Nevermore!
 By: Henry Higgins
 (Copyright 2005 & 2006 by the Author)
 
 The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...
 

6--Jim's Story

I shampooed and then quickly worked up a lather of body wash in the pouf, rubbing it gently all over my body, particularly my pits. Oh well, so much for funk! My erection was wilting a little by now, unlike my young charge, who seemed to have been born with a permanent bone. Oh to be fifteen again! Still, I told myself that it didn't matter. And you know what? I was actually beginning to believe it could be true!

"You sure don't have much hair for a grownup," Kenny observed.

"Heredity, my young friend. I can't do a thing about it, except to take inventory regularly of the three long hairs on my chest right here." I showed him and he giggled. I couldn't believe how musical it was to me to hear him giggle.

I rinsed, then rubbed in some hair conditioner and turned off the water. I rolled back the door to the shower enclosure and we stepped out onto the bath mat. As I took his towel from the stand, I was pleased to feel that it had warmed nicely--a little touch of luxury that I had added to the bathroom when I moved in.

I wrapped Kenny's towel around his shoulders as I quickly toweled myself off.

"Hey! How'd this get so warm?" he asked.

"Magic, my young man. I did it with my magic wand!" I grabbed my soft penis and waved it at him. He giggled even more.

"Naw... C'mon... How'd you do that?"

"The towel rack has little electric elements in it that warm whatever I hang on it," I said.

"Cool!" His grin was back--big time!

Having dried myself somewhat, I knelt before Kenny, took his towel in my hands, and began to dry all the nooks and crannies, which elicited more giggles. I giggled right along with him and couldn't keep myself from grabbing him and hugging him ever so briefly. Then I reached to a nearby shelf for some body lotion, which I applied lightly to his trunk, legs and arms. More giggles. Finally, I finished off with pure cornstarch body powder applied to his crotch, groin, scrotum, and armpits.

"There, skipper. You're all ready for some clothing." Uh oh. What could we do for clothing for him? All that I had was the well-worn pants and sweatshirt that I had removed from him yesterday. "Um, I'm not sure what to do about something for you to wear," I said.

"Oh, yeah. Well, I could just put on what I had on yesterday. Didn't you say you washed it?" he asked.

"I did. But, do you normally go around with no underwear?"

"Only when I'm hustl... uh, when I'm looking for someone to, you know..." he said.

"Yeah, kiddo, I know. I hope you're not going to have to do that anymore," I said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, giving me that piercing look again.

"Well, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll tell you shortly. Look--what if I try to find some of my stuff that might fit you?" I said.

"Okay."

We went back into my bedroom, where I rummaged in the back of my underwear drawer for a pair of boxers that I had grabbed on special and then found to be way too small for me. Finding them, I tossed them to him.

"Try these. They might do just for today."

Kenny slipped on the boxers. The fit wasn't great, but it would do. I ran to the laundry room to retrieve his pants and sweatshirt. He got into the pants and then put on the sweatshirt. Suddenly, I was haunted by the vision of him almost stumbling into--what did he call it? Oh, yeah--the "beehive" the day before. I couldn't take my eyes off him.

"What? You're lookin' at me funny," he said.

"I was thinking back to yesterday when you weren't doing so well," I answered.

Kenny returned my intent gaze. "I'm okay, now. Really. I feel fine."

"Yeah, Rog said that you'd probably bounce back pretty quickly. You did." He still peered at me--not with lust, but more with curiosity.

"You clean up pretty well, bozo." I said, grinning again.

He charged into me, butting his head into my chest and pinning my arms to my sides. "I'll bozo you, you... " Kenny ran out of words, so he just let it hang; but his momentum propelled us both back onto my bed. He still had my arms pinned and he was on top. He looked at me in his odd, piercing manner again; but before I could say anything, his mouth was on mine and he kissed me. How odd! I don't think I was even hard, but a thrill ran through me like I'd never known. His arms encircled me and pulled me in. His tongue tentatively explored my lips and teeth before it met my tongue. I couldn't help responding to him, as my tongue explored every part of his mouth. My arms were free, so I grasped him tightly as we both tried to press our bodies together into one. We stayed like that for a long time.

Even though I was naked, Kenny respected my limits and left my genitals alone.

"So what are you going to wear, bozo?" He grinned again.

"I'm trying to figure out which clown suit to slip into, but I can't make up my mind. Maybe you could help. One's red and pink with purple lace and the other is orange and purple with green lace."

Kenny just rolled his eyes and didn't even offer a suggestion. Instead, he tried to tickle me, and damned if he didn't find my one secret ticklish spot. I dissolved into giggles as he pursued his advantage relentlessly. We rolled and tussled on the bed until we both tired.

"I know, you just want me to get you something to eat," I said, panting.

He grinned. "That's not a bad idea, Jim. You've been talkin' about it for like an hour!"

"Well, I woulda done something about it before now if someone hadn't attacked me!" I countered.

"Oh, poor baby!" He grinned wider, obviously enjoying the banter.

By then, I had pulled on a set of warm-ups and slippers, so we headed downstairs.

I remembered Rog's suggestion about a soft diet, but this kid looked so back to normal that I wondered if he really needed it. I decided the best way to approach it would be just to ask him. "How does your tummy feel this morning, Kenny?"

"Okay, why?"

"Rog thought you might need to stick to a soft diet today after heaving the way you did yesterday; but then he didn't know how long the virus would last."

"I think I'll be okay, Jim. What were you thinking about fixing?" he asked.

