Tales from the Ranch

Disclaimer: The following story is a work of fiction. If you are offended by descriptions of homosexual acts or man/man relations, please exit this page. TALES FROM THE RANCH Copyrightc 2002 by Tulsa Driller 7. All rights reserved.

This is a story of men who have two common interests. You will see that they love the land where they live and work, but it is also the story of young men who love other men and their coming of age in a culture of prejudice and misunderstanding. It is a story, which deals with difficult and often disturbing issues but, nonetheless, issues which must be confronted in today's world.

This is a work of fiction and in no way draws on the lives of any specific person or persons. Any similarity to actual persons or events is entirely coincidental. This work is copyrightedc by the author and may not be reproduced in any form without the specific written permission of the author. It is assigned to the Nifty Archives under the terms of their submission agreement but it may not be copied or archived on any other site without the written permission of the author.

PLEASE: In a perfect world AIDS doesn't exist. My characters have unprotected sex. I hope you use proper precautions because I'd like you to be around the read the last chapter of this story.

Tales from the Ranch Chapter 14: The rest of the Weekend

Michael Russo and John Sterling stayed in John's room at the Starlight on Friday night. John was right; sex was more fun on a soft bed and with a soft light on in the room.

Michael and Pat Burns had not gotten past the point of kissing and masturbating each other to orgasm. They were both sexually naive and it never occurred to them that two men could do more than that. They thought they were probably the only two men in Williamsport who did those things with each other and were not about to let anyone else know about it.

Although John didn't have much experience, other than a few jackoff sessions with some high school buddies, he was a little more adventuresome and had actually picked up a Men Magazine and a Freshman Magazine at a bookstore in Austin once. He was embarrassed to go in the store, but had decided that no one in Austin knew him and there was really no fear of being seen. These two magazines and a bad straight porn video that a college buddy had shown him once were pretty much the extent of John's sexual knowledge. Oh sure, he had grown up on a farm and knew about the birds and the bees, but not really what men could do with and for each other.

John was glad to find a buddy who seemed to be willing to experiment. He would have to find out about Pat. Since he and Michael shared a room they might be doing something together.

The fun he and Michael had at the lake on top of

a picnic table was great, but he wanted more.

It seemed that they had barely closed the door before each was dropping their clothes. What had happened at the picnic area had just warmed them up for more fun and experimentation.

Michael moved toward John and started kissing him on the lips. John loved to kiss, too, and eagerly returned the favor. He managed to break the contact and went for Michael's left ear, burying his tongue as far as he could, tickling his right ear with his left hand. That left his right hand free to squeeze both their cocks together and slide them up and down in their foreskins.

The sensory feelings that John was causing Michael made him weak in the knees. At first he didn't like the feelings, then realized how pleasant they were. He had just never experienced something like that before. He used the fingers of his hands to both caress and pinch John's nipples, which were almost buried in the fur that covered his chest.

Together they moved toward the bed, not letting the other loose and managed to lower themselves at the same time. They ended up with John laying flat on top of Michael. They rubbed their bodies against each other, experiencing electric shocks that seemed to come from the end of every hair on their chests and increased their passion for each other. Mouth searched for mouth.

It was easier for John to move down to lick and pinch Michael's nipples since he was the one on top. This brought a gasp from Michael and he felt his cock twitch, then he could feel the wetness of precum between their stomachs.

He wanted to do the same to John, so managed to wiggle himself out from under him and crawled on top, flipping John on his back. Michael was all charged up and at that point was ready and willing to try anything John might want to do. He started out by giving John's nipples the same treatment as he'd received. This caused John to grunt his appreciation and wiggle his body under Michael's.

John wanted to suck Michael's cock again. He

whispered, "Let's turn around so I can suck you."

"Okay," Michael replied and started to move, too. He realized what John was going to do, so stayed where he was.

John was hungry for Michael's cock again. It had tasted so good at the picnic area and this certainly was a more comfortable place to have sex. Without any preliminary licking, he simply opened his mouth and went down on Michael's dick. The feeling was exquisite to Michael and he released more precum. This coupled with the saliva John had, made his cock all slick and hard. John swirled his tongue around Michael's cock and was easily able to take most of it down his throat. He had read enough to know that he could probably swallow it all if he was careful with his breathing and allowed his throat to relax. It worked. Michael was "balls deep" in John's mouth. John was enjoying this. He had been able to take Michael's entire dick down his throat. He used his hands to tickle his pubic hair and caress his balls, which were drawn up tight.

Michael's reservations about reciprocating what John was doing vanished in an instant. He didn't give it any thought, just opened his mouth and swallowed John. He got about halfway down the 7-1/2 inches when he started to gag. He pulled back and used saliva to augment the precum John was producing, then ran his tongue under the foreskin. This produced more goo, which he used to his advantage. He tried again, this time getting all but an inch down his throat.

Meanwhile, John was starting to work up and down Michael's cock, sliding his foreskin back and forth. Neither had any staying power. They had never done anything like this before and didn't know how to make either themselves or the other hold back. It fell too good to both of them and without realizing it they were on the verge of a simultaneous orgasm. Michael's cock fired first and the twitches it was producing made John unload, too. Neither had ever had as hard of an orgasm as then. Michael could feel John swallow his cum and decided to do the same for John.

They were each so startled that this had

happened; they didn't know what to think; except it was the most amazing experience either had ever had. They kept the other's cock in their mouths, lightly sucking and licking until they softened.

John allowed Michael's dick to drop from his

mouth and moved up to kiss him. Michael returned the kiss with passion.

"Thank you," John said. "No, thank you!" Michael replied. "That was the most wonderful feeling I've ever had.

They could taste each other's cum on their tongues and they each added some saliva to come up with a very tasty cocktail they shared.

Spent, they lay facing each other; eye's closed, rubbing the other's chest. Sleep came quickly.

John and Michael spent most of the day on both Saturday and Sunday in John's room at the Starlight. It was like two teen-age boys who had just discovered sex for the first time and wanted to make up for about 6 years of lost time.

