Jacob Finding His Way

By: J.P.G.
(© 2009-2011 by the author)

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

Chapter 62

Gloria and Andy Sr. continued unpacking the kitchen while the others went out to the pool party. Once they finished the kitchen, Andy told Gloria it was enough for now and that they should head out and join the others at the pool. Gloria reluctantly agreed and headed off to shower and change before going out.

As she walked down the hall, Gloria looked out the window into the back yard to see all the kids having fun. Never before, had there been that many kids in her house at any one time. First, she never thought that her kids would have that many friends. And second, she has never thrown a party for any of her kids to invite their friends too.

Scanning the yard, Gloria spotted Andy walking over to the very kid that got under her skin. The one that was on the top of her list before this kid was Joey because she blamed him for the choices she thought Jacob had made. Then, when he left and Jacob got with another guy, she stopped hating Joey as much. But there was nothing that would make her stop hating the kid that her husband was now talking to.

Storming out into the back yard, she walked straight over to Andy. Lucky for her, Jacob and Dewayne were so busy talking and cuddling, that they didn’t see her. The other guys and girls were either to busy playing volleyball or rooting for the ones that they wanted to win, that they didn’t see Gloria stomping out of the house.

When she reached Andy, she let her anger get the better of her. Not filtering her thoughts, Gloria started spiting out hate that not only angered Andy, but Alex as well. Plus, she said it loud enough for Al and Franseca to hear, because they started making their way over. They wanted to stop this before it shut down the party.

At first Franseca and Al were walking over to Gloria and the other two, but when Gloria went down to pull at Franseca’s son, that was it. Franseca went running over to stop Gloria from treating her son the way she was. Just as she reached Gloria, Andy Sr. got between the two ladies. He could tell by the look in Franseca’s face, that she was ready to throw down with Gloria, for what she was doing to her son.

“Ladies there is no need to cause a scene here. Look around you and see that the kids are having fun. If you two start going at it, either verbally or with fists, it will shut down the party. Plus, your son’s friends will never come down here for another party, because the parents can’t get along with each other.”

Not letting Gloria nor Franseca to say a word, Andy wrapped his arm around Gloria’s and half walked and half pulled her in the house. Alex followed Jacob’s parents to make sure Andy didn't tell Gloria what he had figured out. He didn't want Gloria to like him for what he did for Jacob; he wanted Gloria to like him, because he had earned her respect by getting to know him.

When they reached the television room, Andy and Gloria walked in, shutting the door behind them. Leaving Alex in the hall to try and hear what they were saying to each other through the door. Just as Alex leaned into the door to hear what was being said, Franseca walked up and pulled him into the kitchen.

Andy paced around the TV room when they first walked in. Gloria just looked at him trying to figure out what to say to make this all go away. No matter how she looked at it, Gloria now saw that it now looked bad for her. The very first thing she did after moving in, was to almost cause a scene at her son’s party.

“Gloria I just don’t know what to tell you anymore. I have tried to talk to you nicely about what you are doing, and that doesn’t seem to work. Before that, I yelled at you and that didn’t work either. Maybe I'm wrong and you can’t change. Maybe you're just a cold, angry woman that is mad at the world. No matter what I or anyone else says, this is who you are. You are a woman that hates everything and everyone.”

As Andy talked, it felt to Gloria, like she was being stabbed over and over again. She didn't understand how she had become the way she was, but she knew Andy was right. Everything she had done in the last several years came off as if she was angry at everyone in the world, no matter who or what they were.

“If Jacob would have seen what you were doing, he would have kicked us out.” Gloria shook her head no. “There is no way Jacob is going to take your word over anyone else's in that yard, especially after all that you have put him through in the last couple of years. A complete stranger could walk in here and say that you did something and would have more creditability with Jacob than you, and that's saying something.

A couple weeks ago, you made me a promise while Jacob was in surgery, that this shit was over. You and I agreed, if we were going to make a second go at this, you will need to change. You told me you could and would. But here you are, being the same old Gloria that all these kids hate. I thought the woman I fell in love with was coming back, but she isn’t.

Just so we're clear on where I stand, before I lose my kids, which I barely got back, I will leave you. I abandoned them when they needed me the most, but I won’t do it again. They seem to need me more now than ever, to save them from you. So you better decide here and now, that you are going to change. This will be the last chance I am giving you to promise me and show that you will change. One more stunt like this and we're done.”

“There is no excuse for what I did, and for that, I'm going to apologize to Franseca and to her son. I need to find a way to control myself, even if that means I go and see a therapist. I know I am not crazy, but there has to be something wrong with me if I can’t stop myself, when I know myself, that I’m wrong as I am doing it.

I will do whatever I need to do, to make sure this doesn’t happen again. There's no way, I can lose my kids and you. I brought them up and now that the hard work is done, I need to believe I did my job. Now, I need to sit back and let them live their lives and make decisions on their own.”

“Gloria, as far as I am concerned, this subject is closed. I have said my peace and you know where I stand. We need to go back out there and enjoy ourselves and hope that no one saw what was happening. If anyone else did, you'll need to apologize to more than just Alex and Franseca.”

Andy kissed Gloria as he pulled her into a hug. “I love you with all my heart. You and I had kids together, and are now ready to spend the rest of our lives together. Don’t force me to make a decision that will kill me to do so.”

As they walked out of the TV room, Andy headed back out and Gloria went into the kitchen. When she walked up to Franseca, Franseca stopped her before she could apologize. Franseca knew that Gloria was just like her and apologizing would do more harm, than what had happened out there between Gloria and Alex. Franseca was fine that she had seen her error, and was ready to apologize for the wrong that she did.

Franseca instead asked Gloria to help get the sides ready and out to the back yard. They started joking, that if they didn't get the food out there soon, they would have a riot on their hands. They had a yard full of hungry teenage kids that would eat what ever got put in front of them, but it needed to be put in front of them soon.

When Andy and Alex walked in to get the drinks, Gloria took that moment to talk with Alex. Just like his mother, he didn’t let Gloria apologize. They walked into the hall to have privacy, but it didn’t matter, Alex wasn't going to let her apologize.

“Ma’am I understand the anger you have concerning me. I truly hope as we get to know each other, you will see that I am not that kid anymore. If I only knew then what I know now, trust me, I wouldn’t have done what I did. Jacob and your family have allowed me in, and that is something that I will never take for granted.”

“I believe in time I will see what Jacob and the others see in you. Right now, I don’t see that because I haven’t really given you a chance, but that will change. We are living together now and that means we must get along; not just for Jacob’s sake, but because it is the right thing to do.”

With that, they headed out and joined the others. After grabbing her food, she sat down with Al, Virginia and Andy. As they were talking, Franseca walked out with a smile on her face. Just as she started saying another guest had arrived, Gloria dropped her hamburger on her plate. She had seen Andy Jr. walking out of the back door!

Jacob jumped up first running up to Andy. One by one, the others all walked up and pulled Andy into a hug welcoming him home. Each of them asked why, but before he could answer, another person would push the one hugging him out of the way to get their turn. After everyone said hello one way another to Andy, the questions started flying!

“Okay everyone let me get a word in edgewise and just maybe I'll be able to answer all your questions!” Andy sat down, as the others surrounded him in a half circle. “I finished my basic training and requested Fort Bliss to be one of the bases to be stationed at. At first, they thought it was because of the field I chose, but it was because of you little bro.” Andy looked at Jacob and rubbed his head.

