This story contains some explicit scenes of erotic love between males. If you are under age, or live in an area where reading stories that include sex between males is illegal, or if you're not into this type of story, please leave. The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at NJMcMick@yahoo.com.
The story is set in the fictional city of Trenton, New Jersey. Yes, there is a real city by that name, but other than being a state capital on the Delaware River, it bears little resemblance to the city in this story. While a few of the places mentioned may exist in reality, all of the characters and events are fictitious.
Chapter Thirty-Three
When I woke up early the next morning I was behind Marcus spooning him. In my sleep I had apparently been humping him because I was aware of the motion before I was even conscious. I stopped as soon as I realized what I was doing.
"Make up your mind, are you gonna fuck me or just tease me?" Marcus rumbled lowly.
"I wasn't sure you were up. It's early and I didn't want to disturb you."
"You've already disturbed me in the best possible way and as a result I'm definitely up. Now take care of the problem you've created."
Marcus grabbed a condom and some lube from the nightstand and handed them back over his shoulder. And so with no further conversation or foreplay, I took care of his problem and mine as well. Within seconds of our orgasms we were both sound asleep again. It was after nine when we woke up the second time. I wasn't sure about Marcus but I was in a much better mood than when we'd gone to bed the night before.
"Damn, I could get used to this," I whispered as I nuzzled him.
"You and me both, babe. Two nights with you and I don't think I can ever sleep alone again. How much longer did you say it is until the closing on the condo?"
"About two weeks, but even then it's not like we're gonna be living together."
"I know, it's way too soon for that, but I'm sure you won't mind if I spend the night with you in your new home now and then."
"I'm sure of that, too."
We took a long leisurely shower together, during which we both managed to get off again, and then got dressed for another day of sightseeing and enjoying the car, this time on our own. We were just leaving the room when the phone rang. I hesitated, wondering who would be calling the hotel room and not my cell phone. I picked it up on the fifth ring.
"Hey, Jerry, it's Uncle Pete. I wasn't sure I'd catch you still in this late."
"Um, yeah, we slept in and were just leaving."
"I won't keep you then. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about the way things turned out with your grandparents last night."
"Yeah, well, I hadn't meant to come out and make a scene, but what happened, happened. I hope I didn't upset your kids."
"No, they're pretty used to their grandparents and their attitudes." He hesitated for several seconds and I wondered if we'd been cut off. "Look, I was wondering if maybe you and Marcus would be able to join me for lunch. There's something I'd like to talk to you about."
"Hang on a sec, let me ask Marcus." I put my hand over the mouthpiece and whispered to Marcus. "It's Uncle Pete. He wants to have lunch with us, something he wants to talk about."
"Sure, if you want," he shrugged.
"Okay, when and where?"
He explained how to find a nearby Applebee's and I agreed to meet him there at one. As Marcus and I walked out to the parking lot we talked about the evening before.
"So what do you think your uncle wants?" Marcus asked as we got into the car.
"I have no idea. He sounded okay about last night. I guess we'll find out at lunch."
We took turns driving the Mustang around the countryside. It was another beautiful summer day so we had the top down again. I'd had the car just over twenty-four hours and I'd probably already spent more time behind the wheel of it than Norman's Buick. By the time we got home Sunday night there would be no probably about it. Around twelve-thirty I was driving and we headed north on I-520 to meet Uncle Pete.
He was standing just outside the front door of the restaurant smoking a cigarette when we got there. He put out the cigarette and shook my hand.
"I'm glad you could make it. How are you enjoying the car?"
"It's great! I haven't done that much driving since I got my license but this car handles really well. I love it."
"I'm glad. It suits you. You look good behind the wheel."
We went inside and all ordered burgers and iced tea. Uncle Pete made small talk about the business and didn't give any hint as to why he wanted to talk to me. We were nearly done eating when I tried to lead him toward the subject.
"So you said you wanted to talk to me about something. Does it have anything to do with the scene last night at my grandparents' house?"
