Disclaimer: The following story is a work of fiction. If you are offended by descriptions of homosexual acts or man/man relations, please exit this page.
TALES FROM THE RANCH Copyrightc 2003 by Tulsa Driller 7. All rights reserved.
This is a story of men who have two common interests. You will see that they love the land where they live and work, but it is also the story of young men who love other men and their coming of age in a culture of prejudice and misunderstanding. It is a story, which deals with difficult and often disturbing issues but, nonetheless, issues which must be confronted in today's world.
This is a work of fiction and in no way draws on the lives of any specific person or persons. Any similarity to actual persons or events is entirely coincidental. This work is copyrightedc by the author and may not be reproduced in any form without the specific written permission of the author. It is assigned to the Nifty Archives under the terms of their submission agreement but it may not be copied or archived on any other site without the written permission of the author.
PLEASE: In a perfect world AIDS doesn't exist. My characters have unprotected sex. I hope you use proper precautions because I'd like you to be around the read the last chapter of this story.
Tales from the Ranch Chapter 43: Joey's first day
Joey was excited about starting school at Davy Crockett High School. He thought he might have trouble going to sleep but the next thing he knew, his alarm was ringing. Pulling on his briefs, he started his morning routine. Let Mitsy out, go to the bathroom to pee and brush his teeth. Let Mitsy in and retrieve the newspaper. Then, go to the kitchen to feed Mitsy and turn on the coffeepot. Next, he shaved, showered and dressed for the day. He decided on chinos, a long-sleeved rugby shirt and his athletic shoes. He had noticed some of the boys in choir wearing the same sort of thing the previous week. Today he could scope out what the others were wearing and decide if it suited him.
By the time he was ready to go to the kitchen, Dale and Craig were already there, having their first cup of coffee. Craig had cut some slices from the second loaf of their homemade bread. The toaster was out and he had put the butter dish next to it. Doris had brought them several jars of her various preserves and they were sitting out, also.
"I hope you make some more of this bread, 'Mother'," Dale said.
Joey giggled. He thought it was funny to refer to Craig as his mother.
"It seems to me that I saw your hands in the dough, too," Craig said. I'm expecting great things of you in the kitchen now that you have been so well trained."
"I think it's neat that grandma showed us how to bake bread and cinnamon rolls. These are better than what you can buy at the grocery store," Joey said.
"You are right there. We have a bakery here in town that has really excellent breads, donuts, rolls and pastries, but if we have the time, it's fun to do it ourselves," Craig said.
It was almost time for Dale to be leaving for the ranch.
"Do you want a ride to school, bud?" he asked Joey.
"That'd be neat," Joey replied.
"Well, let me get a couple of things I need to take with me. How is the milk and egg supply?" Dale asked.
"Bring a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs home. We could use another quart of cream, if it's available," Craig said.
"I'll do it. He kissed Craig goodbye.
Joey kissed Craig on the cheek. "G'bye, Mom," he said, giggling.
"Young man, you are pushing your luck here," Craig laughed.
All knew it was in good fun.
Dale drove Joey to the high school and let him out at the curb so he didn't have to drive into the circle drive that led to the front door.
"Have a good day, bud," Dale said, squeezing Joey's shoulder with his right hand.
"Thanks, Dad. I'll see you guys later." Joey got out of the Blazer and swung his backpack over his shoulder.
His first class was English I, but he was supposed to report to the Admission Office to pick up the admission slips to allow him to attend classes. Betty Armstrong remembered Joey and greeted him, making him feel at home.
"Here are the slips you need to get into each class today, and here is a school map. I've circled the classrooms for each instructor and subject. If you have any problems, come see me and I'll help you. Good luck."
His schedule said English I was his first class and the map showed it to be on the second floor, south of the main stairway. He walked in the door just as the second bell rang. Mrs. Hunt was the instructor. Joey stood inside the door, not sure if he should take a seat, or not.
"Are you Joey Sullivan?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am," he replied, scoring a lot of points with her for being polite. "Here's my admission slip for this class."
"Class, may I have your attention please. We have a new student this morning. He's transferring from Remington School in Houston and has just moved to Williamsport. Please make him feel welcome."
She glanced at the room. "Joey, there is an empty desk on the second row, please sit there."
"Thank you," he said, racking up a few more points. Mrs. Hunt was thinking that Joey seemed a little more polite than most of the kids in her class, but maybe he was nervous. She had his transcript the school had provided and was pleased to note that he was an honor student at his old school. 'If this kid can be an honors student in Houston, he should really excel here,' she thought.
"What textbook did you use in Houston?" she asked as he sat down.
"This one," he said.
"How far did you study at your old school?" she asked.
Joey flipped some pages. "I handed in assignments last week through Chapter 15," told her.
"This should be easy for you then. We're starting Chapter 14 this week," Mrs. Hunt said. She was very pleased.
Mrs. Hunt was a good teacher and was able to lead the students in a lively discussion. Joey knew the answers to every question she fielded, but she only called on him once. As the bell rang, everyone picked up their books and papers.
"Hey, Joey," he heard. It was Hal Shaw who sang in the choir at St. James.
"Hi Hal, good to see ya, man," he said clasping his hand.
"You too, Dude. What's your next class?"
"Algebra I with Shanklin," Joey said, consulting his schedule.
"Cool," Hal said. "I'm in that class, too. Come on, I'll show you how to get there."
"Thanks, Hal."
"Don't mention it. I hear you're an Honors Student?" he asked.
"Yeah," Joey said, a little hesitant.
"That's great. I am, too. In fact most of the kids in choir are; at least the ones in high school. Paul doesn't want any sluffers in his choir."
"Great. Is Shanklin a good teacher?" Joey asked, not knowing if it was a man or woman.
"Yeah, Mark Shanklin teaches mainly A/P Math classes. This is the only class he teaches that isn't. He's good and you'll know your stuff when you finish this class."
"I usually do pretty well in math, so I hope I can keep up with the rest of you," Joey said.
"He makes it fun to learn things. It's not a lecture class like some of the others put on," Hal told him.
By this time they were at the door and Hal took Joey to Mark Shanklin's desk.
"Mr. Shanklin, this is Joey Sullivan. He's new to Williamsport and has been an Honors Student in Houston. at."
"Remington Middle School," Joey finished.
Mark stood up. "Welcome to Williamsport, Joey. I'm pleased you are in my class. What book have you been using in Houston?"
"The same as you're using here," Joey replied.
"Good, how far along are you?"
Joey pulled his book out of his backpack and flipped it open. "Last week I handed in Chapters 11 and 12."
"Well, we seem to be moving at the same pace. We're starting chapter 12 today. Do you mind taking a test of the previous chapters tomorrow, so I can see if you need special help with anything to catch up?"
"No, I'll be glad to."
"Atta boy, just review those chapters and I'll give you a test tomorrow which has a few problems from each chapter we've covered."
The other students were taking their places.
"We don't have assigned seats in this class, but you are welcome to sit in front because nobody else does," Mark told him.
"Come on, Joey, you can sit next to me." Hal took a seat at a desk on the front row.
