Bill W

Castaway Hotel VII

Chapters 37-45

Chapter 37
Vinnie, Please Call Home

I was confused as to why Vinnie hadn't at least called me to explain what had happened. He carried his cell phone with him at all times, so I saw no reason why he hadn't phoned to either explain what he saw or advise me about what he was doing. I even tried to call him, but he didn't answer. When I was prompted to leave a message, I left word for him to call home immediately.

Needless to say, I was beginning to panic, even though I had told Kevin not to. This wasn't like Vinnie at all, so I was deeply concerned. I realized the shock of catching Kevin with someone else, along with the anger he must have felt as a result of that discovery, might have clouded his judgment. Therefore, it may have caused him to do something he wouldn't have normally done, under normal circumstances.

When Jake awoke, I filled him in about the details, as I knew them, and then explained how worried I was about Vinnie's safety. After talking it over, we decided if Vinnie didn't show up by noon, either at home or back at Kevin's dorm room, we'd go out looking for him. We realized it would be futile to call the police at this point, because Vinnie would have to be missing for forty-eight hours before they'd even consider doing anything. For that reason, we were technically on our own, for the time being.

For the next few hours, I couldn't even force myself to do anything but wait for a phone call. Occasionally, I would also dial Vinnie's cell number and pray he would answer. I had to believe he was all right. Speaking of praying, that's exactly what Jake and I did, as we continued our vigil.

The minutes seemed to drag on for hours and word spread through the family faster than a computer virus on a broadband Internet connection. As the various boys came downstairs and questioned the worried expressions chiseled on Jake's and my face, we tried downplaying our fears, but our attempts weren't exactly successful. I guess the boys knew us both too well and saw through our transparent attempt to deceive them.

Without telling them exactly what had happened, we explained that Kevin and Vinnie had a misunderstanding and Vinnie took off. I went on to explain that none of us had heard from Vinnie since and we were just worried that something might have happened to him. The boys were equally concerned and promised to do whatever they could to help. We thanked them and advised the boys we'd let them know what they could do. I'm not sure they were satisfied with our response, but they left us alone. Once they were gone, Jake and I talked about what we might do if no one heard from Vinnie by the deadline.

Almost precisely at noon the phone rang and I prayed it would be the call that lifted this veil of apprehension from all of us. "Hello," I said, as I picked it up.

"Dad, it's me Kev. I haven't heard from Vinnie yet. Have you?" My heart sank.

"No, Kevin. We've heard nothing here either." I could hear him moan slightly.

"Dad, this is all my fault and I'm scared something has happened to Vinnie. I'll never forgive myself if it has," he sobbed into the phone, and I knew the guilt of his actions was beginning to overwhelm him.

"Look, Jake and I are going to drive to Philadelphia to look for Vinnie and we'll stop by to see you too," I advised him. "I'll have my cell phone with me, so call me if you hear anything."

"I will, Dad, and you call me if you find him," Kevin pleaded. He was still choking back his tears but I could tell it wasn't as bad as it had been a few seconds before. At least he felt some hope, because we were going to search for his lover now.

"Kev, I will, and we'll see you in a few hours," I advised him. "We won't be rushing, because we'll be looking for signs of Vinnie along the way, but we will be there before dinnertime. I'll have the boys call me if they hear from Vinnie while we're gone and you do the same."

"Okay, Dad," Kevin confirmed. "See you in a little while then."

After I hung up, Jake and I got a few things together, to take with us on this trip. Before we left, we discussed the upcoming Valentine's Day party with the boys and tried to encourage them to go ahead with their plans. However, they were adamant that they wanted to wait for Jake and I to return, so we could join them.

Even though I was impressed with their intentions, I explained we probably wouldn't be home until very late, so they shouldn't wait for us. The boys countered by saying they'd hold the party on Sunday then, so we'd be there too. They said they would contact Aunt Susan and tell her what was going on, so she could adjust her plans accordingly. Even though Jake and I tried to convince them not to do this, it was immediately evident we weren't about to change their minds. Therefore, we just thanked them and headed out for the Grand Am.

Jake and I planned to follow the route we knew Vinnie would have taken, both to go see Kevin and then to return home. Even though it would be more difficult to spot him once we got on the Interstate, we thought we still might be able to see enough, in case he was stranded somewhere along the way. One of us would drive and keep an eye out, while the other would just sit and scan the entire area for signs of our missing son. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all we could think of doing.

The drive seemed to take forever, and at one point I thought I saw Vinnie's 4Runner going in the opposite direction, so I dialed his cell phone again to see if it was him. When I got no answer, I assumed it was just a similar looking vehicle and we drove on. Kevin must have been watching for us, because by the time we pulled into the lot near his dorm, he came racing out to greet us.

"I'm such an idiot," he announced, as his greeting. "I was a fucking fool to do that in the first place, and then have Vinnie see it and hurt him that way… Dad, what am I going to do?"

"Once we locate Vinnie, you'll apologize and tell him the things you've told us," I suggested. "I think that will show him how much you really care about him."

"I don't think he'll want to listen," Kevin countered, "and I can't blame him. I'm not sure I'd listen to him, if I had caught him cheating on me like that."

Kevin was beginning to cry again, so I suggested we go to his dorm room, where he wouldn't draw attention to his situation. I wasn't sure he'd want to explain to others about what was troubling him. It was a very personal matter and there are some things you don't wish to discuss with anyone else, regardless of how well you know them.

Once we were alone in his room, I just held Kevin and allowed him to let his pain come out. Jake and I discovered later that Kevin's roommate just happened to have gone home that weekend and was one reason why Kevin invited the other boy to his room for a little fun. The fact that his roommate wasn't there also allowed us a chance to spend some private time with Kevin, during which we tried to reassure him everything would be fine. Although he wasn't buying in to our arguments, because he truly believed Vinnie would never forgive him for what he'd done, I think he was letting go of some of his pain.

About an hour had passed, so I suggested we go out to eat before Jake and I left. One reason for doing this was because Kevin had told us he hadn't eaten anything since he tried to catch Vinnie the previous evening. I didn't want him getting physically ill because he wasn't getting any nourishment, so I made him go out with us for dinner. I also made him choose where we'd go, since I figured he'd be more likely to eat if he liked the place we went to.

Kevin decided he was in the mood for pizza, so we went to a small place not far from the campus. It was a local haunt the college students loved to hang out at and Kevin said the pizza was excellent. We ordered a large pie and let Kevin choose what he wanted on it. I also ordered a side salad and a drink for each of us.

Although Kevin was still down, he did eat well. I guess his stomach finally informed him he had neglected it for far too long, so he ended up devouring four slices of pizza and his salad, plus several drinks. It was good to see him putting something into his system. Once we finished, I paid the bill, left a tip and then we took Kevin back to his dorm.

Once we got there, I called the house, to see if there was any word on Vinnie. I soon discovered they had heard nothing, which concerned me even more. Since I knew I wouldn't rest until we located our prodigal son, I told Kevin it was time for Jake and I to go. It was imperative we leave early, since we were going to be taking our time traveling home. It would be a slow and tedious process, as we checked every inch of the highway looking for signs of Vinnie. We would get off at every exit ramp and stop at each rest area, all the way to the house.

After hearing our plans, Kevin begged to go with us, but I told him I didn't think that would be wise. We weren't planning to make another trip back here and I didn't want him to miss any classes.

"Dad, I'm not going to be able to concentrate or do anything until I've worked things out with Vinnie anyways," he informed me. "So, can't I go back with you? I really need to do this." His face pleaded with me to give in to his request, but I just couldn't do that.

"Kevin, I know this is important for you, but you are thinking with your heart and not your head," I countered. "You can't afford to take time off from classes now and if we hear anything or locate Vinnie, we'll let you know. In fact, I promise that I'll drive out here with him next weekend, so you two can patch things up. Will that help?"

Although Kevin looked slightly relieved, I could see he still didn't totally agree with my suggestion. However, he finally relented by saying, "Okay, as long as you'll make sure Vinnie calls me as soon as you find him, because I really need to tell him how sorry I am. Then you have to promise you'll bring him here next Friday and stay until Sunday afternoon. I have a lot of making up to do with him."

"I promise, Kevin, and we'll keep in touch," I confirmed.

Jake and I both hugged and kissed Kevin, to let him know that even though he made a horrible mistake, we loved him nonetheless. He walked us out to the car and didn't go back inside until we disappeared from sight, but I knew how depressed he still felt. In fact, he probably wasn't going to feel any better until Vinnie and he had worked things out.

Jake and I drove under the speed limit all the way home, to ensure we wouldn't miss anything. We searched both sides of the highway and looked for signs of Vinnie and the 4Runner. I feared Vinnie might have been involved in an accident, which hadn't yet been discovered, and was stranded somewhere off the beaten path. However, we saw no signs of anything of that nature, so I guess my hunch was wrong.

Jake and I got off at each exit and drove a little ways in each direction, to see if we could find any trace of our missing son or his vehicle. After finding nothing to indicate he had been there, we would get back on the interstate and continue searching.

At each rest area, we would not only stop and look around, but we'd also try to find anyone who might be on duty there. We would ask them if they'd seen a boy on crutches during the past 24-hours, figuring they might remember that one obvious detail. Try as we might, the best we did was to find one guard who said he'd seen several men and boys on crutches over the past couple of days. However, he could not give us enough specific information to allow us to identify Vinnie as being one of them. Somewhat disappointed, we continued on like this, until we finally arrived back at the house.

Some of the boys came running out to greet us and see if we'd found Vinnie, but when they learned we hadn't, they were as disappointed as we were. They informed us they hadn't heard from him either, so I was now ready to push the panic button again. To prevent that from happening, I decided it would be wise to seek assistance from law enforcement, but not tonight. It was nearly midnight and I knew it would be too dark for them to accomplish much. Besides, it hadn't been 48 hours yet, but tomorrow I'd explain none of us had seen Vinnie since Friday at school. It wasn't exactly a lie, since Kevin hadn't really seen him either.

Once I concluded we'd all do better after having a good night's sleep, I sent everyone to bed. We'd go to church first, before we did anything else, so we could pray for Vinnie's safe return, and then I'd call Steve Shay. He was legally Vinnie's father, so he should know what had happened, but I also hoped he'd know someone in a high enough position to help us with our predicament.

When I went inside, I discovered Ted and his Aunt Jane were there. I had totally forgotten they were coming for our party. Sammy had invited him to be his date for the Valentine's Day shindig, which thrilled Ted to no end. He told his Aunt Jane about it, even though I had called and given her a heads-up before I allowed Sammy to make his call. Jane took the weekend off and volunteered to bring her nephew, after she worked things out with Ted's parents. Jane and Ted merely told them they were coming to visit us and never mentioned that Ted had a date for a party. It was probably a wise move on their part, even though I hate to lie or deceive parents in this manner.

The boys had gotten both of them set up in a room, since we had plenty of space with all the college boys being away. Ted and Jane would spend tonight with us and then leave after things finished tomorrow. Due to their long drive home, we'd have to have the party earlier than originally planned. We would eat at 4:00 and then proceed with the other activities, so we'd finish up around 7:00. That way, they could get home by midnight.

