Secrets: The Truth is Slowly Revealed
By: B W
(© 2023 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

BW@tickiestories.us

Chapter 7
 Happy Birthday USA

When it was time for Devin to drive us back to my house, he not only packed enough clothes for the time we’d be there, but he brought everything he would need for Freshman Orientation as well.  Since his parents were going to celebrate the Fourth of July with my family, they agreed to follow behind us in their SUV, and along the way I had something I wanted to discuss with Devin. 

“You know, I’ve been thinking about what it’s going to be like when we get to college and I kind of wish we could just live at your family’s house in Fort Collins, rather than stay in a residence hall.  It would be a lot easier for us, especially if we aren’t able to finagle it so we can be roommates.”

“Come on, do you really want to miss out on seeing all of the other guys naked in the communal bathrooms, because that’s where the showers are?”

“Oh, I didn’t really think about that.  Ummm, in that case I’ll probably be able to deal with living in a residence hall for a year,” I confirmed with a sly grin, “as long as we can be roommates.” 

“Don’t worry, because we’ll find a way to make sure that happens too.   Besides, we can still live in my family’s house during our last three years at CSU; if that’s what you want to do.” 

“Yeah, that works for me, because I’ll probably have checked out all the good looking guys by then.”

“If not, I can take care of it for you, but you’ve already got the best looking guy.  If you want to see what some of the other guys look like, though, you’ll just have to point out the ones that you’re interested in checking out and I’ll transition into them for you.”

“Yeah, you could do that, but you’d only be guessing at what’s hidden underneath their clothes, unless you’ve seen them naked before.  And if you’re going to see them naked, then we might as well do that together.”  

“No, I wouldn’t just be guessing.  When I transition into someone all of the parts are correct, except if I decide to enhance something, like I do with myself sometimes.  It’s just how it works.” 

“Ok, that’s good to know.”

We continued chatting all the way back to my house and it was just like old times again.  The two weeks we’d spent at the cabin had made me feel as if we’d never been apart.  Well, that’s not exactly true, because occasionally I would still have flashbacks about the loneliness that I’d felt after he had left with his parents. 

Even though a few bad memories still lingered, I now understood why his family had to move.  I just wish they would have invited me to join them for two weeks at the cabin during each of those years.  That way I wouldn’t have felt as if Devin had abandoned me, but that’s water under the bridge or over the dam, depending on how you prefer to look at things.  Either way, it can’t be changed now, so I’ll just enjoy what I currently have, now that Devin is back in my life again.

When we eventually reached the house and pulled into the driveway, my parents came outside to greet everyone. 

“Aaron and Doris, it’s so nice to see you again,” my mom enthused.  “How have you been?”

“I’ve been doing well and merely working hard,” Devin’s mom replied.

“I hope you’re well rested, because I’ve got a lot planned for today and tomorrow,” my dad followed.  “Why don’t you come inside so we can talk?” 

“That sounds like a good idea, so lead on,” Mr. McCaskill responded. 

As our parents were heading toward the front door, Devin grabbed the various items out of his SUV that he was going to need while he stayed with us, because those things would be going directly to my room.  While he was doing that, I retrieved his parents’ suitcase out of their SUV and we carried those items inside.  As soon as my mom noticed what we were doing, she addressed us. 

“If you don’t mind, just take the luggage upstairs.  I’ve fixed up the guest room for Devin’s parents to use, so you can put their suitcase in there.”

We did as she suggested, and when we came downstairs again, they were all sitting around the dining room table. 

“Why don’t you two come and join us?  We’re having some ice tea while we’re waiting to have lunch,” my dad explained. 

“And it should be ready soon,” my mom added.

Devin and I eagerly joined them, but we let the four of them chat without butting in.  When my mom got up to check on lunch, Devin’s mom went out to the kitchen with her, and a short time later they were carrying the food to the table. 

“If you don’t mind,” my dad stated as we were chowing down, “I thought we could go to a restaurant later for supper.  We’ll also go to the parade tomorrow morning and I’ve got everything we’ll need to have a barbeque tomorrow afternoon.  Then later, after we’ve had supper, we’ll go to the park and watch the big fireworks display.”

