Pinochle
by: E Walk

(Copyright 2007 by the Author)
Editor: Will B
 

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

 

Chapter 5

Making Plans

This is Ben.

I was awakened by a knock on my bedroom door.  “Ben, may I come in?”

It was Dad.

I pulled the sheet over my naked body, “Come in Dad.”

Dad came in and sat down on the bed, “Ben, your mother and I would like to visit with you before the other children get up.  Your mother is waiting in the kitchen.”

“Dad, I’ll be there as soon as I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth.  I’ll just put on a pair of sweats.”

“Make sure you wear your briefs or athletic supporter.”  Dad laughed as he pulled back the sheet.

I groaned, “So much for privacy.  First Brian demanded to know what happened to me.  He even saw Knock naked last night and now my own Dad is perversely ogling on my body.”

“I think we had better have Brian attend the meeting too.”  Dad said as he was leaving.

When I arrived in the breakfast nook, Dad and Mother were drinking their coffee.  Mother had set a pitcher of orange juice, a warm coffee cake and some fresh fruit on the table.  I was starting to eat when Brian arrived.

Dad didn’t waste anytime, “Guys, I have already explained to your Mother what happened to Ben.  Brian, I also understand that Ben told you the story of what happened?”

“Yep, because I demanded he tell me how he could change so much in four days.  The story was so wild that there is no way that even Ben could make it up.  Just as Ben was finishing the story, Knock appeared was standing there naked.”

Brian continued, “I think my mouth must have dropped open at what I saw.  I had Knock lay on the bed beside Ben after I had Ben get naked.  I did a “hands off “inspection of their front sides and back sides.  Other than their facial features, hair and eye colors, I could find only one small difference.

Brian giggled, “When they were lying so I could see the bottoms they sit on, I found that Knock had a dimple on his left cheek and Ben had one on his right one.  So if you can’t see their faces, you can always tell who is on top.”

I thought Mother and Dad would become unglued by Brian’s last comment.  Instead Dad casually asked, “What do you plan to do with the information you got last night Brian?”

“Dad, Mother and Ben, I would never say anything to anyone for several reasons.  First, it is none of my business what Ben and Knock do as long as they don’t involve me.  Second, no one would believe if I told them what has and was happening.  They would assume I had lost my marbles.  And last and foremost, “I love and respect Ben too much to want to hurt him.  I can hardly wait to get to know Knock better.”

I hugged Brian, “Thank you.”  I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Mother poured two more cups of coffee, “Brian, that was a very mature response and I thank you for being so open.”

 

She turned to me, “Benjamin, I would like for you to invite Mr. Garrison and Grant for a very casual dinner tonight so why you bring them directly here after work.  I will arrange for the girls to be gone, but we need to make some plans about your future.” 

She turned back to Brian, “Brian, since you seem to okay with has been happening, we’ll leave it up to you if you would like to be here.”

Brian turned me and giggled, “Ben, the matriarch has spoken; did you get everything she said?”

The four of were laughing when Lauren and Morgan arrived; Laura asked,

“What’s so funny?”

I looked at the girls, “Good morning ladies.  Brian was being his silly self.  Come on Brian; let’s get ready for the day.”

We hugged Dad and Mother, put our dishes in the dishwasher and went to our rooms.  Brian announced, “I’m not taking a shower this morning since I am going to get all sweaty this morning from mowing the yards.  I promise I’ll take one before Knock and his Dad get here tonight.  Are you okay with me being here tonight?”

“Brian, you know more about what is going on than anyone else, so why would I mind?”  I hugged him and went to take my shower.

When I was getting out of the shower, Brian was standing there, “Sorry Ben, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t hallucinating.  I guess I wasn’t, your rod is even bigger than I remembered.  I guess you must have been thinking about Knock.  I think I need to get a video camera so I can record when you and Knock are together and sell the tapes to one of the porn sites.”

I went to grab for him but he eluded me.  I was thinking, ‘This is going to be a weird day: I will probably age 20 years today.’

I waved to everyone as I was leaving.  When I got to the Toy Shop, Grant was by himself.  “Where’s your Father?”

“He’ll be here shortly.  He had an appointment with his ophthalmologist.  The Doctor is going to remove a cataract.  He would like for you to go pick him up when he calls since I can’t drive.  Here is the address.”