Indeed, Mark Shanklin made Algebra seem like a game. Joey was impressed. He was presenting problems, but managed to lead a lively classroom participation in working them on the board. Joey immediately liked him.
Joey noticed Mr. Shanklin looking at him a lot. After class he stopped him. "Joey, do you know Dale Richards?"
"Yes, he's my half-brother. My father died and Dale is now my legal guardian."
"Well, you sure look just like he did when he was in my class. Tell him hello for me. He was a good student in all of my math classes."
Joey was very proud. "I'll do that, and I hope I can do as well as he did."
"I'm sure you will. If you have any problems in my class, please let me know and I'll be glad to give you any extra help needed," he told Joey.
"Thanks. Now I need to find my next class. It's Freshman Science with Wilton."
Hal was standing next to Joey. "I'm in that class, too, come on."
"See you tomorrow, Mr. Shanklin."
"Okay, Joey. Study hard," he said.
As they started down the hall, Hal told him, "Bruce Wilton is a good teacher. He seems tough, but if you are having trouble and he sees that you are really trying, he bends over backwards to see that you learn it."
"That's good. It seemed that most of the teachers we had in Houston could care less, like they were discouraged, or something," Joey said.
"You won't find that here in Williamsport. The school board doesn't tolerate mediocre teachers."
When they arrived in Bruce Wilton's classroom, Hal again introduced Joey, who gave him his admission slip for the class.
"Remington Middle School?" he questioned. "Why are you in this school?"
"Upper Middle School in Houston was the 7th through the 9th grades," Joey said.
"Oh. Okay. I thought you were trying to pull a fast one on me and finish school early."
Joey could tell he was teasing him and liked him immediately.
"Did you use this Science book?" he questioned.
"No, I don't remember, but it had a picture of a laboratory inside the front cover."
"Oh, yeah. We used that until this year and replaced it with this one. How far were you in the old book?"
Joey told him what they had been working on.
"Well, the books are similar. I suggest that during the week you read up to where we are now. If you have any questions, I'll be glad to help you with them. I don't want you feeling like you are behind the rest of the students."
"Thanks, Mr. Wilton. I appreciate that.
Bruce thought Joey was a real stud for only being a freshman. It was seldom that he had any student that appeared to have hair on their chest. Woof!!
The rest of the students were gathering. Hal told Joey that there was no assigned seating, so again they sat on the front row.
After the class was over, Hal wanted to know Joey's schedule for the rest of the day.
"As soon as I go to my locker, it's lunch, Texas History, Mixed Chorus, Computer Lab and Gym," Joey told him.
"Computer Lab is the only other class I have with you then. Come on, let's go to our lockers, then I'll show you where the cafeteria is. They actually have pretty good food there," Hal said.
"Good. I'm hungry and I'm supposed to meet another new friend in the cafeteria, too."
"Who is that?" Hal questioned.
"Bret Jenkins, Junior," Joey said.
"I think he's a junior. Where do you know him from?" Hal questioned.
Joey had to think fast because he didn't want to tell Hal that he'd met him at the Dignity/Integrity meeting, and then remembered he had been at church the previous day.
"He was at church yesterday morning. He sat with Mr. Williamson and Mr. Bryant that teach at Stephen Austin Middle School."
"Oh yeah, he used to play in Little League Baseball, but he wasn't any good. He's taking a few A/P Courses this year. He's pretty smart. But his family goes to the weird church where the minister got caught with a little boy. Victory Temple, I think."
Joey kept quiet.
They arrived in the cafeteria and got in line. Joey was looking around and saw Bret waving at him from a table about halfway across the room. He waved back.
"Do you want to sit with Bret and me at lunch?" Joey asked.
"That'd be cool. Most of the guys I hang with have a different schedule and eat lunch at a different time. So, yeah, I'd like to meet him."
"Great," Joey replied.
By this time they were in the actual food line. Joey was impressed with the cafeteria as there were several areas where you could get different kinds of food. There was a salad bar, a burger and hotdog bar, a pizza bar and then the regular food line where they had fried chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes and other vegetables. There was also a dessert bar with ice cream bars and soft-serve ice cream. Joey was hungry and loaded up with two big juicy cheeseburgers, a salad and a bottle of Coke. He was surprised when he got to the cash register that the ticket was only $5.85. They didn't have as good of a selection at his old school and it usually cost him six to seven dollars to eat there.
Hal was in another cashier's line, but Joey only had to wait for a few seconds for him to catch up. They made their way to Bret's table and there were three other boys that Hal didn't know, either.
"I'm Bret Jenkins. Junior," he told Hal, reaching out to shake his hand. The other boys were introduced as Barry, Bryce and Daniel.
"I understand that you're from Megatropolis," Barry said.
"Yeah, I just escaped," Joey told him.
"Did your family just move here?" Bryce asked.
"No, my father died a week ago. The only close relative I have is my half-brother and he agreed to become my guardian and let me live with him," Joey told them.
"We're sorry to hear that," Barry said, the others agreeing.
"Bret told us that you sing in the choir at St. James?" Daniel asked.
"Actually, both of us do," he said, indicating Hal.
"They have an awesome choir there. That Paul fellow is a super director," Daniel said.
"He is good and boy, can he get a lot of music out of that organ, too," Joey said.
"Yeah, I bet he can," Bryce said, sneering. "I hear he's as queer as a 3-dollar bill."
Joey's senses went to a full-level red alert. He kept quiet.
"I don't know about that," Hal told them. "I've never heard of him trying anything weird with the boys in the choir, and there are about 25 men and boys that sing in that choir. I'm sure if he was 'funny' that someone would know about it."
Hal knew that Paul was gay, too, but didn't think that was anyone's business.
"Well, our minister, I guess he's our ex-minister now, was always getting up and preaching against stuff that went on over at that church. He said they were too liberal and ignored things the Bible tells us," Bryce said.
"Have you ever been there to church?" Bret asked.
"Well, no. of course not. Why do you ask?" Bryce wanted to know.
"Well, I have. Twice. It's a beautiful place and the music and ritual are just wonderful, so don't knock it until you've been there and experienced it."
"But, you can't go to church there, your Dad's treasurer of our church," Bryce said.
Bret didn't want to get into this conversation.
"He said I could go visit, and I did. And I might go back again. It's a lot more interesting than listening to old lady Richardson drone on and on about stuff she can't even answer questions about," Bret said.
"I have to agree with you there," Bryce said, giving Bret a high-five.
Everyone laughed.
The other boys wanted to know more about Joey, what sports he played and about things he was interested in. When he told them he was in Boy Scouts, Barry immediately invited him to join his Cougar patrol.
When he told them that his brother, Dale, worked for the Bar- W Ranch as the general manager, they were all impressed. Joey wanted to tell them about Craig and what a neat guy he was, but decided he'd better wait until he knew them better. He thought Bryce could be trouble.
"What's your schedule for the rest of the day?" Barry asked Joey.
"Texas History, Mixed Chorus, Computer Lab and Gym in the last period," Joey answered.
"I'm in your history class and gym class," Bryce said.
Bret was in Mixed Chorus and Daniel and Barry were in the same Computer Lab, along with Hal.