"Not really. You should understand that I'm not exactly one of your pro-gay liberal types. I'm a Southern Baptist and I was raised to believe that homosexuality is wrong, but I'm also pretty much a live-and-let-live kind of guy. I figure it's your life, not mine, so it's none of my business. And I took an instant liking to you at the dealership yesterday morning. I liked your mother a whole lot and I see a lot of her personality in you."
"Well, I wish my grandparents had looked at things that way, but since I live so far away they're not really a part of my life anyway, so it doesn't make that much difference."
"Kathy and I sometimes wish we could say the same. Don't get me wrong, the Waltons can be good people if they like you, but as you've learned they can be very conservative and old-fashioned. I've worked for the dealership since I was not much older than you and I love my job, so I have to watch what I say. I have a family to support, after all."
"But you're family. I'm sure Grandfather wouldn't fire you after all this time."
"No, he wouldn't, but it's just easier to not rock the boat. That doesn't mean I don't sometimes question his actions, though. Like your car, for example."
"What do you mean? Is there something wrong with the car?" I started to panic a little.
"No, absolutely not. The car is just fine, but I had a little run-in with your grandfather over charging you for it. I wasn't going to say anything before because I didn't want to cause trouble between you, but now it doesn't matter."
"But I never expected a free car. Why shouldn't I pay for it?"
"Because he and your grandmother both drive company cars. Every three years they order new cars, exactly what they want, and we sell their old ones. It never costs them a penny. When I pointed that out to him he said that was a perk for his job as president of the firm, not as co-owner."
"Well, I guess I can understand that. After all, he does all the work running the place. That's why he gets more money and he should."
"Even so, I objected to him charging you full price. Yeah, he did only charge you what the dealership paid for the car, but the car wasn't new. I'm sure you've heard that a new car drops quite a bit in value the minute you drive it off the lot. We've been using your car as a demonstrator for six months and he didn't knock anything off the price for that. If we'd sold it to a stranger we would have come down quite a bit on the price."
"Maybe you're right. I knew you were using the car as a demonstrator, but to me it's still a new car. I appreciate what you're saying, but I guess since I didn't have to work for the money and I didn't see the actual deal, I'm still grateful for the car."
"I understand and I know that you aren't the one making the business decisions right now. Your trustee is. But maybe you should pass this information on to him so he can keep a close watch on the old man. He's a shrewd businessman and now that he's not feeling any too friendly toward you I wouldn't put it past him to try to cut a few corners."
My stomach started to tighten up. It was bad enough to lose out on a potential family, but I really didn't want to have to deal with business intrigue.
"The guy seems pretty nasty but I can't believe he'd try to cheat his own grandson. I mean, there's nothing Christian about that and he seems to pride himself on being what he considers to be a good Christian." As the son of a minister Marcus would think to put it in those terms.
"I'm sure he wouldn't think of it as cheating, just making shrewd business decisions."
An idea popped into my head. "Say, Uncle Pete, why don't you buy my half of the business? Then you could deal with Grandfather as an equal and not have to worry about what he says. And then I wouldn't have to deal with him either."
He smiled. "It's a nice thought but not even a slim possibility. The dealership is worth a lot and I wouldn't even have a decent down payment on half of it. But thanks for thinking of me. It's nice to know one of my bosses is on my side."
"It's hard for me to think of myself as your boss. Like you said, I don't have any say in the business decisions anyway. But I'll tell my lawyer what you said about grandfather and I'm sure he'll know how to handle him. I really don't want to have to deal with it."
"I can see this is bothering you and I didn't want to upset you, Jerry. I just wanted to warn you. You're right, you shouldn't have to deal with this kind of thing at your age. Last night was bad enough."
"Yeah, well I'm starting to look forward to getting back home where I don't have to think about this stuff."
"I just wish you'd had a chance to get to know your cousins a little. They're good kids, though I may be a little prejudiced."
"Maybe we can do something tomorrow. Marcus and I are having dinner at my father's house tonight, but we don't have any solid plans for tomorrow, except I'd like to spend a little more time with my brother."
