Chapter 6 

The weather forecast for New Year's Eve day was a high of 78 degrees and a low of 70 with no rain—a pleasant South Texas winter day and evening. Michael planned to have the large back verandah of the house set up with tables of food and drink. By mid-afternoon, four kegs of beer had been delivered, and Corky was busy tapping them and connecting the apparatus. Several strings of Japanese lanterns were strung from the roof of the verandah to the bunkhouse. Maggie was busy in the kitchen preparing the traditional Texas casseroles of spicy black-eyed peas and bacon that would be served and eaten at midnight. Since the weather promised to be nice, Michael thought that the party could be contained outside and had tables and chairs set up on the lawn.

The party was scheduled to start at eight. And at the stroke of eight, a noisy old 1976 model van pulled into the yard, and eight persons dressed in women's cloths spilled out of the back doors. One of them shrieked, "My God, Beatrice! Riding in the back of this dreadful wreck over all these rough roads has practically disassembled me. My tits kept sliding down over my stomach."

The person referred to as Beatrice countered, "Close your hole, Mae. We're lucky we got here at all. Now, where are those gorgeous cowboys we were promised?"

When Maggie saw her San Antonio friends arrive in the van, he ran out to greet them. Hugging and kissing each one, in turn, he was remarking, "You look absolutely stunning, Mae, and where did you get that smashing gown, Beatrice? But, Margaret, you'd better tighten your jock strap. You're showing in the front. And Martha, please put yourself back together. One of your tits is falling lower than the other."

All in all, Maggie's friends were a tacky crowd of drag queens. But their presence sparked curiosity among the ranch hands, and they began emerging from the bunk house one by one. They stood around, careful to keep their distance, and staring at these persons as though they were viewing animals in a zoo. One particularly large queen sauntered forward and approached one of the new young ranch hands, a twenty-four year old named Rusty.

"What's your name, honey? Ooooo! Nice basket! My name is Rhapsody, you sweet thing."

Rusty's eyes were even with Rhapsody's Adam's apple. He could see black chest hair peeking out above Rhapsody's rather low neckline, and was forced to look away. He could feel his stomach begin to turn slightly. In his youthful inexperience, he didn't believe he had ever seen anything so ghastly as this person who called her-himself Rhapsody. He thought to himself, "Rhapsody from Hell."

With all her flirtatious ways notwithstanding, Rhapsody was a walking horror show. Her wig was an ill-fitting red rat's nest, her make-up was overdone and so extreme that she looked all the world like a badly made raggedy-Ann doll. She wore an orange satin dress, which appeared to be unraveling at the hem. Long strings of thread dangled from it. One side of her dress came to about six inches above the knee, but the other side sagged to below the knee. Her stockings had large wrinkles in them and appeared not to be securely fastened at the top. Her shoes were Kelly green with very high spike heels. Her breasts were installed so close together that they appeared as one great mound jutting out from the very middle of her chest. And to round out this vision of pulchritude, Rhapsody had black dirt under her fingernails.

Rusty and the other men then made a wide circle around the "ladies" and went up on the verandah where they started their beer drinking in earnest.

Jake had had a bad experience many years before when he was responsible for the near death of a young woman. Jake had been drinking heavily and, after picking up a woman at a bar, he was driving to her apartment when he blacked out and ran off the road into a tree. The experience was so shattering, that he never again took a drink. Michael knew that Jake would not be drinking, and asked him if he would mind looking after Enrique during the evening. Jake replied that he would be delighted. He never liked big parties, anyway, and maybe Enrique would like to play some checkers back in his room in the bunkhouse. They played checkers often, and they both did their best to try to lose so the other would win. Their fondness for each other was manifest.

With his work in the kitchen completed, Maggie changed into his party dress. It was a heavily sequined floor length little sleeveless number, filled out with two grossly oversized breasts. She apologized to everyone who would listen for the heavy black hair on her arms. She had simply been too busy to shave them.

As several more invited guests from town arrived, Michael started the stereo and the usual country-western blasted out over the land. As the guests began to loosen up, they started to dance up on the verandah. They became so loose that the guys started dancing with the drag queens. The queens also danced with each other, and the guys likewise danced with each other. In the meantime, Joseph was feeling wonderfully happy that there were so many people around. At one point, he let his pants drop and displayed his asshole to the crowd. Michael had to go over to him and get him to stop.

"Joseph, I know there are a lot of guys here who will like to fuck you tonight. But it's not time yet. Pull up your pants now. Maybe later some guys will be ready to give it to you."

Joseph looked at Michael with a quizzical look. "How will they know I'm ready?"

"Joseph, don't worry, they'll know when you're ready." Then Michael muttered to himself, "Everybody knows you're ready all the time."

