Psychic Detective 24 By: Jake Preston
This is a work of erotic gay fiction, intended for readers who enjoy a murder mystery in which fully developed characters interact sexually and in other ways. Their sexual encounters are sometimes romantic, sometimes recreational, sometimes spiritual, and almost always described explicitly. My attention is equally divided between narrative, character development, and sex scenes. If you don't care for this combination, there are many other excellent "nifty" stories to choose from. And remember that while nifty stories are free, maintaining a website is not. Please think about donating at http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html
Writing is usually a solitary avocation, but not necessarily so on nifty.org, where a longer story appears in installments. If my characters and my story grab your attention, you can always intervene with suggestions for improvements. All sincere comments will get a response!
Jake, at jemtling@gmail.com
Chapter 24 A Commitment Ceremony for Jack and Calvin
Friday morning. Calvin led Jack upstairs to the bathroom. They showered together. "Our clothes are still damp. They're in the dryer, but you can wear this," Calvin smiled as he tossed pair of black jockey-shorts to Jack. Calvin, of course, had fresh clothes to wear.
"You want your folks to see me like this?" Jack asked.
"I want them to accept that we're lovers," Calvin said. "Maybe I want to show you off a bit."
"I thought you did that last night," Jack laughed.
In the kitchen, Jack stood by the counter while Sarah poured his coffee. "I just heard the dryer go off," she said. "Calvin, go downstairs and fetch Jack his clothes so he doesn't have to stand around half-naked. Not that I'm complaining, but I don't want your boyfriend catching a chill."
"Yes, Mom," Calvin grinned.
After breakfast, they drove north to Lake Ashawa. Sarah said she wanted to ride with Jack. Abraham rode shotgun with Calvin. At Sarah's request, Jack told his life story, how he grew up on the Res and was bullied in school, got a scholarship to Emory University, and returned to Lakota as a sheriff's deputy; how the Council on Public Safety appointed him sheriff; how he and Göran Svenson compared crime scenes in their districts and started on the hunt for Howard Coleman, otherwise known as Albino.
"I wonder, Jack," Sarah said, "has it occurred to you that the diversion created by these two FBI agents...." "Ross Kratz and Guy Stone," Jack interjected. "Guy Stone and Ross Kratz, yes, them, is it possible that they deliberately undermined your investigation?"
"Why would they do that?" Jack asked.
"Well, for one thing, to prevent county and city lawmen from getting credit that they wanted for themselves. Maybe they felt uncomfortable working in a gay bar, with gay lawmen, defending gay victims. The FBI has never been friendly to gays or lesbians. Maybe they're disciples of Albino. That happens sometimes, doesn't it?" Sarah said. "Why would they confiscate the videotape evidence?"
"No one can dispute their doing that, since the FBI owns the case," Jack said. "Still, we have our own videotape. Jésus captured the scene on his cellphone."
"Jésus García Moreno?"- Sarah knew him by name and reputation.
"The same," Jack said. "To tell the truth, Sarah, I was hoping we'd get a break in the case this evening. Jésus did his part. He spread the word that I would be at Apollo's for a strip-tease act, just like I did on last week on Saturday night. CC didn't tell you about that, did he? I had no previous experience as a go-go dancer, but I'm pretty good at it. Göran Svenson had an intuitive feeling that Coleman would be there. He was right. How could he have known that we'd be betrayed by two FBI agents? So we didn't get a break in the case. This means that the serial killings will continue- with five victims at each crime scene. Göran thinks that the next crime scene will be somewhere around Lake Ashawa. I've learned to trust his intuition. But I have to return to South Dakota on Monday. I have no choice. If I don't get back to my post, I'll lose my job. I've invited CC to come with me. He hasn't given me his answer yet."
"It's a difficult step for Calvin," Sarah said. "He's lived all his life in Duluth. The furthest he's been out of state is across the High Bridge. It would be good for him to get away for a while. But I wonder, what would his life be like in Lakota?"
"My home is on the Reservation, but it's also on the edge of the town of Lakota, which isn't part of the Res," Jack said. "He'd be living in two worlds, as I do. Lakota College has a baccalaureate program in anthropology with an emphasis on Native Americans. CC is interested in that. It's his latest passion."
"That's news to me," Sarah said.
