orangetoughguy | log post II

....... [Now Freddy, don't argue the kid about special effects and all that jazz. Just....let it go. He gives a shrug.] What can I say? I never lived by the beach either anyway.

[But there it is, a smile for a smile. Before Freddy can even think twice the words are already coming out.] What's your family like?

Then we'll have time to train before the contest. [Joking of course though it does feel good that he's not the only boy in the world who's never seen an ocean.]

...My family? [The carefree nature and natural flow of the conversation is gone. Larry's face falls and he realizes that there aren't any cigarettes in his pockets. He didn't take them from that nice apartment. They're not his.] I don't have much of my real family left. [Larry stalls and clears his throat. Freddy must not know him at all if he's askin'...] My mom is dead. My Pop is gone, I dunno where. Maybe dead too. My uncle is doing time.

[We? That certainly has this kid brightening up. Even as a young man Lawrence Dimick is charming. Does anyone ever call him Dimmy?]

I meant the people you're staying with, right now, or whoever made you feel like home. [Good job, Newendyke. He feels like rubbing a hand over his own face for that obvious faux pas. Instead Freddy tries to make up for it by taking out his own cigarettes. Did Larry every notice he keeps a couple Chesterfields tucked into his carton of Marlboros? It's for practical and sentimental reasons. Like right now it fits both. He offers the Chesterfield to Larry.]

[With a name like Dimick, you can bet your life on there being a handful of people who call him Dimick.]

I don't feel like I'm at home there. The Kleins put up with me. They don't gimme money because they said I'll buy smokes or drugs or...whatever and waste it.

[See though, it's half true because he's a smoker at seventeen. He takes that cigarette. ...Wasn't Freddy smoking Marlboros? Weird. He lights up before continuing.]

So I don't eat lunch. I wear somebody else's hand me downs. It's not so bad. I mean, there are worse places to be.

Like Fresno-way. [He emphasizes the waaay with the use of flappy hands too. Here have a light on Freddy, he's lighting up second cigarettes for them both.] That's where I'm from, my family's not so bad but I don't think they really take me seriously.

[Personal stories for personal stories. That's fair isn't it?]

I never heard of Fresno. That a bad place or something?

[Puff, puff.]

What do they do to you?

[It's an incriminating question, one that he is used to asking other fosters or kids who he know that have had their share of tears.]

...... [Sigh.] Naw, just that small, for California anyway.

[What do they do to him? Freddy has to look at Larry for this question. Is that normal for this kid? Shit, his brow furrows. Makes one really appreciate the folks they do have.] Nothing, they don't do anything to me. Just a couple disappointments, when I dropped out of college my mom and dad really rode my ass about it. Like I let everyone down. They're not happy I'm still a bachelor too.

[Freddy smiles over this one because it is kind of funny, the unwed youngest son.]

Most of it is great right? All sunny and warm. Even without the beach.

[So he assumes.]

Woah, though you went to college. They gotta be happy you went to some of it. [Says the kid who's having a hell of a time trying to get through high school. Larry taps ash off to one side.]

Girls aren't easy. Sounds like they expect too much.

Sure if you're by the coast. Fresno's about five hours from the nearest beach and that's if you've got a car to take on the highway.

[He should show Larry his motorcycle. There's something oddly satisfying about impressing this teenager. Back to the college thing though.] Nobody gets far saying you did only two years in college, worse if you quit. [Enough of that though.] You're tellin' me, don't get me started on California girls. All those songs got it way fuckin' wrong.

[The kid's smiling again.] What about you? Got any girlfriend?

[Because Freddy knows the routine real well at that age. You can fancy sucking cock but the way things are dictates you still keep a lady on one arm. That's just how it is.]

I never thought about how long it would take from my place to the beach. Five hours...[He whistles briefly at the thought.] That'd be best as a day trip.

