Chapter 27 

By the time evening came, Corky was feeling tired from the day's work, but exhilarated at the same time in anticipation of Mark's arrival. After supper, Corky showered and shaved and put on a clean pair of jeans. He went outside and sat on his doorstep. Feeling relaxed in the cool evening breeze, he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the doorjamb.

Mark had said he would be at the ranch about seven that evening. Corky decided to take the jeep and drive the two miles on the gravel road to the main highway and park near the gate. He would wait for Mark there, and then Mark could follow him back to the bunkhouse. He made sure that he was there at seven o'clock sharp. He brushed the road dust off of his hat and boots and, looking in the side mirror on the jeep, put his hat back on so that it was cocked just slightly forward over his eyes. He always thought that was the sexiest way of wearing a cowboy hat. He even made sure that his penis was arranged so that it produced that typical erotic looking bulge that all cowboys seem to display in their jeans. Then he walked over to the gate and looked down the highway for any sign of Mark.

It was now seven-thirty, but Mark had not yet appeared. Corky went back and sat in the jeep for awhile and then walked back to the gate. Looking at his watch, it was eight-thirty, and Mark still had not come. Could he have had an accident, Corky thought. Or, worse yet, did Mark have a change of heart? At nine o'clock, Corky tried to call Mark on his cell phone, but there was no answer.

By ten o'clock, Corky knew that Mark was not coming. He thought to himself that he should have known it was all a lie. It was always the same thing. He thought about all the times he had been humiliated and hurt. Why should this have been any different? He remembered the bridge over the river about five miles down the highway. If he drove at a really high speed and hit the abutment, then it could all be over in a split second. Getting into the jeep, he drove out onto the highway. He got up to about ninety miles an hour and could see the bridge not far ahead. As he came nearer and nearer to it, and when he was only seconds away from it, he closed his eyes tight and let go of the steering wheel . . . .

"Corky. Wake up. It's Mark. I'm a little early, but I didn't think you'd mind. You must have worked really hard today. You were really out. And you were beginning to throw your arms around like you were having a nightmare!"

Corky opened his eyes and could hardly believe what he was seeing. He looked around himself and could see that he was still sitting on his doorstep. "Mark? Oh, Mark, I think I was dreaming."

Mark sat next to Corky and put his arm around his shoulder. "Corky, you're shaking something awful. What's the matter?"

"Oh, I dreamt that you didn't come tonight and I . . . . Let's go inside."

Mark retrieved a six-pack of beer from the cooler in his car. "I didn't think you'd have any, so I thought I'd bring some."

As soon as they got inside Corky's room, Mark picked up Corky and laid him gently on the bed. Lying beside him, Mark crouched over Corky and kissed him deeply. Then, unbuttoning Corky's shirt, Mark ran his tongue down around his nipples.

"I really believed I would never see you again," said Corky. "Kiss me again and then lie down close to me. I have to ask you about what happened."

Still fully dressed, Mark and Corky began to talk about what had happened, while kissing each other after almost every sentence.

"What are you going to do, Mark."

Mark propped himself up on one elbow. "I told you, Corky. I'm gonna open my own detective agency. I've already—several weeks ago—taken the licensing exam and received my license last week. And I'm even registered with the City of San Antonio as a Private Investigator."

"Boy, that sounds wonderful."

"And, Corky, I'm serious that I want you to work with me. You don't need any formal training for what you'd be doing. I can give you all the training you'll need. I've been trained and I've had a lot of experience in investigative work."

"Would I have to leave the ranch?"

"Yeah, you'd be living with me up in San Antonio. I'm gonna open an office up there also. I'll probably work out of my apartment for awhile at first, though."

Corky looked hard into Mark's eyes. "Mark, I've had a lot of disappointments in my life. And I've got a good secure life now right here with the Walkers on the ranch. I don't know if I would be making a mistake to leave here and go with you. You haven't even started your business yet. How do you know if it'll make any money for you."

"I'm pretty confident, Corky. I always have been in my life. I don't go into things frivolously. I've got a lot of contacts among the San Antonio Police, as well as the State Trooper organization. You'll just have to trust me, Corky. I'm not going to let you down."

Corky threw his arms around Mark's neck and pulled him down. After kissing each other deeply, Mark stood up and said, "C'mon, Corky. Let's get out of these clothes! I've got to feel your bare skin next to mine!"

As Corky pulled off his clothes as fast as he could, that same feeling he had the first night they were together came over him. Here was this big strong Texas Trooper, like he was right out of a men's health magazine, standing naked before him and about to pick him up off the floor and crush him in his arms. As he pulled off his briefs—the last bit of his clothing—Corky almost threw himself at Mark, knowing that Mark would grab hold of him and lift him into the air. Mark enfolded Corky in his arms and pressed him against his body, lifting him high in the air. Corky closed his eyes and could feel himself spinning while pressing his cheek tightly against Mark's heaving chest.

