Chapter 23 

Jake and Enrique spent the entire morning in the barn servicing the tractors and various other machinery. At lunch time, Enrique asked Jake if they could take their food and go to Jake's room to eat. Enrique had promised Corky that he would talk to Jake seriously about their relationship.

As they ate, Enrique asked, "When do you think Josiah will be coming back?"

"Aw, shit, I don't know. But when he does, I wanna be gone from here."

Taken by surprise, Enrique said, "What do you mean?"

"Well, Ricky, you know all them fuckin' things that happened to him. None of them woulda ever happened if it wasn't fer me. He almost got killed every time." Taking Enrique's hand and holding it up to his lips, Jake said, "I was gonna tell ya. I'm resigning my position here and I'm gonna maybe move up to San Antonio and find a fuckin' job there."

Enrique couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you quitting because you think you caused all those things to happen to Josiah? That's crazy!"

"I'm jist bad luck, Ricky."

"You weren't bad luck for me, Jake. You can't leave. The reason I wanted to talk to you this noon was about maybe moving back here with you."

Jake caught his breath. This was the last thing that he ever thought he would hear. "But Ricky, yer livin' with Corky. And remember I said I understood and I said it was alright? You don't have to say that jist to git me to stay around here."

"Jake, I know I'm living with Corky, but maybe that wasn't a good thing to do. I thought I loved Corky, but I never felt just right about it. And I think he could tell. I kind of started to see some things clearly when he told me he thought I loved him only out of gratitude for saving my life in that barn fire. And I kinda wonder if he might be right."

Still holding onto Enrique's hand, Jake said, "Ricky, does Corky know ya wanted to talk to me about movin' back with me?

"Yeah. He's the one who told me to talk with you. I think he knows how I feel."

"How do ya feel, Ricky. How do ya really feel?"

"You know how I feel, Jake. You always knew how I feel. I love you Jake. I want more than anything for us to be together again. I want to go up on that hill by the stream and fly the kite again with you, and listen to your bagpipes, and skip stones over the water. I want us to race on our horses out to the far edges of the ranch. I want you to grab me and hug me and kiss me when I come in from work every day." Then looking pleadingly into Jake's eyes, "I just want it to be like it was before. Please, Jake!"

With tears rolling down his cheeks, Jake gathered Enrique into his arms and held him very tightly. "I want it to be like it was before, too. But . . . ."

"I know," interrupted Enrique. "You have Josiah now. And that was my fault. I was the one who walked away. Whatever you do, Jake, promise me you won't leave. I would die if you left."

"Oh, Ricky," sighed Jake. "My dear, dear Ricky. I promise, I promise."

It was another delivery day for Maggie in her job with "Meals on Wheels." Shortly after lunch, Mrs. Johnson knocked on Homer Kesselring's door. She had his mail, which she picked up every day out of his mailbox and delivered to him.

"Here you are, Mr. Kesselring. There's nothing much in your mail today that looks interesting. Is this the day when that nice gentleman, Mr. Peterson, delivers your dinner?"

"Yes, but I wish they'd send someone else."

"Why? He such a nice person. When I spoke with him last week, he seemed very concerned about you."

Homer grunted, "He's a queer. I don't like queers in my apartment."

"Oh, Mr. Kesselring, you shouldn't judge people like that. How do you know that?"

"It's the way he prances about. And every time he comes here he puts on one of my wife's old aprons. I don't know where he found it. And he has long hair that he puts hairpins in. I just don't like people like that in my place."

"Well, Mr. Kesselring, whatever he is, I'd say you're darn lucky to have him. As I said, he's very concerned about your welfare."

At exactly six o'clock, Maggie arrived. As she swept through to the kitchen, Homer shouted, "You don't have to be all fussy and dainty about serving that slop you bring me. Forget the plate and just leave it in the carton. I can eat it just as well that way as I can from a plate."

Maggie called out of the kitchen, "Don't be silly, Homer. You're having macaroni and cheese tonight and it's pretty bland. So I'm just going to spike it up a little with more cheese, a little chopped tomato, and onion. And I bought some lettuce. My God, what they're charging for lettuce today, it's criminal! But I think you need a salad. I made a large batch of cabbage slaw at home, and tomorrow, I'm bringing you a bucket of it. I think you need your roughage. I'll bet you're constipated. That's one of the things that makes old men like you so irritable. When was the last time you had a BM?"

"For Christ's sake, Peterson, just give me the carton and get out of here!"

Maggie reappeared with one hand on her hip and shaking her finger at Homer in time with saying, "No, no, no! You're going to have a proper meal. My job is to cook for people, and I spend a lot of time in my life making sure they have a balanced diet that tastes good."

"I hate it when you do that!" yelled Homer.

"What?"

"That thing with your finger and your hip and . . . all that queer stuff."

"I'll thank you not to use that word."

Glowering at Maggie, Homer growled, "What word would you like, Madam? Would 'fairy' do?"

"You're an unkind person, Homer, and you're ignorant, too." Maggie went back to busying herself in the kitchen when the phone rang. Homer answered it.

