Ben had no idea what the boy would eat for lunch so he drove over to the Golden Corral and paid for the buffet. As expected, Gene avoided anything green and went straight for the meat and potatoes food. He arrived back at their table with a pile of mac and cheese, three hunks of meatloaf and two dinner rolls on his plate.

"Hmm, I gotta teach you to eat better," Ben said.

"What's wrong with this? It's sure gonna fill me up."

"Ok, what do you put in a Corvette's gas tank? Low octane or high octane?"

"That's easy, high octane. It burns hotter in a performance engine."

"So if we put low octane in Gene's stomach the engine will run but it might knock a bit when he really needs power. High octane food is lots of veggies along with that meat and less of the mac and cheese variety."

"But this is what I eat at home, I like it."

Ben looked at the boy's face and saw the confusion. He resisted the urge to brush that hair back from the boy's eyes; he wasn't ready to be touched. I needed to reach out to him, Ben thought ... just something to let him know I care.

"I guess you eat what you know about. But I am gonna have to take you home with me some day and cook you a real good meal just to show you what I'm talking about."

"You cook?" Gene laughed.

"You cook?" Ben mimicked and laughed. "Of course I do, I like to eat don't I? You think guys can't learn to cook?"

"I guess, but why do you?"

"Well duh, I'm a single, hungry male. I can't be eating out all the time, and fast food is off the radar. I learned to cook from my mother when I was a teenager, and I might add, I'm pretty damn good at it."

"Ok, Ben, you sold me," Gene laughed. "Uh, I cook too."

"Really? What do you cook, cereal and milk?"

"No ... I can make bacon and eggs for breakfast."

"Then you're on, if I do dinner you can make the breakfast," Ben said.

"Uh, you want me to spend the night?"

"You may do that sometime. I do have more than one bedroom or you can sleep on the porch if it's cool enough. I loved sleeping on the porch when I was a kid; it felt wicked to be outside like that."

"You have a big house then?"

"Too big for me alone I guess. But my folks got it in their heads that old people are supposed to move to Florida and so they did. Left me all alone in the house where I grew up."

"Oh that sounds so cool. We live in a trailer."

Ouch, that hurt. Here he was rattling along about himself and giving no thought to the boy's miserable lifestyle. Ben didn't want to hold his wealth over the kid's head. But maybe he just wanted to share some of it ... if Gene would allow him to.

"Hey," Gene said, "I could come mow your lawn or something. I need to pay you back for all this stuff you're doing for me."

"Hmm, a personal gardener, that's a thought. But the school board is paying for my services already," Ben said. Besides, he thought, the lawn service might get pissed if Gene butchered the yard.

"No, not for the court thing, for all this," Gene said, gesturing at the food on the table. "I mean it, I owe you big time."

"Gene, you're my friend now, you don't owe me anything, I like to share with my friends."

"But what can I share with you, I don't have anything?"

"You want to do something for me? You really mean that? Then stay in school, graduate and become the best young man you possibly can. Then you'll be better than a friend, you'll be a great friend."

Gene put his fork down and looked across the table.

"Is that all you want from me?"

Ben smiled back at him... no, Gene was right, it wasn't all he wanted.

"I never had a little brother ... and I may never have a son. But if I did I could only hope they would be as nice as you, my friend." What was he saying? The thoughts in his head seemed to overwhelm his sensibilities.

"Look, Gene, I don't understand myself sometimes, so forgive me if this comes out wrong. But I need someone like you in my life right now, someone I can spoil and play games with. I understand what it means to be lonely, even when there are lots of people around who say they like me.

"From a professional standpoint what I am asking of you is all wrong, I'm not supposed to become so attached to one of my clients. But I've only known you for six hours and it seems like I've wanted to know you my whole life.

"I don't know what you'll think of me now, maybe you'll think I'm a bit like your brother's coach, but I'm not. I don't think it's in me to ever hurt someone like that. I'm sorry, maybe I've said too much already."

The expression on Gene's face had flashed through many phases as Ben spoke, but now the boy looked at him with a longing in his eyes. He wanted to believe those words; he wanted someone to care about him. And to prove that, one lone tear rolled down his right cheek. Gene sniffed, and wiped it away, giving back that silly little grin Ben so adored by now.

"You do care about me, don't you?" he said quietly. "I just never thought I could be so lucky ... I'm not sure what I can say about how I feel."

And then Ben reached across the table and brushed the hair back from Gene's eyes. It was a loving gesture and the boy didn't flinch in the least from his touch.

"Just give me time ... I need a chance to prove myself to you. There have been so many lies in your life ... it must be hard to trust anyone right now."

"I wanna be your friend so bad it hurts," Gene said, his voice almost a whisper. "But I don't understand myself and these feelings."

"We both need time to work on this, Gene. Just promise me you'll work on this with me, ok?"

"I promise."

They finished the meal in silence, but both kept looking at one another and smiling. Ben drove the boy towards home after the meal. He could tell Gene hated the idea of anyone seeing where he lived and how pathetic his life really was. But Ben needed to know where he lived because he wanted to meet the mother. Not today, but he had asked Gene to arrange it for tomorrow, after he got home from school.

His approach to the woman would be strictly professional unless she played dirty. This would allow him to get Gene involved in other activities outside of the home, if that's what her trailer could be considered. The boy made it sound more like a prison.

