(by Edward Zeusgany and Alex Anders, © copyright 1999, all rights reserved)

Dan’s first year of teaching had been gruesome. He was given an enormous workload that included first and second year accounting, book keeping and consumer economics. No two of his classes were in the same room, so he had to haul all of his materials around with him, always rushing from one part of the building to another. The students decided to test him, from his unruly homeroom of seniors first thing in the morning, to the last period of the day. In spite of becoming, out of necessity, a hard nosed disciplinarian, his genuine interest and caring for the kids and their progress came through. By the end of the year he had everything under control, but was exhausted.

The second year was entirely different. He had earned a useful reputation for being strict, in spite of being short, fair haired and youthful in appearance. As a result, his authority was seldom challenged and he could indulge his generally kind and friendly nature. His freshman home room was a delight, not least because all of his classes met there.. Best of all, a new teacher had been assigned the consumer economics as a result of increased enrollment in book keeping and accounting.

One day, between second and third period, Dan was carrying a load of teaching materials from the storage room to his classroom when a student offered assistance. “Hey, Mr. Henderson, let me carry those for you,” a boy said. Dan really didn’t need any help, but he didn’t want to discourage a student’s thoughtfulness, particularly this lad’s.

Last year, Jim had been in Dan’s sophomore book keeping class. He had often been surly, but compared to others had presented only minor behavior problems. This change of attitude, represented by a desire to be helpful, was welcome indeed.

“Thank you, Jim,” Dan said with warmth, when they reached his classroom and the youth had deposited his burden on the desk.

“That’s OK,” the youngster stated flatly and without expression. Jim was not prone to smiling. He departed for his own class. Dan would not see him until near the end of the day in Accounting I. Nor would he think of the youth, although he was a reasonably good looking lad. Jim’s face was narrow rather than wide, with regular features. He kept his straight, black hair cut short. At sixteen, he was already taller than Dan, though not by very much.

There were a couple of boys in his homeroom that Dan found attractive. Freshmen were well named, he thought. These were fresh, a bit delicate perhaps. One was fair and one was dark. Both had clear complexions and could be considered cute. Their dispositions were pleasant, neither boisterous nor morose. But Dan had no intention of getting involved with any youngsters from the school where he taught. He knew that would be looking for trouble.

*****

A day later, on leaving school for the day, he found Jim waiting near his car. “Hi,” the youth said.

“Hello, Jim,” the teacher cheerfully replied.

“Do you have anything you have to do right now?” Jim continued.

“No, nothing pressing,” Dan answered.

“Could we go get a coke? I’d like to talk to you.”

Dan hesitated, then nodded in agreement, “OK.” He unlocked his car, tossed his briefcase in the back, got in and then released the lock on the passenger side for Jim. He supposed that the youngster had a problem he wanted help with, probably dealing with school but possibly a personal one. That would explain why he wanted to have this chat outside the building. Dan believed that he ought be available if a kid asked for assistance.

“You know the places around here. Where to?” Dan asked. Jim directed him to a diner on the highway. Judging by the lettering on the sides of the parked vans, Dan concluded that this establishment was a favorite of local tradesmen. As they neared the entrance, Jim jumped ahead to open the door for him. They took seats at the far end of the counter.

Jim asked Dan where he had grown up. Dan said a little about the high school he had attended, then asked Jim how things were going for him. He thought this might lead to whatever it was the boy wanted to talk about. Instead, Jim asked him if he had brothers or sisters. Dan had an older and a younger sister, as it happened. Jim recounted how once he had told his mother that he wished he had an older brother and how she had laughed and said that was impossible.

He was an only child. Jim’s father, an electrician, had renamed his business ‘Fleming and Son’ the day after his birth. As soon as he was able, Jim worked with his dad on weekends. He was learning his trade on the job. That was why he wasn’t at the local vocational-technical school, but in the business program. His father regretted not having those skills himself and thought that his son should. Jim didn’t seem to resent not having a choice of occupation. “Not every kid has a business handed to him,” he said, or perhaps repeated.

When they had finished their drinks, Dan gave the youth a lift home. He was slightly annoyed that Jim never got around to whatever was troubling him, but he knew that kids were like that. For some reason the boy couldn’t bring himself to express what was on his mind. Dan figured that the problem would likely just go away by itself. He put it out of his mind.

About a week later, however, Dan received a letter at school. That was unusual in itself. It contained an invitation to dinner for that Friday. Jim Fleming’s mother had signed it, but it came from both parents. They were so pleased, she wrote, that Jim was doing better in school. It was a welcome change from the past. He was the first teacher who had been able to inspire Jim. They wanted to think him in person for taking an interest in their son..

Dan searched for an excuse to send in reply, but wasn’t having much luck finding one. When Jim’s class met, Dan asked the lad to see him for a moment at the end of the period. He thought that the boy probably would be as uneasy about having one of his teachers dine with his parents as he was at the prospect of attending. However, that turned out not to be the case.

“I really hope you’ll come,” the youngster said. “My folks are really looking forward to it.”