It was getting close on to midnight, and one full keg of beer had been drained and another had been tapped. Although no one yet appeared drunk, everyone was feeling really high. Every one of the seven drag queens were dancing in a clutch with one of the ranch hands. Corky had hiked up Beatrice's dress in the back and had her ass cheeks firmly in his grasp. Rusty's abhorance of the drag queens notwithstanding, he was sitting down, freely allowing one of the queens to reach into his unzipped pants and feel around. Everyone, to one extent or another, was beginning to explore someone else's body with their hands.

Michael and Jeff were in the kitchen with Maggie getting the black-eyed peas ready to bring out at midnight. Michael looked at Jeff and suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to tell him that he loved him. With Maggie looking on, Michael put his hands on either side of Jeff's head and kissed him long and deeply. "I love you so much, Jeff. With all the people here tonight having a good time, my eyes are only for you, my dear, dear, Jeff." Maggie stood motionless watching this with her mouth open. Jeff looked over at her and said:

"Maggie, if you don't close your mouth, I've got something that'll fit in there nicely!"

Father and son had had their share to drink, and just didn't care. And they didn't seem to care who knew about their love.

Jake and Enrique had spent the evening so far playing checkers in his room. Jake showed him the progress he had been making on repairing the bagpipe. "Ricky, I'm gonna be able to play this thing for ya sometime next week."

Enrique smiled broadly and said he couldn't wait. Jake stood up and stretched his arms. "I gotta lie down for a little bit. Let's take a break from checkers for a little while. C'mon, little fucker, come and lie down with me and we'll take a little rest."

Enrique crawled across Jake's body and lay down next to him. Lying on his side, facing Jake, Enrique pushed as close as he could and, after a few minutes, slipped his small hand under Jake's shirt and buried his fingers in his heavy chest hair. At the same time, he had his head resting on Jake's arm, which was extended down behind Enrique. Jake slipped his hand down under the waistband of Enrique's shorts and lightly caressed his firm, but smooth as satin, ass cheeks. Jake could feel that his penis was getting hard. It was always so exciting to him to have Enrique's slender body in his arms.

It was almost midnight, and all of the men had long before taken their shirts off and were dancing bare chested or lounging in a chair or on the grass being groped by one of the queens. Michael ran out on the verandah and announced that it was midnight and everyone should come up and get their black-eyed peas. What a disheveled sight they were as they filed up on the porch. Margaret didn't care anymore if her cock showed through her dress, and Martha had finally torn away and discarded the offending breast altogether----the one that kept slipping. Rhapsody's lipstick was smeared all over her face, and her awful wig had been discarded revealing a bald head with wisps of white hair around the ears. Several of the ranch hands had their zippers undone, as well as the top button, revealing some enticing looking pubic bushes. But as heavy into their erotic activities as they were, no one was going to miss having a good helping of Black-eyed peas. Yummy!

When everyone had finished, Jeff stood up on the verandah and announced the entertainment for the evening. He told the crowd that his dad was going to reprise an old act he did in college years ago. Michael looked stunned. He had not planned to do it, and tried to wave Jeff into silence. But Jeff continued.

"How many of you would like my dad to do his famous erotic dance and strip-tease for you? Everyone went wild, hooting and whistling. Michael couldn't be denied.

"Okay, you guys," Michael began. "I have to take a few minutes to get my costume on."

Rhapsody shouted, "We don't want you to put on a costume, honey. We just want to see you get buck-ass naked and show us that pretty cock of yours!" More cheers.

"Listen, you people, I can't just take my clothes off. This is going to be an artistic performance, what you're going to see." Then amid much laughter, Michael said, "I need to have on something little that will entice you."

While Michael disappeared into the house, Jeff put on his tape of "The Stripper," which he had earlier found. Then Michael appeared at the door and began to strut about the verandah in the manner of a stripper. With a background of howls and hoots, Michael slowly removed each item of clothing in the same seductive teasing way that female strippers perform. After about ten or fifteen minutes, he was down to his jockey shorts. Everyone was going wild, shouting to take it off, take it off! Then very seductively, he lowered his shorts, but underneath was a tiny g-string which just covered his penis and his balls. All his large bush of pubic hair, though, was fully visible sticking out around the sides of the G-string. Beatrice then rushed up on the stage and squatted down like she was doing the limbo and tried to go between Michael's legs and under his balls. Michael stood with his legs apart so Beatrice could make it through, but just as her head was directly under Michael, she pushed her face up into his crotch, and the crowd started to scream with delight. Michael wiggled his ass around as though he was grinding his balls into her face.

Beatrice finally collapsed onto the floor and several others helped her down the steps to the ground below. Finally, Michael slowly began to remove the g-string and his penis and balls were finally revealed for all to see. It was still soft. But Michael stood very still looking down at it, and as he did, his penis slowly began to rise and gorge to its full erect state. By this time, everyone had been worked into such a frenzy that clothing was getting removed and thrown aside. All the men, who had been shirtless started removing their pants. What a gorgeous sight it was to look at those very tan young men standing only in their undershorts and boots and with their cowboy hats. The hat never comes off of a cowboy's head. To remove it would be like removing his manhood.