The last thing he wanted to do was present himself as another goof ball like Dean's coach. Ben knew the minute he saw dollar signs appear in her eyes he would get her busted for child abuse. Gene was seventeen and in this state that meant he was allowed to choose where he lived. Ben just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

There were still a lot of feelings he had to contend with. How could he have fallen so completely for this kid in half a day? Was he that vulnerable to a pretty face? Maybe he was the one that needed a shrink. Did he really want the kid living with him? Was that the objective?

They arrived at this long gravel driveway leading into a cluster of trailers in the distance and Gene told Ben to stop there.

"You can't be takin this car up that road, it will tear out your pipes," he said.

"Ok, I'll bring the truck tomorrow then," Ben replied.

"You have a truck too? Awesome."

"Raised in the country, gotta have a truck. Will you be ok walking up there?"

"Sure, I walk down here for the bus every morning. I'll tell mom you'll be here around four o'clock, right?"

"Yup, four it is. You have a good day at school tomorrow, and be polite to Mr. Hanover, no matter what goes on. And thanks, Gene"

"For what? I was about to thank you for the food and all."

"Well I'm thanking you for the other part, the part about being my friend."

"You're the coolest person I ever met, Ben. See you tomorrow."

Ben watched the boy walk a ways up the road and then Gene turned to wave. He had to do it, just to thrill the kid. He laid about ten feet of rubber on the road as he took off.

Ben got back on the main highway into town maybe five minutes later and then pulled into the first large parking lot he could find. He shut down the engine, locked the doors and had a good cry.

He believed in tears as good solid medicine for the soul. In a matter of hours Gene had stood his silly little life on end and it scared him. What was wrong, why was he acting this way? The boy filled a void in his life, he had meant every word of that little confession, but why tell him that at all?

Hanover would buckle and drop the charges when Ben put his special spin on things. Court would be cancelled and Gene wouldn't be a client any longer. Then they could be friends without his conscience feeling guilty. But why? What were his motives?

OK, he was a sexy, attractive boy with gorgeous eyes and a slender body. But the attraction wasn't completely physical; he didn't want to tear the boy's clothes off. Gene seemed emotionally too young for sex even if he wanted it to happen. And after evaluating those feelings Ben was sure that some of the jealousy towards his brother was sexual in nature.

But he wanted a companion and Gene was tailor made for that role. The boy wanted a man in his life and would be more than happy if Ben took on that position. He was almost twice the boy's age and yet emotionally he wasn't feeling that difference. It was fine to envy youth, everyone did it. Ben still held onto his own adolescence in many ways and it had never bothered him before.

The more he thought about it the more he realized how accepting he was of this feeling towards Gene. They weren't going to do anything illegal; it was just going to be pals. But what if Gene was the one that wanted it to become sexual? Could they wait out the year until that all important eighteenth birthday?

The hypocrisy of the law regarding males reaching the age of consent at eighteen and girls at only sixteen had never affected him before. It discriminated but there was nothing that could be done about it. Men had written the law to legalize their dalliances with young girls, homosexuality wasn't even a consideration.

This wrestling coach had his head in a noose and he had to be aware of the consequences. It was probably why he chose Dean in the first place. The kid was a willing gay boy and mom was an easily bought off drug addict. Gene was the victim of them both. But Ben knew he couldn't touch either of them without hurting his boy.

His boy ... he sure was. Gene wanted something to happen between them so badly it was scary. Ben knew he just wanted to bring comfort and joy to this young man's life.

He'd been home for maybe an hour when his cell phone rang. He grabbed it out of the charger and looked at the caller ID. The number was unfamiliar but on impulse he answered it.

"Hello ... Ben?"

"Hey, Gene ... is everything OK?"

"Yeah, I guess. I told mom you would be here tomorrow, she said OK."

"Good, she is going to give me some answers tomorrow," Ben said.

"About what?"

"Why you of course. I want you to be free to hang out with me when you want. I might even get her to agree to let you stay with me and go to school from here; it's actually closer from my house. But only if you want that to happen, Gene. I don't want you to worry about living here."

"You mean that? You want me to live with you?"

"Yes, yes I do. And I promise, no strings attached, Gene. I would never ask you to do anything you don't agree to, I'm not like that."

"I know, Ben, and I know you keep your promises. Oh God, that would be so cool. But I don't know if she will agree."

"You leave that up to me, all you have to do is say yes."

"Oh I do, that would be awesome. I would work so hard for you...I mean that."

"I know you do, Gene. I'm glad you called."

"Me too. Have a good night, Ben. See you tomorrow."

"Count on it, dude."

"Who you callin a dude?"

"You, my friend ... good night, Gene."

"Night, Ben ... I ... hmm, well bye then."

"Good bye," Ben said and hung up.

Ben knew it was all right between them. But what was he feeling towards Gene? Can two people come together in a relationship with less than twenty-four hours shared between them? Guess it could, because Gene had almost been brave enough to say what Ben had just begun to understand. He was in love with the kid, it was that simple. There was no duplicity in Gene. The boy was open and honest. They cared for one another ... isn't that what love meant? Maybe it wasn't a deep abiding kind of love, guess that left puppy love. It was an adolescent feeling and Ben could still identify with that. Oh God...


On to Chapter Five

Back to Chapter Three

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"Gene" Copyright © 27 September 2008 Chris James. All rights reserved.
    This work may not be duplicated in any form (physical, electronic, audio, or otherwise) without the author's written permission. All applicable copyright laws apply. All individuals depicted are fictional with any resemblance to real persons being purely coincidental.

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