walked over to the middle of the trail and started to quietly chant. Sloan had been sleeping in the cool dirt at the base of the rock, but now she got up to watch, too. As his chant became louder, he started to do a little shuffle, and soon he was spinning around and around. The faster he chanted the faster he spun. Pretty soon the chant turned into a whirling-humming sound as he became a blur in a rainbow of colors. He was starting to fade from sight, and just before he was spinning at top speed, I heard him say, "Love your boy-o!"
And just like that, he was gone. I felt kind of melancholy after that, but I also felt love and a kind of peace that I had never felt before. I wanted to run back to the house and tell everybody about what just happened, but instead decided to take my time and think through everything that he had told me. I guess that it made sense that we had some invisible help with our marina caper. After all, any one of us could have been really hurt. And it made sense too that the cops never caught up with us or suspected that we had anything to do with the boat crashing or Ace's pictures. I guess it was true what they say about having friends in high places. And in a weird way it made sense that Red Crow took the form of the Dark Man. Then I realized that he didn't tell me how to do the blood brothers thingy.
Sloan was sniffing around trying to figure out where Red Crow disappeared too. I think it was driving her nuts. "C'mon, girl, let's head back to the house." We slowly and quietly hiked down the trail. When we got to the tree house I noticed that the blanket and hat were gone and in their place was a thin necklace of small, silver beads and round turquoise stones. I knew now that this wasn't a dream.
Back inside, everybody was still sound asleep. I looked at the clock and couldn't believe that we had only been gone for fifteen minutes! It seemed so much longer. Sloan looked around for the perfect spot and then plopped down at Jake's feet. I stripped off my sweats and slid in next to him. He stirred a little, wrapped his arm around me and then went back to sleep. I laid there for a while thinking over and over everything Red Crow had told me. It was a really amazing experience and I hoped that I'd remember everything that he told me.
Around eleven, the guys were starting to stir, and I could hear Lisa and Coop making out quietly in the other room. Upstairs, I could just make out the sounds of Woody Woodpecker coming from the TV in Jordy's room. Jake woke up and pulled me in real tight. "I had the best dream," he said. "Wanna hear about it?"
"Another nude beach adventure?"
"No."
"Sure. Lay it on me."
"You and me were old, really, really old. Maybe forty. We bought Uncle Gus's farm and all the guys were living there with us. Kinda like a commune. We all had our separate cabins that we had built. We even had a huge teepee in one of the fields that we slept in sometimes. And this huge pool! It was awesome. Colt and Tucker had a barn where they fixed up and restored antique cars, and Kenji and Enzo did some kind of artist stuff. I'm not sure exactly what. They had really long hair and were totally in love. Lisa had a big house and she was married to Coop. He grew his ganja way in the back pasture and I guess it was primo stuff because he made a lot of money off of it. They had a bunch of kids that called us both `unca'. That was fun. We had the best house though, because we built it ourselves. Do you think we could do that?"
"Build our own house? Sure, that would be boss," I said.
"No, dummy, grow old together. I don't ever want to be away from you."
"Funny you should say that. I was just thinking the same thing. But we have to do something first."
"What?"
"Let's go for a swim. Then I'll tell you. When you hear it you're going to shit your pants."
"But I don't have anything on."
"Then I guess you better get up and go to the bathroom, you nimrod."
We got in the pool and started doing our laps. One by one, all of the guys started to trickle out of the house as they woke up. Some of them jumped in the pool with us while others just hung around and talked quietly on the deck. I think everybody was still feeling drained from everything that went on yesterday. The last two outside were Jordy and Chris, and the first thing out of their sleepy mouths was "We're hungry."
After breakfast, lunch really, I told everybody about my early morning encounter with Red Crow. Jake was excited and a little jealous that he didn't get to meet him. I told him that he had been watching over us and that he was also the Dark Man. And who knows, he could have been a bunch of other people, like the delivery dude from Pizza Man or the weird man dressed all in red down at the Porno Theater.
