The story below is a work of fiction, set in the format of reality. Any resemblances to real people, alive or in the hereafter, is entirely coincidental in nature. It is not meant to accurately reflect upon persons, of continents or islands, in countries, counties, cities, towns, villages, neighborhoods, streets, cul-de-sacs, nor governmental or non-governmental areas, which the story is staged. If a sexual scene involving male-to-male relationships offends you, then why are you here? Seriously, if guy-to-guy sex stuff makes you barf or is going to screw up your mind, you should not read this story. Additionally, if you are under 18 years of age, in most states and countries, you are not allowed to read this story, by law. Check with your local laws regarding such.
% Sexual safety matters. Remember guys, this is fiction. In real life, use protection.
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SuMMeR SoLSTiCe 07 WriTten by T. Chase McPhee
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A code of family living, ungoverned by any set rules, but a matter of becoming `law' by practice of being the perfect parent, of which Diego, in his own right, hadn't mastered, when Jake had stripped down to his briefs, out by the pool, Diego put a hex on going any further, subtly hinting, "Uh, Jake?".
Though, he did find it curious, looking beyond the barrel of Jake's hairy pubes, when Jake exclaims, "Oh! That is right!" he pulls up his briefs. "How can I be forgetful!" He zooms them up his wide treasure trail until the lining becomes snagged on his hefty balls.
Forcing a giggle, Diego gets somewhat serious, "It's something that comes from experience!"
"Experience?" Jake seeks further knowledge.
"Yeah," laughs Diego, "like the stuff we did in college doesn't at all go with the family scene?" he ends his lecturing, staring at Jake's natural bulge, then zips up to his face.
Because they were alone by the pool, not yet invaded by the human element chatted about, Jake takes his index finger and curves it around the edge of Diego's elastic briefs, "I will have to remember that," he gets even, knowing Diego has already had a sneak peek!
Diego slaps his hand away!
"Maybe later," Jake says, rubbing his hands together. "Now, how about we swim?" he takes a leap.
They had thought they would be sequestered away, alone to their privacy, the balance of the household thwarting their plan.
"Cool! C'mon Cedric!" Desi led the way, the 11 year old blond diving in, head first.
Cedric chose the easy way, doing a cannonball.
Tying Kriton up, at the foot of a circular table, Caleb works the tank top off his bod, lifting it overhead, shaking out his hair.
It's one of those times Diego wishes he had contact lenses. He didn't wear his glasses in the pool, however without them he could make out Caleb's lithe bod.
Like a kid, Caleb yells, "Cowabunga-a-a-a-a!" Seconds later, his knees pulled to his chest, arms wrapping him up into a ball, the 20 year old making waves.
"Nice one!" Diego rates it!
"Ver-r-ry nice," Jakes adds.
Turning to each other, Diego says, "He's too young for us, you know?"
Really, since he first lay eyes on Diego, Jake was crazy for him, saying, "You know... I think maybe you could look good in contacts?" he pondered, tapping his lips with a finger.
"I thought you liked me in glasses?"
"I think I could like you in anything?" Jake replies, telling, because the glasses were not bridging Diego's nose.
Concentrating on themselves and their views, the two would have to wait, seeing Caleb swimming towards them, underwater.
"I wonder which target the submarine heads for?" Jake joked, since Caleb's head was underwater.
If it were even the case, either would never find out, Caleb breaking the surface, "Hey, I wanted to let you know I'm good at doing a lot of things?!"
Of course Jake and Diego's minds were on totally a different subject!
Diego repairs his thoughts, "I'm sure we can rework the chore schedule hanging on the fridge door."
"Well, Saturdays, Sundays and towards the end of the week are our busiest times at Rockbottom, but during the week I have some free time, in between school and studying and," he looks over to Kriton, "my mutt!"
Thinking about something, Jake is ready to say, when Desi comes walking towards Kriton, lying nicely in the evening shade of the umbrella table, "He is a mind reader!"
"Don't think I didn't think about it!" Diego says to Jake.
