Shadow of My Father

Sophomore Year 18

Written by: J.P.G.

{"The Shadow of My Father" is pure fiction. As I am writing this story, I am above the age of 21. If you want a story with lots of sex, look elsewhere. This is a love story. Seeing, as it is a love story, sex is in there, but it is in realistic balance in the characters' lives.

Any similarity to any real events, names, or life events is purely accidental. If you are underage, (according to your state laws, a minor), if this literature is offensive to you or to anyone around your viewing area, or it is illegal for you to view such content where you are reading it, stop reading the story.

This story cannot be distributed in anyway, shape or form without authors' express written consent.}

Story Written by: J.P.G.

Love Scenes Written By: Trevor

Edited By: "Daddy" Rick

Edited By: Trevor

I have a home page for you to see what the characters look like or what the places look like. If you want to walk in their shoes, please go to: http://jacobmillertex.com/

Chapter 18

Brandon, along with his brothers made their way to the SUV to head home. Unlike every other day of the week, as soon as they get to the house Brandon is right back out the door heading to his therapist. He barely has enough time to drop off his backpack in his room and straighten himself up before heading out the door again.

No matter how many times he's made himself late for his appointment, Brandon doesn't leave without talking with Josh. They don't talk about what he's going to say to his therapist. No, they talk about everything else under the sky except that. It makes Brandon unwind and more comfortable going to his appointment.

Today something in the pit of Brandon and Josh's stomach was telling them something, which they can't put their finger on. They both agreed that something at his appointment today was going to happen and it was going to be for the good.

All the way to his therapist's office, that's all Brandon was thinking about. At first, he thought he was going out of his mind thinking that, but hearing that his brother, the one he looks up to the most, has the same feelings he does makes him more comfortable with his feelings. On top of his brother having the same feelings, he said it without being prompted which made it more real to Brandon.

When he and his security detail arrived at his therapist, he walked into the building without hesitation. It surprised him when he realized he did that and it surprised Waite, his head of security.

As soon as he walked into the outer office the secretary told him to go straight in. Before he did, Waite sent in a couple of security agents to make sure there was no threat. Once the all clear was given, Brandon walked in as the security agents that went to check the office walked out, leaving Brandon alone with his therapist, something that not only the therapist demanded, but Daniel Sr. did as well.

The session was going along as usual. First, he was asked how his day was going, then his week and what he did over the weekend. Once they went through each day, how he felt and if anything had gotten to him in anyway, they moved on to other subjects.

As the clock was ticking down, Brandon started to fear that he and his brother were wrong; that nothing different was going to happen, but boy was he wrong. After forty minutes of the same ole same ole, the therapist asked Brandon to sit up on the couch. He did what he was asked, but what the therapist did next stunned him even more.

"Brandon you have made huge strides here and even more so in the last month. I need to talk with your father and I would like you here when I talk to him." Brandon just nodded his head as his therapist picked up the phone and dialed the number. It felt like an hour to Brandon before he heard his therapist speak, but it was only seconds. The therapist asked to speak with the Governor and then a few seconds later he heard his father's voice.

"Governor Lopez, I'm sorry to be disturbing you, I know you're a very busy man."

"No problem sir, I'll always make time for my family. To what do I owe this phone call? Is Brandon okay?" The Governor sounded worried and the boy's therapist quickly assured him that this call was all good news.

"As I was saying Governor Lopez, I'm not calling today to deliver bad news. Oh no, it's totally the opposite. Your son Brandon here has made huge progress, and as I said to him moments before calling you, he has made most of it in the last couple of months. I believe I know why and I think you know why as well."

"Yes I do, the biggest threat that brought my son to you is no longer around to cause trouble for him." The Governor tippy toed around the subject of his late ex-wife Martha because he didn't know how his son would react hearing her name. "He doesn't have to be looking over his shoulder all the time anymore, at least not for that threat."

"Dad, it's okay if you say mom's name, I won't freak out. She's gone, and I know this is probably wrong to think, but I'm glad. She didn't love us the way she should have as our mother. Instead, she made out lives bad because she had the power and she hated herself. It wasn't anything we ever did."

"That's one of many things I see in your son right now Governor Lopez. He not only is able to talk about his mother, but he's realized what happened to him and his brothers was none of their fault. He also has been able to forgive her for all the wrong she has done, which takes a lot of courage on his part. No sir, this young man, as I said, has made a lot of progress since I started seeing him.

I think the new foundation of your home is helping a lot as well. He not only has loving brothers that look after him, but he now has a loving, caring step-mother, along with his father, that would do anything to make sure he stays safe and no one ever hurts him again." The Governor was getting all choked up hearing what the therapist was saying. "I believe if he had that all his life, instead of one bad parent, your son would have never needed me.

With that said, I really do believe your son no longer needs to be seeing me or taking the medication he has been on." The Governor started to say something, but the therapist stopped him. "Now this will only work if nothing in the home changes. Every thing needs to stay stable in the home as it is, or Brandon might backslide back to where he was before he started seeing me, or maybe even worse."

"Sir, I understand everything you're saying and I'm so proud of my son for getting to this point, but I have a couple concerns. My biggest concern is the medication he is on. I heard that a person on that kind of medication can't be taken off of it cold turkey. By the sounds of what you are saying, you plan to do that.

Plus, my other concern is stopping his therapy so quickly. He has been seeing you once a week for now over a year. You are saying he doesn't have to do that anymore. Again, I'm happy and proud he's at that point, but at the same time concerned that you might be going a little too fast. Maybe move to once a month for a couple of months and then revaluate the idea of him not needing to see you again."

"Governor Lopez I understand your concern and believe me when I say I also had those concerns and many more. I looked at each of them and really weighed them out before I even saw your son today. By the time I made this call, I was sure of this decision to be the right one for Brandon. Your son no longer needs to see me or any other therapist for that matter. All he needs is you, his mother and brothers, which he has.

As far as the medication he's on, you're right he can't be taken off of it cold turkey and I didn't plan to do that either. I was going to slowly bring down the dosage until he could stop it all together without any side effects. Just like any medication out there, there are side-effects while a person is taking it and again when they stop."

The therapist looked over at Brandon. "My door is always going to be open for your son if he ever needs someone to talk to. But again, I don't think that will happen since he has a loving family that truly cares about him. On top of that, he and his brother Josh have a relationship that, I believe, got him through all this, not me. I was just here showing your son the way and answering any questions he had."

The Governor didn't know what to say. He knew his two younger sons were close, but he never thought the relationship they have is what got them through the darkest days of their lives so far. At the same time, Daniel often wondered how Josh was able to keep it together after all his ex-wife put him through a lot more hell than she did with Brandon, but he kept it together. Now he sees how that was possible. Not only because of his boyfriend, his family, but the relationship he has with his younger brother.

