Published: 28 Nov 2016

The whirlwind trip to New York, not only to see the Wild Boys in concert but also to hang with them, had been the most exciting thing in the lives of the six guys from Bentonville that spring. Yet, it was somehow comfortable to return to the more laidback life of small-town Iowa. As Colton said to Dane the following morning:

“I love waking up in my own bed with the sounds of the birds and feel of my sexy boyfriend’s arms around me.”

Dane was going to dive headfirst under the covers to show Colt how great it could be when he noticed what time it was.

“Would you take a rain check on what I was planning to do to you? I’ve got to be at the pool in about 45 minutes and I really need something more filling than your protein shakes if I’m going to last until noon.”

“Hey, if you’re complaining about the volume, just remember who’s been keeping my balls emptied out.” Colt pouted.

“No complaints, Babe. I wish we had time…”

The boys took a quick shower together (exercising enough self-discipline to stay on task) before eating a hasty breakfast. Colt also needed to hurry to the school to meet with the head custodian to see if there was any work for him to do. Greta had told him that there was a need for some part-time workers to do cleaning and maintenance and that he and some other boys she had recommended would likely get hired.

Colt and Dane exchanged a quick kiss in the open garage as they climbed on their bikes to go their separate ways. Since gas was expensive and the exercise was good for them; they had decided to commute as much as possible by leg power in nice weather.

Dane had worn his Speedo’s under his shorts, so he had only to pull off a couple of items of clothing in order to be ready to assume his duties. The pool didn’t open for another hour, but he was expected to skim off any bugs or leaves that had collected during the night and to make sure the temperature and chemical content of the water was acceptable.

As he was completing his tasks, the lady in charge came up to talk to him. She asked him about his trip and also if he had someone to cover for him when he went to DC later in the month. They exchanged a few pleasantries and then it was time to let the herd of kiddies in.

Most of the boys and girls who came at that hour were middle school age and younger. Lots of the high school students had summer jobs of one sort or other. Those who did not have employment usually slept in if possible and would come to swim and sun later in the day.

Dane didn’t like to have to play the “heavy” in disciplining kids, but he blew his whistle to get the attention of some elementary school boys who were running around the edge of the pool. He knew it was best to be firm from the start so he built a kind of reputation which made it plain he didn’t put up with breaking the safety rules.

When Colt arrived at school, he thought he saw Jerry’s moped chained up at the bike racks. Sure enough, as he headed toward the custodial room, Jerry was there. It was going to be fun to have a friend to work with, assuming they were both hired.

Ed Harkness, the main custodian, was pleased to see two young men awaiting him. He noticed they were early for their appointment. That was a good indication the kind of workers they were likely to be.

A couple of minutes later, Trent came sprinting in. He was still on time, but just barely and he had obviously hurried.

“Mr. Harkness, I would have been earlier, but I had a flat tire on my bike and had to get here on my own two feet. I don’t usually show up at the last minute!”

The older man smiled.

“I’ll forgive you for being only a minute early, but just this once,” he grinned. “I know all of you, and your families, well enough to be sure you won’t slack off.”

After filling out forms for withholding tax, etc., the boys were assigned jobs. For at least a part of the day, they would be working together moving furniture out of rooms so the tile floors could be stripped of their wax and recoated the next day. It was moderately hard physical labor, but they were all up to it.

As the morning progressed, the heat and humidity increased. The air conditioning had been shut down for maintenance too, so the guys found themselves sweating profusely and going through lots of water, none of which sent them to the urinals.

Ed made sure the boys took enough breaks so they wouldn’t suffer from heat exhaustion. He was pleased to find that they were working at a good pace – faster than some of the regular district employees he had to deal with. He might send them home a bit early but still pay them for the full day. He was certainly going to give them a long lunch hour.

Noon arrived quickly for Jerry, Trent, and Colt because they had kept too busy to notice the clock. Colt invited the other two to join Dane and him at Pizza Hut for lunch. Trent rode on the back of Jerry’s moped. It wasn’t exactly legal, but the local deputies usually turned a blind eye if it was being done by kids that weren’t known trouble-makers.

