PHOTOS above and below - ERNIE

**

Johnny and Jason become the new sensation ...

It was a little after two  that afternoon when Jason and I took his car over to Strike's garage. I drove the Chevy and Jason drove right behind me, using me for guidance. There was so much paint on his windows, he could hardly see out.

It turned into a parade because I had to go slow so we wouldn't cause an accident. Other cars got held up behind us all the way down the Athens Road, around the square, and then south a couple blocks on the Columbus Road to Strike's garage.

Yah, definitely a real stupid parade, what with Jason's car advertising to everyone who saw it, a whole lot of people, that he and I were queer, gay, homos, fags and fairies, not to mention butt boys (I sort of liked that one), and everything else that was painted on there. But, at that point, we didn't give much a damn. We'd had so much fun fooling around with each other all last night and just before leaving, that we could have had others drive the cars and sat up on the roofs shirtless and waving to everyone.

Funny how fast you can change your attitude about things out of necessity. And with some good hot sex.

We parked in the lot in front of the garage on the Columbus Road, right across the street from the auto parts store where Uncle Ted had his office. Jason put his car right by the sidewalk where everyone could see it. You'd have had to be blind to miss it. It stood out like a big hippie dayglow sore thumb.

"Fuck. Let everyone in town see it," Jason said after we'd gotten out of the cars. "I don't care. Do you?"

I shook my head. "No way. The cat's out of the bag now and I don't give a crap. And I'll break the jaw of anyone who doesn't like it."

Cars were actually slowing down to look at the paint-jobbed Mustang. I put my arm around Jason's shoulder and we stood there grinning at the passers-by. One car was full of girls and the horn honked and voices shouted:

"Whoo hoo! Hottie boys!"

"Hunk-a-rama! Hey, dudes!"

"Yo! Boy-by-boy bros!"

I laughed at them and waved. "It's Ginny Rydell with Sabrina and some others. I wonder if she told them about last night at the party?"

Jason shrugged. "Who knows? She probably didn't. But after seeing the car now, she probably will. And she'll know who did it, too."

"And by the time school starts in late August," I added, "everyone at Kenton High will know we're queer."

Jason wriggled against me. "They'll all know by tomorrow. And sorry, dude, it doesn't scare me." He laughed. "Think of the challenge, Johnny. Every day. The possibilities for growth in having to deal with half the school mocking us and calling us names. We'll be worse off than the emos and goths and nerds."

I could tell he was looking forward to it, the challenge of a lifetime. Jeez, how he had changed since yesterday.

I grinned at him. "I know. We're big and tough and can beat the crap out of everybody if we have to. So we're ahead of them on that. But we'll have some real trouble from the other football teams we have to play. There's some monster dudes on them and you know they'll just have to cream the homo boys."

"So we'll get beat on at times," he huffed. "If we even play football," he added in a really derisive tone, Then he grunted. "And I can't believe I just said that. But I did and I mean it. It's a different life for us now. We have each other and we gotta take care of each other. There'll be lots of changes."

I didn't even have a chance to think about what he'd said because Strike and Sammy came out the front door and Sammy immediately began carrying on about the Mustang.

"What the fuck?" he shouted, walking up to the car and gaping at it. "Ohmygod! They ruined it, Jason. This'll be a real job to fix."

Strike just walked over to the car and stood there with his fists on his hips, shaking his head. Then he walked over to us and put his big arms around us both, giving us a hug. And, jeez, it was so freakin' sexy.

"Sorry, boys," he said. "Shit like this happens."

"It's okay, Strike," Jason told him. "We can handle it."

Strike nodded. "I see. You could've parked in back. I guess you want everybody in town to know?"

"Right," I agreed. "Why not? They'll hear about it sooner or later. And like you told Jason, anybody who doesn't like it, we'll break their teeth."

Jason nudged me. "A minute ago you said their jaws."

"Both," I grunted. "Their teeth and their jaws."

Strike laughed and slapped us both on the back, as another carload of girls slowed down to look at the Mustang and shout at Johnny and me.

"You dudes are gonna have a fan club pretty soon," Sammy said, walking over. "Girls love gay boys nowadays. They read all that yaoi manga stuff."

As I glanced at him, I suddenly realized I'd always thought of him as a grease monkey mechanic and never really gave him much thought before. It was obvious he knew what was going on and I wondered if he and Strike had a more intimate relationship than just employer and employee.

Jason laughed in response to what he'd said. "The girls all seem to think it's hot. Horny Kenton girls, you know. But I don't think we'll have much luck with the guys."

Sammy shrugged. "You may be surprised about that. Whaddaya think, Strike?"

"I think they have a lot of surprises in store for them," he answered. He nodded toward the Mustang. "But they won't all be bad ones like this."