Although there were a bunch of protests about not wanting to go to church the next morning, I was insistent. In an effort to try to get me to change my mind, my sons argued someone should stay at the house, just in case Vinnie called or returned, but I wasn't convinced. They pressed their case by stating I didn't allow them to take their cell phones in to church, so they didn't see how Vinnie could reach us. To dismiss their argument, I told them I'd take my cell phone with me, set to vibrate of course, just in case Vinnie called. Obviously, they couldn't find any other issues to use to change my mind, so they gave up and went up to their rooms.

After suffering through a rotten night's sleep, as my concerns about Vinnie grew, I slowly came to life. Once I was sufficiently coherent, I went around and made sure all the boys were up and everyone was getting ready for church. Once they were dressed appropriately, we loaded everyone into our vehicles and headed to our usual place of worship. After we'd been there for a few minutes, I think the boys began to be thankful I made them come. We all prayed and discovered a renewed sense of hope in doing so.

Ted and Jane really seemed to enjoy being there with us. They reveled in being part of such a large group and had been greeted warmly by the rest of the congregation when we arrived. It was obvious they felt a special connection to our family and eagerly participated in the service.

When the minister finished his sermon, the boys pulled me aside. They informed me, in their own way, that they wanted to go home, instead of having brunch, as we would normally do. This time I gave in to their request, since I was eager to get in touch with Steve. Jake said he and some of the boys would whip something up instead, to tide us over until our special dinner.

When we arrived home, I checked the messages on our answering machine, but there was still no word from Vinnie. Feeling depressed, I got on the phone and called Steve. He picked it up on the third ring.

"Steve, it's Josh," I announced. "Vinnie has turned up missing and it's been over 24-hours since any of us last saw him. Do you know anyone in law enforcement who might be able to help?"

"What happened?" Steve gasped back.

"It's a long story, but I'll explain in a minute," I said. "However, do you know anyone in law enforcement who might be able to assist us?"

"Yes, Josh, I do," he confirmed. "But please tell me what happened?"

"I let Vinnie go see Kevin, but Kevin happened to be entertaining someone else at the time," I explained. "Vinnie walked in and caught them in a compromising position and freaked out. He took off and none of us have seen or heard from him since."

"Damn, Josh. I hope he's okay," Steve responded. "Look, I know the commander of the local State Police barracks, so let me call and explain to him my adopted son is missing. I'll have him contact you for the details. Will that be okay?"

"Yes, Steve. More than okay," I agreed. "I'm sorry I let this happen."

"Josh, Vinnie's eighteen and a strong-minded young man," Steve admitted. "He's not easy to rein in, once he's made up his mind, and I know you would never have allowed him to do anything that might be potentially dangerous. I'm sure he was hurt because of what he saw, so it's possible he believes he can't face any of us yet. Let's hope he's just staying at a motel somewhere, trying to cool off and regain what's left of his dignity."

"I pray you're right about that, Steve," I concurred, "but Jake and I just drove the entire length of the route Vinnie would have taken to get to Temple and then back again. Unfortunately, we didn't see any trace of him, so I'm really worried about this. I've already lost two sons and there's no way I could handle going through something like that again."

"Don't worry, Josh," Steve suggested. "I'm willing to bet Vinnie's fine. Just give it some time and I'm sure he'll return. I'll make that call now, so be expecting to hear something shortly. The State Police will probably want a picture and a description of what Vinnie was wearing, so see if you can get that together in the meantime."

"Right, Steve," I agreed. "I'll do that and thanks for your help."

I hung up and started asking the boys if any of them remembered what Vinnie was wearing when he left for school on Friday.

"I'm pretty sure he had on his brown corduroys," Graham informed me.

"Yeah, that's what he was wearing," Sammy confirmed. "He also was wearing a black sweater. I remember, because I saw him in the hallway in school, right after lunch."

"Okay, any idea what shoes he was wearing?" I continued.

"Same ones he almost always wears," Cole informed me. "His brown, slip-on Nevados."

"Okay, what about his jacket?" I pressed.

"He was wearing his black Old Navy jacket," Trey added.

"Okay, I think I have enough for when Uncle Steve's friend calls me," I informed them. "Thanks, boys. This will help a lot."

Now, all I had to do was to wait for the phone to ring and that didn't happen right away. It was nearly an hour later, before I got the call.

Chapter 38
Worries and Diversions

"Hello, may I speak with Josh Currie, please?" the voice on the other end of the receiver asked.

"Speaking," I replied, although it was not my usual response.

"This is Captain Charles De Luca," he informed me. "I'm in charge of the local State Police barracks and Judge Shay suggested I call you for information. Steve said something about his adopted son disappearing and you'd be able to give me more details."

"Yes, and thank you for getting in touch with me," I told him. "Steve's my best friend and Vinnie has been living here with me for quite a while."

"I won't ask why," he stated dryly, "but I'm going to need some information. What is the boy's full name and description?"

"His proper name is Alvin Mitchell Rydell-Shay. The last name is hyphenated and he likes to be called Vinnie," I told him.

"And he is Judge Shay's adopted son?" I knew why he was confused.

"Legally, he is, although Vinnie decided to keep his biological parents' surname and hyphenate it with Judge Shay's," I explained. "His mother and father were in one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on September eleventh and he thought he should honor them by keeping their name too. Steve understood and agreed."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that and now I understand," he apologized. "Please forgive me, if I sounded cold and unfeeling earlier." It was amazing how tying this to September eleventh had given him an instant attitude adjustment and made him more sensitive to our plight.

"It's not a problem, but let's get back to Vinnie," I urged. "He's eighteen, five foot-six inches tall, has brown hair and brown eyes, and uses metal crutches. He was born with cerebral palsy and can't get around well without them."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that too," he offered, sincerely. "Do you have a picture of him?"

"Yes, I do, and I'll drop it off wherever you wish," I told him.

"That won't be necessary," he informed me. "I'll have a car drop by and pick it up. Can you tell me when and where he was last seen?"

"Yes. He left for Temple University after he finished his last class on Friday, so he could visit one of my sons," I began. "No one has seen or heard from Vinnie since. We are all beside ourselves with worry and afraid something has happened to him. A couple of us have driven the route Vinnie would have taken to and from Philadelphia, but we saw no sign of him. There was some indication he got to Philadelphia, but then left before he spent any time with my son."

"We'll probably need to talk to your son," he informed me, "to see if he can provide us with any other clues."

"I know, but can that wait a bit," I wondered, "because my son is really taking this very hard. Yesterday, we drove to and from Temple University and my son wanted to leave school and come with us, so he could help look too. I had all I could do to make him stay there, so I don't want him to feel the situation is dire."

"We'll do our best to keep that from happening," he agreed, "but we will need to get any information he might be able to provide and learn what he noticed to make him think the young man had arrived and then left. It would help if we could find anyone who might have seen what direction the young man was going when he left."

"I understand," I acknowledged.

"What kind of vehicle was he driving?" De Luca asked.

"He was in a 1998 Silver Toyota 4Runner, Limited 4 X 4, with Pennsylvania D.A.R.E. license plates, number DA 978."

"Great! I have all the information I need," he confirmed. "I'll fill out a report and get this information out to the field as quickly as I can. Let me give you my home and work numbers, so you'll be able to call me if you hear anything from him in the meantime."

I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the information he gave me and then thanked him for his help. After I hung up, I informed everyone about what he told me he was going to do and then we began to prepare for our delayed Valentine's Day party.

I felt bad the boys had to put this off until today, because we planned this for them, not for Jake and I. I did understand why they wanted us to be part of it too, but it did mess up some of their plans. Fortunately, all of their dates understood and still agreed to attend, but I wasn't sure it was going to be the same. Just the same, I sent the boys up to set out what they were planning to wear.

Before we went to change, Jake and I took the time to make sure everything was set up as we had planned. We knew Susan would be arriving shortly, to begin preparing the meal, and I didn't want her to contend with other distractions. Once we finished doing that, Jake and I sat down to discuss what options we might have concerning Vinnie.

Susan arrived a few minutes later and announced she had brought a great many items with her. She told us she had begun her preparations at home and that's why she had so much to carry in. All she planned to do here was to use our ovens to cook the meal and then, she'd serve it, after filling everyone's drink order. Jake and I quickly volunteered to help her bring everything inside, and then we left Susan to work her magic in the kitchen.

Before Jake and I went to our room to get ready, a patrol car showed up to pick up Vinnie's photo. After they left, Jake and I went to change, while the finishing touches were added to the food. When we came back out, all the boys were starting to come downstairs, probably because the smell of the food had lured them. They were hoping they might even be given samples first, but that didn't happen. I had to admit it did smell wonderful.

I was also impressed when I saw the boys. Some of them were dressed in suits or sport coats, while the others were dressed in nice sweaters and slacks. They all looked very handsome.

At that point, Cole and Mark left to pick up their girlfriends, and Jake went to pick up Peter's date. Yes, at nearly the last minute, Peter had invited a young girl he'd met at school and she accepted.

Andrew's friend's parents had dropped him off the previous evening and he had spent the night, so he was already with us. In fact, his parents had no qualms when he advised them the party had been postponed until this afternoon, so he wouldn't be home until Sunday night. As I told you, they are very liberal and open-minded.

It wasn't long before the four of them were returning, with their dates on their arms. After exchanging greetings with the three girls, I apologized for having postponed this event until today. They each said they understood and it was no problem.

I did notice that all of the girls were sporting a nice corsage, which I suspected they had been given by their date. Mark's girlfriend had her corsage fastened to her lovely dress, while Cole and Peter had given their dates wrist corsages. I was just about to suggest that we should go in and be seated when Frankie came downstairs. Wow! I was in for another surprise.

Even though I knew he wanted to make this a formal affair, I hadn't expected him to rent a tux just to wait on tables, but he had. Boy, did he look awesome. I think the girls noticed him, as well. Frankie led us to our places, in pairs, and seated us. He had everything set up in advance.

There were four card tables, arranged where our large dining room table would normally have been, and each was covered with a nice tablecloth. They also had a candle placed in the center, for atmosphere. The silverware was laid out in its appropriate place and the napkin was folded so it stood up where the plate would eventually be set.

Jake and I were seated with Mark and his date. The next table had Sammy, Ted, Graham and Little Ricky, so that Sammy and Graham were on either side of Ted. The next table was for Trey, Dion, Andrew and his little friend. The last table was for Cole, Peter and their dates, so it all worked out quite nicely.

Once we were seated, Frankie lit the candles and Susan took our drink orders. There was wine, beer and mixed drinks for those of age and soft drinks for those who were not. While she went to fetch our desired beverage, Frankie asked us which dressing we would like on our salad. Before long we were starting on the first course, but still managed to talk in between bites.

Even though none of us was really in the mood to celebrate, we realized how much work Susan had put in to do this for us. Therefore, we did all we could so we didn't disappoint her.

When all the salads had been consumed, Frankie collected our salad bowls, before he returned with the main course, dished out appetizingly on our best dinnerware. The Duck L'Orange was moist and had a marvelous flavor. Although I wasn't sure how everyone would take to the asparagus soufflé, they all seemed to enjoy it. The creamed potatoes were wonderfully done as well, so everything was perfect.