"It's not because of me," Jack said, answering a question that Sarah didn't ask. "He spent time with a neighbor named Red Hawk, who is the Ojibwe nation's official anthropologist. Red Hawk gave him some books, and showed him some unpublished birch-bark scrolls. He's taken an interest, enough for him to persevere in college, I think. And if he decides to start up another rock-'n'-roll band, he'll be the only game in town."
"You seem to know my son very well," Sarah said.
"I know he's a late bloomer," Jack replied. "He squandered a couple years. He should be a college senior. Instead he's a sophomore. But he's found his magic slippers and he's taking off."
If Jack hoped to find an advocate in Calvin's mother, he was mistaken. Sarah had no intention of coaxing Calvin to move to South Dakota, but she wouldn't oppose it, either. It had to be Calvin's decision.
Late Friday morning, Göran and Jack boated to Eight Eagles Island, on duty. Tom Preston followed in his Kris Kraft, carrying Anna Ravitch, Calvin, and Abraham and Sarah Cohn. They scouted for eagles and loons and were not disappointed. An osprey made an unexpected appearance. When they cut their motors and drifted near the island's north side, the cry of a loon enchanted the channel. Then they saw more loons, a congregation of loons haunting the channel with loonings and echoing after-cries. "I've never seen so many loons in one place before. What a racket!" Tom said.
Dmitri and David entered the channel, speeding along silently in their 'stealth canoe'. They pulled up to the Kris Kraft. "Did you see the kingfisher perched on the fallen tree trunk next to our landing-rock?" Dmitri asked, softly so as not to frighten the birds. Tom passed his binoculars around so the passengers on the Kris Kraft could see.
"I can see why the Ojibwe regard this island as a sacred place," Jack said. "That's what the birds came to tell us- the eagles, the loons, the osprey, the kingfisher, the heron...."
"What heron?"
"To your left in a scatter of rocks by the shore," Jack said. "Your other left, on the lakeshore, not the island."
Everyone looked north to see the heron. Deeper in the woods, Göran spotted a turkey- vulture circling above some trees. Then there were two. He pointed them out to Jack, who nodded but said nothing. Only Anna Ravitch and Sarah were able to read a look of concern in his eyes.
"Tom, David... David, listen up, David," Jack said: "We can't make a landing on the island. Göran is going alone, to check out the crime scene. When he's finished, we're all heading home together. Dmitri and David will lead the way in their canoe. Everyone sticks together. And keep the noise down. This channel is an echo chamber."
"What's this all about, Jack?" Calvin asked softly.
"It's the birds," Jack said. "They're acting weird. Göran says that Manitou sent the birds to warn us off, because of the danger."
Göran returned from his expedition and got back into Jack's boat. He looked solemn.
"This won't be the first time we've paddled home from Five Spirits," Dmitri said.
"Don't let's go in open water," Jack said. "Hug the shore. That way we'll see some wildlife, but while you're at it, keep an eye open for any sign of human visitors."
Dmitri and David led the way in their canoe. The Kris Kraft followed. Tom kept its motor on low, except when he cut it altogether and the boat drifted. Sarah sat next to Anna Ravitch. While everyone else surveyed the shore, Sarah and Anna looked back at Jack and Göran. Jack raised the motor and used the oars. Göran kept busy on his cellphone, except when they looked at some pictures that he had taken. "I heard Göran say something to Jack," Sarah whispered to Anna. "He said 'a Matthew Shepard fence'. Does that mean anything to you?"
"It does," Mrs. Ravitch said. "It means murder."
"Oh my God! We're in the middle of a murder mystery!"
They paddled and chugged in three boats along the shore. "Niña, Pinta, and Santa María," Calvin called them. They saw five speedboats cross the bay in open water, each with four men. "I called in a search party for Deputy Nelson and the Sergeant," Göran said. "They're going to search the woods north of Eight Eagles- at least until they find whatever it was that attracted the turkey-vultures. Harv Winik is leading the search."
"So that's why we're keeping to the shore," Calvin said.
"Göran thinks of everything," Jack responded.