Michael knew that the party had now taken a different turn when he looked out and saw over by the chicken coop, and in view of everyone, one of his ranch hands completely naked, except for his boots and his hat, fucking one of the queens in the ass. Rhapsody sprawled herself out on the top of a table after discarding her ratty wardrobe. One of the ranch hands was on top fucking her ass, and another was standing next to her while she sucked his penis and fondled his balls. The party was now really heating up.

Michael and his strip-tease, as well as the sight of his magnificent body and equipment, was the final straw in inciting the crowd into wild sexual activity. All over the lawn, people were lying around either naked or in various stages of undress. Michael just stood on the Verandah with his throbbing hard-on looking over the seething crowd. Jeff still had his clothes on, but Michael started slowly removing them for him. Neither cared anymore who saw what they were doing. When they were both standing there fully naked, they hugged and kissed deeply while their hard penises were pressed together.

Michael said, "Let's go on in the living room where we can have a place to lie down comfortably." When they entered the room, there were six guys already on the living room floor, three of whom were fucking, and the other three getting fucked. Michael and Jeff got onto the sofa. They immediately got into a sixty-nine position and started sucking each other's hard penises vigorously. Corky was one of the fuckers on the floor. He crawled over to the sofa and looked at Michael's firm white ass cheeks, which were facing out toward him. Corky spread Michael's cheeks and licked his asshole with his tongue. Michael loved it and urged Corky to try to force his tongue inside, which Corky then successfully did.

Michael finally told Jeff that he wanted to fuck him right now. Jeff got on his back and lifted his legs as high over his head as he could, revealing his beautiful pink puckered asshole with hair swirling around it and his large ball sack. Michael put his face into Jeff's ass and ate on his asshole for a long time. Then he mounted Jeff and began to force his rod slowly into his son's asshole, which Michael could feel literally snapping at his penis. While he fucked Jeff, Corky stood up and came over and offered his cock for Michael to suck. Very soon, Michael could feel that tingling feeling building up in his balls and knew he was about to shoot his load. Jeff was begging him to pound his ass harder and harder. Suddenly, Michael yelled and shot surge after surge of his hot sperm into his son's asshole.

Michael and Jeff changed places, with Jeff mounting his dad. In that position, Corky was able to get his mouth onto Jeff's asshole and suck out as much of Michaels sperm as he could. The feel of Corky's tongue on his asshole made Jeff feel like he was going to shoot before he hardly had time to actually fuck his dad. He pushed his penis hard into his dad's asshole and pounded away with Michael crying, "Harder, harder! Fuck me Jeff, Fuck me my sweet beautiful son!" Jeff's orgasm came in seconds. Michael thought he could actually feel the force of his son's sperm as it shot into his rectum. Both Michael and Jeff were dripping in sweat, and both rolled off of the sofa and onto the floor, lying on their backs next to each other.

Three other ranch hands had entered the room by now. All four of them decided to stand over the prostrate father and son and jack off onto their faces. Both Michael and Jeff begged them to do it. As the four men stroked away at their penises, Jeff reached up and caressed the beautiful muscular leg of one of them. The soft, light brown hair on those legs was so erotic to Jeff that he leaned over and sucked on it, while his penis once again grew to full erection. Michael had turned his head toward Jeff and was running his tongue over Jeff's ear and neck.

The four masturbators standing over them were able to time themselves so they could all shoot their load at once. Then with a wild roar from the four men, streams of hot white sperm spewed down all over Michael's and Jeff's faces. Father and son turned and kissed each other, spreading the sperm all over their faces and into their hair and mouths.

The others soon left the room, and Michael whispered to Jeff, "Happy New Year!"

Jake and Enrique had spent the entire evening in Jake's room and were virtually unaware of what was going on outside. As Enrique pressed closer to Jake and ran his fingers through Jake's soft chest hair, he could feel Jake's erection on his leg.

With his free hand, Enrique felt Jake's crotch. "You've got a real hard-on down here, Jake. I wonder, Jake, do you ever get hard when you wake up in the morning?"

"Sure I do. All the time."

"Well, I do, too. And it's fun to play with it then." Then after a few minutes of silence, Enrique looked at Jake and said, "Jake, let's get naked. I love to get naked. Please."

Jake could hardly believe what he was about to do. Neither of them had ever seen the other naked, and the anticipation had made Jake's hands visibly shake. They both took off their clothes and lay back down.

"Jake, I saw your cock when we were out fishing that time and you peed by a tree, and I thought it was really big when it was soft. But it is really big when it's hard!" Enrique put his little hand under Jake's ball sack and lifted it slightly. "And, boy, are these ever heavy."

Without warning, Enrique leaned over and kissed the head of Jake's penis. "Hey, you little fucker, what are you doin?'"

