After finally being noticed by Ace and Dart, we were on our way inside the mall to get drinks at the food court. I wouldn't have gone, except a guy with them, Free, was the most interesting guy I'd seen in a while. I'd take a chance, worried about pissing off a guy like Ace, but too horny to worry too much. Being last in line, no one noticed I broke away from the group.

I went off to the lemonade stand, while the three of them got in line for soda. I didn't have enough money to buy them soda. Ace seemed like the kind of guy who might stick the new kid with the tab. I was taking no chances.

I sat down with them at a table for four. It was a perfect fit.

"You've been in jail, Free?" I asked. "How do you keep so tan?"

Dart laughed.

"Black's Beach. He goes there to get his dick sucked."

"Black's Beach?" I asked.

"It's a nude beach," Ace said. "Free likes the boys that go there."

"Once I been locked up, I can't get enough," Fee said. "I can go out for a week or two, and then it gets hard to do time."

"It gets hard all the time," Ace said.

Dart laughed.

Freebee smiled.

"Where do you go to get your dick sucked, Zane," Ace asked casually.

I needed to be careful with Ace. I'd answer his pointed questions by diverting them.

"I don't need to go anywhere," I said. "I suck my own. It's always handy."

Free laughed. He got the joke.

I knew a guy in middle school. He could suck his own dick. Damnedest thing I ever saw. He'd let guys watch for a buck. Darrel was tall and skinny. His dick was long and thin. He could get half of it in his mouth, on a good day, but he had to get all upside down to pull it off. Most guys envied him his ability to take care of a problem most of them could only take in hand."

"What did you do, while he scuked himself off, lick his asshole, Free?" Ace asked with a pointed tone in his ass.

"That's gross, Ace. Sometimes you say stuff that's funny, but that's gross. It's something everyone ought to see at least once."

Ace glared at at no one. Dart drank soda. He wasn't afraid of Ace. I wondered what the attraction was. While I wondered, Free's knee began a slow trip down my half exposed thigh. Free was looking better all the time, and his eyes were green.

Well, I'd been trying to meet guys. These were guys, and Freebee's leg stayed planted against mine. The last thing I needed was to let Ace and Dart see Free and me, skating off into the sunset together. I was no fool, and from what John told me, I knew better than to let Ace and Dart know my business.

I'd stayed faithful to Gordo for months, because I had no options. He was the only guy that would do it with me, up until now, but I was pretty sure I knew someone else now. The more I looked at Freebee, the better he looked.

He was careful not to get caught looking at my face, but when his left hand moved under the table, he wasn't looking to squeeze the peaches. He had no problem finding what it was he wanted to squeeze. I'd gotten hard as soon as his knee touched mine. That's when he turned his head to look into my face.

Free smiled a devilish little smile, as I squirmed in an effort to stop what was about to happen. I'd gone without too long, and it wouldn't be long, before it hadn't been very long. I bit the hell out of my tongue to keep from gushing a moan into Ace's face.

Seeing Ace's face helped me back off the inevitable. Free eased up on his squeezing, which allowed me to regain control.

I wouldn't want to give Ace the wrong idea, but I had an idea.

Why didn't Free and I split this joint?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The longer I sat in the food court, the more uncomfortable I became. I wanted to leave with Free, but we had Dart and Ace sitting with us. Excusing ourselves wasn't an option. I didn't want to give Ace the impression that something was happening between Free and me.

"What were you locked up for, Free?" I asked, after a short silence.

"People will tell you, I've got sticky fingers. When I get hungry enough, stuff just jumps into my pocket. Stuff I can eat, and if I get caught, I get to go downtown to eat. It's a win, win situation. I'd rather be free, but I don't like going too long without food."

"They have food kitchens, back home. You can get a free meal a couple of times a day," I said.

"We're pretty far out, and no one does that out here. To get to where they do that, you need to take the trolley. If I can't afford food, I sure can't afford the trolley," Freebee said.

I wanted to ask him why he didn't go home to eat, but that opened doors that it was better off left closed. Asking someone about their home life wasn't how you made friends and influenced people. I figured Freebee would tell me what he wanted me to know.

Freebee sat close to Ace's right shoulder and he didn't have much to say. Dart eyes moved off Ace, as he caught sight of something that caught his interest, which drew my eyes to a younger boy no one could miss. The boy had on yellow spandex and showed off a lean boyish body. He had on a yellow and bronze shirt that fit his lean body, leaving nothing to the imagination, as he blinked his baby blues, tossing back his long blond hair.