They stood up to take their trays back to the counter, and then went to their lockers. "See you in Computer Lab later," Hal told him, getting his books for his next class.
Joey easily found Jerry Sprague's Texas History classroom. There were maps hanging on every available space on the walls. Joey was early and as he walked through the door, Mr. Sprague introduced himself. "I heard that I was getting a new Honors Student today, you must be Joey."
"Yes sir," Joey told him, digging in his backpack for his enrollment slip.
As Mr. Sprague took the slip, he said, "Hey, you sing in the choir at St. James' don't you?"
"Yes," Joey answered proudly.
"I sang in that choir until last year. My schedule got too complicated and I had to drop something. I think I made a bad choice and may dump something else and go back because I sure miss it. You sure sounded great both last Sunday and yesterday."
"Thanks," Joey said. He was proud to have been noticed.
About that time the other students started arriving.
"We don't have assigned seats in this class, so you can sit anywhere except the back row," he told Joey, with a grin on his face.
Joey decided that he liked Jerry Sprague, so chose a seat on the second row. Bryce came in and sat at the desk on his right.
When the bell rang, Mr. Sprague introduced Joey to the others in the class then launched into the lesson. He was a good instructor and Joey noticed as much participation from the others in the room as in his earlier classes today.
Jerry Sprague assigned the class a new chapter to read and told them to use the remaining time to get started. He walked to Joey's desk.
"Have you taken Texas History before?" he asked.
"We took it last year in Houston," Joey answered.
"Did you use this textbook?" he asked.
"No, it was a blue one that had the outline of the state on the cover and the flag on the back."
"Oh, that's the Ballinger text. We used that he until a couple of years ago. It's a good text, but is almost 15 years old, so didn't have anything that's happened here in the last 20 years. We thought it needed to be updated."
Joey smiled at him. " Isn't history supposed to be about old things?"
Jerry Sprague laughed. "Yeah, but every once in a while they find new things to write about." He gave the top of Joey's left shoulder a squeeze. "I don't think there's much in this book that you shouldn't already know until we get to the middle of next semester. You might read the previous chapters as you have time, just for a review."
"Okay. I like history so it should be easy," Joey said.
"Good for you. Glad to have you in my class."
The bell rang to signal the end of the period. As Joey stood up, the girl sitting behind him said, "Don't you sing in the choir at St. James?"
"Yes, I do."
"Are you in Mixed Chorus next hour?"
"I'm signed up for it. Guess I'll have to see if they let me in," he smiled.
"I'm in chorus. Would you like to walk with me?"
"Sure, I'm not real familiar with the building yet. That would be great."
Pam Thomas was a very pretty girl. She was about 5'5", blond hair and was nicely dressed, better than many of the students, although Joey noticed the students here seemed to take pride in their appearance and didn't wear baggy clothes that looked as if they had come from the Thrift Store.
"I heard that you moved here from Houston," she said as they went into the hall.
"Yeah, my father died a week ago, so I'm here with my brother. Do you know Dale Richards?" he asked.
"Is he the good looking guy that looks like an older version of you?" she asked.
"Yeah, it's weird, we never met until two weeks ago and now it seems like we are best buds. He's a neat guy and we really like each other."
"You are lucky. That doesn't happen very often," Pam said.
"Yeah, I had a friend who was in the Children's Social Services with a foster family. The department gave them money for clothes and things he needed, but they never spent a dime of it on him. I don't think he would have been able to eat at the cafeteria except that he had meal tickets they couldn't use anywhere else. They treated him pretty badly. We really felt sorry for him, but there wasn't anything we could do. They didn't have enough qualified homes to put people like him."
"That's awful. You really are lucky, then."
"I sure am," Joey told her.
They entered the rehearsal room and Pam took him to Mrs. Morrison, who was the director. She glanced at him, like she was trying to decide if she should speak to him or not. As Joey handed her his admission slip, Pam introduced him.
"Mrs. Morrison, this is Joey Sullivan. He's just moved here from Houston and he's already sung solos in the choir at St. James. He has a wonderful voice."
"Well, if Paul has you singing solos already, you must be really good. What's your range?" She was acting more interested.
"Paul says I'm a 'high baritone'.
"Good, we need help in that area. Do you read music well?" she asked.
"I don't always know what the note names are, but I can usually hear the interval and sing the right note," he told her.
"Well, we work on learning the notes and how to read different clefs and we do quite a bit of sight-singing to help everyone know how to read music. Come over to the piano, I want to check your range, then we'll find a seat for you."
She sat down at the piano, giving Joey a tenor "D", then taking him up by half steps to an "F" above middle "C". She was amazed at the resonance of his voice.
"How old are you, Joey?"
"Fourteen," he answered.
Anne Morrison was surprised. Joey looked more like he should be a senior. Obviously he'd had an early puberty. There were several freshman boys in the choir who still sang soprano.
"Okay, Joey. That was great. Let me move a couple of people and get you a seat in the choir."
Joey stood there while Mrs. Morrison moved some people around, one going to the back row and two scooting over a chair. He ended up sitting next to Bret Jenkins, Jr.
"Glad to have you sitting next to me because I'm a follower and have to have someone sitting next to me who knows how to lead," Bret said.
"I'll do my best, but I don't give any guarantees," Joey told him.
Mrs. Morrison handed Joey a folder. "There are some vocal exercises and the music we're working on for our Christmas concert. If you have a way to work on these at home, you are welcome to take the folder with you. All the music is numbered so it's checked out to you," she told him.
"Thanks," Joey replied.
A young fellow sat down on the piano bench. Joey was pretty sure he sang in the choir at St. James, too, but didn't know his name.
Anne Morrison took the choir through their warm-up exercises, then started them on a lively arrangement of "The Twelve Days of Christmas". They spent the rest of the hour working on "What Child is This?" and "The Night Before Christmas" which was one of Joey's favorites.
There were about 50 young people in the concert choir and they sounded good to Joey, however, he had to consider that he'd been in a junior chorus and this one was made up of 14 to eighteen year old boys and girls.
When chorus was over, Joey walked to the Computer Lab by himself. Hal had pointed out the colored stripes on the floor that helped to find the various areas of the building as classrooms were grouped together by department.
He immediately ran into Danny and Barry in the hall
"Hey, guy, you found the place okay," Barry said.
"Yeah, Hal told me about the stripes on the floor and I have a map so it's pretty easy to get around here," Joey said.
Hal joined them about that time and they all went in the classroom.
"How was chorus?" he asked.
"They are working on music for the Christmas concert. She tested me and put me in the seat next to Bret," Joey said.
"Good. Maybe we can get him in the choir if he keeps coming to St. James," Hal said.
They walked up to Kent Korte's desk.
"Mr. Korte, we have a new student in our class that just moved here from Houston," Hal said, starting to introduce them.
"Yes, I received a notice that you would be here," he said while remaining seated.
Kent Korte reminded Joey of a person who thought he ran the world and everyone else was just standing around observing him while he did it.
"Have you had this class in Houston?" he asked.
"No, we didn't have any computers in middle school," Joey answered.
