A Marine Called Jason
(Revised)
by: Peter

(© 2007-2015 by the Author)
 

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

Chapter 108
Trouble In Our Lives 

The boys were down for a few days after Blackburn left but they bounced back and life went on.  We had our share of troubles.  More than our share, we thought, since Kyle and Devon never really caused us any trouble.

We found some questionable reading material in Jacob’s room.  It wasn’t hard core porn but we had to deal with it; try to contain it, so to speak, and put it in context. And we didn’t want Adam and Little George exposed to it. Not yet anyway.  

We drew on Judge Thompson’s advice that he gave us in our initial conversations to keep close tabs on the boys, when the matter of trust came up and Jason naively remarked that you had to trust your kids.

“No, you do not trust kids,” the judge said emphatically. “You keep tabs on them.  You nose around their rooms.”

It was hard for us to do because we’d never done that with Kyle and Devon.  But coming from where they did, they were a different breed.

I handled the porn issue. I confiscated the two magazines and confronted Jacob with them after school. He was about to go out the door to do chores when I stopped him. 

“There’s something I want you take up to the hayloft,” I said as I pulled the magazines out of a drawer and laid them on the counter. I wasn’t angry but it was okay that he was embarrassed, and maybe a little scared.

Jacob turned pale at first, then a soft red. “It’s just pictures; they’re not actually doing anything in the pictures,” he offered.

“Close enough,” I said. “Have any of the younger boys seen these?”

“No.”

“Not that you know of,” I said. “I found them and I wasn’t even looking.  What’s to say the younger boys haven’t found them?”

“I guess nothing,” he replied meekly. “How much trouble am I in?”

I sighed, trying to keep from laughing, or even smiling.

 “You’re not in big trouble,” I said. “Look, I understand your curiosity, Jacob; I’ve been there myself.  But you can’t be so careless  with little innocent minds in your room.. So I want you to take these out to the hayloft and find a good hiding place for them.”

“Wow,” he said, heaving a sigh of relief.  “All right, I can do that.”

The drugs Jason found in Jacob’s room was the real trouble.  He was upstairs helping Jacob and Little George move furniture, rearranging their room.  I heard, “What the hell is this!”  Nolan and Jordon were outside letting off steam, wrestling around in the yard. The rest of us were in the living room watching television. Then, “Geezuss Christ, Jacob, how long has this been going on?”

Nolan and Jordan heard the ruckus and came inside. I got up to go make a pot of coffee; it sounded like we were going to need it.  The other boys followed me and we were all in the kitchen when Jason came downstairs with Jacob in tow; literally in tow, with a vise like grip on his shoulder. He looked pale. Little George was a safe distance behind and he came over closer to me when they came in the kitchen.  Jason was as angry as I’d seen him in a very long time. Angry enough that the boys cowered back.  They had never seen him this angry.

Jason slammed the plastic bag on the kitchen table and jerked Jacob front and center.

“Hear me good, boys!” he bellowed.  “I will never find this shit in my house again!  Do you understand me?!!”  There were a few weak “yes, sirs” before he continued. “If I ever find out that any of you are using this shit, you will wish you had never come here.” He jerked on Jacob’s shoulder.  “You come with me.  We’re going for a walk,” he growled as he half dragged him out the door.

There was silence in the room except for Colby getting cups out of the cupboard. 

“Man, he is pissed,” one of the boys said quietly.

“That’s not the word for it,” I said.

“What’s he gonna do to him?”

“Is he gonna hurt him?”

“Only enough to get his point across,” I said. I wasn’t sure myself what Jason might do.  Jacob came back in the house by himself.  He was still pale.

“I’m supposed to tell you I won’t be going to school next week,” he said, his head down.  Then he rushed out of the room and up the stairs.

I went out to find Jason.  He was standing in the yard with his shoulders slumped, sobbing.  I went up and laid my hand lightly on his shoulder.

“I hit him,” he sobbed.  “God help me, I hit him, twice.”

I squeezed his shoulder.  “He’ll get over it,” I said.

“I won’t.”  And he never did.

I stayed with him for a moment, till he told me, “I’m all right.  Go to him.”

I went up to Jacob’s room.  The furniture was still in disarray where they hadn’t finished rearranging it.  Jacob was sprawled on the top bunk on his stomach, sobbing.  I laid my hand on the small of his back.

“Jason is sorry he hit you. He’ll never forgive himself.”