If the truth were known, they lost track of how many times they had each cum and how they managed to do it. The woman who cleaned their rooms arrived about 10 a.m. on Saturday morning to change their sheets and collect dirty towels. She had to wait to get into John's room because they were in the middle of yet another steamy session when she knocked on the door. John pretended that he had just woke up and asked her to come back in about a half hour after he had time to clean up. She agreed.

Since their attention had "sagged" they decided

that showers were in order. Michael left to go back to his room after they determined the maid was in a room between their two rooms. John pulled the wet and crusty sheets off his bed and rolled them up, hoping the maid wouldn't realize what they had been doing. Michael was just through with his shower when the maid arrived at his door. He asked her to skip his room and come back in about 15 minutes.

The two guys met to go to breakfast and allow the maid to clean their rooms and change the sheets. They were in John's car and drove to the Pancake House across the street from the Laundromat where all of the guys washed their work clothes.

John broke the silence. "I'm glad that we got together last night to go to the movie and get a bite to eat. I'm especially glad to find out that you like to play around with another guy. If I'd known what I know now when I was in high school, none of the other guys in my school would have been safe," he laughed.

Michael laughed along with him. "I never had

any idea that having sex could be better than just jacking off. It feels so much better when someone else is sharing with you."

They talked about what the experience had been like for each of them. When they got to the Pancake House, they seated themselves in an area where there were no other customers. The waitress took their orders after pouring each a cup of coffee.

John decided that he needed to ask the questions

he had about Pat.

"Do you and Pat play around any?" he asked.

Michael wasn't sure he should confess to this, but finally said, "Yes, we do, but not like you and I did last night. All we have ever done is to kiss each other and stroke the other until we got off. Until last night I never knew for sure that any other guys were queer. I'd heard about it, but didn't know where to go to meet any and I'd probably been afraid, anyway."

"So you thought you were the 'only ones', I guess?"

John asked.

"Yeah, it seems that way. Guys used to tease each other about being faggots or cocksuckers or fairies in high school, but I don't think any of them really were. I went along with the teasing, just to be 'one of the guys' and I think all along I thought that I might really be one. I just never had the guts to approach any of them, although I'd heard about circle-jerks and other things of that sort."

About this time, their orders arrived and they dug in with gusto. After all, sex burns off a lot of calories.

"What about you?" Michael asked.

"Pretty much the same story as yours except that I've been to a couple of gay bars in Austin and went to one of the 'adult stores' where they sell magazines and sex toys. I didn't have any money to spend on the toys and wouldn't have known what to buy, anyway. I did buy a couple of gay magazines that had pictures of nude men, some with hardons, and erotic stories about men doing sexual things to each other. But until last night, I never had a chance to try it."

"What's a gay bar like? What do they do there?"

Michael asked.

"The first one I went to was a mixed bar, mostly men with a few lesbians thrown in. Mostly each group kept to themselves although the lesbians seemed to have taken over the pool tables. Some of the men were paired off, I guess they were couples. Some were by themselves, but seemed to be watching for the right person to approach. There was music and a few guys were dancing with each other."

"Did any of the men approach you," Michael asked.

"One fellow did. He asked me if I wanted to dance. I was uncomfortable being there to begin with so I told him that I was supposed to meet someone there and they hadn't shown up so I had to leave. I finished my beer and went out the door. I really wanted to stay, but didn't know what to expect or what I was supposed to do. He was good looking, too. Guess I'll always wonder what might have happened."

"You said you went to two bars. What was the other

one like?"

"I found out later that it was a 'leather bar'. It was all men and at first I thought it was a rough crowd of bikers and that sort. Most of the men were wearing leather of some kind, either chaps, harnesses, pants, vests - you name it. Some of the guys were into bondage and discipline - I guess that's what they call it. I was very uncomfortable there, too. Maybe if I had someone with me, I'd feel safer."

"Wow, that sounds pretty weird to me. I guess there must be different kinds of bars for people that are into different things, right?" Michael asked.

"That's what it seems like to me. At least the people at the first bar looked more 'normal' to me. Maybe we can go over there some time and check the places out."

"Yeah, that might be kind of fun. I just never thought about there being that many queer guys that they would have their own places to go. I wonder how many guys around Williamsport are queer?"

About this time the waitress came back to check on them and leave their tickets.

"It's hard to tell, but I would be willing to bet that there are more than just a few. I don't know how you would go about finding out. I mean you and Pat don't seem queer to me, but when I came to your room last night and you didn't bother to cover yourself up with your towel, I wondered if you were trying to give me a message."

"Well, I wasn't trying to discourage you. Just trying to see if you were interested - and you passed the test," Michael laughed.

They stood up, each leaving a tip and paid their tickets at the counter.

As they started back down the street, John asked

Michael, "Do you think that Pat would like to play around with both of us?" "Probably. I'm sure he will be astounded at the fact

you are queer, too."

"Michael, I'm not sure I like the word queer and I think the proper term is 'gay'. Certainly it sounds better to me."

"I agree. I don't like the word either, but guess I thought it sounded better than faggot or fairy."

After they got back to the Starlight, both found that the maid had cleaned their rooms so they had fresh sheets and towels.

This seemed like a good time for Michael to do

his weekly laundry and he asked John if he wanted to do his.

"Well, it probably is a good idea," John replied. "I only have a half week of dirty clothes, but it won't get me through the coming week."

"I suggest that you go to the grocery store and buy laundry detergent and whatever else you want because it's a lot cheaper there than at the Laundromat."

They set out in Michael's car to take care of

their laundry. Saturday night and Sunday

afternoon were a repeat of Friday night. They decided to let Michael approach Pat about getting together with John, although Michael was sure Pat would be all for it.

As they were driving back to their apartment, Dale and Craig were digesting everything that had happened so far that week. They had met each other on Tuesday and fate seemed to have thrown them together to be lovers as they were already living together. Each considered himself the luckiest man alive at that moment.