“Dr. Whitmore wrote to the army on your behalf and told them about your health issues, because of that, they stationed me here. Just in case you need something, which we all know is not going to happen again. Anyways I am here, and the only way I will get stationed somewhere else, is if we go to war.”

Jacob laughed and started talking down the democratic nominee for president, which got Al going. Al and Jacob stood on opposite sides of the political arena. Al was a registered democrat and only had supported one republican in his life, and that was the current governor of Texas. Jacob liked the Republican Party and when he had a chance to register, he would register as a republican. Because of the two different beliefs, it had resulted in heated talks between Al and Jacob, about the presidential campaigns.

Andy Jr. stopped them before it became world war three. He started teasing them, because it seemed that every time he called, there was a party going on. The change of subject got everyone back into good spirits. Some of them went back for seconds and the others just sat around to pool, waiting for their food to digest so they could get back into the pool.

As they talked, Jacob found out that Andy was able to live off base and would get some extra money on his check to help out with the bills. He let Jacob know that if he would like to live here with him and his family, there was room. Before Andy could ask twice, Jacob told him that his room was still his. So there was no need to even ask; just a heads up, whenever he was ready to move in.

After talking for a while, Andy Jr. asked Jacob for a tour of the house. When Andy walked in, he saw some of the changes and didn’t want to get lost in a house that had been remolded from top to bottom. Jacob got up, followed by Dewayne, and they walked in talking about everything that had been done to the house.

After showing Andy the main house, Jacob explained that nothing changed upstairs, all those rooms stayed the same. He then walked Andy down the first hall that joined Franseca’s house to the main one. Andy couldn’t believe how it looked. Not going any further than the kitchen, the guys walked back down and over to the other hall that led to Gloria’s part of the house. Once again, Andy was in awe of the place.

As they headed back to the main house, Andy stopped and looked out. “Jacob I don’t know what’s gone on lately, but are you sure it was the right thing to move mom in? Up until now, she hasn’t been after your money, which is good, but the way she treats you, I still don’t believe that she understands your lifestyle and would like to change you.”

“At first Andy you didn’t like having a gay brother, but you came around. It's just taking mom a lot longer to come around. Now with dad here, and they are getting remarried, I think that she can change. Even if she doesn’t, I love her. Just like you, Marie, Jeremy or anyone in our family, I will always be there to help out if I can.”

“That's why I love you so much Jacob; you can’t see the evil in people. No matter what they do to you, you still give them chance after chance.” Andy turned and looked straight into Jacob’s eyes. “I was wrong about how I acted when you first told me. I was also wrong for not standing up for you with Normal and her family. There are no excuses for what I did. Still, I'm here and no matter what, I'm never going to leave your side again.”

“I know that Andy and the past is the past. Let’s move on and just go out there right now and have fun. I know for a fact, that Chase is really happy having you back, just like me. There's something up with my friend and I don’t know what it is. You may be able to help him, because you guys seem to get along very well.”

Andy chuckled as they walked back to the party. Jacob and Dewayne went back to the side of the pool, Andy headed up to his room to change and go swimming. When Andy jumped in, he thought he would have to swim around to get used to the water. He had no idea that the pool was heated, and he enjoyed it.

The party lasted late into the night. That’s something that neither Jacob or his grandparents planed on. Since they did a cook out earlier, they decided to order pizza for dinner. While they waited for the pizza, Jacob and Dewayne headed to Safeway to get more drinks for everyone. As they pulled back into the driveway, the pizza delivery guy pulled up behind them. Jacob paid for the pizzas and headed in.

Alex left for awhile with Carlos and when he returned, he was alone. The next to leave were the girls, not making Chase too happy. As it got later, Jacob went up to see if Ethan wanted to stay the night or he would take him home whenever he was ready. Ethan wanted to stay the night, but needed to get his parent's permission.

While Ethan got on the phone, Jacob joined the others to hear what Andy Jr. was talking about. Everyone seems to be really interested in whatever he was saying. Normally, it was just Chase and maybe Tom that sat and talked, not the whole group.

As Jacob joined the group, Ethan walked out with a smile. “I figure by the smile, that you got permission to stay the night?”

“Yes my parents were more excited that you invited me to stay than I was!” Ethan sat down next to Jacob. “Can I ask you a question Jacob?” Jacob shook his head. “Is there something wrong with me? What I mean is, is there something that I'm not seeing that caused the guys here not to like me? First I thought that someone at school liked me, but I found out he liked someone else. Chris is young, but I like him. It just seems he doesn’t like me. Maybe it's the age difference that is causing the problem.”

“Let me tell you that it's not the age difference. Look at me and Dewayne I am a year and a few months younger than he is and we get along great. In fact, I love him so much; I can’t imagine a day not being with him. At the same time, I know he loves me just as much and that's why we're going to make it to our golden years together.

Now as far as something wrong with you, fuck no! If I wasn’t with the love of my life, hell I would be jumping all over your bones! You're hot from head to toe and if Chris or the other guys don’t see that, to hell with them. The body you have and your attitude should get you any guy wanting to be with you; gay guys that is.”

Ethan started laughing when Jacob threw in ‘gay guys’. They got up and walked back to the main house talking. As Ethan explained why he felt Chris didn’t like him, Jacob figured it out. It wasn't that Chris didn't like him, by the sounds of it. He was keeping his distance for fear of getting hurt. Chris didn't want to fall for Ethan and then find that either Ethan didn't want to come out of the closet or found someone his own age.

Jacob explained what he thought, might be the problem to Ethan. “Jake, it isn’t that I don’t want to come out of the closet, I just can’t right now. I'm new at this school and that's already a strike against me. If I come out, for sure I won’t be left alone. Then my family would find out and that's totally a different story.

Now as far as Chris worrying about me falling for someone else, I'm not that type of person. If he and I are going out, I won’t cheat or break up with him because I found someone else my own age or someone that I might like better. That's why we date each other, to see if we are suited for each other. If we aren’t, we move on and hopefully stay friends.”

“I'm not trying to scare you, but that's what I think. I really don’t think Chris doesn’t like you, he more than likely is thinking what I told you. Don’t come out until you are ready, no matter who is trying to push you out of the closet. You know your family and how they will take it. So until you know you and your family are ready, stay where you are. I'm talking out of experience; trust me.”

Ethan kept teasing Jacob all the way back to the yard, about Jacob finding him hot. Jacob took the teasing since it was the truth. Plus it made Ethan feel a whole lot better and that is why he spoke the truth. Just as they walked out to the back yard, everyone else was coming in. So Jacob and Ethan turned right around and headed back inside to the TV room.

As they sat watching a movie, Chris asked Jacob if it was cool if he stayed the night as well. Jacob had no objections as long as Chris got permission from his parents. With that said, Chris left to use the phone and when he came back he had a smile on his face just like Ethan's. Jacob couldn’t help but wonder what maked everyone so happy to stay the night at his house. There are grown ups in his house just like theirs.

Jacob headed up stairs and had fallen to sleep before Dewayne joined him. When Dewayne walked into the room, almost an hour later, he felt bad that he came in so late. Before going up to the room, Jacob told Dewayne to make his way up so they could fool around. But as he tried to make his way up, Tom and David stopped him to chat.

The next morning Andy Jr. joined Al in the kitchen for coffee, which surprised Al. Before leaving for basic training, Andy normally was one of the last to get up; not the first. Something about the army made a person's sleeping habits change. It did it to his kids and now it was doing it to his grandson.

