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Out of the Woods ©2020 by Gamin Paramour Comments are incredibly welcome, and I intend to answer everyone.(ail)
1) This is fiction: complete, utter bullshit made up by yours truly. Never happened, and nobody depicted ever drew breath on planet Earth.
2) Stay safe. Don*quot;t break the law.
3) Please donate to Nifty if you possibly can.
Previously: When Andy met Johnny.
Chapter 10 Tuesday, January 19, 1988
5:21 pm The legs of Mark*quot;s pants only had to be rolled up once to accommodate Andy, Kenny noticed, and the borrowed T-shirt seemed to fit perfectly despite Mark being a year older. His long brown hair was clean and combed now and the beauty that was only hinted at before came through in spades. Kenny smiled approvingly as the boys returned to the living room, Andy grinning sheepishly as he padded barefoot behind Mark.
The same gang as before lazed around the TV -- minus Enrique, who had gone to meet his trick, and Barry, whose whereabouts was entirely unimportant to Kenny. The coffee table was littered with beer and soda cans and bags of junk food in various degrees of decimation.
*quot;Hey, look at you!*quot; Johnny cried. *quot;Not bad!*quot;
The tinge of crimson in Andy*quot;s cheeks deepened into red as all eyes turned to him, but his grin remained.
*quot;Come sit down,*quot; Johnny said, patting the sofa beside him. Kenny saw the annoyance in Johnny*quot;s eyes as Andy stepped right past him and squeezed into the narrow opening between Mark and Kenny. He couldn*quot;t help but smile as the boy*quot;s warmth pressed against his side, though he knew it wasn*quot;t helping diplomatic relations with Johnny a damn bit. It was disappointing when Mark scooted over and gave Andy room. The contact had been lovely.
*quot;So, you must feel a lot better now, eh?*quot; Johnny said, leaning back in the buttery soft leather and taking a casual sip of beer.
*quot;Oh, yes,*quot; Andy said respectfully, still doing the child-adult thing. *quot;Thank you very much.*quot;
*quot;Oh, for Christ*quot;s sake, Andy,*quot; Johnny said in mock irritation. *quot;Will you relax already? You*quot;re so stiff I think you*quot;ve got a broomstick up your butt!*quot;
The group laughed heartily, including Andy, and then again when Steve jumped up and moaned, *quot;Oooh,*quot; in exaggerated swishiness and wiggled his round ass directly in Andy*quot;s direction. Kenny caught the mild admonition Johnny shot to Steve but Andy was laughing too hard to notice.
*quot;Where are our manners, boys?*quot; Johnny said when the laughter died down. *quot;What can we get you, Andy? Soda? Chips? A beer, maybe?*quot;
Andy*quot;s eyes widened at the suggestion and even more when Eric raised his can of Coors Light as if to toast, proving that it was no joke. Kenny smirked a bit as he remembered the first time Eric got drunk on beer and puked his entrails out half the night. He had to admit the kid could hold his alcohol pretty well now, considering he was just eleven years old and maybe seventy-five pounds. Andy looked shocked and a bit revolted, Kenny thought, but didn*quot;t say anything. Kenny prodded him with an elbow.
*quot;I*quot;m more of a root beer man myself,*quot; he said. *quot;C*quot;mon, let*quot;s get a couple of frosty mugs.*quot;
The two boys scooted off the couch and Kenny made eye contact with Johnny as they passed. He was smiling his old warm, approving smile, and not for Andy*quot;s benefit either because Andy was past him already and couldn*quot;t see. This smile was for Kenny and it took him back to the old days in a flash. He beamed all the way to the kitchen.
Kenny was pulling two chilled beer mugs out of the freezer when Andy hit him with an unexpectedly blunt question.
*quot;What*quot;s the deal here?*quot; the boy asked softly so the others couldn*quot;t hear. *quot;I never heard of a bunch of kids living with a man like this. What is it, some kind of a foster home or something?*quot;
Kenny hesitated just a beat and with dismay realized it was enough for Andy to know he was holding something back. The kid was naive and a hick from the sticks and all, but he wasn*quot;t stupid. He*quot;d have to tell at least part of the truth or Andy would know something was up.
*quot;No, not a foster home exactly,*quot; he said, turning his back to Andy and pulling two bottles of root beer from the fridge. *quot;Not officially, anyway. See, most of the kids are runaways just like you and me. Johnny was a runaway too when he was a kid so he knows what it*quot;s about. But it*quot;s, like, illegal for us to be here without our parents*quot; permission, ya know? So we can*quot;t let anybody know we live here and we can*quot;t go to school or anything.*quot;
*quot;So he just takes care of all these kids?*quot; Andy whistled softly, watching Kenny pour. *quot;Man, he must be rich.*quot;
*quot;We all pitch in,*quot; Kenny said, ducking his head suddenly to slurp some excess foam just before it slopped over the rim of the mug.
*quot;Nice catch,*quot; Johnny said, startling them. He stood in the kitchen doorway leaning against the jamb. Kenny could see the disapproval in his eyes, the warm smile of before nowhere to be found. A glance confirmed that Andy saw the disapproval too, but he certainly couldn*quot;t know why. Kenny*quot;s heart pounded. If he*quot;d scared Andy off Johnny would be really pissed, and then there*quot;d be no telling what might happen.
*quot;I*quot;m sorry, Johnny,*quot; Kenny said in sudden inspiration. *quot;I know you don*quot;t like to make a big deal out of it but I think it*quot;s such a cool thing you do for us kids I just can*quot;t help but brag on you.*quot;
*quot;Yeah, Johnny,*quot; Andy piped in. *quot;You must be the greatest guy in the whole world. I had one man friend back in Paxton I thought was really good to kids, but you*quot;re awesome!*quot;
Johnny considered these testimonials for a second then his whole posture suddenly softened and the warm smile spread once again over his handsome features. Kenny was a little worried about Andy*quot;s mention of a *quot;man friend*quot; back home, since he*quot;d assured Johnny Andy was a virgin, but it seemed the major crisis was past.