Mark lay spread-eagle on the bed as Corky started at his toes, giving him a thorough and very erotic tongue bath. After sucking on each of Mark's toes, Corky brought his tongue up over the soft hair that covered Mark's ankles and calves. It tickled Mark, and Corky could feel on his tongue Mark's rolling leg muscles flexing rapidly in response. As Corky brought his tongue up over Mark's upper inner thighs, he could feel the warmth of Mark's crotch on his face, as well as the wonderful moist, masculine smell that emanated from Mark's ass trench.

Mark was softly moaning with pleasure as Corky sucked in each of Mark's balls, one by one. They each felt so delicate in Corky's mouth, and that combined with the slightly sweaty taste of Mark's ball sack almost sent Corky into delirium. Mark voluntarily lifted his legs as high as possible, revealing the full spectra of his crotch, heavily covered with thick black hair. Corky pushed his tongue into Mark's ass trench and swirled it through the hair until he could feel Mark's pucker, which was already clenching and unclenching rapidly.

Mark whispered, "I just can't wait any longer, Corky. Get up here and ram that hard cock of yours into my asshole. I need it now," he pleaded.

Corky had failed to see that he had enough lubricant on hand, so he lowered his face into Mark's ass and flooded his trench with saliva, and with his tongue, plastered the long black hair to the insides of Mark's ass cheeks. He could now see Mark's puckered hole clearly, but completely covered with saliva. As Mark would clench and unclench his sphincter muscle, it would make little bubbles in the saliva.

Corky mounted Mark and, as instructed, plunged his hard penis into Marks waiting asshole as hard as he could. It went in easily, and Corky could feel the warmth of Mark's rectum as it encased Corky's penis. As Corky fucked Mark vigorously, Mark was jacking himself off.

Mark said, "I'm going to hold off until you shoot your cum into me. And then when you are finished, scoot down and let me shoot my sperm into your mouth."

Corky could feel Mark's asshole snapping at his penis at every plunge. It was more than Corky could take as he felt his orgasm beginning and the rush of sperm coming up the shaft of his penis. With a sharp yell, Corky let go, flooding Mark's hot rectum with sperm.

After his orgasm had subsided, Corky pushed himself down and took Mark's gorged penis into his mouth. The head was already swollen to what Corky thought was twice its size. He reached down and took hold of Mark's balls and felt them rapidly pulling up into Mark's body just as the first powerful shot of sperm hit the roof of Corky's mouth. Then came another shot, and another. Corky wanted to hold all of Mark's hot thick sperm in his mouth, but it just kept cumming, and it began to run out of Corky's mouth into Mark's heavy bush of pubic hair.

Both Corky and Mark had each just experienced an orgasm that he believed was equal to or more powerful and sensational than any he had ever had. Mark lay on his back, with Corky lying next to him with his head on Mark's chest. It was in this position that they awoke just as the sun was rising and Maggie's clanging dinner bell was signaling that breakfast was ready.

They both got up and went into the shower together. Once they were all lathered up, they jacked off and came together, each shooting his sperm onto the other's cock as it shot its own sperm.

Corky brought Mark to the serving line in the room at the end of the bunkhouse and spoke to Maggie.

"Maggie, I want you to meet Mark. He stayed with me last night, and I wonder if it would be okay if he had some breakfast with me."

Maggie had seen Mark coming into the room and had difficulty taking her eyes off of him. She almost felt faint as she said, "Of course, Corky, we have plenty. Just serve yourself, Mark. Take as much as you want."

As Mark eyed the various pans of food laid out before him, Maggie looked at Corky and silently mouthed the words, "Oh, my God! He's gorgeous! Where did you find him?"

Corky merely said, "Later, Maggie. We'll talk."

While they ate, Corky asked about whether or not Mark thought his son, Jodi, was going to be a problem with his plans.

Mark said, "Jodi isn't the innocent little boy he sometimes appears. I found out not long ago that he has been soliciting sex from guys on the street for money. His mother never pays any attention to him, so he's been able to go out and do whatever he wants."

"I know, Mark," said Corky. "I wasn't going to mention it to you, but while you were on duty last Saturday afternoon, I had gone out for awhile, but when I came back to the apartment, Jodi was having sex with two adult men in his bed. I apparently scared the shit out of the two men and they got out of there really fast. But Jodi acted really arrogant about it. He really has a bad attitude."

Mark said, "I didn't realize he did anything in the apartment that day. Anyway, I'm giving up my right to have him every other weekend. But I do plan on reporting his mother as an unfit mother. She has sole custody."

Mark told Corky that he wanted to get back to San Antonio to start making arrangements for opening his new business. "Corky, think about my offer to come in with me on this business. You won't regret it. I'll give you a call every night this week and we'll talk more about it."

As Mark rode off in his car, Corky realized that he had one of the biggest decisions of his life ahead of him.

On the morning following Maggie's last visit with Homer Kesselring, Nicholas Biddle, the Kesselring family attorney paid a visit to Homer at Homer's request. They spoke for nearly an hour, after which Nicholas returned to his office. Later that afternoon, James Kesselring, Homer's eldest son arrived at the Biddle office to discuss some legal matters involving the transfer of some property in Victoria.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Kesselring," chirped Sarah Karnes, Nicholas's secretary. "What a coincidence seeing you. I'm just now typing up a codicil to your father's will that Mr. Biddle and your father arranged this morning."

