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Tom Has His Way, Part 2
As the years went by, Tom's underlying preoccupation with Will remained. Tom was aware of it and put it down to one of two things, maybe both.
Initially, he had been denied William, and the events of that day remained burnt into his memory. We often want what we can't have, and Tom was no exception.
At the same time, absolutely everything about Will's physical appearance was radically different to Tom's; it was as if they both served to enhance each other in their appearances.
Ultimately, Will wasn't the only boy with physical features that contrasted Tom's, as Tom had often noticed, yet the others had no hold over Tom. Nor was Will the only boy to deny Tom the friendship he'd sought, although normally it was overly popular Tom who was able to pick and choose his friends. The other boys who had refused Tom their friendship had no place in Tom's memory. In Will's case, Tom had to conclude that it was both; Will was the only boy in both categories. Will was his opposite; Will had said no.
Tom had never really let go of the sensation he had when he slapped Will's face and left a mark on it... left his mark on Will. The thought kept coming back to him that he'd marked Will as his, whether Will liked it or not. The fact that this remained crystal clear in Tom's memory seemed to suggest that Tom had not only marked him as his - but that the marking was permanent. And that thought thrilled him, confusing as that was for Tom. As Tom started to enter puberty, the thought aroused Tom in a way that troubled him, as he knew that he didn't feel any sexual attraction to boys whatsoever.
Tom read a lot. He spent a lot of time in the public library and was encouraged by his parents to have books in his life. Since he read everything he could get his hands on, he learnt about the slave trade, civil rights and race relations in numerous countries and during numerous periods. But he also read about ways in which black people could outsmart white people. He was never quite sure how reliable the information could be, but there was no shortage of sources claiming that black people had a physical and even sexual advantage over white people. Black people had muscle mass superior to that of white people, and black men were said not only to be more endowed than white men but also to have greater stamina. It was the sexual and physical superiority of black men, many sources claimed, that left white men with a deep-ridden inferiority complex that drove them to create systems and structures that put white men in charge.
Tom thought about the gym classes at school. There wasn't a single white boy who could beat him at anything, and you could put all the boys in his year on a scale that would, roughly speaking, see the black boys on top and the white boys on bottom, the few exceptions merely serving to confirm what seemed clear. Tom knew that the white boys weren't bad, and that some of them really did give it all they had. He even admired some of them who didn't seem to fear injury. But at some point these white boys ended up having to submit to the black boys.
Tom would have preferred not to see skin colour at all, and he'd learnt from his upbringing and from many things that he'd read that it was wrong to treat people differently because of their skin colour. But deep down, he got a kick out of seeing a white boy struggle against a black one and then even struggle with himself before submitting to the black boy who was, quite simply, better. Or, to put it more bluntly: superior.
Tom greatly enjoyed his potential power over Will, who was after all a strong and popular boy. He also pretended not to notice Will. It felt like common sense to Tom that he should prevent Will from knowing that Tom had an interest in him and a certain desire to make Will submit to him. That reminded Tom of the way he pretended not to notice the girls he was interested in.
Little did Tom know that Will was just as aware of him as he was of Will. Will admired Tom a lot. Tom was a good-looking boy who had the girls stumbling over each other in a constant endeavour to attract his attention. Tom was also strong and seemed able to beat anyone at anything, although he never seemed to brag about it, probably because that would have been beneath him. Tom was clever and seemed to get top marks in all subjects, being the envy of many a classmate. Tom never had a shortage of friends, and Will would have liked to be among them. But somehow he never seemed able to get anywhere near Tom or to attract his attention, and it didn't look like Tom would ever come looking for him.
There was another thing that fascinated Will about Tom. It was as though Tom had a sixth sense. He was strong, he was clever... but there was also something about him that made him seem wise. He always seemed to be watching people or listening to them with a knowing look on his face. Will often thought that he wouldn't be surprised if Tom could read his mind, if only Tom knew he existed. But Tom never looked his way, or so Will thought.