Johnny opened his arms in the boys*quot; direction. *quot;You guys, I feel a group hug coming on.*quot; He said it with a touch of corny humor, but carefully balanced with sincerity. Kenny grinned and marched directly to him, throwing both his slim arms around Johnny and burying his face in the softness of his silk shirt. He knew it was only a show for Andy*quot;s benefit, just another knot in the rope that would snare the boy, but Kenny enjoyed the rare moment in Johnny*quot;s embrace anyway. When Andy held back, an uncertain half-smile on his scarred lips, Kenny beckoned him over with a nod of the head.
*quot;C*quot;mon, Andy,*quot; he said. *quot;Don*quot;t be left out,*quot; and grinned with genuine happiness when the boy slowly stepped forward and allowed himself to be gathered into Johnny*quot;s arms. The two boys were crushed against each other and even more firmly against Johnny, and it was the nicest hug Kenny could remember in many months. Johnny bent and kissed Kenny on the forehead as Andy looked on, and when no look of revulsion appeared in the smaller boy*quot;s brown eyes he bent even lower to place one on his forehead, too. Andy sighed contentedly and nuzzled Johnny*quot;s chest with his face and Kenny knew everything was going to work out fine.
Johnny*quot;s heartbeat was strong and loud in Andy*quot;s ear and something suddenly made sense, something that he had felt ever since he*quot;d walked in the door but couldn*quot;t pin down until now. Johnny had a power -- a kind of strength that poured out of him -- and Andy found himself basking in it like the first sun of spring. It wasn*quot;t frightening like his father*quot;s brand of strength, but peaceful, reassuring, drawing Andy in. The chest beneath the smooth silk shirt felt firm and muscular and good, and Johnny*quot;s heat washed around him like a wave.
He opened his eyes and saw Kenny smiling down at him, then felt the boy*quot;s hand slide up to softly touch his back. Andy grinned and put his arm around Kenny as well so that the three of them were truly in a *quot;group hug*quot;. Oddly it didn*quot;t seem uncomfortable or childish to him at all. It reminded him of kissing Charlie goodnight and, once again, it just seemed OK. Perhaps he was making up for all those years of missing out on the childish affection he was rightfully entitled to, or maybe he just wanted it so badly he didn*quot;t care that it was childish. Showing affection felt good and getting it back from someone else felt even better.
Johnny finally nudged them apart. *quot;Let*quot;s go back in, OK? So everybody can get to know each other better.*quot;
Andy beamed. It seemed to him that something miraculous had happened. Less than two hours before he*quot;d been completely alone in a cold, dangerous world, without a clue where he*quot;d go or how he*quot;d survive, and now he was warm and safe in the middle of a big, loving family. If he couldn*quot;t find Billy Dekker then this was the next best thing. Instead of one friend he*quot;d found a dozen, and if everybody here was as nice as Kenny and Mark and Johnny this could be Heaven on Earth.
The boys grabbed their root beers and followed Johnny back to the sofa, where Andy nestled this time into a spot between his hug-mates. He placed his drink carefully on a coaster on the coffee table and almost immediately wrinkled up his nose at a hot, heavy odor unlike anything he*quot;d ever smelled before. It wasn*quot;t unpleasant; sort of sweet, actually, reminding him of Paxton after the harvest when the farmers burned the stubble from their fields. He looked questioningly at Kenny.
*quot;What*quot;s that smell?*quot; Andy asked, then noticed Daryl accepting a short, inexpertly rolled cigarette from James. The boy pinched it precisely between his thumb and index finger and touched it to his lips, its tip glowing bright red as he loudly sucked in air and smoke until his whole body seemed inflated, like he ought to be floating right next to Bullwinkle in the Macy*quot;s parade. His round face was red and he looked ready to cough but he struggled to hold it in, his dark blue eyes narrowed and his thin lips pressed tightly together. After a few seconds the immediate crisis seemed to pass and Daryl grinned triumphantly, carefully passing the cigarette on to Steve.
Andy had seen older kids back home sharing Marlboros out behind McRainey*quot;s tumbledown old barn but he*quot;d never seen them suck it in so deeply or make such a show of passing it around, and it sure didn*quot;t smell the same. He looked to Kenny again, dumbfounded.
*quot;It*quot;s just a little pot,*quot; Kenny said. *quot;You know, grass. It makes you feel real good.*quot;
When Andy shot a horrified look at Johnny the man smiled that warm, reassuring smile and squeezed him firmly on the upper thigh. *quot;You may have heard a lot of nasty things about pot but most of it isn*quot;t true,*quot; he said. *quot;They just like to scare people so they can raise taxes for the big war on drugs. Pot isn*quot;t like crack or any of those hard drugs. It just makes you feel nice and happy.*quot;
*quot;Yeah, man,*quot; Eric said, sounding comical because he was talking while holding his breath. *quot;It*quot;s cool,*quot; he croaked, getting a chuckle from everyone but Andy.
Andy was by no means convinced. He watched in confusion as his new friend Kenny accepted the cigarette, which was extremely short by then and elicited a sharp *quot;Yow!*quot; as it burned his finger.
Andy didn*quot;t know what to think. He already looked up to the older boy but here he was doing drugs like some kind of hoodlum. He kept a wary eye on Kenny as he carefully placed the cigarette against his lips and sucked in a loud lung-full, then offered it to Andy with a sly smile. Andy recoiled against Johnny*quot;s side as if it was a snake.