"A codicil, Miss Karnes? What might that be for? He has hardly anything left in his estate. He gave most of his money to that damned music academy. My wife and I will be lucky to get a box of old kitchen utensils when the old man dies."

"Oh, Mr. Kesselring, I can't reveal what it's about. You know these things are confidential."

When James went home to dinner, he told his wife, Marion, what he had learned from Biddle's indiscrete secretary. "Marion, I think we need to pay a little more attention to the old man. I want to find out what's going on. Why don't you and I pay him visit tomorrow evening. He needs to see more of his loving son and daughter-in-law.

Maggie could hardly wait to finish her deliveries on the following evening so that she could get to Homer's apartment and play the violin for him. That night, she had her own violin, retrieved from Rhapsody's care, fully tuned and ready to go.

When Homer saw that she had her violin case in one hand and his carton of food in the other, he shouted, "Maggie! You have your violin! I was afraid you would forget!

Rushing into the kitchen to put the food down on the counter, Maggie said, "You old rascal, why would I forget something like that. Anything to put a smile on your face! But maybe you won't smile. Maybe you'll throw me out of here when you hear how bad I play. Why don't I fix your dinner now, and after you eat, I'll play for your desert! But I'm warning you, I leave my violin case open in front of me and I take only folding money!"

"Oh, you're the confident one!" laughed Homer, "We'll just see if you deserve it! Folding money! Ha! You'll be lucky if you get so much as a quarter!"

"Well, Homer, we'll just see about that. Tonight, they are giving you Shrimp Newburg. It looks like a nice rich cream, butter, and egg sauce. But I'm going to add just a little Sherry to it to give it a little kick. You and I could use a little kick once in awhile, don't you think, Homer?

Since one of the other gentlemen to whom deliveries were made had gone to the hospital that day, Maggie had an extra dinner, which she ate herself as she sat with Homer.

After they were through eating and Maggie had cleaned up the kitchen, she rolled Homer close to the window, and she stood on the other side of the room. Reaching into the small leather bag she always carried with her, she pulled out a hankie that was embroidered around the edges and was decorated with tiny blue periwinkles.

Homer frowned, and said, "For Christ's sake, Maggie, what are you doing with that thing?"

Maggie held it up and said, "Isn't it lovely, Homer. A very special friend gave this to me many years ago. When I use this hankie, I always think of him. He was absolutely adorable . . . ."

Homer looked pained. Maggie placed the hankie on the violin and slipped it under her chin. As she picked up the bow, she could feel her hand shaking slightly.

"Homer, I'm going to play for you the "Flower Song" from Bizet's opera, 'Carmen'."

She wanted so badly to put a smile on Homer's face, but she was worried that she would mess up. She began very tentatively with the first notes of her piece, but when she felt more secure, the music began to flow more smoothly and with greater ease from her instrument.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a key in the door, and the door opened. Homer's son, James, and his wife, Marion stepped into the room.

"What's this, Dad? The Wednesday Night Musicale?" Turning to Maggie, who had stopped playing and was looking a bit embarrassed, James said, "Who are you, may I ask?"

Maggie put down her violin and said, "I come here to fix Mr. Kesselring's dinner. And who are you, pray tell?

"Pray tell?" growled James. "Pray tell? What kind of a question is that?"

Homer interrupted, "James, there's no need to be rude. Mr. Peterson here is my friend. What are you here for?"

"Why do you ask, Dad? Don't I have a right to come for a visit when I feel like it? Do I have to have a reason?"

"You always have a reason. You haven't been here in months. Now what is it you want?" Homer countered.

Maggie disappeared into the kitchen to put away her apron and gather up her things. But she could hear James and his father talking.

"Dad, who is that fag you have here? What are you doing with a goddamned faggot in your house?"

Homer shouted, "I would like you to leave, James. I didn't invite you, and I want you to leave!"

"Listen, the person in there is a goddamned queer. He walks like a queer and talks like a queer and he had on one of mom's old aprons. Are you crazy?"

Homer just looked at James and said very calmly, "I want you to leave now."

"What is it, Dad? You got something going with this fag?"

"You've got a poisoned mouth on you, James. I'll say that. Now please leave."

"Not until we've had a little talk. I want to know what you were doing with Biddle about your will today."

"That is absolutely none of your business. What I do with my will is my affair."

"Dad, just tell me. What have you cut me out of this time? You gave away most of your fortune to that goddamned music school. Now what did you do with what was left, if anything? Huh?"

As she heard James raising his voice, Maggie stepped to the kitchen door to see what was going on.

"Get out!" shouted Homer.

Advancing toward his father, James shouted, "Tell me! I'm your son! I have a right to know!"

Homer held up his hand. "Don't you come near me!"

"Old man! You're gonna die anyway soon! Tell me!" James leaned forward and grabbed the front of Homers shirt with both hands and pulled him from his wheelchair.