"I'm very proud of you son, I truly am. We'll talk one-on-one when you get home later on this evening. Until then remember this, I love you with all my heart and I am very proud of you. I will make sure when Barbara gets back into town, you guys go out to eat tomorrow to celebrate what you accomplished here."

Brandon was barely able to keep it together. "Thank you dad..." Was all he was able to get out. He stopped because he didn't want the therapist or his father see and hear him crying and think the wrong decision was made. The therapist saw this, but didn't think what Brandon expected he would have. He thought the total opposite.

The therapist and Daniel Sr. talked a few more minutes before the Governor had to get off the line. They would have talked more, but the Governor was pulled away to a meeting that, by the sounds of it, he was waiting for. The therapist didn't delay him. He thanked the Governor for his time and hung up the phone.

As the Governor hung up the phone, he looked up at Rich. "He is in his office?" Rich nodded his head as the Governor got up and made his way around his desk. "Are you sure you are ready for this?" Once again, Rich nodded. "Okay let's go, but you stay outside of the office while I go in there. Hopefully I'll not be that long."

The two most powerful guys in Texas made their way down the hall. A few staff members tried to talk to them, but Rich asked them to hold off until he gets back to his office. They saw that they were on a mission and didn't say another word. They just stepped aside and let the Governor and the Chief-of-Staff walk on by.

When they reached the Lieutenant Governor's office, Rich stayed in the outer office while the Governor walked into the inner office. Lieutenant Governor Ceniceros stood up and met the Governor half way. They shook hands, greeted each other, but nothing really else was said. They took their seats and just stared at each other.

Lieutenant Governor Ceniceros could tell by the look on the Governor's face this meeting wasn't going to be at all pleasant. Over the last year and half, he's learned how to read the Governor and figured out not only his looks, but his body language. Today, both were telling him that the meeting isn't going to be pleasant.

"Robert I don't understand something and I need you to explain things to me." The Governor pulled out an orange envelope and pulled out the contents of it. "When everyone here in Austin turned their back on you after you pulled that stunt when I went and did my time in the Reserves, I was the only one that stuck by you. I even promised you when it came time for both us to go out and run for our offices again, I will do what ever I could to get you re-elected. So what I don't understand is why you did this."

The Governor tossed the items in the envelope onto the Lieutenant Governor's desk. Robert looked down at what the Governor tossed on his desk and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Not only did the Governor have the checks that were written to him when he sold the pictures of his sons when he was in El Paso, but he also had his bank statements and even pictures from security cameras in his bank when he deposited the checks.

"The thing that really confuses me about this whole thing is that you called me up and said that you were unable to make it to El Paso as you promised when I called you up after I got one of the worse calls a parent could get. You told me you were stuck where you were at, but that was evidently a lie. You did make it to El Paso. Not only that, you made it and took pictures of my son bleeding out and then you sold it to the highest bidder."

"Sir, please let me explain before you jump to conclusions. I did..."

"You did make it to El Paso. I know that now because my head of security pulled the video at El Paso International Airport that has you on it. Has you landing, getting into your limousine, and then leaving, to return a little less than an hour later! He also pulled the video from the hospital that has you taking the damn pictures.

What in the world made you even think about taking a camera there? There was no way you could have known you were going to get pictures. What, you thought just maybe you would be lucky? What kind of person thinks that way? What kind of father thinks that way? I know you would have flipped out if this happened to you with your kids."

The Lieutenant Governor tried to talk, but the Governor wouldn't let him get a word in edgewise. "I defended you to the head of the RNC. I told them that you are an asset and one day you would be sitting in my seat. To show them I really meant what I said, I brought you more into my camp when everyone around me told me not to do so.

I called you on my worst day and told you that I needed you. You and I talked as I was rushing out of my office to get home to be with my son. I let the past go and brought you in to be here in Austin in my place just in case something happened that needed immediate attention. You told me not to worry! You would meet me in El Paso to be briefed since you were in the area selling a bill that is pending on the floor right now.

Never in my ugliest thoughts did I think you were going to back-stab me like this." Once again the Lieutenant Governor tried to explain, but the Governor wouldn't let him. "You just went down to El Paso to take pictures of the worst day of my sons' lives to sell for a quick buck, why? I need to know why you would do that to the only person that has stood behind you."

"Sir I'm sorry, sincerely from the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry. Just as you said, as a father I would be angry as hell and wouldn't rest until I found out who was the one that took the pictures." Lieutenant Governor Ceniceros stumbled as he tried to cool off the Governor, but he saw no matter what he's saying was doing the trick. "I didn't go there to take the pictures. You need to believe me! Just as I promised I went down to get briefed by you and Rich and then head back to Austin, but I got stupid. I was blinded by the past and just started snapping away."

"Blinded by the past? That's just bullshit! If that was the truth, why take it out on me. I was not the one that turned his back on you. In fact, I was the one that went to the State Senate and asked them not to move on the impeachment, just make you apologize for what you did. Everyone else here in Austin and in our party were the ones that turned their back on you, so why take that anger out on me?"

"I know sir, I know you're right. It wasn't you, it was them." The Lieutenant Governor started to shuffle through the papers and pictures on his desk. "There is no excuse for this, none whatsoever. I won't even try to make one." Robert looked up from his desk into the Governor's eyes. "Even though you might not believe me, I'm sorry and wish that I could go back to that day and stop myself, but I can't."

"No you can't, and the saddest part is that you knew what you did was wrong. I really think you knew that at the time as well, but still you took the pictures. You had time to rethink it when you were shopping the pictures around, but again you didn't stop. Now my sons have to deal with everyone looking at them even more than they have because of this. They already have a hard time in public being the sons of the Governor and both being gay. You added to their troubles by these pictures."

The Governor got up from his seat and started pacing around the Lieutenant Governor's office. He still didn't know what he was going to do about this. All he was thinking was that he wanted the Lieutenant Governor to know that he knew what he did. However now, he wants more than that, but exactly what he doesn't know.

"Sir I will do anything to make this up to you, anything! I am aware you are working on two huge bills that you are making the corner stone of your administration. Believe it or not, I still have pull down at the houses and I will use that pull and get these bills passed. That's a guarantee!"

The Governor turned around and looked at Robert's face. He could see he was serious on his offer, but couldn't take him at his word anymore. Not after what he did with the pictures and tabloid. He has no honor and his word is worthless and can never be trusted again.

"You still haven't answered my question, why? You keep apologizing, which I feel you mean, but that is a little too late. The damage has been done. Now all I want to know is why. So stop dancing around the question like the politician you are and just answer the question. Why did you throw away our trust and friendship over pictures?"