Late in the afternoon, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María reached Wayward Island Resort. Tom invited everyone for dinner in the lodge, on condition that Jack and Göran would brief them on the case. He invited Red Hawk, Sam Black Bear, and Ben Hasek to join them too. After dinner, Tom lit a fire in the parlor. The party of ten formed a semi-circle around the fireplace. Anna Ravitch sat next to Sarah Cohn, and at her side, Abraham and Calvin; then Dmitri, and Tom; Red Hawk, Sam Black Bear, and Ben Hasek. Jack and Göran stood at the fireplace, below Mrs. Ravitch's famous painting of 'Water-Hole Follies'.
Göran began the briefing: "We have two culprits. The dominant partner is Howard Coleman, otherwise known as Albino. He's a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at the University of Wyoming, working on a dissertation on sacrifice-rituals of the Nez Persé and the Lakota. Apparently he's expanded his research to include the Ojibwe. He's a very dangerous psychopath. A psychiatrist would call him a 'successful psychopath', because he's capable of holding down a job. This last academic year, he worked as an adjunct instructor at Brownwell College in Idaho Falls. That's new information. Coleman's partner in crime is a shorter, darker man, apparently a sociopath. They work together, but they have different motives. Coleman is interested in staging scenes of ritual sacrifice. His partner is motivated by blood-lust against young gay men. Because of their mixed motives, the crime scenes are complex. In a way, each scene is really two crime scenes: a highly symbolic ritual murder at the center, and intersecting this, a comparatively random placement of corpses radiating out from the center. The sociopathic killer is no less dangerous than Coleman. In fact, he's probably killed more victims."
"We've found four crime scenes," Göran continued. "Jack and I have tried to reconstruct a time-line for them. Jack, do you want to start with Eagle Cap?"
Jack agreed: "Eagle Cap is the name of a forest around Mount Howard, in the Wallowas in northeastern Oregon. The first crime scene there is about five miles away from the nearest road. The remains of five people are so scattered by animals that we can only speculate about what the original scene looked like. Forensic anthropologists have dated it to 2008 or 2009. From 2007 to 2010, Howard Coleman was working as a doctoral candidate at the University of Wyoming, but he didn't take classes or work in the summers of 2008 or 2009, so we believe that the first group of murders took place in one of those summers."
"He's rather well spoken, isn't he?" Sarah whispered to Anna Ravitch.
"Good looking, too," Anna whispered back.
"In point of time, the second group of murders took place in the vicinity of Buffalo Run, in Lakota County, South Dakota," Göran said. Jack looked surprised. "We haven't found the crime scene, but it's there. When Jack returns to his post on Monday, he'll start looking for it. In the summer of 2013, the third crime occurred at Eight Eagles Island. Everyone here knows about it. Eight Eagles was the first crime scene to be discovered."
"The next crime occurred at Buffalo Run, late in the summer of 2013-the fourth group of murders, assuming that Göran is right about the missing crime scene," Jack said. "It's a rugged, rocky terrain in an uninhabited region of the Reservation. One of the victims was roasted over a fire. Four others were strangled."
"That brings us back to Eagle Cap for the fifth crime scene," Göran said. "It was the third scene that we found, in the woods at the foot of Mount Howard. In this case, three of the victims were impaled on poles stuck in the ground, while two others were strangled. It took place early in the summer of 2014."
"The reason we called this meeting today is that Göran and I have decided to leak information about this investigation to the news media," Jack said. "Now that the killers know we're on to them, there's no reason to keep it secret."
"I've spoken to Ken Dorsey- the editor of North Country Advocate in Duluth. He's a friend of Jésus García Moreno, the bartender at Apollo's." Göran said. "As soon as we've finished here, I'm going to transmit our narrative and photos to Dorsey. He'll publish everything that we send him. He told me that he'd probably break the narrative into sections, and add an editorial of his own, but he won't leave anything out. It'll be an exclusive for him, in a special edition of the Advocate, which will come out on Monday. We can expect that the news will go national by Wednesday, and international by the end of the week."
"That's why we want to hear your questions now," Jack said. "Other people are bound to have the same questions that you have, so whatever you ask, we'll incorporate it into the story that we send to the Advocate. So- questions, please!"
"I've got a question for you, Jack," Red Hawk said. "Could you comment on the dynamic that links the two killers?"