I had told Susan, in advance, that everyone would be allowed one glass of wine with their meal, which they all took advantage of. I had checked with their parents first, to make certain this wouldn't be a problem, and they all agreed it would be fine. When Susan refilled my glass, I happily passed my compliments concerning the wonderful meal.

Once those dishes were cleared, we were asked what topping we would like on our cheesecake and then they were delivered to the table. The girls cooed seeing the little heart-shaped treats with the red foil Hershey's kisses lined around it, and it was the lightest cheesecake I think I've ever eaten. All in all, it was at least a four-star meal.

Once the dishes were cleared and we were finishing our drinks, I began to hear music filtering out of the rec room and noticed some of the boys taking their dates back to dance. Jake and I got up to join them and walked into a dimly lit room, with romantic music setting the mood. Although I wouldn't remember every tune they played that evening, there was a nice variety of old and new songs. However, there were three songs that particularly caught my attention.

The first was "Valentine", by Martina McBride. At first, I was surprised to hear a country song, but quickly learned Cole had taken a liking to this genre of music during our vacation. Unbeknownst to me, he had been listening to it when he was alone and had become quite a connoisseur. It was he who had requested this particular number and the lyrics went like this.

If there were no words, no way to speak
I would still hear you
If there were no tears, no way to feel inside
I'd still feel for you
And even if the sun refused to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart
Until the end of time
You're all I need, my love
My Valentine

All of my life
I've been waiting for all you give to me
You've opened my eyes
And showed me how to love unselfishly

I've dreamed of this a thousand times
Before, but in my dreams, I couldn't love you more
I will give you my heart until the end of time
You're all I need, my love
My Valentine

And even if the sun refused to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart
Until the end of time
Cause all I need is you
My Valentine
You're all I need, my love
My Valentine

I found those words to be hauntingly beautiful and very appropriate for the occasion. I also noticed it led to some serious cuddling and kissing while it was playing. In fact, I think that song was played three or four times during the remainder of this get together, as the couples seemed to take a special fancy to it too.

The second song that struck me was an N Sync tune, called "God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You." I'm not sure why it caught my attention, because I'm not a big fan of most of those boy groups, except to gawk at them. They seem to be more about putting on a show, rather than focusing on the music, but I still seemed to enjoy this particular number. This is how its lyrics went.

Can this be true, tell me can this be real
How can I put into words what I feel?
My life was complete. I thought it was whole.
Why do I feel like I'm losing control?

I never thought that love could feel like this
Then you changed my world with just one kiss
How can it be that right here with me
There's an angel. It's a miracle.

Your love is like a river
Peaceful and deep
Your soul is like a secret that I never could keep
When I look into your eyes
I know that it's true
God must have spent a little more time on you
Oh, a little more time, yes he did, baby

In all of creation, all things great and small
You are the one that surpasses them all
More precious than any diamond or pearl
They broke the mold when you came in this world

And I'm trying hard to figure out
Just how I ever did without
The warmth of your smile. The heart of a child.
That's deep inside and leaves me purified

Your love is like a river
Peaceful and deep
Your soul is like a secret that I never could keep
When I look into your eyes
I know that it's true
God must have spent a little more time on you
Oh, you… yes he did, baby

I never thought that love could feel like this
Then you changed my world with just one kiss
How can it be that right here with me
There is an angel. It's a miracle.

Your love is like a river
Peaceful and deep
Your soul is like a secret that I never could keep
When I look into your eyes
I know that it's true
God must have spent a little more time on you

On you…
God must have spent a little more time on you
A little more time on you, oh.

The last of the three songs that made me take notice was another country song, which was once again selected by Cole. Once more, it suited the event to a tee and was very well received. It was "Breathe", by Faith Hill. These are the lyrics.

I can feel the magic floating in the air
Being with you gets me that way
I watch the sunlight dance across your face and I've
Never been this swept away

All my thoughts just seem to settle on the breeze
When I'm lying wrapped up in your arms
The whole world just fades away
The only thing I hear
Is the beating of your heart

'Cause I can feel you breathe
It's washing over me
Suddenly I'm melting into you
There's nothing left to prove
Baby all we need is just to be
Caught up in the touch
The slow and steady rush
Baby, isn't that the way that love's supposed to be
I can feel you breathe
Just breathe

In a way I know my heart is waking up
As all the walls come tumbling down
I'm closer than I've ever felt before
And I know
And you know
There's no need for words right now

'Cause I can feel you breathe
It's washing over me
Suddenly I'm melting into you
There's nothing left to prove
Baby all we need is just to be
Caught up in the touch
The slow and steady rush
Baby, isn't that the way that love's supposed to be
I can feel you breathe
Just breathe

Caught up in the touch
The slow and steady rush
Baby, isn't that the way that love's supposed to be
I can feel you breathe
Just breathe

I can feel the magic floating in the air
Being with you gets me that way

Everyone had been dancing very closely together the whole evening, which included Jake and I. However, no one stared at anyone else or made any comments, as they were too caught up in paying attention to their own partner. I did let my eyes wander around the room from time to time, so I could check on all of my children. That's when I noticed Frankie dancing with Susan one time and then with Jane at another. It was nice to see them enjoying themselves too and I think Mark got an extraordinary delight out of seeing his mother having a good time. I know Mark thanked Frankie after everyone else went home and I thanked Frankie too, for spending time with both women.

I got a particular thrill out of watching Ted dancing with Sammy, as this was his first real date since he learned how to dance on New Year's Eve. He was a little hesitant at first, but warmed up quickly as the evening wore on. I was glad his Aunt Jane had stayed out of the rec room until after he had gotten started. She, along with Susan and Frankie, had enjoyed the same meal we had, but they waited until after we were dancing before they sat down to eat. By the time Jane came back to watch her nephew and dance with Frankie, he had lost all of his inhibitions.

Over the course of the next few hours, Frankie, Jake and I all took turns dancing with her, as well as with Susan. It was our way of thanking them for everything they had done to help out. Although dancing with them was very nice, Jake and I spent most of our time together.

I also enjoyed watching Andrew dance with his little friend, who also took a while to warm up to the action. At one point, I even saw them give each other a kiss, which was tentative at first, but soon turned into a very energetic exchange. I learned later the boy was hesitant to do this in front of the others, but once he saw everyone else doing it too, he relaxed and went with the flow.

I even saw Peter and Cole dancing with their dates. I knew each of the girls, because they had attended my middle school when I was principal there, and all of them seemed to be fine with the boys that were with other boys. They danced a lot together and I did notice them kissing as well, or snogging, as Peter would say, so they seemed to be getting along fine.

In the middle of our dancing, the phone rang, so I raced to answer it. I thought it might be Vinnie calling or news about him. However, it was just Kevin, calling in to see if we had heard anything. I could tell he'd been crying again, possibly for most of the day, although he wouldn't confirm it. I knew I'd have a major problem on my hands, if something did happen to Vinnie, and not just with getting Vinnie well again. Kevin would be inconsolable and never forgive himself, if something like that were to happen. Therefore, I could only pray for both of my boys.

After going back to the party, I continued to have a good time, until calling an end to the festivities around 7:00. Ted and his Aunt Jane had to leave and the rest of us all had school the next day. I hated to call a halt to such a wonderful time, but I had to put my role as parent first and my wanting to continue spending time with my lover after that.

I did get more than a few mild protests, but Jane helped to end the uprising by saying they really did have to go and they would appreciate help carrying their things out to the car. Of course, Sammy and Graham bolted to assist them, with Little Ricky in hot pursuit, so my being a miserable ogre was momentarily forgotten. Mark and Cole volunteered to drop Peter and Andrew's dates off as well, and those boys accompanied them when they did so.

Once everyone returned, I was able to learn that the previous evening hadn't been an entire loss, at least as far as some of the boys were concerned. Although they were also worried about Vinnie, their raging hormones helped them forget, at least temporarily, about Vinnie's plight.

Sammy made certain that Ted spent the night with him, while Graham and Little Ricky shared a room. Ted was eager to have another sexual experience with Sammy, while Little Ricky and Graham did the same. The boys had also been wise enough to put Jane in Vinnie and Kevin's room, on the first floor, so she wouldn't hinder their fun.

Andrew also got more than he expected, when his friend spent the night. After noticing some of the other boys going to take a shower together, Andrew's friend suggested they could do the same. Andrew was ecstatic at the idea and eagerly agreed. Once they stripped down, Andrew noticed the boy was circumcised and had a few scattered hairs above his penis, but it wasn't much larger than his own. Suddenly, he felt more confident than he otherwise might have.

While the boys showered, they even agreed to touch each other and do a little mutual exploration. Andrew didn't have to explain about being uncircumcised, since the boy's parents must have told him about the differences at some point. This meant they could focus on each other, without having to ask or answer questions.

During this exploratory process, both boys got boners, but decided to wait until they got back to Andrew's room before taking care of them. Andrew was a little disappointed, but that didn't last for long. Once they were alone in his room, the boy offered to masturbate Andrew, if he would do the same for him. Andrew immediately agreed and they jumped on the bed together.

Andrew's friend quickly stroked him to his dry orgasm and then Andrew returned the favor. The boy took a little longer to get off, but when he did, he produced a small amount of immature ejaculate. The boy admitted it was only the second or third time it had happened, so once again it didn't make Andrew feel too bad.

Once the boy cleaned up, Andrew asked him if he'd ever had a blowjob and the boy said no. Andrew asked if he wanted to try, and after thinking about it for a few minutes, he agreed he did. Hesitantly, he let Andrew position him so they could suck each other off, even though they had both climaxed just a short time before.

Once he began to feel how good this felt, the boy enthusiastically took part in both the giving and receiving of oral sex. Although neither of them had another orgasm, they both enjoyed what they had done. From what Andrew told me, he thought they'd be getting together again in the future, so they could try more things together.

Now, other than Jake, the only thing that occupied my thoughts was Vinnie. 'Where the hell are you and why haven't you called?' I wondered.

Chapter 39
New Approaches

Monday started off no better than the weekend had gone, as far as learning anything more about Vinnie was concerned. I truly couldn't imagine what might have happened, since there hadn't been a sign of him anywhere. If he were younger, I'd be even more worried than I was now, because the longer a child is missing the less chance there is of finding him. However, seeing Vinnie was older, there was a possibility he was doing this of his own volition and nothing more sinister was involved.

Throughout the entire day at work, I was totally distracted. Every time the phone rang, all I could think about was that it might be news concerning Vinnie and I would hold my breath until I discovered otherwise. That was the primary reason I wasn't getting much accomplished. I think some of the boys were suffering a similar fate, because I got a call from a couple of their teachers, wanting to know why the boys seemed to be daydreaming and out of touch with what was going on in class.

Once I explained the situation to them, the teachers would respond they understood and apologized for calling. After that they'd offer their support and prayers for a happy resolution to our problem. After thanking them, I went back to hoping something positive would develop soon.

While looking at my calendar, I realized tomorrow was Trey's birthday and was relieved we generally planned to hold the parties on the weekend, and not during the week. Due to the fact this past weekend had been Valentine's Day, we had scheduled Trey's party for the following weekend, so there wouldn't be so many other distractions. This time that seemed to work out for the best, and hopefully we'll have heard from Vinnie by then, so Trey's gathering will be joyous and he won't end up getting shortchanged.