Underwater, their asses to the pool wall, the time of day, almost 6pm, the sun almost done, and even though Diego didn't `think' on it, his hand grazed the backside of Jake's briefs!
Caleb was closer than the boys, but his attention was drawn to them, Desi carrying the bowl of fresh water, Cedric trailing him.
Concerned, Diego says, "I hope he's careful. We have a rule around here, `no glass near the pool'!"
While the pool inhabitants attention spans were on Kriton lapping at the welcomed water, Diego's mind did wander and it made him smile, seeing Jake's bodhair swaying to and fro with the wavy water.
"What?" Jake snags him, looking down on himself, "I spill ketchup on me?"
Caleb had swam away to the `grand staircase', so he was out of hearing range, along with the boys, "No. Mustard on your hot dog!"
Never in his wildest mind would Diego ever think of being this `free' with a man, especially after knowing him less than a day, except for the trick his college buds set him up with for a few hours, but with reckless abandon, he allows his hand to roam around to the front and just under Jake's bellyhole, slips his digits in.
"Oh my!" Jake exclaims, turning his head to Diego's smiling face!
"Quite a hot dog you got there, mister!"
Jake replies, "And the salt and pepper shakers?"
Shoving Jake's semi aside, Diego investigates, "Did you just fill them up?"
They should have known better, but spontaneous behaviors and actions can sometimes get the better of a person, lest later on the person opinions, `I should have done it.' Usually it's followed with rapping a fist on the noggin'!
Swooping his hand out quick as lightning, Caleb and the boys walk gently down the pool stairsteps, buying a little time for disengagement.
"Dad, can we go play miniature golf now?" Desi asks.
It was later than expected and with no dinner on the table or thoughts of what was for dinner, it is bargained, "How about pizza tonight and golf tomorrow?"
Leave it to Desi to ask, "Can Jake come?"
Diego turns his head, "Can you come Jake?"
There was hidden meaning in there, both knowing the play, Jake saying, "I will have to check my very important schedule." Looking to the sky, after a few seconds, he snaps back with, "I can come!"
The night came and went without much happening. With no planned dinner, they negotiated calling out for pizza, which would alleviate hopping in the jeep for a trip to town.
After dinner, they sat in the family room, the kids watching TV, Caleb `helping them', while Diego and Jake tried to sort out the mess in the bedroom upstairs.
Diego was set in his mind on what junk he wanted to keep. However, with Jake saying so, he wasn't as reluctant to toss it into the garbage, with good explanation. He was amazed at how Jake so easily talked him out of keeping the old fishing rod!
All Jake could say is, "Hm," picking up an old ping pong paddle, suggestive, "and what you use this for?"
"Ping pong?" Diego replies.
Walking up to Diego, Jake slips the edge against Diego's pec, until it gets snagged on his nip.
"Oh, now you know my weak spot!" Diego rubs is pec.
"Or, spots?" Jake reacts, his free hand pulling up Diego's tee shirt.
They are both startled to hell, a yell up the stairs by Caleb, "We're going for a walk on the beach!"
Swallowing down, what he thought could possibly be his `heart', Diego yells back, "Ok!"
Little did the two know, it's the boys, who after getting bored with Tv, had talked Caleb into the beachwalk, instigated by Desi, in hopes of finding the lifeguard they saw earlier.
Taking Kriton with them, they walked along the pool and out the back gate. The whole time they feuded over the lifeguard's name.
Desi claimed, "His name is Cody."
"No," Caleb disputed, "Colby."
"You're both wrong," Cedric-the-meek replies, "it's Koby."
Making a statement, which drew Kriton's leash a little short, wringing his neck a bit, Caleb says, "I think Ced's right!"
"Koby?" Desi questions.
Cedric replies, "That's what he said his name was!" he shrugs both shoulders.
Seeing Kriton short on the leash, because he was pulling away from Caleb, Desi wrestles the plastic retraction unit out of Caleb's hand, "Gimme! Kriton doesn't like you anymore!"
With his mind more on fitting `Koby' to what he recalls the beach lifeguard being like, he wasn't paying too much attention, or rather trusts Desi with holding the reins, "Ok. There you go, but be careful."