"It was Göran who first realized that each crime scene is really two crime scenes," Jack replied. "One is symbolic. That's the psychopath at work. He's driven by a cause. The other is random. That's the sociopath, whose killings seem opportunistic. Any symbolism or organization in his work is imposed by his psychopathic partner. It's difficult to make other generalizations, because the link of a psychopath and a sociopath is an unusual combination. I've been reading up on the literature about serial killers and have yet to find any mention of this possibility. One thing they have in common is that they've grown confident. The number of killings has accelerated over time."
"This is typical of serial killers," Göran added. "Unless they're caught, the number of killings will increase. But with confidence comes carelessness. They've started leaving more clues."
Anna Ravitch had another question: "Do you have any idea what Howard Coleman's motivation might be?"
"Our theory is that Albino- Howard Coleman- marks each crime scene with a unique torture-scenario that he borrowed from a book," Jack said. "He's supposed to be writing a dissertation about ritual sacrifice, human sacrifice, which he claims was practiced by Indians in North America. When he started, he compared Nez Persé and Lakota rituals, which he thought were derived from the Aztecs. It's possible that his earliest murders were attempts to plant fake evidence to support his thesis, because he couldn't find any examples of human sacrifice. Then he extended his pseudo-study to include the Ojibwe nation. According to Red Hawk and Dark Eagle, sacrifice was never part of Ojibwe ritual: not human sacrifice, not sacrifice of any kind. This is true of the Lakota people, too, so far as I know. I don't know about the Nez Persé in general, but when we were in the Wallowas, we asked people about this. They didn't know anything about sacrifice. No doubt it's frustrating to Coleman, to be pursuing a wrong-headed thesis. It's also possible that he fancies himself as some sort of transcendent shaman on a mission to revive human sacrifice among Indian nations."
"It's a common error, to assume that sacrifice is a concept in all religions," Mrs. Ravitch said. "It's a Eurocentric projection- due in part to the influence of Judeo-Christian tradition. But we need go no further than Crane Lake to see that the Ojibwe never practiced sacrifice. Isn't that right, Red Hawk?"
"The birch-bark scrolls never mention sacrifice. That's the oldest extant source of information," Red Hawk replied.
"How did you track Coleman to Idaho Falls?" Abraham wondered.
"We followed up on letters of recommendation written for him by his professors at Laramie," Göran said. "Brownwell was one of eight colleges that received letters."
The meeting ended. Abraham and Sarah Cohn, and Calvin and Jack, walked down the trail to their lakeside cabin. For Jack it would be his first 'official' night as a future in-law. It wasn't an easy situation for him, but he endured it for Calvin's sake, and found that the Cohns had warmed up to him. A few minutes later, David knocked at the cabin door. "Göran tells me that you all are driving to Virginia for synagogue tomorrow morning," he said. "Dmitri and I would like to go, too, and Mrs. Ravitch. You know she's part-Jewish. If it's all right with you, we'll go in separate cars. Mrs. Ravitch wants to stop at her home in Hibbing on the way back."
"That's fine," Jack said. "After synagogue we're driving to Crane Lake to see Dark Eagle."
"Calvin's folks, too?" David asked.
"Yes, we've got a family matter to discuss," Jack said.
"Then we'll see you in the morning," David said.
Before bedtime, Calvin and Jack talked about their plans with Abraham and Sarah. "Mom and Dad, we've decided to live together on the Lakota Res," Calvin said. "Jack asked Dark Eagle to give us a commitment ceremony, tomorrow afternoon. If you agree, we'll be the only ones there."
"Shouldn't a commitment ceremony be more public?" Sarah asked. "At the very least, I'd like Anna Ravitch to be there. She's been a good friend to me."
"You're right, it should be more public," Calvin agreed. "But in our case it's more of an engagement ceremony. Jack and I have agreed to get married, but not until next summer. We don't want two public ceremonies. We want tomorrow to be more private, more intimate. That's why you and Dad are the only guests we're inviting."
"Where and when, for the wedding?" Abraham asked.
"It has to be in Minnesota, since same-sex marriage isn't legal in South Dakota," Calvin said. "We want it to be at the Summer Solstice Powwow, at the Ojibwe Monument on Rice River, if we can find a rabbi who will agree to that."
"Except for the rabbi, it will be a no-expense wedding," Jack said. "The Ojibwe Nation will cover everything. That's their policy for Summer Solstice weddings."
"And here I was hoping you'd find a nice Jewish boy, CC!" Sarah exclaimed. It was the first time she called him 'CC' instead of 'Calvin'. Jack was already influencing her speech and her thought.
