What Happened to Baby Cameron?
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

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

Chapter 39  

What To Do About Austin

When I pulled away from the Academy. I realized I was tired, but I also remembered that I was told that I should eat and drink something.  I stopped at a delicatessen that was close to the Academy and ordered a sandwich and a drink.  After I finished eating, I realized that it was only eleven forty five and I didn’t need to pick Damon up until two fifteen. 

I decided that it was a waste of time and gas to go to the ranch, since I would need to turn around almost immediately.  I decided to go to the house on the hill, and I almost felt as if I were invading someone’s privacy.  But what the heck, Hank did still own the house, even if everyone else in the world was living there.

I went into Hank’s and my bedroom and laid down on the sofa after setting the alarm on my wristwatch.  I was rudely awakened by the dastardly noise at two o’clock.  I looked at my watch and realized that I needed to get my ass in gear if I was going to be on time to pick Damon up for his appointment.

I arrived at Cody High and was going into the office when Damon appeared carrying his backpack.  He had his hat on his back.  The assistant principal for student affairs came out of his office, “Mr. Martin, do you suppose you could leave your cowboy hat at home tomorrow.”

I was a little upset, “Excuse me, sir.  Damon is only wearing the hat because his dermatologist recommended he do so.  I didn’t realize  that there was anything in the dress code that forbids a student from wearing a cowboy hat, as long as it wasn’t on his head in the classroom.”

The gentlemen turned away, “It’s totally inappropriate and will not be accepted.”

 

“Excuse me, sir, my sons went to school here, and I never heard of such a regulation.  I’d like to see a copy of the dress code, if there is one.”

“I’m sorry, I’m busy.  If Mr. Martin arrives at school in the morning with the hat, then he will be expelled.”

 

I walked by the man, and went into the principal’s office, “Mr. Daniels, I’d like to make an appointment to meet with you tomorrow morning, about a certain member of your staff and his attitude.  Mr. Beans is too busy to show us a copy of the dress code and has just informed us that if Damon Martin arrives at school wearing a cowboy hat, tomorrow, he’s going to be expelled.”

Mr. Daniels looked up, “Steve, what is going on?”

“I’ll explain to you in the morning.  I’ll be here by nine o’clock.”

When Damon and I were driving to the doctor’s office, he asked, “Mr. Michaels, is it such a big deal if a wear a cowboy hat?  I don’t want to cause any more problems than I already have.”

“Damon, let’s wait and see what Doctor Straley has to say.  When we get to his office, make sure you have your hat on your head.”

When we walked into Doctor’s Straley’s office, Damon was wearing his hat, Doctor Straley looked at him, “Good grief kid, that ain’t going to cover much.  Take the good ole boy hat off so I can look at where I cut your body away last time.”

Doctor Straley was thorough, “Damon, your face and ears are looking fine.  The biopsies didn’t show any malignant cells.  But because of your fair skin, I would recommend that you wear your good ole boy hat whenever you can.  Now we need to worry about the rest of you body.  Would you undress for me, please, to make sure that you haven’t caused any damage to the skin on any other parts of your body.”

I looked at Damon, “Would you like me to leave?”
 

Damon frowned, “Why would I want you to leave.  You’ve seen me up close and natural when we were swimming.  I know I don’t have the biggest penis on the planet, but I’m okay with what I have.”
 

Damon stripped and Doctor Straley examined every part of Damon’s body. “Son, you need to protect your pride and joy at all times.  Maybe you should find a big sombrero to protect it if you’re going to be skinny dippy.”

Both Damon and I started to laugh and Doctor Straley was rather offended, “What did I say that was so funny?”

I grinned, “It’s not what you said but the fact that you mentioned that Damon should wear a big sombrero.  When he arrive at the ranch last night, Damon was wearing a big sombrero.  Damon, would you please get dressed and you can tell Doctor Straley how you decided that you were going to protect your penis from being exposed to the sun.”

Damon giggled, “Well for starters I decided that I would have to have an erection at all times when I was in the sun to protect my penis from getting too much sunlight by keeping it next to my body and keeping in the shade of the sombrero.”

Doctor Straley laughed, “I have a better idea.  Why don’t you wear a condom when your in the sun.”