Despite not being attracted to men, Tom secretly studied with fascination almost every aspect of William's appearance, including his body. Tom watched as blond hair started to appear on Will's legs and marvelled at the colour. When Will wore shorts during the summer months, Tom noticed how the sun was reflected in the blond hair on Will's arms and legs, unlike the black hair on Tom's body. He noticed that he got body hair before Will did. And his hair seemed stronger, more robust than Will's. Will's body hair seemed more... more fragile, just as Will always seemed fragile when placed next to Tom. Will wasn't a fragile boy; he was boyish, even butch and sometimes rough but with a fine muscle structure. But if they had been close friends, Tom would have felt an obligation to protect Will. And, deep down, he wished he could.
Will had a place he sometimes went on his way home. It was a place where he could be on his own and think, away from the other boys at school but also free from his parents and his siblings. No one knew about his place - except Tom. Tom knew that Will went there, but there was no way Will could have known about this. It was a place next to a canal, but a secluded place that no one else seemed to have discovered - not even joggers or people walking their dogs.
It was a sunny day and Tom had watched in amusement as Will embarrassed himself in history. His teacher drilled the class on the events leading to the First World War.
"No, William. Once again, that was World War II."
"Sorry, I mean the Polish government..."
"William, prior to World War I, Poland wasn't even on the map. Get with it, boy! I told you to read up on this for today's class, which you clearly haven't. Either that, or you ended up picking the wrong chapter... maybe because counting from one to two is a bit much for you."
The class sniggered, but not Tom. Unbeknown to Will, Tom watched him squirming in his seat. He liked watching someone older than Will making him squirm. He thought about how much he would like to make him squirm. He had a vision of Will looking at him with his ocean-blue eyes and asking him, please, to stop. He was brought back to reality by the teacher's harsh voice:
"Will, before next lesson you'll write me a two-page essay on what led to the First World War. And don't even think of getting your older brother to write it for you because I'll be drilling you again next lesson. So sort yourself out and get with it. Now," he said, looking up at the class, "who can patch up the mess Will has made. Tom?"
Will was so busy hanging his head in shame that he hadn't seen Tom raise his hand. He just assumed that the teacher would have to ask Tom because it was Tom who seemed to get everything right. And on this occasion Tom once again got everything right.
Admittedly, it wasn't asking much of Tom. He'd already known about the First World War before it was ever mentioned at school. He'd read about both world wars and a number of others. When he heard of them he wanted to know what had happened and what had led to each of them. So he read.
After school, Tom lost no time getting to Will's place before Will did. He sat down more or less exactly where Will always sat and waited, pretending to be revising. He heard Will coming and turned so that he couldn't see him, pretending to concentrate on his book.
As Will turned the corner and saw Tom in his place, he stopped and stared. He'd been sure no one knew about this place, so how could Tom have known? Part of him felt annoyed, and had it been anyone else, Will would have wondered how to get the person to leave. But it wasn't just anyone; it was Tom. Will surprised himself by thinking that he wouldn't mind sharing his special place with someone like Tom, even though he was sure that Tom would never share anything with him. He continued to stare at the boy he admired so much, looking at the superb muscles in Tom's arms as he held the book. Will was muscular, but he was sure he'd never look like Tom. He even wondered if there was some optical illusion that made black muscles look bigger than white muscles.
Will remembered his punishment homework and the fact that he'd been planning on doing it here. He wondered if Tom would help him and had to laugh at himself for having such a stupid idea. But what the hell; it wasn't every day he would be somewhere on his own with Tom. He took a step towards Tom.
Tom, aware of Will's presence, compelled his eyes to go from left to right along the lines of the book at his normal reading speed. He had no idea what the text was about, but he concentrated on knowing more or less when to turn the page so that Will would still think he was reading. He wondered why Will was standing there, presumably looking at Tom, but Tom forced himself to keep his eyes on his book. After what seemed like an eternity, he heard Will stepping towards him.
