Companions All by Will B

Cousins All
by: Will B
(© 2007 by the Author)
Advisor: E Walk

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

Jason and Nicky: You have found love with each other

and now together you soar on eagle’s wings in endless space.

We miss you, we miss your love and your wit

May peace and light fill your days.

From Chapter 13: Pete and Joe were in bed and Pete was spooning Joe. “The Lombardis are such nice people. I know they want to adopt Tony, and when we get to work Monday morning, I’m going to see if there’s anything I can do to speed up the paperwork,” Joe said.

The Fellowship of the Singers

It was July 10 and a large group of cousins and friends had gone to the cabin at the lake. Al and Steve had invited them to come up and stay for a couple of days. Young Al and his partner Mark were there. Pete and Joe were there and had been told they could bring their former tenants, soon to be their adopted sons, Mac and Buddy. Matt and Gary were also there.

The men spent their days talking about the musical programs they would be presenting and also what music they might perform at the Lombardis’ block party in a few weeks. .

One afternoon Al and Mark were talking to Matt and Gary. “You said you might consider renting an apartment if you found the right tenants,” Al said.

“That’s right, and from what you said, we thought you might be interested,” Gary replied. “Matt and I like the idea of having someone like yourself who we have known for a long time as one of the tenants, and of course, Mark would be a good tenant also.”

“We wouldn’t want tenants who might turn out to be into drugs or binge drinking,” Matt added.

“No, Matt, no danger of that,” Mark said. “Just a cold beer at the end of the day.”

“And, no wild parties—unless we are invited! Heh heh,” Gary said with a pseudo-solemn look on his face.

“Uh, well, you might as well know,” Al began. “When we party it’s just the two of us, and we might be wild, but only to, with, and for each other!” Al reached over and took Mark’s hand.

“Those are absolutely the best kind. We like those kind too,” Matt said, and he took Gary’s hand and squeezed it.

Meanwhile, Al, Sr. and his partner, Steve Green, were talking to Mac and Buddy. “We met you two at Jim and Steve’s Commitment Ceremony, and we’re glad to have this chance to get to know you a little better,” Al said.

“Since Buddy and I have come to Baltimore, our lives have changed so much! It’s been wonderful!” Mac said.

Steve asked, “We know you have won full scholarships to college and medical school. Have you decided yet what your fields will be?”

“No, sir. Right now we just want to go into medicine in a way that will help people, not spend our time in a laboratory,” Buddy responded, and he put his arm around Mac’s shoulder.

Al said with some diffidence, “Might I ask if you two are . . . are . . . a couple?”

“You bet!” Both young men answered in unison. “We have been talking about formally committing ourselves to each other,” Mac added, with a smile.

“That’s a big step, guys, and I would just like to say that Al and I were a couple for two years before we took the plunge. We came up to the lake, and under the light of a full moon, we pledged ourselves, each to the other, to be faithful, to cherish each other, to help each other, and to support each other. We read the 13^th Chapter of First Corinthians, aloud, in unison, and then we each said a prayer.”

“When two people commit their lives to each other, and do it in love, it is a beautiful ceremony, whether it is a simple, private one, like ours, or a more formal ceremony, like the one Jim and Steve had,” Al said.

“We had our problems, like any couples have, but we worked to solve them together, and I, for one, have not regretted it for a minute,” said Steve.

“Nor I, my dear life’s companion,” said Al. The two men looked at each other with such love, and then, right in front of Mac and Buddy, they kissed each other so tenderly, so lovingly, it brought tears to the eyes of the two younger men.

A little distance from the others, Pete and Joe were on the small beach, lying on their backs, remembering that summer, so long ago, when they had met at their grandmother’s house in the country, and had remembered their first sexual encounters with each other (See Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 of “Friends All”).

“I remember the first time we fed each other our sweet stud syrups,” said Pete.

“Oh, my love, I remember that whole summer well. I remember how surprised we were when our Grandmother told us we would have to stay in the little house away from the farm house—just the two of us! Oh, those were the days—and nights!” said Pete.

After a simple supper of hot dogs and baked beans, cooked on the outer grill, and cole slaw, Al, Sr. said, “I don’t think any of our neighbors have come to the lake at this time. I think we might have a little swimming party—and not bother with swim suits!”

There were some “ooooohs,” and cheers as the eight men went into the house to shed their clothes and get some towels.