“I'm glad that you are home Andy. Put aside Jacob and my banters, I don’t see us getting into another conflict any time soon no matter who gets elected. If Clinton gets the White House, the chances are even slimmer than if Bush were to be reelected. Let me stop there before I get all political on you.”

“Grandpa, explain something to me that I don’t understand. You say you don’t like the republicans because of what they stand for, but yet you not only support the governor of this state, who is a republican, you work for him. What's so different with this republican governor, compared to any other republican?”

“Oh Andy, you've not been paying attention at all to what is going on here. He may be a republican by ticket, but he has the beliefs of both parties. Plus he doesn’t work for anyone else except the voters that put him into office. There hasn’t been a person like him in political office in a very long time. In fact I can’t remember the last time we have had a truthful, regular American, not afraid to take on the big interest groups, ready to throw down with politicians in any position, much less a governorship.”

Al talked Andy’s ear off about what Governor Lopez had done so far in his first year as governor. By midway into the conversation, Andy kind of regretted asking his grandfather the question. He thought he was being smart trying to back his brother, but wound up getting a history lesson from his grandfather. When the guys started to walk in, Andy couldn’t wait for them to change the subject, but they didn’t.

It took Jacob walking in and teasing Andy about getting their grandfather started, that got the subject changed. As they ate breakfast together, Andy looked around the table. He missed this since he left. Yes in the army they all sat down and ate meals together, but it wasn't the same as eating a meal with your family. Even if it now it included having his mother at the table with him! Andy figured if Jacob could believe in her, he could as well.

Everyone pretty much lazed around all morning long in front of the television. They couldn’t agree on what to watch TV and decided on a movie on pay-per-view. At least there they all could agree on several movies that would last them through the day, if they didn’t get off their butts.

Chase couldn’t help himself, his eyes would wonder over to Ethan every so often. Even crawling out of bed, Ethan looked hot. His hair was a little messy and he was in shorts, a t-shirt and white socks; the look just got Chase’s blood going to all the wrong places. This guy, in Chase’s mind, was hot as hell with his muscle’s stretching out his shirt and seeing the bare legs usually hidden under his bibs. At least yesterday, Chase had Patricia to keep him distracted, but not today.

As Chase got up and walked out of the TV room, Andy Jr. followed him. Chase didn’t even notice Andy behind him until he reached his room. Not wanting to be rude to Andy, Chase invited him in to talk. He hadn't thought the conversation was going to unfold the way it did, but when it did, Chase felt as if a load had been lifted off of his chest.

“All morning long it seems that your mind has been somewhere else and that has me worried. Ever since you and my brother became friends, you and I have become friends. In that time, we've gotten to know each other pretty well. That's how I know that there is something bothering you and I don’t think it's going to get any better if you don’t talk it out with someone you trust.”

“Seriously Andy there's nothing wrong with me. I'm just tired from the party yesterday and working and going to school all week. It catches up to you over time, you know. All I need is to catch up with my sleep and I should be fine.”

“Come on buddy, you can’t fool me, I know there's something going on. If you don’t talk to me, about whatever's on your mind, then talk with someone before it eats you alive. No matter what you tell yourself, it is eating you alive. I know its hard being a teen; I barely made it through it, and let me tell you it doesn’t get any easier.”

Chase sat up on the bed and looked over at Andy. “There is something wrong with me Andy. It’s like, a totally different person is trying to claw their way out of me and take over my body, because of these feelings I am having. Feelings I've been having for a while now and I think it’s because of this house.”

“You need to tell me more so I can help you. All this talking around what you really mean is not getting me any closer to trying to help you. There's nothing you can tell me that will surprise me or change our friendship in anyway.”

“You know I like women; damn I almost had a baby! I've never looked at a guy in a sexual manner in my life, until recently. Well to tell you the truth I never looked at a guy in a sexual manner until the day I met Ethan. I don’t know what is going on with me Andy! What I do know, is that I don’t like what I'm feeling inside me right now. What do you think is the matter with me? I think it’s because I haven’t dated since Linda.”

“One thing I can tell you is that it isn’t this house. No one can be changed as far as sexual likes and dislikes. Now about liking girls or guys, you can like them both. We both know that you like women because of your past with women. Those that we know that are gay have never dated women, let alone almost having a baby with a woman. So put that out of your mind thinking that you're gay, because you aren’t; maybe bi, but not gay.

With that said, stop fighting it because you will come out on the losing end. It looks like you have finally found a new girlfriend, but you are also saying that you are having feelings for Ethan. What you need to do is experiment, and find out if these feelings are just in your mind or are they true. Just don’t experiment with a guy that thinks you are in it for the long haul, because if you find out that you don’t like guys, well let’s just say it won’t be any good to piss off anyone, guy or girl.”

“So what should I do? Go out and find a guy and have a one night stand to see if these feelings are real? Don’t you think it might not work since the only guy I like is Ethan?”

“I'm not saying to go out and have a fling with a guy. Hell you don’t know where that guy has been and you don’t want to catch anything. What I'm saying is find someone that you can trust and is willing to let you experiment. That way, no one will ever know if you find out that you don’t like guys.

As far as Ethan is concerned, you don’t even know if the guy is gay. From what I can tell, the guy plays on our side of the fence. Now I can be wrong about that because look at my brother, Dewayne, well all of the gay guys in this house. They all look straight, act straight and don’t show that they are gay. Ethan could be like the guys.”

“You're right and I need to figure this out before I destroy every relationship I have from this day forward. I really like Patricia and I know she likes me. If I'm bi, I need to find out, that way I can be truthful with her. Like you said, there’s no way I'm gay, so I don’t have to worry about that.”

Andy and Chase talked a little longer before rejoining the others in the TV room. Before heading back down, Chase made Andy promise not to tell a soul what they talked about. If the guys find out what he was feeling, they wouldn't let it go. Every chance they got, they would try and set Chase up with a guy.

When they sat down to watch TV, Andy looked over at Ethan whenever he knew no one was looking. One thing he saw right off the bat was the fact that Ethan was a good looking guy. Andy wasn't afraid to say that to himself or out loud, because he was comfortable with who he was. At the same time, he couldn't pick up on any vibes that Ethan was gay, but he knew that didn't amount to a hill of beans. He didn’t pick that up with his brother either.

After dinner, Ethan asked Jacob to take him home. This time, Chase stayed behind and hung out with Andy instead of going like he did the last time. Neither Jacob nor Ethan thought anything of it. Ethan had already come to the conclusion that Chase wasn't gay. And Jacob never even thought that Chase would want to go for the ride, since he hadn’t done it in the past.

On the way to Ethan’s house, Ethan conveyed to Jacob that he did like Chris, but he had found out things about Chris, as they talked through the day. One of the things that didn't bother him a lot, was the fact that Chris’s best friend was one of the governor’s sons. The one thing that did bother Ethan was Chris’s dad. The little he told Ethan was scary and something that Ethan didn't want to get caught up in.

Jacob understood where Ethan was coming from on all the issues he had brought up. At the same time, Jacob explained to Ethan, that everyone comes with baggage. Some good and some bad, but they all come with baggage. If the two truly love each other, the baggage the other brings into the relationship could be handled better by both of them.