An old pickup truck pulled into the lot from the Columbus Road and parked right next to us. The door flew open and Ernie, our halfback, jumped out. His eyes were bugged wide and focused on the Mustang.

"Oh ... my ... god!" he wailed, walking past the four of us as if we weren't even there. His mouth hung open in shock as he walked around the car checking out the spray paint damage.

Ernie, with his coffee-color skin tone, his handsome face and close-cropped hair, had that pretty-boy look of an Abercrombie and Fitch model. He knew it and used it, like now, shirtless and wearing  a pair of button-fly ripped jeans with the top button undone. He looked sexy as hell. We called him Crombie on the football team, and I always wondered if any of the other guys had imagines about him like I did. He was shorter than Jason and me, almost as big but not as muscular, and he was one of only a couple dozen African-American students at Kenton High.

He stalked over to us a minute later, gaping at us questioningly. Then he grabbed Jason, almost pulling him away from me, and hugged him.

"Jeez, dude! Who the hell did that to your car? I could see it two blocks away."

He was furious. We all could see it, and I wondered why his anger was so intense. Jason pulled back and said, "We have good reason to believe it was Mark Rydell."

Ernie's eyes grew even wider. "That fucker. I knew it! He's the biggest homophobe in the county. I'd like to ..."

Then he checked himself and looked at the rest of us and laughed, bumping my fist with his in greeting, then Sammy's and Strike's.

"I've had some run-ins lately with him, the jerk," he said, looking at Sammy and Strike warily.

"You can talk in front of them," Jason told him. "They know what's going on."

Ernie looked at Sammy and Strike and nodded, smiling timidly. But when he looked back at Jason his eyes were flashing sparks.

"I see a bud of mine up near Circleville," he said. "I was with him at the County Fair last weekend up there and we ran into Mark along with his sister and some of their friends. My bro had his arm around my shoulder. Jeez, it could have just been a pal thing. But Mark saw it and he started - queer, fag, homo ... all that shit, right there in front of everybody. I wanted to beat the shit outta him, but Ginny and my friend managed to calm me down."

"She's always saving his stupid ass," I said. "We had a similar incident with Mark, and Ginny came to the rescue and dragged him off."

"Isn't he on the football team with you guys?" Sammy asked.

Ernie nodded, "Right, he is. And he's been saying a lot of crap about Johnny and Jason to the other guys all summer, trying to turn everybody against them. Mark is second-string quarterback. He wants first, Jason's place."

"I see." Strike folded his big arms across his chest. "Trying to get Jason off the team so he can take over, huh? But I bet it's more than that, boys. When a guy is so homophobic that he's starting fights with teammates, there's way more to it."

Ernie nodded and looked like he was going to say something, but he must have thought better of it and checked himself. He looked at me with question in his eyes and I nodded slightly, figuring he wanted to tell me something later.

Then Strike got down to business. "Jason, I have to call your dad about this. It's gonna be a big expensive job and he'll have to handle the insurance claim. He'll have to see it and take pictures. It's that bad. So, there's gonna be a problem with him."

Jason nodded, calm as can be. "I know. Johnny and I will deal with him."

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it, and the others all watched and smiled.

"I'll be able to handle him on the business end," Strike went on. "But you boys will have to deal with what's behind the issue here. He's not going to like any of it."

"We're ready," I told him. "Jason can come and live with me if he has to. We'd like that anyway. And Uncle Ted won't mind."

Strike smiled at that. "No, he won't. You can count on that. Where the hell is he anyway? When's he coming home?"

"He's on the road selling auto parts. Pittsburgh, Erie, Buffalo, Toronto up in Canada, and all stops in between. He covers a big area. But he should be home sometime next week."

"Great. I miss him." Strike looked at me and Jason and Ernie. "Just so you boys are okay, that's what I'm concerned about. Don't let a bully like Mark rile you up."

Ernie scoffed at him. "Aw, he doesn't scare me. I'll break that idiot in half."

"That's what I mean. Don't get yourself in trouble by hurting someone like him. There's other ways to deal with trouble makers. He's not worth the risk to your own well-being.

"Sammy and I have to get back to work," Strike went on. "I'll call your dad at his office now, Jason. I'm sure he'll want to come right over and see the car. So he's gonna know this afternoon what the story is, and you'll have to be ready for him."

Jason was still holding my hand and he raised our hands up in the air as if in victory.

"We're totally ready," he laughed, and I was pretty amazed at how calm he was about it. I sure wasn't.

Jason gave Strike the keys to the Mustang and then he and Sammy went back into the garage.

I said to Ernie, "I have to take Jason home so he can take his mom grocery shopping. Can you meet me at my house in about ten minutes?"

Ernie nodded. "Good idea. I'll see you there."

After Jason and I had gotten in the Chevy, he asked, "What are you gonna do with Ernie while I'm not there?"