I went on to tell them how he called us a tribe, and what he told us about our future. Lisa began trembling when I told her what Rad Crow said about her. "Like my dream," she murmured.
"Red Crow told me that our lives will always be intertwined, but we have to do some kind of blood brother ceremony. And we have to do it today," I said. "The thing is, he didn't tell me how to do it."
Jake was enthusiastic, as much as I was, about doing a blood brother ceremony together with me. He especially liked the idea of doing it in front of our friends, or as Red Crow called them, our tribe. But he wanted to do something special to make all the guys part of the ceremony, but he didn't know exactly what.
"I have a scathingly brilliant idea," Lisa practically shouted out. "Leave it all up to me." She ran around the house whispering her plans into everybody ears. It was sorta funny seeing the looks that we were getting as she went around the room talking to everybody. First it was shock, then surprise, and then finally, once everyone got it, everybody had big smiles on their faces. Then they all got up and started running off in different directions. They were all excited and happy to be included in her mad scheme.
"You guys go in the pool house and take a shower and get cleaned up. As soon as we're all ready we'll come get you. Close the drapes and don't look outside. I'm warning you. If you peek, there will be trouble."
"Okay, okay. What should we wear?" I asked.
"Who's being the nimrod now?" Jake said.
"Geez. I'm not sure that was such a great idea involving her. I hope your sister doesn't go all crazy on us," I said, as we walked outside.
"You know she will. But it will all be good."
Precisely at two in the afternoon, there was a knock on the sliding glass door. It was Kenji and he wanted us to come outside. They were ready for us. We walked through the doors into the bright afternoon sunshine and saw all of the guys standing in a circle under the big oak tree. They had gathered all of the fist-sized rocks that they could find and made a giant circle around the trunk. They were standing around the inside of the circle smiling at us. In the middle of the circle, Lisa stood holding an abalone shell and wearing a pure white robe that you could see through. She had her hair pulled back with a beaded leather headband that went across her forehead and tied behind her head. Everybody else was naked, including Jake and myself.
They had put a lot of thought into this and had probably ransacked Lulu's bedroom finding everything they needed. There were different items that I guess they would be using for the ceremony placed strategically around the outside of the circle. All of the guys had caked themselves with mud that they had mixed with water from the pool and dirt from around the tree. Underneath their eyes in two dark stripes were patches of color. I guess they raided Jordy's Halloween kit from last year as well, because everybody had on a different color paint that spanned the whole color spectrum. On their right bicep was a J' mark in black, and on their left one was an R' in blue. I wondered how they knew to do that.
As we stepped into the circle, one by one the guys came up to both of us and gave us a big bear hug, rubbing off some of their mud and different colors of paint so that each of us had a small amount of their color and essence on both of our bodies. Nothing was said, and didn't really need to be said. We just accepted their unconditional love for us. Jordy and Chris were the last two to give us a hug, and since they were a foot and a half smaller then we were, we took turns picking them up. Once we were covered in colors and mud, they all stepped back to their place along the stone circle, spaced out evenly: Kenji and Enzo to the east, Chris and Jordy to the south and Tucker and Colton to the west. Lisa and Cooper were standing next to us on the north side, next to the big tree trunk underneath the tree house.
Lisa indicated that we were to stand with our backs to the base of the tree, so that we could feel the spirit energy emanating from Mother Earth and radiate through us, and at the same time see and receive the love from our tribe scattered around the circle. She called for Coop to come forward and light the mixture of herbs and grasses that she had mixed and heaped in the shell. If I knew Coop, I had a pretty good idea what one of the herbs was in the mixture. Apparently, she had lined the bottom with dirt since she could hold the shell in the palm of one hand. Once it was lit and stayed lit, she used a pheasant feather to fan the smoke. Then, she started the smudging everyone, starting with herself.