They had been introduced at a meeting Marty and

his father hosted to talk about building a house for the ranch crew to live in. The Williamson family had always treated their employees better than any in the area and the ranch was getting to the point that they needed full-time employees instead of hiring people for seasonal work. They figured that providing a nice place to live was an incentive to get good men that would remain in their employ for longer periods of time.

Craig had seen Dale around town a few times and had taken the trouble to find out who he was. Dale had seen Craig, but he was shyer and didn't quite know how to go about getting acquainted with him.

Yes, it was an act of fate that they finally had a chance to meet each other face to face and Craig had acted on the chance that Dale might be gay. Several things had helped as they each had a need for someone in their life for love and companionship. The fact that Dale was going to sell the house he lived in was a big help as this meant he needed to locate a place to move to.

The sex had been passionate, but there was an

underlying feeling for each other, a hunger for Dale to be accepted for who he was, and a deep attraction for each other.

Dale hadn't grown up with a terribly high esteem for himself, given the circumstances of his family. His grandmother and mom tried to instill in him the fact that they lived on the wrong side of the tracks and there was no way out. That might have been true for his mother, but he had a determination that he could do better. His father had presented him with $15,000 that he had put aside for his college fund. He hadn't been heard from since, but Dale knew he was living in the Galveston area at that time.

Although Dale was very good at basketball, football and track, he knew from the time he was in the 7th grade that he was different, that he liked to look at his fellow teammates in the shower, but he never had the guts to follow his instinct.

Dale's grandparents and mother had died by the time

he finished junior college and the last of his college money was used to take care of his mother in her last illness. True, Dale had found a home at the Bar-W, but had never felt worthy of himself or anyone else until he met Craig. He now had someone he loved, who was proud of him and wanted to be his partner, his lover.

Craig had a much easier life, coming from a family who was upper middle-class. His father had a good job and his mother never had to work outside their nice home. He had an older and younger sister who adored their protective brother.

Like Dale, Craig had figured out at an early age that he was different, but hadn't said anything to his family until forced to do so by a very aggressive young woman who was looking for someone to marry. Any man would do.

Craig finally told his parents why he wasn't interested in her - both reasons. The first being that she wasn't looking for love, she just wanted to be married because all of her friends were getting married. And. the other reason was the "G" word. It turned out that his parents already suspected and it didn't bother them. Actually the only objection his father had was that Craig had told the entire family one evening. He felt that Craig should have only told his parents instead of the way it happened.

Both Dale and Craig had several very

unsatisfactory experiences with other men, to the point that they were actually virgins when they met each other.

That had changed in the past week. The other things that had transpired just since noon

was that Marty and Martin (senior) Williamson had told Dale that Parker Morton, the General Manager of the Bar-W Ranch, had announced his plan to retire at the end of the year so he and his wife could travel. The Williamson's wanted Dale to take the job.

On top of everything else that had transpired

that week, it was the overwhelming news announced at the Williamson family's Sunday dinner. In less than a week, Dale had gone from a ranch cowboy, a crops foreman, who didn't think a lot of himself, to being the General Manager of the best ranch in Central Texas. And the people he worked for thought it was fine he was gay and had invited his lover to join them! This was a lot of excitement for both Dale and Craig

to process.

• • • • • After they turned onto the highway to take them back

into Williamsport, Craig grabbed Dale's left hand and held it. He squeezed it, then brought it to his lips and kissed the backside. "I'm so proud of you I can hardly stand it. I thought you were pretty special to begin with, but now I'm married to a real stud who has just gotten the greatest promotion ever!"

Dale got tears in his eyes that soon were running down his cheeks. He squeezed Craig's hand and returned the gesture, kissing the back of his hand.

"I'm so happy that I don't know what to say or do. I just can't believe the job offer.

"Hon, I can assure you that they would not have given you the job if they didn't think you could handle it. They also know that you are smart enough to ask for help if you need it. Just trust their judgment and have the same faith in yourself that I have."

They rode in silence, holding hands. Arriving back at their condo unit, Dale unlocked the

door and they walked in and headed toward the bedroom.

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get out of these clothes. I don't mind dressing up, but there is no need to keep them on any longer," Craig announced.

"I'm with you," Dale replied as they started with

their ties.

"How about a nap and then go to the cocktail party for the Dignity group? Does that sound okay to you?" Craig asked.

"That sounds good to me. Do you think we can wear

casual clothes?" Dale asked. "I'm sure of it. We can probably get by with shorts

and pullovers of some kind."

By this time they had hung up their coats and pants and were down to their socks and boxers. With no prompting from the other, they shed those, too. Standing on either side of the bed, they pulled the sheet and quilt down.

Dale lay on the bed and motioned for Craig to lie on top of him. It felt so good to be so close to one's lover, his man, his partner, and his life-mate. They lay in total bliss each absorbing the feelings the other was projecting. They exchanged deep kisses, then rolled so they were facing each other, arms and legs entwined. Within a couple of minutes, they were each sound asleep.

Dale woke up first. They must have separated while sleeping because he had turned on his other side and Craig was spooned behind him with one arm on the pillow above Dale's head and the other around his chest. His hard cock was pressed against Dale's butt. He looked at the clock. It was 5:15 and they had slept for about two hours.

He needed to pee and if they were going to the

cocktail party for the Dignity group they would have to get up soon anyway. He stretched, then rolled around to tickle Craig on his nipples and plant little kisses on his face and eyelids. He got a little response when Craig's eyes fluttered open.

"Hi lover. How's MY GUY?" Dale asked.

"Mmmm, you feel so good," Craig responded.

"I'll make you feel good," and with that he moved just enough he could wash out Craig's ear, pinching his nipples while doing so."

That really got Craig's attention and he thrust his

cock against Dale's, which by now was hard, too.

"Sweetie, I gotta go pee. You wanna join me?"

Dale asked. "Yeah, lead the way," Craig

responded.