Once I'd considered that, I focused on Vinnie again. As each hour passed, it caused me to become more and more concerned about where he was and what condition he might be in. I also tried to think of something else we might be able to do to help locate him. Finally, I came up with an idea.

I took a picture of Vinnie and another of his 4Runner and used them to make a 'Missing' poster on my computer. After composing it, I printed out a couple hundred copies. Later, I would talk to Jake about distributing it between Temple University and our home, hoping it might produce some leads as to Vinnie's whereabouts. I had put the phrase 'call collect', followed by my cell number, on the flier, so I wouldn't discourage anyone from calling to give us news, due to the expense. I also added a $1,000 reward for information leading to his safe return, as an additional incentive.

When I got home, I discussed this with Jake in detail and Jake decided he'd call in and take the next day off from his job, so he could help distribute them. He felt I should stay close to home, to remain available for any calls I might get from Vinnie or the State Police. Jake said it would also be best if I were able to go wherever I might be needed.

I didn't argue with him, but did suggest he stop and see Kevin too. Jake could leave about thirty copies of the missing notice with him and Kevin could post them on and around the campus. That way, Jake could focus on distributing the leaflets at places just off each of the exits and at the various rest areas between Philly and home. We hoped someone would see one of them and be able to supply us with a new lead. Who knows? It's also possible that Vinnie might even see one of these and then realize he needed to call home. I thanked Jake for doing this, to which I got this response.

"Am I not one of his parents too?" he challenged. "Why WOULDN'T I be willing to do this for him? I'm just as worried about him as you are."

After apologizing for my seeming lack of understanding on this matter, I gave Jake a very passionate kiss. This caused him to drag me off to our bedroom, and for many wonderful minutes, he took my mind off worrying about Vinnie. However, once our lovemaking session ended, thoughts of our missing young man popped back into my head and I started to fret, yet again.

Before the boys went to bed, I reminded them that Trey's big day was tomorrow, so they'd all remember to wish him a 'Happy Birthday.' Even though I understood most of our attention would still be focused on our 'missing' family member, I didn't want Trey to feel neglected or less important. Birthdays are major social functions until you reach middle age, if that feeling ever ends, so I wanted to keep things as 'normal' as I could, under the circumstances.

The following morning, Jake took off early, but did manage to pass along his birthday wishes to Trey before he left. The rest of us all did the same and I let Trey open one of his gifts after we finished breakfast, to punctuate the significance of this day. He thanked us all, but said it would be better if Vinnie were here too, so again I hoped that our A.W.O.L. young man would turn up before Trey's party was held this weekend.

The morning dragged on for me, but after lunch I received a phone call from Captain De Luca. "Mr. Currie, this is Charles De Luca. I have some news for you, but I'm not sure how you're going to take it. We have found your missing 4Runner."

"Great!" I told him, "but you didn't mention Vinnie," I pointed out. "What about him?"

"That's the thing," he acknowledged. "The 4Runner was pulled over by one of our patrol cars, but Judge Shay's son wasn't in it. Another young man was driving, and after a lengthy interrogation, he admitted to stealing the vehicle from a rest area on I-76. At first, he claimed Judge Shay's son had loaned him the vehicle, but when he couldn't give the interrogators a description of the boy, they knew he was lying.

"The young man finally admitted he found the keys in the ignition, after he and his friend checked it out. Feeling lucky, he just hopped in, drove it away and followed his friend home. Your son's cell phone and luggage were recovered too, but we have no idea what happened to him. We are charging that young man with grand larceny, but more charges may be added later."

"So, this guy couldn't give you any information about Vinnie?" I followed.

"I'm afraid not," he admitted. "He said it was late and the car was parked with no one around, but the keys were in the ignition. Since he wasn't able to give us a description of the missing young man, I'm sure he never even saw him. He said he didn't wait around to see whom it belonged to and just jumped in it and took off. He figured the owner was probably in one of the rest rooms, using the toilet or something."

"But that must have been one of the rest areas we stopped at, but we didn't find him there either," I remarked, shocked. "Where in the hell has Vinnie disappeared?"

"I don't know, but we are focusing in on that rest stop and surrounding areas," he acknowledged. "We'll have search teams go over every inch of ground there and I'll let you know if we discover anything more."

I didn't like the sounds of this. Did it mean he thought they'd find Vinnie's body somewhere around that area or what?

"Do you suspect this guy and his friend might have done something to Vinnie?" I asked directly.

"No, not at all," he stated. "We just want to be thorough when looking for clues. Don't read more into this than what is there. We're just doing our job and that's all there is to it."

"Okay, I hope so. By the way, thank you for all you're doing," I told him, but now I was even more confused.

I now understood why Vinnie hadn't called any of us from his cell phone or responded to my messages, but where had he gone and how had he gotten there? Damn, that could have been his 4Runner I saw that first time we went looking for him! I just didn't think it was, when he didn't answer my call. Did something else happen to him or did he try to walk or hitchhike home? Had he been picked up by a Good Samaritan or grabbed by some unscrupulous scoundrel? He knows he can always call home collect, if he needs to use a pay phone, so why haven't we heard from him? The only reason I could think of to answer this quandary was that he was UNABLE to call, and that was not a pleasant thought to have.

The news I had just received troubled me for the rest of the day and that evening I discussed all the ramifications of what I had learned with the boys. I talked it over with them during dinner and they came up with various suggestions as to what they thought might have happened. Jake didn't get back until much later that evening, so we discussed the situation in bed.

"What do you think has happened to him?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, Josh," Jake responded, "but maybe Steve was right. Maybe Vinnie just couldn't stand the thought of facing us all right now, because he's embarrassed and angry about what happened."

"That may be, but Vinnie should understand he can come to us about anything," I stated, "regardless of the situation. I still can't imagine where he could be."

"Do you think he might have gone back to his old neighborhood?" Jake asked. "You know, to stay with an old friend or something?"

This gave me an idea, because Jake might be right about Vinnie doing something like that. It was indeed a possibility the rest of us hadn't thought about. I quickly got out of bed and jumped online, immediately going to www.switchboard.com. Once there, I began to look up a couple of names I remembered. I had heard them when I went with Vinnie to his old neighborhood, shortly after he first came to live with us. I jotted down a few phone numbers, but I knew I couldn't call these people until tomorrow. It was too late to disturb them now, but it did provide me with a ray of hope. I went back to bed, thanked Jake for the wonderful idea and then we made out a little, before we snuggled together for the night.

The next evening, after work, I called all of the people I'd thought of, but none of them had seen or heard from Vinnie recently. They did tell me they would check with some of Vinnie's other friends in their area and get back to me, if they discovered anything. After having them take down my phone number, I thanked them and said good-bye, but I had no better understanding of what had happened to my boy than I had before. The only consolation was, we now had a few more people looking for him.

We didn't hear anything new the next day either, but now I realized I had other concerns I should be addressing. Little Ricky was still dealing with problems of his own and this lull would give me a chance to spend some time with him. I needed to help him deal with his own issues, such as coming to grips with his father's untimely death. He was still having difficulty dealing with that, as well as with his mother's condition.

Arlene seemed to be getting worse as every week passed. She would go long stretches of time without recognizing any of us, not even John or Margaret Spence, even though she was living with them now and they were with her all day long. Little Ricky continued to go see her every day, without fail, but on the vast majority of those visits Arlene didn't seem to have any idea who he was. I could see this hurt Little Ricky deeply, both when I went with him to visit her or when he'd come home after stopping at the Spences after school. I did all I could to console him, but it never seemed to be enough.

Little Ricky would tell me his mother would end up spending most of her time talking about her parents or something from her childhood. She even thought he was one of her elementary classmates from time to time. It was as if her memory was slowly being erased, from her most recent recollections and then working backward. This appeared to be more than he could deal with.

"I can tell this isn't easy for you," I began, while pulling him onto my lap one afternoon, shortly after he got back from visiting her.

"Pop, it's just that she doesn't even know who I am any more," he responded. "She doesn't even seem to know she has a son, let alone recognize me."

His eyes told me how much pain he felt and how deeply this hurt him. I could feel his body trembling as he fought to hold back the flood of tears that were building inside. No matter how hard he fought it, his emotions finally got the best of him and he broke down completely. He was now bawling hysterically into my chest.

I did my best to comfort him, but there is little you can say to someone whose whole world has crumbled so completely and in such a relatively short period of time. Even though we were all there for him, he had built his hopes and dreams on being a part of the Becker family, with his father and mother. Now, he had to redefine his expectations, with a whole different group of people. I let him cry himself out, since I felt the release would be good for him, and once he began to calm down again, I tried to talk the problem over with him.

"I don't have any answers for you nor a magic wand I can wave to make everything better," I began, "but I and your brothers will be here for you, to help in any way we can." He looked up at me, from his tear-streaked face.

"I know and I can't imagine how I'd feel if I wasn't able to come live here," he told me. "I was scared when all this happened. Hell, I'm still scared, but I'd be terrified if you weren't here to help me when I needed you most. I know things will work out and I'll get through this, even though it may not be easy or go like I want it to. The good thing is, I know I don't have to worry about what will happen to me and you'll make sure I'm taken care of.

"Don't get me wrong," he continued, "and please don't think I'm unappreciative of what you're doing for me, but I really love my mom and dad too. Now, I don't have either of them and that's hard for me to accept. Yes, Mom's still around in body, but I can't even stand to go visit her any longer. It hurts to see how she is now and that makes me feel even worse – like I'm letting her down or something." He began to cry again, so I gave him some time to release this new wave of guilt and pain. Once he started to calm down again, I spoke.

"We all understand how hard this must be for you, although I won't say I know exactly how it feels," I explained. "All I can tell you is that you've done as much, or more, than your parents, or anyone else, could ever expect of you. You've been a terrific son to both of them, and if you'd like for me to go with you to visit your mother from now on, I will. If that will make it a little easier for you to deal with things, then I'll be right by your side every time you go see her. If you'd prefer not to go at all, I'll support that choice too, and no one will fault you for it. However, only you can make that decision."

"I won't stop seeing her," he countered, adamantly. "I can't do that, but I think it might help if you went with me. Would you really do that for me?" He looked hopeful, yet I could still see he doubted I would be able to go with him on a daily basis.

"Absolutely," I assured him. "We may have to change the times of your visits though, to fit in with my schedule, but I will go with you each and every day, for as long as you wish."

Little Ricky hugged my neck and kissed me on the cheek in response, and then I just sat there and held him, until HE decided he was ready to move on. It was several minutes before his grip on me began to ease up and he finally spoke.

"I've already gone to see her today," he told me, "so can we start this tomorrow?"

"Certainly," I agreed. "As soon as I get home, we'll decide if we should go then or wait until after dinner, but we will go together." He gave me a weak smile.

"Thanks, Pop. I think that will make it a little easier," he conceded.

The next night, Little Ricky chose to go after dinner, but I think he did that more for my benefit, than for his own. I believe he felt I was tired and worn out after working all day, so he wanted to give me a chance to relax and eat first, before we fulfilled his daily obligation. I thought that was very considerate of him, seeing his previous schedule had him going after he got home from school, so I let him know how much I appreciated his thoughtfulness.

"It is very kind of you to change your schedule to suit me," I told him, "but you don't have to do it this late every night, if earlier is better for you."