Maggie screamed, "Stop! Leave him alone!" Maggie grabbed the first thing that was handy, her violin, and ran toward James and hit him as hard as she could on the head with it, smashing it. James whirled around and caught Maggie by the arm. With her other arm, she ran her fingernails down the side of James' face. With blood streaming down his neck and onto his shirt, James swung at Maggie's head, knocking her down. Hitting her head on the corner of the desk, she could feel herself losing consciousness. But she fought to stay awake as long as James was in the room and a threat to his father.

James pointed his finger at Homer and shouted, "I've had it with you! Playing around here with queers. I've had enough. I am going to get a court order proclaiming you incompetent, and when I get Power of Attorney over you, you are out of here. You're going into a nursing home. No more of this crap of you playing around with goddamned queers. And once I get you proclaimed incompetent, whatever that goddamned codicil was that you did with Biddle won't be worth shit!

As James and his wife ran out of the apartment, Homer dropped out of his wheelchair and crawled over to where Maggie lay. "Maggie, I'm sorry. Can you get up? Are you hurt badly?"

Maggie looked at Homer, but it felt like her brain had been shaken up inside her skull and when she looked at Homer, everything seemed blurred. Homer crawled to the bathroom, filled a cup with water from the bathtub spigot, and crawled back to Maggie. Soon Maggie's head seemed to clear and she sat up, leaning against the desk. They sat quietly for a long time.

Maggie finally looked at Homer with determination in her eyes. "Homer, I know one thing, I'm going to get you out of here. You're gonna get out of the reach of that son of yours. You're going to come and live with us at the ranch."

"Maggie, I can't do that. I have all my things here. I can't live without my things."

"We'll bring all your things with you. Now I'm going to get my bearings in a few minutes, and I'm going to help you get ready for bed. I don't want you to worry. You're not going to a nursing home. I'm going to take care of you."

Homer looked at Maggie's broken violin lying on the floor. Tears began to well up in his eyes. "Maggie, I'm so sorry. It sounded so pretty."

With both of them sitting side by side on the floor, Maggie put his arm around Homer and kissed him on the top of the head. She could feel Homer's arm tightening around her waist. "It's okay, Homer, I can always pick up another one someplace. I'll play for you again when we're home at the ranch."

Ever since Adriano, his father Mario, and Charlie had spent the night together, Adriano was worried that Charlie no longer understood how seriously he took their developing relationship. That evening with the three of them in Adriano's apartment was awkward, to put it mildly, for everyone. Since then Adriano had called Charlie on his home phone, as well as on his cell phone. But he was unable to get an answer. Finally Adriano received a call from Charlie.

"Adriano, it's Charlie. I realize that you and your father are . . . you know . . . together, and I realize that what we talked about—being together and maybe working together—won't happen now. But I've been thinking about you so much, little buddy, that I really want to see you one more time—maybe for the last time. But I can't get you off my mind."

"Charlie, I've been trying every way I know how to get in touch with you," said Adriano anxiously. "Where have you been?"

Charlie seemed surprised. "You've been trying to get hold of me, Adriano?"

"Yeah! Where have you been?"

"I've just been out and around. A couple of times since I saw you, I went down to the lake where we first . . . you know . . . where we first did things together, and I just sat there for a long time thinking about you."

Adriano said, "Charlie, please come to Austin right away if you can get away. We have a lot to talk about." Then after a moment's silence, "Oh, Charlie. I've been thinking about you, too. I've even gotten approval from my department for a new animal lab assistant just so you could come and work with me. Don't talk about it being the last time we see each other. This'll be just the beginning. Can you come this afternoon? Please?"

"I'm putting on my coat right now." After a short pause, Charlie said, "Adriano? Can I stay overnight? I don't want to interrupt anything."

"Charlie, you can stay overnight tonight and every night from now on. It'll just be you and me. My dad's gone back home to Italy. And before he left, I explained everything about you and me. He understands and wanted me to give you his apologies for not fully understanding when you came to be with me that night."

"Okay! Just as soon as I pack my toothbrush and some clean skivvies, I'll be on my way!"

When Charlie arrived, they walked to the Student Union snack bar where they could have coffee and talk privately.

"Charlie, are you still interested in coming to work with me here at the University? You've taken the tour of the labs and our other facilities."

Charlie instinctively reached for Adriano's hand, but quickly withdrew it when he saw two young girls looking their way. "Adriano—my little buddy—I'm ready to start today if you want me. And if I move here, can we live together, too?"

"Of course we can. That's part of the deal." Adriano looked deeply into Charlie's eyes and said, "Charlie, I want to touch you so badly. It's all I can do to keep from leaning over this table and kissing you. I was so afraid that you had forgotten me when I couldn't get anyone to answer your phone. I'd go to bed at night and imagine that you had me up in the air, wrapped in your arms like you did when we stopped by that lake. I want to give myself to you Charlie. I want to give myself totally to you."

Charlie slipped his foot out of his right boot and raised his leg under the table and pressed his toes into Adriano's crotch.

"Oooooo, Charlie," whispered Adriano.