"Hello . . . . Who? . . . . No there ain't no one here by that name. Who?
. . . . Maggie? . . . . No, there's no Maggie here."

When Maggie heard that, she dashed in and wrested the phone from Homer's hand.

"Hello. Who is this? . . . . Rhapsody, I told you never to call me when I am visiting any of my customers. Now get off the phone. I'll call you later when I get home."

As soon as Maggie hung up, Homer pointed a shaky finger at her and said, "You're Maggie? I might have known. A goddamned queer with a woman's name! If I'd been your old man, I would have thrown you out of the house the first minute I saw you flipping your damned wrist!"

"Well, Homer, I guess I was fortunate I didn't have you as a father. Actually I didn't have a father at all."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, Homer, my father walked out on us when I was about three years old. And as I got older, I had to take over as the only man in the house. That really frosts you, doesn't it—a 'queer' like me being the man of the house? Besides my mum, I had four younger sisters to take care of. So you've got it wrong, Homer. If I flipped my wrist, there wasn't anyone around who cared as long as I brought home enough to feed the family."

"Well," snarled Homer, "why didn't your mother just get another husband?"

"You know better than to ask that. Who's going to marry a woman with five kids and no money?"

Maggie wiped her hands on her apron and sat down by the window, staring at the cars driving by. "We had plenty of men around the house, though. We had to put up with a long string of mum's live-in boy friends. None of them were any good. They were all pieces of trash. One of them even raped my youngest sister, Angelina. But mum didn't believe her. Mum told her she was lying. Then one day we found Angelina lying in the bathtub dead. She'd cut her own throat. Every drop of blood had drained out of her and the water was red and putrid. She had come to me once and told me about the rape, but I didn't do anything. I was only seventeen. And I was trying to work and go to school and cook and take care of the house and my sisters. I should have done something, but I didn't."

Maggie looked over at Homer. "Does it surprise you, Homer, that a 'goddamned queer' could ever survive a life like that? I tried every day of my life with every ounce of my energy to keep things going. But I failed. I did nothing when Angelina came to me. I did nothing. I look up to Heaven and ask for her forgiveness every day of my life."

Homer sat motionless, staring at the floor and saying nothing, his hand visibly shaking more than usual as he gripped the arm of his wheelchair.

Maggie stared at Homer for a long time. Finally, getting up, she said, "Well, Homer, are you ready for your supper now?"

Without looking up, he said, "Just give it to me in the carton. I don't want all that fussing around with all your queer ways."

"Homer, I asked you not to use that word."

Still looking at the floor, he said, "I'll use any goddamned word I want. Now give me my food and get out!"

"Shut up, Homer."

"Just give me my food. I don't want a plate! Stop with all your fussy ways! I'm sick of looking at your female hair-do and hearing that girly voice of yours."

Exasperated, Maggie yelled, "Shut up, Homer!"

Homer shouted back, "I don't like how you mess up all my food by re-cooking it. And all your dainty prancing around! And you, acting like you're so high and mighty and perfect, You let your own sister die. And don't waste your breath asking for forgiveness. It'll never happen!"

Holding her head, Maggie screamed, "Shut up, Homer! Shut up!"

Picking up the carton of food, Maggie threw it upside down onto Homer's lap, with most of it spilling to the floor.

Maggie raised her voice and shouted, "You're a mean person, Homer. You're the meanest, most despicable old man I've ever met. Ungrateful is hardly the word for you. No wonder your family has deserted you. You're a pitiful and contemptible old crank. I happen to be a human being. Yeah! Look at me! I'm a human being , just like all the 'normal' people are. I have feelings, I have flaws like everyone else does, and I . . .HAVE . . .DONE . . . MY . . . .BEST! You can now eat your supper off the floor for all I care. You'll have some other poor unfortunate person delivering your food from now on! And I pity the one who has to put up with you!"

As Maggie turned and walked out the door, Homer shouted, "No, come back here Peterson. You can't leave now!"

The door slammed and Maggie was gone. Homer wheeled himself to the door, opened it, and shouted, "Maggie, please come back! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" But Maggie was gone and out of the building.

Closing the door again and wheeling himself to the window, he watched Maggie drive away, and repeated softly to himself, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Homer had been deeply affected by Maggie's story. It came flooding back to him the memory of the night that his son, Roman, was murdered. He didn't mean to drive Maggie away. But the memories invoked by Maggie's story made him crazy. Roman had called his father and said he was afraid that night to walk home because of the rough characters that had been walking near him and taunting him on the previous night. He asked his father if he would drive over and pick him up from the school so he wouldn't have to walk that night. But Homer had said he was too tired to go out again and insisted that it would be perfectly safe for Roman to walk home.

As Homer stared out at the street, his eyes filling with tears, he said aloud, "Oh, Roman, my son. Please forgive me."

A few days after Jake and Enrique had talked, Michael called to Jake who had just driven up from a trip to Goliad for supplies.

"Jake, come on up here on the verandah and have some lemonade with me. Maggie just made it. I'd like to talk with you for a few minutes."

Before Michael could say more, Jake said, "Michael, I ain't gonna give ya my fuckin' resignation after all."