“It wasn’t his fault. I just wanta stay, Brad,” he said, turning over.

“He just put that ball in your court.  It’s up to you what you do with it.”

He sat up then and jumped down off the bunk.

“Where’re you going?”

“To see Jason.  I need to talk to him.”

Jacob was out the door by the time I came into the kitchen.  The boys were still standing around in a daze. Colby handed me a cup of coffee.

“Where’s he going?” he asked.

“To talk to Jason.”

“What’d he do to him? What’s going to happen?”

“They’ll work past it.  We all will,” I said.

A while later, Jacob came back inside, without Jason.  Then Jason came through the door, looking sadly forlorn, almost beaten.  I could tell he was hurting inside.  Then Jacob made his mea culpa. I felt as proud of him as I felt sad for Jason.

He picked up the plastic bag off the table.  “This is bad shit,” he said.  “You all know it, and I know it.  I was stupid for using it.  I got Jason so mad, he hit me.” Jason turned away, toward me.  I handed him a cup of coffee but he waved me off.

“This is my fault,” Jacob went on.  “Even Jason hitting me is my fault ‘cause I got him that mad.  He did it because he cares about me, because he loves me. He loves us all, him and Brad, and I’m here to tell you right now, if I ever find out any of you are doing this shit……”  He held up the bag.  “…..I will personally kick the shit out of you.  That includes you, Colby, and you, Braden. And you, Nolan. And if I can’t get the job done, Jason will help me.” 

That brought some laughter and eased the tension in the room but Jacob wasn’t laughing. Neither was Nolan, I noticed. It turned somber again.  “Don’t ever do this to them,” he said pointing a finger at Jason and me. “Don’t ever make them so mad they feel like they have to hit you to straighten you out. They don’t deserve that kind of treatment from us.  You hear me?!   Don’t ever……!”  He choked up then and rushed over to Jason.  He threw his arms around him and sobbed into his chest. “I’m really sorry, Jason. I will never disappoint you again.”

Jason was already teared up and tears ran down his face.  “We’re okay, Jacob.  We’re okay,” he said as he hugged the boy close. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.  “And I promise I will never, ever hit you again,” he said, choking on his words.  “I will never hit any of you.”

We never had another problem with Jacob.

As it turned out, we shouldn’t have had the problem with Jacob in the first place.  None of it was his doing.  I went to the barn early that evening and was approaching the feed room when I heard low voices.  I paused to listen more closely it was Jacob and Nolan.

“Why’d you do that, stick up for me like that?” Nolan asked.

“I didn’t stick up for you, I covered for you.  Why didn’t you stick up for me?”

“I….I couldn’t. I wanted to but I just couldn’t. I’m always the one in trouble around here and if he knew the truth….I was afraid he would send me packing.”

“And you didn’t give a shit if I got sent away?” Jacob said.

“I did, Jacob, but I knew you could make it right, somehow.”

“He hit me, dammit! Twice! I’ve never seen him so mad.  He scared me. You made him do that, Nolan, and you didn’t have the balls to stand up and take the blame for any of it. Why’d you hide your shit in my room anyway?”

“I figured they’d never snoop around your room for drugs with the little kids in there with you.”

“So, when are you gonna find your balls and own up to it? I feel like shit all the time because they think I let them down. Things are never going to be the same between me and them unless they know the truth.”

“Why didn’t you tell them the truth?” Nolan asked.

“I thought you would. But when you didn’t, well, things went too far and there was no backing out.  I’d already taken the blame.”

I was sick, and angry. Jason would be, too, on top of being livid. I could almost picture his rage and I feared for Nolan but I couldn’t let it pass.  When I rounded the corner and appeared at the door of the feed room, Nolan blanched. Jacob had a dead-pan look.

I said simply, “Finish your chores; we’ll talk about this after supper,” and walked away.

They took longer than usual with chores.  The other boys were gathering around the table when Jacob came in.

“Where’s Nolan?” I asked.

“He was heading this way before I left the barn,” Jacob said.

“Shit!” I swore softly as I headed for the door. I saw him running down the lane.

“What?” Jason asked, following me.

“Get your boots on,” I said.  “He’s run away.   Damn, somebody just picked him up!” I grabbed the truck keys and ran out the door.  Jason was in the truck by the time I had it started and backed out.

“What the hell’s going on?” Jason demanded.