Damon had a funny look on his face, “Do they even make them small enough to fit my penis?  What would I do if I had to go to the bathroom?  It would get a little messy, wouldn’t it.”

Doctor Straley chuckled, “Condoms do come in all sizes. So that shouldn’t be a problem.  You could always buy the kind that has a reservoir on the end, but you could cut the tip off and still be able to go the bathroom without having to keep changing condoms.”

As we were getting ready to leave, Doctor Straley asked,” Damon, you mentioned that Mr. Michaels had seen you up close and naked when you were swimming.  Surely you haven’t been swimming outside at this time of year and I didn’t know that there were any facilities here in town where they permitted nude swimming.”

Damon looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders so he answered “Doctor, Mr. Michaels and his partner own the house on the hill where we’re living.  They have a huge indoor swimming pool and their young sons love to go swimming.  In fact their son, Cam, is the best swimmer around.”

Doctor Straley had a glint in his eyes, “Are you saying that you all get together and have nude skinny dipping parties?”

I answered, “We’ve been known to have both nude as well as regular swimming parties when there are ladies in attendance.”

Doctor Straley pulled out a packet, “Here’s my card with my personal phone number on it.  The next time you’re having a nude swimming party call me.  I’d like to bring my son.  He's so shy that I swear he dresses in his closet in the mornings.  I think he even wears his briefs when he takes a shower.  He would never have done what you did today, Damon.”

Damon asked, “Sir, I noticed that you aren’t wearing a wedding ring, but you said you had a son.”

“Damon, I was married once upon a time, but that was long ago when Austin was born.  He’s now fifteen and goes to Cody High.  Austin’s Mother and I realized that a heterosexual marriage was not what we wanted.  She took off, leaving me to be both Mom and Pop to Austin.”

There was a knock on the door.  The nurse entered after being told to do so, “Doctor, you’re falling way behind your schedule.  The patients are complaining.”

“Nyla, we had some important business to take care of.  Make a follow-up appointment for Mr. Martin in six months.”

As Doctor Straley was leaving, he pointed at Damon, “Make sure you call me as soon as you have any indication that there is something special happening.”

As I was driving to the house on the hill, Damon commented, “Mr. Michaels, did you notice that Doctor Straley started to show some tent when we were talking about skinny dipping?”

“Why do you say that?”

Damon grinned, “When we were talking, he was sitting in the chair and I noticed a protrusion appearing.  He pulled his lab coat over the bulge so it wouldn’t be so noticeable.”

“Damon, you’re imagining things.”

“Uh uh.  Remember, I been involved in enough things like this with that man, to know what’s happening.  Maybe we should get Doctor Straley and Mr. Young together, so they can both claim you’re usurping their authority.  It sounds as if Doctor Straley’s son needs some moral support if he’s as insecure as the doctor said.”

We had pulled up at the house on the hill.  I put the car in park, “Damon, let’s not go playing matchmaker or Wayne will accuse me of manipulating his life as well as usurping his authority.  Let anything that happens, happen on it’s own.”

Damon leaned over and hugged me, “Mr. Michaels, I just wish that you could have been our Dad.  We know where we stand with you.  By the way, could you buy me some condoms to see what they might feel like?”

As I was driving back to the ranch, I was thinking, ‘What the heck did Damon mean by that comment.’

When I arrived at the ranch, five young guys were sitting on the fence.  When they saw me, they jumped down and Cam yelled, “Dad’s finally home.  We can go for a ride, now.”

When I walked into the house, Grandpa Tibideaux asked, “Was there a problem with Damon's exam?”

I shook my head no, “Damon, is fine.  Doctor Straley just needed to talk.”

Ellie stuck her head in the door, “Steve, Wiley Banes called from the Academy and wants you to call him.  He wants you to finish your history lesson.”

After dinner, Hank and I were sitting in the living room and I was explaining everything that had happened during the day to my encounter with Wiley Banes and being trapped into talking to fifth graders for almost two hours.

Cam came into the room, “Dad, Mr. Banes is on the phone.”

“This is Steve Michaels.  What‘s happening, Wiley?”