I laughed. "Make out like bandits, dude. What else?"

"Oh yeah?" he teased. "If I find out you did, I'll tie you both up to my bed and not let you loose for a week."

"Puh! That's just more incentive to do it. That's an awesome threesome for a whole week."

"Just a reminder, lover boy," he said, shoving my shoulder. "You're not doing anything like that without me there too."

That made me happy to hear. "Jason, I don't want to do anything without you. Not even take a pee. You have to come along and hold my dick."

"Right," he agreed, his hand on my inner thigh. "I like that idea. And we'll figure out a way to take care of Mark Rydell too."

"That's why I asked Ernie to come over," I told him. "I think he's got something on Mark. He just didn't want to say it there in front of Sammy and Strike."

That brought a big smile to his face. "Cool! I'll be all ears waiting to hear about it."

**

Ernie was waiting for me on the front porch steps when I pulled into the drive a few minutes later. He looked relaxed and peaceful as he gazed up at the wooded mountain beside the house.

"Yo!" I called as I walked over to him. "Quiet out here after being in town, huh?"

He nodded. "This is so cool here by the hills. It's so flat up by the farm and there aren't any woods nearby."

He lived on a farm up the Columbus Road with his mom and grandparents, beyond the strings of hills that ran through this part of the county. His parents were divorced and his dad lived way up near Cleveland in one of its wealthy suburbs. He was a hotshot attorney with one of the city's big law firms.

"It's great here when we get the winter storms coming from the south," I told him as I sat down next to him. "The hills block most of the snow and wind."

"But not when they come from the north, huh?" he laughed.

"Right. And those are usually the worst ones."

He looked at me quizzically. "So you and Jason are together now?"

I nodded. "Yeah, just yesterday and today, actually."

"No shit. Just now?" He smiled. "I always wondered about you two. I figured you'd been at it for a while. And lots of the girls and some of the guys have been talking about it this summer."

"I know. I guess I was pretty obvious, huh? I didn't realize it. I figured we were big and manly and jocks, and nobody would think we're queer." Damn, I was almost drooling. Ernie looked ridiculously awesome shirtless in the ripped jeans with the fly open on top, inviting you to reach in and grab the bulging package there. I struggled to control myself. "I used to wonder about you too, Ernie. And do a lot of imagining about you."

He seemed to like that. "Did you really? Jeez, I always fantasize about you and Jason. And I'm usually right smack in the middle of you both, like a reverse Oreo cookie."

I chuckled at the analogy, tingling all over a t the thought of it. "Well, I'll talk to him about it. Maybe we can arrange it?"

"Dude!" Ernie was all hepped up now. "Hey, day or night. Just call or text. I'll come running."

I figured I'd better change the subject before we started totally turning each other on. I was not going to fool around with another dude unless Jason was in on it too.

"So who's your bud up in Circleville?" I asked. "Tell me about him."

"His name is Shondo. He's older than us, twenty, and Native American. He's darker than you but lighter than me, and he looks like the Indians in the old TV westerns. He works for a farm supply company up there where we buy feed and fertilizer. I'd seen him there a lot of times and usually went home with hot imagines about him. Then one day this spring he took me into this old supply shed out in the fields and seduced me right there. My first time. And just like in a porn video."

"Were you surprised?" I asked him.

"I sure was. I thought he needed help carrying something out. Before I even knew it he was all over me. But ... whoa ... we had a good time," he added with a laugh. "Now we see each other regularly, almost every week."

"You'll have to bring him down here sometime. We can have a barbecue out back. Play ball. Go up to Spirit Rock and hang out."

"Man, that'd be great, Johnny. I told him about you and Jason, how hot you guys are and how good you work together on the football field. He'd love to meet you. It'd be great having queer friends here at home. I sure was feeling lonely. And you guys have been my friends all along anyway."

"You're right, Ernie," I said. "We gotta stick together. It's not gonna be easy when the word gets out about me and Jason. Now tell me what you know about Mark Rydell that you didn't want to mention at Strike's."

"Say, are he and Sammy queer, too?" he asked.

"Strike is, but I don't know about Sammy. Maybe."

"Well ...," Ernie began, taking a deep breath. "I really got the goods on Rydell, that son of a bitch. But he's got no clue that I'm on to him. You know where Pineview Park is on the Columbus Road going up toward the farm, right where that last line of hills going north ends?"

I nodded. "Sure. I've been there for baseball games when I was in the Little League."

"I was there a few weeks ago running on the track they installed around the football field. I had just plopped down in some shade to catch my breath when Mark pulled into the lot in his car. He's got that big yellow classic muscle car, so I couldn't possibly miss him. And you'll never guess who was with him."

"Jeez! Who?" was all I could say.