We were working when the phone rang and I was on my way to get Mr. Garrison.  Mr. Garrison came out wearing a patch on his eye.  “Thanks for coming to get me Ben; I just need to take it easy for the next several days.  I can still do some light work, but for today I think I will work on the puppets in the back room.  Ben, you will need to be our chauffer for the next several days since I can’t drive and Grant can’t drive yet.  We need to take care of that quickly.”

I informed Mr. Garrison that he and Grant were invited to our house for a very informal dinner with my parents.  “They have some things that they would like to discuss.”

Mr. Garrison went to the back room and I started to help Knock.  It seemed like everyone in Fremont wanted to buy a birthday present.  It was almost 12:30 before it started to quiet down.”

I wanted to grab Knock and hold him but I resisted, “Grant, I’ll go get us some lunch?  What would you like?”

Knock looked at me, “Ben, just get something you like and Dad and I will like it too.”

I went to a new Mexican restaurant that was close by and got three taco salads with some assorted dressings on the side.  I figure this would be light but filling, since I had no idea what Mother would be fixing for dinner.

When I gave Mr. Garrison his salad, he commended me, “This is perfect Ben.”

I had just started to eat when Timmy came in.  “Where is Poker?” he demanded.

I took Timmy to the back room, “Mr. Garrison, Timmy wants to see Poker.”

I was finishing my taco salad when Timmy came out, “Mr. Ben, Mr. Garrison and I need you in the back room.”

I went to the back room and Mr. Garrison asked, “Ben would please sit there while Timmy and I paint Poker’s face?”

I did as requested and Timmy came and looked at my face carefully, “Mr. G., see his eyes are a bright green and look how his hair looks like the color of sand and it looks like it is in little curls.  See his nose looks like that person you see when you go to a flower shop.  You know the one that has wings on his feet.”

Timmy was watching Mr. Garrison, “Okay Mr. G., now give Poker a nice mouth like Mr. Ben has so people will want to kiss him.  

Timmy was standing there admiring Mr. Garrison’s work.  “Now Mr. Ben we need you to lay down on the floor on your back and spread you legs so Mr. Garrison can see you please.”

I was beginning to feel like I was the puppet.  Timmy was standing there looking at me, “Mr. Garrison, please give Poke a thing like Mr. Ben must have between his legs.  He won’t be quite as beautiful as Pinochle was but people are still going to want to touch him in his private area.”

Mr. Garrison could tell I was embarrassed, “Ben, you better go help Grant.  This is usually the busiest time of the day.  Come on Timmy; let’s put the finishing touches on Poker.”

I returned to the front of the store and it was extremely busy.  Things began to quiet down and a lady came in, “Is Timmy here?  I’m his Mother.”

I took her to the back, “Timmy, your Mother is here.”

Timmy who was cleaning paint brushes with Mr. Garrison looked up, “Hi Mom, we finished painting Knock today.  He is drying over there.  Look at him!  Doesn’t he look like Mr. Ben?”

The lady looked at me then at Poker, “Timmy, you and Mr. Garrison sure did a good job making Poker look like Mr. Ben.  Even his nose looks the same.   Now come on Timmy, we need to go pick up your Dad.”

Timmy started to leave but he turned to me and Knock, “Don’t touch Poke yet, he’s not dry.” 

Mr. Garrison was standing there laughing.  “Okay guys, let’s get out of here.  We have a dinner engagement.”

When we got to the house, I introduced Mr. Garrison and Grant to my mother.  Brian spoke up, “I have already had the opportunity to meet Knock.  Mr. Garrison, I’m Ben’s brother Brian.  I’m just better looking than he is.”

Knock started to laugh as did Mr. Garrison.  Mother stopped any more frivolity, “Brian, show Mr. Garrison where the restroom is so he can use it if he needs to.  Ben, you take Grant to your room and get ready for dinner.  Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes.”

When we got to my room, I closed the door and pushed Knock on the bed and started to kiss him.  I forced my tongue into his mouth.  He started to respond but then he pushed me away.  “Ben, you heard your Mother.  Let’s not start something we don’t have time to finish.  Besides I am apprehensive about what your parents want to talk to about.”

We brushed our teeth and we put on fresh shirts.  Before we left the room, I pulled Grant tight against me.  Grant whispered, “Ben, please stop.  I’m starting to get hard and there will be no way I can go downstairs.”  He pulled away and laughed as he put his hand on my pelvic area, “I think that you better adjust your package too.”