She drew the smoke from the shell with her feather over her heart, head, back and shoulders, pulling the smoke down and grounding herself with Mother Earth. Then she stepped into the center of the circle, and offered the smoke to the six directions. First up to the Creator, then down to the Earth. Next to the north, east, south and finally, the west. Then she came around and offered the smoke to Cooper, using the feather to waft the smoke around his body in the same order that she had done on hers. Next came Jake, after Coop put in more herbs and sage, then myself, and then Kenji, Enzo, Chris, Jordy, Tucker and Colt, in that order. Once that was done, she circled the smoke around the ring in a clock-wise direction, and then set the shell down in the center of the ring.
She cleared her throat and began. "Who stands for these two?"
Everybody in the circle shouted, "We do!"
"I call on the Gods and Goddess above, the Mother Earth, the Holy Spirits and all of Our Spirit Guides and Warriors to come forth and join with us in this sacred oath of brotherhood. We ask a special request that our overlookers, Red Crow and his people, and the spirits that flow through this sacred ground to take special delight in this oath today. We unite our thoughts, love and prayers into this ceremony of my brothers, Jake Theloniuos Mariano and Ryan Jacob Miller, as they unite to prove their unyielding faith and commitment to each other." Then she turned to Tucker. "You with the largest lungs, please summon our friends."
Tucker reached down and picked up a large, white and pink conch shell, and walked over to the center of the circle. Then he took a deep breath and blew a note six times to the six directions, then carefully set it back down.
"Will the little men please come forward and place upon the brothers your offerings?" Silently and respectfully, Jordy and Chris approached both of us. They had in their hands a braided binding cord, one for each of us. Jordy tied the turquoise blue and black binding cord loosely around my wrists as Chris did the same with Jake's black and turquoise blue one. While they were doing that, Lisa described the meanings of the colors. Besides what Red Crow had told me earlier about the black and blue, she went on to say, "The black signifies Jake's strength, empowerment, wisdom and vision, success and pure love. The blue cord for Ryan signifies tranquility, understanding, patience and health. Together, they make dark blue, like that of the deep ocean, which signifies a safe journey, longevity and strength."
When they were done tying the binding cords, the little men went back to their place in the circle. They were smiling proudly at us. They were so happy to be included in our ceremony. Then Lisa reached into her big sheer sleeve and pulled out two index cards with printing on both sides. She handed one to each of us. "Would you both hallow the Siblings Call together?"
Jake and I looked at each other, and then down at our cards. Together we said:
"Hail to Wodan, Highest God,
Hail to Thunar, Holy Ward,
Hail we Wuldor, oath-warder mighty,
Hail the Gods, High Goddesses, all."
Then Jake and I started to chuckle at what we had to read next.
"Jake, my brother, go first," Lisa said.
"Before all Asses and all Wans wise,
I, Jake Theloniuos Mariano, swear this oath,
Troth to Ryan Jacob Miller true I'll be e'er,
My clan shall be your kin,
My mother thine.
Should this bond e'er broken be
Then spill the brother's blood
In rivers run red to the earth.
Warg be the word-breaker
Hella have oath-breaker.
So shall it be!"
Then it was my turn. But I got to add my dad to the oath.
"Ryan, my brother, go next," Lisa said.
"Before all Asses and all Wans wise,
I, Ryan Jacob Miller, swear this oath,
Troth to Jake Theloniuos Mariano true I'll be e'er,
My clan shall be your kin,
My mother and father thine.
Should this bond e'er broken be
Then spill the brother's blood
In rivers run red to the earth.
Warg be the word-breaker
Hella have oath-breaker.
So shall it be!"
Next, Cooper went around the tree and brought out a gold chalice and a bottle of red wine that had been opened earlier. The cork was partially sticking out. He also had a dagger that he got from somewhere, from where I could only guess. But it wasn't the one Ace had strapped to his leg because this one was fancier looking and had jewels on the handle, and besides, I hid the other one in the Citroen. He cut off the cords from our wrists so that we could do the next part of the oath unencumbered.