“It sounds like it’s going to be a wonderful time and hopefully the weather will remain nice,” Devin’s dad stated, “but you didn’t have to go to all of this trouble just for us.”

“Oh, it wasn’t any trouble and we’re happy to do it.  We’re thrilled that you’re joining us this year and I think it’s wonderful that we’re all back together again.”

“And we do too,” Devin’s mom concurred.

Devin and I helped to do the clean up after we finished eating, and then we left our parents alone so they could catch up with each other a little more.  In the meantime, I took Devin on a walk around our property, and then we walked along the boundary that separated his former residence and mine. 

“How does it feel to see your old house again?”

“It feels weird.  It not only looks different, since the current owners have painted it a different color and made some other changes to it as well, but it also seems strange seeing other people going in and out of the house.  It’s definitely not the same place where I grew up.”

“I know.  I felt the same way about it as soon as you moved away and even more so after the other people moved in.”

When we finished our walk, Devin wanted to drive over to see what our old schools looked like now, and he also wanted to check out some of the other places that we used to frequent.  After I agreed to do it, we went inside to let our parents know what we were going to do, and then we got back in his SUV and took off. 

“The elementary school looks the same, but it seems smaller than I remember, especially the playground,” Devin stated. 

“Yeah, I know what you mean, but I still remember all of the great times we used to have there.”

“Yeah, I remember those times too,” he concurred as we continued our journey down memory lane.  “And even though I was only at the middle school for one year, it looks pretty much the same to me.”

“Yeah, I guess it would.”

“Is the old movie theater that we used to go to still open?”

“No, it closed down, because they built a new cinema complex that contains four smaller theaters, instead of the one large theater, like at the Jamesville Movie Palace.”

“Does that building just sit empty then?”

“It does for most of the year, but around Christmas and during the summer a community theater group uses it to put on plays and musicals.  In fact, they’ve probably got something going on there tonight, if you want to go and see what the inside of the place looks like now.” 

“Yeah, but we’ll have to talk it over with our parents first and see what they want to do.”

We continued driving on until we passed the next place he fondly remembered from our childhood.  “The ice cream shop looks the same and it appears to be doing a pretty good business.”

“Yes, ice cream never seems to go out of demand.  The only difference is that now they offer a larger selection of sherbets and frozen yogurt options.”

“Yeah, they probably had to do that, seeing a lot of the older people are more health conscious now.”

He also made comments about the other places that we drove past, and when he got tired of doing this, we headed back to the house. 

“While you were gone,” my dad informed us as soon as we joined them again, “the rest of us have agreed to clean up and change before we go out for supper.  We also agreed to go see the semi-professional production of Mamma Mia! after we finish eating.  It’s being performed at the old Jamesville Movie Palace.”

“That’s funny, because we were talking about doing the same thing when we passed by that place while we were driving around.”

“Great!  Then it’s all set,” my mother announced. 

Seeing that had been agreed to, Devin’s parents wanted to know which places we’d drove past and what Devin thought about them now.  As soon as he finished telling them, his mom made a comment. 

“I wasn’t sure if the ice cream shop would still be open, but since it is, what do the rest of you think about going there for a treat after we see the musical?”

“It sounds like a great idea,” we all agreed. 

It was a marvelous evening and we all had a great time.  It started with us going to our favorite restaurant from back when Devin and his parents used to live next door and we’d all go out to eat together. 

“I wasn’t sure if this place would still be open,” Devin’s mom stated when she saw where my dad was taking us. 

“It is and it still serves delicious meals that are reasonably priced,” my dad added. 

After we left there, our next stop was the old Jamesville Movie Palace.  Devin and his parents began looking around as soon as we entered the building.

“This place sure could use some tender loving care,” Devin’s dad observed. 

“Yes, it sat empty for quite a while before the theater group started using it,” my dad responded.

“It looks as if they took out some of the seats?” Mrs. McCaskill observed as we entered the theater area. 