Ernie smirked. "Andy Miller."

"What? What the hell would Mark be doing with Andy?"

Andy Miller was a boy in our class at Kenton High. His dad was an accountant for the city and his mom the high school librarian. He was a nice kid, sweet and friendly, small for his age, and sometimes a little effeminate, and very pretty in a twinky Golden Boy sort of way. People suspected he was gay, but I'd never heard anything definite about it.

"I was wondering the same thing," Ernie said, almost whispering. "Mark parked by the main  hiking path that goes up into the hills. And when they got out, it sure looked like Andy wasn't too thrilled being with him. Mark had to hustle him along to go up the path.

"So I followed them, Johnny. Mark took Andy up into the woods and then off into the bush to a secluded spot. And ... well, he forced himself on the kid."

"What? Against his will?"

Ernie nodded. "Sure looked like it to me. I was watching from a distance so they wouldn't see me. Mark started pawing Andy and kissing him, and the kid was obviously not liking it, trying to push him away. Then Mark took his shirt off and forced Andy's off too, started roving his hands all over Andy and down his pants. The kid really started fighting him then. I heard him shouting at Mark but couldn't understand what he was saying."

"Why didn't you bust in there and break it up?" I asked. "I sure would have."

"Maybe I should've," Ernie responded. "But I'm just a black farm boy, you know, and Mark's dad is one of the big shots in town. And I didn't want to embarrass Andy. I figured he must have gone along willingly, unless Mark forced him into the car, too."

"I wouldn't put it past him," I grunted.

"Right at that point, Mark stopped," Ernie continued. "Probably figured he'd gone way too far already. Then they put their shirts on and left, but not before Mark said some threatening things to him, wagging his finger. Again, I couldn't understand because of the distance."

"Probably warning him not to tell anybody," I suggested. "I bet he bullies that kid around trying to get him to have sex with him. And then he's busting our balls about being queer? Trying to start a fight with you at the fair and spray-painting Jason's car? What a fucking hypocrite."

"Right. Exactly." Ernie whipped out his phone from his pocket and began running his finger on the screen. "Here. Look. I took some pictures of them."

I grabbed his phone and flipped through five different pictures and back again, all of Mark and Andy in the woods. Mark pawing at him, struggling to kiss him, pulling off his own shirt, pulling off Andy's, and another of him kissing Andy while both shirtless.

"Oh man, Ernie. This is crazy." I couldn't believe it. That big bully forcing himself on cute little Andy, and then carrying on about others being queer like the biggest homophobe in the state.

"Can you send these pictures to me?" I asked. "I'll print out copies. Jason'll want them. This is amazing evidence to have against Mark."

"Yah, I'll send them later," he agreed. "I did talk to Andy the next day, met him at the Starbucks down on the square. Told him I'd seen what happened. He was totally embarrassed and begged me not to tell anyone, but I wanted him to know I'd help him if Mark bothers him again.

"He said Mark's done it three times before. He goes to Andy's house when his parents aren't home and forces him to go to the park with him. Andy's afraid to tell anyone because he's scared Mark will hurt him. And then, of course, he's afraid everyone will think he's queer too."

"The poor kid," I sighed. "Man, we've got to help him. I wouldn't want Mark pawing all over me."

Ernie snorted. "I'd knock the sucker right out. I told Andy to call me the minute Mark comes around next time, just keep beeping my number and I'll come running. After what happened up  in Circleville, I'm ready to kaboom Mark all the way from here to West Virginia."

I gave Ernie back his phone. "Right. We've got to protect Andy. And Mark can get in trouble if he forces him to do anything. Just all that pawing at him is probably wrong. Mark's fuckin' dumber than I thought, the fool."

"Bullies are like that," Ernie pointed out. "Just plain stupid. They think they're above it all and exempt from all consequences."

Just then my phone pinged and I pulled it out of my pocket. It was Jason, texting, and I read the message on the screen.

~ dude! the shit hit the fan. my dad saw the car and came home swingin. told him whats goin on.  he went thru the roof. kickd me outta house. come get me. gotta stay wit u. yay! luv u luv u luv u! ~

I felt my heart start to thud as I read it. Then I handed the phone to Ernie.

"Oh hell," he exclaimed. "This is fucked."

I slipped the phone into my pocket and jumped up trying to laugh it off.

"Just another part of being young and queer in America," I quipped. "But at least Jason and I will be together all the time now. That's awesome. I gotta go get him. Stick around. I should be right back. We'll have to cheer him up."

I winked at Ernie and punched his arm. "Maybe we can think of something to do to get his mind off his dad, huh?"

**

** The hot sexy story of Ernie and Shondo's first get-together 'experience' at the farm supply company yard is included in the book HUNK SHOTS, chapter one ...

Next! Jason tells us how his dad goes postal!