“I am sorry if I hit a nerve Jacob, it's just that Chris’s father sounds scary. If he was willing to do what he has done to Chris, what is stopping him from hurting him again? The police didn't seem to have any luck catching the guy. That means he's free to put fear in his son and anyone that is involved with him.

“Chris has had a few hard knocks already in his life. In fact many people I know have. Look at me, I'm lucky to have found Dewayne. He has been at my side through the good and the bad of our short relationship. The guy didn’t sign on to have a sick boyfriend, but he stayed. That says a lot about a person and weather or not a relationship will last.

What I am trying to say is that you need to look deep inside yourself and ask yourself several questions when it comes down on picking a boyfriend. Can you take the baggage one comes with? Everyone out there, as I said, comes with baggage. Can you be behind the person when shit hits the fan? And finally can you be the one that the person you choose to go out with, depends on to be there when he needs support?

You yourself come with baggage of your own. On the top of the list is the fact you don’t want to come out of the closet. There's nothing wrong with that at all. You need to come out when you're ready, not when another tells you to. Plus, there is more I probably don’t know about and shouldn’t. Only the one you choose to go out with should know every dark secret of your life and that’s only when you completely trust that person.”

“I'm glad that I met Chase and Chase has you and the others as friends. When we moved up here, I never thought I would find another great group of guys like I had back home. You have given me a lot to think about tonight. Maybe it isn’t right for me to look for a boyfriend right now, when I'm not willing to come out of the closet. It’s just not fair to the one I’d want to go out with.”

“Look Ethan, don’t ever let anyone push you one way or another in your decision making. Everyone has a reason why they want you to go one direction or another in a subject. Look at me. I'm guilty of that, because I don’t want to look bad with Chris. You make up your mind by weighing out everything in your heart and in your head. Only you can make the decision and don’t let anyone’s voice ring in your head while you do.”

As Ethan got out of the car, he thanked Jacob for everything. Jacob waited until he saw Ethan step into his house and the door was closing before he left. When he got home, he sat in the car for a few minutes before walking back into the house. Between the screw up with Chase, and now Chris, Jacob couldn't figure out why he couldn't pick out a good guy for Ethan.

Since its Sunday and tomorrow was school or work, everyone started getting ready for bed around eight. As Jacob headed up to his room, Al stopped him before he made it up the stairs. Jacob walked back down and stood on the first stair and took the envelope in Al’s hand. After reading the content of the envelope, Jacob handed it back to Al.

“When you first got sick, you didn’t have insurance. When you won the lawsuit, the very first thing I did was to get you and the rest of the family very good health insurance. Why in the hell are we getting the bill from the hospital to pay for your surgery out of our pocket?”

“Grandpa that I don’t know, Dr. Whitmore has my insurance information. Whenever I have ended up in the hospital, since you got the insurance, I never saw a bill. I figured that Dr. Whitmore took care of it by sending it into the insurance company for me. This bill I have no idea about it. Maybe we should talk with Dr. Whitmore about it tomorrow.”

Al handed Jacob another envelope, and this one, Jacob knew what was in it. “This one grandpa, I knew was coming from the hospital. They were giving Alex a hard time, the day we were getting released. I didn’t want Alex to be belittled like he was, so I told the nurse to send the bill to me. Please pay it off out of my personal account and don’t mention it to Alex or Franseca.”

“I will go ahead and split the cost of this bill with you. As far as this other I will be calling our insurance company and giving them a piece of my mind. After I do that I will add Franseca and her kids to our company insurance. That way they are covered and won't have to worry about going to one of those free clinics downtown. I should have done that a long time ago, but I slipped up”

Jacob agreed with his grandfather, hugged him goodnight and headed up to his room. Dewayne had taken Chris home and still hadn’t returned. So Jacob jumped in the shower after covering his stitches. He wanted to be out of the shower when Dewayne got home, so he could jump in and take his.

After showering, Jacob sat on the bed to clean his stitches and put new bandages on just as Dewayne walked in. He walked over to Jacob and pushed his hands away. Taking the cloth on the bed, dabbed it in the alcohol, cleaned the area around the stitches and redressed Jacob’s wound. Dewayne leaned in to give Jacob several pecks on the lips before heading to the bathroom to take his shower. Jacob dressed only in his boxers while Dewayne showered and then went in the bathroom and to brush his teeth. As he brushed, he could see Dewayne’s form through the shower door as he looked into the mirror. The love urge surged in Jacob and he knew that no matter what, there was going to be some action in a few minutes. His “little head” had made up its mind!

When Dewayne walked out of the bathroom, Jacob could see Dewayne’s hardened dick tenting the towel. With a big grin on his face, Jacob got up from the bed and walked over to him. From behind, he wrapped his arms around his love, pulling him in close as he started to kiss up and down Dewayne’s neck and his still wet back.

“Dewayne, I really want to be with you so bad! It’s driving me out of my mind.” Jacob turned Dewayne around so they were facing each other. “I can see you want and need it as I do, by the way junior down there is tenting your towel.” He wrapped his hands around Dewayne’s dick.  “Let me at least help you out like I wanted to last night.”

Before Dewayne could respond or react, Jacob unwrapped Dewayne’s towel from his waist and he guided Dewayne to the bed. Once Dewayne’s legs hit the edge of the bed, he fell on his back. Jacob stood, looking down at the awesome body of his soccer player boyfriend’s body lying there waiting for him in all his naked glory! Jacob didn’t hesitate; he dropped his boxers to the floor letting Dewayne see his desire proudly standing at attention!

Dewayne started to move over on the bed, but Jacob reached over and held him in place. At the same moment, Jacob climbed on the bed and deftly straddled Dewayne. As he started to lean forward to kiss his lover, their hard cocks and balls meshed together. Dewayne pushed upward to get more pressure on their meshed packages and Jacob met the upward force with his own downward pressure.

Jacob placed his hand behind Dewayne’s head and pulled him into a deep, love-filled kiss; a kiss that kicked the love-fire up a full notch instantly. Their hips were grinding, cocks sliding back and forth on moist skin. Dewayne wanted to feel more pressure, so he worked one of his legs, then the other to the outside leaving Jacob’s legs between his. Nature took over and Jacob began working his hips making their cohesively coupled cocks slide against each other with just the right amount of friction.

The passion and intensity increased fast. Dewayne had each of Jacob’s buns in his hands assisting in creating increased pressure on their entrapped cocks. Both guys were starved for the lovemaking. It took only a few moments between the hot hip action and the deep kissing for both Jake and Dewayne to reach the point of no return. They broke the kiss and Jacob added more speed and intensity to the action with Dewayne keeping the pressure just right.

With a pair of low growls, both guys began pumping what seemed like a gallon of man sauce each, between themselves.  As soon as the flood was over, Jacob again kissed Dewayne deeply. He held Dewayne’s head and looked deeply into his eyes.

 

“Dewayne, I love you more than words and ever say. Let me love you forever.” Jacob didn’t say many words, but the impact was profound on Dewayne. Dewayne’s eyes misted up a bit as he replied; “Jacob, you have me forever, heart, mind and body. All I am, is yours. Yes, love me forever and let me love you back the same way.” One last kiss sealed the commitment, one more time, between the two lovers.

Dewayne rolled Jacob to the side gently.  He reached down to the floor and picked up the damp towel. Without a word being said, he gently cleaned their mutual love offering off Jacob, then did the same for himself. 

When Jacob started to move to get his boxers, Dewayne indicated that he shouldn’t. With a bit of a question on his face, Jacob laid back as Dewayne pulled the covers over his legs. Dewayne laid down beside Jacob, turned and pulled him in close.