“You’ll find out.” I tore down the lane, gravel flying behind me, and swerved out on the road.

“Did you see the vehicle that picked him up?”

“It was a pickup; I couldn’t make out the color,” I replied.

Around two curves there was a pickup some distance ahead. I floored it. Closer, I started honking.  The driver slowed a little as he looked back, then he speeded up.

“Cut him off,” Jason said.

I roared past the truck and slowed.  When he started around me I swerved across the road and stopped. The other pickup skidded in the gravel and came to a jolting halt half off the road. Jason jumped out and ran to the truck as the guy was getting out.

“What the hell are you doing!” the driver demanded.

Jason shoved past him and strode up to the open door.  “Out,” he barked at Nolan, cowering against the opposite door.

“Hey, I was just giving the kid a lift,” the driver said.

“I know.  You’re not in trouble; he is.  OUT!” he barked louder. “NOW! Before I haul your ass out of there!”

Fear-struck, Nolan climbed out of the truck.  He tried to shy away from Jason but he collared him by the neck and took him to his pickup.

“You’re okay,” I told the other driver as I went back to the truck.

“I don’t know what the hell’s going on but I’m getting tired of hauling your ass back,” Jason growled.

“You didn’t tell him?” Nolan asked timidly.

“No, I’m going to let you tell him,” I said.

I parked the truck off the road and we sat there for a brief moment.

“Well?” Jason said.

Nolan started crying. 

“Why’d you run away?” Jason asked in a gentle tone, laying his hand on the boy’s back.

“Brad found my drugs,” he sobbed.

“What? Your drugs? Jacob…….”

“They weren’t Jacob’s drugs.  They were mine.  I hid them in his room because I didn’t think anybody would ever suspect him of doing drugs and you would be nosing around his room.”

“And you stood by and let him take the blame?” Jason asked, in the same quiet tone, but there was a quiver in his voice.

There was an agonizing silence and I prayed, Dear God, don’t let him explode.

“Son-of-a-bitch,” Jason swore softly as he suddenly got out of the truck. He slammed the door and kicked the side of the bed so hard it rocked the vehicle.

“What’s he gonna do?” Nolan asked fearfully.

“He won’t hit you,” I said.  “He said he would never hit any of you boys and he won’t go back on that.  I might, though,” I added.

Jason circled the truck till he was in front.

“Son-of-a-fuckin’-bitch,” he yelled as he slammed his fists on the hood.  “Where did I go wrong with you, Nolan!  How do I reach you!”

“He’s never done anything wrong with me,” Nolan said, his voice panicky.  “He’s been nothing but good to me.”

“You need to tell him that,” I said.

“I can’t.  I’ve hurt him so bad, I can’t face him.”

“You better find your balls, son,” I said. I reached over and opened the door.  He hesitated for a long moment.

“This is between you and him.  Get it straightened out,” I said.

He climbed out of the truck and closed the door but stood there for a moment.  He looked at me, saw no sympathy there, then moved slowly toward Jason. I couldn’t hear what was being said but it was only a moment before they were in a tight bear hug.  They came around to the side and climbed in, Nolan in the middle.  He sat hunched over, his head in his hands.  Jason stared out the window.  Nothing was said all the way home. 

Back home, Jason got out of the truck and held the door open for Nolan. “Inside.  The others are going to hear this,” he said.

The boys were eating when we went in. Everything stopped and forks were laid down, or dropped. Nolan took his place at the table while Jason and I fixed three plates.

“I’m not hungry,” Nolan said when I set his plate in front of him. I left the plate there.

“Okay, Nolan’s got something he wants to tell you,” Jason said.

They all looked at Nolan. 

“The drugs were mine,” he said quietly, staring at his plate.

Jason stared at him. “Talk to them, not your plate,” he said.

“Yes, sir.”

“I brought the drugs into the house,” he said.

“And hid them in Jacob’s room,” Jason finished for him in a calm but still-angry tone.

“Yes, sir.”

“And? This is your story, Nolan.”

“I hid them in Jacob’s room because he’s got the little ones in there and I didn’t think anybody would go looking in there. And I let Jacob take the blame.”

“Anything you wanta say to Jacob?” Jason asked. 

“Yes, sir.  I’m sorry.”

“Look at him when you say that,” Jason said.

It was visibly hard for him to face Jacob.  “I’m sorry, Jacob.”

