[b]25
FIGHT OR BE TIGHT?
Jeff goes to Sean’s house after school the next day. They can’t stop talking about the game as they take a dip in the pool. Sean gets interrupted with a phone call. Answering the phone as he dries off, “Sean’s Web.”
“Hi Sean! It’s Roxanne.”
“Sounds like you’re in a good mood.”
“Yeah. I talked to a friend about you dating a nudist.”
“Oh! Go on, Roxanne.”
“Her response shocked me. She talked the same way as you.”
“How about that!”
“Sean, it turns out she’s a nudist too.”
“Naturist.”
“Whatever.”
“So you’re accepting my invitation!”
“No. No. No. I’m just not mad at you anymore. Well, I’m angry, but not about that.”
“Roxanne, thanks for filling me in. Take good care of yourself.”
After swimming some more, they both enter the shower together without a second thought. Sean then comments, “You get into this touchy feely stuff so naturally.”
Proudly and pleasantly, Jeff replies, “Yeah, I’m a master.”
“So you’ve had experience before me.”
“Yes, Sean. I used to do this stuff with a friend on sleepovers. Not in the shower, but in bed.”
“A friend your age then?”
“Yeah.”
“Your idea or his idea?”
Lathering up Sean’s penis, “That’s hard to say. Sometimes I took things farther, sometimes he did.”
“So, have you gone farther with him or with me?”
“With him. We would see who could pee the farthest.”
With a straight face, “In bed!?”
“Dah, ya think! We did that in the woods. We liked talking about our penises, not to mention other body parts. We would see who could get hard the quickest. We would see who could get the other hard the quickest.”
“With your hands?”
Soaping up Sean’s booty, “Yeah. But eventually he had other ideas for the games that I didn’t go along with.”
“I won’t ask for details. Is he OK with you telling others?”
“Well, no. But I didn’t say his name.”
“I won’t ask, but I have a hunch I know who it is. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“I know. Now I’m wondering about you. I probably wouldn’t know your friends, so you could talk freely.”
“The peeing thing was pretty popular in my day. We did it in groups.”
“Wow! You and me gotta do it!”
“Let’s think about that some other time. I don’t want to get sidetracked.”
Disappointed, “OK.”
“We’d occasionally see someone get hard in a bikini, but I was a bit older than you before seeing a naked erection.”
“Tell me about that.”
“I only feel comfortable talking about being your age and younger.”
“Oh that sucks a big one!”
“Hang on to your, your… I don’t expect that language from you!”
“Sorry. I’ve been hanging around with … somebody too long.”
Feeling close to Jeff again, Sean starts washing his penis, as he continues, “ I saw plenty boys naked in locker rooms, but not privately. There were three boys that I got physical with in bikinis. One was limited to ‘hands only’ but all over. The second went beyond touching, involving a lot of hugging, especially bikini to bikini, eventually in every position we could think of. The last boy liked getting our mouths involved, but not mouth to mouth. He could be pretty persuasive—like you.” Jeff smiles, as Sean continues, “Sometimes I got into it, sometimes I felt violated, even though it involved no sex, and he was younger than me.”
“So he forced you!?”
“No, nothing that bad.”
“So no nudity, huh?”
Running soapy hands all over Jeff’s buns, “One sleep-over buddy slept naked, but I kept my underwear on. We got into fun wrestling sometimes. I wasn’t comfy with feeling his penis, balls, or butt brushing against my skin. One morning I woke up with his hand deep into my underwear. I went ballistic! We no longer were friends after that.”
“I guess you had no gay friends.”
“These weren’t, Jeff, but actually I had a lot of gay friends.”
“I stayed away from the rough and tough, which brought me in touch with gays. But I wasn’t the best friend to them.”
“Why not?”
“We were great friends as long as they stayed in the closet.”
“What! You caged them like animals!?”
Laughing hysterically, “Yup!”
“OK, give it to me straight, Sean.”
Still laughing, “I can’t. They weren’t straight. “
Stepping out of the shower, Jeff says sternly, “Ha. Ha. Now get focused fool!”
Sean sarcastically replies, “Yes, teacher.”
Impatiently, “Sean, we’re having a serious discussion!”
Trying to stop laughing, “OK. OK…. It’s just an expression. A closet gay is a gay that hides his sexual orientation from people.”
“Oh. So that’s where the expression ‘coming out’ comes from.”
Laughing again, “Yeah, a lot of cumming.”
With no nonsense, “Ha. Ha. So when a gay friend would come out of the closet, you would say, ‘Good bye. It’s been nice knowing you.”
“More or less—a ‘closet friendship’ was fine by me.”
“You suck, Sean! Oops.”
“No, never did that.”
“Stop being corny.”
“I need to be—this issue hurts me.”
“I see why—I never would dump Alex.”
“So rake me over the coals! … If you weren’t so good at defending yourself, Jeff, you would be harassed for being gay—just for being friends with a gay.”
“That’s true.”
“And gay-bashing was widespread in my day.”