Lunch tasted good, but the guys agreed they would probably pack sandwiches in the future to save money and avoid the extra fat calories. Colt was always conscious of his weight for wrestling. He would rather maintain it close to his competition level than suffer what some guys went through to get back down tovtheir weight class during the season.

At dinner that night, Dane and Colt wondered aloud if they should even go to Washington with the rest of the family seeing how their absence would disrupt their jobs.

“Mr. Harkness is really nice to work for; I hate to let him down.” Colt said.

“I’m going to have to scrounge to find someone to substitute for me at the pool,” Dane added.

“Well, they’ll simply have to do without you!” Greta exclaimed. “I’ve known Ed for years and I told him about our planned trip to DC when he asked if you guys would like to work for him. And I’m sure someone can fill in for Dane.”

“I heard from Wade today,” she continued. “He and Roger have received the okay to move part of their vacation time to coincide with our trip and have already made tentative reservations at the hotel where we will be staying. So, it’s really important for you two to be there even if it means you would lose your summer jobs. There is plenty of time to work in this life and not nearly enough to spend with the ones you love!”

After Greta’s impassioned speech, the guys decided they would indeed go as planned.

There’s an old saying that it is an ill wind that blows no one good. Of course, some of the boys had made slightly naughty innuendos from that, but for Dave and Dustin, it proved to be true. The tractor accident which nearly killed Bob Manson led to full-time summer employment for the pair.

When they arrived at the farm that morning, they were greeted by a fit-looking man who appeared to be about the age of DJ Johnson. (As they were to learn in later conversation, he had played football against DJ and had great respect for him.)

The man was obviously having trouble walking and would not be able to do all of the chores necessary to maintain his farm. Neighbors had come to the rescue by doing his spring planting for him, but they couldn’t be expected to continue through the summer. Fortunately, he had insurance which would defray the cost of hiring additional help.

Bob gave the boys a tour of the place in an old golf cart he was using to get around in while he was still in therapy. His last stop was at a small mobile home that was set a way off from the main house.

“If you guys want to live here, it would save you gas and time. It has two bedrooms so you can each have your space. I’ll understand if you’d rather commute, but it has an air conditioner and it’s clean. You wouldn’t have to get up quite as early in the morning. We always feed the hands a big meal at noon and you’d be free to fix breakfast and supper here.”

Dustin and Dave gave the accommodations a quick survey and were well impressed. They told Mr. Manson that they would probably take him up on the offer after they discussed it with their parents.

“We’re pretty independent, but we still need to check in with our folks,” Dustin said.

Bob suppressed a smile. He liked having young guys in his employ who were sensitive to the feelings of others. He had known Dustin’s dad, Gary for a long time, and was aware that there had been some problems in the family. It was great to see that Dustin was on good terms with his father.

At that moment, Jared Manson, 13, the eldest of Bob’s children came down to the trailer to find his father.

“Here’s your cell. There’s some man who wants to talk to you about selling the farm.” Jared explained.

Bob took the phone with a frown. The boys walked away several yards to give him privacy, so they couldn’t hear the conversation. But the expression on Bob’s face led them to believe he was not happy with what was being said. When he ended the call, he motioned them the join him.

“That parasite made an offer for this place that’s so low it would be like stealing it! I love it here and I’m going to get back to running it myself. If you can help me hold it together while I’m recuperating, I’ll be much obliged.”

After that touching plea, Dave and Dustin knew they would work their butts off for this man. They couldn’t stand by and watch his dream get trampled into the dust.

The boys had come prepared to work hard, but they’d not realized how taxing farm labor could be. When noon came, they were starved and certainly did justice to the meal Christine Manson had prepared. Jared had worked alongside them and had proved to be stronger than his developing frame would have suggested. He was no wuss.

Dave told Bob and Christine how hard Jared had worked and both beamed. Jared seemed to increase in stature as he sat up a little straighter in response to the compliments of guys four years older than he.

It was at the noon meal that the guys met the other Manson children. Ave was 10, and Jason was 7. Both were well-mannered, but extremely shy around the “big” boys.

The afternoon passed rapidly. Christine sent them back to the fields with a huge canister of ice water. Most of it was depleted by quitting time.