Jacob remained stone-faced.

Suddenly Nolan shoved his chair back and went over and stood at Jason’s chair.  “You can hit me, Uncle Jason. I deserve it; Jacob didn’t.”

Jason reached out and put his arm around the boy’s back.  “I said I would never hit any of you again.”

Nolan turned to Jacob.  “Then you can hit me, Jacob. Twice, like you got it.”

There was a couple seconds hesitation before Jacob stood up from the table, I thought, to give Nolan a hug. 

Instead…., “Damn right,” he said and slugged Nolan so hard he went sailing backwards on the floor. “Once’ll do it,” he growled then walked out of the house.

Shock reigned in the room. I was dumbfounded; Jason was wide-eyed, the other boys didn’t know whether to laugh or what.

I got up to get a wet cloth for Nolan’s bloody nose while Jason, without getting up out of his chair, reached down to pull Nolan to his feet.

“Don’t forget you asked for that,” he said dryly as I was holding the cloth to the boy’s nose.

Nolan nodded. He wasn’t mad.  I think he was too dazed to be anything but surprised.

“He sure hits hard,” he said, finally. The boys broke out laughing and quickly, Nolan was laughing with them.

“Soon as you get the blood stopped, Nolan and I are going into town,” Jason said to me.

I didn’t ask why.

Shortly after Jason left with Nolan, Jacob came back inside.  Everyone was quiet as he strode up and sat down and started eating his supper. He took several bites then looked all around the table. “Any of you ever brings drugs in this house, you’re getting the same thing. That includes you, too,” he said, pointing his fork at Braden and Colby.  “You may be bigger than me but I’ll smack you with a two-by-four while you’re sleeping.”

Nobody said a word.

Jason returned after about an hour, alone.

“Where’s Nolan?”

“He’s in jail.”

I stifled a gasp.

“What….charges?” Braden asked hesitantly.

“Possession of illegal drugs, what do you think?” Jason replied.

“How….long….do you think he’ll be there?” Colby asked.

“That’ll be up to Judge Thompson.”

When supper was over everyone scooted up to bed. They seemed to steer clear of Jacob.

When Jason and I were doing the dishes I asked him, “How long do you think he’ll be there?”

“The judge will call me in the morning, we’ll decide then. There are no charges filed; it’s just a tactic to scare the hell out of him.”

The thing that got Little George in trouble was, he stole something. That took us by surprise; we thought it would’ve been Nolan to do something like that but he seemed to have straightened up after spending the night and most of the next day in jail. We had come back from town and just inside the kitchen a magazine fell out of his jacket; Playboy. It might have been amusing except that I knew instinctively that he’d stolen it.

I picked it up before he could.  “Where’d you get this?” I asked.

“I saw Billy in town and he sneaked it to me.”

Jacob jumped on it before I could.  “You’re lying, Little George. If you got it from another guy it would be tattered, and the pages would be stuck together.”

Little George was standing funny and I pulled him to me by the front of his jacket.  “What else are you hiding?” I asked, feeling his pockets.  I found a harmonica.  “Little George, I am so ashamed of you, and so disappointed,” I said, trying my best not to get angry. “You know you’re going to have to return these things and make it right.”

“We’ll take care of it,” Colby chimed in.

“Yeah,” Braden agreed.  “We’ve been there, done that, we know how to handle it.”  He glanced at Nolan.  “You could come along, too.”

We let Colby and Braden and Nolan take Little George right back into town.  We waited.  It was some time later when we heard them coming up on the porch.  Things had not been completely resolved.

“I don’t know why I had to pay for it when I gave it back,” Little George was complaining.

“Because you stole it, you little jerk.”

“And I had to pay double for the harmonica,” Little George whined as they were coming in the door. 

“Did you get it straightened out?” Jason asked.

“I had to pay for the stupid magazine even though I took it back.  And they made me pay double for the harmonica.”

“You’re lucky we didn’t make you give it back, too,” Colby said.  “And by the way,” he said to us, “We’ll need to drive to school next week.  Little George will be working at the drug store after school, sweeping and mopping the floor and we’ll have to pick him up.”

I could tell Little George was on the verge of crying. Suddenly he burst out in sobs.  “I’m sorry I stole stuff, but it’s not fair.  Colby and Braden stole televisions and stereos and they didn’t get in this much trouble. And Nolan brought drugs in the house. It’s not fair.”