"Tom..."
Tom looked up and stared at Will blankly.
"Er... hi, Tom..."
"Hi... er..."
Will saw Tom looking into his eyes for the first time he could remember. He felt intimidated and felt a light sweat down the middle of his back, as he always did in situations like these.
"Will. It's Will."
"Oh. Right..." Tom said, and just continued to hold Will with a blank stare.
Will felt the sweat running down his back. He didn't want to look stupid in front of Tom; he wanted to be cool. And clever. And strong. All of the things he never felt in Tom's presence.
"I... er... always come here. I didn't know anyone else knew about it."
Tom nodded.
"Been here before?" Will asked.
"No," Tom answered. "Why?"
"Oh... I just thought I had the place to myself, that's all. But I don't mind you being here."
"Well," Tom began with sarcasm, "I don't know quite how to thank you... er... Bill."
Tom saw Will wince when he heard Tom get his name wrong. Tom actually felt bad for a moment, but he was torn. One part of him took sadistic pleasure in making Will suffer, in humiliating him. The other half wanted to help Will, to protect him and provide for him. Both instincts seemed extreme. Why make someone suffer who's never done anything to him, leaving aside that episode in the playground? And why the desire to take Will under his wing and be his hero when Will was... a boy? Tom was confused by what was going on inside him, and yet he wanted to use the opportunity that now presented itself: Will had come to him, and it looked as though Will wanted something from him.
"It's Will," Will corrected him.
"Oh... right."
"So what are you doing? Homework?"
"There wasn't any homework today, and the stuff we were given yesterday is all finished. I'm just reading."
"Right. No homework today. I'm the only one," Will said with a wry smile.
"You?" Tom frowned, pretending not to understand.
"Can't you remember me cocking up in history this afternoon?" Will asked with a grin.
"Oh... yeah... that was you, right..."
Will actually felt a bit chuffed that there were things about him that didn't escape Tom's attention after all, although it wasn't through being the class idiot that he wanted to get Tom to notice him.
"Have you never cocked up like that, Tom? You always seem to know the stuff before it's taught in class."
Will noticed a slight change in Tom's expression when he said that. But he went on.
"I've never heard you get anything wrong."
"I get stuff wrong, 'course I do. You probably just can't remember."
Will was impressed by Tom's modesty. Will knew quite well that Tom had never been reprimanded in class, but would have been ashamed to admit to being so aware of Tom, when Tom clearly found it hard to do so much as remember Will's name.
"But how come you knew all that stuff about the First World War? You even knew stuff that wasn't in our textbook."
Tom nodded: "I know, but I'd already read about..."
"You see?!" Will laughed. "You'd already read all about it before you knew we'd be doing it at school. You're just... so..." Will's voice trailed off. He didn't want to overdo it. He thought of saying something funny like 'teacher's pet' or 'square-head' but decided against it.
"So... what?" Tom pushed him.
"Just..." Will looked away and then looked back at Tom. "I'm just a bit jealous, that's all."
Tom smiled. "It's nothing you can't do. If that's what's making you jealous, don't worry. Just read the stuff. I can tell you where to find the stuff that will tell you everything there is so know about it. But if you want, I can run you through it. Then I'll test you and make sure you know it just as well as I do. Then you'll have it all in there," he said, gesturing towards Will's head, "and you can get your essay written."
"You'd do that?" Will could feel himself blushing and hoped that Tom wouldn't notice. Will resented the fact that you could never see black people blushing; it was another of those advantages that black people had over white people.
Tom did notice Will blushing and tried not to smile. He didn't find boys cute; he wasn't even into boys. But he did find it cute that you could always see white boys blushing and that there was nothing those poor, defenceless boys could do to hide it.
"Come over here," Tom said, moving his rucksack to make room for Will. Will went and sat down next to Tom.