Grandpa Al and Granddad Steve said, “OK, we’re all ready. Last one in is a chicken—and the last one out of the water will be a wrinkled prune. Let’s go.”

And so, eight men, in all their glory, dashed down to the water and spent a pleasant evening swimming, diving, splashing, joking and laughing, and if a little surreptitious hugging, kissing and groping went on between each couple, well what can you expect on such a beautiful evening in July?

The Two Powers

It was the evening of July 10. Rosa, Luigi and Tony had been invited to the home of John, Mary and Rosa di Napoli for supper.

John di Napoli, age 40, Rosa’s father; worked at the Bethlehem Steel Plant at Sparrows Point. His wife, Maria, was 38. John had a workshop in his basement where he made articles from wood.

John and Mary had been friends with the Lombardis for ten years or more. Their friendship had been tempered and strengthened by the crises that the two families had suffered. When Mary di Napoli had had a miscarriage, it was Rosa Lombardi who comforted her—not with words, but just by being there and letting Mary cry.

When Rosa and Luigi’s son Anthony had died, it was Mary who came to the house and fixed simple meals for the grieving parents. John, with the help of a couple of friends from the Plant, had worked two days, practically non-stop, to make a beautiful coffin for the young boy to be laid out in. He had gone to the local undertaker and paid for the satin lining of the coffin.

After supper Rosa and Mary were talking in the kitchen. “Your Tony seems to be a fine young man,” Mary said. “He and our Rosa seem to like each other very much.”

“Yes,” Mama Rosa said. “We hope that our petition to adopt him will be approved soon.”

“There’s just one thing, Rosa. John and I have always hoped that Mary would grow up and marry a nice Catholic boy. Has Tony said anything about wanting to convert?”

“No, and we haven’t forced the issue. Before he came to us, he was living in some place that called itself a church, but it was nothing but a place where children were treated as slaves working in a sweat-shop,” Rosa replied.

“No, Tony told us that the children were forced to go out and sell flowers and they couldn’t come home until they had made a certain amount of money. He told Luigi that he suspected that some of the older children— both boys and girls—were raising the needed sums by selling their bodies.”

“Anyhow, Mary, Luigi and I decided we would not force Tony to be baptized in the Faith. He has to want to do it without any pressure from us. He does go to mass with us once in a while, and he is looking forward to starting school at St. Joseph’s in September. We’ll just have to wait and hope—and pray!” Mama Rosa explained.

“Well, my dear friend, I hope Tony turns out to be a nice Catholic boy, and if things should work out, well, I hope . . . . ,” Mary said with a twinkle in her eye.

“I hope so, too,” Mama said, “But I think we will say nothing about this to Luigi or John. John will say that his Rosa is too young, and Luigi will agree.”

In the basement workshop Luigi had told John about the threats Mama had received, and what the police had done about it.

John looked thoughtful, and said, “Luigi, I like your Tony, and if he and Rosa want to go to the movies once in a while, I have no objection, but I think it would be best if you or I would drive them to the movies and pick them up.”

“I agree, John, and I must say, I think they will want to go to the movies again - and again – and again. I fact, it would not surprise me if some day they would . . . fall in love! So there, I’ve said it.”

“Well, Luigi, from things our Rosa has said, I think you may well be right. But we had better not say anything about this to our wives. They’ll be planning a wedding before the kids are finished high school. They are always planning ahead. You know what women are like,” said John as one happily married man to another.

John showed Luigi a beautiful maple chest, two feet deep, three feet wide and four feet long. In the middle of the lid, were carved the initials “R” “di” “N.”

“It’s beautiful, John. What is it for, if I may ask?” Luigi said, even though he had a pretty good idea what it was for.

“Oh, you know a young girl might like to start to collect her linens, embroidered pillow cases and things like that. I just want my Rosa to have something beautiful to store them in. My Mary brought such a chest to our home when we were married. We are still using some of the towels. Oh, you know. . . .”

“Yes, my friend, I know, and I know what you said about not saying anything to our wives about Tony and Rosa in case they started planning . . . not that YOU are planning anything, are you? . . . Hah! Hah! Hah!”

Upstairs in the living room Tony and Rosa were seated side by side on the couch watching television. They would have told you they were watching Jeopardy®, but in truth they were sitting side by side, each with his or her own thoughts.

“I’d like to put my arm around her,” Tony thought, ‘But what if one of our parents should come into the room?’

“Listen, Rosa, you heard our parents talking about the threats we have had from that creep,” Tony said. “Promise me that if ever you are coming toward the store, and you see a strange man going in the shop, turn around, and go straight home. Do you understand?”