“Yes, they removed a couple of rows up front so they’d have room for an orchestra when they’re putting on a musical.”

“Ahhh, that makes sense.”

“Is the old movie screen still there?” Mr. McCaskill asked.

“No, it was in really bad shape so they ended up trashing it, but I’ve heard this group is setting aside some of their earnings so they can purchase a new screen that can be raised and lowered.  It’s my understanding that they’re planning on showing some of the older movies, such as Star Wars, Jaws, and the Indiana Jones series when the kids are out of school.  They feel the younger generation will enjoy watching those films on the big screen, rather than on a smaller television screen.  If it works out, they may also show some of the old classics like The Sound of Music, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Wizard of Oz, and Gone With the Wind to attract the older crowd as well.”

“It sounds interesting.”  

To our delight, the ensemble putting on tonight’s performance was very good and they had some terrific vocalists performing the major singing roles.  We were all quite impressed. 

When the show ended, we headed over to the ice cream shop for a little treat, and it was nice to see that they offered some name brand ice cream flavors as well.  Our dads, Devin, and I each had ice cream, while our mom’s went with frozen yogurt, but we were all more than satisfied with our choices. 

When we left there, we went back to the house, and then we stayed up and chatted for a while longer before heading to bed.  Of course it didn’t mean we went right to sleep, and I have a feeling that Devin and I weren’t the only ones having sex.  With me and Devin it was just oral sex, and even though we didn’t know exactly what our parents were doing, we just knew they were probably engaged in some form of sex as well.  

The Fourth of July celebration started off as it always did.  After we had breakfast at home, we went down to Main Street and watched a very typical small town parade.  It consisted of political dignitaries riding in antique vehicles, followed by a few floats that had been less than professionally assembled.  The music was provided by the high school and the old timers’ bands, but this year there was also another musical feature. 

We were informed that the new music teacher at the high school had been able to recruit enough musicians to form a Fife and Drum corps, complete with fairly authentic looking revolutionary war era costumes.  They were all dressed similarly to what you would see in the painting, Spirit of ’76, so most of the participants were wearing knickers, which are a pair of pants that only come down to just below the knees.  They were also wearing knee-high white socks below the knickers, and they also wore either a three-quarters length coat or a vest and a long-sleeve white shirt.  On their heads they either wore an old-fashioned wig or a tri-corner hat, and on their feet they wore black or brown slip-on shoes with a faux rectangular silver buckle.  

“I wonder if they made their own outfits or if they purchased them,” my mom mused. 

“I don’t think it matters,” my dad responded, “because they all look great.”

“And if the music teacher is smart she’ll have them store those items at the school until next year,” Devin’s mom added.  “She might also be able to use them in a future high school production about that era.  Who knows, maybe someday they’ll even try putting on the musical Hamilton.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” my mom agreed.   

When the parade ended, we made a quick trip back to the house and my father started getting the grill ready for the barbeque.  Of course, Devin’s dad offered to help out, and at the same time our mothers were busy putting the finishing touches on the other dishes that would be served, including the desserts.  While they were doing that, Devin and I set up an activity that everyone could participate in. 

I’m not exactly sure when they did it, but my parents had picked up a volleyball set at a garage sale, so Devin and I set up the net and made sure the ball had enough air.  We figured we could all play later, because we knew our parents were going to want to allow their meal to settle first, before they started jumping around playing volleyball. 

After that was taken care of, Devin and I helped our moms bring out the dishes they’d prepared, along with the hamburger and hot dog buns, condiments, plates, and eating utensils.  Once those items were all on the picnic table, we waited for our dads to take the meat off the grill. 

Devin and I opted to sit at the picnic table, along with the food, while our parents sat at the round patio table with the large umbrella.  As we were eating, I couldn’t help but wonder what my parents would think if they knew what Devin and his dad could do.  Would they shun them and want nothing more to do with the family, or would they feel they were the same people they’ve known and been friends with for years?  I hope it would be the latter, but when it comes to emotional issues, you never know.  