"Then I'll talk to the kids tonight and you talk to your brother. I'll be at work tomorrow so give me a call in the morning."
When we left the restaurant I gave the keys to Marcus. I wanted to think, not drive. He took I-20 north across the river into South Carolina where we wandered around on local roads for a while, then he headed back into the city. I was wrapped up in my own thoughts and didn't say much. Marcus must have sensed that and didn't talk much either. We got back to the hotel room and I lay down on my back on the bed fully clothed and stared at the ceiling. Marcus lay down next to me and gently cuddled me.
"This wasn't what I expected."
"What do you mean, babe?"
"Well, when my mother was alive, she and Aunt Aggie were all the family I ever wanted or needed. But then, when it was just Ralph and me, I began to fantasize about what it would be like to have a big family. I dreamed about grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, all as warm and loving as Mom. Instead I find nasty, cold grandparents and the rest of the family keeping their mouths shut, afraid of offending them. Are all families this messed up?"
"No, not all. Most families have their problems and the occasional unpleasant person, but this is pretty unique, I think, where your grandparents not only run the family but the business."
"Yeah, I feel bad for Uncle Pete, depending on Grandfather for his livelihood like that, having to watch what he says all the time."
"He's been doing it his whole life so he's probably pretty used to it. That doesn't make it easy, though."
"I'm glad Aunt Aggie set up the trust so at least I don't have to deal with it until I'm 25. I wish I didn't have to think about it at all, though. I know I've been very fortunate and I shouldn't complain, but I wish she'd left me impersonal stocks and bonds and investments like that instead of half of a family business."
"Just let Patrick take care of everything and forget about it. And remember, they're not your only family. Tonight we're going to your father's house. They seem like much nicer people. And we don't have to worry about coming out to them since they already know."
"Yeah, Chipper and Dad are pretty cool. And Mrs. Johnson was nice, too. I guess it's not so bad. I am looking forward to going back home, though, even though it means a couple more weeks in the rooming house without you."
Marcus began to fumble with my clothes. "Then we should take advantage of the time we have together now."
And we did. Afterwards we had time for a short nap before getting ready for dinner. I drove while Marcus read the directions Chipper had left with us. We ended up in another wealthy neighborhood quite a bit further from downtown. If anything, it was even nicer than where my grandparents lived. The house itself was what I considered to be a mansion, a huge brick building. It was very formal looking and I knew that Marcus and I had to be underdressed.
I was pleasantly surprised when Chipper answered the door. Not only wasn't he a well-dressed butler, but he was wearing cargo shorts and a polo shirt. After giving us each a warm hug, he led us into a large living room that was every bit as beautiful as my grandparents' but looked much more comfortable. I was relieved to see that everyone in the room was dressed as casually as we were. In addition to my father and his wife, there was a young teenage girl and an elderly couple.
The older man got up and enthusiastically came across the room as soon as he saw us. Aside from his silver hair and a few lines in his face, he looked just like my father.
"Well, we don't need a DNA test to know who this is." He took my right hand in both of his. "I'm Bobby Johnson, your granddad. And this is...?" He turned to Marcus.
"Marcus Williams, sir."
"Pleased to meet you." He let go of my hand to shake Marcus' hand. "But none of that 'sir' nonsense. Everybody in Augusta calls me Bobby and so should you boys."
"Ease up on the boys, Bobby. Jerry's a shy one and you're going to scare him off coming on so strong." My father had come up behind him.
"No chance of that, son. He's a Johnson and we don't scare very easily."
"Well, at least let me introduce him to the others and then you can get back to overwhelming him."
My father took us over to where his wife was sitting with the older woman.
"You know Carolyn, of course, and this is Charlotte Johnson, my mother, your grandmother."
"Nice to meet you, ma'am."
"Oh please, call me Gran." She stood and hugged me, then pushed me away and turned me completely around. "My, you're beautiful." She hugged me again and this time when I stepped back I saw her eyes glistening.