"We'll see," he responded, succinctly, while giving me one of his special little grins.

After dinner, I drove him down to the Spences, because I was too tired to walk and it was also quite dark out. John and Margaret greeted us warmly when they answered the door, but things cooled down from there. Arlene was in her room and didn't recognize either of us as we entered. Hell, she even thought John and Margaret were her parents and began asking them questions about some of her childhood friends and pets from years gone by. I could feel Little Ricky tense up, as she continued to carry on that way, so I just hugged him against my chest, to will some of my strength into his body.

He did try to start a conversation with his mother, although she responded like a small child to a playmate, rather than like a mother to her son. Little Ricky didn't let this get him down or deter his efforts though, and I was very proud of how he continued to handle himself. He always put his mother first, no matter how much it tore him up inside.

While he was talking to Arlene, John and Margaret left the room and I took a seat in the lone chair. Eventually I pulled Little Ricky onto my lap, thinking physical contact would help him keep his spirits up, no matter how unbearable the other circumstances were. We stayed with Arlene for nearly an hour, before I suggested it was time for us to go home, so he said good-bye to her. Although she merely bid him a good night, with no kiss or hug, he didn't let it depress him further. As we drove home, he made sure he thanked me for my support.

His visits went about the same for the rest of the week, with some days being better for Arlene than others, but none of them were ever very good. It was during this time that Graham decided to talk to Little Ricky too, because he had some issues he wanted to discuss with him. I wasn't sure what was up, but Graham asked me to sit with them as well.

"Little Ricky," he began, "I've been waiting a long time to talk to you about this, because I was never sure what to say."

"About what?" Little Ricky asked him.

"About your father dying," Graham told him, but that only brought a confused look to Little Ricky's face.

"I don't understand," he responded simply, which caused Graham to eye him carefully.

"Well, you know about my special gift, don't you?" Graham wondered.

"You mean that you can tell when people are sick or something is going to happen to them?" Little Ricky responded.

"Yes, that's part of it," Graham confirmed.

"So, what about it?" Little Ricky wanted to know.

"Didn't you ever wonder why I never said anything about your father, before he died?" Graham asked him.

"I guess, but I never really thought much about it," he admitted. "I just figured it was probably because you never saw us very often."

"That was part of it," Graham admitted, "but I kept hearing everyone talking about how tired and worn down he was getting taking care of your mother, so when I saw the gray haze starting to form around him, I thought it was just because of that. It really never got black, like it did with Cody or Brent, so I didn't think it was anything serious. I guess I never noticed it getting darker, because I didn't see him when he was getting worse. I'm sorry for not saying anything, because maybe he could have gone to the doctor and got some help or medicine, so he'd still be alive now." Graham broke down in tears after saying this, because he felt guilty. He thought he had let Little Ricky and Albert down.

"But there was nothing you could have done," Little Ricky advised him, and then I broke in before Graham could disagree.

"Graham, he's right," I agreed. "Even if you had said something, Albert was a very stubborn man and I doubt he would have gone to see a doctor just because you told him you saw a gray shadow around him. I actually think Albert would have laughed it off and still done nothing. Don't blame yourself, Graham. You had nothing to do with what happened to him."

"Pop's right," Little Ricky confirmed. "I never thought anything about your gift, because I knew you weren't responsible and probably couldn't have helped anyway. Like Pop says, my dad wouldn't have believed you. He didn't believe in psycho things."

"I think you mean psychic things, Little Ricky," I corrected, hoping I didn't embarrass him. He seemed to brush it off.

"Yeah, that's what I meant," he agreed. "My dad didn't believe in that stuff, so it wouldn't have helped if you told him, Graham. I really don't blame you. I actually kind of blame him. He cancelled the night help Pop got for Mom and I think that's really what killed him. If anyone is to blame, it's just him. I tried to tell him that myself, but he didn't listen to me either, so I don't think there's any way he'd have listened to you."

Hearing this made Graham feel better and helped to clear his guilty conscience. It also gave me a little better insight into why Graham had asked Little Ricky to be his date for Valentine's Day. His guilty conscience might have prodded him to make that invitation, although I felt he still had an attraction for our newest family member.

Now that this issue had been addressed, we could all move on. I think confronting this topic had been good for Little Ricky too, since he finally was able to admit he blamed his father for what happened. That was a major step for him and at least now I knew he wasn't blaming himself for his father's death. That thought had been bothering me since his father passed, but I didn't know how to confront him to find out for certain. Inadvertently, Graham had helped me with this problem, so he had done us all a big service.

Chapter 40
Where in the World is Vinnie

By the time the weekend finally arrived, I was actually glad for the distraction of Trey's party. It also gave me a chance to visit with some of the most important people in my life, our extended family. I took this opportunity to discuss many things with them, beginning with Vinnie's disappearance and Little Ricky's emotional conflict over Arlene's deteriorating condition.

Steve, Mary, Jake and I did spend some time alone, so we could discuss the Vinnie situation in private. We didn't want to accidentally alarm the others or cause them undue stress, if they overheard some of what we had to say. During that conversation, Steve informed me of something I did not yet know. He had called Captain De Luca before coming to the party and had discovered that a waitress in Somerset, Pennsylvania had reported serving Vinnie and another young man the previous weekend. She claimed the two seemed friendly and the boy on crutches didn't seem distressed, coerced or to be there against his will.

This information confused me. Vinnie's car appeared to have been stolen from a rest area east of our home, between here and Philadelphia, but Somerset is west of here, between our home and Pittsburgh. I could not imagine why he would be seen heading in the opposite direction.

Steve thought the waitress' report was most likely a false sighting, but I doubted that. How many guys fitting Vinnie's description and using crutches could there be? I didn't think there would be too many. This caused me to wonder why he was traveling further away from home, whom the guy was that Vinnie had been seen with and where they were going.

If this waitress had actually spotted Vinnie, then it couldn't have been a planned meeting with this other fellow. Vinnie had intended on spending the whole weekend with Kevin. So, how did this guy get involved? Could this be a voluntary pairing or was there something more sinister involved? I had no answers for any of these questions, which only heightened my sense of dread.

In an attempt to avoid ruining the party for Trey, I moved our discussion on to other topics. I hoped that doing this would distract me long enough to prevent my making a fool of myself or inadvertently bringing this affair to a crashing halt. I didn't want my doubts to become too apparent or my fears too obvious, since most of the boys seemed to be able to read me like a book. Due to that fact, I had to keep my emotions under control and focus on making another son happy today. It also helped that I found some solace in focusing on the fact that the waitress who had seen Vinnie claimed he didn't seem to be in distress or fearful.

Getting back to the task at hand, we sat down to enjoy Trey's birthday dinner, which he had personally selected. He had asked for Bleu Cheese Chicken, which is a chopped chicken breast, served over bowtie pasta, and covered with a bleu cheese sauce, which also contained bits of bacon. In addition to that, we also served everyone a Caesar salad and had trays of raw vegetables placed on each table, to give everyone the opportunity to dip these various items in the extra sauce.

Once the meal was completed, Trey and the rest of the boys put on their coats, hats and gloves and went outside to have a snowball fight. It had snowed the previous day and I guess they figured they could work off their restless energy that way and have a little fun in the process. This proved to be especially therapeutic for Little Ricky, who had been so tense over the past few days that I sometimes thought he might snap. It was nice to watch him carry on like a kid again and have some fun with his new brothers. The boys hadn't been treating Little Ricky with kid gloves, although they had been taking it a little easy on him. This now extended to the snowball fight they were currently having.

I was enjoying standing in front of the picture window and watching them laughing and having such a good time. When Little Ricky noticed me doing this, he smiled and then threw a snowball at the window. He didn't do this hard enough to break the window, but the snowball did have enough force to let me know it was intended for me.

After shaking my finger at him, I ran and put on my own outdoor gear and sneaked out the backdoor. I also took the time to stop and make a couple of snowballs first, before I slipped around front. As I approached, I peeked around the corner of the house, so I could locate Little Ricky first, before I moved into the open. Once I knew where he was, I stepped forward and let my first snowball fly. I was amazed at my own aim, when the projectile hit him in the left shoulder and caused him to look up to see who had assaulted him.

When he saw me standing and laughing at him, he took the snowball he had in his hand and threw it at me. After he released it, he quickly stooped down and made another one. His first projectile missed, but I wasn't about to give him a second chance. Seeing what he was up to, I threw my next snowball, which grazed his arm, and then raced forward and tackled him. This left both of us on the ground, lying in the snow and laughing hysterically.

Although Little Ricky was laughing, he was also trying desperately to get away. To prevent that, not only was I using one hand to hold on to him, but I was also busy using my other hand to scoop snow off the ground and toss it at him. The more I used my right hand to claw at the ground and push snow in his direction, the harder he laughed. Soon, he also had me laughing so uncontrollably that I could no longer hold him down. That's when he got away and began to use both of his hands to heap snow on me.

By this time, the other boys saw what was happening and came over to assist Little Ricky. Before long, I had snow flying at me from several directions. Having to save face and not be bested by my boys, I began to grab them one at a time and pull them down into the snow, in one big pile. Then I managed to get up and position my body across the heap of wiggling forms, to keep them all pinned to the ground.

We were all laughing so much that we hardly heard the rapping on the picture window, but when we looked up, there stood the rest of the family enjoying our antics. They were all smiling, waving, or pointing at us, and we could tell they were getting as much enjoyment seeing us interact, as we were having taking part in this madness.

Discovering they now had an audience merely spurred the boys on and before long they had all escaped my grasp. Now, they were multilaterally renewing their attack on my person and the snow was flying fast and furious. It wasn't long before I had so much snow clinging to my body and clothes that I was actually beginning to look like Frosty the Snowman.

I was now totally soaked and beginning to get chilled, so I decided to surrender to their magnanimous good will. I hoped they would take pity on an old man, but I should have known better. Seeing me acquiesce just encouraged them to utilize more devious plans against me. They were obviously going to make the most of this rare occasion when they were able to best me.

Using their new superiority, the boys made me get on my knees and stretch out prone before them. They were insistent I beg their forgiveness for every perceived grievance they had against me. They weren't about to let me get off that easily though, because they were determined to watch me suffer a little longer.

Andrew and Little Ricky decided I also deserved a spanking for my affront, so with me bent over on the ground, the two moved behind me. They stood, one on each side, and began whacking me playfully on the butt, which elicited even more laughter from their brothers and those watching from inside the house. Once they felt I had been appropriately punished, they let me up and we all went to the back of the house to reenter. We did this so we didn't track in snow and leave a watery trail throughout the entire house.

Once we rejoined the others in the family room, they had to give us their view of how they saw our little spectacle. For the most part, I heard that I probably deserved the spanking or it had been a long time in coming. Seeing I wasn't going to get any sympathy or support from anyone here, I excused myself to go dry off and change, as did many of the boys. When I finished toweling off and putting on dry garments, I opened the door to my room. All I saw was a blur, before I felt two arms wrap around my body and squeeze me.

"Thanks, Pop," I heard a voice say, before I looked down to see whom it was. Little Ricky was now entwined around me, like a constrictor. "That was great! I loved it. Thanks for coming out and doing that for me. I love you, Pop."