Dale rolled over and got out of their bed, holding his hand out for Craig to grab onto. He was out of bed in a moment and Dale pulled him to himself, giving him a big hug and sloppy wet kiss on his cheek. They turned to go to the bathroom, Craig following and pinching Dale's hairy butt. "Beep. beep. I'm horny," Craig exclaimed.

"As soon as I pee I'm going to take care of your

'horn'," Dale giggled. "Do you realize that we haven't had sex since yesterday morning. I was getting more before we started living together. Guess I'm going to have to move back to my house," he teased.

"Poor baby. You can either have a quickie right

now, or save it up for later," Craig told him.

"Can't I have both?" Dale questioned. "I can't get enough of your body. You've gotten me hooked," he teased.

By this time they were through peeing and Craig took Dale's hand to lead him back to the bed.

"Can we try something different this time?" Craig

asked.

"Sure, I'm game. What do you want to do?"

"You sit in the middle of the bed so I can sit facing you. I want us to be able to kiss while we jerk each other off. I've always wanted to do that to a guy." "Sounds like something young boys might do. I think

it sounds like fun," Dale agreed.

They got in position and started just by kissing each other. When they were both fully aroused, they started stroking each other's cock. It felt so good to both of them. It was, indeed, something that younger boys might to do each other, but they had about 10 years of experimenting to catch up on, things that they could now do to each other.

It quickly became apparent that this wasn't exactly the most comfortable position to do this. Without breaking their kiss, they managed to separate themselves, then lay facing each other and continued stroking the other. It felt so good. Both were leaking precum and they spread it over their cocks to use as lube. Craig was still fascinated by Dale's un- cut cock and loved the way the foreskin slipped up and down. He wished he had a foreskin, too.

It didn't take them very long to reach a climax, getting cum all over their stomachs and chests - and the bed.

"That felt wonderful," Dale whispered after he calmed down a little. "Thanks."

"Thank you," Craig said. "Guess we need a shower now so we can get dressed and go to our party."

Craig crawled out of bed and held his hand to pull Dale to him. They exchanged another, deep kiss and Dale followed Craig to the bathroom. This time it was his turn to pinch Craig's butt cheeks.

Craig opened the shower door and held it for Dale to climb into the cubicle. He adjusted the water and they turned on all four showerheads. Although they each had their own washcloth and bar of soap, they spent more time washing the other than themselves. It just felt so good to touch and caress each other. Of course this kept them a little hard, too. Although they both would have liked to enjoy the water for a longer period of time, they needed to get ready for the party.

Craig shut the water off and reached out to get their towels. They lovingly dried the other, paying special attention to their dicks and exchanging kisses while being dried.

Getting out of the shower, they each used their hairdryers enough to comb their hair into place, then applied deodorant and cologne. Dale followed Craig to their bedroom where they each selected athletic socks and boxers, then found their shoes, casual shorts and a pullover to wear.

During this time they had exchanged few words, but had touched the other as they selected clothes and dressed. To each, it was comfortable to be around the other and they enjoyed the closeness of sharing the other's silent company.

They were through dressing about the same time and exchanged a kiss that started out to be brief, but became more meaningful and lasting a couple of minutes. "Wow! That was great. I love being with you," Dale whispered.

"Hey, Mr. General Manager. You're not so bad

yourself. Another touch of their lips and they

were ready to leave. Driving to the rectory,

Dale asked Craig, "Have you been to any of these meetings before? What should I expect?"

"I've only been to the first two which were just organizational meetings. They were just to see if there was any interest in forming a local chapter and how many we might expect to show up. This is the first social meeting and they will call for election of officers if there are more than a dozen here. If less than that, it's possible the idea will be dropped. There have been some newspaper ads and a notice in the free gay newspaper distributed in the bars in Austin. Also, several of the more liberal churches in town were supposed to have put a notice of this meeting in their bulletins. Whether they did or not, I don't know.

"What are the goals of the group?" Dale asked.

"National affiliation, exchange of ideas with other chapters in the United States and to establish what we hope is a stable influence and show of unity among ourselves. Some chapters have a booth at a fair or street carnival to distribute literature and the information that help is available to those who need someone to talk to or counseling about recognizing themselves as being gay. Some chapters have a hot line that teens can call for counseling.

"Sounds like a good cause. I wish something like this had been available to me when I was younger," Dale said.

"I agree. There are chapters in both Dallas and Ft. Worth, but I had no way of knowing that when I was in high school," Craig agreed.

Craig parked his car in a corner of the church parking lot close to an elegant old home. There were 5 other cars in the lot. They got out of the car and headed to the

house. "Does the church own this property?" Dale

asked. "Yes, the house was built about 1890 and was completely remodeled just before Fr. George and Paul arrived. It needed a total update, so it was gutted with paneling, windows and doors being kept to be refitted and reused. We put in new wiring, plumbing, central air and a new kitchen. Although it still looks largely the way it did before, the house is essentially new inside the brick and stonewalls.

They walked up the steps to the porch of the gothic-looking house (it matched the architecture of the church building). The front door was open so they walked in. As they were going down the hall to the front parlor,

Fr. George came around the corner, shaking hands and giving each a hug.

"I'm so glad you could make it. I think we're going to have more than a dozen in attendance this evening, so we can vote to organize and elect officers if everyone is in agreement."

Dale was thinking how much different Fr. George looked this evening. He was wearing chinos and a tight-fitting tank top and sandals. He had a good, muscular body which one would never guess was under his clerical clothes.

About that time Paul joined them, shaking hands with both Dale and Craig. "Hi guys, welcome to our home. I'm in charge of the bar tonight. Could I fix you something?"

Craig looked at Dale. "Hon, would you like a

Manhattan tonight?"

Dale was a little embarrassed at being called "Hon" in front of others, but realized they were among friends. "Yes, that would be fine for me."

Craig told Paul, "Two Manhattan's on the rocks."

"Coming right up," Paul said. "Go on in the living room and meet everyone else. I'll bring your drinks."