I was sure, this was the prototype California boy, as he joined the teen army, as they took their place in California culture. While most boys his age were shy, and not certain of themselves. The yellow boy was poised, and ready to take his place among the stars, who shined for everyone.

I took my eyes off him for only a second, to see every eye in the food court on the latest arrival. He wiggled his way behind Ace, putting his round butt in my face as he slipped past my seat, on his way to get whatever he wanted.

"Damn," Dart said, "is that a bit too much, or what?"

The color of his eyes reminded me of the boy in Broadbranch Park, and his hair wasn't blond, it looked golden. His face was perfectly tan.

"He's going to be a looker," Free said, looking over his shoulder at the youngster, as he now leaning on the counter at Burger Shack, and three counter girls couldn't wait to wait on him.

"Look at those girls fuss over him, and he's queer as a three dollar bill," Ace advised anyone within earshot.

It took a few minute for him to get what he wanted, and he started working his way back to his table full of friends with enough food for everyone. Odds were, he paid little or nothing for the tray full of food.

"His friends are smart sending him for the food," Freebee said. "They'll no doubt get their money's worth."

"And you can bet they fight over which one gets to suck his dick," Ace said.

Ace was a cynic. I saw the boy as being as close to perfection as you came. I watched him go to the counter, and return with a ton of food. Looking around at the evening dinner crowd, anyone who noticed the golden boy, watched him.

In the land of milk and honey, in the land of beauty, the land of excess, few people caught almost everyone's attention at the same time.

Those who didn't look at the golden boy, were elbowed by their companion, so they didn't miss the unusual beauty nearby.

Being that beautiful would be a curse, I thought. Who'd ever approach such a magnificent work of perfection. The golden boy was to be admired, never touched. What do you have to look forward to, when you are that beautiful? He'll slowly age, and everyone will say, remember when he was gorgeous?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

"I need to piss like a race horse," Ace said, standing up, and taking his board with him toward the hall where the men's room was.

"Come on," Freebee said, taking my hand in his, and his skateboard in the other hand.

I grabbed mine as Dart went the other way, and we dodged out the double doors, twenty-five feet away. I felt a little odd, letting Freebee guide me away by holding my hand. It seemed not to phase him that I was a boy.

My parents knew my hours were unpredictable, because I'd begun to work. If I didn't show up for dinner, I'd find a plate in the fridge, when I got home. More evenings than not, my father stopped at Hitchcock's on his way home, and if I was there, he took me home with him, ordering enough takeout to feed us and there were leftovers for later.

With both my mother and father working, and now me, we only saw each other at dinner. I wasn't doing much running around, because I was still learning my job, and the sooner I learned everything, the easier my job would be, but I warned my parents that I had friends, and if I wasn't at Hitchcock's, and I wasn't at home, I'd be out with my buds, and tonight I was out with Free.

When we stopped at the street that ran down beside the mall, and we What a novel approach. After skating with Gordo, I was happy to be with someone who obeyed the laws, some times anyway. It was a good thing to do for safety's sake,

I looked at Freebee's hand in mine. I looked at his face in the evening light.

"I figured you were simpatico. You let me rub my leg against yours. Did I read you wrong?" Freebee asked, not letting go of my hand.

"Oh, no, you read me perfectly. It's just that we're in public. I'm not accustomed holding hands with a guy out where people can see."

"You'd be surprised how few people notice a thing like that. When they see two guys holding hands, they don't know what they're seeing," Free said. "People are mostly wrapped up in their own lives."

I'd never held hands with any guy. Even with Gordo, he skated so fast, if I tried to hold his hand, he'd yank it off. Doing it outside, where people could see, wasn't something gay guys did, where I was from. It invited trouble if you did.

"Z, once you're in California for a while, you'll see so much weird stuff, believe me when I say, no one notices a couple of dudes holding hands," he said.

"I've been here for three months, and no one has wanted to hold my hand before," I said.

"Well, I won't let go, unless you tell me to. Yours is about the nicest hand I've held in a long time," Freebee said.

"Well, thank you," I said. "It's a first for me, but I like it."

"Do you want to come with me. I got a place. It's private. What I want to do with you will require privacy," he said.

"I don't get it. What's the deal with Ace? Why do you guys hang around him? You certainly can do better than Ace," I said.