“Wimp.”
Sean also steps out of the shower now. With his voice quivering, “Easy for you to say. I feel a lot of emotional pain. I need a hug badly. Can you do that for low-down scum like me?”
Now feeling bad for pressing his hero so hard, Jeff compassionately embraces Sean, squeezing his butt tightly.
Soon Sean sobs and keeps sobbing. With the towel he has, Jeff wipes away the tears, then kisses each of Sean’s cheeks. Being finished drying himself, Jeff gently dries Sean’s slender body. He then takes him by the hand, leading him into bed where they embrace.
“Thank you so much Jeff. You have a heart of gold.”
“Yeah…after digging into your old wounds. Sorry that I expected you to be perfect.”
“Everything feels perfect now.”
Smiling as he grabs Sean’s genitalia, “Yes, everything.”
This praise feels especially wonderful, as Sean recalls his sense of inadequacy in his intimate equipment. Then, noticing the time, he realizes they better get dressed. Concerned again about confidentiality, “Jeff, please don’t share our private moments with anyone, even anonymously.”
“What’s ‘a bomb us Lee’ supposed to mean?”
“We share stories without revealing names. That’s anonymous, but not enough for me.”
“Gotcha. Mum’s the word.”
26
FLIGHT DELIGHT
With spectacular weather Saturday, Sean drives Rachel and Jeff to Black’s Beach. But Sean parks at the La Jolla Glider Port. Rachel asks, “What are you doing Sean?”
“It’s early. Have you ever watched hang gliding?”
Jeff pipes in, “Yeah, we see them from the beach. Can we see them up close here?”
“Sure can.”
Rachel says, “I could use a restroom anyway.”
As Rachel goes in looking for a restroom, Sean points out the cliff to Jeff. “That’s where they jump off. Are you interested.”
“Sure, Sean!”
“Let’s walk to the edge.”
“But we don’t have the gear.”
“I didn’t know you wanted gear when you jump.”
“Of course I do.”
“But this was your idea of a painless death.”
Sullenly, “Oh, yeah.”
“Before you jump, you have to look down at the beach below. You wouldn’t want to land in the sand. You probably would survive that with lots of pain. You probably would be a quadriplegic the rest of your life.”
Sadly, “Yeah.”
“You want to land on rocks so your body splatters all o…”
Totally grossed out, “Sean, shut up already!”
“I sure will stop, Jeff. But it’s important to think about your dark thoughts during your good times.”
“Why?”
“First of all, that may help you remember the good times during your dark hours. Now let me ask you, can you make a commitment right now to never do anything to harm yourself.”
Pleading, “I need time to think, Sean.”
“OK, I’ll drop it for now. But one more question. Can you make a commitment to trust God, that you can depend on him no matter how desperate you might feel in a given moment?”
“Sean, you’re really laying it on me.”
Holding Jeff’s shoulder tightly, “OK, that’s all, just remember, God made you, and…”
“God don’t make no junk. I remember!”
“Good…. Look there! A girl’s about to jump. She doesn’t look much older than you.”
“Wow! She’s running for the cliff!”
Sean sees Rachel coming, “Rachel! Look!” All three of them watch the girl go over the cliff and disappear out of sight.
Jeff screams, “Oh no!” Soon the wind blowing against the cliff gives the girl upward thrust and they see her reappear, gliding through the air, using her skills with fine finesse.
Jeff exuberantly declares, “That is way cool! Let’s rent some gear.”
Sean asks, “Do you think you can handle the winds?”
“Sure! Look how easy it is.”
“She may look like a beginner, but she has years of experience already, since she’s hang gliding here. You need a high level of expertise before you’re allowed here.”
Rachel asks, “Do they ever have accidents here?”
“I’m not up on that, but I’ve heard stories of gliders taking nose dives and tail spins. Sometimes the wind dies down and they have to land on the beach below.”
Still bubbling with excitement, Jeff asks, “Did you ever do it?”
“No. Never. Remember, I’m a wimp.”
Smiling, “Oh yeah.” Sean jabs him in the arm.
Rachel lays down the law, “Good, I couldn’t stand seeing either one of you jumping off this cliff, or any cliff.”
Whining, “But mom!”
“No buts! Or I’ll kick your butt!”
Laughing, Sean interjects, “This I’ve got to see!” Now he gets jabbed by Rachel.”
Jeff shouts, “Look! That guy’s heading right for us. Where did he come from? He’s so high.”
“He jumped off the cliff like everyone else. If you catch the better wind currents, you can go pretty high.”
“So they start here and then end here too?”
“Yup. Usually.”
They watch the guy turn and make a graceful running landing. “That guy is smooth,” Jeff observes passionately.
Seeing hang gliding as a threat to her son’s safety, Rachel announces, “I’m ready to bare it all at the beach.”
Sean takes the cue, “Me too.”
Jeff sadly objects, “But we just got here.”
Sean diplomatically suggests, “Now that you’ve seen a take off and a landing, you can better appreciate the hang gliders from the beach below.”