Tales from Bentonville, Chapter 52 By David Lee
Warning: This story contains scenes of love and sexual interaction. Much of this involves males with other males. If the reading or possessing of such material as this is illegal in your country, state, province, county, municipality, etc., please leave this site immediately and do not proceed further. If you are under the legal age to read this, please do not do so. It is not my intention to offend anyone or to get you in trouble.
The author retains all rights to this original story. Please do not publish without explicit authorization from me.
Disclaimer: This story is completely fictional. Most of the places mentioned, and none of the characters exist in real life. Some may possess physical or personality characteristics of people I know or have known. But if you see yourself in this story, your imagination is better than mine!
"Tales from Bentonville" is a romantic story centering on the lives of high school kids. Lovers of other ages may appear, but not normally in a cross-generational sense. References to sex with under-age kids may be made for the sake of the story line. However, I feel that child molestation is a crime and should not be glorified or tolerated.
This is my fifth attempt at writing fiction. My other stories on Nifty include: "Zeke" (August 29, 2005), "Always and Forever" (March 25, 2004) under High School, "Brad and Alan's Canoe Trip" (April 23, 2004) under Camping, and "Jacob and Jacques" (May 30, 2004) under High School. Some characters from previous stories may have cameo roles in this one. However, you need not read them first.
Our only reward for contributing to Nifty is your e-mails. Please write if you like the story. Please include the name of the story in the title of your e-mail. I get a lot of spam!
Finally, thanks and hugs to Tim and Tom who edit for me so that there are fewer mistakes!
dlee169@hotmail.com
Tales from Bentonville, Chapter 52
Although the young men didn't sleep soundly, the night passed without any incidents. The guards left in the morning after checking with the boys and sharing breakfast. Joel insisted that they should eat. And after seeing the fine array of food that the guys were preparing, the men agreed to join them.
In the conversation around the table, the security men asked about what had brought the present situation on. Since the sheriff had kept a tight lid on the case, even the locals didn't know much about it -- much less these guys who were based in Cosgrove.
From their experience in such matters, they theorized that it was a rather amateurish person (or persons) behind the threats. They agreed with Lori's take on the situation and suggested that she talk to the sheriff. The boys said that they would urge her to do so.
"I know Mom is plenty smart about understanding the minds of people who are not in sync with society," Allen ventured. "I think that is why my little bro here and I couldn't get away with too much growing up."
He patted his twin on the shoulder to emphasize who his "little" brother was. The rest grinned.
At football practice that afternoon, both Alex and Allen had that eerie feeling of being watched. Of course, there were a few spectators sitting on the hillside watching the guys scrimmage. It was a tradition for some of the older men (and a few women) in town to try to predict the team's success on the basis of their early practices. It looked like there were some parents in the small crowd today and a couple of younger men as well.
In the locker room, Kevin Hames surprised the twins by asking about their weekend plans.
"I haven't seen you guys around much in the past few days. Have you got a new place to go? What are you doing this weekend?" Kevin asked.
"Uh, we're probably going to lie around the house to recover from all this exercise in the heat. Coach Heitz is really working our asses off! And, I suppose the `rents will want us to go to church on Sunday. I guess that can't hurt."
"Yeah, it's always good to be in with the Big Guy cuz you never know when you might meet him for real." Kevin commented. "I'm guessing that Crouser had a few un-confessed sins on his soul."
The twins glanced at each other in a momentary, non-verbal, communication. They would discuss that last remark when they were out of there.
The football squad was dressing as the cross-country team came in to shower.
The twins sat down on a bench to wait for their buddies to get cleaned up.
Alex went out looking for Dave to see if the marching band was done for the day. He brought Dave into the locker room with him.
"Why don't you shower here to save time?" he asked.
"Well, except for a towel and fresh clothes, I probably could," Dave said.
"I've got a spare towel in my bag and you could go commando till you get over to Dane and Colt's."
Dave blushed, but quickly stripped to join the others in the shower. Most of the guys were getting out, but Dustin and the Johnson boys took their time so that they could talk to Dave.
As the guys were piling into their vehicles a few minutes later, Alex thought that he saw Kevin talking to a middle aged man by a car at the other end of the parking lot. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
Once underway to the Albers' house, Alex and Allen discussed Kevin's comments and asked Joel what he thought. Joel agreed with them that it seemed rather strange, but that it might not mean anything. They were all probably over-analyzing everything around them.