“Jacob, I have been wondering why we are always sleeping together with underwear on. I so love the feel every inch of your skin against mine. Could we try sleeping without anything on for tonight?”

I hadn’t even thought about it before Dewayne! I suppose it was just habit. You make a good point and my answer is yes. If it feels right, then let’s make it the way we sleep every night.

Jacob and Dewayne fell asleep in each other’s arms probably not realizing that their love and their relationship was growing in depth and becoming more solid with each passing day. They both slept very soundly.

The very first thing Al did when he walked into the office was to call the insurance company. Since they were two hours ahead of him, the insurance office was open. Not getting anywhere with the agent that answered the phone, he demanded to speak with her supervisor. When he got on the line, he pretty much repeated the same thing.

“If I wanted to listen to a broken record, I would put one on. I pay you guys a huge sum every month with the understanding that you will cover those on the policy whenever they end up in the hospital. You are now giving me the run around with bullshit excuses. My policy clearly states that you will cover all medical issues before and after those on my policy got insured. This excuse about it being a pre-existing condition before you guys started covering my grandson is bullshit!”

“Sir there is no need for that kind of language. I am trying to help you the best way I can and your cursing at me isn’t helping matters any. So let me say it again….”

“I believe I have the right to be angry when I get a bill in the mail that says I owe over a hundred thousand to the hospital when you guys should pay it. Look, there is no excuse when my policy clearly states that you guys are covering everything before and after the policy went into effect. That is why my deductible for this kind of hospital stay is high.”

The supervisor started clicking away on the computer, not saying a word. While he was on the phone, Ana, his first appointment arrived. Al waved her in and asked her to take a seat while he finished up with the phone call. After another ten minutes of hearing the guy clicking away on the computer and talking to himself, the supervisor cleared his throat as he got back on the line.

“Mr. Serna, ignore the bill because we are going to submit payment for it by the end of business day today. I am very sorry for all the confusion and I'll make sure it doesn’t happen again. I really hope Mr. Jacob Hernandez doesn’t get sick again, but if he does, rest assured we will cover him and anyone else on your policy.”

Before letting the guy go, Al added Franseca, Alex, Matt, Lorenzo and Ismail on the policy. It took a while, but once he was done Al thanked him and hung up. He then turned his attention to his first meeting of the morning with Ana. 

“Thank you for being patient, I just needed to take care of that bill. Now how are you this morning Ana? It has been awhile since we have touched bases and I was wondering how you were taking to our company and the store.”

Ana explained to Al that she had no problem jumping right in. It took a few weeks, but she cleaned out the store of the workers that are doing more harm to the store than good. Al looked over the sales reports from the store and compared them to the sales reports before she became manager as she talked. There in black and white was proof that she had turned the store around. The amount of revenue had gone up since she took over.

“There was no doubt in my or Jacob’s mind that you could clean up that store and fast. Not only by your own reports, but by what the revenue reports are telling me, it's apparent that the store has been turned around. I know it had to be hard, especially having a supervisor looking over your shoulder that basically is one of the reasons why that store was the way it was.

With that said Ana, Jacob and I created a position the minute we hired you, for you.” Ana had a confused look on her face. “Let me explain what I mean. When you were brought on-board by Jacob, he and I wanted you in a higher position than store manager. I just needed to see how you worked before I did anything. Once again Jacob was right and he picked the right person in you to hold this position.

There are two reasons why we created the position we would like you to hold. The first is that Jacob is still in high school and from there he will be going to college, Because of that, it will be years before Jacob can take over the day to day operations of this company. The other reason, is that I have so many things going on; I need someone that knows their stuff to help me with the McDonald’s franchises.

You are that one person I can trust, so that is why I want to offer you Vice President of Operations of the McDonalds wing of this company. It comes with a raise and better benefits.”  Al handed Ana a piece of paper with all the figures on it. “It also comes with a lot more responsibilities. Basically you speak for me and Jacob when it comes to running the restaurants. You will run the day to day operations and report only to me or Jacob.”

Al went into complete detail of what the job entailed. Ana didn’t interrupt Al once as he went down the duties of the position. When Al finished, she had a few questions about the position and a couple about leaving the store.

“I would like to hire my own replacement as manager of the store I am leaving. The reason for that, is that I put in so much work into that store, I don’t want it handed off to a manager that can mess it all up again. I am pretty sure several of the stores in your company are just as messed up as this store was.”

“That is no lie and that is why I need you in the position I am offering. As far as you hiring the person of your choice to replace you, I have no problem with that. Just like you, I don’t want that store to fall apart the minute you get pulled out of it. There was too much time and effort put into straightening it out,; Jacob and I don’t want it to go to waste either.”

“You might not like the person I want in the position, but I promise you he is the right guy for that store. I would like to put your son in law in charge of the Mesa store. Ever since you sent him to me to see how he would do, let me say he is a very good employee. I can sit here and go through a list on why I feel he is the best, but I hope you take my word and let me promote him to the store manager.”

“I need to be able to trust you when you say this person is the right or wrong person for the job. That is part of your duties if you accept the new position. With that said, I may not agree with your decision, but it's yours to make. So if you see Andy as the right person to take over the Mesa store, so be it; give him the store.”

They talked a little bit more about the position before Ana accepted it. After signing all the new paperwork that came with the new position, Al showed her to her office. After Al left her, she didn’t stay. Instead she headed down to the Mesa store in hopes of catching Andy before he left for the day. Ana wanted to promote him and start training him as soon as she could, so she could start in her new position.

Ana’s luck held out, as she drove up, Andy was walking out. Trying to get Andy’s attention, she started honking her horn as she parked her car. She got out and met Andy in the middle of the parking lot. Not explaining why, Ana asked Andy to have a business breakfast with her. Andy agreed, but thought this might be her way to fire her employees.

They took their own cars to Denny’s. When they walked in they got a table right away. At first, Ana didn’t say anything to Andy, they ordered their drinks, looked at the menu and when the drinks arrived, they placed their order. After the waiter left, Ana opened the conversation by putting her hands on the table breaking the silence.

“Andy, ever since you came to my store, I have enjoyed working with you. I won’t lie, after finding out who you were related to, I thought you were put in my store as a spy. As the days went by, I learned that I was wrong. In fact, I have grown to trust you, over all the other employees in that store.

I just came back from my morning meeting with your father-in-law and I got some good news. He promoted me to a new position in the company and allowed me to pick who was going to take over the store. I didn’t have to think at all, I knew exactly who I wanted. Andy, I would like it, if you would become the store manager, at the Mesa store.”

Andy didn’t know what to say. He was stunned, because he thought that she brought him over here to fire him, not promote him. Then he started thinking that that had to be a hard sell for her with Al. No matter what he had done since he came there to El Paso, Al would never forgive him for leaving her daughter with three baby boys.

“You know, I have never run a store in my life. Are you sure I'm the right person for the job? I don’t want to screw things up between you and Al in the future.”

“I know that you have never run a store, and that is why I picked you. I also picked you because of what you have shown me ever since you came to my store. Trust me I wouldn't put someone in a position that I know he or she can’t handle. And to be completely honest with you Andy, there is no way in hell I will hand the store back over to those managers that came from before the buyout. That is a prescription for failure if I were to do that.”