"I'll hold these for you," he said.
"Thanks, buddy."
"Cooper, would you please pour the wine into the chalice?" He did, and then handed her the cup. "Now, please prick their fingers, Jake first and Ryan second. Then, brothers, squeeze a drop into the chalice."
I was kinda afraid that Coop might get crazy and slice off a finger, but I needn't have worried. He just popped a little hole in each of our index fingers that didn't hurt at all. Jake squeezed out a drip of his blood into the chalice of wine that Lisa was holding, and then I did the same. After that, Coop stuck the dagger in the liquid and mixed it all around. Then Lisa and Coop looked at us while Jake and I said together,
"From Mother Earth's womb wend we forth again, Brothers as Brothers be born!"
Then, as if on cue, Enzo came up next to us with a small silver plate which held two good sized dirt-clods on a lace napkin. I had no freakin' idea what this was for.
"Would you both grab a clod and fling it over your brother's head and over and out of the circle? This part signifies your commitment to Mother Earth." Once we did that, she had us link arms and read the oath on the back of the card, together,
"Now sworn in troth true we shall be,
Born new as kin in blood,
This Holy draught drink we brothers to Gods,
And mighty Goddesses, aye!"*
"Please take a sip of the wine and then pour the rest around the sacred tree where your brotherhood was born," Lisa said. Then when we were done, she proclaimed, "So it is wrought. All hail! The blood brothers be!"
Everybody whooped and yelled. Then suddenly, a huge blast of warm wind came blowing through the brush all around us, across the pool and then off into the sky.
"Good-bye, Red Crow," I said.
I handed the chalice to Coop and then I turned and grabbed my new blood brother and gave him the biggest kiss ever. When we were through, he was beaming and so was I. We couldn't take our eyes off each other. All the guys broke out into laughter and cheers, and then they all came up and hugged and kissed us, even the little men.
And with that, we became blood brothers!
##
The Lulu's and my dad came home a few days later from Uncle Gus's farm, and we told them as little of the story as we possibly could get away with. They were shocked and amazed, but proud that we handled ourselves maturely and that no one got hurt. Lulu wouldn't tell Jake and Lisa who their real father or fathers were, and we wondered if she even really knew. But I knew deep down that someday we would find out.
As for Ace, they really couldn't convict him on the kiddie picture stuff, but they did throw the book at him for being indecent in public and a whole bunch of other moral turpitude stuff. Mrs. Kravitz never missed a day of his court case and reported back everything to my parents. She was really into it. Ace was also being tried for the murder of the guy on the boat, but the evidence on that was pretty flimsy and my dad thought he would probably get off on those charges.
We got a call one day from the cops telling us that Ace had escaped custody. Apparently, while Ace was being transported to the Pasadena Courthouse, the bus he was on got ambushed on a side street downtown, near the Porno Theater. Somehow, he was able to escape unharmed, and he and his accomplices were never captured. There were rumors that Crash Ferrari may have had something to do with it, but whatever really happened, we never found out. We all hoped that Ace had taken off for Mexico or had gone for a long swim to the bottom of the ocean or something like that and that we'd never see him again. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. But that's a story for another time.
The end.
I want to thank everyone who has written to me with their comments, encouragement and tips on this story. This has been so much fun to do, and receiving the great response from readers makes it so much better. A special thanks to all of you who sent in music suggestions.
I couldn't have done this without the extraordinary help from my editors Hans Schreiber and Jason T. Without their help and encouragement, I probably wouldn't have finished this tale. Thanks to my Pagan Sister of the Eastern Sun, Lisa, who helped review parts of this chapter. And to Trent, who found a big mistake!
Finally, I want to thank Nifty for hosting this site and posting my story.
I you haven't yet told me what you think of So Cal Summer, please e-mail me at 1977.flip@gmail.com. I'd like to hear what you think!
Thanks for reading, Flip
*Source: `Teutonic Religion' Kveldulf Gundarsson