The last part hit Robert as if the Governor walked up to him and punched him in the gut several times. The only person that stood by him when things were at their worst was this man, and he threw all that away. Now he knows that he not only lost the Governor as an ally, but as friend; something that both of them were working towards to make stronger.

"We both know that no matter what you say or do, I will never be elected again to this office or any office for that matter. Texas voters are the most unforgiving ones in the country. They don't forget the wrong a person does and when they have a chance to throw that person out of office, they'll do it with pleasure.

So, I guess I did it because I wanted to have some money for my family when I leave this job in less than two and half years from now. I have to put two kids through college and still find a way to support my household. These pictures got me a little closer to that, which again I wish now I never took them. Your friendship is more important to me than any amount of money I got off of these pictures. But now I lost that and there is no doubt about it."

"We were working towards a close and hopefully long friendship, but that ended the day you snapped those pictures. If you would have kept the pictures to yourself that would have been one thing, but you didn't. Like I have said several times in this conversation, you took the worst day in my sons' lives and just stretched it out even longer."

The Governor walked over to Lieutenant Governor Ceniceros desk to look straight into his eyes so Robert could see he means what he's about to say. "If I had the power to ask you to step down I would, but, you are elected like me. So, this is what we're going to do about this.

I can't trust a word that comes out of your mouth. So, that bit that you will help me pass my bills through is nothing but lies as far as I can tell. There is no doubt in my mind that when you get a chance, you will stab me in the back again. There is no way I am going to let you anywhere near me or my family to do that again.

Again, I don't have the power to fire you, but I do have the podium and all those that listen to me if I go out there and talk to them. If you don't want this to come out, you will step down. I don't care what you say to the press, health reasons or whatever, but it has to be done by the end of the day. If you can't be trusted, you shouldn't be in the position that you are in."

Lieutenant Governor Ceniceros was stunned on Governor Lopez's ultimatum. He never once thought in his wildest dreams that the Governor would have asked him what he just did. Yeah, he knew if he was found out, he would lose the Governor as a friend, but never this. Never to be asked to step down from a position the voters put him in.

"I understand your frustration, but there is no way I am going to leave this office in disgrace. I also believe there is no way you will go out there to the press and say a word because you love your family too much. You don't want to hurt them, and by opening this can of worms that is just what you'll do."

"You're right, I love my family with every ounce in my body, but you're wrong that I wouldn't go out there and tell the press what you did. I DON'T WANT YOU IN THE POSITION YOU'RE IN NOW!" The Governor yelled so loud that anyone near Lieutenant Governor Ceniceros' office was able to clear it as clear as day. "Don't test me! Step down or you will get thrown out of this office in disgrace. At least I'm giving you the option of a graceful and dignified resignation."

The Governor walked to the office door. "You have until the end of today to make the announcement. Go ahead and use the briefing room if you want, just make the announcement. If you don't, I will hold a press conference as soon as I drop my wife off at the airport. The decision is yours; and this time I hope you make the right one."

Not giving Lieutenant Governor Ceniceros a chance to reply, the Governor walked out of the office. Rich got up from his seat and walked with the Governor to his office. As soon as they walked in, Rich asked what happened, and the Governor told him everything. When the Governor was done, Rich was surprised on how Robert responded. Due to that response, Rich didn't believe that Robert was going to step down.

Since the Governor was in meetings all day long with the President of Mexico, he took this time to go over details of the bills that are about to go down to the houses. It only took them an hour and half to get through everything Rich needed to talk to the Governor about. Just as he was getting up to leave, the Governor's secretary walked in and turned on the Governor's television in his office.

At first, neither the Governor nor Rich knew why she did that, but not even a minute after the secretary turned on the television, Lieutenant Governor Ceniceros walked into the briefing room. For the first time since they came to Austin, the briefing room was quiet. So quiet you could hear a pin drop in the room.

"Ladies and Gentlemen I have a short statement to make to you, and I won't follow it up with questions." Lieutenant Governor Ceniceros looked straight into the camera. "For the last several weeks, I have been dealing with private matters at home with my wife. At first, I thought I would be able to handle what is going on at home and still do the job I was elected to do, but in the last forty-eight hours things have made that impossible.

As you all know my wife has been fighting a battle with breast cancer. It looked like she beat the cancer but, but it has come back. I love her with all my heart and right now, she needs me more than ever. I also love what I am doing, and that is why this decision I made was one of the hardest I have ever made in my life.

However, when it comes down to my wife or my job, there is no question what I am going decide on that matter." Robert took a deep breath as he looked into the faces of the reporters. "With a heavy heart, I'm stepping down as the Lieutenant Governor of this great state, effective immediately." Every member in the press corps didn't see this coming.

"Just before I came out here, I informed Governor Lopez of my decision. He tried to talk me into staying, but I had to turn down his request. He and I have had our problems in the past, but we've been able to overcome those problems and become really good friends. I enjoyed these last few months working alongside the Governor, not against this man. I'm not embarrassed to say this, I learned a lot from him.

He is a great man that is going to take this state to places we never dreamed possible. Along the way, he is going to hit some bumps in the road, but as long as you, the voters, stick with him, he will get through those bumpy roads. Trust this man and you won't regret doing so. He indeed is the right man for this state at this time."

Robert looked down at the podium for a few seconds and then back at the press. "I enjoyed my time as a public servant. I hope when the day comes that I am able to get back into the public service with my wife at my side and you all will as well. Please understand why I am doing this. I need to be with my family right now more than here."

The press thought that Lieutenant Governor Ceniceros was just taking a breather to get control of his emotions, but they were wrong, he was done. He turned and walked out of the room with his head lowered. They all thought it was because of what he said about his wife, but if they ever knew the truth, they wouldn't feel the sorrow for him. They would feel anger and disgust, just like the Governor.

As soon as Robert walked out, the Governor turned off his TV and looked at Rich. "Now it's your turn to shine Rich. You took the bullet for something that was not your fault and it's time for that to be corrected. As of this moment, you are no longer my chief-of-staff." Rich looked at the Governor as if he was going out of his mind.

"Instead I am sending you down to the state houses for their approval for you to be the next Lieutenant Governor." Hearing that, Rich knew for sure Daniel Sr. was out of his mind. "If they know what's best for them, they will do a quick conformation and get you sworn into office by the end of the month."

"Sir, there is no way the Senate will confirm me. They are going to want to put up one of their own. You know that just as much as I do. Plus, you can't use up your high approval rating on me when we've two major bills about to go down to the houses. Trust me they know what we are doing and will use you nominating me for Robert's job to their advantage. And when I say their advantage I mean they will make sure you waste all your political capital so you have none left for the bills."