Andy and Ana sat there as they ate, discussing how it would all go down. If he agreed to take the position, the store would be his, as of tomorrow. She would stick around and train him on everything necessary to run the store. Once Ana and Andy felt that he can be on his own, Ana would be gone; not a minute before or a minute later.

Marie drove to school for the first time with her brother and his friends. Now that she lived in Jacob’s house, she felt free. Before moving in, she had been sneaking out of her mother’s house and going to Jacob’s to spend time with Greg. That was the only place that she and Greg could be together without her mom constantly checking up on them.

Although Gloria seemed to be okay with Greg, she really wasn't. With the past she had with him, she couldn't lower her guard. She knew that she was the one that put everything together, but Greg carried it out. In Gloria’s mind, any kid that would be willing to do that, was a kid that could never be trusted, no matter what.

Once they arrived at the school, Marie headed off to sit with her friends while Jacob and his friends grabbed their breakfast and sat at their usual table. After waiting for Greg to show up for nearly twenty minutes, Marie gave up. She got up and headed out to the side entrance to sit on the stairs. That way, when Greg did show up, he would have to go looking for her.

Greg was already in hot water with Marie for not showing up at the party and not even calling her to say why and yet again, for not coming down on Sunday. That was why Marie was angry and unwilling to wait for him. If he wanted to talk to her, Marie wanted him to work for it. That meant looking for her when he couldn't find her at the normal spots she visited.

Just as she gave up and headed in, Greg walked out of the door. “Marie, will you please let me explain to you what had happened to me on Saturday?” Greg placed his hands on Marie’s shoulders. “My parents grounded me for sneaking out on Friday night. No TV, no phone and no party. I knew I shouldn’t have pushed my luck, but I wanted to be with you on Friday, Saturday and well, every chance I can, I want to be with you.”

Greg didn’t have to say another word, Marie melted. She now felt bad for being mad at Greg, especially since it's kind of her fault, that he got grounded in the first place. He did say Friday, that he thought his parents were on to him, but she didn’t want to hear it. She made Greg sneak out to come down, so they could spend the evening together.

Both of them turned around and walked down the stairs. Greg sat on a stair higher than Marie, so Marie could sit between his legs. He started to rub her shoulders as he kissed her neck. Every time he reached her ear, he whispered I love you before kissing back down her neck. Anyone that would walk by and see these two, would see two teen age kids madly in love with each other.

On the other side of the school, Tom and David snuck off from the group. Ever since they started working and Tom had to practice, they haven’t had any time alone. When they got home at night, they were too tired to do anything but curl up with each other, and fall asleep in each others arms. They decided to steal some alone time before first period.

Unlike Marie and Greg, Tom and David couldn't sit on the steps and just be with each other. They had to be more careful about showing their love. At times, they brought Heather along, to help get rid of people that wanted to see what was going on, but not this time. They just wanted to be alone so they could talk and be with each other.

At first, they tried to talk on the stairs, but too many students were trying to hear what they were saying. So they moved over to the far end of the building, but it was the same thing. They ended up hiding behind the building that Jacob goes to every morning, the ROTC building. No one goes around there to hang out.

“I have a surprise for you David.” David looked up with a smile on his face. “I should have done this a long time ago, but I didn’t know when it would be right. As you know, every person in a school sport gives their girlfriend, in my case boyfriend, their letter jacket and high school ring. I would be honored if you would wear my letter jacket and ring so everyone will know that you are mine and I am yours.”

David punched Tom in the arm. “It is about time you asked me. I was getting worried that you were never going to ask.” Tom pulled off his letter jacket and wrapped it around David. “I love you Tom, and I'm honored to wear your letter jacket and ring. No one can ever take this ring and jacket from me because it was given to me by my handsome, strong and awesome boyfriend.”

David leaned in to kiss Tom right on the lips. He didn’t care who was looking, he wanted to kiss his boyfriend and screw anyone that got offended. Right now, David wanted to go screaming down the halls, that he and Tom were an item. They both knew that everyone knew, but they just haven’t been seen as a couple around school.

Ethan saw Chris with his friends, as he walked with Chase and the others out to the stadium. He debated with himself to go over and say ‘hi’, but decided not to since Chris seemed to be into whatever they were talking about. He also didn't want others at the school to start thinking that he was gay.

As he sat there not really listening to the conversation, Ethan got lost in thoughts. He hated this feeling of being alone when he was surrounded with so many happy couples. He started to go over what Jacob had told him the day before. That's when he realized, the only way he was going to be happy was to be himself. That meant he was going to have to sit down with his parents soon and tell them, that they have a gay son.

Just then, Tony threw a pebble at Ethan. “Earth to Ethan are you there Ethan?” Ethan looked over to acknowledge Tony. “Where were you at? It looked like you were asleep but with your eyes open. We were talking about hanging at the house again this weekend and wondered if we can count you in.”

“Hell yeah you can count me in! I haven’t had that much fun in a very long time. Will it be another all day thing and can we sleep over like last weekend?”

“I don’t see why not; Tony responded. “Let me tell my dad about it, but I don’t think he will say no. The only thing I think he won’t do is to be the cook again. So if we want to eat, we will either have to order pizza or go out to eat. Either way, we'll all need to bring money this time to spend. I still haven’t got paid and that means I am living off of my allowance!”

“Fuck you Tony! You have money! You just don’t want to spend it!” Chase threw a pebble at Tony’s leg. “If I had the kind of money you and Jacob have, I would have several houses and a brand new car for each day of the week. You guys are acting like old guys trying to save your money for a rainy day. You only live once and I say live as if there will be no tomorrow as long as you can.”

“Easier said than done Chase! When I first got the money, I thought the same way, but when I started to spend it, I wasn’t happy. Then my dad came along and showed me how to earn money on the money I already have. Heck I don’t have to worry about money in my life. That is if I play it smart and don't go out spending it like a drunken sailor.”

“Hey guys, sorry to derail this conversation, but I better let you know that I might not be able to go. Right now money is very tight at my house and if I have to bring money to eat, I can’t go. And there's no way I'm going to borrow or let any of you pay for me. You guys have done too much already for my family.”

Chase looked to the ground feeling like crap. Here he is, giving Tony a hard time about all the money he had when Ethan was sitting there. Everyone knew that Ethan and his family were struggling right now. He should have used more common sense before opening his mouth teasing Tony about his money.

“Ethan don’t make any decisions until we see how the weekend is going to unfold. There won’t be a cook out unless one of us cooks.” Everyone broke out in laughter.  “Trust me you don’t want any of us behind the grill. So maybe I can ask Franseca to make something up for us or something like that. Just let me put this together before you say no. For now let’s all agree on showing up and go from there.”

As the bell rang, everyone agreed to be there. Still Ethan felt bad that he couldn't help on anything dealing with the party. Then it dawned on him that maybe he could volunteer to run the grill. Back home, he and his friends had cookouts all the time. Yeah it was a little different than here, but when it boils down to it, a cookout is a cookout.

When Jacob walked over to the ROTC building, he got stopped by several kids that he hadn’t seen before. They wouldn’t let Jacob pass until he talked with them. Jacob finally gave in and gave the kids five minutes to tell him what they needed to say. When they first started, they stumbled, but finally got going.

“Jacob, next year you are going to be a senior and we would like to nominate you to run for class president. People know who you are and you can win the election without working too hard for it. There are only two others running for it and they are dumb jocks wanting the position to just put down on their college applications.”