He was the most pitiful thing I ever saw, standing there with all of us, so alone, crying and sobbing. I wanted so bad to pick him up and hold him, but Colby beat me to it. He knelt down and pulled the boy into his arms so he could cry on his shoulder.

“That’s the whole point, Little George. Trust me, we didn’t get by with anything. Jason all but stomped our butts in the ground.  We just don’t want you to think you can get by with stuff and get in real trouble like we did.”

Braden chimed in.  “If somebody had caught us and made us take it back and pay double for the little shit we stole we wouldn’t have stole televisions.”

Jordan got in trouble when a girl’s parents thought he was getting a little too friendly with their daughter. I happened to answer the phone when her father called when we were eating supper. I listened, then, “Thanks for calling, I will be getting back to you.”

“Who was that?” Jason asked.

“Some girl’s father.  A girl named Kathy.  Do you know a girl named Kathy?” I asked Jordan. I first thought I would take him outside to discuss the matter but then thought better of it.  It would be good for the other boys to hear it. We had not kept the others’ secrets. 

“I know her,” he said.

“How well do you know her?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“Her father seems to think you know her pretty well.”

Jordan’s face started turning. 

“I said I would call him back.  What am I supposed to say to him?” I asked.

Jordan dropped his head.  “Okay, it was the day I missed the bus and you had to come and get me.  I told you it was detention but I lied. I went to her house right after school.”  He sighed.  “I get kidded a lot about my tattoo.  Some guys noticed it in the locker room when I was bent over drying my legs.  They all think it’s neat and they started telling some girls about it.  Kathy was asking me about it and said she would like to see it. She made it sound….well, sexy….and said I could come to her house and show it to her. Well that sounded even sexier.  Her parents wouldn’t be home, they were working.”

“You surely realized where that could lead, baring your butt to a girl,” I said. 

“I did, but I didn’t care.  I really didn’t have sex in mind till we were in her house alone and we were going up to her room. Then it hit me, what an opportunity it was.  I almost left, but then we were in her room and she was undoing my belt, and I sort of froze.  Anyway, I showed her my tattoo.”

“Did she like it?” I asked.

“She thought it was neat.”

“So, you showed her your tattoo…..”  When he didn’t reply right away I said, “Please tell me you used a condom, Jordan.”

“No, no!  Nothing else happened!” he said quickly.  “She didn’t even see anything else. I realized it was a great opportunity but I was scared her parents would come home early.  She wanted me to stay but I told her I didn’t have a condom.  She said she could get one of her dad’s.”

I blinked.  “Oh, really.”

“Yeah, but when she went to get it I pulled up my pants and shorts….I was dressed when she came back.”

“Well, I guess that’s all I need to know.”  I went to the phone to return the man’s call.  He was still very irate and said he didn’t think I would call him back.

“I’ve talked to Jordan. There was no real intention of having sex when your daughter invited him to your house, at least not on Jordan’s part. She wanted to see his tattoo….yes, he has a tattoo on his butt….why don’t you ask her about the tattoo.”  I paused for a moment to let him continue to rant.  “He saw the opportunity but he was scared. You will be happy to know, though, that your daughter acted responsibly, she offered to get one of your condoms for him.”

Dead silence.  Then a click.

“He hung up on me.”  I heard giggling in the living room.

“You see, Little George?” I heard Colby say.  “You get in trouble you get reamed.  But you do the right thing, they defend you every time.”

“Why’re you always talking to me, like I’m the only one who gets in trouble around here?”

They moaned that it was too early when we sent them off to bed.  Maybe it was but Jason and I needed some alone time.

“Come on, we’ll shower tonight and play drop the soap,” I heard one of them say. 

“No, No, not drop the soap again.  Moleste! Moleste!” another yelled out to everyone’s laughter.

Jason shook his head, laughing.  “What’d we ever do to deserve this?”

Braden and Colby didn’t cause us any more real trouble except for their wild carousing around.  It was their reputation that followed them and caused the trouble.  We never thought much about it the first time the sheriff came out to question Colby and Braden about some petty crime that’d happened in town.  They had a solid alibi; they were home with us. Then it happened again.

We were all outside when the sheriff’s car drove up.  The boys were taking advantage of the last days of fall in a rousing game of football.  Jason stood down on the top step as the sheriff got out of his car.  I stood at the porch railing. The football game stopped and the boys gathered closer to the porch.