"Don't you like that, Jake?" Enrique got up and sat straddling Jake's thighs and looked down at him with an impish smile.

Jake looked up at this perfect little naked body. Enrique's skin was golden brown and was as smooth and as soft as fine velvet. Jake could tell that when Enrique grew up he would have beautiful wide shoulders and narrow hips and nice graceful arms. Jake instinctively raised his hand to lightly caress Enrique's chest and stomach. He slowly brought his hand down to where a little hair was growing over Enrique's abdomen and then down onto Enrique's hard penis.

Just then, Enrique got off of Jake's legs and leaned over and kissed the head of Jake's penis. That was all Jake needed. He said, "Ricky, do you like to kiss my cock?" Enrique nodded. "Well would you like me to kiss yours?" Enrique shrieked with delight and threw himself on his back. Jake knelt over him and slowly brought his lips down to Enrique's waiting penis. He kissed it several times and then slowly sucked the entire length of Enrique's hard penis into his mouth.

Enrique said over and over, "I love you Jake, I love you."

Jake could feel Enrique's penis growing harder and harder and could feel the veins in it on his tongue. Enrique started to tense up and his legs stiffened. Then suddenly Jake felt a great flood of hot thick sperm in his mouth. He wanted to swallow it but kept it there as long as he could to make the taste and the feel of it last. He now had his sweet Ricky's sperm in his body.

Enrique groaned loudly as he was having his orgasm. Now he was lying limp on the bed. Jake had a tight feeling in his balls and he knew he had to get off himself somehow. Enrique finally sat up and pushed Jake down flat on the bed. He put his small hand around Jake's engorged cock and started to stroke.

Ricky looked down at it as he stroked and said, "Jake, it feels so good to hold on to your cock like this. And I love to run my hand over the thick hair on your chest and stomach and legs." As he looked thoughtfully down at his hand while it stroked Jake's penis, he said softly, "I love you Jake. If anything happens that we can't be together anymore, I'll die."

Jake wanted to say something to Enrique in response to that comment, but he felt so close to cumming that all he could do was to stare at Enrique's body and just drink in the beauty of that lovely young boy. He was cumming, he could feel it. Enrique's hand was so perfect and firm, yet so gentle. There was no turning back. Enrique could feel the veins in Jake's cock getting harder and harder and the head was getting larger and harder and redder. The muscles in Jake's legs were getting tighter and tighter. Then with a loud yell, Jake bucked his hips and great long ropes of hot thick sperm shot out of his pee hole onto his chest and stomach. He finally fell back completely exhausted. He watched with half closed eyes as Enrique licked off some of the sperm that had gotten on his hand.

Enrique looked down at Jake with a look on his face of absolute, unadulterated love. They both could see tears of pure joy welling up in each other's eyes. The tears that stuck to Enrique's long black eyelashes glistened in the light like a spray of diamonds. Enrique leaned over and kissed the tears from Jake's cheeks. And saying, "I'll never leave you as long as I live," he lay his head down on Jake's chest in the pool of sperm that had been deposited there. Jake held Enrique tightly against his body.

They were both about to go to sleep. But first, Jake lifted Enrique's head slightly and, looking into his eyes, said, "Happy New Year, you sweet little fucker!" Then they both drifted off to sleep.

New Year's Day dawned all too soon. Michael and Jeff awoke on the living room floor with the direct rays of the sun in their eyes. Michael was hideously hung over and staggered to the kitchen for some water. His mouth was like a dry well. Jeff went off to the bathroom and sat on the toilet in a stupor. Michael looked out of the kitchen window at the debris littering the yard. The only sounds to be heard were the disagreeable screeching of some Peacocks in the distance and the normal animal sounds found in a barnyard. The people had all departed. The drag queens and their miserable ramshackle van were nowhere to be seen and none of the ranch hands were out and visible anywhere.

Michael murmured to himself, "Where the fuck is Maggie? He should be in here fixing breakfast."

Michael put on a pair of shorts and walked outside. There around the side of the house, he found three ranch hands, still naked, except for their boots and hats, and completely passed out. Just then, Jake and Enrique emerged from Jake's room, fully dressed and looking for breakfast.

Looking at the mess scattered around the yard, Jake said, "What the fuck happened here? Looks like a fuckin' tornado hit this place."

Still lying where they had been discarded were Rhapsody's red wig, several sets of falsies, ladies' shoes, and various items of underwear. Recognized also were a number of items of clothing that had been worn by the ranch hands and discarded. Empty plastic cups littered the ground, and there hung in the air that disagreeable smell of stale beer. Half-empty casserole dishes of Black-eyed peas still sat on the table and were being investigated by a swarm of flies. The apparatus attached to the last keg of beer was leaking badly, and beer was foaming out of it and running down the steps to the ground.

Michael called over to Jake and asked, "Where the Hell is everybody?"