Fr. George took Craig and Dale's arms so he was in

the middle and pulled them along toward the living room.

The first person Dale saw was Eddie Thompson, the coach from the Stephen F. Austin Middle School. He couldn't believe it. Eddie Thompson - gay?"

Eddie acknowledged their presence by saying, "Hi Guys. Dale. Craig. Great to see you here. Another person walked up and put his arm through Eddie's arm. "Let me introduce my partner to you. This is Tom Bryant. Tom, this is Dale Richards and Craig Bastian."

They greeted one another. While they were shaking

hands, Trisha Sutton walked up, holding hands with another woman. "Hi Craig and Dale. I'm Trisha from 'Le Gourmet', I delivered your dinner the other evening. This is my love, Marilyn Kolb. They shook hands. Marilyn looked as manly as Trisha looked feminine. Dale almost winced when Marilyn shook his hand. She certainly had a firm grip. He decided that he might not want to meet her in a dark alley at night. Another woman came up to be introduced. Her name was Patricia Wilson and they shook hands with her.

There were two other women, Stacy Bauer and Joyce

Morris. They exchanged greetings.

About that time Paul arrived bearing a tray of drinks, which he distributed to those present. "There are hors d'oeuvres on the table in the dining room," he pointed, "Please help yourselves."

Fr. George spoke up. "Yes, please help yourselves. Paul will be in a real snit for at least a week if you don't eat them all." Paul gave George a squeeze around the waist and said

in a loud voice, "And fuck you, too, Mary Poppins!"

That brought a big laugh from everyone and seemed to relax all of them. Fr. George disappeared and came back in the room with

two men. Again Dale was surprised. It was Ray Evans and Mark Clarke. Everyone introduced themselves to those they didn't know and greeted the ones they already were acquainted with.

The next person to arrive was Joseph Hervey, who had been in Dale's class and lived on the farm the Williamson's were purchasing.

Right behind Joe Hervey was Greg DeFazio.

Then after that was RJ Barton whom Dale had gone to school with and worked at the convenience store where he bought gas. When they greeted each other, R.J. squeezed Dale's arm and whispered, "I always wondered about you. Great to see you here."

The last person to arrive was Alan Zimmer, who

was from Austin and was to give a talk to the group after the meeting started. . People moved back and forth between the living and dining room, carrying plates of the delicious food Paul had prepared, enjoying their drinks and visiting with each other. It was a very casual atmosphere and the people were diverse in their backgrounds and education, but all had a common bond. They were all gay.

Paul was in his element, being the lady of the house, the rector's wife or just being Paul. He loved being the center of attention when it came to entertaining and he did it so well. He seemed to be everywhere. No ones drink became dry without him plucking the glass out of their hand and replacing it with a fresh one.

After about a half hour, Eddie got everyone's attention asked that they find a seat and the informal meeting would start.

He started in after everyone was seated. "I'm

Eddie Thompson, as most of you know and I've lived in Williamsport for a little over a year. I'm a coach at Stephen F. Austin Middle School and taught in the inner-city schools of Houston before moving here. Tom Bryant and I've been together for three years. He came to Williamsport a year ago and I had to wait a year for a coaching position to open here. We belonged to a Dignity Chapter in Houston and it was our idea to see if we could establish one here. Father George and Paul have been supportive and I'm glad to see such a good turnout for our meeting tonight. Now, I'd like to go around the room and have everyone introduce themselves and tell us a little about what they do, their interests, hobbies, whatever. Tom, why don't you start?"

"I'm Tom Bryant and I teach History at Stephen F. Austin Middle School. As Eddie told you, we've been together for three years. We met in our first year of teaching at Horace Mann School in Houston. I'd already signed a contract to come to Williamsport when Eddie and I got together and almost stayed in Houston to be with him, but we both wanted to live in a more rural area and love living here now.

"I'm Greg DeFazio. My parents and I own Tony D's Restaurant. I'm 25 and have lived in Williamsport since I was 10 years old. I figured out that I was gay when in high school, but didn't think I should do anything about it. The last few years I've been going to Austin to a couple of the gay bars there."

Fr. George was next. "I attended seminary at Nashotah House in Wisconsin and after completing my requirements for ordination, I went back to England to be ordained as a Deacon, then became a Priest two years later. Paul was the organist at my parish and we fell in love. I wanted to come back to the United States and Paul thought it would be a good opportunity for both of us if we could find the right situation. The Archbishop of York was my sponsor and helped me establish a connection here. I made it very clear that I was gay and would not consider a parish unless they would hire Paul as Music Director. So, here we are in Williamsport and we both love it here."

Trisha Sutton was next. "I grew up in Austin and attended two culinary schools, in Chicago and then New Orleans. Some friends there helped me get a job at the Saville Restaurant. Then I met Marilyn at a law enforcement convention in New Orleans and after a year I decided to move to Williamsport to be with her. Shortly afterward I had a chance to start my own catering business and it's a lot of hard work, but is growing."

"I'm Joyce Morris and I grew up near here. I was

married for 8 years and have two children. My marriage wasn't working and my husband left me with two young children. About a year after that I met Stacy and I discovered that I was really a lesbian. We've been together for two years and she would like to adopt my two children as hers, but we're running into snags with the court system in Texas."

"I'm Ray Evans and I own Home Builders Construction Company with two of my old high school buddies. I'm 35 years old and have never had a relationship. It was just a year ago that I finally admitted to myself that I'm gay. I saw the ad for this meeting in the newspaper."

"I'm RJ Barton and I'm 24. I grew up here in Williamsport. I've known I was different since my freshman year in high school. I've never really done anything with another man, but want to." He blushed. "I've been to two gay bars in Austin and picked up one of the gay newspapers. That's where I saw the ad for this meeting, and then there was one the other day in the Williamsport Journal. So, here I am."