“Need to talk to your boys again,” the sheriff said.

“What about?”  Jason asked.

“There was a robbery at the gas station convenience store……”  He was directing his question at Colby and Braden. He didn’t get it finished.

“I asked the question, sheriff, you talk to me,” Jason cut in sternly.  “When was it?”

The sheriff turned back to Jason. “Last Wednesday night, around eleven o’clock, closing time.”

“None of these boys were off the place any night last week,” Jason said as he moved down to the bottom step.

I knew he was going to handle it but I was seeing red and I jumped in first. I walked down past Jason and stood in front of the sheriff in a face off. 

“Sheriff, this is the second time you’ve been out here to question these boys, with no good reason as far as I can tell,” I said as I moved past him to his car.  “Next time you’d better come with some evidence, or you and me and my lawyer are going to be standing in front of Judge Thompson.”  I went over and opened his car door and held it open for him.

He was taken aback and embarrassed and didn’t know what to say. Wisely, he didn’t say anything.  He tilted his hat with a nod and got in his car.  I closed the door.  He backed up and drove off.  The boys stood silent for a moment then they started cheering.

Nolan’s next contribution to our troubled lives was when he took off with Jason’s pickup one day after school.  I noticed it was gone from its parking spot, but Jason was in the shower, getting ready to go to work, and a quick headcount revealed that Nolan was missing.

“Oh, shit,” I murmured to myself.

Jason came down, his usual upbeat self.  He loved his job and was always anxious to go to work. 

“Hey, where’s my truck?” he asked, glancing out the window.

“I think Nolan’s got it,” I said.

“What!”

“Well, he’s the only one not accounted for.”

“That little shit!  I’ll kill him!”

“Take mine,” I said, tossing him my keys.

“When he comes back….if he does……”

“I’ll take care of it. I’ll call you,” I said.

It was late in the day when the big Ram came up the lane. We were about to sit down to supper.  Nolan came bounding up on the porch and in the door.

“I know I’m in trouble,” he said.

“That would be an understatement,” I said.

“Does Jason know I took it?”

“Well, it was gone when he was ready to go to work, and you were missing,” Colby said sarcastically, “so he naturally drew that conclusion, you dope.  What the hell made you do such a dumb thing?”

“I don’t know.  It was just sitting there….it’s such a beautiful truck. It was like it just drew me to it.  I’ve driven it before, you know.”

“It’ll probably be the last time,” Jordan said. “You are really stupid, Nolan.”

“What do you think he’ll do?” Nolan asked me.

“I don’t know,” I said with a doubtful look. “He was pissed, I can tell you that.  And it’s not like you behavior has been stellar of late.” 

“He said he would never hit any of us,” Nolan said.

I got up and went into the dining room, to the desk.  I returned to the table with some papers.  This could be another learning experience, I thought.  I laid the bill of sale in front of Nolan.  “See that?” I said, pointing to the bottom live price.

“Yeah. Wow, he paid a bundle for it.”

I shoved the insurance policy in front of him. “This is what we pay every six months for insurance,” I said. “It says very clearly in there that the coverage is valid only for licensed drivers, which you are not.  So the whole time you were joy riding in Jason’s beautiful truck, this policy was not in force.  If you had wrecked it…….”  I threw up my hands. ‘

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no, sorry just doesn’t cut it anymore for you.  If you had wrecked it the insurance wouldn’t have paid for the truck.  If you had caused other damage, like plowed through a fence or into somebody’s house, we would’ve been responsible for the damage.  Out of pocket, because the insurance was not in effect. If, God forbid, you’d hit another vehicle and killed somebody, we--Jason and me, not you--would be held responsible.  There would be a lawsuit.  And since there was no insurance, we would lose everything. This house, the land, our savings, probably our earnings for years to come.  You boys would end up in foster homes because we would have no place for you.  Last, and not least, it’ll probably be a cold day in hell before you ever get behind the wheel of one of our vehicles.”

“Man, Nolan you were really stupid,” Little George said.

“Are you going to tell Jason?  I mean, that I really was the one who took his truck.”

“No, of course not,” I said with a scowl.  “You are.”

I called Jason at work to tell him his truck was back.

“Driven or towed?” he asked.

“Driven.  It’s okay,” I assured him.

“Okay, thanks.”