Jake said he would go investigate. Each room in the bunkhouse had its own outside door. Jake and Enrique went into every one of them and found twelve of the men, all naked and asleep. In one room, they found Joseph lying across the bed on his stomach, and three others lying on their backs next to him. A watery substance covered Joseph's ass cheeks and the backs of his thighs. In another room, they found three more, one of whom was Maggie. He was lying on his side with Corky's flacid penis still in her mouth, and with the third person's penis still lodged in the crack of Maggie's ass. After they all shot their loads, they had obviously all conked out.

Not waking any of them, Jake said to Enrique, "We'll just let all these fuck-heads sleep it off. C'mon, let's go on in the kitchen and fix us some fuckin' breakfast."

Enrique had fixed plenty of meals while he cooked for Ol' Ben and the crew. He thought it was kind of fun to get back in the kitchen again. Jake went looking for Michael and Jeff. He found Michael back in his room collapsed on the bed. Jake looked in the bathroom and saw Jeff sitting naked and asleep on the toilet.

'Shit, thought Jake. 'This whole fuckin' ranch is nothin' but a fuckin' piss pot this morning. The place smells like a fuckin' shit hole!'

Soon, the heady aroma of fried eggs and bacon and fried potatoes filled the air. Jake and Enrique sat down and ate alone. They agreed that the other men could wait until Maggie got up and decided to cook them breakfast. After eating in silence for awhile, Jake looked at Enrique.

"Ricky, if I did anything last night I shouldn't a' done, I'm sorry. Me and you had a good time playin' checkers last night. Maybe we shouldn't a' done . . . ya know . . . the other thing."

Enrique got up and came around behind Jake and put his arms around Jake's neck and said, "Jake, we're partners. I belong to you. You do anything you want to me. You got such a nice big cock. I'm glad you showed it to me. I hope I can grow my cock that big someday."

"But Ricky, I did more than jist show it to you."

"And Jake, I want you to do more than just show it to me again. Maybe you can fuck me next time."

Enrique came around and faced Jake and they kissed on the lips. And Jake could feel Enrique's little tongue trying to force his lips open. Then Jake allowed Enrique to enter his mouth with his tongue, and they kissed deeply. Just then, Michael walked into the room, saying "What's this?" Jake pulled away from Enrique suddenly and quietly said, "I'm sorry."

Enrique looked at Michael and said, "Jake's my buddy. We love each other."

Michael was too miserable to think about it. Jeff had finally re-awakened and came into the kitchen. They both sat silently and ate the food that Enrique had prepared for them.

As the day progressed, almost everyone had regained consciousness and was able to function to a certain extent. The yard was cleaned up, the house was aired out, and by nightfall, there was no longer any evidence present of the debauchery that occurred the night before.

As night fell, Michael and Jeff went to bed early. As they lay in each other's arms, they each expressed their contrition for the fools they had made of themselves at the party.

Michael said, "I never intended to allow anyone to witness any love-making between you and me. The love I feel for you, Jeff, is a sacred thing to me. To wantonly allow others to invade our private domain as I did is unpardonable. In a way, I feel like I put our love on public display as something dirty and erotic for the entertainment of others. I know you must be kind of disgusted with me. I can imagine that you would expect more from an adult."

Jeff sat up and, tracing his finger over Michael's lips and then along his eyebrows, said "Dad, you and I were both party to what happened. We were stoned out of our minds. That's all. We had a good time. Let's forget it. I just want to lie here and look at those beautiful lips of yours and those beautiful sensuous eyes, and to run my hand over that soft hair on your thighs." Then after a few minutes, he said, "You know, Dad, that soft fleshy part of your inner thighs up near your crotch is so soft. I love to run my lips and tongue over that area."

"Jeff, do you know why that area is so soft?" Jeff shook his head. "When you walk or put your legs together, your legs won't squeeze and crush your balls. That soft area on a man's inner thighs is there to cushion your balls from injury. Also, you've noticed that your left ball always hangs a little lower than your right ball. This is so when they get pressed together, one ball simply slips up above the other so they won't be squeezed together."

"I'll bet you learned that in college, Dad."

Michael grabbed Jeff and threw him down on his back, and said, "Jeff, just lie still." Michael proceeded to give Jeff a complete body tongue bath. When he got down to Jeff's legs, he said, "You know, I heard several of the guys last night saying that you had the most beautiful and sensuous legs, and the cutest dimples in your knees." Michael kissed Jeff's knees and sucked on the light layer of hair on his calves. Jeff said it felt so good that he wasn't going to be able to stand much more of that. Michael then moved himself around to the sixty-nine position, and the two of them brought each other to climax at virtually the same moment. They both yelled loudly as they shot their loads into each other's mouths. Jeff quickly turned himself around and kissed his dad, passing his dad's sperm between their mouths. Then in a matter of minutes, father and son were once again asleep in each other's arms.