We all chatted as we ate and our parents seemed to get a kick out of telling stories about things that had happened while Devin and I were growing up – embarrassing stories.  My parents told Devin’s parents about something that happened after one of the sleepovers that Devin and I had at my house when we were six or seven. 

“They were obviously faking being asleep when I went to check on them,” my mom explained, “and then they must have stayed up most of the night fooling around.  They were both really tired at breakfast, so after some persistent questioning, I got them to confess about what they’d done.”

“I think I remember that, because Devin seemed exhausted when he returned home later that day,” Devin’s mom concurred.

“And I tried to convince Mickey to take a nap after Devin went home, but he wouldn’t do it, so he ended up falling asleep at the supper table.  Mike and I couldn’t help but laugh when he fell asleep and his head ended up on his plate.  When I woke him a minute later, he had mashed potatoes, gravy, and peas stuck in his hair and on one side of his face.” 

“I’d bet the story I’m going to tell you must have happened on the same day,” Mrs. McCaskill stated.  “Devin had gotten to the point where he didn’t want me to help him when he took a bath any longer, because he didn’t want me to see him naked, and I reluctantly agreed.  However, on that particular night he seemed to be taking a really long time, so I went in to check on him.  He was laying naked in the tub, sound asleep, and it didn’t look as if he’d taken a bath at all, so I had to give him his bath and put him to bed, even though he no longer wanted me to do that.” 

And those weren’t the only stories they told about us, but relaying those tales took long enough that I felt their meal had time to settle.  As soon as they finished one of their stories, I decided to end this tortuous trip through our childhood by making a suggestion. 

“Let’s all play volleyball, and we’ll start with my family playing against the McCaskills.”

“Do you really want to play volleyball, or are you just trying to stop us from telling more stories about when you boys were younger?” Devin’s dad followed. 

“Both!” Devin and I shouted in unison, which caused all of our parents to laugh. 

I should have known better than to suggest that our families play against each other.  I failed to take into account that Devin and his dad had the ability to enhance their leg muscles so they could jump higher, as well as being able to get to the ball a step quicker than the rest of us.  Needless to say, they humiliated my family, so before the next game started we made a slight adjustment – we switched my dad with Devin’s dad. 

That game was a lot closer this time and Mr. McCaskill led our team to victory.  Devin was a little bummed out when this happened and insisted that we play again with the same teams, so he could get revenge.  I think Mr. McCaskill let Devin’s team win this time so we wouldn’t have to play again and he wouldn’t have to listen to Devin whine and complain about losing. 

“That was fun,” my mom stated when the third game ended, “but I’m tired out and there’s no way I can play another game.” 

“I agree with you, Cindy,” Devin’s mom concurred.  “Let’s rest for a while and then we’ll have dessert.”

While everyone was having a chance to catch their breath and get a drink, my mom went in the house and returned carrying a sheet cake.  It was a cherry cake with cream cheese icing, and on top of the cake were four blue, numbered candles that were arranged to read ‘1776’. 

“Clever, mom, the cake is red, white, and blue.”

“Thank you.  I thought it was pretty ingenious myself.” 

After we’d all polished off a piece of cake and washed it down with a glass of ice tea, we were wondering what we were going to do next. 

“You know, I just remembered that I won a Bocce set at the company picnic last year,” my dad stated.  “It’s been in the closet ever since, so who wants to give it a try?”

“It sounds like a good idea, because it’s not as strenuous as playing volleyball,” Devin’s mom agreed, and then everyone else concurred. 

The bocce set had four green and four red balls, as well as a small white pallino, so we decided to play in teams of two.  This way each person would get two balls in his team’s color, and the first player would toss the pallino, which is the target that everyone would aim for.  From that point on, the players would take turns until all of the colored balls had been thrown, and then the team with its ball the closest to the pallino would win that frame and score one point.  We played until one of the teams had scored nine points and was declared the victor. 

We let our parents play against one another first, and then Devin and I played the winners.  As soon as that game ended, we challenged the other set of parents, so now we had all played against each other. 

“That was fun,” my mom gushed when the last game ended. 