Charlie could feel on his toes the hardness rising in Adriano's pants. Adriano discretely reached down and unzipped his fly, allowing his gorged, rock hard penis to flop out, along with his entire ball sack. Even though all of this was quite hidden under the table, they both knew that what was happening could have been noticed by anyone who was looking directly at them.

With one hand, Adriano slowly pulled off Charlie's sock so that he could better feel Charlie's toes as they moved up and down on the underside of his penis. Charlie and Adriano looked into each other's eyes intently, saying nothing. Adriano shot furtive glances about the room to be sure no one seemed to be fully aware of what was happening. Charlie wiggled his toes all around Adriano's penis, giving Adriano the impression that it was a tongue that was swirling over it. It felt to Adriano as though tiny electric charges were buzzing through his entire abdomen, and shooting down his legs and up through his torso.

Charlie, staring hard into Adriano's face, began to move his toes faster and faster over Adriano's penis. Adriano could feel that little feeling coming on that one gets when one knows there is no turning back. He could feel his whole body surrendering to the approaching orgasm that was beginning to roar through him like a freight train. There was no stopping it. Adriano suddenly became deaf to all the students' voices around him. He could hear only the sound of his own blood rushing through his veins. Then, as though the muscles in his groin were being gripped by a powerful vice, he could feel the warmth of his sperm pushing up through his shaft and surging forth as he uncontrollably began bucking his hips off of the chair.

Charlie could feel the warmth of Adriano's sperm as some of it covered his toes. Several long ropes of sperm, however, landed on Charlie's pant leg and onto the floor. As Adriano's orgasm subsided and his penis began to deflate, he was suddenly aware of what had just happened. Looking into the faces of the students who were sitting around them, he was certain that they knew what had just happened. Some were snickering quietly. Others were glancing at him with curious smiles on their faces.

"My God," thought Adriano, "There are two girls from my Anatomy class. I know they saw me do this. Oh, my God!"

Charlie slipped his sperm covered foot back into his boot and took his sock from Adriano, passed to him under the table, and stuffed it into his pocket. Adriano pushed his penis and balls back into his pants and zipped up. As they left, Adriano looked back and could see the little pool of glistening sperm on the floor under the table.

Jake had been concerned about his recurring chest pains and went into Goliad to see old Doc Webster, who had been Jake's doctor for many years. They had also forged a close friendship with each other. When they were much younger, they would go into Goliad or Victoria down the road on Saturday nights and "diddle the girlies," as Doc Webster would call it. There were also bi-sexual episodes that made for very interesting evenings. It was a rare Saturday night when they would go home without each having had a good fuck with someone. But it had been many years since the halcyon days of their debauchery. Doc Webster was now all but retired, taking only a few of his old patients.

As he listened to Jake's inner rumblings through his stethoscope, Doc Webster said, "How's that big fuckin' cock of yers, Jake? Been givin' it any exercise lately? Ya don't want to let it wither away, ya know!"

"Well, Doc, it's been a long time since you and me went out every Saturday night and fucked our brains out. I can't get a fuckin' hard-on as easily anymore, but if I work on it, it usually gets pretty stiff when I give it time. I give it plenty of exercise. I jerk off a lot, and my orgasms are as great as ever. How 'bout yerself?"

"Well, Jake, the girlies aren't easy to git like they were. But I gotta tell ya. I got a nineteen-year-old nephew that I discovered likes me. It's a long story, but he loves his ass fucked. And he's taken a liking to my ass, too."

"Hey, Doc. It looks like ya got yerself the best of both fuckin' worlds."

"Yeah, but it still ain't as good as that one time I took yer big cock up my ass when we couldn't find no girls."

Jake laughed. "I thought ya probably forgot that time. You were a fuckin' good fuck, Doc."

As Jake reached around and grabbed the Doc's buns and squeezed, he said, "Ya know, that old floppy ass of yers still makes me hard as shit."

Doc Webster reached down and squeezed Jake's cock. "Well, Jake, I thought ya said ya had a hard time gittin' it up. It feels like a solid rod of steel to me."

Jake quickly undid the Doc's belt and zipper and said, "C'mon, Doc, fer old times sake, turn around there and let me plow this fuckin' rod up that fuckin' hole of yers!"

Doc Webster quickly dropped his pants and leaned over the examining table and said, "Jake if ya fuck me like ya did a couple of decades ago, I won't send ya a bill for this visit."

There stood two old men, fucking like two twenty-year-old studs. Jake said, "Yer ass is as tight as a ten-year old's. I'm ready to cum. Are ya ready to take all my shit up yer ass?"

"Fire away, Jake!"

With every surge of sperm that Jake shot into old Doc Webster's rectum, Jake slammed his hips up against his ass cheeks. When it was over, Doc Webster reached for tissues and wiped off the sperm that was dripping out of his ass. He also wiped up the sperm that he had shot himself onto the floor.

"How did ya do that?" asked Jake, as he looked down at the pool of sperm that the Doc had shot from his own penis. "I didn't see ya jerkin' yerself off."