"Maybe you already have done," Calvin replied.
Abraham and Sarah looked surprised.
"I've decided to convert to Judaism, if it's possible," Jack said. Dark Eagle told us that there's no conflict with shamanism, since 'Manitou' is really just the Ojibwe word for 'Yahweh'. 'Manitou' means 'Great Spirit'. It's one of God's sacred names. To be truthful, my years in Lakota have been completely secular. It was Dark Eagle who persuaded me to seek spirituality, but we haven't had an active shaman in Lakota for years. At least with Judaism, CC and I can share a spiritual life. And if we ever get a real shaman, I can practice both faiths without contradiction."
"What about CC, would he become shamanist too?" Sarah asked.
"That's up to CC," Jack said.
"I'll become shamanist, if they'll have me," Calvin interjected, "but not for the reason you're thinking. I want to become an anthropologist and study Native American cultures. Shamanism will help me with that."
"What about circumcision, Jack?" Abraham asked. "It's universal for Jewish men. Would you be willing and able to accept circumcision?"
"That's up to CC," Jack said. "If circumcision is required, then I'm willing to be whatever CC needs me to be."
Abraham and Sarah looked at Calvin and waited for a response.
"Jack has already accepted circumcision in his heart," Calvin said. "But I'll tell you up front, I will not give up his foreskin. It's an important part of our sex life. I don't do without it, unless by some unforeseen medical necessity."
Abraham thought for a while, and said, "Uncircumcision is no bar to marriage. And if you can find a progressive rabbi, being intact is no bar to Judaism, either. There's a growing movement among liberal American Jews to reject circumcision for newborn boys."
"Dad," Calvin said, "Dark Eagle told us that the commitment ceremony will include a father's blessing as part of the ritual."
"After the events of this day, how can I refuse?" Abraham replied. "Jack has proven himself to be the best partner any son of mine could have."
"There had better be a mother's blessing too, young man!" Sarah exclaimed to Calvin.
"Don't worry, Mom. There'll be a mother's blessing," Calvin replied.
Jack and Calvin gave the cabin's best bedroom to Calvin's folks. They took the second bedroom, unaware that it had a door that didn't latch properly, and opened slowly to a view of the living room. When they retired, they lit a mood candle and made love. Abraham went to bed, but Sarah sat in the living room sofa in the dark, pondering the way her son's life had changed so quickly. When the bedroom door slid open, she saw Calvin and Jack in candle-lit profile facing each other, kneeling on their bed. Her first thought was that she should get up and close the door, or at least sneak off to bed. Either way, they would know it was her, so she stayed on the sofa. She closed her eyes for a while, until curiosity and maternal instinct got the better of her. When she opened her eyes, she saw them still kneeling together while Calvin pulled Jack's foreskin over his own penis. They kissed and took turns fondling and frotting their pellicularly-conjoined cocks. Jack's orgasm was audible. Even from the distance of the sofa, Sarah caught the fragrance of man-scent. She closed her eyes again. When she opened them she saw, in profile, Jack frog- legged on his back while Calvin fucked him with increasing ferocity. The harder Calvin fucked him, the more Jack seemed to like it. Both men moaned with pleasure when Calvin orgazzed inside of Jack.
Sarah noted the imposing athletic figure of Jack, his impressive uncircumcised genitalia, when he got out of bed to blow out the candle. She heard them snuggle in bed, and listened while they whispered softly and drifted into sleep. Only then did she dare get up and sneak into her own bed, secure in the knowledge of Calvin's happiness, and Jack's.
Saturday morning. The synagogue in Virginia is a white New England-style church with a steeple bearing the imprint of a cross that had been removed. "This used to be a Congregational church," Anna Ravitch said. David has a spare yarmulke and gave it to Jack to wear. Dmitri already had one, as he and David attended synagogue in Bemidji.
The interior of the synagogue had Congregational pews with little crosses engraved at each end, but the pulpit was moved to the right of the altar, and a lectern installed at the left. At the center, an altar table held a copy of the Torah, used by Rabbi Elizabeth for reading scripture. Abraham, Sarah, Calvin, and David chanted along with twenty-eight other congregants, while Jack and Dmitri took in the sights and sounds of the service. Anna Ravitch was in between: she remembered some Hebrew psalms, but mostly just listened. At the end of the service, Rabbi Elizabeth reminded the congregation of their fund-raising drive to raise money to commission the composition of a scroll to use in their services.