I told him how I’d handled the situation and the rest would be up to him.  I told him Nolan was scared shitless.  He said good.  Nolan was sweating blood and next day was Saturday, so Jason wouldn’t be leaving to go to work. It was classic, the way Jason handled it.  He never said a word.  Everyone was waiting with baited breath, even me. But not a word.

Later in the afternoon he tossed his keys to Nolan.  “You wanta run into town to the feed mill and pick up the feed order?”

Nolan reared back with a surprised scowl.  “No!” he said emphatically.

“Why not?”

“I don’t have a license.”

“So?  You’re a good driver.”

“But the insurance wouldn’t be any good.”

“Oh.  I guess I never thought of that.  Good thinking.”

That was the last it was mentioned as far as I knew.

Adam, I have to say, never caused us any trouble.  I don’t know how he managed, with the influence of the other boys all around him. Maybe he took note and learned from their mistakes.

It was a stormy night, and Jason and I had just finished making passionate love--yeah, we still did that--and we were lying in the aftermath talking about our houseful of boys.  They had taken on distinct personalities as we got to know them, and that caused feelings to develop. 

 "You know, we never talked about the end game with these boys," Jason said.

 "What do you mean, the end game?" I asked.

 "Where it ends.  Where we leave off and they go off on their own."

 "They leave when they're ready.  Or when you tell them they're ready," I added with a chuckle.

 "What's that about?  You're laughing,” he said.

 "They'll probably be afraid to just strike out on their own till you tell them it's okay, afraid you'll come after them,” I said.

 "I care about ‘em, Brad.  Too damned much.  I try not to, but I find myself thinking of them as my own, just like Devon.  And so do you, you can't deny it."

 "But you're the authority figure. You’re gruffer than me.” He laughed. “You're the one they know will decide when they are ready to leave. It's too far down the road to worry about right now," I said as I turned onto my side with my back to him.  I snuggled back against him as he spooned me. 

 We were barely asleep when we came awake to a light tapping on the door, then a little voice, "Uncle Jason."  It was Little George.  I didn’t know exactly when, or why, but the boys were calling us uncle now.

 Jason rose up.  "What is it, Little George?"  I sat up too.

"It's Nolan.  He's shaking and crying. Well, he's kinda crying, it's more like he's breathing funny, like he's scared or something. He didn't want me to come and tell you."

 Jason got up and went to check on him.  I stayed in bed and told Little George to stay too.  Jason was back in a few minutes.

 "He went to the bathroom, I told him to come in here,” he said.

  "What's the matter?  Is he scared of storms?" I asked.

 "He said no.  But I think the storm's caused a throwback to something that happened, he just won't tell me.  Or maybe he doesn't remember."

 "Or doesn't want to," I said.

 "Do you want me to go back to my room now?" Little George asked.

"Just to get your blanket, then come back in here," I said.  He smiled and rushed off, leaving me with Jason's questioning look. 

"I think it's better if we have Little George in here with us,” I said.

"He would never harm Little George," Brad said with a scowl.

"No I meant better if we're not alone in here with Nolan," I said.     

The boy came bounding in with his blanket and seeing the space on Jason’s side of the bed he crawled into it.  Nolan came in wearing his tiny briefs that resembled a band-aid bulging with his oversized manhood. 

 "I'm okay, sometimes really bad storms make me a little crazy," he said.

 I lifted the covers on my side of the bed and motioned to him.  Looking at the boy, I was glad I'd told Little George to join us.

 "No, really, it's okay, besides I'm too old to….."

 "You're never too old to have someone care about you, Nolan," Jason said in his gruff tone.  "Close the door, the other boys won't know.  And Little George won't tell."

 That was all the convincing it took.  He went back to close the door.  When he came to the side of the bed he could see that I was naked--he already knew that Jason was naked--and I held my breath waiting to see if he took off his shorts. He didn't and I was both disappointed and relieved.  I moved over, back to back with Jason, and the oversized boy climbed in beside me with his back to me.  There was no room for much space between us and I didn't even try.  I laid my arm over him and spooned his lithe, muscular young body and he snuggled back against me.  He was still trembling.

 I would like to say that I was completely in control but his body against mine aroused me.  He wasn't asleep yet and I knew he was aware of my cock against the small of his back.  There was nothing sexual about it.  The boy needed this. I laid my arm over him and squeezed his chest.  He grunted and took hold of my hand.

To be continued...

Posted: 06/05/15 rp