They had barely gotten settled at the kitchen table with some cans of soft drinks when there was a loud crash in the living room followed by the squeal of tires. Allen reached the room first and put out his hand to caution the other two. In the middle of the floor, surrounded by shards of glass, was a paving brick with a note tied around it. Needless to say, the boys were too savvy to touch anything. Alex had his cell out calling the sheriff's office before the dust settled.
Two men, whom the boys had never seen before, arrived shortly in a nondescript, white car. They flashed their badges before entering the house. It seemed that the sheriff had a couple of state crime investigators on call because he feared that things might escalate and he was not about to have any kids in his town be in jeopardy if he could help it.
The men took many digital photographs from various angles. They put on rubber gloves before bagging the evidence. All the while, they were asking questions of the boys. When the interior of the living room had been thoroughly investigated, the men went outside to photograph the tire tracks.
The vehicle had evidently gone over the curb at one point, leaving an impression in the parkway grass. The investigators used a plaster substance to make models of the tracks.
Before they left, the state cops went to several houses in the neighborhood to find out who might have seen something. (This, on top of the `copter a few days before would blow the lid off of the cloak of secrecy that the sheriff was attempting to maintain.) As they left, they told the boys that it was okay to vacuum up the glass and have the window repaired.
Allen called the hardware store to see about having a handyman come as quickly as possible. Joel and Alex were already hard at work making sure that they got all the glass cleaned up. Alex had brought in a powerful shop vacuum from the garage. After several minutes, they declared the area safe for habitation.
While this was taking place, Sheriff Larkin was interviewing "a person of interest." Robby Crouser was pushing 30 and had not been seen in the area much since he had left for college at 18. He had stuck around after the funeral because he felt that his mother needed someone to lean on. The manner in which his father had died left a dark cloud over an already unhappy experience.
"I'm only interested in some of the details that led to my father's death," he was explaining. "I'm not blaming your deputy or the guys that got him fired. I know that he could be hard to live with. My mom is taking it pretty hard, but it's mostly because she feels lost without someone to tell her what to do. He always controlled her just like he tried to do with everyone else. She's really at loose ends. Sometimes she goes off by herself at odd times to think."
"So," said the sheriff, "You have no grudge against the Albers twins and I have no reason to suspect that you are behind any real or implied threats against them and their friends?"
"That's correct, Mr. Larkin, I would like to know where to find them so that I can explain that to them. I watched some of the scrimmage today, but didn't get a chance to talk to them."
The sheriff nodded absentmindedly. He wondered just how sincere the man was. He seemed nice and polite, but so did any number of criminal nut-cases he had read about. The young Mr. Couser might bear watching.
At Greta's house, Dave and Dustin were preparing to go home for the weekend.
Dustin really didn't want to, but felt that he owed it to his dad to be there when his dad had time off from work.
"I wish we could simply live with you guys. It would be so cool! We all get along well and we like the same food and stuff."
"That would be cool," Colt agreed. "We can pray for lots of bad weather this winter so you have a good excuse not to drive from your house. I'm sure that taking the bus won't be an option during sports season -- and with wrestling following soon after cross-country and then track in the spring, we could milk that for all it's worth!"
Dane got close to Colton and whispered in his ear:
"Speaking of milking something for all it's worth makes me horny."
"Damn! Everything makes you horny!" Colt exclaimed loudly.
Of course the other two had to be filled in and all had a good laugh.
Before Dave and Dustin departed, the phone rang. It was Alex telling them about what had happened and asking them to keep a sharp eye out for any unusual events or behavior. He filled them in on his suspicions about Kevin in light of Kevin's remark about meeting one's Maker.
After their guests left, Colt took Dane by the hand and led him up to their room. He slowly stripped his boyfriend while kissing each newly revealed body part. Dane was obviously pleased - if the angle of the tent in his underwear was any indication.
When Colt finished, he got the same treatment from Dane. A few minutes later, they proved that neither of them had forgotten how to "milk something for all it was worth." There would have been ample amount of evidence to support that, but they swallowed it.
They were thinking about having a short nap, when the sound of Dane's cell phone kept them from drifting off.