Dale was next. "I'm Dale Richards and I grew up here in Williamsport, too. In fact RJ, Joe and I were in the same high school class. I work for the Bar-W Ranch as a crops foreman actually I just found out today that I'm going to be the new General Manager." There was applause, which embarrassed Dale. "I just met Craig this past week, although I've seen him around town before. Things have happened really quickly, but we've decided to live together and see if we can make a relationship work."

Craig was sitting next to Dale on a love seat and

reached over to squeeze his hand.

"I'm Craig Bastian. I'm 26 and am an architect in partnership with Don Albrecht. One of the first projects we did after establishing our office was the modernization of this rectory. I grew up in Arlington, Texas and knew that I was gay at a very early age. I'm out to my parents and business partner and they have no problems with it. As Dale said, we've found each other and are going to see where this leads us to."

"I'm Marilyn Kolb and I'm a Lieutenant on the Williamsport Police Force. I grew up in San Antonio and went to their Police Academy, working on their force for 3 years. I met Trisha when I was attending a law enforcement-training course in New Orleans. She was in charge of the banquet the first night of the school. When I returned home to San Antonio from the course, I found my application to join the Williamsport Police Department had been accepted. Trisha moved here shortly after I did."

"I'm Mark Clarke and I work for the Williamsport Co-op. I'm 32 and grew up in Bedford Falls. I saw the notice for this meeting in the Williamsport Journal. I'm not sure I'm gay. but I don't think I'm straight either."

"I'm Stacy Bauer and I'm from Williamsport. I've

been in two lesbian relationships. The first didn't last very long because she wasn't committed to it. Then two years ago I met Joyce and we've been together since. I love her children and we are trying to get things worked out so I can adopt them and have parental rights. It's a slow process. Oh, yes, I work for the local Farm Bureau as a crop inspector."

Dale realized why she seemed familiar. She had given some advice on building the terraces in a couple of the fields at the Bar-W, which had resulted in the Bar-W getting a soil conservation award.

"I'm Patricia Wilson. I just moved here from Dallas about two months ago. I work for Southwestern Bell as an accounts representative. I'm 28 and have been in a relationship that didn't work. That's what resulted in me asking for a transfer to come to Williamsport."

"I'm Joe Hervey and I'm from Williamsport. I went to high school with RJ and Dale and I live on the ranch next to the BarW, which has just been purchased by them. I didn't go to college after high school. I joined the Air Force instead and served for 6 years. I just got out last month and am going to enroll at Western Junior College for this semester."

"Hi 'yall," Paul said in a fake British-Texas accent which brought a big laugh from everyone. "I'm Mrs. Rector, the lady who runs this place. I sleep with George, whom I adore." Everyone was laughing. "Seriously, I'm Paul and am the Music Director at St. James. I grew up near Liverpool. that's in England - across the pond. and George and I have been together for 5 years. I came here with George three years ago. I love it here and it's been our pleasure to host the meeting tonight."

Everyone applauded. Fr. George stood up. "I want to introduce our guest

this evening. He is a member of the national Dignity board and is from Austin. Please welcome Alan Zimmer."

More applause. Fr. George sat back down and Alan said, "If you don't mind, I'll stay seated while I talk. As he said, I'm Alan Zimmer. I'm 41 years old and got involved with the Dignity Chapter in St. Louis when attending Washington University. After I finished law school, I moved to Austin and met my partner, Jeffery Fields, who was also a new attorney at the firm we both joined. Like Dale and Craig, it didn't take us long to realize that we were met for each other and we were living together as soon as he could get out of his apartment lease, although I can assure you that he spent practically every night at my place."

Laughter. Craig squeezed Dale's hand, which

he'd been holding since he and Dale had introduced themselves.

Alan continued. We've been together for 15 years and shortly after that happened we started our own law firm. We specialize in gay issues, workplace discrimination, wills, estates, adoption, legal partnerships, and just about every legal gay situation that exists. Our firm is now recognized nationally and we have 3 other attorneys who are partners in the firm. We are licensed to practice law in 41 states and the District of Columbia.

"This is not a commercial for our firm, in fact I hope that none of you ever have to use our services, but I want to impress on each and every one of you that in many cases gay rights are just now getting the attention they deserve. Some of you come from understanding families who would do nothing to hurt you, but other family situations may not look kindly on your lifestyle and will do everything to keep you from due process of law if the death of a partner should occur. Sometimes wills are contested, power-of-attorney is denied, you are prevented from visiting your partners if they are in critical care.

"I brought some handbooks with me this evening which explain many of the problems that could happen in a seemingly ironclad will. If you want more copies, please let me know. They are free and our firm distributes them as such.

"Now that the commercial is out of the way. and please don't think I'm trying to drum up business. The main reason I'm here is to represent the national board of Dignity and welcome you as a chapter if you decide to form one. This doesn't have to be done tonight, but I'll be glad to answer whatever questions I can."

There was much discussion and many questions. The group voted to elect officers that evening and the following people were nominated and elected. President: Eddie Thompson; Vice- President: Marilyn Kolb; Secretary: Patricia Wilson; Treasurer: Tom Bryant.

The next order of business was to establish a regular meeting night and it was decided that the first Saturday of each month would work the best. Eddie appointed Trisha and Stacy to come up with a program for the next gathering. With that the meeting was adjourned. As the group left, they all expressed their thanks to

Fr. George and Paul for their hospitality, the meeting place, drinks and refreshments.

On their way back home, Dale and Craig were talking

about the meeting. Dale was about incredulous that there were so many gays in Williamsport who seemed to be "out" to others, as evidenced by their attendance at the meeting. And. there were three from his own high school class. He was feeling much better about being gay.

"Hon, I think there are a lot more around here that we don't know about and probably never will. This is still a small town in comparison to Dallas, Ft. Worth and Houston. Those cities have whole neighborhoods that are populated mainly by gay people. You wouldn't believe some of the old places that gays have bought for practically nothing, refurbished completely and sold for a lot of money. Don and I have consulted on several of those projects and the results are unbelievable when you consider what they started with.