"Right..." Tom began, putting away the book he'd been pretending to read as Will watched the muscular black arm that made his arm look so white, despite his suntan. The hair on Tom's arm seemed to match Tom in its strength. Will had never realised until now how blond the hair was on his own arm. He could feel the heat from Tom's arm radiating onto his own and felt an urge to move his arm closer to Toms so that they would touch; he didn't really know why. He wasn't attracted to men, but there was something about Tom that seemed so strong and powerful that Will couldn't help wondering if he could tap some of that strength just by being close to him. Tom also had shorts on, as did Will. Will looked at the strong black hair on Tom's legs and then at the blond hair on his own. He also felt the heat off Tom's leg along the side of his own and had the same urge to make them touch. Tom was like a different universe that Will wanted to explore. He could smell Tom's body scent and was surprised by how much he liked it. He wanted to feel Tom's muscles and know more about just what was so different about a black person's body.
"So," Tom began, pulling Will out of his daydream. Will turned to look at Tom whose face was now just centimetres from his own. Tom was looking right into his eyes and Will swallowed. He really, really did want to be friends with this boy. He liked him and wanted to make Tom like him too. He wanted to be strong like Tom, and he wanted to learn from Tom. But he found Tom intimidating, and when Tom stared into his eyes like this he felt the way he sometimes did with girls he was interested in.
"Earth to Will..." Tom laughed. He'd watched Will swallow nervously, clearly intimidated by his presence. And when he noticed this, he felt something happening in his underwear. He'd read that straight men were sometimes turned on by their own power over other men; the desire to be the alpha male was pure male instinct. Right now, there was now no doubt that Tom had power over Will and that Will was his, whatever that actually meant. He remembered his parents telling him that you can't always have what you want, and Tom now questioned the wisdom of this rule.
"Sorry..." Will began. He felt ashamed. It was time to man up. Tom would never end up making friends with him if he kept on behaving weirdly. "Go on..."
Tom began. He turned back to look out at the canal and started explaining the events that led to the First World War. He could see that Will only stood a chance of concentrating if they weren't looking at each other. He stopped at regular intervals, asking Will to repeat everything he'd said. If Will got anything wrong or forgot to mention something, Tom put him right and told him to start again.
"And what were the alliances called? Give me their names again," Tom drilled.
"The... er... tripe... enter..."
"Damn it! For the fifth time: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance," Tom said, getting annoyed. Are you going to make me spank it into you?" He surprised himself with that last sentence; he hadn't seen it coming. Will turned to look at him, blushing. Tom stared back at him and thought about how spanking Will would make Will's bottom just as red as Tom wanted to make it. Tom's skin didn't react in the same way, and Tom's mind went back once more to the image of Will as a small boy in the playground with the mark that Tom had put on his face.
Will's first thought was that Tom probably would spank him if he decided to. It was only when Will got a hold on himself that he remembered that he was becoming a man and that no one should be spanking him. But what would he do if Tom decided to? He continued to stare at Tom and forced himself to say something:
"Come on, you're not going to do that," Will said, trying to laugh.
"If that's what it takes, I'll put you over my knee," Tom replied nonchalantly, taking great pleasure in the scene he was creating for both of them. Tim gulped again. He really wasn't getting his mind around any of this, but he started to think about Tom putting him over his knee and spanking him, and that was when he realised that he would probably let him. He wouldn't want to, but he'd let him. What was this? Why would he let Tom spank him?"
"He's all mine," Tom thought to himself. "I don't know why I wanted him, but I did. And now I've got him. I know he's not into men, and neither am I. But now it's up to me where I take this. I've finally got Will. And he's wrapped around my little finger. That's where he's going to stay."
Tom returned his attention to the First World War. After about half an hour Will had it all in his head, thanks to Tom. He was able to run through the events leading to the war and got all of Tom's questions right. Will's desire not to look stupid in front of Tom made him concentrate much more than he had ever felt compelled to at school. When they'd finished he looked at Tom.