*quot;You don*quot;t have to if you don*quot;t want to,*quot; Johnny said, hugging the boy against him for a second in a protective gesture. *quot;It*quot;s there if sakarya escort you decide to try it but nobody*quot;s going to make you.*quot; He reached past Andy and took the smoking quarter-inch of cigarette from Kenny, producing a small metal tweezers-like device apparently from nowhere. *quot;Frankly, we don*quot;t give a shit whether you do it or not,*quot; he said, affixing the pointed tips of the tweezers to the very base of the cigarette. *quot;Leaves more for us.*quot;
Johnny held the stub to his lips by the tweezers and took his drag without making the loud sucking sound most of the boys made, and he held it a long time. When he finally exhaled a gray cloud seemed to fill the room, and boys*quot; giggling comments of praise rang back and forth, mostly along the lines of *quot;Whoa, what a hit!*quot; Even Andy found himself smiling.
The remainder of the cigarette was just a smoldering sliver when it got back around to James, who said, *quot;Not me, man. I*quot;m gonna need these lips tonight.*quot; That got more of a laugh than Andy thought it deserved, and he was puzzled to notice the boys sneaking him strange, smirking looks as if to see what his reaction would be.
*quot;So fire this puppy up,*quot; Johnny said, pulling another cigarette from his shirt pocket, this one much more thickly and evenly rolled than the first. He tossed it to Steve, who slipped an ornately engraved brass Zippo lighter from a jeans pocket and expertly flicked it, launching this new missile on its way.
When it came around to Kenny again and he took his puff he smiled encouragingly at Andy and said, *quot;At least pass it along this time. It won*quot;t bite, you know.*quot; Andy hesitated, then with a shy smile took the cigarette from his friend and quickly handed it to Johnny.
There was an illicit thrill to be had from even touching it and he giggled. His parents had never said a word to him about drugs one way or the other, but at school they*quot;d been pummeling *quot;Just say no*quot; into his brain since kindergarten. Of course those were the same people who wanted him to stay at home and get the snot beat out of him on a regular basis, which showed how much they knew. And why should he care what those people said, anyway? Things were completely different now. This was his world now and these were his people. Besides, Johnny wouldn*quot;t let kids do anything that was bad for them, would he?
Andy watched silently as the burning butt made its way around the circle of laughing and joking boys, getting smaller and smaller until it needed the tweezers and smaller still until its tiny corpse finally joined its ancestor in the ashtray.
Johnny and the boys were glassy-eyed and giddy by then, eruptions of giggles pouring forth every few seconds whether or not anything funny was said. Mr. Ed was on TV and the group seemed to think it hilarious. Andy felt very above all the silliness at first, but then it occurred to him that he was the only one not laughing and having a great time, and he was suddenly very conscious of being left out.
Steve made a sound like a horse whinnying and said in his deepest voice, *quot;Hello, I*quot;m Mister Ed, and my dick is two feet long.*quot; This got a huge laugh and even though he didn*quot;t think it was all that funny Andy found himself grinning.
*quot;You wish!*quot; Kenny laughed, and James brayed, *quot;Yeah, let*quot;s see it then!*quot;
Steve jumped up and pretended to pull down his zipper. *quot;You*quot;re gonna have to stand back, though.*quot; Looking down at his crotch he yelled, *quot;Come on, big fella!*quot; to another round of guffaws. Kenny and Mark were cracking up and leaning against each other for support, Kenny pounding the sofa cushion over and over as if he just couldn*quot;t stand it. Even Johnny laughed without reserve, his deep voice booming out over all the others.
Andy felt the laughter welling up out of him. He was giddy, like he supposed the drugs felt, and it was wonderful. He was delighted to find that the simple act of joining in their silly laughter seemed to narrow the gap between him and the others, and all at once it dawned on him that maybe all he had to do to fit into this carefree life was to just fit in. After all, nobody was treating him like an outsider. It was Andy himself who was holding back and he didn*quot;t have to. There were no parents here, no teachers, no cops. He could do whatever he wanted to do just like these kids did. All he had to do was let go. Like the commercials said, just do it.
When the hilarity died back down to mere giggles and each young stoner settled into his own quiet meditation on talking Palominos named Ed, Andy surprised himself by blurting out, *quot;Are you guys gonna smoke another one?*quot;
*quot;All right!*quot; Kenny exclaimed, throwing his arm around Andy*quot;s shoulder and giving him a congratulatory squeeze. Andy grinned back at him, the red returning to his cheeks.
*quot;I don*quot;t know if we really need one,*quot; Johnny said, smiling, *quot;But what the hell?*quot; With a sharp glance at Daryl he added, *quot;There may be a few of us who should skip this one, though, if they have to be anywhere soon or anything.*quot; He reached into his shirt pocket, where he apparently had an endless supply of the things.
To Andy he said, *quot;It*quot;s called a joint when it*quot;s rolled up like a cigarette. There*quot;s other ways to smoke it, too, like in pipes and bongs, but this is the usual way.*quot; Johnny picked up a brass table lighter shaped like some kind of gnome or troll or something -- which until it spouted flame Andy hadn*quot;t known was a lighter at all -- and set fire to the joint. He didn*quot;t take nearly as big of a drag as he had previously and blew it out quickly. With a big, goofy smile and a somewhat ceremonious air he handed it to Andy, who accepted it uncertainly, but gamely.