"I'm glad to hear that, Jake, because I wasn't going to accept it anyway. This is where you belong and this is where you'll be buried some day. Remember when you said this is where you wanted to die, we set aside a plot in the family grave yard down in the east valley for you. You were very pleased about that, remember?"

"Yup, this is where I'm gonna die some day. I wouldn't know what to do if I ever left here and all my friends."

"Jake, we need to talk about something. I know you're the one who brought Josiah here, and you're the one who is responsible for giving him a new life. He was such a sad and lonely young man when you brought him here. And Josiah has told me how grateful he is to you and you alone for rescuing him from not much of a life. He thinks of you as his Paw—the Paw he never had. He loves you very much. But he and Brian Hovis have become very good friends. Josiah told me that Brian is the first real friend his own age he's ever had, and Brian told me the same thing about Josiah."

Jake interrupted, "Michael, I know what yer gonna say. Let me tell ya that I think of Josiah as my son. But he can't live with me no more. I'm not gonna take a chance of his gittin' killed or somethin'. Bein' around me is jist plain fuckin' bad luck. I think you were gonna tell me that Josiah and Brian will want to live together and share a room. Well, that's jist fine with me. Really, Michael, it is. I know that Josiah needs a fella his own age. I can see that. But he needs to keep away from me for his own good."

Michael put his hand on Jake's arm. "Jake, you're making things awfully easy. But you need to get over that idea that you are bad luck for Josiah. That's just foolish talk."

Jake turned to face Michael and said, "Michael, I got some news fer ya if ya won't tell nobody jist yet. I think maybe Ricky's gonna come back and live with me in my room."

Michael clasped Jake's hand in both of his and with a big smile said, "Well, Jake, I always knew that Heaven smiles down on honest and caring men like you, Jake. But what's happened to Enrique and Corky?"

"Well, I think they're still friends, but I'm not sure that they're still asshole buddies, if you know what I mean. I jist git the idea that that fuckin' arrangement ain't what they hoped it'd be. Ricky said somethin' about his confusin' his gratitude for getting' rescued from the fire with love. I'm not pushin' or encouragin' it. They're just gonna have to work all that fuckin' mess out themselves and Ricky will have to make the fuckin' decision himself to move back with me."

"Jake, I couldn't be happier for you. While we're talking, I wanted to tell you that Josiah and Brian are coming home in a few days, and I'm giving them my newly rebuilt little house up there in the Cottonwoods for a few days so they can be alone together. They've had a very rough time, as you know. And they deserve to have a little vacation like this together. I'm going to drive up to San Antonio to get them, and I want you to come with me. You promised you would visit Josiah at least once in the hospital. And do you know what the first thing was out of Josiah's mouth when I last visited him? It was "How's Jake. He hasn't been to see me."

That night, Enrique gave Corky his decision. He would be moving back with Jake immediately. Corky lay on his bed, staring only at the ceiling as Enrique packed up his things. Before he left, he went over to the bed, sat down and looked down at Corky. Corky would not look at him and continued to stare at the ceiling.

"Thanks, Corky. You're a great friend. And thanks for . . . ."

"Don't, Ricky. Don't thank me again for rescuing you from the fire. That was not what all this was supposed to be about. But it was. And now it's over. Go on, Ricky. Don't make it any more difficult than it is." Then looking at Enrique with tears in his eyes and with his hand on Enrique's cheek, he said, "I'll always love you, my dear, dear Ricky. Now go on."

Ricky kissed Corky gently on the lips and then rose and left. As soon as the door closed, Corky looked back at the ceiling and continued to stare at it for a long time before falling into a fitful sleep.

Adriano drove to San Antonio to meet his father, Mario, who was flying in from Italy for his semiannual visit to the United States to see his son Adriano. He had been informed of Brian's accident, and asked Adriano to drive by the hospital to see Brian before driving up to Austin. Adriano knew that his father would want to see Brian alone and decided to wait for his father in the coffee shop, rather than be present and make it awkward for him.

Mario found Brian still asleep when he entered his room. He stood very quietly by Brian's bed, looking down at the boy as he slept. He thought that Brian's face looked so peaceful and almost angelic. He very gently put his hand on Brian's cheek and ran his fingers softly down over his chin and neck. Brian's skin had turned a deep tan since they last saw each other, and felt like the softest silk. Mario stepped to the door and looked down the hall in both directions. No one was coming. He then went back to Brian and leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips. Mario could feel a stirring of intense desire for Brian, this beautiful young man who lay sleeping so peacefully. Mario's penis had become stiff and he could feel it jumping hard against the tight briefs he was wearing. Slowly pulling back the sheet, he could see that Brian's hospital gown was just barely over the top of his thighs. The sight of Brian's gracefully shaped legs, now deeply tanned and covered with a very soft layer of light brown hair almost sent Mario over the edge.