[The motorcycle would undoubtedly make the kid flip. The very best he can hope for as far as wheels go will be a used clunker. Hard time getting the ladies in that.] Worse? Heck, I dunno if I'm gonna start. School's tough. Girls are easy by comparison. At least with them there's a chance of things getting better.

Not right now. [A grin creeps onto Larry's face.] Not yet. Won't be long now though. She's comin' around. [It's a relief to hear Freddy ask. More and more it's easy to loosen up even though he keeps reminding himself to be smart, be cautious.]

Unless she gets knocked up. [He adds as an offhand remark because in Freddy's opinion it's funny. No he doesn't hate women okay? Okay.] Oh yeah? So what number is she gonna be? Five? Ten?

[Guys brag about the amount of pussy they've had like it's second nature, right? Even the ones who like cock. At least that's Freddy's line of thinking. He'll be damned if Larry proves him wrong, especially at this age.]

So far so good. [Meaning that he's not guilty of getting a girl in trouble...that he knows of. Or something.] She's gonna be number seven.

[He doesn't brush his shoulder off but he does look pretty fucking proud of himself there.]

Black hair and big blue eyes, her name is Maureen. She got legs that go for forever.

[In case Freddy's having a hard time picturing it he makes a curve in the air that's meant to be her profile.]

How about you? You have a lady?

Seven? Shit man.

[He may as well leave the table, Larry's got him beat even though there was never any doubt in this kid's mind. When Freddy was that young he had one, maybe two, girlfriends. He wouldn't count the first one either because she was a damn shrew for her age. Er, anyway, Freddy's still seated at the table, just feeling mildly defeated. The women he bedded in college and after that though far exceeded seven...of course Larry likely surpassed him at that age too. Sigh. Wait is this teenager even telling him the truth?? Fff.]

I think I got the idea. [He laughs over those (large) paws making Maureen's silhouette. Larry must have a thing for women with the letter M.] Naw, I don't have a lady but I get by just fine without one.

[That probably doesn't come out the way he means for it to come out.]

Longest was a year and a half? Two years? Something like that.

[Casual, like it's nothing. Like his frequent moving locations and own personal problems didn't have anything to do with it.]

Anyway, wish I had a picture, I think one day she'll be like those pictures in your apartment. [The pin ups he spent some time looking at, sweating under the collar. Though he takes Freddy's answer in stride, the implications are there though.] ...so no ladies? [Honest question, one asked in a low voice, he even leans in because he wants to know.]

That's a long time for a kid. [A nod of approval.] You like those pictures huh?

[Freddy smirks at the irony in a younger Lawrence Dimick fawning over the art the older Lawrence Dimick put up. Er, say what? Green eyes go a little wider at the way Larry looks at him, asking him that question, giving him this knowing look. Shit man his cheeks are flushing a soft coral red.]

No, not right now. [The supercool tough guy has to avert his gaze.] It's kinda complicated.

Yeah. It's like some kinda magazine or car garage...something.

[Like is putting it lightly. Talking like this, like good ol' boys. Life friends and they've only known one another for a day.

Oh, is this kind of a question not one you ask?]

...That some kind of a nerve?

[Larry clears his throat, his own face is feeling heated. That was a risqué question now that he thinks about it. Fuck they were sleeping together weren't they? And he saw his cock. He focuses on is cigarette.]

[Oh he hit a nerve but not in the way he might be thinking. After all, Freddy's seen his dick, touched it, sucked it, gotten fucked by it, just not in this thinner bear form. He's still a pretty impressive size for his age, shit Freddy envied guys like Larry when he was seventeen. He wanted them to notice him too.]

You wanna go for a walk?

[The dirty blonde guy offers instead of answering the question.]

[Fuck. Now he's thinking about it. What's a guy like Freddy do? He can't mess with school kids all the time. There's probably a group of em or something right? Larry tries to piece together that public service announcement for the better in his head. Except that's got him thinking about the locker room. Oh man. It's like a curse or something.]