"Well, you will have quite a bit of work to do to catch up. We work with the IBM DOS AT386 computers here and will be learning all of the functions, utility programs and some simple programming. We also use WordStar, which is a word processing program and Lotus, a spreadsheet program. We just received these machines a year ago and they are already obsolete as far as speed and size of hard disks. There's a new generation of PC's about to appear and maybe they will be able to break the standard 512k and 640k memory usage of these machines."
This was all new to Joey so he couldn't agree or disagree.
"I'm available after school if you need some help beyond what the others in this class can give you. Just make an appointment and have your questions written out ahead of time," he told Joey.
Joey and Hal were both thinking, "What a jerk."
Kent Korte had set up his own "Bulletin Board" at his home and you could call that number to ask questions, download utility files and programs and share information with other users. The computers at the school either had 300 baud or 1200-baud modems, which were a marvel to those using the system. Rumor was that a couple of companies would soon release a 2400-baud internal modem.
Joey sat in the class and listened. It was like the teacher and about half the students were speaking in a foreign language. The other half of the students seemed to be just sitting there. Joey was not very happy as he'd always gotten good grades and he was determined this was not going to be the first class that brought him down.
As they were leaving the class, Joey talked Daniel, Barry and Hal.
"Hey, I've got gym class next and I think Bryce is the only one of you fellows that are in the class. I need to talk to you about this computer stuff. Do you guys have computers at home?"
"I do," said Daniel. "Some of the others come over and we play games from time to time, but I understand most of what they are talking about. I'm able to keep up, but just barely. We are allowed some extra time on the school's computers, but it's hard to find anyone who can really help you outside the classroom."
"Hey, I've got to get to gym. What are you guys doing after school?"
Daniel didn't have anything planned. Barry was on the basketball team, so had practice and Hal had a piano lesson.
"Can you meet me by my locker after last period?" Joey asked Daniel.
"Yeah, sure, we can hang out for a while if you want."
"Cool." See you after gym.
Joey had always loved Phys. Ed, especially if the instructor was good and challenged the boys without being overbearing about it. That didn't happen in Williamsport. Coach Paul Dennison was a hard-ass who would have been better off staying in the Marines as a drill sergeant. There wasn't any doubt about him challenging the boys, he just would have gotten better results by actually leading the boys instead of drilling it into them.
Bryce filled Joey in while they were putting on their jockstraps, shorts, t-shirts and gym shoes. "We have to be careful not to get Coach Dennison upset because he gets all bent out of shape. You get punished and the whole class pays for it, too. Just do as he tells you and try to blend in with the backfield."
After Joey got dressed, he put his clothes in the basket the boy in the cage had given him, then he and Bryce went back to have him put it on the shelf. Joey had his admission slip in hand to give the coach. The boy in the cage was Tyler Phillips. "Hi Ty," said Bryce. Guess you've already met our new man, Joey," haven't you?"
"Sure, welcome to Hell 101, Joey." Then he lowered his voice. "I don't know what's going on today, but Coach is really pissed about something, so watch out."
Bryce laughed. "When isn't he, man? He's got serious head problems."
"Come on Joey, let's get to the gym so we aren't the last on the floor," Bryce said.
"What about my admission slip?" Joey asked.
"Just stick it in your pocket and give it to him later. He's not in his office, anyway."
They went to the gym floor. There was no sign of the coach and the boys had grouped themselves into four teams and were playing with a basketball in front of the four backboards. Bryce introduced Joey to three other boys who were practicing, and then Joey joined in the game. They hadn't been playing two minutes when a shrill whistle blew and a voice that sounded as if it came from a loudspeaker roared above the noise. It was Coach Paul Dennison.
"Alright, you low-life, get into two lines and count off."
Quickly the boys stepped into two rows and started counting, " 1 - 2 - 3, etc., repeated by the second row. They came out even, fourteen in each row. There were only supposed to be 27 boys in the class.
Another whistle blow. "That's not right, there are only supposed to be 27 of you here. Who's the wise ass that can't count?" he all but screamed.
Joey knew he was the culprit.
"Excuse me, sir, I'm new to the class." He pulled his admission slip out of the waistband of his shorts and started toward the coach.
Another whistle blow. Joey wondered if the whistle was part of him. "Get back in line," he yelled. "Did I tell you to move?"
Joey quickly took his place in line again. "No sir," he said.
"Speak up, I can't hear you!" coach screamed.
"NO, SIR!! Joey said in his best military voice.
"That's better," coach yelled. By this time he was standing in front of Joey and grabbed the paper out of his hand.
He read the paper. "Joey Sullivan?" he questioned.
"Yes," Joey answered.
"YES, WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU AGAIN!!"
"YES, SIR!!"
That's better. So that you remember that the next time, take 10 laps around the floor."
Joey couldn't believe it. Two asshole teachers in a row after getting the day off to such a good start.
Joey stood there for a second and was just ready to start running when he heard, "Well, what are you waiting for, roller skates?"
He started to the edge of the floor then turned to his left. He hadn't taken 3 strides when the whistle blew again.
"NOT THAT WAY!!! CLOCKWISE!!! Get going!!!"
One of the other boys snickered and was soon on his way around the perimeter of the floor, too.
"Okay, the coach announced. We're playing half-court basketball, shirts and skins. This line is the skins, indicated the line closest to him. The boys shed their shirts and started their game. Coach was watching for possible players for the Freshman-Sophomore Varsity team.
Although Joey had never run track, he could have as he had the speed and endurance. He quickly figured that 10 laps was a little over a half mile so he was thru running in about five minutes and had passed the other boy twice. He really wasn't even winded when he was through.
"Skins!!" the coach yelled at Joey as he completed his run. Joey complied and stripped his wet t-shirt off.
"What the fuck??!!" the coach yelled. Joey didn't realize the coach was speaking to him, so was standing on the sidelines with some of the other boys who weren't in the game at the time.
Coach was right in front of Joey in a minute. "Your admission slip shows that you are a freshman, how old are you?"
"Fourteen, sir," Joey said.
"What's with this fuckin' forest of hair all over your body?" he asked in disbelief.
"It just started growing last summer," Joey told him.
"Geez, I don't fuckin' believe it," coach said.
Joey thought that Paul Dennison had a poor attitude and treated the students badly as well as using language that wasn't appropriate to a classroom, regardless of which class it was. He was glad when the class was over and they could go to the locker room.
He and Bryce were among the first back in the room and stripped out of their shorts, shoes, socks and jockstraps. They headed to the shower and turned the water on. Bryce was next to Joey and admiring his body, hairy legs and chest. He hoped that someday he would be like that. It looked so manly. And that cock. He couldn't believe it.
Bryce was trying not to stare, but Joey caught him looking and wondered what his interest was, if it was because of his body hair, or if there were other interests. However, he had really put Paul Rathborne down at noon about being "queerer than a 3- dollar bill" and Joey didn't like that remark.
He soaped himself, rinsed off, and then grabbed a towel on the way out of the shower. He did notice several other boys looking at him with admiring glances. Only a very few of the boys had any hair above their navels and then it only reached two or three inches above. All the boys he'd seen had pubic hair, at least.
Joey and Bryce made their way to the cage and got their baskets with street clothes, wasting no time getting dressed and out of the gym.