“Does this game have another name besides bocce?” Devin’s mom asked. 

“Yes,” my dad answered.  “It’s also called lawn bowling as well, and some people play it on a well groomed rectangular patch of land that even looks like a bowling alley.”

“Neat!” Devin commented. 

The sun was nearly ready to set by this time, so we all loaded into Mr. McCaskill’s SUV and he drove us to the park so we could watch the fireworks display.  It wasn’t as elaborate as those we’d seen on TV for the larger celebrations in the past, but it was still fun to watch. 

“Ahhh, the rocket’s red glare, the bomb’s bursting in air,” my dad recited just before the finale. 

“Except Francis Scott Key wrote that during the War of 1812, not the Revolutionary War,” Mr. McCaskill noted. 

“Close enough,” my dad responded.  “It was still less than 50 years after the grand experiment had begun.”

“True enough,” Mr. McCaskill agreed. 

As soon as the last of the fireworks had faded into the nighttime sky, we loaded into Mr. McCaskill’s SUV again, but then he had to fight through traffic on the way out of the park, so it took a while before we reached the house. 

“Mickey, why are you and Devin leaving so early tomorrow?” my mom wanted to know.  “It’s Sunday, after all.”

“It’s so we can beat the traffic heading to the campus, as well as the people heading to work.  We have to be on campus by 10:00 a.m. on Monday to register for Freshman Orientation, so we’d have to speed and weave in and out of traffic to get there if we didn’t leave until the morning.” 

“Ok, I certainly don’t want you to do that.  Are you sure you have everything you’re going to need to take with you?”

“Yes, we’ve checked the items we’re required to bring with us several times.  We both have our driver’s licenses, which will serve as our government photo IDs, and we also have our vaccination records.  In addition to those items, we also have our AP examination numbers so the college can give us credit for the AP classes we took in high school, so we’re all set.”

“Ok, I just wanted to be certain.”    

“Why are you taking your Advance Placement examination numbers for the courses you took in high school,” Mrs. McCaskill wanted to know. 

“Because the college will give us credit for those classes if we got a good grade, and that way we can skip having to take them at college.  It will allow us to choose more electives instead.”

“Ok, now I understand.”

It had been a long and exhausting day and all wanted to get some sleep.  Devin’s parents were planning to head home in the morning, right before Devin and I left for the Colorado State campus.  Since we all wanted to be well rested for our trips, we all got ready for bed early and turned in. 

When we woke up in the morning, we all ate breakfast together first, before any of us headed to our destinations.  Mrs. McCaskill offered to help my mom do the dishes after we finished eating, but my mom insisted it wasn’t necessary and said she’d take care of everything after we were gone.  Since she was willing to do that, Devin and I followed his parents upstairs so we could brush our teeth.  We also followed them downstairs as Mr. McCaskill carried their suitcase out to the SUV.  As soon as he loaded it in the back, we listened to the McCaskills as they said goodbye to my parents. 

“Thank you for everything and we had a great time,” Mr. McCaskill said first. 

“Yes, we did,” Mrs. McCaskill agreed, “and I hope we can start doing things like this more often.”

“Yes, we can try to make this a yearly thing,” my mom concurred. 

Devin and I also said goodbye to them, and we hugged both of his parents and gave his mom a kiss before they drove away. 

After they left, we went back inside and Devin offered to take his shower first, while I was packing my things for the trip.  Once he came out of the bathroom, I went in to shower next, while he was getting dressed.  When I came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, I was shocked when I saw what he was wearing and I couldn’t help but comment about it. 

He had on a white CSU (Colorado State University) tee-shirt and green CSU mesh shorts, both of which seemed to be too big for him.  He was also wearing a black CSU ball cap with a green ram’s horn logo on the front, since Cam the Ram is the school’s mascot. 

“Are you going all Joe College on me?” I asked in mild shock.

“No, I just want to blend in with my surroundings once we leave here.   Since we’re heading to the college, I chose to wear some of the most popular CSU items that I was able to purchase, seeing I thought at least a few of the other students would also be wearing stuff like this.  Not only will I blend in better with everyone else, but these items will also leave plenty of room in case I have to transition at some point.”

