Prison School Ch. 26

"Sorry Dad," Luke replied, his face turning pink, "I've never had the option of wearing shorts before, but they feel good. I think I could get used to it."

Luke watched as Dad placed 4 split broilers on the grill, basting them with a yellowish sauce. Shortly after, a young man walked into the back yard and up to Dad, who was facing away from him at the grill.

"Hi Mr. Hamlin."

Dad, turning around, "Jerry! It's so good to see you." They hugged, then Dad said, "Jerry, I'd like to introduce you to Mike's boyfriend, Luke Johnson."

Luke offered his hand but.....

"Fuck it, Dude," Jerry exclaimed, "you're family, you deserve more than a handshake!" and wrapped his arms around Luke, hugging him close. "Mike is still my best friend, and I want to be your friend also."

"T—T—Thanks, Jerry." Luke stammered, "we'll give it a shot." Luke is still trying to get used to people actually accepting the lifestyle he and Mike are headed into.

The Hamlins really went all out. About 4:00 PM the chicken was done to perfection, and Mom brought out the potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans and rolls. Jerry made some comment about needing to get Luke to the beach to get some color on those white legs, and caused Luke to blush again.

George placed a half chicken on each of the four plates, and they all sat down at the rectangular patio table. The Hamlin's sat on one side and the two boys sat next to each other on the flip side, with Buddy parked between them, hoping for some handouts. He knows, with the right eye contact, the boys are likely to feed him quicker that the older adults.

"Gosh, Dad," Luke exclaimed, "This has got to be the best tasting chicken I've ever eaten!"

"It's awesome, isn't it," Jerry commented. "I don't think any eatery I know of can compete with Mr. Hamlin"s chicken, it's always the best. I'd drive a hundred miles for some of Mr. Hamlin's BBQ chicken. Thanks Mrs. H for inviting me today."

Dad, smiling, "Thanks boys, it does my heart good to see you boys enjoying it. Jerry has shared a lot of meals here with Mike and us, and we've kind of missed you, Jerry, since Mike has been gone. I hope you know you're still welcome to stop by anytime."

"Thanks Mr. H, I always felt bad," Jerry commented, "that my Mom was funny about having other kids in the house. She would never let me bring Mike home to share a meal with us."

The four chatted about nothing of real importance, while enjoying the delicious meal. They were all pretty much stuffed. The two boys are still getting to know each other a little more.

"Where do you work, Jerry?" Luke queried.

"I don't. I spend most of my days attending classes at the community college. What hours do you work?"

"9-5 weekdays and 8-12 on Saturdays. This is my first week there, and I like it a lot. Why?"

"So you're off tomorrow," smiling. "Look, there's a band fest over in Milton tonight. There'll be four or five local rock bands competing with each other. I think we should go, and get you introduced to a little of the night life around these parts."

"I don't know Jerry. I don't really have the money, and I don't get my first payday until Friday. How far away is Milton?"

"Hey dude, don't worry about it. It's like $5 admission, plus whatever we drink or snack on. I gotcha covered. It's only about 45 minutes away, and we'll have a blast. We do need to leave pretty soon though, or we'll have to walk a mile to get to the stage area."

"Go ahead Luke," Dad said, "After what you've been going through, you deserve to go out on a Saturday night and have a little fun."

"OK, I'll go, give me a few minutes to change out of these shorts."

"Why?" Jerry retorted, "It's not a black tie event, 75% of the guys will be dressed like us, T-shirts, shorts and sneakers. We can walk to my house, and take my car. It's only about 1 block away."

"Any idea what time you guys will be back?" George asked, "You know Jerry, you're welcome to stay overnight, if Luke doesn't mind."

"Thanks, Mr. H, the event gets over at midnight. If we stop for a late night snack it might be 1:30 or 2:00, otherwise 12:30 at the earliest. Thank you and the Mrs. For an awesome BBQ dinner. See you later. Be good, Buddy."

"I think I could get used to wearing shorts, They feel comfortable." Luke said, as he and Jerry walked towards Jerry's house.

"You've never worn shorts? No wonder your legs are so white. Why not?"

"My father said real men wear long pants, only women and sissies wear shorts, and faggots. Jerry, this will be my first time to see a rock band perform live. It's pretty exciting."

"You've never been to a rock concert either?"

"Nope, my father said rock and roll is the devils music. I couldn't even listen to it if my parents were around."

Jerry, as they arrived at his house and car. "Well, here it is. Kinda old, but it runs. I got a good system in it though, the systems probably worth more than the car! Let me run in and tell Mom where we are going, so she won't worry."

Jerry and Luke climbed in and buckled up. Jerry put in a classic rock CD, cranked up the system, and they drove to Milton. There was no conversation between them, as neither could have heard anything above the blaring of the speakers and sub woofer in the trunk.