"Me and Kriton, we're good buddies now," Desi replies.
Kriton spots a jogger on the beach and takes off, Desi putting his feet into speed mode. Following close behind is Cedric, Caleb suddenly realizing the dilemma.
Fortunately, the shirtless jogger was running towards them, full speed, arms up and down in pace with his feet. If it wasn't so, with Desi swearing on the task of full responsibility, he might have been surfing on his stomach along the sand.
Kriton wasn't that big a mutt. For less a year old, touting the age of a full grown dog, he didn't look the part. Then again, the family who left Kriton to Caleb, while a Rockbottom employee, claimed the pup to have some retriever in him. Well, Kriton never grew to be that size, though did resemble a retriever, but not golden. More white, he had the same heritage it seemed. Still, as far as Caleb was concerned, Kriton was a happy-go-lucky dog and it is the same opinion carried by Diego.
It wasn't until the jogger saw the oncoming traffic, swerving towards the breaking waves, seeing Kriton shift to the right. Next transition, the jogger moves a couple of feet inland, Kriton once again changing direction. Finally, a few feet distance between dog and man, he stops and looks down.
Before looking up, says, "Hey, I know you!" He bends over and gives Kriton a little scratch behind the ear. "You're the one who pooped on my beach!"
With the differing opinions of names, it was stuck in Caleb's mind the right one, pinning it on the jogger, "Sorry for Kriton messing up your beach, Koby. I hope he didn't... interrupt your jogging too much!"
The sun was still setting, mostly across the water, but enough light for recognizing as he stood, "No, um..." Koby realizes he's misplaced Caleb's name, but not face.
It's Cedric, normally the silent one of the trio, who breaks the ice, as well as the gaze between the two, "That's okay. Caleb didn't remember your name either!"
Desi making it sound worse, "Yeah, Caleb thought your name was `Colby'!"
The boys laugh it off, Caleb just smiling. Good thing the sun had fallen to the horizon, or else the red hue of his face might have been seen.
Turning the tables, Caleb faces Desi, "Well, you thought he was `Cody', Mr. Smartypants!"
Koby laughed at Caleb's antics, sticking his tongue out at Desi, saying, "Cody, huh?"
Suddenly the guys thought of something.
Desi turning Kriton back over to Caleb, "Here, we forgot about dessert!"
Throwing the dark blue receptacle to Caleb, he caught it in the pocket of his tank top, midsection.
He says to Koby, "That's what happens when a dad promises to take kids out for ice cream and don't deliver on the spot!"
Koby was cute. Still in his red speedo, looking something like an ad off an Andrew Christian website, he had no problem filling it out. From the crotch up, Caleb took a quick swipe.
They stood motionless for a second, until the most obvious conversation-piece stoked Koby into saying, "I haven't had dessert either?"
Also, with men on his mind, in particular Bob, who just dumped him, Caleb lets Koby down easy, "I... I'm not really into doing anything right now?" he meant getting down on the beach maybe, digging in and getting sandy, front and back!
Even though Koby meant real, honest to goodness ice cream, he knows what Caleb was thinking. Regardless, sets the record straight, "I meant, `ice', ice cream?"
"Oh right," Caleb acknowledges, embarrassed for the second time this evening. "That's what I thought you meant."
Bending over, Caleb couldn't help but catch a glimpse of the small of Koby's back.
Rising up, dog in hands, Koby says, "I bet Kriton here likes ice cream, don't you boy?"
"He likes you," even though Caleb was throwing a little hint to the lifeguard.
"I have to go back to my tower and get my shirt and stuff, if you want to wait here?"
He probably should not have said it, not knowing Koby but for a few minutes, found it the perfect lead-in, Caleb saying, "It's my own opinion, but I thought you look fine without the shirt?"
"Thanks," Koby replies, then reminds, "but no shoes, no shirt, no service?"
"Oh right," Caleb replies.
By the time they reach the lifeguard tower, Caleb and Koby are friends, each listening the other's story, when chatting about where they are from.