Glancing back toward the door, Mario could hear no one in the hall. Leaning over the bed, he ran his tongue lightly over the soft hair on Brian's calves, then up over his knees, and along the inside of his upper thighs. When Brian did not awaken, he moved his tongue very lightly up under he gown until it just barely touched Brian's ball sack. Mario's balls and penis were beginning to ache from being bound so tightly in his briefs. Moving Brian's hospital gown up slightly, revealing Brian's balls, penis, and pubic hair, Mario could take no more. Once again checking the hallway to find no one there, he unbuckled and unzipped his pants, releasing his very stiff cock. Just looking at Brian's balls and soft penis, Mario felt he was very close to cumming. He stroked his penis vigorously as his pants fell to around his ankles. Almost immediately, he felt his orgasm building. Standing close to Brian, he then let go of an enormous pent up load of thick white sperm. It fell heavily on Brian's upper thigh, with some splattering onto his balls. As Mario leaned over to lap up his sperm off of the hair on Brian's leg, Brian awoke.

When Brian saw Mario standing there, out of breath, sperm on his chin and pants down on the floor, he immediately became hard. His penis popped up literally like a jack-in-the-box.

"Mario! Oh, Mario! I'm so glad to see you. I've thought about you so much!"

Mario wiped his chin with a corner of the sheet and pulled up his pants. "Oh, Brian, I suppose you can tell what I just did. I couldn't help it. I've thought about you so much and hoped everything has been going your way."

"I can see what you did, Mario. I just wish I had been awake so we could do it together like we did before. I'm so happy to see you."

Mario and Brian talked for about an hour until the nurse came in and said it was time for Brian's medication. Brian told Mario all about his meeting Josiah and how they had become very close friends. He even told Mario about the dreams he and Josiah had where they both vowed that if one of them died, the other one would go too.

Brian soon looked intently into Mario's eyes and said, "Mario, Josiah and I love each other. We really do. We know we do. And I love you, too, Mario."

Mario smiled and gripped Brian's hand with both of his. "I know you do, Brian. You and I love each other in a different way, don't we?"

Brian said, "Yeah. You'll always be the father I never had. I think I can talk to you. I can tell you anything—all the secrets I've ever had in my heart, I can tell you, and you'll understand."

"And besides that, Brian, I'll always love you and be your friend."

Brian sat up and took Mario's head between his hands and kissed him deeply on the lips, and then on the eyes and forehead. "I love you, Mario."

Adriano had insisted that his father stay with him at his apartment, rather than staying in a motel. That evening, father and son sipped wine and had a quiet dinner that Adriano had prepared.

Adriano said, "Dad, I hope you don't mind staying here. I didn't want to see you get yourself into any more . . . you know . . . trouble, or whatever you might call it when you were alone in the motel."

"You're talking about Brian, aren't you?" Then with a sort of smile in his voice, Mario said, "Adriano? Are you jealous?"

"Oh, Dad. Yeah. Kinda."

"There's nothing between Brian and me, except that he just thinks of me now as his father. I just kind of helped him get past some of that shyness of his."

"I know, Dad. Going to bed with you would get rid of anyone's shyness!"

Mario got up from the table and went over to the sofa and sat down. "Come on over here Adriano. Sit by me."

Adriano quickly and eagerly went over and sat down next to Mario.

Mario said, "Adriano, you're the one I come all this way to see and be with. I hoped you knew how much I love you and want to be with you."

"Oh, Dad, I do know." Adriano laid his head down in his father's lap and, with both hands, pulled up Mario's pant leg and began running his hand over the soft hair that covered Mario's leg. He could feel his father's very hard cock pulsating against the side of his head as he nuzzled his head deeper into Mario's lap. Mario began singing "Please release me" very softly as Adriano unzipped Mario's fly to allow his cock to spring forth in all its glory. Adriano ran his tongue lightly over the shaft and around the head, sucking off the pre-cum that was bubbling out of Mario's pee hole.

Mario and Adriano soon found their way to Adriano's bed. Mario gave Adriano a complete tongue bath from his forehead down to the bottoms of his feet. The feel of his father's tongue on his very sensitive skin had, by the time Mario was through, driven Adriano into an almost delirious state of ravishment. Then Mario begged Adriano to sit on his face. As his father spread Adriano's ass cheeks and plunged his face into the thicket of black hair that filled the trench, searching wildly with his tongue for the puckered hole, Adriano felt that he was about to be pushed over into another world of pure rapture and sexual abandonment. He could feel his asshole snapping at his father's tongue as it entered his rectum. It was too much. He had to now give his body completely over to the orgasm that was unrelentingly building in his groin.

As the great powerful surges of Adriano's orgasm began, Mario's tongue seemed to be grabbed violently and sucked into Adriano's rectum. Without touching his own gorged penis, Adriano just looked down and watched the great long ropes of thick white cream spew from the end of his penis onto his father's stomach and pubic hair.

As his orgasm subsided, Adriano lifted himself off of his father's face and scooted down so that he was now sitting on his father's hard penis. Turning around so that he and his father could face each other, he started slowly rising up and down, taking the full length of his father's nine-inch rod. Reaching behind him, he took hold of his father's balls and fondled them gently. As he started increasing the up-and-down motion, he could tell that his father was also humping his hips. Mario was looking intently at his son, reaching up to run his hand lightly over the soft skin of Adriano's stomach.