The acknowledgment that he could decline combined with Jim’s obvious enthusiasm disarmed Dan completely. He allowed as how he probably could go.

“I know it will be dull for you, but I’ll tell them that we’re going bowling afterward, so we won’t have to hang around,” the adolescent plotted. Dan knew that he was committed now, and he regretted it immediately. But he sighed silently and went on with his day.

*****

Dinner with the Flemings wasn’t as bad as Dan had feared. Jim’s mother wasn’t as gushy as he had expected and the father was quiet, but pleasant. The baked haddock was nicely done with an herbed bread crumb stuffing. Mrs. Fleming laughed that she still hadn’t gotten over having fish on Fridays. Jim’s dad made a point of telling Dan that his son was a good worker. That appeared to please Jim. They all seemed at ease with each other and with him.

Nevertheless, Jim was anxious to leave as soon as the desert of mixed, fresh fruit and sherbet had been consumed. Jim had the loan of his mother’s car and would drive, he told Dan on the way out. Once in the automobile, Jim said, “We’ve been invited to a friend’s apartment for desert.”

“We just had desert,” Dan commented.

“No one can have too much desert,” Jim teased. “Anyway, you’ll like these guys.”

It was a twenty minute drive to Bill and David’s flat a few towns to the north. Bill was the music librarian at the college where David was a freshman. Bill was a few years older than Dan, medium height and thin. David was short and cute, with curly dark brown hair and rather flamboyant in his mannerisms.

Dan was astonished to be unexpectedly plunged into this obviously gay environment, but he managed to hide his amazement. David was closer to his type than Jim. Dan thought that fifteen was the perfect age, that good looking boys then tended to acquire a sweetness of disposition he found appealing. Beyond that, he liked the range of fourteen to sixteen, but a younger or older boy could attract him depending upon looks or personality. David acted like a fifteen year old and was pretty.

Everyone pretended they didn’t know that Dan was gay, though Bill and David were quite open about themselves. They had met a year ago and Bill managed to obtain a position at the college the boy was to attend. David was officially a dormitory resident. Dan had the impression that Jim had become acquainted with Bill first, but he didn’t know why he thought so. Mostly they were kept entertained by David’s antics.

On the way back to retrieve Dan’s car, Jim said, “You didn’t know I was gay, did you?”

“I know we’re all supposed to have the ‘gay radar,’ but I didn’t get mine.,” Dan complained. “I almost never know who is and who isn’t. Except David of course.”

“He is very obvious,” Jim commented. ‘You don’t like him?”

“Sure I like him,” Dan admitted, while carefully hiding just how much.

“Thank you,” Jim said.

“For what?”

“Trusting me. Telling me that you’re gay.”

“You already knew.”

“Yeah. But you didn’t have to say it.”

Dan did think that Jim was trustworthy, solid even, in his way. The phrase, straight acting, straight appearing, came to mind. Jim was ‘butch’ to David’s ‘fem.’ It had finally dawned on Dan that Jim could be interested in him. But Dan preferred to take the initiative himself and Jim was a student where he taught, therefore, off limits. So back at Jim’s house and standing beside his own automobile, when Jim said that he would like to get together again, it was the teacher who replied.

“I like you, Jim, but I can’t hang out with a student. I’d lose my job and never be able to get another one.”

*****

The following Monday afternoon, when Dan left work, Jim was waiting by his car. Dan made a face.

“Please don’t be angry, I can’t help it,” the boy pleaded.

Dan relented and smiled. He was a pushover for someone who really wanted him. There had been times when a long period of sexual deprivation had driven him to go to a gay bar. Someone would make a play for him and he would end up going home with the man. It wasn’t what he really wanted, but that was seldom available.

“Give me a ride home?”

“OK, hop in.”

About half way to Jim’s house, the youngster said, “Maybe I could come to your place once in a while?”

“I live with my parents to save money. Beginning teachers don’t make much.”

“Oh,” Jim muttered. He was silent for a while, then, “We could meet up some place and I can get one of my father’s vans.”

Dan did not find this idea contained much appeal, so said nothing.

“Come on Dan, we can have some snacks and fool around. No one will know anything about it. And, if you do, I promise not to be a pest like I was today. The rest of the time we can pretend that we hate each other.”

“I don’t know,” was the most that Dan would say, while slowly shaking his head.

*****

The roadside diner they had visited previously was open 24 hours and had a large, dark parking lot in the back. Dan would roll in a little after 7 p.m. on a Friday night and park next to the ‘Fleming and Son--Electrical Contractors’ van. If there was no one about, Dan would move from the driver’s seat of his car to the passenger seat in the van. Then they’d be off.

Jim parked the van in different, quiet, residential neighborhoods. People would think that the father was working somewhere nearby. Although he had employees, Mr. Fleming did all of the emergency night and weekend work himself. At double the usual rate, he wanted to earn that for himself. Strange as it may seem, the hired help preferred regular hours. That was probably why they didn’t have their own businesses.

The back of the van had more free space than Dan would have thought. Although the sides were lined with built in metal shelves and boxes there was a wide central aisle that Jim had covered with a foam pad. It was close, but then, that was the idea.