"How about pancakes and strawberries?" I suggested. "I think I have some bacon to go along with it."

"Sounds great. I'm really starving!" He rubbed his tummy.

"So when's the last time you had anything to eat?" I asked.

"I think yesterday early, some joh... Er, a guy bought me breakfast at McDonald's."

"No wonder you're starving. You haven't had anything for, like, twenty-four hours."

"That's about it. Can I do something?" he asked.

I reached into the refrigerator for the strawberries, got a paring knife from the drawer, and handed both to Kenny. "You can cut up these berries. Do you know how to do that?"

"Yep."

"Okay, kiddo, go for it." I reached for a bowl to hold the cut-up berries and put it down near him on the counter.

Meanwhile, I took bacon from the fridge and put it into a pan to fry. I also got pancake mix from the cupboard, milk and eggs from the fridge, and a bowl and spoon for the pancake batter. Then I started the coffee.

I mixed the batter then got the griddle out to put on the stove. In no time we had griddlecakes beginning to bubble as the bacon sizzled and the coffee perked.

"Um, where's your trash?" Kenny asked.

"Under the sink over there." I watched him dump the strawberry trimmings into the trash bin. A pile of neatly quartered strawberries lay in the bowl I had given him. I reached in the fridge to get out some strawberry syrup and set it into a pan of water to warm on the stove.

"Kenny, there's plates in the cupboard beside the fridge, silverware in the drawer just below, and napkins in a holder on the counter." Kenny retrieved our eating utensils and soon, we were sitting down to pancakes with strawberries, bacon, and strawberry syrup.

"I guess now's the time for me to tell you what's going on with me and why I can't let us get into anything sexual," I said. Kenny looked at me with that intent gaze of his and nodded.

"First, as I said last night, I go ga-ga over kids your age." He nodded again and smiled.

"I like that," he said. I nodded, but had to get on with my story.

"About fourteen years ago, I fell head over heels in love with a boy about your age. David and I did everything together, including sleeping together on weekends. I won't go into all the gory details about how it happened; let's just say that a nosey neighbor got us busted. You may not be aware of just how against the law and the culture it is for someone my age to have sex with someone your age, but it is. I was convicted of child molestation and endangerment, sent to prison for seven years, and then was on parole for five years. When I got out of prison, I had no idea what to do. In prison, you never had to decide anything. They tell you where to go, when to eat, when to piss and shit. It sucked, big-time."

Kenny listened intently.

I continued. "Thank God for my friend, Rog. He's the doctor who treated you last night. He and his partner, Peter, took me in until I could get myself together. Rog helped me find a job. Before I was busted, I was in social work; but he and I both thought it wouldn't be a good idea for me to try to pursue that. Besides, the pay sucks big-time. Eventually, I got a job as an editor for a company that publishes magazines that specialize in the transportation industry. The pay is a little better and I do most of my work here at home.

"Rog has pretty much held my hand every step of the way since I got out. Kenny, I really owe my life to him. I dearly love him. We went to junior high school together and were so attracted to one another then; but there were just too many obstacles to overcome. So he went his way, I went mine, and then we bumped into each other in one of the gay bars downtown after we graduated from college. But by then, he had partnered with Peter and I was on a fling with another guy. So we just stayed friends. That's how I know Rog."

He smiled.

"Now that I'm a convicted sex offender, I have to register with the police every five years and whenever I move. I notified them when I moved in here last year. But I hope I'm done moving for a while. This is the first separate house I've been able to afford. I'm going to try to stay here for a while."

He smiled again--bigger.

"My point in telling you all this is that through the years, I've learned how deeply I hurt David by becoming sexually involved with him. I honestly don't think it was the sex we had that hurt him. That was sweet and good; we both wanted it. We were so in love with each other! What hurt so deeply was the aftermath. I didn't realize how easy it is to be discovered; and when that happens, the System just grinds you up--both of you."

"Yeah, I know a little bit about the fuckin' System," he said. "So what happened?"

"After I got out, I learned that at the time, David blamed himself that I had gotten busted. He was also catching a load of shit from his folks and from kids at school about being gay. I was nowhere around to tell him that it wasn't his fault, it was mine. I didn't find any of this out until after I'd gotten out of prison. I wanted to tell him how sorry I was and how it was me, not him, that had fucked up. But, nobody knew where he had gone.

"Rog has been magnificent through all of this. Well actually, Peter has, too. But it's mainly been Rog. He's talked me through obsessing over David. He's helped me get over him. That's why I say that he has really saved my life."

Kenny leaned forward, elbows supporting him on the table. "So... You can't do sex with me because you might get busted again?"

"Oh, Kenny, that is such a small part of it. I couldn't stand to see you or any other kid get ground up in this fucked-up System we live in the way David did because of something that I had allowed. Sometimes I'm amazed at how gay kids even make it to 21 without killing either themselves or someone else. It sounds like you know at least a little bit about that."

He nodded.

"Kenny, I could be your friend and help you. I could even try to be a dad that neither one of us has ever had. But I can't be your lover until you're old enough--no matter how much we both might want it. And I assure you that I do! I just couldn't bear to see you or any other kid I care for get ground up by the System again because of something I had anything to do with--not ever!"

Tears slid down my cheeks and my throat was tight. I felt emptied out. It seemed to me that Kenny was still absorbing what I'd said, but I couldn't be sure. He just sat there, regarding me with that intent look of his. He was just so beautiful!

To be continued...