Beads of sweat started to form on Mario's forehead and his breathing became heavier. Adriano could see a look of wild passion sweep over his father's face as he felt his father's penis begin to swell. Then came the contorted look of total abandonment on his father's face as he allowed his body to take over and force stream after stream of hot sperm into his son's rectum.

Father Mario and son Adriano were soon lying next to each other, gently running their hands over the soft hair of each other's thighs.

Mario finally spoke. "This, my beautiful Italian son, is why I come all this way to Texas." He leaned over and kissed his son on the lips, running his tongue deeply into Adriano's mouth. And Adriano's tongue returned the favor. They were soon asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning, Adriano and his father went out for breakfast. Adriano thought he had better be open and truthful with his father about Charlie.

"Dad, I want to be truthful with you about what happened since you went back to Italy the last time. You know, the guy who was responsible for having Brian and Josiah rescued after their accident came to see the two boys in the hospital and bring them all their stuff that was in their car. Well, he and I have sort of become friends."

"Yes?" Mario interjected.

"Yeah. Well, he's a big motorcycle person and he took me for a ride once and then we . . . well, you know . . . we . . . ."

"He took you to bed. Is that it?"

"Well, no. Not exactly bed. After our ride, we got off the motorcycle out in the wilderness and . . . you know."

"I know. You did it in the grass."

"Well, sort of. Actually, I was up in the air. I wasn't touching the ground."

"Wow! That must have been exciting! What was he, a juggler?"

"No. you know how a folded towel drapes over a towel rack? Well, I was kind of like that draped over his arms. It's hard to explain."

"Listen, son, I get the picture perfectly. He draped you over his arm, like a towel over a waiter's arm, and fucked you in the ass from the rear. Right?"

"Dad, please! You don't have to be so crude! And keep your voice down. People will hear you."

"Okay. But he must have been a big guy to hold you up like that."

"Oh, yeah. He's twice my size."

Mario's eyes brightened. "Really? I'd like to meet him sometime."

"Well, that's what I was going to say. He and I are getting together again before you go back home. And I think it would be great if I could introduce you to him. He's a really nice guy. I think you'll like him.

The next night, it was Tony's turn to fix and serve dinner. As he and one of the other workers were clearing away the food from the serving line in the bunk house, he saw Corky sitting outside under a tree with a piece of straw in his mouth and staring off in the distance, looking very sad and pensive. Tony had thought about that night when he awoke and found Corky sitting on the side of his bed. The hugs and the tears that they both shed that night stayed with him somehow, and he couldn't get Corky out of his mind. He felt there was an affinity between them. He felt a kind of hankering to again be close to Corky. They both needed the hugs they gave each other that night, and Tony didn't want the magic of that night to end.

After everything had been cleared away, Tony went over and sat next to Corky. Corky smiled and patted Tony on the knee.

"Hi, Tony. Thanks for coming and sitting down."

Tony said, "You look kinda sad, Corky. I thought maybe you'd like someone to talk to."

"I don't know, Tony. You know what we talked about that night I came to see you. Well, Enrique's really done it. He's moved back with Jake. How are you doing?"

"Oh, just the same. I just spend my evenings in my room. I keep thinking I'll leave here. I don't know where. But I know one thing for sure. I don't ever want to go back to New York. Nothing's ever gone right for me, Corky. I know it's my own fault, though. I don't blame anybody else."

"I know just how you feel, Tony. When I ran away from home a long time ago, I thought I had the whole world ahead of me and I could have anything I wanted. Boy, was I wrong. I was fortunate to get the job here on the Walker Ranch, but that's where it stopped. I do what I can now to get myself as tired as I can so I can sleep and not think about anything. I have this exercise equipment that I get on every night and, besides helping me keep in shape, it wears me out to the point where I can go right to sleep. That's what I like. I don't want time to think about anything. That's when I go crazy."

Tony said, "That's probably what I need to do. I never get enough exercise. I sometimes go to bed and lie there wide awake and still full of energy. Sometimes I feel like I want to jump right out of my skin."

"Hey, Tony, would you like to try working on my equipment? Josiah worked on it a lot, and he loved how it made him feel. Do you wanna come on in right now and try it?"

Tony was eager for something to do other than just going back to his room to lie on his bed. And to be with Corky was something he would really like also.

Corky suggested that Tony get on the rowing machine first. "Tony, you've got to take off those long pants when you do this. Just sit in your skivies. And take off your shirt, too."

As Tony took his seat on the rowing machine, Corky looked at that slim dark Italian body that he had held that night when they hugged. He thought that he had never seen anyone's skin to be such a perfect and sensuous color. Tony's perfectly proportioned slender torso and arms and slim legs were so tempting. Tony tried to put his erotic thoughts out of his mind. Ricky's physique and skin color was very similar to Tony's, and look what his lust in that direction had gotten him in the end.

As Tony rowed, Corky said, "Tony, don't press your knees together as you row. Keep you legs perfectly straight and parallel with each other. Move your knees apart."

Corky took hold of both of Tony's knees and moved then apart. Just touching the soft skin on Tony's legs brought his penis to full erection. And as he held on to Tony's knees in the proper position, he could see that Tony's penis was now hard, also, and there was a glistening wet spot appearing along the fly of his underwear. Tony could see that Corky was looking at his penis, and Corky could see that Tony was looking at his.