Jake had been working on cleaning up and repairing his new bagpipe. He had fashioned a new air bag out of some leather from an old leather jacket and some oil cloth that at one time was used to cover the serving table for the ranch hands. He practiced a little in his room to make sure the pipes and air bag all worked. It made such a strange noise to the ears of the other men, that they threatened to steal it some day and throw it in the river. Corky had been the one to purchase the instrument in town and was aware of the importance of Enrique's gift to Jake. He kept a wary eye on those men who had threatened to steal it.

It was now mid-January, and Jake had practiced the only piece of music he remembered from his childhood: the folk song, "Comin' Thru' The Rye." He even remembered his Maw singing it while his Paw blew the pipes. At long last, he was ready to play the grand old instrument for Enrique. One afternoon, they took a walk up over the ridge and down to the bank of the stream beyond. There were huge rocks piled along the bank, and they sat on them down close to the water. Jake began to blow into the blowing pipe to fill the air bag. It made a terrible noise. When the air bag was full, Jake stood and went up on the grassy bank and started walking back and forth as he played "Comin' Thru' The Rye."

Enrique was fascinated. It was a strange, but a beautiful and haunting sound. He felt that it had the sound of an instrument that only a very strong man could play. He had never heard any music in his life played on live instruments. All the music he knew was the background music he heard on sit-coms and cartoons he would watch on TV, or the country-western music that was forever blasting out of boom-boxes in the ranch hands' rooms. The sound that Jake was making on his instrument was so strong and clear.

When Jake came to the end of his piece, he said, "Ya notice that a man has to walk about when he plays the bagpipes. The old Scotsmen would play 'em as they led the troops into battle."

"Jake, please play it again," pleaded Enrique.

Jake played it again, and then again, and again. Finally, he said, "That's enough, you little fucker, yer gonna wear me out. I don't have that much wind in me anymore, and ya gotta blow so hard."

When Jake came back down to the rocks and sat down, Enrique asked if he could try blowing on it. Jake showed him how to hold the instrument and then how to blow through the blow pipe. Enrique could barely get enough air into the air bag to make a very weak wheezing sound. He handed the instrument back and said, "Jake, I want to learn how to play this. If I practice a lot, I bet I can get enough air in the bag to make a good sound."

They decided it was about time to go back because it was almost time for supper. When they got up on the grassy bank, Jake picked up a couple of small stones and sent them skimming over the water in the stream to the opposite bank. Enrique was really impressed, but couldn't manage to properly throw the stone so it would skim. His just sank. So Jake instructed him on how to hold the stone and how to send it flying across the water. After about four or five tries, Enrique had it down perfectly.

"Jake, you know everything, don't you?"

Jake took Enrique's hand and they walked back to the house.

It was a particularly warm January in Texas that year. Jeff was spending a great deal of his time repairing the siding of the horse barn. Years of neglect allowed a great deal of rot to occur. Most of the men were out on the range, so Jeff did much of the work himself. On one occasion, Rusty, the young man who had been so appalled at being accosted by Rhapsody at the party, offered to stay back and help Jeff with some heavy lifting of interior wall panels for the barn. After they had spent several hours working and sweating, they walked back to the house and sat on the verandah drinking iced tea that Maggie brought out to them. They both sat shirtless, but still wearing their wide-brimmed hats. All morning, Jeff had a hard time keeping his eyes off of Rusty's tan torso and the prominent ridges of muscle across his stomach.

"Jeff," began Rusty, "I've been wanting to talk with you alone for a long time. Do you know what my real name is?"

Jeff indicated that he was sure it was listed on their pay records.

"Well, my real name is Paul Howard. I know you think I'm just another ranch jockey, but actually I'm working here for a reason. I graduated from the Veterinary School up at the University of Texas in Austin last June. I could have gotten a job with any dog and cat hospital, but my interest lies mainly with husbandry, you know, the care and management of domestic animals, particularly cattle and swine and other livestock. So I applied to work at a number of farms and ranches, just for the experience, and when this job came open, I took it. The reason I'm telling you this is that I heard your dad mention to someone that you were also hoping to go to the Veterinary School in Austin."

Jeff couldn't have been more pleased that Paul had made the overture to become acquainted with him. He had looked at Paul so many times and thought that he was one of the most handsome and sensuous guys he had ever seen. And it was not long after Paul had started work that Jeff began to realize that Paul had something upstairs, other than just a love for a measly paycheck every week.

"Paul, I'm really glad we're talking about this. Next fall, I plan on going into the Pre-Veterinary program in Austin, but I've been told very firmly that I was not to get too hopeful about getting into the Veterinary School after that because there is such a big demand. I was told that only one out of twelve applicants will qualify for admission."

Paul put his hand on Jeff's arm and squeezed it a little and said, "I happened to be a really good student when I was there and I got to know all the faculty really well. In fact, I walked away with honors. I think what I could do for you sometime would be to introduce you to the really influential faculty at the Veterinary School. I think that my recommendation would probably carry some weight. Someday, if you'll give me a day off, why don't we drive up to Austin so you can get to know a few people. It sure will help when the time comes to apply for Veterinary School itself.