"Rich, I know what I'm doing. You are my nominee end of story. So, go to your office and clear your stuff out so they can't say you're still working for me. Then go home and prepare yourself for the battle that is about to come. I know when the dust settles, not only you will be this states next Lieutenant Governor, but the bills that we have been working our butts off on will be law."

Not liking any of it, Rich knew that he couldn't win this fight, not once the Governor has made up his mind. So reluctantly, he agreed with his boss and made his way to his office to clear it out. As he started going through his stuff and boxing it, he started to think about what lays before him in the days, weeks and months ahead.

The rest of the week, all the people and news were talking about was the four major stories coming out of Texas. What surprised even the Governor was that not only the local news stations in Texas were running with the stories like the Lieutenant Governor stepping down, him nominating his former Chief-of-Staff for the position and a few other stories in Texas, but the national news was making them their top stories as well. It seems like the whole world was interested in what was going on in Texas.

There was only one good thing that came out of this. The talk about what was in the tabloids fell off the news completely. Not only it wasn't the lead story, it wasn't even in the news hour or in any part of newspapers anymore. That made the Governor happy because now his sons could return to a normal life without the news agencies asking them for a comment.

When Saturday morning rolled around, the dreaded talk the Governor was not looking for to have with his kids was here. There were several things that he needed to talk with his kids about that he has been putting off. One of which was the tabloid story. He knew he should have spoken with at least Josh and Cesar about it before he left because there was no way he should have kept the story from them. Then he found out how his boys heard the news, and it certainly wasn't the way he wanted them to find out.

Right after the Lopez boys finished breakfast, the phone rang and they all knew who it was. They made their way to the den where there was a phone with a speaker. Barbara answered it and spoke a few minutes with Daniel Sr. before putting the phone on the speaker. Everyone greeted their father and almost immediately, Daniel Sr. got right to it.

"I know there's been a lot going on in our lives for the last month and it seems like we haven't had time to really sit down and talk about any of it. Before I get into the things I want to talk with you boys, I would like to tell you all how proud I am of you on how you handled everything. A father couldn't ask for any more than you all have done.

With that said, I would like to first talk about the tabloid pictures. I know I was wrong not talking with you boys about them right away after I found out about them. I wasn't trying to hide them from you guys, it was just things kept coming up and I couldn't find the time to talk to you. I know that I wouldn't accept that excuse from you boys if you didn't tell me something, but it's the truth." The boys looked at each other and nodded their heads in agreement.

"Now that you guys know about the pictures, and again I'm sorry about how you found out about them. What do you think? Are you angry, hurt or it really doesn't faze you?" The boys once again looked at each other, but no one said a word. "Come on boys, I'm sure you all have an opinion on this. Don't clam up on me now."

"The only thing I was wondering dad is why you didn't come and tell us about the pictures?" To everyone's surprise, Cesar spoke first. "I mean we know you try and make sure nothing like that happens, but heck we live at a time that people love to see those kinds of things and read ugly stories truthful or not."

"Cesar I agree with what you said about a good percentage of the people out there love to see and read things about someone else's sorrows. Your sorrow was replaced by Roberts sorrow having to leave his position because of his wife. The only thing that will take that off the news is the next unlucky individual's bad day.

I know I really didn't answer the questions and for that, I'm sorry. I don't do that with the press, and I won't do that with my family." Daniel Sr. took a drink of his coffee before he continued. "As I said I don't have an excuse for not talking with you boys on that subject when I first found out. I just got busy and you all were busy, there was really not a time that we were all together in the house to talk about it.

This isn't a conversation I wanted to have at the dinner table or at Josh's party or any of your events. I wanted to talk with you guys like this, but never got a chance. With that said, I won't let that happen in the future." With a chuckle, the Governor continued. "I hope nothing bad like this happens again to any of us, but if that does, we will talk about it no matter what is happening at the time."

No one else had anything to say on the subject. They were all satisfied with the answer their father gave and his explanation. They also know that he tries his hardest to make sure nothing like what happened with the tabloids doesn't happen. But, they know no matter how hard he tries, things like that are going to happen.

The Governor moved onto other things he wanted to talk with the boys about. The rest were not that important, except the last thing that was brought up, but the Governor wanted his family's take on the smaller items. When he reached the last item, everyone knew about it and once again congratulated Brandon on getting out of therapy.

Once they got through everything, Barbara handed the boys their allowance and let them go. One at a time they walked by the phone, leaned in to say goodbye to their father, and told him that they loved him. They'd rather do that in person, but again they all understand why they can't, they have gotten used to saying I love you to a box.

Most of the afternoon, the boys were out at Wal-Mart spending their allowance. Not all of it, but pretty close to it. As they shopped, they teased Josh that he didn't need the allowance from their father any more since he has sold over a million CDs. They even teased Josh to give up his allowance to them and buy everything in the basket.

But, they knew that Josh had no way of touching the money he was earning from the CD sales and the concert. All of it is going into an account that no one can touch but him. However, that can't happen until he is eighteen, which sucks because the boys want a couple of things, but their allowance isn't enough. Josh really wanted to buy the stuff for his brothers for everything they have done for him.

When they got to the back of the store, where the video games, movies and CDs were at, they started teasing Josh again. Standing in the corner of that area was a life size cardboard cutout of Josh standing there. He was smiling, with a t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes on, holding out his CD. To the left and to the right of the cardboard cutout were stacks and rows of his CD.

Before Josh, Cesar and their brothers could get away. Several customers spotted Josh and walked up to him asking for an autograph. At first, Josh was afraid to sign the CDs since he had no idea if he was allowed to do that. That changed though when a manager walked over to see what all the commotion was about. When the manager saw who was cornered, he told Josh it was okay for him to sign the CDs.

It didn't take long after that for the word to get around the store that not only Josh was in the building, but also he was signing his CD. The line to the electronics department got so big that it reached all the way outside the store and around the corner. The Wal-Mart store didn't have enough copies for all those that were there. In no time flat, they sold out of theirs and then out of all the ones they had delivered from the other stores around town. Once the CDs were sold out, Josh signed the T-shirts that weren't sold, from the concert.

The store had that merchandise at fifty percent off, but after seeing how fast it was being grabbed up, they not only took it back to the regular price, but a few dollars more. The customers didn't mind. All they wanted was something that had Josh's name and face on for him to sign.

Then there were the girls, not only Josh's age, but a few years younger and even older. The majority of them were screaming and yelling out his name. Even a few fainted. That threw Cesar and their brothers off since they knew that the girls knew Josh was gay, but wanted him anyway. Even the older women, mothers and grandmothers were actually excited to meet Josh and get his autograph.