Words escaped me at this point, so I just hugged him back, to let him know I appreciated his comments and loved him too. He didn't seem to want to let go of me right away, so I stood there holding him until he decided it was time to break our embrace. As we walked back to join the others, I put my arm around his shoulders and we reentered the family room in that fashion.

As soon as we were in sight of everyone else, I put him in a headlock and gave him a nuggy. That's when you rub your knuckles back and forth across the top of a person's head, so the friction causes some discomfort, but not unbearable pain.

As I did this, I told him, "I always get in the last word… or action," which caused another round of laughter in the room, from those watching us.

"You cheat," Little Ricky wailed, before he began to laugh again.

"Nope. I just have impeccable timing," I replied, before letting go of his head and pulling his whole body against mine, so I could give him another affectionate hug. He responded in kind, although he did have his own comment to make as he did so.

"I'll get even with you for this," he threatened, lightheartedly. This elicited a feigned hurt expression and a pout from me, which caused him to cuff me playfully on the shoulder.

Once we ended our frolicsome exchange, we turned our attention back to Trey, who had been enjoying all of our antics. Even though this was supposed to be his day and he should have been the center of attention, he seemed to be enjoying this too. Since I now felt bad, I pulled him aside, to apologize for getting carried away during his party, but he didn't seem to want to hear it.

"I loved it," he assured me, as he attempted to put my mind at ease. "I haven't had that much fun in ages and wouldn't mind doing it again sometime. Don't worry, Dad. All of us had a great time."

At that point, I felt it was a good time to have his cake and ice cream, which would also allow Trey to open his presents. My announcement met with approval from all, especially the boys. I guess they had burned off enough calories outdoors to take care of the meal they had only recently devoured, so I made sure to give each of them a little larger portion than was normal. It was lucky that Jake and I had mistakenly each ordered a cake, so we had more than enough to go around.

After the presents were unwrapped and all those who had given the gifts had been thanked, the topic of Vinnie was broached again. After telling them all I could, some of the extended family tried to think of ideas we might be able to use to locate our missing loved one – suggestions we hadn't thought of before.

After a lengthy discussion, it was decided the best thing we could do was to start putting out more fliers along I-76 and I-70, the ones with Vinnie's picture and our phone number on it. Seeing the last report we had about him was that he had been seen heading west, traveling with some other guy, we decided to put the majority of the leaflets out along the westbound lanes of those two interstates. That way, we might be able to generate more information as to his whereabouts. Although we weren't sure how successful that effort would be, it was definitely worth a try.

We also decided that we'd notify the State Police in both Ohio and West Virginia too, in case Vinnie and this other guy decided to leave Pennsylvania. None of us had any idea why Vinnie might be with this person or if Vinnie even knew him. We weren't sure if he was just hitching a ride, but if that was the case, Vinnie could have asked to be dropped off at the exit closer to our home as they passed this way. Did this suggest Vinnie was a captive of sorts, possibly abducted from the rest area? The waitress had said Vinnie seemed to be in a good mood and with the guy voluntarily, if it had indeed been Vinnie she had seen. Then again, what's the possibility of another young man on crutches and looking like Vinnie being in that area?

This caused me to rethink the situation again. Could this guy possibly be someone Vinnie had known in the past? Was it possible Vinnie had called this guy after he saw Kevin with that other boy? There were so many questions and so few answers that it was driving me nuts. I didn't think this was like Vinnie, because he'd never done anything even close to this before, but maybe it was just his way of dealing with Kevin's infidelity.

Was this an attempt to run away for good or was he just trying to run away from a hurtful situation? No matter what his reasons for doing this were, the thing that bothered me the most was that he didn't even call to let me know where he was or what he was doing. Hell, he had never even tried to call to discuss what he'd walked in on at Kevin's dorm. I always thought we had a better relationship than what his actions now indicated.

After we had beaten this issue to death, the others went home and I set about printing more of the fliers. Jake and I would head out the next day, and seeing the two routes ran together for quite a while, we agreed that I'd stop at all the even numbered off-ramps, while Jake got off at the odd numbered exits. We'd also take turns stopping at the rest areas, but we'd make sure we left a poster on the bulletin boards before we left. We'd do this until I-76 and I-70 split, and then Jake would continue on I-76, and I'd follow I-70. From that point on, we'd stop at all the exits and continue on until we hit the state border.

While we were finishing getting things ready for our trips, Kevin phoned and wanted to speak with me. "Dad, have you heard from Vinnie yet?" he asked.

"No, Kevin, I haven't?" I replied.

"Dad, I feel soooo bad," he whined. "This is all my fault." His voice was choked and full of emotion.

"I won't argue that point now," I told him, "but we have heard a report that Vinnie was seen at a restaurant west of here, so there's still hope. Don't get too discouraged yet."

"I know, but I'm sooooo worried about him," Kevin added.

"I understand and Jake and I are going out tomorrow to put up some more posters," I informed him. "We are hoping doing so will generate some new information about Vinnie."

"You have to let me come home and help," he pleaded. "I can't just stay here and do nothing. I have to help find him and apologize for what I've done."

"Kevin, we won't have time to come get you and then still do this tomorrow," I explained. "I think it's more important that we get these fliers out where people can see them, so you'll just have to stay put and let us do what we can."

"What if I take the bus home or find another ride?" He sounded hopeful.

"Kevin, there isn't time for that and I don't want you just taking off with anyone," I protested. "That's why it's important for you to stay where you are for now."

"But this would never have happened," he reasoned, "if it hadn't been for me and what I did."

"That might be," I agreed, "but it won't change the fact that you probably couldn't get here in time. Therefore, I want you to stay at school."

"But, Dad…" Kevin began to whine, before I stopped him.

"No, this stops here and now," I insisted. "I will do this much for you though. If Vinnie isn't home by next weekend, someone will come to get you on Friday and bring you home or I'll let you take the bus then. Deal?"

"But, Dad…" I cut him off again.

"It's either that or you can stay where you are," I offered. "Is it a deal or not?" He didn't respond immediately, so I knew he was thinking it over.

"I can't come home before that?" he finally asked.

"No. I'll let you come home next weekend, but not before," I reiterated. "There's nothing you'd be able to do here and the rest of us will still be going to school and work, so you might as well just stay there and attend classes. Like I said, next weekend you can come home and then one of us will take you back before Monday."

"Dad!!!" he bellowed into the phone, but I didn't let him continue.

"Kevin, there's nothing you can do by staying here," I explained. "I will let you come back for the weekend, but only for the weekend. If you can live with that, then I'll call you Wednesday and tell you what arrangements I've made. Otherwise, you can just stay there. What's your choice?"

"Okay, I'll do it your way," Kevin replied, "but I'm not happy about it."

"I know, but that's the best I can do for you," I offered. "I also suggest you don't goof around with your studies during this time either. If you do, you'll regret your actions later, when Vinnie is back home and everything has returned to normal."

"Okay, okay. I'll do what you want," he agreed, but then he paused. "And just so you know," he began again, a few seconds later, "I understand you think you're doing what's best for both Vinnie and me, so thank you… but I still don't agree with you." He did manage to get in his final shot, but I decided to ignore it.

"Okay. I love you and I'll call you on Wednesday," I reminded him. "If you need to talk before that, just call us, and we'll call you if there are any changes."

"Bye, Dad, and I love you too," Kevin ended, and I knew he was being sincere.

'Yes,' I thought to myself, 'sometimes you do have to put your foot down and be a son-of-a-bitch to be a good parent.'

Chapter 41
Searching and Hoping

On Sunday, Jake and I set out on our trips, but we didn't go alone. The boys thought we needed company during the long drive and help doing our jobs, so some of them volunteered to go with us. Dion and Trey decided to go with Jake, while Sammy, Andrew and Little Ricky planned to ride with me.

Even though Graham had wanted to come with us too, he finally decided to stay home with Cole and Peter. They offered to take care of things and answer any phone calls that came in while we were gone. I'm glad they'd made up their minds to do this, just in case someone tried to contact us with a lead or Vinnie finally decided to get in touch. The boys would then call our cell phones and fill us in on any information they thought we should know. Depending on the situation, they might even tell us we needed to come back early.

Even though our outing did take a great deal of time and we didn't return home until late Sunday evening, everything actually went quite smoothly. While we were gone, the boys, Jake and I had hung hundreds of 'Missing' posters and asked numerous people if they had seen Vinnie, while we kept our eyes peeled for any signs of him. It was a slow and tedious process, but it was something we felt we had to do.

By the time we got back, we were exhausted, yet optimistic that our long day and hard work would bear fruit. Even though we had discovered nothing substantial during our trip, we still felt hopeful. We had talked to many people and put Vinnie's picture up in so many places, we felt someone would remember something, sooner or later.

Graham, Cole and Peter told us things had been quiet at home and they had only received calls from Uncle Steve and Kevin. Both of them wanted to know if anything new had turned up, and when they told them nothing had, they were disappointed. Neither stayed on the line for very long, in case someone else was trying to get through, especially Vinnie. As soon as I learned this, I contacted each one, to let them know we were back, but I also filled them in on what we did. Each one told me he was glad I called.

Since we still had no word on Vinnie, I remained focused on finding him. As I concentrated on this situation, a new thought popped into my mind. I quickly sought out Graham and asked if he had seen any haze around Vinnie before he left on his trip or if he had received any messages from Brent or Cody since Vinnie had disappeared. Surely, they would have warned Graham of any problems or alerted him if something was terribly wrong. Graham quickly stated that neither of those things had occurred and this gave me a great deal of comfort. I was immediately reassured that Vinnie wasn't hurt or in danger, just merely missing. It also indicated this was most likely a conscious choice on Vinnie's part.

I know some of you probably think I need to be committed for believing the dead can communicate with us, but Graham has sufficiently proven he has this ability and his predictions are always on the money. That's why I now felt his lack of a prediction or warning was an equally good sign. I was willing to bank on it and use that thought to keep my hopes up.

Although much of my time was occupied with Vinnie's disappearance, there were other things coming up on our calendar. Nick's birthday was at the end of February, so I thought I should get in touch with him and wish him a Happy Birthday before he left on his trip. He'll be out of contact for a couple of weeks, while he tours different areas of Brazil, and I don't want to miss passing along my birthday wishes to him. With that in mind, I called Nick on Monday, while I was on my lunch break. He seemed excited when he discovered I was on the phone.

"Hi, Pop. I didn't expect to hear from you," he told me, with a bit of bounce in his voice. "Is everything okay?" he asked next, as if he thought possibly another disastrous event had happened to one of us.

"The reason I called was so I could wish you 'happy birthday' before you left on your trip," I explained. "I thought I'd better do this now, since I wasn't sure when I'd be able to reach you again. I felt it best to do this early, instead of taking the chance of missing your special day. However, you'll have to wait until you return to get your gifts," I added, teasingly.

"Oh, okay. Thanks," he giggled into the phone.

"Things aren't perfect here," I added, "but we're holding up. Vinnie and Kevin had a falling out and Vinnie didn't come home, but I'm sure he'll turn up again soon. I'm not really worried about him, since he is old enough to take care of himself." I told Nick this little white lie, because I didn't want him to cancel his trip and return home early. I also didn't want to dampen his mood and keep him from having a good time.

"Are you sure?" Nick asked, with a tinge of disbelief in his voice.