"Don't be fooled. As I said before there are a lot of people who support us as long as we don't become overt and embarrass them. Others would run us out of town by the quickest method they can come up with. You and I are very lucky in that you have the support of the people you work for and I have the support of my business partner and family and most importantly, you.

"If we want to show affection for each other in public, we'd better wait until we go to Ft. Worth and Dallas. We'll go to a couple of the gay areas and you will see many couples, gays, lesbians, straight people walking down the street holding hands."

"I've had so many new experiences this week that

I'll be sorting through those many times before we ever get to Ft. Worth or Dallas," Dale said.

"We're going to have a good time there. The two cities are as different as night and day, but each are a lot of fun to visit," Craig told Dale.

There were back at their condo where Craig parked his car and they took the elevator to the 5th floor. Dale unlocked the door and followed Craig inside. They each felt the need of being held by the other.

Neither of the guys was hungry. The hors d'oeuvres had been more than enough to sustain them after the big dinner at noon.

"Let's strip down to our boxers and just hold

each other and talk," Craig said.

"Okay by me, lead the way," Dale responded. He stood behind Craig and wrapped his arms around his chest, pushing him to the bedroom. This action caused both to sprout boners, which they loved.

"I love it when you turn me on," Dale whispered in Craig's left ear, then used his tongue to give it a bath.

Craig broke loose from the hold, turning around and with a twinkle in his eye, said, "Not half as much as I love what you just did. My dick just about ripped a hole in my boxers when you did that.

"Good, I know where you can buy more," Dale teased. "Although it would be fine with me if we just went naakked (drawing out the mispronounced word) all the time."

"If we did that, we wouldn't be able to keep our hands off each other, would we?" "Probably not, but is there anything wrong with it?"

Dale asked.

"No, I have no problem with it. It's seldom anyone knocks on the door without being invited over and certainly no one can really see in the windows since I keep the sheer curtains drawn most of the time," Craig responded. "Besides, we're on the 5th floor and there are no other buildings within 10 blocks that are as tall as this one." By this time, each was stripped down to their boxers

and socks. Craig picked up Dale's shoes, pullover and shorts, as well as his own. "I'm going to hang your shorts up 'cause we can wear them again." "That's fine," Dale said, giving Craig another kiss.

Craig disappeared into the closet to dispose of the things in his hands while Dale stood there, counting his blessings and thinking about what had happened during the past week. He was standing there with a vacant look on his face when Craig came back out from disposing of the clothing.

"Penny for your thoughts," Craig said.

Dale smiled. "I was thinking about you and how lucky I am, along with all that has happened in the past week."

"I could echo those same words and they would be 100 percent true, too," Craig added.

They held hands and walked to the living room together, settling on the love seat turning so they could face each other, one leg against the back and the other hanging off the front, supported by their feet.

They found that they could have body contact by rubbing the other's leg and could face each other to talk. If they wanted, they could put their other leg up on the seat, too.

"Do you know that I've never used this love seat until you came over here the other evening? Now we don't sit anywhere else," Craig said.

"This is a pretty good place to sit side-by-side if we want to cuddle and I like what we are doing right now, because I can be close to you and touch you and look at you," Dale replied.

"I agree with that. This place just needed you to be in it to make it complete for me," Craig told Dale.

"You are so sweet. I can't believe that a week ago tonight we didn't even know each other and look at what has happened since Tuesday night. I didn't dream in my wildest dreams that I would find love and that it would be a beautiful man like you."

This time it was Craig's turn to get tears in

his eyes. He held Dale's hands and brought them both to his lips, kissing one, then the other. This brought Dale to the edge of tears of happiness, too.

"Hon, I don't mean to pry, but would you mind telling me why you seem to feel inadequate? You seem to want to beat yourself up all the time and sometimes I think you have a low opinion of yourself. You don't have to if you don't want to, but if we are going to 'be there' for each other, then I think I have a right to know what's going on.

"It's a long story. Are you sure you want to hear all the gruesome details?"

"Yes, because maybe I can help you realize that Dale Richards is a wonderful person," Craig said. "Why don't I fix us a refreshment and you can tell the whole story. I'm a good listener."

"Okay," Dale replied. "Fine, you take the ice bucket to the kitchen for ice

and I'll fix us each a drink. Is a Manhattan okay with you?"

"Works for me. Do you have a corn popper?"

"Yes, it's in the bottom of the cabinet to the left of the refrigerator and there is some popping corn in the panty, to the right of the door, about the middle shelf."

They got up, Dale getting the ice bucket, filling it and returning to the living room, then going back to the kitchen to see about the popcorn. 'Good,' he thought to himself. 'This is the kind that uses oil and butter instead of dry popping it.' The popcorn oil was on the shelf next to the popcorn. While he was getting set up, Craig brought his drink to him. Within 5 minutes, there was a large bowl of popcorn for them to eat.

Craig grabbed napkins and they settled back on

the loveseat as they had been before. Craig had set up a wood TV table for their drinks and the popcorn bowl.

As they settled in, Dale began talking.

"My grandfather was a truck driver who spent a lot of time on the road. He supplied my grandmother with enough cash to run the house but there was never any extra because he spent most of his time in Williamsport at the poolroom downtown. It supposedly was that he could bet his beer money, but he always lost all of that and a lot more, too. Guess he wasn't a good pool player and always thought he was going to win the 'big one' except there never was any 'big one'. They didn't bet that much money on a single game. Of course, he always had a willing opponent who was willing to take all he was willing to bet.

"Grandmother didn't do much to provide a home. She worked as a domestic, cleaning lady, doing laundry and cooking for others. Mom wasn't a very good student, although pretty and, I guess, popular with her girl friends. She never had a boyfriend for very long. From what she told me, because we lived on the 'wrong side' of the tracks, the boys expected her to be an easy lay. When they found out she wasn't, they didn't want anything to do with her.