*quot;When you take your hit,*quot; Kenny said, *quot;take in some air along with the smoke, *quot;cause the pure smoke will be way too rough for you and you*quot;ll cough your head off.*quot;
*quot;OK,*quot; Andy said and held the joint the way he had seen the others do it. Pursing his scarred lips he sucked on it like a soda straw and instantly regretted it.
The hot smoke clawed at his throat like an animal desperate for escape. He spewed the harsh cloud back into the room, hacking and coughing as his lungs screamed for pure, clean air. Even as his stomach clenched and his body wracked in agony he was aware of the boys laughing at him, and this cruel reminder that he really wasn*quot;t one of them after all was the most painful thing of all. He quickly handed the joint to Kenny, his body language clearly saying, *quot;Get this shit away from me!*quot;
*quot;Hey you guys!*quot; Kenny shouted. *quot;It*quot;s not funny. It really hurts.*quot; He reached Andy*quot;s root beer for him and helped him take a sip. Andy looked to his friend, thanking him with his eyes.
*quot;Like you guys never hocked up a lung before!*quot; Kenny said, unable to suppress his own smile as the boys cracked up anew. *quot;OK, for real, you guys. Raise your hand if you ever coughed your ass off like Andy just did.*quot;
Every hand in the group went up, including Johnny*quot;s. Andy looked at him in surprise, but Johnny just shrugged.
*quot;See, it happens to everybody,*quot; Kenny said. *quot;Especially the first time. But the good news is a really big cough like that gets you really high really fast.*quot;
Andy*quot;s rasping was coming under control by then and he suddenly thought he did feel something funny, like things were just a little bit soft-focused and far away. He was surprised because he*quot;d only had the smoke in his lungs for a second. The more he tried to analyze it, though, the less sure he was that anything was different after all, and he finally shrugged and gave up.
*quot;Just take a smaller hit next time,*quot; Mark said, taking the joint from Kenny who was leaning back holding his own toke. *quot;And take some air with it, like this.*quot; He sucked in a loud hit and smiled at Andy, passing the joint to Steve. It continued around the circle, every boy taking a careful hit to demonstrate the proper technique to their new friend. All but Daryl, who said nothing and passed it on to James without taking any.
When it got back to Andy he was surprised at his eagerness to try again. He took a tiny puff, grinning as he realized it was going to stay down this time. He took a little more and passed it on, holding his breath and smiling proudly. It was hot and tasted gritty but it was tolerable.
*quot;Atta boy,*quot; Kenny said, and the two boys grinned at each other.
*quot;OK, I*quot;m outta here,*quot; Daryl said as he stood and stepped over Steve*quot;s sprawling legs, which the bigger boy made no effort to move.
*quot;Aren*quot;t you forgetting something?*quot; Johnny asked pointedly, and when Daryl returned nothing but an empty stare he added, *quot;A little blue uniform, perhaps?*quot;
*quot;Oh, shit, yeah!*quot; Daryl said, turning sharply and hurrying down a corridor Andy assumed must lead to another set of bedrooms. *quot;I forgot I was doin*quot; the Scoutmaster.*quot;
*quot;Is Daryl in the Scouts?*quot; Andy asked Johnny. *quot;I wanted to be in Scouts back home but my Dad said it was wimpy.*quot;
Johnny smiled and glanced knowingly at Kenny. *quot;Not exactly, *quot; he said. Andy opened his mouth to ask what Johnny was talking about when James cut him off.
*quot;Whoa, check it out!*quot; A Baywatch commercial filled the big screen, a scene of some colossal-chested blond running into the surf in slow motion. Andy had seen glimpses of this show many times on his family*quot;s 19-inch set, as the Old Man wouldn*quot;t miss it, but Andy never sat with his father to watch. It wasn*quot;t that Baywatch was considered inappropriate for an eleven-year-old or anything so parental as that. It was just that being with his dad made Andy feel so uncomfortable he couldn*quot;t sit there for long. The girl on the screen plunged into the onrushing wave, the frame freezing on her voluptuous hindquarters as the tiny swim suit stretched to the very limit Spandex could endure.
*quot;Man, what an ass!*quot; Steve hooted as a cat food commercial popped onto the screen. *quot;Ooh, baby, I*quot;m gettin*quot; a boner!*quot;
Andy looked quickly to Johnny, but again there was no adverse reaction. It seemed a kid could do or say just about anything in this place.
*quot;When don*quot;t you have a boner?*quot; James taunted and the boys giggled.
*quot;When it*quot;s your ass I*quot;m lookin*quot; at,*quot; Steve shot back. *quot;You*quot;re so skinny you don*quot;t even have an ass.*quot;
James shot right back, *quot;Yeah, well you*quot;re so fat you got two asses.*quot;
*quot;OK, enough of that,*quot; Johnny said and both boys fell silent. Apparently cutting each other down was one thing Johnny didn*quot;t allow. *quot;Besides,*quot; he added, taking the joint from James, *quot;neither of your asses are as cute as Enrique*quot;s.*quot;
The boys laughed and catcalled, and Kenny elbowed Andy and said, *quot;You should have seen him, man. When he first came here his hair was real long and he looked just like a girl! And a pretty one, too!*quot;
*quot;You know,*quot; Mark said in all seriousness, *quot;Enrique really does have a nice ass,*quot; and the statement sounded so comical and Andy*quot;s head was getting so light from the pot that he burst into laughter, with everyone else following closely behind.
Andy took the joint from Johnny and took his biggest hit yet, which threatened to make him cough but he was able to fight off the impulse and keep it in. He beamed with pride as he handed it to Kenny. He was getting the hang of this pot thing and there was no longer any question of whether he was feeling it. The world was muffled, hazy and imprecise, and perspective seemed more than a bit out of kilter. Steve and James were just on the other sofa but for some reason they seemed very far away.