Caleb, the farmboy from Oklahoma, becomes enchanted with the very athletic surfer-lifeguard from Hawaii, who claims to have ancestral ties to the original inhabitants, even Kamehameha the Great!
"Sorry," Caleb says as Koby throws a surfing shirt over his head, "I'm not up on my history of Hawaii. By the way, nice shirt."
"Thanks," Koby replies, a glisten in his eyes as if he's been complimented for wearing the late Liz Taylor's big diamond.
Replying to the thanks', Caleb reaches up and planes 1 finger down, from the word surf` on the chest of the shirt, slipping away right where the shirt would plane over Koby's treasure trail. It felt risky doing it, but he felt it before realizing what he's done.
It had come out in their conversation, Caleb's boyfriend dumping him, but did not hinder Koby from saying, "I'd like us to be more friendly?"
For now Caleb evaded any thoughts, saying, "Hey, we better get moving or we'll miss our lift to the ice cream stand."
Koby replies, "I suspect Kriton can run fast," he takes the deep blue unit from Caleb, "and I can run fast," hightailing it out of the tower and down the ramp, "but how fast can you run?"
Standing there for a minute, the blond shook his head, saying to himself, "Why is it, Kriton, you are suddenly so okay with everybody?"
What Caleb hasn't realized yet, his former boyfriend was the first person Kriton has come across, since birth, which made him very disturbed about knowing!
"Coming?" he heard over the darkening beach, along with a bark.
It startled him, Koby and Kriton's voices. Aside from the bark, Caleb thought what a manly tone, slightly different from when the lifeguard stood next to him.
Running down the lifeguard's tower ramp, the undertow of Caleb's thoughts, dragged his former boyfriend through the mud, "Damn you, Bob!"
They had `missed the boat', rather Diego's jeep, tearing down Sandy Wood Drive and all the side streets: Beluga Lane and Wake Street, at 25mph, then a little heavier on the gas pedal at the main drag, Seaside Drive.
"Like woe, dad," Desi says of all the people taking to the `downtown' at dusk.
"I know, I know," Diego replies to his son as both he and Jake stalk the streets for a parking place.
"I could try old trick," Jake says.
"Old trick?" Diego questions him.
"Yeah, you see, I see somebody parking. When they get out of car, I tell them this is no parking and they could get a tow," Jake explains.
Diego fills in the blank, "And when they `believe' you, then pull out, I pull in, right?"
"You like my idea?" Jake feels proud of himself.
"No," Desi replies with a sharp curve.
"Me neither. I only try it once at Dubai Mall."
It's a part of Jake's life they hadn't touched on. In fact, here was Diego, getting to know a guy he really didn't know anything about!
"The pier."
"The pier?" Diego asks.
"Park on the Torino Pier, maybe?" Jake suggests.
"Oh right," Diego replies, after clearing his mind of his last thought.
The boys heralded Jake a hero, when Diego spots an empty stall, pulling the jeep right in.
"Sure," Diego contests, "I do all the brainwork and Jake gets the pat on the back!"
With an innocent face, Jake replies, "How do you mean that?"
The boys were already out of the jeep, staying close to the vehicle, but apparently were not listening to the adults, nor seeing Diego roll his eyes at Jake's silly notion!
Making their way to the Dairy Breeze, along the way Jake either greeted somebody he knew with a handshake, or a brief hello.
"My, aren't we Mr. Congeniality?" Diego mocks.
"I guess, I stick in peoples minds... from Rockbottom?" Jake replies.
"Hey, dad!" Desi calls his father over to a glass window, his hand waving, `c'mon, c'mon!'
Diego mumbles to Jake, "Something tells me I'm going to get hit up for a birthday present!"
"C'mon, dad!"
Diego hurries, like the boardshorts were ready to surf out of Rock's Surf Shop.
"What is it I'm supposed to be looking at? Top or bottom?" Diego eyes up the mannequin.
"Um, both?"
"I like it. You have good taste," Jake says of the Billabong separates, boardshorts with green stripes, the `Billabong' name scribbled vertically down the side.
They hadn't heard much out of Cedric, him finally opening up, "I think they're sweet!"