"I don't like this one bit," Lori Albers was saying to Sheriff Larkin on another phone. "It is escalating. Now there's property damage. The next step is physical injury. I'm truly afraid for my sons and for Joel. I'm not suggesting that you aren't doing everything that can be done. Your getting the state cops here in minutes shows just how seriously you are taking all this. Well, you've heard our news about that boy at practice and I'm glad you are watching the coach's son. -- Yes, I do too. -- I'm thinking of sending them out of town for the weekend. -- Yeah, I'm not sure. What do you think is the best plan?"
After she hung up the receiver, the twins' mother turned to face the three boys to fill them in on the other side of her conversation.
"The sheriff agrees that you might be safer going somewhere out of town until Monday. He says that whoever is doing this must have followed you home to know you'd be here. You could be followed to the lake. Even if there are guards, someone with a rifle could hurt one of you. I couldn't bear that. Do you have any ideas?"
"We have a plan that we put together with Colt and Dane while you were talking to the sheriff. They came up with it and we said we didn't want to put them in harm's way, but they are insistent. They are going to run it by Dane's parents and their grandmother." Alex explained.
"I will call DJ to make sure he and Greta are okay with whatever it is. Would you kindly bring me up to date before I do that?" Lori asked.
The scheme that the boys had cooked up was that the five of them go camping in Wisconsin over the weekend. DJ had a big family-sized tent and other equipment that they could use. Joel and the twins would go to Greta's house with their sleeping bags. They would go in the front door so that anyone watching would assume that they were sleeping over.
Then, they would sneak out the back service door of her attached garage and across the backyard to DJ's house. They would load everything into DJ's minivan for camping. Everyone but Dane would crouch down out of sight when he pulled out of the garage. It would appear to the neighbors that his mother was sending him to the store for something. The rest of the guys would stay hidden until they were out on the main highway.
Lori thought that it sounded a bit over-dramatic, like a scene from some grade "B" murder mystery, but she agreed that it might be a sensible thing to do.
"I'm going to worry all the time you are gone," she admitted. "Please make sure that one of you has a cell phone turned on all of the time. You can alternate so that you don't run any of them down. I hope the sheriff gets to the bottom of this soon!"
In conversation with Mrs. Albers a few minutes later, DJ agreed that he was concerned about all of the guys involved.
"I was hesitant to give my permission, but I know my son and my nephew. They have a thing about not deserting friends in need. They remind me of some of the best young men who served under my command in Iraq. I can't tell them that they are not allowed to intervene on behalf of their buddies.
So, they will go with my blessing. I have put one more twist into the plot. I'm going to drive the van out of town with ALL of them hiding. My mother will meet me at a designated intersection and she will bring me back to Bentonville. That way, if anyone is watching, they won't see any of the boys leave."
With the arrangements made, everyone ate a hasty dinner and the plan went into action. An hour later, five guys were heading out of state for the next couple of days. They were excited about the trip but apprehensive about the necessity for it at the same time.
"So, tell me about this place you are taking us," Joel said to Dane.
"It is a really nice campground not far from a cool nude beach that Colt's dads took us to early in the summer. We can be lazy in the morning and spend the afternoon naked in the sun and have a relaxing time."
"Naked beach!" Allen exclaimed. "Does that mean I have to look at a bunch of hardons all weekend?"
"Only if that is your taste," Colt snickered. "It's a public place and there are couples and families and possibly some single girls too if you hang around toward the right side. If you go to the left, it's all guys."
"Oh, man, I've never bared it all in front of any females!" Allen blushed.
"Hey, get over it. You will know what it feels like for us to be naked with a bunch of guys," Joel giggled.
The banter continued as the miles passed. The Johnson boys had neglected to tell any of the parents about all of their plans. They had said that they would do some hiking (it was a long walk from the car lot to the beach) and they had talked about cooking over the campfire and maybe going into the river for a swim, but nothing had been said about going bare-ass.
There was still enough twilight to set up camp without using lights when the boys finally arrived. They had been lucky to get one of the few remaining campsites. It was not as private as they would have normally liked, but there was some comfort in being surrounded by other people when you felt that someone might be intent of doing you harm.
After the tent was erected, Colt and Dane went to a nearby store to buy some supplies and more ice for the coolers. They returned in a short time and everyone decided to bed down early for the night. Allen felt it was his job to tease the others about not making too many suggestive noises after seeing them zip their bags together to sleep as couples. But other than a little kissing, nothing transpired among the lovers. The couples fell asleep holding each other while Allen remained awake. He finally drifted off after filling a sports-sock with his sticky essence.