Paul slouched down in his chair, stretched his legs out in front of him, raised his arms and put his hands behind his head, pushing his hat forward over his eyes. Jeff noticed that Paul was not particularly muscular in the sense of being muscle-bound, but was just one of those perfectly proportioned bodies with muscles in all the right places, creating beautiful soft curves, including a sensuous washboard stomach. Jeff had noticed also that, when they were talking and facing each other, Paul seemed to be looking so intently into his face, first at his eyes, at his hair, then at his lips, and then down to his chest and stomach. Jeff was certain that it was a look of desire. The squeeze that Paul gave him on his arm was certainly not an idle touch. It was too deliberate, and held too long.

Jeff looked at the long blond hair under Paul's upstretched arms and had the strongest desire to bury his face in it. Finally, Paul pushed his hat back on his head and sat up. He reached over and ran his hand several times over Jeff's forearm and said, "Well, Jeff, my friend, I guess we'd better get back to work.

The time they spent on the verandah was kind of a defining moment for Jeff during his first year on the ranch. He had felt nothing, or nearly nothing sexually for anyone who worked there, except his father. Now, out of the blue, Jeff couldn't get Paul out of his mind. He certainly wasn't going to mention it to his dad. It's probably, he thought, just a passing infatuation that will surely end in due time.

In addition to practicing his new bagpipe, Jake had cut some long strips of wood and constructed a kite that he thought Enrique would have fun with. He covered it with some colorful wrapping paper that Maggie had rounded up for him, and tied on a long ten-foot tail made of strips of old bed sheets. He showed it to Enrique, who had no idea what it was.

"Well, you little fucker, yer gonna learn somethin' today about flyin'. Let's go!"

And off they went to the bank of the creek beyond the ridge.

"It's a kite. I'll show ya. Ya run with it and let go of it and it takes off and flies like a plane."

Jake ran along the ridge holding the kite high above his head, letting out plenty of line. Then he let go of it and it rose higher and higher. Jake kept running and let out more and more line as the kite continued to climb. Enrique stood with his mouth open. He had never seen anything like it. The kite swooped and dipped and then would recover and go even higher. The sun lit up the bright colors of the paper and Enrique said it looked like a giant bird.

Jake handed the stick tied to the end of the line to Enrique to hold.

"Now Ricky, if the kite starts to dip too much and it looks like its comin' down, run with it a little and it'll start climbin' agin."

Each time the kite would dip, Enrique would run along the ridge laughing and shouting, "Stay up! Stay up, kite!"

Every day for the next week after Enrique would come home after his tutoring in the morning, he and Jake would go out on the ridge and fly the kite. Enrique very quickly learned how to launch it and keep it aloft. Sometimes, Jake would bring his bagpipes out there with them and would march around playing while Enrique was flying the kite.

On one particularly windy day, Enrique was having difficulty keeping his kite from wanting to dive dangerously close to the ground. He would get it up fairly high, but it would get caught by a particularly strong downdraft and dive into the ground. As Enrique continued to struggle with it, the kite suddenly took a dive into a tree at the edge of the stream. Jake tried to gently tug on the line to free it, but it was hopelessly tangled.

"Ricky, come here and hold the end of the line. I'll climb up there and get that fuckin' kite loose and drop it down to you."

Jake found it easy to climb the trunk, but couldn't reach the kite. He slowly crawled out on the limb that held it, and just as he was about to grasp the tail of the kite, Enrique could hear the branch cracking and breaking and watched in horror as Jake fell to the rocks below along the bank of the stream. Enrique ran over to him and called to him. Jake was not moving. He had fallen on his head and the sharp rocks had cut his scalp and the side of his face, and blood was dripping onto the rocks and into the water.

Enrique screamed, "Jake! Wake up. Please Wake up." Jake didn't move. He was sprawled on the rocks, with both legs submerged in the water. In a panic, Enrique raced back to the house. He was hysterical, but managed to tell Michael what had happened. Michael immediately called 911 and then he and Enrique got in the jeep and drove immediately to the site. Jake was still not moving and there was more blood everywhere. Michael said he was afraid to move him for fear there might have been a neck or spinal injury. But he took off his shirt and carefully held it pressed against the gaping wound on the side of Jake's head in an effort to stem the flow of blood as much as possible.

Enrique sat and watched and was so frightened that he could hardly breathe. He was shaking so badly, he had a hard time speaking. "Michael, is he dead? Is Jake dead?"

"I don't think so, Enrique." Michael checked Jake's pulse with his free hand. "It's weak, but it's there. Enrique, how high was he when he fell?" Enrique pointed up to the kite. "That must be close to twenty feet." Enrique was now crying uncontrollably.