"She graduated from high school and worked at the A&W Drive In as a carhop. My father was 20 years old at this time and arrived in town to work as a steamfitter at the new power plant they built about 6 miles south of Williamsport. His nickname was 'Jolly Joe' and he and a couple of his buddies from the crew went to the A&W one night. They gave my mother a bad time, but Joe left her a tip of $5 for an order that didn't come to that much. He told her that he hoped he would see her again.

"The next night he was back, by himself this time. He asked her for a date after she got off work and she accepted. This time he left her a $10 tip. He was back to pick her up after work and they rode out to the lake by the power plant. He fixed her a drink like he had, a bourbon and Coke. I don't know if he got her drunk, but they ended up having sex several times that night.

"Mom thought he was handsome and rich and that he might be a ticket out of Williamsport for her, so I guess she thought if he would marry her, everything would be great. It didn't work out that way. Grandmother gave her hell for being dumb enough to be 'easy' and made her douche to get rid of the sperm he'd shot into her. It didn't work. I was born 9 months later.

"Grandfather contacted Joe and he basically said he wasn't going to assume any responsibility and left town the next day. You know, 'thanks for the fuck, it was fun, but don't bother me about it' type thing.

"We didn't hear from him again until I was 13 years old. He arrived at the door one Sunday afternoon when grandmother and mom were out playing bingo. Grandfather answered the door and recognized him immediately. He came in and I was called out of my room in the basement to talk to him. I didn't have a picture of him, but knew him immediately when I saw him. I think that today we would probably look pretty much alike. Grandfather went out to find mom and bring her to the house. Joe - Dad - whatever you want to call him, asked me a few questions then told me that he had been in the Navy for 8 years, serving in Vietnam and now worked for a construction company in Galveston that built drilling rigs.

"He left an envelope for me, saying it was money for me to go to college. He wrote a letter saying that he was sorry he hadn't been around to watch me grow up but that he had been saving money for me. There was a passbook for a bank account showing that he had been putting $100 a month in the account. The account had been closed and there was a check for $15,000 with the letter. That was the last I've heard from him. I suppose he's still in Galveston."

Craig whistled. "Wow, that's some story."

"It must have been about that time that I had discovered that I was attracted to other boys and men. I was out for football and basketball and ran track. I was pretty good as an athlete as I matured much more quickly than the others in my class. I never tried to do anything with the other boys as I heard them call others fags, homos and fairies. I don't think the kids they were teasing actually were, but they were easy targets because they were small and not apt to fight back. I just shoved any interest I had in other boys to the back of my mind and worked on being a good athlete. You saw the trophies in my old room."

"Yeah, I was impressed." "I think my mother always resented the fact that she

gave Joe what he wanted - a good screw - and my being around was a constant reminder that her life might have been better if I hadn't been born.

"Well, both grandparents died when I was 15. Mom was still working as a waitress for the people who owned the A&W, although they had given her a job in their downtown restaurant after she became pregnant. My grandparents left her the house and a stack of medical bills she managed to pay off with a little help from me. I had a paper route and mowed yards in the summer and did any other odd jobs I could to help Mom. About that time she got a job working in the office at the Co-op and Mort's wife, Margie, worked there, too. She and mom became friends and they liked me, so helped by seeing to it that I had a job out here when I could work. After high school, Mort hired me to work at the Bar-W in the summer and any other time I was available. "Mom got sick at the beginning of my second year of Junior College and they discovered it was a brain tumor. It caused the loss of use of her legs and she died about a month before I finished school. I used the last of my college money to pay for a nurse to help me the last couple of months she was alive."

Dale was sitting there with tears running down his cheeks. This was the first time that he'd told anyone this story in its entirety.

Craig leaned over to kiss his face, holding it in both his hands.

"I had no idea what this was all about, but I want to tell you something, Dale Richards. You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed about. You helped take care of your grandparents and your mother. You played athletics in school, you were a good student and popular with the other kids."

"Yes, but."

"Don't you beat yourself up anymore. You may have had a hard beginning, but it's all come full circle. You helped your family, when they couldn't really help you. You cared for your mother when she was sick. People noticed your devotion to her and helped you, too. Obviously, Mort and his wife saw that you had potential. Look what has happened this past week. Mort wants to retire and recommended you to take his job. He didn't have to sell Martin or Marty; they already realized they had a jewel right in front of them. From what I heard at noon, they expect you to make a mistake now and then and will be there to help you anytime you ask for that help.

"You know, Hon, that you have their support and you certainly have my support for whatever you need. If you didn't have my support, you wouldn't be sitting here as my lover right now."

"Craig, hon. I think I feel better about myself right now than I've ever felt. Somehow, just talking about it with someone who wanted to know and understand has made me feel a lot better. I think I just thought of the bad things and since I didn't have anyone to talk to, they just stayed bottled up inside me."

"You are probably right about that. People who are alone tend to get bogged down in things that are of no consequence and let it get the best of them. I'm here for you and I love you with all my heart, so please let me know when something is bothering you. You know, with two of us worrying about something, we each only have to carry half the load."

"I hadn't thought of it that way. Craig, you make everything seem so simple. I love you for who you are and what you are. I think you have stepped in to complete my life and that makes me love you even more."

With that they embraced and held each other tightly. Craig hoped this would be the last time Dale would be down on himself for something over which he had no control and a lot of things, which didn't make any difference to anyone else.

(to be continued)

• • • • • Author's Note: This is my first attempt at gay fiction, and the only way I can learn whether or not I should continue is from my readers' feedback. I would appreciate your comments, criticism, suggestions, and anything else that you would care to say. All Email will be answered. If you wish to receive e-mail notification of subsequent posting, please let me know by sending your request to the e- mail address below. Contact me at: tulsadriller7@aol.com

Thanks for the overwhelming response to previous chapters. I received positive replies from all over the world. My special thanks to RW, whom I've known for many years and value his suggestions. Also for the proofreading help of Paul Daventon, author of "Turning the Page" found in the "Adult-Friends" section of Nifty. Please read it.