"Yes, I'm sure," I agreed. "Do you have everything you need for your trip?"

"Yep. I'm all packed and I leave in a few hours," he told me.

"Do you have enough money and things to take with you?" I followed.

"Sure do," he confirmed. "I have money my parents gave me while they were down here and I've still got most of the stuff you sent me at Christmas. It should be enough to last me until I get home."

"I hope so," I advised him, "but if not, please don't take any chances."

"Okay, and I only did that a couple of times, when you didn't get the stuff to me in time," he admitted.

"That's not good and I'm not pleased to hear you took risks," I told him. "We will get you checked out when you get back, to make sure there are no problems."

"Pop, that's not necessary. I'm fine," he tried to assure me. "Nothing's wrong with me."

"Still, you know I'd rather be safe than sorry," I reasoned.

"Yeah, yeah. Always the worrier," he half joked.

"You know I'm not that bad," I corrected him. "I give you boys a lot of freedom and don't ask for much in return."

"I know." he reluctantly agreed. "I'm not sure my parents would have been so willing to do the things you do for me, at least not without a bunch of lectures and maybe a few fights over it."

"Then you'll agree to be tested when you get back, without any arguments?" I asked.

"Can we talk about this after I get home?" he wanted to know, as his way of trying to put me off.

"I think you can answer me now," I warned, since I didn't want to let him off the hook.

"Okay, okay. I'll do it then," he agreed. "I guess I owe you that much, for all you've done for me."

"I'm glad you see it that way," I responded. "I'll set up the appointment, so there won't be a delay upon your return.

"Do I HAVE to do it right away?" he moaned. "Can't I get settled back in before I have to go through that?"

"I don't think so," I responded, truthfully. "I know you and your sexual appetite, and I don't want you having sex with anyone in the house until you've been given a clean bill of health. I'd ask you to abstain from sex, if I thought you'd agree, but seeing we'd both probably realize that is unlikely to happen, I want you to take those tests as soon as possible."

"Man, you can really be a pain in the butt sometimes," he added, only half jokingly, "but you're probably right in thinking I couldn't go without sex for very long. All right, you win. I'll take your silly tests whenever you want."

Happy with his concession, we said good-bye, but not before I told him to have fun and be careful. He said he would and then hung up.

Over the next three days, there were no new developments concerning Vinnie, so Wednesday night I called Kevin and made arrangements for him to come home. His last class ended before noon on Friday, so I thought it would save time and hassle if he took the bus again. I called the bus company and paid for his ticket, which he could pick up at the local bus station. The bus would take him to York, where we'd meet him. I felt the layover he'd have to put up with once he reached York would be far too long, if he tried to catch a bus all the way home. Besides, I didn't want to leave him stranded or take the chance of having another son come up missing.

Kevin seemed happy with the arrangements, so we finalized our plans. Even if Vinnie turned up now, Kevin would still make the trip, so he could spend time with Vinnie and hopefully work things out.

I decided I would be the one to drive to York to pick Kevin up, because I thought he might need to talk along the way. Thursday I announced my plans to the rest of the family, but the boys weren't happy when they discovered I had decided to go by myself. They argued with me for about fifteen minutes, while trying to coax me to change my mind and let some of them go with me. When they realized I wasn't about to budge, they gave up attempting to convince me otherwise. Actually, I was grateful when they finally left me alone.

On Friday, Kevin got to York before I did. I had planned to be there before his bus arrived, but just as I was getting ready to leave, something needing my immediate attention came up at work. I took time to take care of this matter before I left, which ended up delaying me about forty to forty-five minutes. This meant the half hour leeway I had left in my traveling schedule had now disappeared.

Kevin wasn't upset, but he was holding his belongings and looking for me when I drove up. He raced toward the car and was opening the passenger door even before I came to a complete stop. I mildly chided him for his behavior and then he apologized for his breech of decorum. After that, he threw his gear in the back, before he hopped in the front seat and buckled up.

On the ride home, we discussed what we'd done to find Vinnie and then we attempted to think of what we might do next. Kevin then went into detail about how the evening with the other boy had come about and that it didn't have any meaning, other than they both wanted to get off. Although I told him I could see how something like that could happen, I suggested he would have been better off taking matters into his own hand. He rolled his eyes at the pun, but got the point, and then I explained he could no longer have sexual encounters with others, since he was in a committed relationship. I think he got that message too.

Kevin then went on to describe what he was going to do to make things right with Vinnie, once Vinnie was back in the fold. After he told me what he'd planned, Kevin asked if there was anything I thought he should consider, to set things right. I told him it seemed he had covered all the bases, but until Vinnie was safely back in my arms, I wasn't going to speculate on such matters. As soon as I said this, I noticed Kevin's reaction and realized I had just made a major blunder.

"You don't think we're going to find him or that he'll come back home, do you?" he blurted out, in a trembling, frightened tone. "Do you think something awful has happened to him then?"

"No, Kevin, I don't," I told him in a calm, even voice, hoping that would help to reassure him. "It's just that I don't want to get ahead of myself. First, I want to find him and learn why he disappeared, and THEN I'll worry about how to patch things up between the two of you, if you still need my help."

"So, you don't think he's, well… hurt or dead or anything?" he asked, with tear filled eyes.

"I'm confident he's not dead," I told him, "although I am mildly troubled that you might think that. However, there's no way to know if he's hurt or under someone else's control."

"Dad, I hope he's not dead," Kevin confessed, "but if you'd seen how he flew out of there and wouldn't stop, even after I saw him look back at me, well… I was kind of worried he might… you know, hurt himself or something. He was very upset. Later, after I realized how much trouble he went through to make special plans for us, and how I went and ruined them, well… I was afraid he might do something stupid."

"No matter how hurt he may have been, I don't see Vinnie as being suicidal," I offered. "He's too full of life and has had to fight too hard just to survive and lead a normal life, so I don't think he'd throw it all away quite that easily. Yes, he was most likely very, very hurt, angry and even disappointed in you, but I don't think taking his own life would ever be an option he'd consider.

"It might have prompted him to run away," I added, trying to offer another viable explanation, "but nothing more devious than that." Kevin sat in silence for the next several minutes, as he thought about what I had said. Finally, he responded.

"I guess you're right and I'm glad you pointed that out," he agreed. "That's why I've been so worried, cuz I thought I made him do something awful. I've been blaming myself since he left and that's why I wanted to come home. Hearing you say this does make me feel a little better, but I still know this is all my fault, so if something does happen to him, I'll still feel responsible."

"I understand, but let's not think the worst," I suggested, before I reached over and took his hand in mine. I hoped my touch would let him know I still loved him and wasn't going to forever condemn him for what he'd done. Hopefully, I'd also infuse a little of my optimism into him.

It did take a little time, but eventually he seemed to respond as I'd hoped and looked over at me and smiled.

"Thanks, Dad. That does make me feel a little better," he croaked, since his voice was still choked with emotion.

The rest of the ride was fairly quiet, although we did talk about a few other things, including how he was doing with his classes. He assured me he had been keeping up with his workload and his grades had not slipped, even though he did admit to missing a few classes. He said he was so distraught at times that he just couldn't get himself to go anywhere, not even to eat. That bothered me, but I elected not to harp on it now.

Instead, I told him I'd forgive him those minor lapses, as long as his grades remained where they should be and he made sure he didn't miss any more meals. After agreeing he'd keep his GPA up and wouldn't go without eating again, he thanked me for being so understanding about everything.

Over the course of the evening, each of the boys let Kevin know they didn't hate him for what had happened and expressed their belief that Vinnie would be back with us before long. This seemed to relieve even more of Kevin's anxiety.

A short time later, Kevin approached me and explained he had been worried his brothers would turn on him because of what he'd done. However, he now realized this wasn't going to happen, but the boys weren't above letting him know what he had done was dumb. Even though they understood how it might have occurred, they still made it clear they weren't going to give Kevin total absolution for his error in judgment.

Friday night also marked an anniversary of sorts, as it was the end of the second week since Vinnie had disappeared. Realizing this began to darken the mood around the house, even though everyone tried to remain upbeat that Vinnie would be back with us soon. The only problem was, even though I was trying to keep the boys optimistic, I was becoming less convinced about my own stance. I could find nothing to explain why Vinnie would have gone this long without contacting us, if it were in his power to do so. In fact, that night my dreams belied my public stance and beliefs.

During the first of these visions, I remember I was sitting in the family room when I saw a State Police cruiser pull into our driveway. Thinking they might have Vinnie with them, or at least some news about him, I rushed out to greet them. That's when they sprung the awful news on me.

"Mr. Currie," the first trooper began, "we are sorry to inform you that the body of a young man using crutches and fitting the description of your missing ward has been discovered. We will need you to come with us, to identify the body."

Hearing this immediately brought flashbacks of the day I was informed about Brent's death, after he had been killed in an auto accident. This caused my knees to buckle and I started to fall. Although the troopers tried to grab my arms and keep me from going down, they reacted too slowly and I landed, face first, in the driveway.

I was still reeling from that dream, because it had been so vivid and seemed so real, that I hardly realized I was drifting into another scenario. This time I saw Vinnie as a prisoner, held in a dungeon-like setting, where he was repeatedly tortured and sexually abused by some sadistic bastard. Even though Vinnie was gay, he did not deserve nor enjoy the type of attention that was being paid to him by his cruel jailer. The pain and humiliation Vinnie was forced to endure was evident and my stomach turned, as I watched the various abhorrent deeds he was made to go through. Just as I was about to jump in and try to rescue him, my nightmare ended, but my torment did not.

My final disquieting dream showed Vinnie being kidnapped and used as a parts store for wealthy patients. As the doctor did tests to determine compatibility with prospective paying recipients, Vinnie was prepared so they could harvest whichever organs were deemed compatible. His kidnappers only concern was to maximize the profits they would receive from this bizarre deed.

By the time I awoke from this last ghoulish scene, it was already sunrise, so I just got up. I was being deprived of a restful slumber anyway, so I concluded I'd rather not endure more of these graphic nightmares. I knew I would probably be tired no matter what I did, but felt if I didn't have to see these gruesome possibilities, then I'd be better off.

Jake noticed I was distressed, as soon as he looked at me, and wanted to know why it appeared as if I hadn't slept. At first I was going to lie, to keep him from worrying too, but then I remembered we'd promised to keep no secrets from each other. Therefore, I spilled my guts as to what I had gone through after we went to bed.

Jake admitted he had felt me tossing and turning, but didn't realize what I was going through. If he had, he would have awakened me, to spare me from enduring the horrific scenes I witnessed during those nightmares. I told him it probably wouldn't have changed much, except neither of us would have slept very well. I assured him it was probably best he hadn't done that, since he had been able to get some rest, even if I hadn't.

Chapter 42
Many Distractions

After having a couple of cups of coffee and a little breakfast, I logged on to my computer, so I could check my emails. After deleting the never-ending supply of junk mail, which offered credit cards, better mortgage rates, access to porn sites, various drugs at cheaper prices and ways to enhance my male organ, I ran across an email from Nick. Although I hadn't expected to hear from him until he returned to his host family, I was pleased to see his communiqué.