"Why do you think we're out here, and he's in there. A little of Ace goes a long way. He's a little crazy. I've never heard anyone talk to Ace the way you did. I thought I'd swallow my tongue, trying to keep from laughing. You had a comeback for every stupid question he asked you," Freebee said. "And, by the way, I've been locked up twice. Both times for stealing food. I work for the second guy who had me locked up. He dropped the charges, once he heard my story. He told me to come about when I needed something to eat, and he'd see I got fed, and if I wanted to work it off, to keep us even, he'd let me do odd jobs."

"Pretty nice guy," I said.

"He was a skater. He knew how it was on the street. You'll find that out here. You wrong people, and a lot of times, they'll try to help you, if they can."

The light changed and we ran across the street, holding hands, and carrying our boards. It would have been awkward, trying to skate and hold hands.

We ended up going into the woods a little ways from the mall. It was still light enough for us to see the small path. Off to the right was a small opening, maybe a hundred yards from the road. There were blankets and a pillow piled up.

Freebee let go of my hand, and he spread a blanket out. He handed me the pillow and said, go ahead, sit down. I looked down at the blanket, and it was clean and not that old. I sat down, leaning back on the pillow. When I looked at Free, he was naked. I could see his white teeth, as he smiled at me. He was slim, but not as skinny as I thought. He had a nice body, and his erection stood straight out, as he looked at me. I suspected he was waiting for me to join him in the nude, and in a minute I did.

Free introduced me to something else I'd had little practice in perfecting. He put his lips on mine, pulled my body against his, and we shared the longest, most passionate kiss I'd ever had. Its intensity made me dizzy.

The warmth of his body was delicious, and he slipped his dick up, until it rested on my belly. It was like steaming hot flesh, and I felt him smear traces of hot liquid on my stomach, as his kisses grew in passion. His arms reached around me, so his hands could cup my ass cheeks. His fingers felt the hot flesh.

Free tasted wonderful. He smelled fresh, and wild, and intoxicating. I felt his his arms, his chest, his thighs, and I grabbed the hot flesh that was still dripping the sticky liquid onto my stomach.

When I used the tacky fluid to stimulate his totally fat dick, he repulsed, standing a foot away, with his iron rod pointed at me. I took hold of it again.

"Better ease up on that, hot stuff. I'm so close to cumming, I need to slow down a little. I don't want to rush this. You're too nice for me to want to end this evening any sooner than we must," Free told me.

I kiss his chest and his nipples. I nibbled one, and he moaned a long, slow, guttural sound that made me tingle. Our body had a meeting of the minds, and we kissed, and touched, and moved in slow motions.

As we kissed, the passion increased, and our bodies mingled in a way my body had never mingled with another before. It wasn't hurried or frantic. This was the other side of how you could be with someone.

This had to be what making love was all about. I'd been so busy wanting to find a way to have sex more often, I hadn't contemplated there was more to sex than the sex act, and there was more to love than sex. Free knew that too, and he intended to show me everything I'd allow him to show me. Free had been around. He knew what to do, and how to do it.

I liked Gordo. I didn't have much choice. He was all there was. While I knew we'd shared the basic element in sex, it left me feeling empty. It left me feeling a little dirty. Watching him with Pat had served to reenforce that feeling. This wasn't what songs were written about and movies were made about. This was animal instinct, and not at its best.

Being with Free allowed me to see the entire picture. The frantic Gordo gave me a chaotic view of of his feelings, without emotion. Free was loving, caring, and as gentle as a boy could be.

We took a break from kissing, to catch our breath. The ground under the blanket was surprisingly soft. It was a clear night, and stars and moon shined bright. The cleared spot had no trees near enough to block the heavens above. Once again we held hands, sharing the view, and needing to say nothing.

Until then, I'd only had words and facial expressions to communicate what I was feeling, but touch came into play. Intimacy, something I hadn't known until then, was a language all its own. Not being able to get close enough to Free was a first for me. I wanted to be so close that we were one. I wanted to be one with Free, and he seemed to share the calm and sensitivity of the moment.

As I rolled over to snuggle closer, his arms engulfed me me. His skin was warm and smooth. His body was tight and without anything extra, but what he had fit him perfectly. Free suited me fine, and when he encouraged me into him, I willingly went. The confines of Free's inner most being, were voluptuously warm, soft, and inviting. It was like finding that most secret place.

It's what I had it in mind to do to Gordo, but he was never calm enough for me to make such an overture. It was something that required a delicate and tender touch. This was a delicious dance of love.