"Where did you learn to do that?"
"Do what?" Tom asked.
"To teach people stuff. You can do it better than any of the teachers at school. You could probably teach me anything."
"Well... all it needed was just for you to do as you're told. As soon as you started doing that, I had you."
"Have you ever done this with anyone else?" Will asked.
"No. Why?"
"Well..." Will looked out towards the canal. "Do you want to do it again sometime?"
Tom thought for a moment. He turned to look at Will, who was still staring out toward the canal. It was true that he'd had Will bowing to Tom's will, and the result was a positive one for Will.
"If we do, then you follow my rules. No questions."
Will turned back to look at him. "What... or you'll put me over your knee and spank me?" Will laughed.
"Yeah," Tom said, turning back to look at Will. "If that's what it takes, I'll spank you. And you'll let me spank you, too. It's my rules or we won't even bother. Have a think about it and let me know," he said, gathering his stuff together and putting it in his rucksack.
"You'd really do that?" Will asked, looking at Tom questioningly.
"Do you want a demonstration?" Tom asked.
Will just stared back at him and then cursed himself for blushing again, knowing that Tom would see it. Tom smiled at him.
"Like I said, let me know."
He got up and picked up his rucksack. When he had it on his back he turned back to see Will looking up at him with a look of disappointment on his face.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing," Will answered. He had been hoping to spend the rest of the afternoon with Tom, learning more about him. "Thanks, Tom."
"You're alright," Tom answered and turned to go. "See you around," he called back without turning around.
"Yeah, right..." Will answered.
He watched Tom disappear off along the canal until he was out of sight. He wished Tom was still there and wondered what things he could have asked him just to get him to stay longer.
Would Tom acknowledge him at school? Did this mean that they were now friends? Would he accept Tom's offer? That seemed like the only hope he had of them becoming real friends, and yet Tom really did seem serious about the spanking thing. Will knew that he didn't want Tom or anyone else for that matter to spank him, maybe except a few girls that he liked. He smiled to himself at the thought. But if Tom decided to spank him, Will already knew that he would let him, and that thought bothered him.
There had been a time when Will was a bit homophobic, but the increased presence of powerful, successful, influential and wealthy gay people in the media and elsewhere had obliterated this. He knew, however, that he had never felt any kind of attraction towards other boys; girls, on the other hand, filled his sexual fantasies. He thought of Julie, who sat at the back of their class. He'd often thought about her while he was masturbating, and now he wondered what it would be like if she told him that she was going to put him over her knee and spank him. Julie was hot. When Will looked at her figure he felt a sense of arousal.
But it was Tom that would be spanking him, not Julie. Will thought again of the fact that he knew that he would let him. This created some kind of reality in Will's head, and probably elsewhere. Tom already had some kind of power over him.
He didn't want to say no. This was the one chance he had of winning Tom as a friend, and he wasn't going to pass it up.
"Fuck it, I'll do as I'm told and not give him any reason to spank me," Will said to himself out loud, surprising himself. He wanted to learn, so he'd follow Tom's orders. And maybe he would end up being a bit more like Tom in the process. He could feel himself growing into a man, but Tom seemed like so much more of a man, and maybe he could share some of that with Will.
Meanwhile, Tom was walking home deep in thought. He had him. He'd wanted him, and it had taken some time, but now he had him. He decided to stop wondering why he wanted this boy. It was still clear to him that he felt no attraction towards men and boys, even though it wouldn't have bothered him if he had. But he wanted Will, and he wanted him to himself. He wanted to call him his. He wanted to mark him as his property. He felt his cock surge in his underwear and smiled.
"I'm an alpha," he said out loud to himself, before looking around to make sure no one was there to hear.
He quickened his pace. Tomorrow was Friday, but he now knew that he had a lot of reading to do, and he was going to start as soon as he got home.