"Very sweet," Jake replies, turning his mouth to Diego's ear, "What they mean, `sweet'?"
He couldn't help it, a few laughs escaping Diego's mouth, saying, "I'll explain it to ya sometime!"
"My birthday's coming up, y'know, dad?"
"What'd I tell you?" Diego says to Jake.
Bailing Diego out, Jake says, "And birthday presents are to made a surprise, so you will have to wait and see!"
If he had a crazy upbringing, Desi might have stood his ground and in a huff, demanded to at least go in the store and once getting his dad inside, put on a display of temperament which could turn opinion, making his father buy it, but instead, took Jake's word for it, Desi saying a simple, "Okay!"
Like father, like son, Jake notices the hands up in the air, flapping down to his sides.
"How about what we came here for?"
Following Diego's advice, they turned and walked with the crowd down Seaside Drive until they came to the Dairy Breeze. Fortunately it was not busy, no lines like some of the eateries. About to enter, they heard a bark.
"That's Kriton!" Desi exclaims. He bends down, the pooch coming right over to him.
Following the leash to the hand, Diego says, "But you're not Caleb?"
"Right. He's about a block behind us."
"Not!" Caleb suddenly appears, out of breath and leaning on Koby's shoulder, like if he didn't he would cave in to the pavement!
Koby says to him, their faces a foot apart, "Out of breath, out of shape!"
"I think we can all sympathize with that!" Diego says, smirking and eyeing Jake up and down.
Jake returns with, "I beg your pardon!"
Standing there a hand on one hip, it was like when he left Rockbottom, Jake seemed to lose his macho luster!
Joking, Diego makes comment, "Really Jake?"
He didn't know whether Cedric caught on, but Desi sure did tune in!
"So," Diego addresses the frat boys, "How did our lifeguard wind up walkin' the dog?"
Caleb sensed Diego was looking for an intro, "Koby, this is my new landlord, Diego, um... what's your last name anyway?"
While Jake talks up the tweens, Diego responds, "Sebastiani."
From Koby's lips come, "Alex's advertising friend?"
"You know Alex?" Diego asks.
"Sure," Koby replies, "I know everyone on the beach, but especially those who live here, you, Alex, the movie producer with the big house on the point..."
"Movie producer?" Caleb followed the conversation.
Giggling, Koby says, "Yeah. He tried to get me to give up my lifeguarding for a career in gay porn movies!"
"And you passed him up?" Caleb replies.
From there the conversation hovered over the two, but Diego did get a kick out of the possibility of Koby starring in a porn flick. In his estimation, having seen the 19 year old around', he sure could pass a screen test easily, solely on that bulging red lifeguard uniform' he wore on duty! However, something kept him from completely entertaining the thought, mentioning, "Uh guys, the kiddies?"
"Uh, sure," Koby realizes the nature of conversation, having mentioned a little bit about being asked to do a screen test.
He didn't get it, then got it, Caleb saying, "Oh yeah! I get it!"
The restaurants must've been packed, sidewalk traffic dwindling.
Suddenly Kriton barks, which broke up the two parties of conversation.
Desi asks, "Can Kriton have ice cream?"
Putting Caleb on the spot, he replies, "Kriton is vegan, but a couple of spoonfuls won't hurt him, I don't think."
"Are you vegan?" Koby asks.
Diego would liked to have followed their conversation about Caleb being `almost' vegan, only eating a certain kind of meat, but there were the boys and Jake to think about.
They ate outside, huddling around a circular table with an umbrella. Kriton broke his vegan lifestyle of eating, Desi feeding him off a lid.
"You are a genius!" Jake heralded upon Desi, putting a little soft ice cream on a lid and allowing Kriton to lick it off.
"Make sure my dad hears you say that!" Desi replies.
Jake asks, "Why? No good in school?"
Turning the tide of what was thought, Diego proudly says, "Straight A's!"
"And how `bout you?" Jake taps into Cedric's brain.
"A's," Cedric confirms.
Realizing the conversation has been monopolized by everyone, except Cedric, Jake fires away questions, "And what is your interest?"