Dan would never forget that first night in the van. He had expected a little conversation, but no sooner had they settled in the back than Jim was undressing him. He was gratified by the boy’s enthusiasm, but found it difficult to be as quiet as their location required. Nearly strangling on his own suppressed laughter, Dan made obviously futile efforts at resistance which only served to prolong the process by a few minutes.

Jim’s body, once revealed, was a pleasant surprise to Dan. In contrast to himself, Jim had the sort of muscular definition that he wished he had, but now knew was a gift of nature. No amount of exercise would ever provide Dan with baseball size biceps when flexed. No amount of dieting would give him rippled abdominals. He had learned from effort and later from study, that he had the wrong body type. But there it was in front of his eyes for him to enjoy, and Jim liked being admired.

Soon they were entwined in varying positions. Jim pushed his cock against Dan’s bottom. “How do they do that?” the boy wondered out loud.

Dan disentangled himself. Ever the teacher, he made a fist and turned it sideways so that Jim was looking at the way the fingers and thumb curled together. “The ... um ... opening is about like this,” he began. “And if you want to put a finger in ...” Dan held out his other hand with the index finger extended. “... first you make it stiff,” he managed to say with only a gentle, almost beatific smile, on his face. “You push it all the way in slowly and firmly. Don’t poke at it, that wont work. Wait for about a minute. The muscles around the opening will relax and become less tight. Then you can do what you want.”

Before the youngster could speak, Dan quickly added, “But you need a condom and some lubricant,” assuming that would put matters off.

“Oh, I’ve got that stuff,” Jim cheerily announced.

Later Dan found out that Jim’s father kept a supply in the van. It seems that Mr. Fleming had an active social life. Jim knew all about it. Only Mrs. Fleming was kept in the dark. When he did day work at people’s homes it was generally the wife who admitted him. Evenings, he might arrange to meet a woman who decided to skip a club meeting. If the police noticed the van rocking, they found it politically astute not to discover the cause. In return, Mr. Fleming stayed away from their spouses and was seldom asked to repair their wiring. The old man was delighted when Jim started to use one of the vans on Friday nights.

So Dan became used to listening to the rhythmic slap, slap, slap of the youthful, hard body smacking against his softer behind. This was Jim’s favorite activity. The part Dan liked best was the several minutes after the boy had finished and lay motionless, momentarily exhausted, on top of him. It was then that he felt most strongly a sense of belonging to someone. That feeling, while it lasted, was far greater than anything else in his experience. This might be why it was sometimes called ‘being possessed,’ Dan reflected. Of course, it was the sensations of the previous anal intercourse, interesting in themselves, that produced this latter, more satisfying effect.

*****

Dan counseled against Jim’s notion that he should act hostile toward Dan at school. It would unnecessarily draw attention to themselves. He suggested instead that they simply treat each other like teacher and student, that is, with a degree of reserve. For Jim’s part, feeling odd about calling Dan, Mr. Henderson, he avoided addressing his teacher by name. However, Jim understood the unequal danger that Dan derived from their relationship and was careful. Secretly, he enjoyed feeling protective.

When Jim turned eighteen and graduated from high school, the most serious risks vanished. They took an apartment located one town to the west. Dan’s mother was quite upset. In her view, no child should leave home unless married, dead or employed at least 100 miles away. Mr. Fleming was proud as could be, and envious of two guys sharing a “bachelor pad,” a place to entertain women.

Jim worked full time and did half the night and weekend work. He made a lot more money than Dan. Two years later, Jim bought a modest middle class house and Dan ‘rented’ a room. Neither of their sets of parents were invited to visit. Two guys didn’t keep house well enough for that, they said. They separated for part of the holidays, limiting but not excluding time with their respective families. They discussed ‘coming out,’ but decided that business considerations argued against it.

They were still together ten years later. Mr. Fleming abruptly decided to move to Florida and set up there on a smaller scale. He had saved quite a bit of money and felt that he was ready for a semi-retirement. He took one van and gave everything else to Jim. At Jim’s request, Dan became the accountant and supervised the bookkeeper, work he performed after school and weekends.

Jim found that he was not as gay as he thought he was. When he took over serving his father’s customers he found that some of the women expected him to perform all of the same duties. Of these, some were both attractive and persuasive. He didn’t tell Dan anything about this. He told himself that he wasn’t really cheating, since it wasn’t with another man.

On the other hand, Dan’s acknowledged attraction to adolescent boys annoyed Jim considerably. It wasn’t that Dan did anything about it, but that he wanted to. Jim sometimes thought that he was in the way of Dan’s happiness. If it wasn’t for him, Dan would have young friends. Alternately, he felt Dan’s desires as a slight. He asked Dan to be frank about his feelings, but deemed it unkind to be told. Dan should know that it would upset him.

They own no property together, they have separate bank accounts. Splitting up would be an easy thing to do. Even so they remain together. Dan claims that each day they choose to renew their compact. They don’t have to, but they want to. For each of them, the other is the one person in the world he can depend on. When there is a crisis or merely a problem, it is to each other that they turn for support and comfort.

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