"I'm going to meet Daniel at our lockers and we're going to hang out for a little bit. I want to see his computer.
"Danny has a nice system. He has to share it with his older brother, but that's cool. They get along together okay," Bryce said.
Man, I can't believe that I drew great teachers until the last two this afternoon and they are real losers," Joey said.
"You mean Coach Dennison and Kent Korte?" Bryce asked.
"None other and in person, too," Joey said. "I had some teachers in Houston that acted like they didn't care, but you could at least get them to answer questions. I have the feeling that Korte doesn't care if you learn about computers, or not.
"Yeah, he spends all his time messing with that computer bulletin board he's running to be bothered with people like us. He kind of lives in his own world," Bryce said.
By this time they were at the lockers. Joey was putting books in his backpack and making sure he had the notebook with his assignments in it. Daniel walked up, opening a locker about 6 away from Joey.
"Well, how did you get along with Dennison?" Daniel queried.
"Well, I'm still here, but I think he took a bite out of my ass," Joey laughed.
"That's all you lost? You were lucky, he replied.
"He made Joey run 10 laps, all because he got out of line to give him his admission slip. Then Joey ended up on the 'skins team' for half-court basketball and coach gave him a bad time because he has more hair on his chest than the rest of the boys in the class put together."
"No shit?" Daniel asked. He was interested in that last statement.
"Yeah, he looks like 'fuzzy bear'," Bryce teased.
Joey didn't know if he should be embarrassed, but was proud of his new crop, so gave them his 1000-watt smile.
"If you want to see my computer system, come on over. I have to share it with my older brother, but he's a football practice and won't be home until after 6 o'clock," Daniel said.
"I need to be home by 4:30," Bryce said, "so I'd better skip this evening."
"Later, then, Dude," Daniel said.
"Catch you tomorrow," Joey told him.
"'Right, guys. Later," Bryce said as he left.
"What about you, can you come over for a little bit?"
"Yeah, I have to be home at 5:45, we're going to move the big-screen TV that came from my house in Houston. We had to put it in storage the other night; along with a lot of other stuff there isn't room for right away. Then my Dads said we could look for an entertainment center cabinet for my stereo stuff that goes in my room."
As soon as Joey said "Dads" he knew he had slipped up.
"What do you mean, 'Dads'?" Daniel asked. "I though you said your Dad died.
"My father died. My half-brother, Dale, is 10 years older than me and I'd never met him until two weeks ago today. He's a super person and my father asked if he would consent to become my guardian. Otherwise, I could have ended up in the Foster home system and that's not very good."
Daniel agreed.
"You still didn't answer my question about 'Dads'," Daniel asked.
"This is kind of hard to explain and may not make much sense to you. Dale's best friend and he share a condo. His name is Craig and he's super nice to me, too. I decided to call them my two "Dads" because they really have taken the place of my father."
"Cool, it's kind of like having two big brothers, isn't it?" Daniel replied.
Joey was relieved. He guessed that Daniel hadn't picked up on the fact that they were gay.
"Yeah, it is. I'd like to see your computer. I might ask if I can get one, that is if you'd show me how to use it?"
"You have to understand that I don't know everything," Daniel said. "But, I know a fair amount. I just don't understand about writing some of the programs in Basic like Mr. Korte is trying to teach us to do."
"Craig is an architect and they have an awesome computer at their office. The plotter can draw blueprints on paper that's 3 feet square. I don't know if he knows anything about writing programs though. I think he just puts in all the information and the computer draws the plans," Joey said.
"Wow, I'd like to see that," Daniel told him. Maybe you can take me to his office sometime?"
"Probably could."
"Well, dude, times a'wastin'. Let's go to my place and I'll show you my computer."
"How far is it? I live in the Carriage House, up the street a few blocks. I can call Dale and he can pick me up at your house on his way home."
"Works for me," Daniel said. "I live about 5 blocks from there. Two blocks on north and three blocks east."
Daniel and Joey walked the mile to Daniel's home. They had a chance to get acquainted while walking. Daniel's family belonged to the First Presbyterian Church, but Daniel was familiar with St. James because their choir had shared in a St. Andrew's Day service last year at St. James.
Joey had all kinds of questions about the other boys he had met that day and Daniel filled him in on the details.
"Bret and I've been friends since about the 6th grade. He used to be really happy and then all of a sudden he clamed up and would hardly talk to anybody, kind of like he was lost. It got so bad that he almost failed 7th grade, then he started studying like crazy. Now, he's taking A/P classes. I've noticed this past week that he seems happier than he's ever been and has been willing to go places with some of the rest of us. His family is all wrapped up in that weird church where Rev. Jimmy Bob Jones is the preacher. Except now he's in jail because he molested a bunch of little boys that were about 10 years old."
Joey didn't want to tip his hand that he knew anything about what was going on. He'd have to wait until he knew these boys a little better before expressing any opinions about anything.
Then Daniel told him about Bryce. "He's 16 and has two younger brothers. His father is in the Air Force. He's on assignment in Germany, but his mother didn't want to live there, so they came back to Williamsport because her family all lives here. That family goes to church at Victory Temple, too, but I don't think they go as often as Bret's family do. He's a neat guy, but somewhat of a smart ass. He likes to make fun of people, but not in a teasing way, and doesn't realize that he offends them."
"I sensed that when we were eating lunch," Joey told him.
"Yeah, he doesn't always think things through before he opens his mouth."
"What about Barry?" Joey asked.
"Barry's 15 and is the jock of our group. He plays basketball on the Freshman-Sophomore Varsity team and a little bit of soccer, but not on the high school team. He's in Boy Scouts. I guess you knew that, from what he said at noon and inviting you to join his patrol. He's the Patrol leader and I think he's just gotten his Star rank.
"His father is manager of the Farm Supply Store and his mother is a nursing supervisor at the hospital. He has a younger sister; I think maybe she's in the 8th grade this year.
"What about you?" Joey asked.
"Well, I'm a sophomore this year and my parents both work. My Dad is the branch manager for Southern Savings and Loan. Their main office is in Waco. My mother is a paralegal for Augustus Phyfe Douglas the third. Isn't that quite a name?" Daniel said.
"Is there a fourth?" Joey laughed.
"Yeah, and a fifth, too. He's a junior this year and wants to be an attorney like his father and grandfather. He'll probably make it, too, he's pretty smart.
"If I had a name like that, I'd get it changed," Joey laughed.
"He's a good guy, in spite of the name," Daniel said.
"Anyway, I have an older brother who's a senior and on the basketball team. He'd like to go to SMU and study genetics, then do research work in a lab. Now, tell me about you," Daniel said.
"Well, you know that Dale Richards is my half brother, except he didn't know I existed until two weeks ago. My father and Dale's mother weren't married and Dad had only seen Dale once before and that was when he was 13. My parents were married, but my mom left us when I was four years old, so I don't remember very much about her. I don't even know where she is and Dad was never able to find any trace of her family.
"I've been in Boy Scouts and guess I'll probably join here. I played Junior Baseball in Houston. I like school and until today, I've always made good grades. I'm not too sure about Mr. Korte and Coach Dennison, though. I have a feeling that both are hard people to deal with," Joey said.