"Well, Jake, all I need is to have my prostate massaged by another hard cock and I cum without even touchin' my fuckin' cock. I never realized I could do that until my nephew started massagin' it with his cock. But I can do it every time now."

As they both got dressed, Doc Webster assumed his doctor-to-patient attitude. "Jake, I've looked you over and listened to what's goin' on inside of you, and I want to congratulate you. Yer just now gittin' over a case of walking pneumonia. Ever heard of that? It's like real pneumonia, but not as bad. It doesn't put you totally out of commission."

"Doc, I thought my chest pains was my heart."

"Nope, you old fucker. Yer heart sounds like it'll go fer another hundred years. Let me give ya a little advice. Don't tell nobody, but the best advice I give guys who need exercise is to have at least three or four good fucks every week. There's nothin' to get the old heart beatin' like it should than a good hard humpin' exercise. Do you ever git that kind of exercise anymore, Jake?"

"Well, to tell ya the truth, Doc, I've got a little fella back at the ranch. Me and him are pretty close, and we git that 'humpin' exercise,' as you call it, pretty often."

Jake left Doc Webster's office with a prescription for some strong medicine that was supposed to clear up what remained of his "walking pneumonia" within a week. He had been worried about his heart, but now that he knew all was well, he could hardly wait to get back to Ricky and tell him all was well.

The next day, Saturday, was Brian's twenty-third birthday. Jake was feeling in a celebratory mood, and suggested to Enrique that the two of them, along with both Brian and Josiah get Maggie to fix them a picnic lunch, and ride on horses out to the clump of Mesquite trees near the stream several miles away near the western boundary of the ranch. It would be a picnic celebration for Brian.

Maggie loved to prepare special meals for special occasions. She baked a large three-layer chocolate cake with boiled white frosting—Brian's favorite. Since it would be hard to carry on horseback, she cut it into individual slices and put them into small Styrofoam boxes. And another of Brian's favorites was cold chicken, breaded and fried in her own secret blend of herbs and spices that beat out Col. Sanders' Kentucky Fried Chicken hands down. She included most of the other items in the usual picnic fare, such as deviled eggs and coleslaw.

Brian was thrilled that his birthday was going to be celebrated on a picnic. Brian and Josiah, however, had always liked Maggie, and appreciated all the mothering attention she gave them. And beyond that, they felt an affinity to her because her youth had been no happier than theirs had been. Brian and Josiah went to Maggie and asked her if she would like to join them on the picnic.

Maggie said, "Gracious, guys! I'd love to. But I have to do supper tonight and I'll have to start that before you get back."

Tony was also in the kitchen and heard Maggie's invitation. He quickly interjected, "Maggie, you go ahead. It's time you had a little fun. I'll do the supper for the men tonight. That'll be no problem."

Brian and Josiah smiled and looked real hopeful. Maggie said, "But Tony, it's not your night. This would mean you would be doing more meals this week than I will.:

"Forget it, Maggie. Just go ahead. We'll make it up another time."

Maggie was thrilled to be joining the picnickers and ran off to her room to put on some appropriate clothes. She put on her green and tan western shirt with the fancy beading along the seams that Rhapsody had given her for her fifty-second birthday. She also donned her best pair of jeans. She had sewn tiny cloth Confederate Jasmine flowers on the seams the whole length of the legs. Looking in the mirror, she though they looked quite smart. She was sure no one would think she was overdressed. Her dress boots had rarely been worn. The various panels were of black, brown, and white leather, with a bright red ribbing that separated each panel. As she admired herself in the full-length mirror in her room while adjusting her cowboy hat to just the right angle, she said aloud, "Roy Rogers! Eat your heart out!"

The group of five party-goers started out at about eleven o'clock. Maggie carried most of the food in her saddle bags, and Jake carried the soft drinks, as well as thermoses of coffee, which was preferred by both Maggie and Jake. Enrique kept wanting to race the others and seemed to be keeping his horse at a gallop most of the time, continually running in circles around the others as they rode at a very steady pace. Enrique was feeling particularly frisky after Jake had informed him the night before that there was nothing wrong with his heart, as he had feared. Both Josiah and Enrique had insisted that Jake bring along his bagpipes so he could play some tunes for them.

Finally at their destination, they tied up their horses and sat down along the bank of the river, while Maggie unpacked the food and spread out several blankets nearby. The river was particularly high that day and flowed very placidly, contrary to the rapid flow over a bed of rocks upstream. It was perfect for skipping stones over the water. Each of them had learned the technique from Jake, and each was eager to show Jake how good he was at it. Jake could usually make a stone skip at least four or five times before it sank. The best that Josiah and Brian could do was two skips. Enrique, however, impressed everyone with three skips.

The food was now laid out and everyone sat down on the blankets and ate heartily. When it came time to eat the cake, Maggie covered the top of Brian's piece with as many birthday cake candles as she could. Then she led everyone in a wildly discordant rendition of "Happy Birthday, Brian." It was so bad that everyone broke out laughing just as they finished.