A trip that the Lopez boys thought was going to be only an hour turned out to being almost five hours long. By the time Josh was able to get out of the store, every one of his CDs and all the merchandise that Wal-Mart had from the concert was sold out. Wal-Mart even went as far as getting CDs and any merchandise that Kmart and Target had, which were sold before they could even put the items into their system. As the merchandise was being brought into the store, the customers snatched them up.

All the way home, the boys teased about what just happened. They teased Josh and Cesar about the girls. One after another they told Cesar he'd better hold onto his man as tight as he can because the women are out to get him. Each time their brothers teased them about that, Josh and Cesar came back to them in unison that there is no way anyone is going to break them apart.

It didn't take long for their fun to end and reality to set back in. When the boys woke Sunday morning, they found their mother and grandmother in the kitchen crying. The first thing that went through the boys minds was their father. They asked over and over again if their father was okay, but all they got from their mother and grandmother was sobs. It was Isabella who told the boys what was going on.

"The reason your mother and grandmother is crying has nothing to do with your father. He is okay." For the first time since they walked into the kitchen, the boys were able to stop worrying. "A young man that attended Irvin High School was found dead early this morning in the shower room of the basketball team.

According to the news, the young man had been missing since Saturday night. He was on the basketball team and played in the game on Saturday, but had to leave it after being taunted by his fellow team members and other classmates. It was getting so bad, even some of the people in the crowd got into the taunting that night.

According to what the news has been able to find out, he had been bullied at school ever since his best friend spread the word that he was gay. A day didn't go by for the poor kid since then that he wasn't hit or taunted. The kids at school made his life a living hell and he couldn't take it anymore."

Josh couldn't understand how anyone could do that to another human being. As he was listening to Isabella, he grabbed hold of Cesar's hand. They both held onto each other as tight as they could. Even at times, their brothers looked at them with worried looks on their faces.

"Isabella, how did he die?" Josh mumbled, but everyone was able to make out what he was saying. "I mean did he take his own life or did his friends and other students take the bulling too far and killed him?"

"I don't know because the press doesn't know yet. All they are reporting is that a janitor who was cleaning the locker rooms found the body of this young kid early this morning. His parents filed a missing persons report Saturday morning, but the police were unwilling to start looking for him since he was not missing for twenty-four hours yet.

In that same conversation, the police told his parents that their son is probably somewhere blowing off steam and will be back soon, but they didn't think so. They had a weird feeling something bad had happened and wanted them to start looking, but were denied. Now keep this in mind, this is what the news is reporting, so I don't know how much of it is true and how much of it is just hearsay and the news is going with it."

Not asking if breakfast was ready, Josh and Cesar ran to the theatre room and turned the television on to the news. It didn't matter what channel they chose because all of them were reporting the same story. They chose NBC since the reporter that was reporting on the story was standing outside of Irvin High School.

As they turned up the volume, everyone walked in and sat down. "We still haven't gotten much more information on exactly what happened to Irvin High School student Stan Dudley. As far as we know his body is still in the building and hasn't been removed, which is confusing because it has been almost two hours since his body was discovered."

The minute the reporter outside the school finished, the reporter at the studio put in her thoughts on why the body wasn't removed yet. "The only reason I would think that the body hasn't be removed is because the EPPD is unsure of how he died. They don't want to disturb the scene until they are almost one hundred percent sure on what happened."

"I agree with Cindy, but the longer they take, the more people they will have to deal with pushing back. When the news first broke that they found a student dead in the showers, there was no one out here, but as you can see behind me that has changed quite a bit. The amount of people that are out here right now is going to make it a lot harder for the EPPD and coroner to do their jobs."

The camera panned over to the entrance of the school and the crowd by the looks of it was at least in the hundreds. "I had a chance to talk to a family member of the student and I was told this young man has had a very hard time at school ever since his fellow classmates found out that he was gay. A day didn't go by that he didn't arrive home in tears caused by either physical or verbal abuse from other students.

His parents tried to talk with the principal here at Irvin, but they got the same response that they got from the police when they called him in missing. He is a teenager and he will work through it all on his own. That didn't make the parents happy, but they had no other choice but to keep sending their son to this school since they didn't have the means to move to another neighborhood so their son could attend another high school. Listen to the father on that subject."

The screen changed to an interview that was done earlier with the student's father. "We tried everything we could to get the bullying to stop. We went to the principal and were told it was life and our son had to learn to take it. I wanted to get over that desk and knock some common sense into the principal, but my wife held me back.

Then we tried to talk to the parents of the students that were giving our son a hard time, but again we got the same response. If fact, the response from the parents were worse than the one we got from the principal and our police department. There was no wonder why their kids were doing what they were doing. They learned that hatred at home." You could see that the father was fighting back his tears.

The screen switched back live to the reporter standing outside Irvin High School. "I stopped the interview at that point because Mr. Dudley became too emotional to continue. We didn't want to show that on TV or even record it. Once he gets control of his emotions, we'll go on. Trying to make sure he didn't fall apart again, I went to another subject, his son's happiness. Listen to what he had to say about that."

"Mr. Dudley was there a time after your son's sexuality was revealed that he was happy?"

"You won't believe my answer, but yes. There was one thing that actually made him really happy this last year. It made me and his mother think he was going to get through this." The interviewer asked what it was. "The Governor's son, Josh..." When Josh heard that, he felt every eye in the room on him. "Not only is this young man was out, but he's not afraid to show his love for his boyfriend." Cesar reached over and grabbed Josh's hand. "He wanted to go and attend the same high school as Josh. My wife and I tried so hard to make that happen, but again we just didn't have the means to do that for him.

When he had his concert over a week ago, my son begged me for the money to go and see him. I gave him the money for a regular seat, and he went out and earned the other amount for a seat a couple rows away from the stage. He even stayed after the concert to meet Josh. Although my son was one of the last ones in line, when he got to Josh, Josh treated him as if he was the only one that was there, which made my son's day."

Mr. Dudley pulled out an envelope from his back pocket that he had just picked up from the photo lab at Walgreens. He opened it and started going through the pictures. Once he got to the pictures he was looking for, he pulled them out to show the interviewer. The interviewer looked at the pictures and then showed them to the camera.

One after another were pictures of Mr. Dudley's son with Josh the night of the concert. As Josh was looking at the pictures, he remembered the kid. He remembered how excited he was to meet him and that he actually got up from his seat and posed for pictures with him. Just like Mr. Dudley said, it did make his day.

"Since the concert my son wouldn't stop talking about meeting Josh. How he talked to him and assured him that no matter how things look right now they will get better. Those that were giving him a hard time would end up hurting because the man above would make sure of that. I wish my son would have listened. I wish he would have hung on because, just like Josh, I also believe those that did this to my son will pay."