“Mr. Michaels, we have had some calls from parents wondering what kind of propaganda you were presenting to their children this morning.  The students were enthralled by what you were saying.  Is there any way that you could come to the Academy, say at one o’clock tomorrow, and finish your presentation?  That would give us time to invite interested parents.”

“Wiley, I don’t know how much more I can say. I can be there, but I’m not sure how effective it will be, the second time around.”

After I hung up I was telling Hank about our encounter with the assistant principal at the high school and how he was threatening to expel Damon for wearing a cowboy hat.  “I made an appointment with the principal, Mr. Daniels for nine in the morning.  I had bad vibes about the assistant principal, in charge of student affairs.”

Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Damon, Chad and Colby.  All three guys had cowboy hats on.  Colby ginned, “We’re mobilizing for the expulsion, tomorrow, by Beans.  Ever since he arrived, he has been trying to impose a dress a code.  If the asshole had his way, we’d be wearing ties to school.  He’s even trying to do away with student athletics, so there will be more monies available for the instruction of ethics.”

That caught Hank’s attention, “If people know what the man is doing, how is he getting away with it?”

Colby shrugged his shoulders, “My parents say that there are outside forces at play, here.  They have sympathetic ears in important places.”

Damon asked, “Mr. Michaels, were you able to get the merchandise that Doctor Straley recommended.  I’m anxious to see how they are going to fit and work.  By the way, Mr. Rodgers, would we be able to have a nude swimming party tomorrow night?  I want to make sure that what I saw in Doctor Straley’s pants was for real, and I want to meet his son Austin.”

I started to laugh, “Damon, I’ve never bought a condom in my life so I have no idea what I should buy.”

Damon giggled, “Don’t ask me.  Just buy one of every kind and I’ll try them until I find one that fits.”

Hank frowned, “Damon, that could get very expensive since they come in packs of twelve.”

Colby’s cell rang and that was the signal for the guys to leave,  When Hank and I were alone, he looked at me, “Honestly, Steve, I can’t trust you out of my sight.  Now you’re preaching the use of condoms to young teenagers and teaching them to check men’s pricks.  I think I’d better accompany you tomorrow to make sure you don’t get into any more trouble than you are already in.”

Our conversation was interrupted by the boys, “Dads, we’re ready to be tucked in.”

Hank and I locked up and went to say goodnight to the guys, Cam was holding me so tight that I could hardly breath, “Dad, is everything going to be okay, now?”

 

“Cam, I hope so.  I think your Daddy and I need each other.”

“We need both of you, too.  So do the Martin boys, especially Chad and Damon.  I don’t know about Len, but Terry looks at you and Daddy as if you were his Grandpas.”

When Hank and I were in bed, I finished telling Hank about the missing details of what had happened during the day.  He announced, “I’ll be accompanying you all day tomorrow.  The thing that bothers me the most is that you were checking out the dick of Doctor Straley.”

“But Hank, it was Damon who made the observation, not me.”

 

“You were with Damon and therefore you were an accomplice in the matter.  The case is closed, and you need to pay for being a bad person.”

A paid so hard that I was sure that I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed in the morning.  I was so relieved that the wall of tension had been broken down, and it took a bunch of young people to do it.  As I was going to sleep, I was pondering what it was I could possibly talk to Wiley’s kids about that I hadn’t already covered.  I decided to let them tell me what they wanted to hear.”

The next thing I remembered was someone banging on the door.  I sat up, “Come in.”

Cam, Ricky and Andy appeared, carrying coffee.  Cam looked at Hank and me, “See, I told you they would try to hide their penises.  I can’t understand why we can see them when we’re swimming, but not while they’re in bed.  Dads, someone needs to take us to school this morning, since Grandpa T. has a physical therapist appointment.”

Hank stood, “Guys, both of us are going to take you to school this morning.  We’ll be there as soon as we can get dressed.”

After the three boys had departed, Hank looked at me, “Cam is right.  We do live by a double set of standards.  No wonder they are confused.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: I must admit that I did go skinny dipping as a kid, but I don't think I ever saw my dad's fiddly bits. Of course, that was way back in the olden days, in the late 1950's when I was a kid.

I am really glad that Steve and Hank have gotten through with their issues and are back together.

I'm ready for another chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 05/28/10