Breaking silence, in general, Cedric opens up, "Boys, but don't tell my dad that!"
Jake and Diego looked at each other, then across the table to Koby and Caleb.
Desi steals the show and figuring if Cedric can come out, might be a good opportunity for himself, "I like boys too!"
Jake's jaw dropped open, "You too?"
Looking for reaction from Diego, there wasn't anything but a subtle, "I know." He licks off the back of the spoon.
"You know, Dad? How come you didn't say anything to me?" Desi sat there with squinting eyebrows, Kriton pawing his knee.
Quaintly, Diego puts it, "Because every man needs to discover himself and `come out' when they think the time is right. For you, son, this is the right time."
"That is very deep," Jake says and pointing to Diego with a crooked index finger, "but your father is right!"
"Thanks!" Diego turns to Jake and quips, followed by a sweet peck on the cheek.
Dropping his jaw down, it wasn't about coming out, except his dad coming out with, "You and Jake are boyfriends?"
They were finding out Koby could be a little on the `wise ass' side, "Go ahead, Jake. Take him in your arms and show him what you got!"
Unintentionally it served a purpose, Desi saying, "I suppose you could have told me about you and Jake, but... Now is the right time?"
In proposal, Diego says, "I guess now is as good a time as any. Wanna be boyfriends, Jake?"
"Hmm," Jake rubs his widespread, scruffy beard, "I suppose it might be good idea!"
Caleb would have liked to have made the same announcement, but he wasn't sure. Being dumped by a guy he liked, even though Bob was forty-something, he was still freshly single and already had made the commitment to not rush into the next one. He already had made up his mind, he was only 20 and had plenty of time.
"Oh my god!" Desi yells.
He hears a half dozen responses of, "What?"
"Kriton barfed!"
"I told you he was vegan," Caleb says, turning around in his seat, standing and walking over to where Kriton stands on all fours, near Desi.
Koby gets a kick out of Caleb wiping Kriton's chin, like he was a baby in a highchair.
"Water," Caleb says. But he also knew Kriton couldn't go in the ice cream stand.
Realizing this also, Jake gets up, "Let me."
However, Koby was quicker, "Sit! I got it!"
In no time, as Caleb holds Kriton, Koby is feeding the dog out of a cup.
"It's all `my' fault!" Desi says.
"No," Caleb differs, "it's my fault. I knew Kriton has a finicky stomach and that's why I don't feed him any dairy. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. But usually, a couple of teaspoons won't hurt him. It was selfish of me."
"How can it be selfish, Caleb?" Koby asks.
Looking at Desi, it was a touchy situation, but went with the truth, "Because I didn't want to disappoint Desi."
"Disappoint me?"
"Yeah, but I should have explained things, instead of putting Kriton through getting sick."
Diego breaks in, "Important thing, how is Kriton feeling?"
"Looks fine to me," Koby replies, "except you hold him on the way home," meaning Caleb.
"Uh-oh," Diego says.
"What?" Jake replies.
"We've got the jeep? Only seats 4?"
"No problem," Koby jumps in. "If you can take Kriton, Caleb and me can hang around until my bud at the restaurant gets off. He'll give us a lift."
Looked to be a good, acceptable plan, Diego buying into it. Though, he appointed Jake the `dog-carrier'!
Since they were going to be in `town' a longer time than planned, Koby and Caleb took off, leaving the quartet, plus one.
Desi had to tinkle, his father going with him, leaving Jake with the leash. Back to their conversing, he wasn't finished with Cedric, "What you mean your father will not like to know you are gay?"
It was touchy, Jake not sure if the son knew the father was gay.
From Cedric's mouth comes what he fears bringing up, "My father's gay, you know?"
As a 6 year old would do, Jake crosses his fingers, "Really?"
Of course Jake knew how Mathieu Tetreau, illustrious director of Rockbottom Marina, fought for every drop of come he could manage to drink down during the day. Once, he had to put it to the director, he thought the man was a disgrace to the establishment, confronting him in the men's lounge, wanting to suck on Jake's manhood until he exploded!