That grabbed everyone's attention. This was the first time they heard that the young high school student that was found dead in the showers at Irvin High School might have done it to himself. They were all thinking the same thing. It was the bullies that did this.

The camera went back to live to the reporter outside the high school. "We talked a lot more and I will show you what we talked about throughout the morning, but before I do, I would like to remind our viewers that this is not the first time we have heard about violence being delivered upon gay high school students in this city.

Just this last Wednesday there was another incident at El Paso High School, where Stan Dudley wanted to go to school. A freshman there was brutally raped and beaten in one of the school's restrooms by four upper classmen. Those upper classmen have been arrested and are now charged and awaiting trial. That was the first of two incidents in less than a week.

Now we have the high school student who took his life after weeks and weeks of bullying by his fellow classmates. They didn't stop at the verbal bullying. No, it reached to physical bullying and the staff here at Irvin High School did nothing about it. They were aware of it, but didn't do anything about it.

Because of their refusal to protect one of their students, they now have his blood on their hands. He couldn't take it anymore and the basketball game on Friday was the last straw. He hid in the locker room until everyone was gone and then walked into the showers. Along the way, he picked up a razor, broke it open and slit his wrists.

I wonder as he lay there on the cold ceramic floor dying, what was going through his mind. All the incidents of his fellow classmates tormenting him verbally and physically! The betrayal of his best friend maybe! How those that were supposed to be there to help him, had turned their backs on him! Maybe he thought about all that.

I would like to believe the last thought in that young mans mind was the good in his life. His loving and caring parents! The night he met his idol and got a chance to actually talk with him! The time in his life that was nothing like it was the last weeks he was on this earth. I really do hope nothing but good thoughts were going through his mind as he took his last breath."

The screen changed back to the studio. They started to go over what they have been reporting. That gave Barbara the opportunity to get everyone to the breakfast table. None of them wanted to leave the room, but she didn't give them much of a choice. Reluctantly they made their way to the kitchen and sat down.

It was a quiet breakfast, something very unusual for the Lopez household. Daniel Jr., Carlos and Brandon were wondering if their brothers were going through the same thing that poor kid on the news was going through. Even the adults at the table were thinking the same thing.

On the other side of the table, Josh and Cesar were thinking how they could help to make sure nothing like this happens again. Josh wondered why he didn't see how badly Stan was hurting the night he met him. He never had a clue or hint what Stan was enduring. If Stan would have given him more detail, he would have gone to his father to see what they could do. Since he was never given the opportunity to see, he would never know.

Meanwhile Bernice and Eric were just arriving at work when they heard the news. The first people that came to their minds were Josh and Cesar. They wanted to call them and make sure they were doing okay, along with Patrick and Immanuel, but they couldn't. They had to clock in and get to work.

They have been training all week and today is their first day on their own. Both of them are nervous, but they know if the other has their back, nothing will go wrong. At least if nothing out of the normal happens that is. Their trainer told them all sorts of scary stories in the last week, but none of it happened.

The beginning of shift was slow, which neither Bernice nor Eric minded. They took the time to make sure everything was in place so when it did get busy they were ready for it, which it wasn't long after they started to relax. It seemed like all at once, everyone in El Paso decided to walk in and eat.

Bernice operated the register, while Eric worked the floor. Whenever he saw Bernice getting overwhelmed he went over to help her out. A couple of those times he thought he saw one of the guys in the kitchen checking her out. At first, he thought it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but when he saw it every time he walked over to the register. He knew it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him as he tried to tell himself.

Not to make trouble at work, he just pushed it to the back of his mind. He ignored the guy the rest of the shift, at least until it was time for him to go on break. Bernice went out first and when she didn't arrive to relieve him, he went looking for her. At first he thought that something was wrong, but what he saw, he didn't expect.

When he walked into the break room, he saw the same guy that he caught looking at Bernice all over her. She didn't look like she was trying really hard to back him off, which got Eric even angrier. They were really into their conversation. It took them some time to notice that Eric had walked into the room.

Bernice jumped out of her seat, but it was too late. Eric had already turned around and walked out. She ran after him and when she caught up, she tried to explain to Eric that what he thinks he saw was not what was actually happening. He was so angry, he didn't want to even begin talking about it and he told her so.

Still she tried to explain, and the more she tried, the angrier Eric got. It got to the point that he had to pull her into one the corners of the lobby and almost yell at her that this is neither the time nor the place to talk about what just happened. The look of not only anger, but hurt in his face told Bernice everything that she wanted to know.

The rest of the shift, they didn't talk to each other. The only time Eric went near Bernice was when ever he saw her get too busy at the register. Other than that, he stayed as far away from her and the guy in the kitchen because he knew if he didn't he was going to lose it, which will cause him to lose his job.

There was no way he was going to give that guy the satisfaction for several reasons. The most important one was the fact that he didn't want to give him the upper hand. If he did he'd get fired, then the guy would have Bernice all to himself to try and win her over. At least now, he can keep an eye on him here and have Bernice whenever they're not here.

The other reason he didn't want to give him the satisfaction of hitting him is because he knows that's what the guy wants. He has known guys like him, so he knows how they work, which is dirty. They try to pull you in to do something that you normally wouldn't do in order to show the girl you are fighting over that they are the better person by not raising their hands in anger.

While Eric was fighting to keep his cool with what was going on, Josh locked himself up in his studio and started working out his frustration with his music. He was hurting over seeing what Stan did to himself. He also started blaming himself for not being there for Stan. No matter what his brothers, mother and Cesar told him, he blamed himself for not seeing the signs of Stan being at breaking point the night of the concert.

At first, Josh just ruffled through his music sheets. After an hour or so, he settled down and started to put pencil to paper. By the time he was called for dinner, he had written what he was feeling and now all that was left was putting it to music. That he did immediately after dinner. When it was time for him to head up and get ready for bed, he had what he didn't know at the time a song is going to be one of his number one hits.

Cesar knew best not to ask Josh what he was working on when he walked in to the bedroom. Instead, he let his boyfriend open up the conversation. When he did, Cesar only talked about what Josh brought up, and then when he saw that Josh was ready to talk about what he was doing in the studio all day, he went for it.

It took a few minutes for Josh to open up, but when he did, he didn't talk. Instead, he walked to the closet and pulled out a guitar. Sitting back on the bed, Josh started to play the song he had just written. At first, Cesar expected a sad, sorrowful song, but it wasn't anything like that. It was a song of celebration. At the same time it was a song if heard would open your eyes to what is currently going on with gays and them being tormented and bullied at school for being who they are.

When Josh finished singing, Cesar had every emotion a person could feel going through his body. The only thing that kept going through his mind is that he wanted Josh in his arms. He reached out and started to pull him in. Before they were cuddling, Josh laid down his guitar gently on the floor and then pulled Cesar's arms around him like a person would a blanket on a cold winter night.