“Why, Tony Jones, are you giving me orders?” Rosa asked, secretly pleased that he was being so firm.

“Oh, no, . .no, . . . well, yes, I am, Rosa. I’m giving you these orders because I . . .I . . . I care about you,” Tony managed to stammer out.

“Rosa, you . . .you . . .” Tony said no more because something swept over him as he saw Rosa close her eyes and lift her face to his. He closed his eyes and he moved his head toward hers . . . closer . . . closer . . . He puckered his lips and . . . and . . .

“Tony, it’s time for us to be leaving,” his mother called from the other room.

Tony and Rosa opened their eyes, and looked at each other, and then Rosa put her arms around Tony’s neck, and planted a big kiss right on his lips. Not a gentle butterfly kiss, either!

”You’re my hero, Tony, and now I am ‘ordering’ you to take care of yourself,” Rosa said firmly.

They smiled at each other. A lot of ideas had been communicated and understood, by Tony and Rosa, without any words being spoken that beautiful evening in July.

The Return of the Ring Wearers

The same evening, July 10, saw the return of Steve Johnson and Jim Smith to their apartment from their ‘honeymoon.’

They had picked up their mail from their mailbox and now Jim was looking at a letter. “Listen to this, Steve,” he told his life partner. “I’m being asked to be on a committee to plan a curriculum for teaching about AIDS to students in the 6^th and 7^th grades, and oh, . . . No!”

“What’s wrong, my love? Don’t you think it’s a good idea?” Steve asked.

“Of course I do, but the chairman of the committee, Ed Baker, is an old stick-in-the-mud who probably thinks that youngsters that age don’t need to know about AIDS because ‘they’re too young to be sexually active!’ Bull-hockey!”

“I would think that it would be better to prepare young people BEFORE they are sexually active,” said Steve. “When is the first meeting of this committee?”

“A week from today. I wonder if Matt and Gary would know any young people who have been infected with HIV. I’d like to bring them to the committee meeting to tell their stories.”

Sounds like a good idea, Jim. . . . Well, I think I’m gonna take a shower. It was a long drive, and I’m kinda tired.”

“Hmmmm! Well, maybe after I get in the shower I won’t be as tired as I thought I was,” Jim said, and got a leering look on his face.

Jim went into the bedroom and stripped down to his boxer briefs, which fit over his tight, muscular posterior to a tee.

He was standing at the sink in the bathroom, when he sensed Steve coming into the room behind him. A pair of arms reached around Jim’s upper body, and a pair of hands began tweaking his nipples. Turning his head he saw Steve standing there, completely naked, except for a mask that covered his face so that only his eyes and mouth were visible.

“Relax, you! I am Billy Ballbuster, the horny bandit, and I have come to work my wicked way with you . . . heh heh heh,” Steve said.

Jim turned around, and then he felt Steve’s hands moving lower and lower until they reached the waistband of his briefs. Slowly the nimble fingers of ‘Billy Ballbuster’ worked the band down an inch.

Again, Jim felt the warm breath over his exposed butt, and he felt some gentle kisses on the smooth orbs.

Now the fingers pulled the briefs all the way off; they fell to the floor, and Jim stepped out of them.

Again the warm breaths, and again the kisses came faster, and a little more furiously. The fingers turned Jim’s body around, so that Steve’s head was on a level with Jim’s pubes.

More breaths, and more kisses, and then Steve said. “I’m thirsty, and I want one of your special ‘man-milk’ shakes. Come on, big boy, slake my thirst. Coat my tonsils!”

Of course, Jim was in great fear for his life (or his virtue: heh heh heh), and he hastened to follow the ‘horny bandit’s’ instructions.

All thoughts of tiredness vanished, and Jim surrendered (perfectly willingly) to the ‘wicked ways” of his life partner. And so it continued, for a good long time, that beautiful July night.

Author’s comments: Poor demented soul that I am, I challenge any of my readers to tell me from whence I derived the titles of the section headings.

Editor’s Comment: All I can say is, it is July 10 and love is busting out all over. First you had True Love, then it was Puppy Love and finally New Love. E

Positively the last word from the author: Ed is like Mighty Mouse. He has truly come to save the day. I thought I would be late getting this to Chuck, because I was late finishing the chapter, but my dear elder brother made his corrections and suggestions and got it back to me in time! Bless him! WB