Oddly, Andy was especially aware of the fact that he had a head. It was like he needed to concentrate to hold it up, as if a momentary lapse in vigilance would send his samsun escort chin slumping to his chest like a marionette with a broken string. He wasn*quot;t out of control by any means -- he knew his head wouldn*quot;t really slump down if he stopped thinking about it -- but he seemed hypersensitive to the feelings in his body. The TV sound made his chest vibrate and Kenny*quot;s leg seemed particularly warm against his, both things he*quot;d thought nothing of only moments before. He could feel the clothes caressing him all over at once, especially between the legs where Mark*quot;s slightly oversize underwear was bunched up. The whole world was reflected in a fun house mirror and Andy liked that sensation for its own sake, but mostly he liked that the boys were sharing with him the delicious naughtiness of their who-gives-a-shit lives.
*quot;How do I look?*quot; came Daryl*quot;s high voice, and all eyes turned to see. He was dressed in a full blue Cub Scout uniform, complete with a bright yellow neckerchief and ornate wooden slide carved into a wolf*quot;s head. The odd thing was that it was a summer uniform with a short-sleeved shirt, little shorts that were really too tight on Daryl, and knee socks held up with garters. All the Cubs in Andy*quot;s old school had worn the shirts and neckerchiefs but always with blue jeans, even in the heat of summer. They wouldn*quot;t be caught dead in knee socks.
*quot;Aren*quot;t you gonna freeze your knees?*quot; Andy asked, and joined in the giggles when everyone around him erupted. It made him feel great that the guys laughed at his remark even though he hadn*quot;t really meant it as a joke.
Daryl grinned at Andy. *quot;Nah, I wear sweat pants over *quot;em until I get there.*quot;
*quot;Get where?*quot; Andy asked, and Daryl immediately looked to Johnny. Johnny turned to Andy and paused a second, choosing his words carefully.
*quot;Daryl has an appointment this afternoon with a man who wants to take his picture. It*quot;s one of the ways he makes money, to help out with the bills around here.*quot;
Andy gazed in awe at the dishwater-blond boy. *quot;So, you*quot;re like a model? That*quot;s so cool!*quot; Back to Johnny he said, *quot;This one kid back home was a model before his folks moved to Paxton. He showed us a catalog with him wearing these dorky pajamas with, like, Muppet Babies all over them, and another one where he was in his underwear. We all made fun of him but our teacher said he was cute and made us apologize. I still thought it was way cool to be a model, except for the dorky pajamas.*quot; Andy turned just as quickly back to Daryl. *quot;Do you model the uniforms for the Scout catalog? That must really be cool. Do you get to keep the uniform? I wanted to be in Scouts but my Dad said...*quot;
Andy abruptly shut up as the realization crashed through to his consciousness that he was blathering like an idiot. He had never done that before, being rather quiet by nature, and he was instantly mortified. He didn*quot;t even know where all that had come from, as if his mouth wasn*quot;t even connected to his brain anymore. It felt like the whole group was staring at him, wondering how he could be such a moron, and he could feel the blood rise in his cheeks.
*quot;No, it*quot;s not for a catalog,*quot; Johnny said casually, oblivious to Andy*quot;s consternation. *quot;This man just likes to take pictures of boys and he pays good money for it.*quot; After a pause Johnny said, *quot;He likes when there*quot;s new boys to take pictures of. Maybe you could pose for him one day.*quot;
*quot;I guess so,*quot; Andy said softly, barely registering Johnny*quot;s words, as terribly conscious as he was of how he had motor-mouthed. It had to be the pot, he thought, and suddenly getting stoned wasn*quot;t such great fun.
*quot;Well, everybody does have to pitch in somehow,*quot; Johnny said. *quot;Those bills don*quot;t pay themselves. There*quot;s plenty of time to think about that, though. For now just relax and have a good time.*quot;
During a brief lull in which Andy assumed everyone was focusing on his stupidity Daryl pulled on his sweat pants and heavy coat. *quot;I gotta roll,*quot; he said and bent to give Johnny a quick kiss right on the mouth. Andy was surprised, though he had seen Johnny kiss Kenny twice and had even received one himself in the kitchen. Those had all been different, though, on the forehead or neck while this was full on the lips. Daryl seemed perfectly comfortable with it and none of the boys said a word. In fact, everybody just sat there watching Daryl go out the door, or else engrossed in the TV. Nobody seemed to be paying the slightest attention to Andy*quot;s speech patterns, either, and in a few seconds his own swirling brain had moved on as well, absorbed now into the giant TV.
*quot;Hey, you guys,*quot; James said, nodding toward a commercial featuring yet another beautiful starlet, this one slowly and sensuously eating a banana. *quot;She can put those lips on my banana any time.*quot;
*quot;And then she could kiss the grapes underneath,*quot; Mark piped in, and everyone laughed. Andy, of course, had heard lots of blow job references in the schoolyards of Paxton, but never with a grownup around. He was getting used to it, though, and this time he didn*quot;t even look to Johnny for a reaction.
*quot;Yeah, man, those lips were just made for suckin*quot; dick,*quot; Steve said, the genuine lust in his voice obvious even to Andy.
*quot;So were yours!*quot; James shot with a laugh and then a squeal as Steve pounced on the smaller boy, pinning him to the sofa and punching him in every accessible body part. Andy gave one more look to Johnny then, expecting even more of a reaction from him than to the boys*quot; verbal sparring about the size of their asses, but Johnny just sat there watching the commotion with an amused smile. Andy was confused until he noticed that James wasn*quot;t fighting back in any significant way, and in fact was giggling as if he was being tickled rather than pummeled. Steve was laughing too, and Andy suddenly got it that these two played an ongoing game of insults and mock fist fights but underneath it were best friends.