“With all due respect, no thank you. There is no way this school would elect a senior class president that is gay. Maybe a high school in California, but not here in Texas! Plus I don’t want to run for class president. I already have my hands full right here with ROTC and my job after school. There's no way I can add that to my things to do.”

The kids started whispering to each other before saying anything to Jacob. They really wanted Jacob to run for class president, but they could see that Jacob was dead set on not running. As they talked, Jacob started to walk towards the door of the ROTC building when they yelled out to him to come back.

“How about a smaller position that still gave you the power to make a difference? You can change things that others wouldn't change. In the past, the only ones that have held any of the positions that are elected by the student body have been dumb jocks because they are the popular ones. Now we have a chance to put one of our own, not a dumb jock, into the student council. What do you say? It won’t take a lot of your time.”

“Fine you guys put it together and come and find me. If I like what you came up with, I'll sign on. Just keep in mind, it has to be on the student council, not the class president or vie president. Those positions take way to much time, time that I really don’t have to give. Do we understand one another here?”

The kids nodded their heads as they shook Jacob’s hand before heading to the main building. Jacob couldn’t help but think how cool it would be if he would win student body president. Not to put on his college application, but to make changes for future students like him. Then he thought what real power does the student body president have?

 All morning long, Jacob couldn’t get the thought of running for the student body president, out of his mind. He finally decided to find out what each position did and could do, for the students at the school. If a student that was on the student council could make real change, he would put the time and effort into running for the position.

At lunch, Jacob told the guys about what happened in the morning, and of course, they all had an opinion on it. A few of them told Jacob to go for it and the other group told Jacob not to. Each of them said their peace and Jacob listened to them. Once they all put their cards on the table, Jacob felt more confused than when he started.

Instead of going to the ROTC building, Jacob headed over to the library to do research on the positions. At least when those kids come back and Jacob said no, he wouldn't feel that bad about turning them down, because he had looked into it. He still couldn't figure out why those kids wanted him to run for the position. It wasn't as if he was a jock, even though he was on the track team this year. That kind of put him in the group of dumb jocks but not really.

Jacob also wondered, if he couldn't even get his friends behind him, how could he get the majority of the school behind him. In Jacob’s mind, he felt his friends should be the easy sell and he didn’t even get half of them to back him. From that happening, it was pushing Jacob against running for any office, no matter what it is.

After school Jacob went home alone. Ever since Tony and Dewayne took over the Seven-Elevens, Tony had been going into the office with the guys, leaving Jacob by himself every evening. He started to think that maybe it would make it easier for the guys, if they took the SUV to school and he used the car. Then he remembered that Franseca used the SUV when Alex and Matt were in school, to do the shopping.

The first thing Jacob did when he got home from school was his homework. Once he got that out of the way, he went and spent time with Jeremy. Lately Jacob had been feeling bad for Jeremy because he was always sitting up in his room alone. Not having anyone to hang out with.

Now Jacob tried to spend at least an hour with Jeremy if not more. Ever since he started doing that, Lorenzo and Ismail would join in instead of playing video games all the time, which made Franseca happy. She started to worry that her two younger boys were turning into couch potatoes, and it wouldn’t be long before they started to gain weight.

They always let Jeremy pick what to do, and he always picks the same thing. He loved to play games that make everyone run around the house. Sometimes it was hide-and-go-seek and other times it was tag. Still, Lorenzo, Ismail and Jacob went along as if it was the very first time they had played the game.

Right in the middle of playing, the phone rang. Jacob picked it up and heard a familiar voice on the other end. At first Jacob was stunned that he was calling, but he remembered the promise when they talked those many weeks ago.

“Hello Jacob, this is Joey, how are you?”

“I am doing well, how about you Joey? It's good to hear your voice. I know we said we were going to be friends and I have been thinking a lot about you lately. Because of that I decided to call you and see what was going on in your life, that had me thinking about you so much. I know it sounds weird, but I know when things are not going too well with you.”

“The same here Jacob, you have been weighing on my mind for weeks now. I need a friend to talk to, and you are the only one that came to mind. There's so much going on and I need the Jacob that helped me through so much, no matter what we were going through in our lives at the time. Do you have time to talk with me?”

“Of course I do Joey; you didn’t need to ask that. Tell me what is going on and I will see what I can do to help your though whatever is bothering you.” Joey didn’t say a word, leaving nothing but dead air. “You know Joey you are a lot stronger than you think. I was there to help you, but it was you that got it done. So whatever is going on right now, I know you have the strength and the will power to get through it.”

“Thank you Jacob I really need a friend right now. Things are going on……..”

“Hold on for a minute Joey I need to go and tell Jeremy that I am on the phone. Give me a few minutes and I will be right back.”

Jacob put Joey on hold and went over to tell the guys that he had an important phone call that he had to take. Lorenzo told Jacob to go ahead and not to worry they will keep playing with Jeremy. Jacob didn’t think twice about it because he had seen how Lorenzo and Ismail were around Jeremy. Jeremy had taken to them and that made Jacob a very happy camper.

“Sorry about that Joey, like I said I needed to let Jeremy and Alex’s little brothers know that I was on the phone. I try to spend time with Jeremy every evening after school. The poor guy is stuck in the house all day with out any friends his age.”

“I understand that Jacob, and again thank you for talking with me. I just really need a friend that I can trust that won’t judge me. You know about my past and what happened to me the summer before high school. I thought I was over that, but when my mom and uncle did what they did to me, all those memories came back on top of the memories of that horrible place.”

Joey went on telling Jacob about the nightmares he had been having. He was reliving the summer before his freshman year and the three days he spent in that camp over and over again. It had gotten so bad for Joey, that he barely slept an hour or so a night. Even with the medication he got from his doctor, he wasn't really sleeping.

After hearing Joey out, Jacob tried to help him the best way he could. He told Joey what he did about the nightmares he was having after he got shot. No medication in the world would get rid of the nightmares because they always snuck back up on ya, Jacob explained. The only real way out, was by talking it out like he was doing then.

Jacob got into the conversation he was having with Joey, he didn’t even notice Dewayne walking in and sitting down next to him. They talked for over two hours before Joey felt better. Before hanging up with Jacob, they made a schedule to talk with each other at least three times a week after school. Since Joey was no longer living in his own house, they decided that Jacob would make the call so the long distance bill was his, and not on Caleb’s bill.

After hanging up with Joey, Jacob sat back on the couch, pulling Dewayne into him. “I don’t know if I have told you lately that I am glad I have you. To be completely honest without you I really think I would be like Joey right now. The poor guy needs help, but refuses to get it. He’s been through hell, not once but twice.”

“Why doesn’t he talk with his boyfriend Caleb? Those two have been together almost as long as we have, if not longer. They should have built enough trust that they could lean on each other.” Jacob looked up with a weird look on his face. “Don’t get me wrong Jacob, I am glad he can call you and you talk with you, but like you said, he needs help; help that you probably can’t give him.”

“You’re right about the help and I hope in time I can talk him into getting the right help. For now I need to ease him to that point. As far as Caleb is concerned, I guess we are lucky that we have built the relationship that we have as fast as we have. But I think the real reason he doesn’t talk to Caleb is because Caleb probably doesn’t know about what had happened to Joey before freshman year. Knowing Joey the way I do, he probably hasn’t told Caleb a lot of things. In time, that will come back and haunt Joey.”