Tony stopped rowing and looked into Corky's eyes with a kind of pitiful look of desire. "Corky, can we lie down together? Please. Over there on your bed? Can we? Just for a little bit?"

Corky smiled, and without taking his eyes off of Tony, took off his pants and shirt and lay down on his bed, beckoning to Tony to join him.

Quickly, Tony shed his underwear, and as he lay down, pressing his naked body against Corky's, he whispered, "What you did that night—coming in and seeing me and hugging me—was something that I needed so badly. You were so gentle and I could tell you were so sad. We really kind of needed each other that night."

"We did need each other, Tony. And something just drew me to you that night. I guess we're just a couple of losers."

"I don't feel like a loser right now with you, Corky." Tony pulled closer to Corky and kissed his cheek and neck.

"You're right," whispered Corky, "I don't really feel like a loser now either. And you know something? We're not just a couple of guys who fell into bed with each other. We're two guys who really need each other, I think. You know, the old saying. Fall off the horse, and then get right back on."

Corky took Tony's head between his two hands and kissed him gently on the lips. Then they began kissing each other very deeply. Corky reached for Tony's penis and began stroking it slowly. Then sitting up next to Tony's prostrate body, he fondled his balls while jacking him off. To watch the pleasure sweeping over Tony's body and face gave Corky an enormously satisfying feeling. They were soon lying next to each other, reaching over and masturbating each other.

Corky said, "When you're ready, tell me, so we can shoot our loads together. That's the best way."

With both of them squirming and humping their hips, Tony said, "Now!" and they both simultaneously shot ribbons of sperm onto themselves and on each other's hands and arms. Tony quickly leaned over and sucked Corky's penis dry. Then he took Corky's hand, which was covered with Tony's sperm and sucked every finger until they were clean. Soon they were both back in each other's arms.

Corky thought to himself, 'I just can't let this go. Tony is a godsend. How can I make this last without making him get tired of me and leaving me?'

Tony's thoughts were similar. 'I knew that I needed Corky the night he came to see me. Please, God, make him want to take me and love me.'

Neither of them spoke. They just remained locked in each other's arms until sleep overtook them both.

The day had finally come when Josiah and Brian would be released from the hospital and brought back home to the ranch. Michael and Jake arrived at the hospital to find two very happy and very eager young men, already dressed and sitting in their wheelchairs ready to be wheeled down to the car. They explained to Michael and Jake that they were perfectly able to walk, but it was hospital rules that discharged patients had to be taken to their transportation in wheelchairs.

During the trip back to the ranch, Michael announced to the two boys sitting in the backseat that they were both being given a vacation alone together for a week, if they would like, out at the newly rebuilt house in the Cottonwoods. Both Josiah and Brian were so happy they started squealing like two little boys. Jake sat in the front passenger seat and thought to himself about the first day he had met Josiah—so sad and lonely and untrusting—and now feeling all the glee and happiness of a young boy that he had never felt in the days of his youth.

Josiah tapped Jake on the shoulder and said, "Jake, maybe you can come out sometime that week and visit us when we're out there. You could bring your bagpipes and we could sing some songs. It would be so much fun to be with you again."

Jake now felt he had earned all the satisfaction in his life he could ever want now that he had had some small part in turning Josiah's life around. "No, no. That vacation out there is for just the two of ya. You'll git enough of me later when y'all move back to the bunkhouse, Josiah."

Michael hadn't mentioned yet to the boys that Josiah would now need to move into Brian's room in the bunkhouse, and that Enrique had now moved back in with Jake. But there was time enough for that.

Before driving out to the house in the Cottonwoods, Michael drove by the main house so that all the others could come out and greet the two boys. Maggie came running out of the back door with both arms outstretched and calling Josiah and Brian's names at the top of her voice. Just as they stepped from the car she threw her arms around them and hugged and kissed them both. "Just look at you," she screamed. "You look so good, you make me wish I was twenty years younger. Welcome home, dears!"

Karl, Enrique, and most of the ranch hands who were nearby also came over to greet the two boys. Soon, they were back in the car and on their way to the little house, with Maggie shouting, "The place is well stocked with food. If there's anything else you need or want, just get on the phone and call me!"

After the boys were dropped off at the little house, and Michael and Jake drove away, they went inside and looked around. Neither one had ever seen anything so beautiful. Never in their lives had they been privileged to live in such splendor. The refrigerator and freezer were packed with food of every kind. The bathroom and linen closet were stuffed with towels and washcloths. The floors were covered with beautiful oriental rugs, and there were two large screen television sets, one in the living room and one in the bedroom. In the bedroom stood Ol' Ben's big king-sized iron bed, freshly made up and already turned back. In the living room, two large vases of wildflowers, mostly Blue Bells, sat on tables. They had been picked and arranged by Maggie. She had also placed small dishes of chocolate candy around for snacking.