*quot;Watch it, you guys,*quot; Johnny finally said. *quot;You break that couch and I*quot;ll break your heads.*quot;
Andy was mildly surprised when the grinning wrestlers instantaneously disengaged. He had expected them to persist until at least the second warning, perhaps long enough for some minor mayhem to be done. He*quot;d never seen kids so obedient in his life, especially considering they presented themselves as a bunch of little tough guys who drank and smoked pot and swore like sailors. They sure listened when Johnny spoke, though.
*quot;Now there*quot;s lips made for sucking dicks!*quot; Kenny exclaimed, pointing to the TV. Mark had just changed the channel to a music video and there on the screen was some leather-clad punk rocker practically devouring the microphone. It pretty much did look like the singer was trying to suck the mic, but then through the haze in his mind Andy noticed something else.
*quot;Hey, that*quot;s a guy!*quot;
James smirked across at him. *quot;What tipped it off? The mustache?*quot;
*quot;Guys can suck dicks too, ya know,*quot; Mark said. *quot;Lips are lips.*quot;
Kenny laughed and said, *quot;Yeah, man. If you closed your eyes you wouldn*quot;t even know the difference.*quot;
*quot;You would if he had a mustache,*quot; James countered. *quot;It*quot;d tickle.*quot;
*quot;In fact,*quot; Johnny said with the air of a lecturing professor, *quot;some people say guys suck better than girls because they know what feels good.*quot;
Steve finally weighed in on the subject. *quot;Guy, girl...who gives a shit? As long as somebody*quot;s suckin*quot; it!*quot;
Andy laughed with the others but at the same time he was amazed. It was the first time he*quot;d ever heard a boy intimate that he*quot;d let another boy suck his dick. Back home nobody ever even joked about it for fear of being called queer. Sure, they*quot;d joke that the other guy would suck somebody*quot;s dick but never that they themselves would want to be the one sucked. These boys didn*quot;t seem to care, though. Apparently among these people a blow job was something gigglingly delightful and the gender of the giver was an irrelevant detail. Andy had to admit it made some sense, but he sure wasn*quot;t going to climb onto that bandwagon just yet. What if it was a trick and they were just waiting for him to say something so they could pounce on him? He decided he*quot;d just observe for a while longer.
*quot;This song sucks!*quot; Steve said, snatching the remote away from Mark. In a second the screen was filled with horrific creatures, rotting flesh dripping from their faces and huge expanses of their skeletons showing through. Dramatic music and the screams of victims blasted from the giant speakers and Andy recoiled in disgust.
Steve whooped in delight. *quot;Oh, cool! This is Vengeful Dead Three! They kill everybody in this movie!*quot;
*quot;Man, I hate this kind of shit,*quot; Kenny groaned and Mark mumbled agreement, though his eyes were glued to the screen.
*quot;There are naked girls,*quot; Steve said as enticingly as he could. *quot;The zombies get into the girls bedrooms at this college and you get to see tits galore for a few minutes, until all the chicks are dead. Then their tits fall off.*quot;
Johnny fired up yet another joint with the troll lighter and offered it to Andy, saying, *quot;If it*quot;s tits you want why don*quot;t you put on the Playboy Channel?*quot;
Amid general hoots of agreement from the boys a grinning Steve punched in the numbers on the remote. Andy let out his biggest cloud of smoke yet and grinned woozily up at Johnny.
Johnny met his gaze. *quot;What...?*quot; he asked with a chuckle.
*quot;You*quot;re just so cool,*quot; Andy said, having a small amount of trouble getting the words to come out properly. He was definitely stoned, and with his bout of paranoia now behind him he was back to liking it a lot. He was beginning to like everything about this place a lot.
*quot;No wonder everybody wants to stay here with you,*quot; he said, holding Johnny*quot;s gaze. Deep in his eyes Andy saw himself reflected, two tiny images of his own face looking happier than he*quot;d ever seen himself.
*quot;You can, you know,*quot; Johnny said softly. *quot;You can stay here forever if you want.*quot;
Andy didn*quot;t say anything. He was too overwhelmed -- and too fucked up -- to form sentences. He knew, though. He knew that what he wanted most in the world was to stay right here; to belong to this place, this life, this man; to always be reflected in Johnny*quot;s clear green eyes.
He still had the joint in his hand and so he broke the tension by taking another big hit before passing it on to Kenny, but when he looked back at Johnny those intense green eyes were still there, pulling him like swirling water to a drain. He wanted to go there; felt that all he had to do was pick up his feet and he*quot;d drift happily into those liquid green pools, but something held him back.
Charlie had made him believe that a man could be kind and give affection but there had also been a distance there, an uneasiness. The understanding had been clear that Charlie did not intend to keep Andy in his life, and until just this second the boy hadn*quot;t allowed himself to think about how much that had hurt. Now Johnny was asking just that, in fact it seemed all but assumed that he would stay, and Andy wanted desperately to believe in Happily Ever After. Still he stared, his breath shallow and his throat tight. He felt as if he was poised on a high ledge and the next step was a doozy.
Johnny had seen that look many times before and he had to fight off the smile of satisfaction it threatened to bring to his face. This moment of intense contact with Andy was crucial and a smile now would break the mood and it could take days to get it back. Between the trials the boy had been through, the unfamiliar surroundings and the strange new feelings brought on by the drugs, ankara sarışın escort his vulnerability was at its peak. It was time to close the deal and Johnny wasn*quot;t going to blow it.