They didn't say a word to each other. Instead, they just laid there in each other's arms, enjoying the others feel. Somewhere along the way, they fell asleep feeling each other's heartbeat. Josh not only slipped into a deep sleep feeling Cesar's heartbeat, but he felt his boyfriend's soft, warm breath on his right ear.

The next thing the two heard was the sounding of their alarm clock. They both jerked awake, a little sore in the neck, but they didn't care. Josh looked at Cesar and Cesar looked back at him with the same loving and caring look. Neither of them needed to say a word, their expressions on their faces said it all. It was clear how deeply in love they are with each other and how thankful they are to have each other as their partner.

Reluctantly after five or so minutes, they got out of bed, letting go of each other's arms. In not too big a hurry, they got ready for school. Once they were ready, they joined their brothers and mother at the breakfast table. At first, no one knew what to say when Josh sat down, but that didn't last long at all.

Josh opened up the subject, totally away from what was happening in their city. Before they know it, they were laughing and having fun with each other. They were having so much fun they ran a little late to get to school. It took Russ and Jonathan to get the boys out the door and into the SUV.

As they got closer to the school, they noticed a huge crowd blocking the street. When they first saw the crowd, they thought that they were protesters, but as they got closer, they saw it wasn't protesters, but instead the press. The heads of security all agreed that there was no way they were going to walk the Lopez boys through that crowd.

So instead of pulling in where they normally do, they drove right through the crowd of reporters. When they realized that the SUV that was driving through was the one they were waiting for, they chased it down Schuster Street, but couldn't catch it. They drove around the school and entered the gate in the back that normally only the groundkeepers and visiting football teams use.

When security knew that no reporters followed them, they let the Lopez boys out of the truck. None of them said a word or was mad about what was just done. They understood, and just made their way to the main building.

Principal Michaels tried to push the press down, but he had no chance since they were already camped out in front of the school when he arrived at six in the morning. Knowing the security around the Lopez boys the way he did, he knew that they were going to use the back entrance so he met them halfway on the field.

"I'm sorry about not getting to you guys before you got here." Principal Michaels said out of breath. "When I got here this morning, those, well you know what they are, were already here. No matter what I tried to do, I couldn't get them to move down the street since Schuster is a public street."

"Don't worry Principal Michaels. What happened this morning is what we train for. So really they did us a favor refusing not to move." Principal Michaels looked at Russ with a confused look in his eyes. "What I am getting at is that we were able to test the other entrance and see it works as we had hoped it would."

That got a smile out of Principal Michaels. He turned his attention to Josh, but before he could say a word, Josh asked to speak with him privately. The Principal didn't object. They walked together to a private area on the field, away from all the rest of the students. The only one that joined the Principal and Josh was Cesar.

When they felt that no one could overhear what they were talking about, Josh spoke up first. "I am pretty sure you are worried about us after what happened at the other school." Principal Michaels nodded his head. "I don't think there is any need for you to worry. You made it clear to everyone here that nothing like what was happening to Stan Dudley would be tolerated at your school and it looks like the students and staff heard."

"I really hope they did, because I don't think this city can afford another hit like they got in the last week with students hurting other students. Just here at this high school we have gone through a lot of hatred in the last couple of years, for example what happened last Wednesday with a freshman and four upper classmen."

"That's one of the reasons I wanted to talk with you privately. It seems no matter how many times people are told that their hatred towards gays is wrong, they still hate. They still do things that they normally wouldn't do if their hate didn't take over. That is no excuse, but it's what exactly happens." Josh grabbed a hold of Cesar's hand.

"If at all possible, I'd like it if you can somehow manage it in the next week or so for you to let Los Tigres and me perform a couple of songs in front of the student body. Songs that brings awareness to what is going on in our schools and community on the gay issue! I think if they see and hear how badly their taunting and bullying is hurting those they are doing it to, they might actually think twice on doing it."

Principal Michaels immediately loved the idea Josh was presenting. He started to think how he could make that happen, and then a flash went off. "I love the idea Josh and I'm going to push really hard with the school board to make it happen. And after all the bad press our school district is getting, I don't see them saying no to what I'm thinking. However, before I tell you, let me get it done.

In the meantime, you get with Los Tigres and start practicing. If everything goes the way I hope it does, it's going to happen really soon. Not only that, I think it will not just be our school at the performance, but all the high schools in the district."

Hearing that, Josh couldn't believe it. He didn't think he was going to get Principal Michaels to go along with it for this high school, let alone all the high schools in the district. With a big smile on both of their faces, they talked about what they wanted to happen with the performance as the walked to the cafeteria.

When they got to the hallway that led to the cafeteria, they split up. Josh and Cesar quickly grabbed their breakfast and made their way to the table. Josh noticed right away how down everyone was as he started eating his second breakfast for the day. He then noticed that Chris wasn't there and Angel was looking over his shoulder.

Josh looked in the direction Angel was looking at and saw Chris at Jacob's table. He was talking with a very good-looking guy. It took a couple of seconds, but it finally hit Josh that this good looking guy that Chris was talking to was the famous Ethan that Jacob introduced to Chris.

Just as Josh turned his attention back to Angel, Angel was getting up from the table. He didn't think anything of it until he saw Angel walking towards Chris and Ethan. Josh dropped his fork onto his tray and got up. He quickly caught up to Angel before they reached Chris and the others.

Angel turned and looked at Josh with daggers in his eyes. "You can't do what you're thinking about doing." Angel struggled to break free of Josh's hold, but couldn't. "You had your chance with Chris and blew it. Let him..." Angel somehow broke free and started to walk up to Chris. Josh ran after him and just.....

TO BE CONTINUED...

WRITER'S CORNER:

{Hey everyone welcome back to another eventful chapter of "Shadow of My Father". I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. It concluded a cliffhanger, but opened a lot of new plots in return. It also brought in a couple new plots that I bet you guys didn't see coming. I know I am evil, but I like to keep you guys on your feet.

Before I get to my summation, I would like to talk a little about a new plot that was in this chapter. I spoke about this several other times in past chapters, but more and more we are seeing not only in this nation, but around the world the bullying and taunting that is going on with our gay youth. It is getting to the point that the gay youth think the only way out is taking their own lives.

I don't know if bullying and taunting is on the increase, or just the press is now reporting about it more than they did in the past. No matter what the reason is, this shouldn't happen at all. I know many of you that read my stories are like me, gay, but many of you are young as well. If you see a fellow student or person struggling with who they are, go to them and offer them a helping hand. Try to help them through what they are going through. I bet you that offer would brighten what may seem to be a very dark day for them. No one deserves to be bullied or taunted no matter what the reason is.