Soon the fire rescue vehicle came rumbling over the grass land. The medics immediately put Jake on oxygen and worked about thirty minutes to brace his head and body before lifting him up on the gurney. The ambulance sped off to the hospital in Goliad, while Michael and Enrique drove back to the house to pick up Jeff.

Jake was entered through the emergency room and was put into Intensive Care. When Michael, Jeff and Enrique arrived, Jake had not yet regained consciousness. He was on a respirator and had various other tubes attached to him. The doctor finally announced that Jake was in critical condition with one broken arm, a cracked skull, a bruised liver where he fell on a jagged piece of rock, a broken jaw, and several other undetermined internal injuries. When the doctor inquired how it happened, he was informed that Jake had fallen out of a tree. His only comment was, "This man's too old to be climbing trees."

For the next two days, Jake lay in a coma and the prognosis was not good. He had been moved to a private room, but still in the ICU. On the third day, Michael, Jeff, and Enrique visited Jake again. He was still in a deep coma. They stayed for about twenty minutes, when Michael said it was time to go. Enrique said he didn't want to go yet. He just wanted to sit with Jake for a few minutes longer.

Michael said, "Okay, Jeff, let's go out and talk with the doctor for a few minutes and let Enrique spend some time in here.

Enrique was sitting in a chair next to Jake's bed. He slowly rose and looked down at Jake's unmoving face and smiled. Bits of wire were showing between Jake's lips from the work that had been done on his broken jaw. And Jake's left arm lay along his side, almost totally encased in a plaster cast.

"Jake, I wish you could hear me. I got a lot of stuff to tell you. Jeff went over and got the kite out of the tree and it wasn't damaged at all. So we can go out and fly it again when you get better."

Enrique waited for a few minutes, half expecting Jake to come awake. "Look, Jake, I'm wearing those real nice wrist bands you made for me. Look. Don't they look nice? And I have your mama's gold chain on, too. You know, Corky told me that if you kiss the cross on this chain, you'll have good luck."

Enrique took the chain off over his head and held the cross up against Jake's lips. "You've got to kiss it Jake. Oh, I know it's hard for you to do that when you're not feeling well. I'll kiss it, too."

Enrique pressed the gold cross hard against his own lips. As he held it there tightly, tears began rolling down his cheeks.

Leaning his cheek on Jake's hand, Enrique sobbed, "Oh, Jake, please wake up. You're all I got in the whole world. If you don't wake up, Jake, I'm gonna die. I just know I'm gonna die. Remember when we raced on our horses to the Cottonwoods? That's when you gave me these leather wrist bands. And remember what a wonderful Christmas we had together. You said it was the best Christmas you ever had. It was mine, too. And when we laid down together, I knew nothing could hurt me with your strong arm around me."

After several more minutes, Enrique said, "You know, Jake, I never had a mama or a daddy. I never knew what it would be like to have a mama or a daddy. But I know that nobody could have as good a daddy as you are."

Then, bringing Jake's hand up to his cheek, Enrique cried openly. With his voice choking, he implored, "Don't die, Jake. Please, please don't die. I love you."

Just then, two very large people entered the room, a woman and a man, followed quickly by Michael and Jeff. They were social workers from Family Services, who had been ordered to seize Enrique and remove him from the Walker household. Michael and Jeff were furious and tried to prevent them from touching the boy. The large woman gently took Enrique's arm and quietly told him to come along with her.

Enrique sensed immediately what was happening, and ran around to the other side of Jake's bed. He was crying uncontrollably and screamed at Jeff, "Why, Jeff? You promised you wouldn't send me away! Why are you sending me away!"

Michael said, "Enrique, it's just temporary!"

Enrique threw himself on the bed. "Jake! Oh, my God, Jake, please don't let them take me away." Sobbing, he pressed his cheek against Jake's cheek. "Please, Jake, don't let them take me. Oh, God, don't let them take me."

The large man moved in and firmly grasped Enrique and dragged him away screaming. Just then, Michael's brother, Jared, appeared at the door smiling.

Michael shouted, "Jared, you son-of-a-bitch! This is your doing isn't it?"

"Michael, I told you that you would be hearing from me again. That child doesn't belong to you. He belongs to no one. He's an orphan! He belongs in a foster home and then legally adopted by someone. You have no right to harbor this child when he is not yours and you are not his legal guardian. He's nothing but an orphan!"

Michael shouted back, "Jared, you'll go to any despicable lengths to show your resentment over not being included in our father's will. How dare you come into this hospital and tear this child away from the one person in his life who ever meant anything to him? You have no morals and no feelings. You are as cold as stone. And you're not going to win this one, Jared. I swear to God I'm going to blast you into the ground over this. I can hardly stand to look at you!

Jared laughed and turned to go, saying, "You will see me in family court, good brother!"

With Enrique's cries still ringing in their ears, Michael and Jeff raced from the hospital to follow the Family Services vehicle that held their beloved Enrique.

To be continued...