It was during one of the rare piss breaks, that Jared brought up the subject Dave and Dustin had anticipated possibly coming up. Jared was shy about showing his dick, but he stole quick glances at the other two guys’ equipment. The older boys exchanged knowing glances remembering how they felt at his age when in the presence of guys who were more developed.

“Is it true what they say about you?” he blurted out nervously.

“That all depends on who `they’ are what they are saying,” Dustin smiled.

“I mean are you, uh, you know what I mean,” Jared replied.

“Are you trying to ask if we’re gay?” Dave questioned.

“Uh, yeah, I guess. I’m sorry,” Jared said looking at the ground.

“Would it matter to you if we are?” Dustin asked.

“Well, uh, our youth leader says we have to be careful so homos don’t try to make us like them, and my cousin Todd says you belong to a queer club in high school.”

“Let me explain a couple of things,” a red-faced Dustin began. “First, we don’t like the terms “homo” and “queer” and secondly, we are NOT going to try to change you from whatever you are! It’s no secret at school that we’re gay. We came out in the spring to the Gay/Straight Alliance, which by the way, is not a gay club, but a group of kids who just want to be accepted by others regardless of their sexual orientation.”

“Okay, don’t be mad at me! I think you guys are okay and I promise I won’t tell my dad that you’re gay.”

“Do you think it would matter to him?” Dave interjected. “If it does, we can be out of here by the end of the day.”

“I don’t think so; he’s never said anything bad about quee — uh gays. I’ve never even heard him tell a gay joke.”

Conversation among the three virtually dried up for the rest of the afternoon. Jared remained silent, responding only when he was spoken to directly. He seemed lost in thought most of the time. Dave and Dustin smiled at each other and bantered back and forth on occasion. They had long since made up their minds that incidents like this would not ruin their lives, much less a sunny day.

Christine drove Bob out to the field to check on the progress about half way through the afternoon. He was impressed at how much the boys had accomplished. The fence which kept the cattle out of the corn was nearly mended and would easily be completed by the end of the day.

When it was time to head back to town, Bob told Dustin and Dave how pleased he was to have them working for him.

“We’re going to have good crops this year if the weather holds. I’m going to keep this place for Jared and Jace if they want it.”

“Uh, Mr. Manson, I think we need to clear the air to see if you want us back in the morning.” Dustin stated.

Jared cringed. He suspected what Dustin was going to say and didn’t want to stick around. His father noticed his reaction and asked him to stay.

“Dave and I want to be perfectly open and honest with you. We don’t want Jared or you to be worried about having us here. We are boyfriends and we don’t hide it. If our sexual orientation is a problem, we won’t be back. We don’t try to recruit young boys to be like us. We were born this way, and we’ve come to accept it. We understand that not everyone is comfortable with it. We’ll go quietly and you don’t have to pay us for today; consider it a get-well gift.”

“Guys, we live in a small community. Even us old people know what’s going on part of the time,” Bob grinned. “I was aware of the fact that you are gay when I asked Gary if you would like to work for me. If that orientation affects the quality of what you do, I would say we could use a lot more gays in the workforce!”

Then, Bob shook both boys’ hands while looking them directly in the eye. He could see that both were tearing up a bit in response.

Jared watched the scene feeling shaken inside. He had not intended to have this come up in front of his dad. But, it appeared like he was the only one who seemed to feel uncomfortable about it. The other boys had spoken openly and his dad had too. He couldn’t figure out how his father could be so casual talking about what he had been taught was a terrible sin. He was jolted from his pondering as his dad spoke again.

“You guys are brave. If I were gay, I’m not sure I’d be able to be as upfront as you are. I hope my boys will grow up to have that kind of character whether they are gay or straight!”

Dave and Dustin thanked their new employer and turned toward Dustin’s pickup. They needed to leave before they showed any more emotion. Bob may have thought they were brave and composed, but they didn’t feel that way inside. They felt the effects of the shot of adrenalin which had entered their blood streams. Both had tears of relief flowing over their smiles as they drove away.

Jared was on the verge of tears too. He felt overwhelmed by the internal conflict in his mind. His world had always seemed very black and white. Things were either right or wrong. There were no shades of gray. His only security at the moment was his father’s hand on his shoulder as the two mounted the steps to the back porch.

If you are enjoying this story, let David know: david.lee@castleroland.net