Dad touched my elbow and moved me along.
"And here, last but certainly not least, is your sister, Kaitlyn, or Kat."
She remained seated and frowned, looking back and forth between Chipper and me.
"As if one of you wasn't enough. This is so not fair."
I froze as I sensed the resentment in her voice. I should have known not everyone would be happy with my appearance. I was wondering what kind of reply I could make when she burst into a fit of giggles.
"You are so easy, almost as bad as Chipper."
"So you're okay with me?" I asked with relief.
"Yeah, actually I think it's kind of cool, like that Disney movie, The Parent Trap, where those twins didn't even know about each other until they ran into each other by chance. And I get an extra brother but I haven't had to put up with any hassles from you my whole life. So is this your boyfriend?"
She pointed to Marcus who had been standing by my side in silence. I tensed up again. Obviously my father and Chipper knew I was gay but after the experience the night before I wasn't sure I wanted the subject to come up in front of another set of grandparents.
"Oh relax, Bobby and Gran are cool. They're not gonna have a stroke or anything."
"Yeah, this is Marcus."
Marcus gave her a smile that seemed a little threatening. "You may be able to pull your crap on Miah, but I've got two younger sisters, so I know how to deal with girls like you."
Kat seemed to take that as a challenge and grinned. "You may think you do, but we'll see."
My second family evening went so much better than the first. From all I'd heard, the Johnsons had so much more money and social standing than the Waltons, but in spite of that they were a lot more down-to-earth and easy to be with. The evening was full of laughter, especially from Kat. I couldn't remember more than just a slight smile from any of my cousins the night before. Our dinner was a cookout on the patio, with lots of sloppy barbequed chicken and ribs. The only down moment was when my father asked how things had gone the night before. I tried to gloss over it but it was hard to make the dinner sound like anything other than the disaster it was.
"I've known Jonathan Walton since we were kids and he's always been a prig," Bobby muttered.
"That's right," Gran added. "He and Sarah are always so serious, looking at life as if it's something to be resisted. They seem to think that if someone is having fun they must be doing something wrong. They don't realize that one can live a good life and experience joy at the same time."
I really didn't want to think about them so I was relieved when Carolyn changed the subject by asking Marcus and me about school. The evening flew by and before we knew it, it was time to go. I told Chipper about Uncle Pete's suggestion that we do something with my cousins the next day and asked if he had any ideas.
"It's supposed to rain overnight so we might want to plan something indoors." He thought for a minute. "I know, the Fort Discovery Museum!"
"A museum? That doesn't sound like fun."
"It's a science center with all kinds of cool exhibits. Trust me, you'll like it. And it's right by the Riverwalk so if the weather clears up we can hang out there in the afternoon."
"Okay, I'll take your word for it. I'll call you after I've talked to Uncle Pete."
As Marcus and I got up to leave there was lots of hugging and kissing, just how I always imagined it would be with family. We were both feeling a lot better when we got back to the hotel than we had the night before.
Saturday morning I called Uncle Pete and told him about Chipper's idea to go to the science center. He put me on hold for a minute while he called home and then came back, saying Aunt Kathryn would drop the kids off at the Comfort Inn in about an hour. I called Chipper and he agreed to bring Kat and meet us at the hotel as well. It turned out that Emily and Chipper had been in the same high school class and Richard, who preferred to be called Rick, was in the same school as Kat, so they weren't complete strangers.
The science center was even better than Chipper had said. We all had a great time and by the time we left the sun had come out so we were able to spend some time wandering up and down the Riverwalk. I kept looking around me and smiling. This was just what I imagined being part of a family could be, a bunch of kids laughing, joking, teasing and just generally enjoying each other. Kat was every bit the smart-ass she'd appeared to be at dinner the night before, but it was all in fun. My cousins were a bit quieter than her, but nowhere near as subdued as they'd been at our grandparents' house. I was sad when everyone had to go home to their individual families for dinner.