After the service, people were friendly to their visitors, who, after all, comprised one- fourth of the congregation that Sabbath. They could see that David and Dmitri were partners; even so, they encouraged them and Anna Ravitch to join their congregation. The Cohns and Mrs. Ravitch were immediately accepted as fellow Jews, but the synagogue members focused their curiosity on Jack. Imagine having a Lakota Sheriff in our synagogue! And to think he's the boyfriend is a sweet Jewish boy! Grist for the gossip mill for a week, but their talk was well intentioned.
The Rabbi was a professor of Religious Studies at Mesabi Community College. Like most academic rabbis, she was progressively inclined. When Jack had a chance to speak with her alone, he asked if she would meet with him and Calvin on Sunday to discuss their plans for a wedding next summer. Rabbi Elizabeth paused for a moment. "You're the Sheriff from South Dakota who's been helping investigate the murders on Five Spirits Island, aren't you? Is it true that you've had a similar crime in your county?"
"That's true- on the Lakota Reservation," Jack replied. "That's what brought me here the first time. Sheriff Matthews in Duluth sent out a description of Five Spirits, and I recognized similarities to a crime scene at Buffalo Run. The trail let us further west, to Oregon. We're pursuing new leads in Superior and at Lake Ashawa. But CC and I are leaving for South Dakota on Monday."
Rabbi Elizabeth mentioned that she had relatives in Pierre. "Then you must visit us in Lakota," Jack said. "It's only a two-hundred-mile drive." He gave the rabbi his business card, embossed with the image of a sheriff's badge.
While this conversation was going on, Sarah found a chance to speak alone with Anna Ravitch. She told her about the way that Calvin and Jack made love the previous night, and wondered what it could mean. "It's called docking," Mrs. Ravitch said. "It's not unusual in gay sex when one or both men is in possession of a foreskin. I shouldn't worry about it, Sarah, but I wouldn't let the boys know you saw them."
"I never meant to see them, but I'm glad I did," Sarah said. "It helped me to understand Calvin's objection to circumcision for Jack. Not that I have a voice in the matter, but if I had to speak up, I'd take Calvin's side."
Anna Ravitch had strong views about infant circumcision. She thought that male circumcision was just as wrongful as female circumcision in Africa and in Islamic cultures. She saw how some circumcised men never got over their resentment of it, and how the distinction between 'cut' and 'uncut' was a constant obsession with men. She saw how men driven by foreskin-envy lept into otherwise unwise relationships with uncut men. On this occasion, Mrs. Ravitch kept her opinions to herself.
When our party of four reached Crane Lake, they found Dark Eagle's cabin empty but followed a trail through the woods to the ceremonial wigwam. There they found Dark Eagle perched on an aluminum fold-up ladder, applying fresh paint to the symbolic images that decorate the wigwam.
"I've got the red, but if you each pick a brush and a color, we'll have the designs touched up on an hour or so," Dark Eagle said. The foursome kept busy with green, yellow, blue, and brown paints. They took turns sharing the stepladder for overhead symbols while Dark Eagle explained their meanings. Dark Eagle directed Abraham and Sarah to the opposite side of the wigwam, so they could paint colored symbols and listen without distracting Calvin and Jack. Then he asked Calvin how he met Jack.
"One night I was playing guitar and leading my band at Apollo's. It was one of those nights when Apollo's had a go-go contest. Jack was there under cover with Sergeant Svenson. He entered the contest. Afterward, we hooked up at Svenson's place. Göran hooked up with Jésus García Moreno," Calvin said.
"The lion lies down with the lamb, each with his own virtues, "Dark Eagle said. "Actually, Isaiah says that the wolf shall lay down with the lamb and the leopard with the kid, but I prefer the image of the lion, so excellent in beauty and strength and having a certain aggressive presence. Yet the last book of the Christian Bible beings with a lion and ends with a wedding to a lamb."
"How soon until the commitment ceremony starts?" Calvin asked.
"It's already started, CC," Jack said. "Just answer Dark Eagle's questions, and concentrate on painting."
"Oh," Calvin said.