The pine-scented air of the campground helped the guys to forget the cares that had brought them there. Everyone slept pretty soundly. The only one who got up in the night was Allen. The combination of the cola he had had before bedtime and the after-effects of his jack-off session made his bladder uncomfortable before dawn. He hurried to the toilet facilities and back before he could fully awaken.
Deputy Anders was nearly asleep when the muffled noise of glass breaking infused his bloodstream with a dose of adrenalin. He was instantly alert as he stepped behind the door of the upstairs bathroom. He listened intently as he heard someone checking the downstairs rooms. A creaking noise on the stairs let him know that the person was coming his way. The deputy held his breath.
When the dark silhouette turned toward the bedroom where Dane and Colt normally slept, Anders turned on his powerful flashlight and called out.
"Drop the gun and turn around slowly."
He threw down the light and ducked in time to avoid the shots that were aimed in his general direction. His single shot caused a scream of pain as the figure sank to the floor.
Quickly, he turned on the hall light to make sure that his assailant wasn't going to fire again. Then, he applied the handcuffs and called for backup.
"Sheriff, we were all wrong. You really aren't going to believe this!"
The sheriff was there in a matter of minutes. He had been expecting a call from his deputy ever since they had put their scheme into motion. With DJ's help, they had smuggled Anders into Greta's house after dark. Given the way the boys had gone about their plan making it look like all the guys were there, the sheriff figured that someone might try to go after them at Greta's place.
"Damn it, Anders, you aren't some old-west lawman. You were supposed to call me before there was any gunfire. You could have been killed!"
"I'm sorry, sir, there wasn't time. I didn't dare use my phone or it would have alerted her."
Although her wound was a minor one, Doris Crouser was howling in pain from the moment she regained consciousness. She screamed at the deputy and cursed the "fags who had caused her husband's death." It wasn't until the paramedics arrived and Darrin had given her a sedating shot that she calmed down at all.
The two lawmen went back to the office to fill out the necessary forms and then went home to catch a few hours of sleep. Sheriff Larkin would be up in time to call the boys' parents and grandparents as early as he could without frightening them. He would sleep a lot more soundly knowing that the threat to the kids in his area no longer existed.
The boys were cooking breakfast on the Coleman stove when Joel's phone vibrated and then rang. He answered it quickly. His smiling face let the others know that the news was good.
"Thanks, Grandma, I'll tell the others. They are gonna go crazy! We will have a great weekend now."
The moment he got off the phone, he told the others about what had transpired during the night.
"The sheriff told my grandparents that our plan was great and that we helped smoke out the person who wanted to hurt us. It turned out to be the coach's wife! Can you believe that? And we thought that Kevin was the one. Shit!"
The other boys all got on their cell phones to talk to their families. Everyone was elated that the dark cloud hanging over their heads was now gone.
"Well, do you guys want to come home or are you staying for the weekend?" DJ asked Dane.
"Uh, let me take a quick vote?" Then turning to his companions, Dane asked: "Do you want to go home or stay?"
"STAY!" the others yelled in chorus.
DJ was laughing on the other end.
"So, are you taking them to the beach where Wade took you?"
"Uh, what do you mean, Dad?"
"Oh come on, I wasn't born yesterday. You boys have fun and don't forget the sun-block because I'd hate to see you burn anything important. And, no, I'm not telling anyone else about my suspicions."
DJ was still snickering when they ended the call. That caused Dane to blush -- big time.
"Dad figured out our destination and he's okay with it. He's really pretty cool!"
The other guys agreed that DJ was an okay dad.
Since the call had interrupted their cooking, the boys had to start over. At least it had come in before they had started cooking the pancakes. About 15 minutes later, they were digging into their meal with appetites that they hadn't had for several days. They were absolutely giddy with relief.
Author's note: Thanks to all who wrote this week -- Joe, Rad, Jim C, Jim W, Mike K, Chris, Paul W, Carroll, Jace, David S, Sean D, Don B, Iarwain, and my editors Tom and Tim. It's great to hear from all of you. Some of you have really become friends. It was good to hear that Joe's mother has come around toward accepting what neither Joe nor she can change. I think there is hope! (Joe gave me permission to share that. I wouldn't break a confidence!)
Iarwain was surprised to see the menton of "Double the Trouble" in a recent chapter. I think it stirred him a bit!