Behind Andy the boys hooted their junior machismo over a video of topless Bunnies jazz-dancing on the roof of a skyscraper, yet by the force of his powerful will Johnny held Andy*quot;s focus. There was both fear and longing in the boy*quot;s sensitive brown eyes, and Johnny softened his own gaze just a fraction to soothe and encourage him.
Without even a blink to break their stare he reached for Andy*quot;s hand and gently took it, and he felt the expected tremor course through the boy*quot;s body. More aggressively he took Andy*quot;s other hand and it felt like completing an electrical circuit, a surge of energy that seemed to gain power as it flowed around them and between them and through them. He knew Andy felt it too, and though Johnny himself didn*quot;t fully understand the mechanism of this connection, how he could open what seemed to be a direct pipeline into a boy*quot;s mind and heart, he knew from a hundred experiences over twenty years that it was so. This was the moment that would make it or break it. Andy would either be his or lost forever, and Johnny would know in a matter of seconds.
The boy was barely breathing. Johnny pulled him closer, slowly, slowly, and couldn*quot;t stop his heart from swelling in happiness at the utter lack of resistance the boy offered. Andy dissolved into his embrace as easily as any boy ever had and in a second the two were clutched tightly together, the boy as eager as the man. Though Johnny remained coolly aware that he was carrying out a calculated seduction, with his face in the hollow of Andy*quot;s soft neck he took a moment to revel in the wonderful feel and smell of this beautiful boy. He kissed that lovely neck, then again, and whispered into his ear, *quot;Stay with me, Andy. Please.*quot;
Andy pulled back and gazed at Johnny. The fear was gone, replaced by a look of profound happiness. When Johnny leaned in and kissed the boy full on the lips he didn*quot;t shrink away, and in fact pressed the kiss himself, allowing Johnny to hold it far longer than he had even hoped. After a moment*quot;s pause Johnny nibbled at his lips again, knowing the boy would not hesitate. He pulled Andy fully atop him, the boy straddling Johnny*quot;s lap and their chests pressed together. He could feel Andy*quot;s strong young heart beating rapidly against his and they melted into another sensual kiss. Johnny let his hands wander around the boy*quot;s body from the back of his head to his tight, round bottom.
Johnny could feel his cock stiffening against Andy and decided not to try to take it quite that far in front of the other boys. There was a good chance Andy might go for it, but it was too important to risk, and so he repositioned the boy so that he was sitting across his lap, their arms around each other*quot;s shoulders but with no direct contact of the genitals. He grinned at Andy and genuinely delighted in the happy smile he got in return.
*quot;Hey you guys!*quot; Johnny said, getting the immediate attention of the others. *quot;Great news! Andy*quot;s going to live here from now on!*quot;
*quot;All right!*quot; Kenny whooped, and in a second he and Mark were at their side, clapping Andy on the back and offering congratulations. Steve and James were much less effusive but they smiled and welcomed Andy to the fold as they were expected to. Everybody played his part well and Johnny was very pleased, but then he caught Kenny*quot;s eye and was sure he spotted something there. It looked like jealousy and he fought back the impulse to be instantly pissed.
He*quot;d been cutting the kid slack for several months already as Kenny*quot;s frustration rose. He knew how tough it must be to go in six short months from being the favorite, ruling the roost as Johnny*quot;s right hand man, to some worthless piece of shit that was this close to being put out in the alley like a broken refrigerator. After all, the kid hadn*quot;t done anything but grow hair on his pubes, and it*quot;s not as though he had a choice in the matter.
Johnny missed cuddling to sleep with his beautiful Kenny after a night of great pot and great sex. He had been so lovely at eleven and twelve that Johnny almost hated to share him with the hawks, but here he was pulling shit like that nut case Barry and being rid of him was starting to sound good.
It seemed different, though, from Barry*quot;s jealousy, and as he analyzed it he was rather shocked to realize the truth: Johnny wasn*quot;t the love object in this little triangle, he was the rival! Kenny wasn*quot;t jealous of Andy stealing Johnny*quot;s affections, but of Johnny stealing Andy*quot;s!
Now that was something new. It wasn*quot;t too unusual for a couple of the boys to have the hots for each other but there was always the basic understanding that Johnny remained sultan of the harem. He had to smile at the absurdity of it, Kenny competing with him over a boy! Of course Kenny would never overtly challenge him; after five years Johnny knew that much about him. And anyway it didn*quot;t matter much, he reminded himself, with Kenny on his way out.
Let the kid have his fantasies.
*quot;Hold the phone,*quot; Johnny said, noticing his watch. *quot;I think some people have places to be pretty soon, huh?*quot;
Mark spoke up. *quot;Yeah, I gotta take the El all the way to Rosemont by six-thirty so I*quot;d better get going.*quot;
*quot;I*quot;ll go with you,*quot; James said. *quot;My guy*quot;s picking me up at the Jefferson Park station.*quot;
Steve was flipping the channels, Playboy having gone into some boring interview with an old blues musician. *quot;I*quot;ve got time,*quot; he said. *quot;My first one is that old queen who lives right up on Foster.*quot;
*quot;You*quot;re going to see a queen?*quot; Andy slurred, eyes as wide as his state of inebriation allowed.
*quot;Yep!*quot; Steve replied, grinning at the new kid*quot;s naiveté. *quot;A black one, too. The Queen of Spades!*quot; After a mild laugh he added, *quot;And I bet she wants to Jack my Club.*quot;
Johnny gave Steve a look and he instantly shut up but it was no matter because the comment had sailed right past Andy anyway. The boy sat on Johnny*quot;s lap, stoned to the eyeballs and happy as a clam at high tide. In fact he stayed right there for most of the evening, clutching Johnny*quot;s neck and venturing off of his lap only if one of them had to go to the bathroom.