"Mr. Korte is really pretty easy to get along with. He's not failed anyone, but not very many make A's in his classes. If he sees that you are trying, he'll give you extra help, but will leave you alone if you don't ask for it.
"As far as Coach Dennison, he doesn't have any business being a teacher. He treats the kids with disdain and thinks severe discipline is the only answer. He has a violent temper and gets so worked up at a ball game, screaming and yelling at the guys, that a lot of times he still doesn't have any voice on Monday."
"He must have been a drill sergeant in the Army, the way he runs the gym class."
"Actually he was a Marine. Rumor has it that he was court- martialed because he ran a platoon through a course that had been closed for maintenance. One of the recruits was badly injured and Coach Dennison was bounced out of the Marines. It serves him right, but makes it awfully tough on those in his class."
"Did you take Phys Ed when you were a freshman?" Joey asked.
"Yeah, it's a required class. You can get out of it by going out for football, basketball, soccer, baseball, swimming or track. Those sports or Phys Ed count toward your credits for graduation," Daniel said.
"Guess I'm stuck with staying in gym class then," Joey said. "I just think there is too much emphasis placed on winning a game and not the sportsmanship you are supposed to learn by being on the team."
"I hear you there. The coaches here are really bad about winning all their games."
By this time they were at Daniel's home. It was a nice, large house in a good neighborhood. The yard was full of shade trees with a well-kept lawn and lots of flowerbeds.
"Come on in," Daniel said, holding the door open for Joey. The inside was nicely furnished.
"Do you want a soda or something?" Daniel asked.
"Sure, a Coke or cola would be good."
"Got it. I'm going to get out some snacks for us, too."
"Can I call Dale and tell him to pick me up here when he comes home?" Joey asked.
"Sure. The phones on the wall next to the refrigerator," Daniel told him.
Joey checked the address with Daniel before punching the number of Dale's cell phone.
"Dale Richards," his voice said after the second ring.
"Hi Dad. I'm over at Daniel Pearson's house. It's at 4003 Maple. Can you pick me up here on your way home?"
"Sure. I'll be there about 5:45 unless something comes up, so be watching for me."
"Ok, thanks. See ya then," Joey said, hanging up the phone.
"He'll be here about 5:45," Joey told Daniel.
Daniel thought he heard Joey call Dale, 'Dad', then remembered what he'd said earlier. He was curious about that and the fact there was another man involved. He'd have to see what he could find out about that.
He finished putting crackers and cheese on a plate, then handed Joey two glasses to fill with ice cubes, telling him to get a bottle of Coke out of the refrigerator. He led the way downstairs to the large room he shared with his brother, Scott. Daniel's side of the room was neat and everything seemed to be in its place. The other side looked 'well-used' as the bed hadn't been made, there were dirty clothes on the floor and two drawers of the chest hadn't been closed. A couple of Playboy magazines were beside the bed, as well as a pair of white socks. Joey wondered if Scott used his socks for the same purpose he did.
"Sorry for the mess. As you can see, my brother isn't a very neat person and I refuse to pick up after him unless Mom and Dad get on me about it. I think he's old enough to pick up after himself."
Joey agreed.
"If you need to use the bathroom, it's right through that door," Daniel told him. "Make yourself comfortable while I hit the head."
As he disappeared through the door, Joey went to investigate Scott's socks as soon as Daniel shut the door. He was right. There was a crusty load in one sock and the other had probably been used to wipe up the remainder. Joey grinned and wondered if Daniel and his brother jacked-off together.
Joey laid the sock back on the floor and went to the table where the computer was set up. It was a Compaq 386, he saw. He didn't know anything about computers but was anxious to learn as his apprehension about Kent Korte's class loomed in his mind.
He heard the toilet flush as Daniel came back in the room, buttoning his Levis. Daniel pulled his shirt off and Joey thought he was going to put on something else, maybe a t-shirt, but he didn't. Daniel was about 5'8" and probably weighed about 155. He wasn't quite as big as Craig, but he had dark brown hair and had a fair amount of hair around his navel and on up his abdomen about 4 inches. There was a ring of hair around each nipple.
"It's warm in here. You can take your shirt off, if you want. Those long sleeves look hot." He was hoping Joey would because of the remark Bryce had made about Joey having so much hair on his chest that he looked like "Fuzzy Bear".
"I'm okay," Joey said, wondering what Daniel had in mind. "How long have you had this computer?" he asked Daniel.
"We got it for Christmas last year. It's a better computer than what is in the Computer Lab at school. Scott and I both use it for some of our written assignments. All the teachers will allow you to type anything that has to be written. They've decided that it's easier than trying to decipher everybody's handwriting," he laughed.
"That's cool," Joey said. "Can you show me some things?"
"Sure, Daniel said, turning it on.
He showed Joey a Lotus spreadsheet he'd done for an accounting class, then printed several of his English Literature assignments with a program called WordStar. He showed him how the spellcheck feature worked and how you could insert, cut and paste, correct and delete text without having to retype it. Joey was impressed with the speed of the Epson printer and the fact that the print head printed going both directions. Daniel pulled up a program called PrintShop and showed him how he could make greeting cards and signs.
"How much does a system like this cost?" he asked.
Daniel thought for a minute. I think this was about $2,000 and that included the color monitor, printer and modem so we can access Mr. Korte's stupid bulletin board. He expects everybody in his class to access it at least once a day. He can tell who has connected to it."
"Can you show me how you do that?" Joey asked.
"Sure." He closed the Print Shop program and selected 'Bulletin Board' from the menu. Joey could hear the computer beep the digits as it dialed the number. There was some hissing noise, and then the opening screen came up. Daniel showed him some of the areas where one could download utility programs and other files, then transferred one to his computer. Joey was impressed with what he was seeing.
"Around $2,000?" Joey asked.
"Yeah, you might be able to do better than that at one of the computer centers in Austin. Some of the software was free, but some of the others we had to buy. Here's a neat program called "SideKick" that has an editor you can use to write programs. It also has a calendar that goes from 1901 to 2099, a simple calculator and an ASCII Table so you can look up the binary or hex numbers for each symbol," he said proudly.
"You've lost me there, but this is really neat. I'll have to talk to my Dad's and see if they'll spring for a computer. I'm sure Craig can help me some and if you can, too, maybe I'll be able to pass Korte's class with no problem."
"Here are the games I have," and Daniel showed him a brief glance at PacMan and Donkey Kong.
Daniel was just ready to ask him about his two Dads when Joey looked at his watch. "It's almost 5:45. I'd better get upstairs and be looking for Dale. We're supposed to move the big screen TV and then see about an entertainment center cabinet for my stereo stuff tonight, too."
"They have some really nice ones at Electronic Home. That's where this computer table came from," Daniel said. He picked up his shirt and put it on as they were going up the stairs.
Dale had just driven the Bar-W pickup onto the driveway. "Come on and meet Dale," Joey said, picking up his backpack.
Daniel followed him out the door.
"This is my friend, Daniel Pearson. This is Dale Richards, my brother and my new Dad," Joey said.