"He's a weirdo sometimes."
Jake couldn't refute that, but, "What do you mean, Cedric."
"I don't know. I really don't get it. It's like, it's okay for him to be gay, but not for me," Cedric pouts. Then, going into some family history, "My dad is not my real dad. My real dad is Kenny."
"Kenny?" Jake questions. "Your real dad?"
"Yeah, but my real dad is... isn't... he's not around anymore."
This was getting weirder by the moment, Jake responding, "Is he... living somewhere?"
Pouty at the lips, all Cedric did was shake his head.
Jake decides, "Maybe you don't want to talk about him."
He expected silence, instead Cedric opening up, "They thought I was too young to know or understand. Kenny and his wife, my real mom and dad, are both dead. My mom and dad got a divorce. It's when I found out my dad, Kenny, was gay. My dad said my mom drank too much. After the divorce, which my dad said was my mom's fault for being drunk all the time, he got a lot of money out of it."
Being a security officer, Jake was into this stuff, listening fairly to people, asking, "Your mom, she hit you?"
"A couple of times," Cedric tried shrugging it off, "but only when she was drinking."
Being Cedric was bringing this out, Jake thought in an adult and dignified manner, he wasn't afraid to ask `adult' questions, like, "I suppose your father's lawyer had this brought up in the court?"
"My dad's lawyer asked if she hit me. I didn't lie."
Seeing Cedric begin to get emotional, Jake put his arm around the 10 year old, "We can stop now, if you want?"
"No. I'm okay. I haven't talked to anybody about it since it happened."
Jake figured this would be the punchline, recapitulating, "So your father divorces your mother, not leaving her a cent. Then what happens?"
Coaxing Cedric on, he takes the bait, "My father and I came to Rockbottom one day. He met Mathieu and he said they hit it off. A week later we moved into Mathieu's house. It's very nice. My dad, Kenny, said it would be only for a little while. But it wasn't for a little while. It was for about six months."
Suddenly there was disconnection, Cedric shutting down.
Jake waited.
Like a light goes on, Cedric opens up again, "We were eating dinner at Cupertino's..."
"On the pier," Jake tosses his thumb over in the direction the Jeep is parked.
"Right. We're sitting there eating..." Cedric swallows, "and my mom comes in, drunk again, naturally, and..." the ten year old gets misty, took a deep inhale, "she had a gun, shoots my father, then shoots herself."
Like said all in one breath, Cedric's bod caves into the folding of Jake's arms.
"You poor, poor kid!"
Just the right time for Diego and Desi to show up. From 50 feet Desi had sensed it first, "What's wrong dad?"
"I don't know," his father replies, an intent stare at the two.
Diego quickening his pace, Desi puts on some speed.
Both are filled with concern, "What happened?"
"Here," Jake turns Kriton's leash, over to Desi.
Squatting down, Diego asks, "What's wrong Cedric? Bellyache?"
"More like heartache." A glance to Desi, Jake says, "I tell you later. I think it good time to go home."
Going home, in the door, Cedric was still nervous, visibly upset, Jake claiming, "I know what good for you, warm milk."
"Dad, what's going on?"
"I don't know," Diego replies, following Jake into the room Desi still calls his `playroom.' He leaves Desi with, "Watch after Kriton and make sure he's okay?"
"Sure," Desi replies. He took Kriton into the kitchen, asking the dog, "You're not gonna barf on me again, are you?" He takes the leash off.
Surprising to Desi, instead of taking off, which the dog, when in Caleb's care had the free run of the place, could have done the same. Instead, he walks over to Desi's feet and rubs his snout against the kid's socks.
First he knelt down on the floor. Then, remembering his playroom off limits for now, Desi sits with his back to a cabinet. He picks up Kriton, pets him, saying, "You're such a good dog. Do you like me?"
Getting a curly tongue lapping up under his chin, Desi figured Kriton `did'... like him!
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Copyright 2012 T. Chase McPhee
`SuMMeR SoLSTiCe' , may not be sold, nor made part of any collection, without prior consent from the author.