They arrived, and were directed to a parking area, left the car and headed to the arena, which appeared to be a soccer field. There was plenty of bleacher type seating, and the admission was, as Jerry had stated, $5, and they rubberstamped the back of everyone's hand as they paid. Those of age, with proper ID could get a purple bracelet, which allowed them to purchase alcohol.

There were two stages set up on the field, fairly close to the seating area, and a band was set up on each stage. It was designed so that when a band completed their performance, they could break down their equipment while the other band played, and the next band could set up on the vacated stage. It was a total of five bands, treating the crowd to five straight hours of music.

At 11:00 the final performers took the stage, and the audience was quite surprised. Their instruments were bass and lead guitar, drums, keyboard, and accordion. They were introduced as 'Los Extranjeros' (The Foreigners) and played music sung in Spanish. Much of the crowd made their exit at this point, but many hung around, enjoying something out of the ordinary.

When that last band finished, what was left of the crowd gave them a standing ovation, so they treated us to a last couple of songs, ending their performance with a Spanish version of 'Titanic' that had been popularized by Celine Dion. The crowd loved it.

We finally worked our way out of the parking lot, and headed toward home.

"So, Luke," Jerry questioned, "Did you enjoy it?"

"Absolutely!" Luke exclaimed, "Even though they weren't well known bands, watching and hearing them live like that was awesome. If you come up with something like that again, you won't have to twist my arm very hard to get me to go with you." Luke was grinning.

"I could sure go for a burger about now," Jerry said, "I know there is a Waffle House on the way home. I don't believe it! Randy's Diner is still open!"

"What's Randy's?" Luke asked.

"It's a Mama Pop diner that likely has the best damn burger and fries in the state! They usually close about 10:00 PM."

Jerry pulled in to the nearly full parking lot and he and Luke got out of the car and walked in. It seemed that, because of the Band Fest, they decided to stay open late tonight, and had a full staff working, and a house full of guests.

A waitress that reminded both Jerry and Luke of 'Flo' from Mel's Diner, showed them to a booth and took their orders for coffee, burgers and fries. Jerry explained to Luke that their burgers were hand pressed from freshly ground beef, and the fries were done with the skins on and fresh cut. Jerry told Luke that he never needed catsup with these fries.

After eating, Luke told Jerry that they were the tastiest burgers and fries he had ever eaten, and he would remember this diner. Jerry picked up the tab, and left a $6 tip for 'Flo' and they left.

Once in the car and headed home, Jerry turned the volume down to where they could communicate without their voices being drowned by the music.

"So Luke," Jerry questioned, "How do you feel about me maybe staying over with you tonight?"

"You mean like, sleeping together, in Mike's bed?"

"You do realize, Luke, I'm straight. It's not like I'm going to rape you, and I'm damn sure not going to let you rape me." Jerry continued, "Yes, I do mean sleeping with you, in Mike's bed, as friends."

"I don't know, Jerry," Luke pondered, "a few months ago I would have said 'hell no' to sleeping with another man, but I've gotten used to sleeping with Mike for almost two months now. Jerry, I miss Mike so much. I still can't believe I fell for a man, like I fell for Mike. He is my world, he means more to me than anything else I can imagine."

"Luke, I'm not gay, and I'm not Mike. Things that Mike can do with you, I can't, but I can be your friend, and I can keep you warm. What do you say?"

"It might not seem so lonely, if you are close to me. Are we almost home?"

"About 10 minutes, Luke. If it's OK, I'll park behind the Cavalier. Nobody has to leave early in the morning anyway. When we get home I'll text my Mom and let her know I'm over here so she won't worry."

When Luke unlocked the back door, Buddy came out, tail wagging. He went over to the nearest tree and watered it, and we all entered the kitchen. Luke locked the back door, and we all quietly went to Mike's room. Both Jerry and Luke needed the bathroom before bed. When Jerry came out, Luke went in, and Jerry then undressed, and was standing by the bed naked when Luke came out of the bathroom, still wearing boxers.

"Jerry, you're naked!" Luke exclaimed.

"Yeah," Jerry responded, "Mike and I always slept raw. Is that a problem for you?"

"I guess not," Luke said, "it just caught me off guard."

Luke then dropped his boxers, and both boys slipped into bed. Jerry reached up and turned out the light, snuggling close to Luke. Luke was tempted to slide over and create some space between them, but feeling Jerry's body so close and warm, decided to just enjoy the feeling, and yes, it felt good.

"Jerry, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what?"

"Have you and Mike ever done anything together?"

"Sure, lots. We've skateboarded, kayaked, bowled, gone to movies and concerts, hiked, camped. We have spent most of our lives together since we were kids."

"What I really meant—was—have you ever done anything—like—sexually?"

Jerry's pondering how to answer this. He wants to be truthful, and still not hurt Luke. He also wants something from Luke, and doesn't want to fuck up a budding friendship. Luke has appeared to trust him, and Jerry doesn't want to destroy that trust.

(to be continued)