We made ourselves presentable and went downstairs.  Brian looked at us and started to laugh.  We sat down at the dining room table and Dad said a prayer of thanks.

Mother motioned for Brian and me to follow her, and we came back with fried vegetable appetizers with containers of dipping sauces, frozen fruit salads and warm sliced French baguettes.

Dad didn’t waste any time, “Gregg, did you know that Grant came back here last night?”

 

Mr. Garrison shrugged, “I surmised as much, but should we be talking about this in front of Becca and Brian?”

Brian interrupted, “Sorry for interrupting sir, but I have already seen your son in all his glory.  Mother knows the entire story and Ben said that since I already knew what was happening that it would be fine if I were here tonight.”  Having said that, Brian started to gather the appetizer plates; so I got up to help him.

I looked at Mother, “I take it we are having chicken divan?”

She shook her head yes.  I started toward the kitchen, “I’ll dish up and Brian can serve, so you sit and visit with the Garrisons and Dad.”

When everyone was seated again, Dad began, “The reason we wanted to get together is that we think that the guys should get everything squared away at Cornell as soon as possible since Grant was miraculously accepted without taking any tests.  I have made arrangements for both of our sons to have I.Q. tests tomorrow.  I have also arranged for them to take aptitude tests the following day.”

Mother took over, “Since both of the guys will be gone, Brian and I will come to the shop and fill in for them while they are gone those two days because of your limitations, Gregg.”

Brian interrupted, “Wait a minute!  Why wasn’t I consulted on this?  It sounds like fun though.”

Dad started again, “Gregg, I propose that we take the guys to Ithaca to make all of the arrangements for the coming school year so it won’t be such a hassle in August when they get back from London.”

Brian couldn’t stand it, “Why are they going to London?  I want to go too.  I’ve never been there.”

I looked at Brian, “Uncle Hank and Uncle Rod didn’t invite you like they did Grant and me.”

We were interrupted by the phone.  Mother answered.  She brought the phone to the table and turned on the speakers so we could all talk and hear what was being said.  She pointed to me.

“This is Ben Benson.”

“Hi Ben, this is Rod and Hank.  We have some information for you and Grant.  We have made reservations for you in first class on a flight out of Newark, New Jersey on the first of August.”

Grant spoke up, “Great sir, is there anyway to get a third seat for Ben’s snot nosed brother, Brian?  He knows all about what happened and is complaining because he has never been to England.”

“Is Brian there?” Uncle Hank asked.

“I’m here sir.”

“Brian, how do you feel about people being gay and or having same sex partners?”

“Sir, as long as they don’t try to include me, why should I be concerned?”

Uncle Rod said, “Brian, we will get a reservation for you, and then when you arrive here we will lock you in the Tower of London.  Now may we talk to your parents while you young gentlemen take care of  the dishes?”

The parents went into the den and closed the door as we took care of the dinner dishes.  When we finished we went down to the family room and were watching a baseball game.  Knock was enthralled.  He couldn’t believe that anyone would try to swing at that silly round ball.

Dad called us, “Guys, would you join us please?”

We went to the living room and joined Mother, Dad and Mr. Garrison.  Dad started, “Grant and Ben, this is what we would like to do.  A week from Sunday, we will fly from here to Ithaca.  I have made arrangements for a private jet to take us.  We will stay three nights and get everything settled so you can start college the end of August without any problems.”

“Your mother, Brian and Lauren will manage Mr. Garrison’s shop while we are gone.  I will arrange to do some business consultations while we are in the Ithaca area.”

Knock spoke up, “I’m so confused.  I don’t understand everything that is happening.”

Brian said, “Join the crowd, Knock.”

Dad spoke up, “Ben, why don’t you take the Garrisons home and instead of wasting your wizard powers, maybe you and Grant can spend some quality time getting to know each other.”

Brian started to laugh, “Of course we want a detailed written report of everything in the morning.”

Before anyone could say anything, Brian moved toward the front door and called back, “I’m going to go sell this story to the press and make a fortune.”

Brian wouldn’t do that, would he?

To be continued.

This story is amazing, funny, sexy, and keeps me wanting to know what will happen next.  Will B

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Posted: 09/07/07