They smoked a few more joints as well, to the point where Andy was nearly incoherent. He seemed to be having a wonderful time, though, and when Steve left and Johnny sent Kenny out for pizza Andy initiated some more deep kisses and climbed on top of Johnny all on his own. A quick and unnoticed grope showed that he didn*quot;t have a hard-on, so Johnny didn*quot;t rush things.
A few of the other boys Andy hadn*quot;t yet met wandered in and out on their way to and from appointments, welcoming Andy with handshakes or pats on the shoulder, sharing the joint if one happened to be going around, and saying their goodbyes to Johnny with the customary quick kiss on the lips. Every time one of them kissed Johnny Andy would nose in for one as well. Johnny had never seen a new boy so openly interested in kissing, but it was welcome evidence of just how far his inhibitions had been lowered.
By eleven o*quot;clock the apartment was empty save for Johnny, Andy and Kenny. They sat quietly amid the clutter of empty pizza boxes and beer cans, Andy all but passed out in Johnny*quot;s arms. Johnny tenderly stroked his hair.
*quot;Well, all the able-bodied workers are hard at their tasks,*quot; Johnny said to Kenny, putting insulting emphasis on *quot;able-bodied.*quot;
*quot;You want me to go stand on the corner?*quot; Kenny asked, a bit defiantly. He apparently thought better and added much more softly, *quot;I*quot;ve always pulled my weight around here, Johnny. I want to do my part, you know that.*quot;
*quot;Yeah, I know, kid,*quot; Johnny said. *quot;You know, I*quot;ll need you to help train this one,*quot; he said, nodding to Andy.
*quot;I can do that, Johnny, I*quot;ll break him in good.*quot;
*quot;You don*quot;t be breakin*quot; anything,*quot; Johnny said. *quot;In fact, I want you to make sure everybody knows something.*quot; He paused for effect and held Kenny*quot;s eyes. *quot;Nobody, and I mean nobody, touches this kid*quot;s ass until I say so. Got that? Nobody.*quot;
*quot;Yeah, sure Johnny,*quot; Kenny said. *quot;You always get to be first, we know that.*quot;
*quot;I mean nobody ever. Not a finger till I say so, OK?*quot;
*quot;OK, Johnny, OK.*quot;
*quot;What I need from you is to teach him how to take care of himself out there,*quot; Johnny said, smiling in spite of himself as he watched Andy*quot;s chest rise and fall. The boy looked absolutely angelic in his sleep. *quot;I need him to come up to speed quickly and he doesn*quot;t know shit about the streets. I have a feeling the fucking and sucking aren*quot;t going to be a problem, especially with this bunch showing him the ropes, but staying alive and out of trouble might be.*quot;
*quot;I*quot;ll take him under my wing,*quot; Kenny said, a little too eagerly.
*quot;Start right in tomorrow. Take it slow, though. Remember how we played Daryl when he first came here? Let him get used to the idea for a few days before you go pushing the game. By then he*quot;ll see everybody else into it and it*quot;ll seem normal.*quot;
*quot;What if he asks?*quot;
*quot;Try to sidestep the subject, but if he keeps after it go ahead and tell him,*quot; Johnny said. *quot;That probably means he*quot;s ready, anyway.*quot;
Kenny opened his mouth to say something, changed his mind, then blurted out anyway, *quot;Let him stay with me tonight, Johnny. I mean, wouldn*quot;t it be better if his first time was with another kid?*quot;
*quot;Nice try, Romeo,*quot; Johnny said, amused at the shock in Kenny*quot;s eyes at being caught having feelings for another boy. It actually took Johnny somewhat by surprise, too. He*quot;d known Kenny for five years and they*quot;d been something close to lovers most of that time, but there had never been any indication that Kenny liked boys. Their love had been the emotional bond of two street waifs and the sex was just physical fun for Kenny.
Sure, he was very close to Mark now but that was a brotherly thing. Johnny knew the two of them regularly made like bunnies but that was more for Mark than for Kenny. Andy was the first boy Kenny had ever shown what you would call romantic interest in. Maybe the kid had hung around boylovers so long he was turning into one.
*quot;Andy sleeps with me,*quot; Johnny stated flatly, *quot;until further notice.*quot; He gathered the sleeping child into his arms and rose easily from the couch, the extra eighty-five pounds hardly fazing him. *quot;Come back to my room and get Barry*quot;s crap out of there,*quot; he said. *quot;Put him in with Kyle. They*quot;re both horny little bastards, maybe they*quot;ll keep each other busy. Or take him tonight yourself if you want. Like the song says, if you can*quot;t be with the one you love fuck the one you*quot;re with.*quot;
Andy stirred in Johnny*quot;s arms as they walked down the hall. He sighed contentedly and turned himself toward Johnny, wrapping his arms around Johnny*quot;s neck and his legs around his middle. With his sleepy head on Johnny*quot;s shoulder he murmured something that the man took as his name, though strangely it sounded like he started it with a C-H, like *quot;Chonny*quot;. Maybe they*quot;d done one doobie too many after all.
He truly hoped Andy could still get it up because after a whole evening of kissing and fondling Johnny was ready to party, and how. He laid the boy gently on the giant bed and sat next to him as Kenny gathered Barry*quot;s few belongings.
*quot;Be sure to grab Barry when he gets home from his trick,*quot; Johnny said. *quot;I don*quot;t want him anywhere near this room tonight.*quot;
*quot;Yeah, I*quot;ll wait up for him,*quot; Kenny said, pausing at the door. *quot;Uh, Johnny?*quot;
*quot;Yeah?*quot;
*quot;Go easy on him, will ya?*quot;

Next time: Frank McCann, PI.
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