“Ok, I guess I understand, but we’re still a long way from the campus.”

“I know, but I want to be ready for when we get closer.”

“But they’re all so large on you.  How do you keep them from falling down?”

“They’re only double-xl shorts and all of them have elastic waist bands.  I can also adjust the size of my waist enough to keep them up, and the large shirts hide that pretty well.”

“Ok, if you say so.”   

When we went downstairs, both of my parents looked at Devin strangely for a few seconds, and then my mom asked a question.

“Where will you boys stay tonight?  Are the dorms going to be open or are you going to spend the night at a motel?”

“Neither, we’re going to stay at Devin’s family home in Fort Collins,” I answered.  “It will give me a chance to look around the place so I’ll know if Devin and I should live there during our last three years.”

“Ah, that’s a good idea,” my dad agreed.

“And I want whoever is behind the wheel to drive carefully,” my mom added, suddenly causing the rest of us to think about what had happened to my sister, Melanie. 

“We will,” both Devin and I confirmed, and then after storing our gear in the back of the SUV, we both gave my parents a hug and my mom a kiss. 

Devin and I had agreed to split the driving duties and Devin offered to let me drive first.  He did this because I knew the local roads pretty well, but I wasn’t familiar with the Fort Collins area.  He was, since he’d been there before with his parents and grandparents, so he would drive the second leg of the trip. 

We chatted about a bunch of different things during the ride, and not just about what we were going to do once we reached Fort Collins.  In fact, it made my time behind the wheel pass quickly, and before I knew it, Devin was telling me to pull over at a diner that we were coming to.  I thought he just wanted to change drivers, but after we talked it over, we decided to go ahead and eat while we were there.  After I pulled into the parking lot and found a parking space, I turned off the engine just before we spotted a minor commotion. 

We hadn’t even had a chance to get out of the SUV yet when we saw a young woman race out of the diner with a man who was 15 or 20 years her senior following close behind.  We assumed she was trying to get away from him, because when he caught up to her, he grabbed one of her arms to keep her from going any farther. 

“Leave me alone and let go of my arm,” she snapped as she swung her right fist at his head while also attempting to break free of his grasp.  “I’m not interested in anything you have to say and I certainly don’t want to be part of anything you’re planning to do.” 

“Just come with me and I’ll make sure you have a really good time,” the guy responded.  “All you have to do is get in my car and I’ll take you there.” 

After hearing this, Devin turned to me and spoke.  “Stay in the SUV and don’t get out until I return.” 

He silently exited the vehicle and quietly shut the door behind himself before stealthily making his way behind the SUV and a few of the other vehicles that were parked next to us.  After a few seconds, I saw him reemerge as he made his way toward the older man and younger woman, but this time he looked totally different. 

He was no longer wearing his hat and he had black hair now, instead of Devin’s mousy brown locks.  His facial features had also changed and he appeared to be several years older.  It was no longer Devin’s body either and he appeared to be several inches taller than before, which meant he was now a few inches taller than the other guy.  His shirt was untucked from his shorts as well and it appeared to fit very tightly across his chest, where it had been quite large and very loose on him before.  I continued to focus on Devin, because I wasn’t sure what he was planning on doing next. 

At the same time, I was also doing my best to listen to what was going on with the other pair as Devin approached and I overheard what the guy was saying to the younger woman. 

 “Just come with me back to my place and we’ll party.”

“No!  Get away from me,” she screamed as she tried to punch the man again.

“Come on, you’ll love it.”

“I said get away from me!  I don’t want anything to do with you!” she reiterated as she broke free of his grasp.

The guy wasn’t about to give up and went to grab the girl’s arm again just as Devin spoke.

“She said she’s not interested, so I suggest you leave her alone.  I’d also recommend that you do it now,” he added when it appeared the guy was trying to ignore him. 

“Fuck off, buddy, and mind your own business,” the guy responded irritated, and I held my breath as I waited to see what was going to happen next.

To be continued...