It was late afternoon, and as they looked out of the enormous plate glass window to the west, the sun was beginning to move closer to the horizon. Brian looked over the array of wine and liquor bottles sitting at one end of the kitchen counter. Selecting an unopened bottle of Chardonnay, he used the corkscrew lying next to it to open it.

Filling two wine classes, Brian said, "Here, Josiah, let's go sit on the verandah and watch the sun go down. I think it's going to be a really red sunset tonight."

As they sat on the bench very close to each other, Josiah finally said, "That was quite a quail hunting expedition we went on, wasn't it. It seems so long ago. I remember getting up the second day and packing our stuff in the car, but I don't remember anything after that until waking up in the hospital. What do you remember, Brian?"

"I don't remember anything more than you do, Josiah. And I kinda don't think I really want to remember. They told us what happened. And rolling off a cliff down a hill is not something I really want to remember. But to know that I can now sit here and look into your face, Josiah, and just know that you and me are still alive and together is all in the whole world I want."

Josiah said, "And the dream we both had that we were dying and we promised each other we would go together. Somehow, Brian, I love that dream. But I also hate it."

Brian put his arm around Josiah's shoulder and pulled him close. Josiah tilted his head and rested it on Brian's shoulder. Brian said, "I can't believe you and I are here together all alone. I used to dream about some day having a friend—someone I loved. But never did I dream of this."

Josiah said softly, "Maybe we did die, Brian, and we're in Heaven. I never believed there was a Heaven, but maybe there really is."

They sat quietly for a long time, nestled together, looking out over the range and at the slowly setting sun to the west. Brian finally reached over for the bottle of Chardonnay and refilled their glasses.

"Josiah," said Brian. "Hold your glass up to the sunset. The amber color of the wine now looks like swirls of pink and crimson." Then after a few minutes, "We're at the top of the world, Josiah. We are the only two people in the world and we're at the most beautiful place in the world."

When the sun finally set, and the bottle of Chardonnay was finally empty, Josiah said, "I don't know if we can walk, but maybe we ought to go see what's to eat."

Still a little unsteady on their feet, they searched through the freezer and found some frozen lasagna that Maggie had made. She had also attached instructions for heating it up in the microwave. They thought that this was just the thing. No fuss, no muss. She had even put the lasagna in individual cardboard dishes that could be discarded after eating with no dishes to wash. Maggie was a romantic and understood about these things when it came to lovers and honeymoons and such.

After they had eaten and discarded the dishes, Josiah asked, "Brian, did you ever get a chance to jack off in the hospital. I know so often when I'd get started, the nurse would come in for something. And every time she would come in to give me a bath, my penis was hard. And it wasn't because of her. The only thing she would do would be to flick it with her finger and say, 'you'd better take care of this.'"

Brian answered, "I know. That kind of stuff would always happen to me, too. I got a chance to jack off quite a bit though. And I always thought about the times you and I had fun doing it together up by the river and then when we were in the tent near the Pecos River."

Josiah said, "Yeah, and I always thought about that, too, when I jacked off in the hospital. Now we can do it together again this week while we're alone. It's getting kind of late. Do you think we can go to bed and do it together again now?"

"Yeah, let's do that. Oh, did you see the size of that shower room off the bathroom. There are four shower heads in there. It's big enough we can just take our shower together."

After they both stripped down, they stepped into the shower, each with their own shower head. Neither one felt ashamed looking at each other's bodies. Both of their penises quickly stiffened up to full-sized hard-ons. They each reached over and grabbed hold of the other's penis.

Josiah said, "You know, we haven't touched each other's penises since that night in the tent."

Brian stepped up close to Josiah and took both of their hard rods and pressed them together in one of his hands. They both giggled. Josiah said, "Wow, do you think we could come this way?"

"I don't want to come yet," said Brian. "I want to wait until we're in bed so we can do it real slow. How about you?"

"That's how I want to do it, too," replied Josiah.

After drying themselves, they both jumped into bed, both still with very stiff hard-ons. As they lay next to each other, their legs touched and both could feel the other pressing harder.

"Shall we jack each other off like we did before," said Brian.

"Yeah, let's," replied Josiah.

As they turned their bodies slightly towards each other so they could see and grasp the other's penis, Brian's head fell against Josiah's so that his lips were on Josiah's cheek. Brian instinctively brought out his tongue and licked Josiah's skin, then moving down his cheek to Josiah's lips. They kissed each other's lips very lightly. Then releasing each others penises, they threw their arms around each other and began kissing very deeply with their tongues lashing at each other and exploring every inch of each other's mouth. They would break momentarily and run kisses all over each other's face and then would go back to their open-mouthed kissing.

This was the first time Josiah and Brian had held each other's body and the first time they had kissed so passionately. Suddenly they broke and pressed their cheeks together in a very tight embrace. Brian whispered, "I love you, Josiah. I love you so much."

Josiah whispered back, "I love you, Brian. I think I loved you and wanted to touch you from the very first day Jake introduced us. I never kissed anyone like this before. I never held anyone in my arms like this before. I never knew what real love could feel like until now."