Dale got out of the pickup to shake hands with Daniel, who was all eyes. He couldn't believe how much alike Dale and Joey looked. Dale was taller and heavier and had a mustache, but you could definitely tell he was an older brother.
"Pleased to meet you, Daniel. I'm glad that Joey was able to make a new friend his first day here."
"Hi Dale, it's nice to meet you, too. I'm glad to have Joey for a friend and I met some other guys I didn't know because of him, too.
"That's great. Sorry we have to hurry off, but we've got several things to be accomplished this evening."
"That's okay, Dale. See ya tomorrow, Joey. Thanks for coming over."
"Thank you Daniel. and thanks for showing me your computer," Joey said.
As they were driving down the street, Dale said, "Sounds like you've already met some nice kids."
"Yeah, I did. And I have good teachers, except for two. One of them might be okay, but the other is definitely a jerk. Do you know Coach Dennison?"
"Definitely a Jerk," Dale said, "and that probably should be 'Mister Jerk'," he laughed. "Did you draw him for Phys Ed?"
"Yeah." Joey told him about having to count off, giving him his admission slip, then having to run laps because he got out of line without permission. He also told him about taking his shirt off and the coach questioning his age, then getting bent out of shape because he had hair on his chest.
"He's just jealous because only real men can grow hair," Dale said.
"Did you have him for gym when you were in school?"
"No, I think he's only been here two or three years and most people think that's five years longer than he should have been allowed to teach."
"Daniel said he was a Marine drill instructor and got court- martialed because he took his platoon through an area that was closed for maintenance and one of the men was badly hurt," Joey said.
"I've heard that story, too, but that's still no excuse for his behavior. If he continues to give you a bad time, let me know and I'll look into it. I'm not promising anything can be done, but we can keep a watch on him," Dale told him.
Joey told him about the Computer Lab class and Kent Korte.
"I've always made good grades, but I have the feeling that this guy doesn't really care if he teaches you anything or not. Daniel says he has this bulletin board that he runs on his computer at his house. He expects all his students to access it everyday and he can tell who has been connected to it. You can do it in class, but a few of the kids have computers of their own," Joey told Dale.
"Do we need to buy you a computer?" Dale asked.
"I don't know, I mean it's a lot of money to buy one. Daniel thought his cost about $2,000. Some of the software he has was free but he and his brother had to buy some of the programs."
"You've lost me there, but we can certainly afford to get a computer if you need one. Craig can help you with some things, but I'm totally in the dark when it comes to computers. I know Marty has one because he gives me some printouts from time to time about the income and expenses for each area of the ranch that are different than what the accountant provides to us."
"Craig has one at his office. He showed me how it can draw blueprints on these really big sheets of paper," Joey said.
"Yeah, I've seen it, but I don't think they do much else with it except to make drawings. The woman who is their secretary and bookkeeper has a computer at her desk and I think she uses it to keep their financial statements and write letters, bids and contracts for them," Dale said.
"It would be neat to have one, but I don't know all that much about them. Dad bought that old IBM computer from his company and he found out it couldn't do very much."
"Yes, but wasn't it several years old, the first generation of IBM personal computers?" Dale asked.
"It was, but Mr. Korte said the computers in the lab were new last year and were already obsolete."
"This is the fastest growing industry in the world right now. They claim that just one of today's personal computers are more powerful than all of the computers together that sent the men to the moon just twenty years ago," Dale said.
"I've heard that, too," Joey told him.
By this time they were at the condo and Craig was out in the yard with Mitsy.
"Hi Dad!" Joey greeted Craig. Mitsy came running to him. He knelt down to scratch her ears and got a big wet kiss from her. Then she lay down and rolled on her back, her way of telling people she wanted her chest and stomach rubbed.
Craig laughed, along with Dale. "Hi Joey. I can tell that she missed you today."
Joey was giving his attention to Mitsy. "She's always like this when I get home from school."
"She's a great dog," Craig said. "She certainly has adapted to living in an apartment with no problem."
Dale agreed.
"How was the first day at the new school?" Craig asked.
"Really good until the last two classes." Joey answered.
"He drew 'Major Storm trooper' for his Phys Ed class," Dale broke in.
"Dennison?" Craig questioned.
"Who else fits that description?" Dale asked.
Joey told Craig about his experience beginning with getting out of line, having to run laps, then having his age questioned when he took his t-shirt off.
"There's no excuse for that behavior, these kids are in high school, not boot camp." Craig was not pleased with the report he'd been given.
"I told him we'd monitor the situation. I've heard others complain, too, and that's why Eddie is running the summer Little League program for the school system. Dennison was verbally abusing the little boys. Those kids playing ball get enough grief from their own parents for missing plays and hits. They don't need it from the coaches, too," Dale told them.
"Just don't argue with him," Craig said. "If you do that, he'll just make it harder on you, but we can work the problem in other ways - that is if we have to."
"Thanks Dads. Don't worry about me causing him any trouble, but I'll let you know about any problems that I - or any other kids - have with him."
"Well, I'm ready to go pick up the TV if you guys are. Joey, you take Mitsy upstairs and lock the place up," Craig said.
As Joey and Mitsy went upstairs, Craig said, "Dale, I got a four-wheel cart at the rental place. It's in the back of my car."
Joey arrived back at the parking lot as they were putting the cart in the back of the pickup.
It didn't take them long to go to the storage, load the TV onto the pickup and go back to the condo. The three of them got it on the cart with no problem and onto the elevator to go to the 5th floor in no time at all. They had decided the previous evening where it should sit and put it in place.
Craig picked up the sheet of paper with the measurements of Joey's various stereo equipment modules as they went out the door. The first stop was Best Buy. Joey found a unit he liked and Dale and Craig measured the shelves, which had adequate space.
"I wonder if they have this one in black?" Joey questioned.
Dale checked the information on the display model. "It says that it only comes in the dark oak, like this one, or white."
"I'm with Joey, black would be better," Craig said.
"Let's go to Electronic Home," Dale said. "It's only a few blocks over there."
"That's where Daniel and his brother got their computer table," Joey told them.
"Are we getting a computer, too?" Craig asked.
As they were riding to the other store, Joey filled Craig in on his Computer Lab class and how Daniel and his brother, Scott, used the computer.
"He said we might do better on price by going to one of the discount stores in Austin," Joey said.
"We might, but I think we can expect better service by buying it right here in Williamsport and it's worth it to buy from a computer store rather than a discount house. The few times we've had problems with the computer at the office, they've always sent someone to fix it right away."
"That makes sense," Dale said.
"Well, I'm afraid if we were to go to Austin, then we have to take it back to Austin to get it fixed, or ship it somewhere," Craig told them.
"We don't have to decide that tonight," Joey said. He was excited about the prospect of getting a computer, but he wanted to do some research and get exactly the right one.
The three walked into Electronic Home and were immediately greeted by a clerk. Dale and Craig let Joey tell him what he was looking for and the salesman led them to the display area. The store had a much better selection, although most prices were a little higher. They found the same unit for the same price as the first store and they had it in black.
"Is this okay?" Joey asked.
"Sure, bud," Dale said, squeezing him on the arm.
"We'll take this one," Joey told the clerk, whose nametag said his name was Dennis.