"What was your first impression of Jack?" Dark Eagle asked.
"I first saw him doing his impromptu strip tease, so my first impression was physical, even though I knew he was a lawman on a mission and there was more to him than good looks," Calvin said. "He was stunning and dramatic. That's what struck me."
Dark Eagle asked Jack the same question. "Calvin's a cute guy, and he's nice to everyone," Jack said. "He's a quick understudy. He knew what to do to help me make my strip- tease act seem real. And he's my type. I've had to explain this before. I don't understand why other people think it so strange. Some guys seem to think I should be looking for a mirror-image of myself, like I was Narcissus. I've been with athletic hunks.... Not that many, CC! It was exciting, but when I'm with CC, I feel content. That's the word, content. On our first date, believe it or not, we talked about philosophy. That's when I realized I needed to go for him. Not to mention that sex with him is outstanding."
"I thought that was my line," Calvin laughed.
"CC, I already told your Dad that you're the top man in our relationship," Jack said. "Your folks already know this. Maybe I should have told you."
"That's more information than most parents know about their gay sons," Dark Eagle said. "Is there anything else you want to say about sex before our discourse turns to the topic of living together?"
"That's up to you, Jack," Calvin said. He was sensitive to the possibility that Jack might not want to share details about his role as a bottom.
"I know what you're thinking, CC," Jack said. "It's something basic about the quality of our sex life. Go ahead and say it, CC."
He wouldn't have done in view of his parents, but he all but forgot that they were on the other side of the wigwam- "When I make love to Jack, often he has an orgasm while I fuck him. It's because his foreskin is so sensitive. When my body glides over him, it makes him cum."
"And because CC is circumcised, he has to hump me pretty hard, not that I'm complaining!" Jack said. "Every time we make love it seems different, like we were making love for the first time. I couldn't be more satisfied with a lover."
"I've run out of yellow symbols to paint," Sarah Cohn said from the opposite side of the wigwam. "Is it okay if I switch to the orange ones?"
"Maybe we've painted enough for today," Dark Eagle said.
"Oh, no! Let's finish with the orange," Sarah protested. "A job worth doing should be done well."
They continued painting until the touch-up was finished. Dark Eagle then led them into the wigwam and invited them to sit in a close-knit circle on the ceremonial blanket. Jack and Calvin sat opposite Dark Eagle, while Sarah sat next to Jack, and Abraham next to Calvin. Dark Eagle lit tobacco in the calumet and started smoking. "The tobacco is laced with marijuana," he said. "Like the peyote ceremony, this one requires nudity but if Jack and Calvin remove their shirts, that will suffice as a symbolic nudity- unless Jack wants to undress and everyone consents."
"I want the ceremony to be authentic," Jack said. "In the sacred space of the wigwam, Lakota honor will be my clothing." Dark Eagle nodded his approval. While Calvin doffed his shirt, Jack stepped out of his clothes and stood naked. He thought it only fair that Sarah and Abraham should know what CC was changing his life in Duluth for, and why he was leaving for a Reservation in South Dakota. Abraham surveyed this specimen of youth, stoically but not without interest. Sarah was pleased with her eye-level view of Jack's intact cock and the foreskin that had been the object of previous discussions and of her observation at night in the cabin. She thought it gave his body an aura of mystery, the removal of which would be desecration. Jack winked at Sarah. "You know, the Swedes and the Finns use the sauna for exactly this purpose, to check out their future in-laws before they get married," he said.
"Sit down and stop showing off," Calvin laughed. Jack got into place between Calvin and Sarah. The peace-pipe was passed three times. Dark Eagle chanted a prayer to Manitou. It was in Ojibwe, but afterward he repeated it in English. Jack translated it into Lakota line by line, though he didn't attempt a chant, as he had no training as a shaman.
Prayer-time, for Sarah, was an opportunity to sneak a peek at Jack's junk, maybe her last chance, so she didn't refrain from looking. She had seen some of Anna Ravitch's paintings, but now, in the fullness of Jack, she gained appreciation for Anna Ravitch's interest in the male figure. She wondered why Jack hadn't posed for Mrs. Ravitch. Jack's cock expanded in his lap, like an accordion, causing his glans to appear, tentatively at first, and modestly, but then with a certain dramatic insistence, like a mischievous puppet popping out of a brown gunny. Was his foreskin retracting? Or was his membrum virile escaping its dark pellicular confine? Or both, simultaneously? Sarah marveled at its bright pinkish coloration, in contrast to the brown-almost- black foreskin, and in contrast to the dull flesh-tone of the glans of circumcised men. Jack's erection was involuntary. If he was aware of it, he made no effort to hide it. He kept his eyes fixed on Calvin.