They pulled their heads back so they could look into each other's eyes. Brian touched Josiah's face and with one finger, tracing over his eyebrows and nose and lips, kissing his face lightly as he did so. Josiah touched Brian's lips, and Brian sucked in Josiah's fingers, running his tongue around each one. Then Brian brought his tongue down over Josiah's chin and neck, and down over his chest, swirling it around each of his nipples, which quickly became hard as pebbles. Josiah caught his breath with an audible gasp as Brian's tongue continued down to his navel and along the thick furry stripe of hair that descended from his navel down into his pubic hair. Brian held onto both sides of Josiah's narrow hips as he slowly lowered his face into Josiah's thick bush of pubic hair.

As Brian wove his tongue through Josiah's pubic hair, he could feel Josiah's hard penis pushing against his chin. Looking up at Josiah's face, Brian could see that Josiah's eyes were closed and that he was literally transfixed with the feel of Brian's tongue on his body. Brian slowly moved his tongue up the side of Josiah's penis shaft. He felt almost light headed as his tongue moved up the shaft and over the head of Josiah's penis. It was the first time in his life he had ever put his tongue on a penis, and to think that it was Josiah's penis made him almost dizzy.

Josiah was moaning loudly, just as a dreamer would call out in his sleep. Josiah felt his penis encased in the warm, wet cavity of Brian's mouth. It was a feeling he had never experienced. Brian sucked Josiah's penis farther and farther in until his lips rested on Josiah's pelvic bone. He could taste the semen that was oozing out of Josiah's pee hole.

Josiah could feel the beginning of an orgasm and called out, "No, Brian, stop! Not yet!" Brian pulled off, saliva dripping from his mouth. "Brian, I can't believe how wonderful that feels. Please let me show you."

Brian rolled over on his back, and Josiah started at Brian's ankles and with his tongue licked and sucked on the soft hair that covered Brian's calves and thighs. The feeling was sending Brian into a trance-like state, and he was softly moaning. As Josiah's tongue swirled over the soft hair on the fleshy part of Brian's upper inner thighs, Brian let out a growl of pleasure. Then Josiah's tongue ever so lightly touched Brian's ball sack, causing Brian's penis to jump and bob around uncontrollably. Josiah could hardly believe the wonderful sensuous feel of the soft skin of Brian's scrotum on his tongue. He sucked in each ball individually and rolled it gently around in his mouth. Then bringing his tongue up along the underside of Brian's gorged penis, he tasted the warm stickiness of semen oozing out of Brian's pee hole. Brian began bucking his hips and moaning loudly.

"Josiah! I think I'm going to come!"

Josiah quickly pulled off and said, "Not yet, let's come together."

"How can we do that? One getting sucked, and the other jerking?"

Josiah thought a minute and said, "I know. Put your penis up by my head, and I'll turn around and put my penis by your head. Then we can suck each other's penis at the same time."

It was perfect. As Josiah sucked Brian's penis, he reached around and ran his hands over Brian's round, firm ass cheeks. They were soft to the touch, yet so firm. They were so erotic to hold. As he did so, he began slipping his fingers into the crack. As soon as his finger touched Brian's puckered hole, Brian jumped, but then let Josiah continue exploring. The feel of Brian's hard penis in his mouth, as well as the feel on his finger on the hard pucker that surrounded Brian's asshole made Josiah want to cum right then. But he held off. He could feel Brian's fingers also exploring the crack between his ass cheeks and hoped that Brian's fingers would find their way to his asshole.

It was becoming too much for both of them, and they were now bucking their hips in an attempt to thrust their hard cocks deeper into each other's mouth. As Josiah began to moan louder and louder, Brian realized that Josiah was about to blow his sperm. So Brian also let go and they both let their orgasms begin, flooding each other's mouth with their hot, thick cream. It was the first time either of them had tasted sperm other than their own. They both gulped and swallowed and continued to suck each other penises until they were dry. To each of them, the sperm of the other was like ambrosia—no less than the food of the gods.

After their orgasms had subsided, they continued to lie in the same position. Brian began to run his tongue over Josiah's balls. Then lifting Josiah's legs, he brought his tongue down the shaft between his balls and his asshole, until he could feel the tip of his tongue sweeping gently over Josiah tightly puckered asshole. Josiah did his best to relax his hole as Brian slowly pushed his tongue inside. Then pulling out, Brian lay back and raised his own legs so that Josiah could do the same.

After a few minutes, they both were hard again and they jacked each other off. They loved to see each other shoot their sperm and watch each other's body squirm and writhe as they went into total orgasm. After licking the sperm off of each other's stomachs, they lay back with their cheeks pressed together.

Josiah said, "It felt so good, Brian, when you pushed your fingers and then your tongue into my asshole. We could probably go even deeper if we pushed our hard penises into each other's asshole. And I would really love to have you shoot your sperm up into me."

"I'd love for us to do that, too," whispered Brian. "Do you think we can get our penises hard enough again tonight so we could get them into our holes?'

Josiah sighed, "It doesn't look like it. My penis is getting pretty soft."

"That's okay," said Brian. "We've got a lot more nights ahead of us. Let's try fucking each other tomorrow night. Okay?"

"Okay!"

Both Josiah and Brian wrapped their arms around each other and were soon sound asleep.

To be continued...