"Now make a wish, Brian," commanded Maggie. "Think hard, Brian. Because whatever you wish for will come true if you blow out all the candles."

Everyone sat without a sound as Brian turned to Josiah, and they looked deeply into each other's eyes for a long time. Maggie took out her hankie and wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said, "Please forgive me. I just can't help it. To look at you two! It's so beautiful"

Then Brian turned abruptly back to his piece of cake and, with one strong puff, blew out all the candles and everyone clapped their hands.

Turning to Brian, Maggie said, "Whatever you wished for, this also means that you will have a good year. And your year here on the ranch is almost half over, isn't it. I know that you will be heading back to enter graduate school next fall."

Everyone's head turned to look at Josiah. What did this mean for Josiah? It was hard for anyone to believe that Brian and Josiah would not be together.

Looking very serious, Brian said, "I've heard from the Veterinarian School at the University in Austin, and you know I was admitted for this year. They had told me that they would postpone my admission and hold it open until next fall. Now they tell me that the entering class is going to be too big next fall and that I will have to enter no later than this January for the second semester this year or have my acceptance cancelled. I don't know what to do."

Jake said, "Well, what were ya gonna do next fall? It would be the same fuckin' thing next fall when ya left here. The two of you would have to split up then."

Josiah had already been informed of the bad news and was doing his best not to think about it.

Enrique said, "Why can't Josiah go to Austin with Brian? Why can't he?"

"Because, Ricky," began Jake, "Josiah would have to find a job and have to pay rent and all that shit. It isn't that he'd be up there goin' to school like Brian."

They all sat silently for a few minutes. Then, turning to Josiah, Jake said, "Wait a minute. Josiah, didn't ya tell me way back when ya first came to live on the ranch that ya never finished yer fuckin' high school, but ya did take the equivalency test with the State and passed it and got yer fuckin' high school equivalency certificate from the State of Texas?"

"Yeah," replied Josiah.

"Well, shit! Josiah," shouted Jake. "Why don't ya think about applyin' to the University and go on up there in January with Brian and start yer college education?"

Everyone sat perfectly silent, stunned at the thought. Josiah looked like he had been hit over the head with something. Brian turned to Josiah and stared at him with his eyes open unusually wide with a smile on his face.

"Josiah!" said Brian. "Yes! You can do that! And then we can go up there together!"

Josiah remained seated, unmoving with a stunned look on his face as Brian, who was sitting next to him, threw his arms around him and kissed him on the cheek.

Finally Josiah said, "I can't go to the University. I don't know enough stuff about anything to do that. Anyway, they wouldn't want me."

Brian said, "Josiah, we're going to find out on Monday if they will accept you. And if they do, then we will know that they think you can do it."

Jake said, "I'm going to talk to Michael and Karl. They'd be thrilled to know that Josiah could go to the University. And I think they might even take care of it financially. I really think I could talk 'em into it easily. Fer one thing, they love you both, Brian and Josiah, and fer another, they don't want to see you two split up, and fer a third thing, they're both college educated and they would never stand in the way of someone wanting to go to college, especially either one of you guys.

A smile started to spread across Josiah's face. Jake looked at him and remembered that very same look when he was first able to make Josiah smile. There were few things in his life that remained treasured memories, and one of them was the sweetness of that first smile that Josiah ever gave him.

Maggie said, "I don't know what you wished for, Brian, but it looks to me that you're going to have the good year that was promised by your blowing out all the candles."

Enrique asked, "Maggie do you have to get back to cook supper tonight?"

"No, love," replied Maggie. "Tony will be handling that. You know that he does the meals when I'm out delivering Meals on Wheels. Tonight, he volunteered to step in for me so I could be with you guys."

Jake asked, "How is that job coming, Maggie?"

"Oh, dear. I've had a real situation come up with one of the men I deliver meals to. He's a sweet old man, but he has a nasty son who treats him terribly and is interested only in what he can get out of his estate when his father is dead. But there really isn't anything in the man's estate. He's already given it all away. He probably has enough to get him buried, but not much else. We had a terrible time the last time I visited him. His son came in while I was there and said terrible things about me and threatened his father by telling him he was going to be moved to a nursing home."

Brian said, "That doesn't sound like a good situation to me. Why don't you bow out of it before you get hurt."

"Well, ducks, I've made a decision," said Maggie. "That poor man is not going to be moved to a nursing home. That is the last place he belongs. I'm going to bring him here to live with us on the ranch."

"What about his fuckin' son, Maggie," asked Jake.

"His 'fuckin'' son, Jake, can go fuck himself! The man is perfectly competent to make his own decisions. I've already talked to his lawyer, and he tells me that there are plenty of doctors in town who will testify to his competence."

"Where are you gonna put him, Maggie?"

Well, we have that whole wing on the east side of house that contains two pretty good sized rooms that've been closed up for years. I think I can talk Michael into allowing this man to move in there. The man has the most beautiful, and I think valuable, antiques. I don't want to see him lose those, and there would be room here for all of that. On Monday, I'm going to call the movers and have him moved out here immediately if Michael agrees."