After the prayer to the Great Spirit, Jack and Calvin sat facing each other in the center of the blanket and locked their hands together. Having to change his position, Jack became aware of his erection, and blushed. Calvin grinned. Dark Eagle, Abraham, and Sarah stood over them and placed one hand on each of their heads while Calvin pledged loyalty to Calvin, and Calvin pledged loyalty to Jack. In his own words, Abraham stated his approval of their union, and recited a short blessing in Hebrew. Sarah stated her approval, too, and repeated Abraham's blessing in English. Jack and Calvin sealed the ceremony with a kiss.
"Mr. and Mrs. Cohn, it's time for us to leave these young men in the wigwam, to meditate on the vows they have taken," Dark Eagle said. Jack and Calvin heard their voices as they made their way down the trail through the woods. "Thank you for letting us help paint the wigwam," they heard Sarah say to Dark Eagle.
Calvin pulled Jack into a lover's embrace. They shared a passionate kiss. Jack tugged at Calvin's belt buckle. Calvin pushed his hands away. "Not yet," he said. "I like having you naked while I've still got pants on."
Jack smiled and gave Calvin an erotic look. "So you like wearing the pants in this wigwam," he laughed.
"The only pants you'll get are smarty-pants," Calvin quipped. He groped and fingered Jack's body in search of anatomical parts as yet unexplored. He ran the tip of his tongue into Jack's nostrils, his ears, his pits, the little valleys between his toes, his navel, his piss-slit, and around the inner lining of his foreskin. He straddled Jack and pinched his nipples. "Think about my cock up your ass while I nip you," he said.
"Yeah, okay," Jack replied. Calvin alternated between nipping and gently massaging Jack's torso while their eyes locked in a mutual gaze.
"You know how much I like it when the feeling of surrender comes to me," Jack said. "That's where I'm at now."
Calvin told Jack to show off his ass in different positions. With each new pose, Calvin ran his tongue into Jack's hole. Jack frog-legged to maximize Calvin's reach. "You've got a beautiful hole, Jack, but it looks like it could use a bit of stretching," Calvin said. Lust came to Jack. He clawed at the bulge on Calvin's crotch. Calvin ran his tongue down the length of Jack's cleft. He wiggled the tip of his middle finger along the rim of Jack's hole.
"I want you to breed me," Jack said.
"Get doggie-style," Calvin said. He tossed the lube-tube to Jack. "I want to watch you get your ass ready." He stepped out of his trousers and shorts while Jack applied lube to this hole. "Just one finger, Jack," Calvin said. "I want you tight, so you'll get maximum sensation when I penetrate you." Jack looked back at Calvin and grinned.
Calvin knelt between Jack's legs and aimed his cock at the target. He pressed down on Jack's lower back to adjust his position. He pawed at Jack's ass-cheeks and looked. "Beautiful ass," he said.
Calvin drove his plunger into Jack without mercy. Jack yowled and groaned. "Son of a bitch! It's like getting reamed for the first time. Hmmmm!" Jack said. Calvin alternated between furious humping and gentle massaging of Jack's anal canal. He experimented with punch- fucking Jack, but pulling his dick all the way out and driving it back inside.
"Name one beast that has feet growing out of his shoulders," Calvin said.
"The beast with two backs," Jack replied. He flipped over so Calvin could mission him. The friction of Calvin's belly-hair gliding over foreskin caused Jack to orgazz. Calvin withdrew his cock and leaned forward to lick up the jizz. Inspired by its fragrance and taste, he re- penetrated Jack and humped until he planted seed in his partner's anal canal.
"I hope I wasn't too rough," Calvin said later, during the quietude of après-sexe.
"Are you kidding? It was wonderful," Jack said.
"I was afraid I might hurt you when...."
Jack put a finger on Calvin's lips. "No regrets, CC. There's room for a bit of erotic pain between lovers."
"Erotic pain, hmmmm," Calvin said.