They talked until the guys got home. Jacob told Dewayne things about his past that he had never told him. How it was, being shot, the nightmares he had and anything else he could think of that he hasn’t told Dewayne.

One of the main reasons Jacob was telling Dewayne everything was because he didn't want to be two-faced. And the other was because he was deeply in love with Dewayne. Jacob didn't want to hide anything from him anymore. He wanted Dewayne to know everything so they could lean on each other whenever times got tough.

To be continued...

WRITER’S CORNER:

{Hey guys welcome back to another chapter of “Jacob Finding His Way”. This chapter started out with action and ended up with a familiar character we haven’t heard from in a while. There are several plots in this chapter you might be lost in if you are not reading my other three stories. Please as I keep saying you need to read the other stories in order to know exactly what is going on in this story.

Now the starting of this chapter started at the ending of “Beneath the Mask” chapter thirty one. It will go in more detail in some areas in chapter thirty two so if you saw some plots like when Franseca pulled Alex away from the door left hanging out there; it will be finished off in chapter thirty two of “Beneath the Mask”.

What is going on with Gloria? We all thought that she was ready and willing to change, but yet her first act on her first day was to cause problems with Alex. Thankfully Andy Sr. was there to stop a scene in a making. I truly believe if a scene happened, Jacob would have never forgiven his mother.

Andy Sr. set his foot down weeks ago with Gloria and here he is doing it again. This time he made it very clear that he is not going to lose his kids now that he is back in their lives. If that means not being with her to keep his kids, he is willing to do that. I really hope Gloria comes to her senses and just deals with her problems one way or another.

Later in the chapter we saw Ana, (I know it is confusing the name, but her original name was Ana and then I went to mix her up and renames her for a couple of chapters Martha, but her name is Ana.), giving Andy Sr. a promotion. Andy is working up the chain of command of his son’s and father-in-law’s business by his work habits, not because he is family. This will work in his favor because no one will ever question whether he has earned the positions that he gets.

In the last chapter I left you in a cliff hanger with someone walking in. This chapter didn’t have a cliff hanger, but don’t get use to it, LOL. Andy Jr. is back and will be living at home as he is in the military. To be honest I am glad that Andy Jr. is back because the family doesn’t have to worry about him. Now that he is back, I wonder what kind of drama he brings back to the story. I got a surprise here and you’ll just have to wait and see.

After talking to Jacob, the next day Andy Jr. talked with Chase. For the first time Chase has told someone what is going on with him. Just like my editor said, Chase needs to figure it out before he comes out the complete loser here. I kind of agree with Andy Jr. suggestion, but where will Chase find someone willing to let him explore and find himself? The majority of the guys that are gay don’t want to be used like that, at least I think. I know I and many that I know don’t.

Poor Ethan he seems to keep striking out with his love life. Jacob introduced him to Chris, but Ethan is getting a weird feeling there. Just like Jacob told him that everyone has baggage. The question for Ethan is does he want to find someone to love or not. If he does, he has to take the good with the bad that comes with that person.

Back to Ana, she got promoted. In several chapters you have seen Al starting to separate himself from the business. It isn’t that he wants to get away from it, he is just juggling so many balls, and he doesn’t want anything falling through the cracks. You need to tune in and see what else he and Jacob start up, because it will be exciting.

Many of you wrote me about Jacob and his health and why he doesn’t have health insurance. I thought I mentioned by passing that he got it after he won the lawsuit. Maybe not the minute after he won, but his grandfather got for him. But due to all the emails I have been getting, I decided to spend a little time in this chapter clearing that up. Jacob has health insurance and has had it for a while. Now Alex and his family have it so if they ever get sick, they are covered. I hope I answered many of your questions concerning that topic about health insurance. If not please drop me an email with your questions.

Also in this chapter we got to see all the characters. Marie and Greg we find out they are serious and are together. Although they are sneaking around to be with each other, they are an item. You also got to see a glimpse in David’s and Tom’s life and how much they love each other. Tom gave David his letter jacket and ring to wear. They are truly an item and they don’t care who knows that they are.

Towards the end Jacob was asked to run for class president. He declined that and then they asked him to run for student council. He didn’t say no, but he might because he can’t get his friends behind him on it. I dropped this topic to the readers in email when I posted chapter fifty six of “Jacob” on what they think. I know many of you don’t send emails yet asked to be on that list. So let me ask here where do you think this plot should go? Should Jacob run for class president or should he run for student council? Or maybe he shouldn’t run at all. Drop your comments via email on that topic.

Finally you saw Joey coming back. This plot started in “Regrets and Heartaches” chapter fourteen. It is in more detail in chapter fifteen of that story. But since it concerned both Jacob and Joey, I put it in this chapter as well. By the time this chapter is posted, chapter fourteen and fifteen of “Regrets” might have been posted if I say on the current posting. It does look like Jacob and Joey is building a friendship, but I believe it will take a while to happen. You will need to stick around and see what happens there.

As always I can go on and on about the open plots in the story! If I do that, I can actually write several more chapters. There are so many plots that can take a turn at anytime. You might think it is going to go one way, but is lands up going another. Do not miss out on anything, or you will be kicking yourself for it.

There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Stick around and keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jpg@tickiestories.us, Thanks!}

EDITOR’S CORNER:

It was great to have Andy Jr. arrive unannounced!  Andy is a great guy and will be a glue for the family, I suspect. I’m glad he’s doing well in the Army. I hope the Army has given Andy insight and shown him values he can apply to his life. 

Dear Gloria once again steps in it! What is it going to take to get her to quit being so filled with intolerance? I’m glad Andy Sr. laid it out to her in no uncertain terms. Andy Sr. has a backbone and I think he’s about at the end of his patience with Gloria’s divisive behaviors.  I still hold out hope that he will be able to get her to see what all she has going for her and for her to start to see the good in people around her.

I’m rooting and cheering for Greg and Marie. Those two came together when circumstances should have driven them apart. Greg is showing to be a truly good person. He’s treating Marie right.  I am going to enjoy seeing their relationship grow.

Ana is taking a firm grip on her new position with the McDonalds management. Her selecting Andy Sr. to succeed her as the Mesa store manager was out of the blue! It appears that Andy’s excellent work ethic and performance has done well for him. With Ana’s training and support I expect that Andy will do himself proud.

I’m glad that Chase talked to Andy Jr. Andy said just the right things to Chase regarding the dilemma Chase finds himself in.  I feel for Chase having the dragon of doubt about himself to battle. If Chase doesn’t bury his feelings, with his good friends behind him, whatever his reality is will come out and he will adjust. Yes, there will be drama, but Chase is strong and has good support.

Like author Jacob said, I don’t know how Chase can find someone to explore things with. I know that there is (and was at that time) gay males that are a bit “free” with their sexuality. Such a character hasn’t emerged in this saga as yet. Are we going to meet someone new? I hope Chase won’t go somewhere sleazy or unsafe! I suspect such places existed in El Paso during the time of the story.

What do you all think of how Jacob and Dewayne’s relationship is developing? They have weathered a lot in a short time. Their love making is maturing and getting a lot deeper in meaning. It’s about a lot more than orgasms from what I can tell……as it should be!

I hope that this message finds every one of you well and happy. Let Jacob and me hear from you. Let Jacob know if you have plot ideas! Many of the readers’ thoughts and ideas have ended up woven into the stories. Will what you come up with be the next contribution that goes into print?

Until next time,

“Daddy” Rick

Posted: 02/11/11