"Gee, Maggie," said Enrique. "We keep getting all sorts of new people moving in on us. First Tony comes in, then this new guy who doesn't say much, Clayton something, gets put into Jeff and Paul's room, and now this old man."

"I know," sighed Maggie. "You know, I'm kind of worried about Tony. He seems so unhappy. He does a wonderful job in the kitchen. I should worry about losing my job! But I'm not. I like Tony. I just worry about him. He came down here expecting to stay with Karl, but Karl has made it clear that there won't ever be anything anymore between him and Tony. I've tried to talk with Tony about things, but he doesn't ever want to talk. When he's finished working, he just goes into his room and we don't see him again until morning.

Everyone just sat there looking at the ground lost in their own thoughts. Then Enrique jumped up and shouted, "Hey Jake! Get your bagpipes out and let's hear a couple of songs!"

All the others looked up and all started talking at once, urging Jake to get out his instrument. Jake went over to his horse and pulled the bagpipes out of the large saddle bag that was now laying on the ground. He held it up for all to see.

"Ya see this! Ricky bought me this here bagpipe for Christmas once. It's the most treasured thing I own!" Pointing to Josiah, he said, "Stand up here, Josiah. Do the steps I taught ya while I play this thing."

Josiah stood up, smiling and a little embarrassed. As Jake filled the bag with air, causing the instrument to wheeze and whine with a terrible noise, Josiah said, "I'm supposed to have a skirt on, and . . . "

Jake quickly interrupted. "That's a kilt, boy."

"Oh, yeah," said Josiah. "I'm supposed to have a kilt on when I do this. Jake taught me how to do it by tying a bath towel around my waist."

Maggie said, "Wait a minute! Take your pants off, Josiah. I'll tie this folded table cloth around you. It'll be just as good as a kilt." Then whispering to Josiah as she tied the cloth around him, "Josiah, I'll stand in front of you. Now slip off your under shorts quickly so no one sees you doing it and give them to me."

While everyone was looking the other way, Josiah quickly removed his underwear and gave it to Maggie who stuffed it quickly into her pocket.

When Jake began to play, Josiah started with the steps that Jake had taught him. He lifted his legs high and twirled around several times as Jake droned on with the pipes.

Maggie shouted over the sound of the pipes, "You know, guys, it's always been an age-old mystery whether or not a Scotsman has anything on under his kilt. Nobody has ever been able to find out."

Brian and Enrique laughed and started staring at Josiah's slender and shapely legs. Enrique lowered himself down until he was almost flat on the ground to see if he could see up under Josiah's homemade kilt.

Maggie said, "Hey, no fair peeking. It's against the rules to get down and look up under a guy's kilt. You've just got to speculate. You'll probably never know."

Josiah did the steps he was taught very well, and each time he would jump slightly in the air, the bottom of his kilt would bounce a little higher up his thigh. Brian and Enrique looked like they were going crazy trying to figure out if Josiah had on anything under his kilt.

"Listen, you guys!" shouted Maggie. "You're suppose to listen to Jake's music and watch how good Josiah is doing with his steps. It's never supposed to be anybody's business whether or not a Scotsman has anything on under his kilt."

Josiah was doing very well with his steps and was clearly enjoying himself. Maggie looked at Brian, who showed such great pride and love in his face as he watched Josiah. Every now and then, Josiah would look at Brian as he danced and would smile so sweetly that Brian had to restrain himself from jumping up and grabbing Josiah and pulling him down.

Maggie, could see the knot that she tied at the top of the tablecloth to hold it on was beginning to loosen. She thought to herself, "Oh, oh." Jake finally blew out the last notes of his piece and Josiah did one final stamp of his foot. Just then the tablecloth slipped off and fell to the ground. Enrique started doing summersaults and laughing uncontrollably. Brian jumped up and grabbed Josiah, lifting him in the air slightly and swinging him around.

The secret was out. The mystery was solved. Josiah did indeed have nothing on under his kilt, and he now stood without his pants, with his penis and balls and pubic hair in view for all to see. Everyone clapped and laughed.

Finally, Maggie said, "It's getting late. But how would everyone like another piece of cake before we start back? Everyone protested that they were still too full. So as Josiah put his pants back on, Maggie and Jake packed up what remained of the picnic lunch and stowed it away in the saddlebags.

Before they mounted their horses, Brian told everybody. "Before we go back, I want to tell y'all that this has been the best birthday party I ever had. I guess it's the only birthday party I ever had. Jake, Maggie, Enrique. I love all of you." Looking at Josiah, he said, "And I think my birthday wish might really come true. The one thing I hate, though, is the thought that I'll be leaving the ranch. For the past six months, this has been the best home I ever had in my life. And Josiah is the best friend I ever had in my life."

Maggie took out her hankie again and wiped some tears from her eyes. Brian looked at Maggie and said, "That's okay, Maggie, I'm going to cry in a minute, too."

Josiah went over to Brian and they hugged each other tightly, and Josiah kissed away the tears that began rolling down Brian's cheeks. It had been a good day.
 

To be continued...