And, to those that are hurting and thinking the way to end the hurt is by taking your own life, please rethink that. Nothing or nobody is worth you taking your life. Please reach out to a teacher, a friend or a neighbor for help if you are thinking about taking your life. If you feel, they won't hear you out and help. Talk to one of us and I can promise you that we will be there for you no matter what the issue is.

Now let me get to a quick summation of the chapter. All of you gave a guess to who might have taken and sold the pictures, but unlike the few of the recent cliffhangers, you all couldn't figure this one out. I bet you that you all forgot all about the Lieutenant Governor, which I was glad that I got you all on this one. I know I am very evil, but you guys have gotten good at figuring out my cliffhangers.

I just remembered about the beginning of the chapter, and it wasn't the cliffhanger, it was Brandon. Once again this is a plot I think many of you have forgotten about since it has been written about in a while. Well it is finally closed because Martha is six feet under, LOL! I know that is cruel, but it's the truth. Brandon is a lot better and doesn't need therapy any more because the one that drove him into bad mental health is out of his life and never, ever going to come back.

What do you all think about Rich being nominated as the next Lieutenant Governor of Texas? I think he would make a great Lieutenant Governor, but he will not be able to go with the Governor to high offices if that happens. Well you all know that happens since that is how this story started seventy-eight chapters ago.

What is this thing going on at Taco Tote with Eric and Bernice? Do you all think that Bernice has eyes for another guy? I really hope not because Eric and Bernice are great together. I also hope that Eric keeps his cool at work and doesn't do anything foolish like punch the guy and get fired. You need to stick around to see how that unfolds.

The new plot I talked about in a little detail above. I will go a little more into here dealing with how Josh reacted. This guy, just like many of my other main characters, has a big heart. He is taking it personally that he didn't see the signs with Stan, but how could he? He was signing autographs for hours by the time Stan got up there. I am pretty sure that Josh was very tired.

I like the idea about the performance. What do you all think? Again Josh is a caring guy and wants to do what he can to make sure this doesn't happen to any other student. I am also glad that Principal Michaels is open to the idea. If they get the school board approval, I can't wait to see what Josh has come up with.

The ending, I know I am evil and it's another cliffhanger. Before I get into that, I want to thank you all for coming back week after week reading my stories. Each week you are breaking the reading count of the week before. My site has been up a little over six months and a little over one hundred and thirty thousand of you have come in. On just "Shadow of My Father" story page, it broke the hundred thousand this last Monday. Thank you all again and I hope you all keep coming back every week.

Now back to the cliffhanger and evil old me. Does Angel get to the table where Chris was sitting? Or did Josh get to him in time and pull him away? If Josh did pull Angel away, did Chris or anyone at Jacob's table see it? For those answers and many more that need to be answered, you just need to come back and read the next chapter.

So much going on in this story and not enough paper to write it all on! I know if I forgot anything in my writer's corner about this chapter, Trevor or "Daddy" Rick will take care of it in his corner. There are still a lot of open plots out there that I have not even touched on, and many more new plots are to come. I hope that you all didn't forget about any of those plots, and if you did, well then it will be a lot of fun when they come back up again. So hold onto your hats ladies and gentleman, the ride is just beginning!

Speaking of "Daddy Rick, I want to welcome him back to his post as an editor. Rick works in the air conditioning industry in the Dallas area. With the record heat this summer, Rick had to take a hiatus since he couldn't dedicate the time to his Editor's post. I got many questions when he departed some months back. Take a moment and do your own "welcome back".

I could stay here all day long, with all the open plots already in this story, but I will not. I warn you though! Do not skip a chapter, or you will be lost. There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacob@jacobmillertex.com, Thanks!}

EDITOR'S CORNER:

What can I say to back up Jacobs comments about gay suicides? Not much because he explained his and my feelings, in fact the feelings of all the Jacob Miller Tex team in his remarks.

There are far too many young men taking their own lives because of bullying and harassment regarding their sexuality. Not only in America and Canada but here in Australia, Great Britain and other parts of the world. I have heard people say suicide is the cowards way out, but it is also the way out for desperate people who have no were to turn, no one to help them. We can all do our bit to help these people by being there for them helping them, making sure they are safe. To any young readers out there if you spot anything like this happening don't just sit back, take action. As Jacob said there are many organizations and people able and willing to help, plus if you can't find anyone call us at Jacobmillertex.com.

Now the chapter, Jacob has been celebrating because no one cottoned on to the latest cliffhanger. Don't give up on guessing, you have to keep trying to beat him LOL,

Rich is a great politician in the making and with Daniel Snr. helping him along the way he will succeed.

Eric and Bernice? Well every relationship has its ups and downs and I'm sure Eric will find a way to work things out without too much violence. I'm excited about the song Josh has written to help spread the message and I'm sure it will help. I'd like to see him donate his royalties for the song to one of the many worthy causes out there at the moment which are helping young gays overcome their problems and I hope you might be able to help as well.

Going back to the subject of suicides once more. How many of you, even some of you older readers are still in the closet because you are afraid of what might happen if you did `come out' and would you be able to cope with the pressures that go with it?

Please keep reading our stories and let us know what you think, we really value your comments.

Hugs Trevor

trevor@jacobmillertex.com

EDITOR'S CORNER II

I'm baaaaaaccckkkkk ~!~!~!~!~!~!~

I sure did miss my work with Jacob's stories over the summer, but, this guy had a heluva summer! There were seventy plus days of 100 degree or higher temperatures here in the Dallas area this past summer. Everyone in the air conditioning industry, including me, was slammed to the mat!

I'm glad to be back.

Jacob and Trevor left me very little to cover in their respective `corners'. So, I do want to delve a bit more into the gay teen suicide issue. Thank you, in advance, for your indulgence.

In September fourteen year old Jamey Rodemeyer of Williamsville, NY took his life.

Less than a month later fifteen year old Jaime Hubley of Ottawa, Canada took his life.

If you read the stories of these two young men, you'll find many common denominators. They were both gay and bullied. That's the bottom line. Their respective families were supportive and loving, but it wasn't enough. Just like Josh, nobody caught the signs.

These are two that hit the news in a month. That is horrific in my mind.

There is support and help for anyone in need. If YOU are one such person, PLEASE, reach out. As Jacob and Tevor said, if you have nobody else, reach out to any of us. Your privacy and confidentiality will be strictly kept and respected. We have all been where you are. It DOES get better, but we also realize that waiting for the "better" can seem like forever. We are family.

To all my old friends (and new), feel free to shoot me an e-mail ! I'd love to hear from you.

Until Next Time,

"Daddy" Rick

daddyrick@jacobmillertex.com