Walk? Sure.

[Those can clear a person's head. Larry exhales his smoke through his nose.]

Okay.

[What's a guy like Freddy do? Repress repress repress. That was until Lawrence Dimick came along. Aw hell that kid wouldn't even know who Santana is, he has no idea how he was the first to take this kid's ass. Fuck now Freddy's thinking about it, is this Lawrence Dimick cherry? How is this any different from thirty-something year old White bending a teenage Orange over the back of his car? Stop thinking about it, Newendyke, you horny son of a bitch.]

I'm not ashamed of it or anything. [Puff puff, he's flicking ash to the side.] Some people can't understand it, that's all.

[He's talking about not having a lady, yeeeep... And they're walking along.]

[On his feet and waiting, because Freddy was the one who was suggesting the walk. How come he's taking to be the follower so easy? Dimick, you're gonna get it and no one is gonna feel sorry for you. But what's there to worry about with a guy like Freddy who doesn't jump him even when Larry's about wearing nothing. Freddy bought him a meal which is more than what he can say for other brief encounters. Why so shy now? He swallows and tries to not think on things that'll get his lose pants fitting even worse.]

You don't feel like you were made wrong or anything?

What?

[Oh. Right. Larry's a bright motherfucker, of course he is. Freddy had no doubt, it's him who's trying to play dumb. Sometimes he wonders how someone as smart and slick as Lawrence Dimick ever wound up in the system and doing what he does best; rob people with a smile. Anyway the charming teen's got you now, Newendyke, don't play dumb.]

No. I used to, when I was younger I let guys push me around. [Knowing what he does about Larry's feelings on the church he'll steer clear of 'God's plan.'] Then I met some nice guys. [Like you.] When I'm with them it feels right.

[He keeps his voice down even though they're the only ones walking on this side of the street. Shit he thinks he sounds like an afterschool special but fuck what Freddy would have given to have someone to talk to when he was that age. Hell he still needs someone to talk to at this age and funny how it always seems to turn out to be Larry in some shape or form.]

[Brown eyes blink and look his way. He's focusing, clinging on Freddy's every word because he's never heard anybody talk about...that kind of thing in a positive kind of light. For him it's always been something felt emotionally or physically as if growing up wasn't hard enough with all the changes he's gone through. It feels like he's gotta adapt more than other kids. No time for crying, just growing and being an adult and hoping everything will make sense eventually.

Even though he's not too much older Freddy sounds like he's got it together. Though that rightness could be what he's feeling. ...maybe.]

So it isn't just you. I mean...there are a few. Others. And it's okay.

[Snort. Look he doesn't mean to snort, he's been there, but Larry's lack of awareness is endearing to Freddy. Again not only are they years apart, this Dimick kid was born in 1950, somewhat a far cry from 1965. It may be only 15 years but in terms of social revolution it's a big change. Damn, the Larry he knows lived through that.]

Are you kidding me? They got cities where it's okay like San Francisco and Miami. I mean they got people who won't think twice about bustin' your jaw too but everyone else is gonna treat you like family.

[Glamorizing it much, Newendyke? There's a lot of bad in those cities too and he won't even get started on AIDS, but where's the harm in giving a cursed Lawrence Dimick some glimmer of hope? It's not like he's changing the course of Larry's future. Oh fuck he hopes that's not the case.]

Cities?

[Like this one he wants to ask but already there's more to it to mull over. It's a bright, rosy world out there. And he didn't add Miami to his list.]

I didn't know. I mean, only a few people know about that part of me. ...I'm used to getting busted for other reasons.

[Larry tosses away the end of his Chesterfield but rubs his lips in thought.]

A few?

[Freddy's trying to remember what stories about his youth Larry's told him. There was the boxing ring or the guy he wanted to room with, the guy he met in prison. None of these he recalls as being from Dimick's teen years.]

You trust'em with that? [The implication being I didn't have anybody.]

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