Marcus and I had an early supper at a restaurant near the hotel, went for a little walk afterwards and then turned in early. We had a long drive home the next day. Later that night, after we'd made love and were just cuddling in bed, Marcus asked me how I was feeling.
"So are you glad to be going home tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I am. I'm gonna miss moments like this with you, at least until I move into the condo, but I want to get back to the life I know. I enjoyed meeting my cousins and my father's family, and Augusta is a nice city, but I don't feel like I belong here."
"You got along great with most of your family. You shouldn't let your grandparents ruin all that for you."
"I'm not, but it seems to me that there's lots of sad memories for my family here. Uncle Coy, Aunt Aggie, Mom. It's not a good place to be a Walton if you don't fit in."
"Well, you fit in with me no matter where you are, Miah. Don't ever forget that."
Marcus and I were up and ready to leave at six Sunday morning. While the last couple of days had been much better than the first, I was ready to go home. My life was seven hundred miles to the north and I couldn't see any way the people in Augusta were going to be a big part of it. Chipper surprised us by showing up in the lobby just as we were checking out of the hotel. He walked us out to the car.
"I couldn't let my brother leave without saying goodbye again. I'm going to miss you, Miah." Over the weekend he'd gone from calling me Coy to Jerry to Miah. Since Miah was the name that I felt was most intimate, I was glad he was comfortable with that.
"It's been a good visit, even with all that crap from my grandparents. And it won't be long 'til you're back at school, so we'll be seeing lots of each other soon."
"Bet on it."
He gave me a long tight hug and then kissed me lightly on the lips. He then did the same to Marcus.
"Take care of my baby brother, y'hear?"
"You don't have to worry about that."
While I took the first driving shift, Marcus did most of the driving on the trip home. The schedule we'd planned was that I'd drive an hour and then he'd take over for two. That worked out pretty well. We made better time when he drove because I wasn't comfortable going over 65, but by the time we passed through Philadelphia I felt like I'd grown up driving the Mustang. It was nearly eight at night when I pulled into Marcus' parents' driveway. As tired as I was, I went into the house for a few minutes to say hi to his family before heading into Trenton. Even though the closing on the condo wasn't for another couple of weeks, Patrick had arranged for me to park the car in the lot there so I wouldn't have to leave it on the street. I used the card to open the gate and found my assigned space. After double and triple checking to make sure the car was locked and secure, I took my bag and walked to the rooming house.
It was depressing looking at my little bed, thinking about that huge comfortable bed in the hotel. But then I thought about the condo and how soon I'd be living there and my spirits rose. I quickly unpacked my bag and then picked up the phone to call Patrick. He'd made me promise to let him know when I got in. I hit the speed dial button and waited while the phone rang.
"Hey, Coy boy, how's it hangin'?"
I was startled by the sound of the wrong voice. "Derek? I'm sorry, I must have hit the wrong button. I was trying to call Patrick."
"You hit the right button. This is his phone. Wait a sec, here he comes."
A few seconds later, Patrick was on the line. "Hi Coy, are you back home?"
"Yeah, I got in a few minutes ago. What are you doing with Derek?"
"Well, that's a pretty personal question, but given our history I'll give you a personal answer. We're fucking."
"Okay, that's more than I needed to know. I won't ask any more questions. I just wanted you to know I made it home all right and the car is over at the condo."
"That's good to hear. Call me at the office in the morning, Coy. There's something I have to talk to you about."
"That doesn't sound good."
"It's nothing for you to worry about. You must be exhausted from your trip. Get some sleep and I'll talk to you tomorrow."
I went across the hall and used the bathroom, then came back, stripped and got into bed. I lay there thinking about Patrick and Derek fucking and started to play with myself as I got hard, but then stopped myself. As hot as the two of them were, it wasn't right for me to think of them that way. They were my friends and the sexual part of my relationship with each was over. But as their friend, I couldn't help but smile as I turned over to go to sleep. They were both great guys and I was glad they'd found each other.
To be continued.