Craig spoke up. "We're not prepared to buy one tonight, but I think we'd like to look at computers, to get an idea of what's available and prices."
"Over this way. Is this for your home?" Dennis asked.
"Yes," the three of them answered almost together. Dennis wondered about that. One of the men and the boy looked like brothers and the other guy didn't look like them at all. He thought that was interesting.
"What tasks are you going to use the computer for?" he questioned as they arrived in the computer area.
"Mainly for Joey for school," Dale said, "although we may find some other usage for it as all three of us learn how to use it."
Joey spoke up. "I'm in Mr. Korte's Computer Lab class in school and he expects us to learn to write some simple programs and also access the bulletin board he runs from his home computer."
"Oh, yes, I know about that. He thinks everyone should have a computer right away, although I think in ten years time, most of us will."
Craig was looking at the computers on the shelving. "I don't see any IBM equipment here."
"No, they won't allow stores like us to sell their equipment, yet. It's a mistake on their part as they are losing sales to other companies like Compaq, Hewitt-Packard and Packard- Bell, among others. Dell and Gateway sell strictly by mail order and Apple has their own stores. We carry Compaq, Hewitt-Packard and also assemble our own, so we can custom-build for your needs and configure and test each unit before you take it home. We offer some training classes in the more popular software, such as Lotus, WordStar and WordPerfect and some others will be added soon as we find more instructors.
"What's all this I hear about an 'Internet'?" Dale asked.
"That's the 'World Wide Web' and it's starting to pick up a lot of interest and users from all over the world. There is some great information available and a lot of questionable stuff, too. Some of the bulletin boards in the area are now accessible via the internet," Dennis told them.
"How does that work?" Craig asked.
"You have to have a modem, which is an interface for your computer to transfer data over the telephone lines, to another computer. You can simply logon to a website to read information they have available. It's great for a lot of research projects for those in school. You can upload and download files containing data from the source to your computer."
"Doesn't that cause a pretty high phone bill, for long distance calls?" Dale wanted to know.
"No, your access could be with one of two local companies that are called Internet Service Providers. They charge a flat fee rate for different access packages. As little as $5 a month for a few hours to about $20 for unlimited usage, so you're only paying for access time.
With that Dennis showed them how to access a website maintained by the Dallas Tourism Bureau, then look up a listing of motels and hotels, along with their price ranges. There were a number of tourist attractions listed, Fair Park having a large amount of pictures and information.
Dale and Craig were impressed and Joey was amazed because he didn't know this existed, either.
"You mean that if we had a computer, we could look stuff like this up at home?" Dale asked.
"Yes, and you can search for information and find listings of possible websites that might have the information. This is just getting started really well and in another five years they estimate that about half of the homes will have personal computers and 80% of those will have Internet access.
"What kind of money are we talking about?" Craig asked.
"We can build you a 'Super 386' with a color monitor, both a 5.25" and 3.5" floppy disk drive, an 80-meg hard drive, the usual printer, serial and game ports, an internal modem, 640k memory and Windows installed for $1,750. You can have a choice of several Epson dot matrix printers for between two and three hundred dollars each, depending on speed and narrow or wide carriage tractor feed. This month we are giving away both Lotus and WordStar software and a choice of two games."
"So, basically, we're talking around $2,100 or so?" Dale asked.
"Yeah, it could be a little less, or a little more, but I don't think it would be over a $100 either direction."
We need to ask more questions and see if we can narrow down our requirements," Craig said. "Joey definitely needs a computer and I think all three of us could benefit from having one."
Dale agreed.
Joey was looking around the area and spotted a computer table like Daniel and his brother had. They had it in black, also, and it was priced at $159. He caught Dale's eye and motioned him to come look at it. "This is like the table Daniel and Scott have for their computer," he said.
"Looks good to me. Seems like everything would be out of the way and give you plenty of workspace, too." He pulled out the tray where the keyboard would be placed. "They've thought of everything haven't they?"
Craig walked over, followed by Dennis. "Hey Dad, this is like the table Daniel and his bother have for their computer."
Dennis was really confused now. One of the men was called Dale and his look-alike was Joey, and yet Joey called the blond guy, 'Dad'. That didn't make any sense to him.
"This is nice. It could take the place of the desk that's going in your room, if you want," Dale told them.
"Yeah, I don't think he would want both in there, it might get crowded pretty quickly with the entertainment center in there, too," Craig agreed.
Dale looked at Dennis. "Thanks for explaining computers to us. We need to do a little research and talk to others about what they think we should buy. Do you have a card?" he asked.
"Yes," Dennis said, pulling out his case and giving each of them a card. "I'm here from 2:30 to 9 each afternoon and night and I'll be glad to answer your questions and give you a quote on building a system for you."
"Thanks. I'm sure we'll be talking to you soon."
"Glad to help. Your entertainment center should be in a box at the front of the store, close to the cash register. I'll look forward to helping you again," Dennis told them.
It didn't take them long to drive home, unload the entertainment center box and carry it to their condo. Joey took Mitsy outside while Dale and Craig took the box to Joey's room.
"Shall we get this put together and set up this evening?" Craig asked.
"Yeah, lets do, then we can see how much room there is for his computer," Dale said.
"You're really enjoying being a parent aren't, you?" Craig asked, giving Dale a light kiss on the lips.
"No more so than being married to you. It just seems that I've gone from a life where I kinda wandered from one thing to another without any purpose. Then you rescued me and make me part of your world, then we added Joey to it."
Craig laughed. "I don't know about the 'rescue' part of it, but I could say the same about you. You've completed my life and now Joey is here. I'm the one who should be counting my lucky stars."
They didn't realize that Joey and Mitsy had come in as they shared a deep kiss.
"Come on, Mitsy, looks like they're gonna use my room for the night. We'll have to sleep in the living room again," Joey said, then started laughing.
Dale and Craig pulled apart, not knowing if they should be embarrassed, or what.
"Just telling your mother how much I love him," Dale said, regaining his composure.
"You keep doing that and you're not going to be able to stand close to each other," Joey laughed, pointing at their obvious hardons.
Craig was the one who turned red this time.
"Look, it doesn't bother me a bit if you guys want to make out. It's kind of like having your very own porn movie, except you guys never get past the kissing part," Joey told them, his eyes sparkling.
"Well, guess you are going to have to catch that on VHS, because if you remember we told you that you might see us kissing each other from time to time, but anything beyond that is in the privacy of our own bedroom. Sorry to disappoint you," Dale said.
All three laughed, but Joey was thinking about seeing them do more than kiss. Porn movies followed a written script. He'd like to know what 'making love' was all about.
"Come on, let's get this cabinet put together and see where it's going to fit in the room," Dale told them, opening the box and pulling out the instruction sheet.
(to be continued)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the great feedback on the previous chapters. I appreciate all the emails that you've taken the time to write and I know I've missed replying to a few of them, but it's not intentional that I don't reply. And, thanks for the suggestions of plots and character development. Some of you have hit my plans squarely on the head and others have given me some great ideas.
If you would like to be on the list for notification of future chapters, or just want to drop me a note, you may do so at: TulsaDriller7@aol.com. Thanks again.