Free was totally into being joined together. Our lips met with an intensity that drove us beyond pleasure, in this exploration of our love. How could I be so comfortable with a boy I'd known for a few hours? How was it we were doing the most intimate thing I'd ever contemplated doing, and I had no doubt that it was the best thing I'd ever done. If I had a second's doubt, Free's moaning and free flowing passion convinced me that I took him about as high and far as he'd ever been, and I had gone with him in love making that went on and on. I couldn't get enough of Free.

We were welded together. We were one. We allowed the cool night air to overcome us. It dried our sweat. As we held each other, unable to let go, we were soon working our bodies into a repeat performance, doing it all over again, as the stars came out and the moon stood straight above out heads as we watched.

It was the most remarkable night of my life, and we rolled, and kissed, and clung to each other, even after another go round. Free worked himself into a sitting position, and I expected something marvelous would spring forth from his bag of tricks. Looking down on my face, I had more access to Free than ever.

Slowly sliding down on my love stick, he let lose with one amazing spewing fluid I'd ever seen. It went on my face, in my hair, on my chest, as he moaned, collapsing, but still pumping away to spend the final drop. He collapsed on top of me, as I felt myself slip away from the confines of his magic body.

It was glorious.

Free gave more to me that evening, than anyone ever had. I didn't want to leave his loving arms. He didn't want me to leave him or his private space, and I could have stayed with him riding my excitement all night, but life had a way of putting an end to the greatest night of my life, but not before more kissing, more gentle caresses, and a plan for where we'd meet tomorrow.

Was this what love was? Would we meet and repeat what we'd already repeated, and then do it all over again, or would we not be as passionate as we were the night before.

I didn't dare think it.

I refused to doubt it.

I loved Free.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

I almost blew off work for the first time, once I woke up the next day. My mind was filled with Free. I couldn't wait to see him again, touch him, smell him, and hear his sweet voice, but I remembered what Mr. Hitchcock told me, the day he hired me. Guys signed on to do the job, and in two or three weeks, they stop coming to work. He'd given me a chance, and I wouldn't let him down.

There was my father to contend with. He woke me for work before he left the house. If Mr. Hitchcock told dad that I laid out of work, my father would tell me at the next dinner, "You told the man you wanted a job. That's like a promise. You gave him your word, if he hired you, you could do the job. What's your word worth, Zane?'

My father didn't raise his voice. He didn't show anger or frustration, when his life was letting him down. He treated me like I had a mind and will of my own, and he expected me to use them to better myself. He didn't care what I did, and he did see a future in computers, but my future was in my hands. I'd go in the direction I decided on. That didn't mean he wouldn't offer me his opinion.

I told Free I had to work, until three, after the last truck was unloaded. Mr. Hitchcock's daughter came in to work the counter then, and he could do shelves and move any boxes of dry goods himself. He hadn't put me on a permanent schedule yet, and besides unloading the trucks, he took care of the rest, as he schooled me on where things went, and other things he wanted me to do.

"Mr. Hitchcock, I need to get off around three," I said, thinking it took me maybe five minutes to skate to the mall.

"Hot date, Z?" he asked.

"Something like that. I'll do the last truck at two thirty, and then I'm out of here," I said.

"Thanks for letting me know. You've been doing a fine job, Z. I'm happy with our arrangement," he said, giving me room to say something if I liked.

"Me, too," I said, going back to get my apron on.

All I could think about was Free. I knew, I didn't know him, but we'd done more than I'd done with anyone, and he was as gentle as a lamb. He seemed to be as passionate as I was, if not more so. I saw no reason not to do it all again.

By ten I had my mind on my work, and I only thought about Free every other minute. I could picture him in my mind. He was always smiling, when I did. I skipped lunch to put up the rest of the stock from yesterday's deliveries.

Just before three, I hung up my apron, said good by to Mr. Hitchcock and Brenda, and I skated to the patch of lawn on the far side of the mall. Two other boys were there, but no Free. I'd told him sometime after three, so I wouldn't panic yet, but maybe it wasn't as much fun for him, as it was for me.

I sat down a few feet from two boys, who were already on the patch of lawn just past the mall.. They were close to my age. They were engaged in a heated conversation, paying no attention to me. I was looking around for Free, but he wasn't in sight yet. I planned to stay there.

Where was Free?

I told him I'd be here shortly after three.


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