Hey Pop,

I'm in Rio and Carnival is a blast. It's even a bigger party than I thought and there are tons of gorgeous boys. I introduced myself to several of them and got to know them better. I'm really glad I came here for this.

There are all kinds of parades, with people dressed in all sorts of wild costumes, and most of the things they wear don't cover very much. If I was into girls, I'd be having a blast, but there are still a bunch of cute guys. I'm doing okay and there's plenty of good stuff to look at.

I don't know if I told you, but I'm taking a trip down the Amazon next, so that should be interesting too. I've already been warned not to go swimming in the river though, because there are schools of piranha that sometimes attack humans, but don't worry. I don't want to be attacked and have the piranha eat something I'd rather feed to some handsome boy. hehehe

I hope Vinnie's home now and everything is back to normal. I'll call you before I leave on my next trip. Tell everyone I said hi, especially Shannon. I want to talk to him when I call, so please let him know that.

Btw, if you were wondering how I did this, I stopped in a cyber-café to send this email. I'm smarter than I look. :-P

Love you all, Nick

He did it again, I thought, as I finished reading his message. He hints that he's been fooling around with a bunch of other guys, but then makes sure he sends a special greeting to Shannon and even requests that I make sure Shannon is there to talk to him when he calls. I wonder if he even realizes the irony or incongruity in those two opposing concepts of free love and faithfulness.

When the boys began to wake up and stumble downstairs, Jake and I began to whip them up some breakfast. Most had finished before Kevin joined us and had returned to their rooms. I guess he had been more tired than he thought. While Kevin was eating, he made a suggestion.

"Dad, can't we go out and look for Vinnie today? Just you and me," he stated, hopefully.

"Kevin, I don't know where else we could go," I pointed out. "We've traveled the interstates and stopped at all the rest areas and exits. We've also put posters up in all those locations, so I can't think of anything else we might do."

"You can't have done everything!" Kevin challenged, before suddenly running off. I realized he was probably just upset we hadn't found Vinnie yet and frustrated because we'd already done all we could. I concluded it would be best to give him a few minutes alone, before I went to speak with him. However, before I made my move, he came back carrying an atlas.

"What interstates did you go on?" he asked. He had the atlas open to the page with the map of Pennsylvania.

"Jake, I and your brothers traveled over both I-76 and I-70," I advised him. Kevin studied the map for a few more minutes and then looked up at me.

"How about I-99, heading toward Penn State, or I-79, outside of Pittsburgh?" He looked between Jake and I now, hoping he had come up with more possibilities. I walked over and looked at the atlas with him.

"No, we didn't do those routes," I told him, "but I'm not sure they're appropriate. Those highways both run north-south, and Vinnie was reported heading west."

"But they might have changed direction," he suggested.

"Yes, it is possible," I conceded, "although not very likely."

"Just in case, can't we do those areas today?" he followed. "You said it is possible Vinnie might have gone that way too." Kevin's expression changed now, from being confused and uncertain, to pleading with us to do this for him.

"Yes, I said it was possible, but not probable," I reiterated, although this still didn't discourage Kevin.

"Please? I thought we were going to do everything we could to find him," he pointed out, "not just the obvious things. Please? Can't we just do this?"

"Okay, we'll give it a try," I relented. "I'll go print out some more fliers and Jake can take I-79 and I'll take the small part of I-70 south first, which we didn't cover the last time, and then go on I-99 north. Is that okay with you?" I asked, hoping this would appease Kevin.

"Yes, but I want to go with you," he stated, emphatically.

"Us too," some of the others began to chime in.

This surprised me, because I didn't even know they were listening in to our discussion. I quickly learned they had run into Kevin when he went looking for the atlas, so he told them what he was up to. They followed him back, but stayed out of sight, while listening to our conversation. Now, they wanted to be included too.

"Okay, but I'd like someone to stay here," I offered, as a compromise, "in case we get any calls or Vinnie shows up."

"We'll do that, Dad," Trey volunteered. He then went on to say that he and Dion would take the duty this time.

"That will work," I responded. "So, who wants to join Kevin and me," I asked next.

"How about us?" Graham asked, indicating Cole, Peter and himself.

"Sure. So that means Little Ricky, Sammy and Andrew will go with Jake," I pointed out. "Anyone have a problems with that?" No one did, so we all got prepared to leave.

In the back of my mind, I understood there was more to Kevin's request than just trying to locate Vinnie. Kevin also felt he hadn't personally done anything to rectify his transgression, which he saw as causing this problem in the first place. He would have found it very frustrating to just sit around the house waiting for someone to phone us. He felt it was important to actually get out and do something to mitigate his indiscretion.

Since I hadn't considered the north-south routes, because we had focused all of our attention on the east-west highways, I was actually glad Kevin had suggested it. Even though Vinnie had been spotted beyond where I-70 headed south and I-99 headed north, it didn't mean they might not have backtracked or changed direction. I had to agree it was worth a try and better than sitting around and doing nothing.

These trips went almost identical to our previous outings and we stopped at the various rest areas and exits. We hung our posters in many different places Vinnie might have visited, and at each of these locations we also asked the employees working there if they recognized Vinnie's picture. Doing this took all day to accomplish, but by the time we returned home and hooked up with Jake and the others again, we were a little more hopeful. Although neither group had discovered anything substantial during their efforts, we still felt better knowing we had done something more that might help us locate our wayward son/brother.

Once we got back, I went with Little Ricky to the Spences, so he could visit with his mother. Even though it was later than we usually went, I didn't want him to miss an opportunity to spend time with her. The Spences were very understanding when we showed up and invited us in. Margaret went to get Arlene and I heard Margaret tell her she had company.

"Mommy, is it one of my friends from school?" I heard Arlene reply, and then I saw Little Ricky cringe. This was obviously not one of his mother's better days.

When Arlene entered the room, she raced over to Little Ricky. "Billy, I didn't except you to come see me today," she told him. "And you brought your daddy too. I'm so glad you came."

Little Ricky didn't know what to do or say, so I jumped in, to take him off the hook. "Hello, Arlene. We just thought we'd come over to see how you were doing."

"Why, I haven't been sick and I saw Billy in school today," she replied. "He knew I was fine." Little Ricky winced again.

"I guess what I meant," I responded, "is that we came over to see if you wanted company. We thought you might like to visit with us for a while."

"Oh, yes, that would be very nice," Arlene agreed. "Billy, would you like me to get a game from my room or would you like to play hide-and-seek." Little Ricky sat speechless for a few seconds, before he responded.

"I guess we could play hide-and-seek," he told her. "Why don't you go hide and then I'll try to find you."

"Okay. You count to one hundred and no peeking," she warned him, before racing off to find a good hiding place.

Little Ricky turned his head and began to count aloud, but I could see the tears streaming down his cheeks as he did so. I reached over and brushed away the moisture and then pulled him toward me, but he never stopped counting. He eventually reached one hundred, even though I was cuddling him in my arms, and then turned to face me.

"I didn't know what else to do," he admitted. "I figured she'd go off when I started counting and then I wouldn't go look for her for a while. She'd think she was just a good hider, but it would give me time to think what I was going to do next. I can't stand seeing her like this any more." After saying this, he broke down and sobbed.

"Oh, you poor dear," Margaret told him. "If you'd have called first, I'd have warned you she wasn't herself today. Well, she is herself, just a younger version."

"Margaret, that's excellent advice," I agreed. "From now on we'll call first, to see how Arlene is doing. Maybe that way, we can keep Little Ricky from having to deal with her worst delusional states."

John and Margaret both agreed, and then John spoke. "If you wish, you can return home and we'll just tell Arlene you couldn't find her and gave up."

"No, I can't do that to her," Little Ricky replied. "I'll wait a little longer and then go look, but then I'll tell her we have to go home. If she wants to know why I don't want to take my turn, I'll just tell her I can't, because it took too long for me to find her."

"I think that's a wonderful plan," I advised him. "That way you won't have to stay and watch her in this condition, yet you won't hurt her feelings either."

Little Ricky nodded weakly, but waited a few more minutes before he went off. He found his mother easily and then told her we had to leave, but he also told her why. She seemed to accept his explanation and we prepared to go home.

After returning to the house, we spent a little time with the rest of the boys, relaxing and unwinding, but I held Little Ricky on my lap as we did this. I knew he needed a lot of love and understanding, but it would also be best if he were in the company of others. I felt he'd respond more quickly if the boys were able to distract him from his emotional turmoil.

They did interact with Little Ricky and kept him busy talking about a bunch of different things. However, no one mentioned Little Ricky's mother and I was glad they didn't broach that topic. It might have made matters worse, but the boys diverted Little Ricky's attention sufficiently to allow him to put those recent uncomfortable memories to rest, at least for a while.

After an hour or so, I told everyone to head to bed and get some rest. We'd all be going to church in the morning and I suggested we could say an extra prayer, both tonight and tomorrow during the service. I told them to ask God to protect Vinnie and have him get in touch with us again, so we could be reunited. Even though most of the boys were tired and ready to sleep, they still agreed to my proposal. They would all say a prayer before they turned in.

There was one exception to their going along with my request. Kevin wasn't about to give in and go to bed without a protest.

"Dad, can't we do something else first?" he pleaded.

"Like what, Kevin?" I shot back. "We've spent all day on the road and put up many more fliers, so what else do you think we should do?"

"I don't know," he countered, "but I just feel we have to do something more." He looked sad and despondent.

"We will. We'll pray," I advised him, hoping this would satisfy his need to do more. After a minute or so of thought, he merely nodded and started to walk away.

"Are you going to be all right?" I asked, since I could see from his body posture that something else was bothering him.

"I don't know," he replied, honestly. "I feel so damn awful and guilty about all of this. I just wanted to do something more."

"Why don't you spend some time with one of your brothers then," I suggested. "That might make you feel a little better."

"No, from now on I'm not sharing a bed with any other boys, not even my brothers." He was adamant about that.

"I didn't mean you had to have sex, but I don't think you should be alone tonight," I advised him. Kevin didn't respond right away, so I continued.

"I'm pretty sure Jake won't mind if you spend the night in with us, so what would you say to that instead. I don't think we'd count as boys and I'll even sleep in the middle," I chuckled, as I silently admitted I hated that position on the bed. It was definitely not my most desired spot.

After thinking about my proposal briefly, and looking to Jake to get his nod of approval, Kevin finally agreed. I was glad, because I really didn't think it would be good for him to be alone. Even at college, his roommate was only on the other side of his dorm room, even if he was still in his own bed. That meant Kevin hadn't been alone even then, even if he may have felt he was at the time. This caused me to consider something else. I wondered what he had told his roommate about why he had been so miserable and depressed. I'll leave that alone for now, but I will question him about it at a later date.

After the three of us said a group prayer, we all snuggled together in bed. I was glad I had opted for the king-size bed for my room all those years ago, because now it was proving to be very fortuitous. I was in the middle, lying on my back. I had one arm under and around Jake, while my other arm was holding Kevin tightly against my side. A few seconds later I felt Jake's arm slide across my chest, but I soon learned it wasn't merely for my benefit. Instead, he located Kevin's hand and held it, to signal that he cared about him too.

I'm not sure how long we stayed like that, but I didn't suffer from the progression of dreams I had endured the previous evening. I'm not sure if it was due to the fact that we had made those additional runs and put up more fliers or because I was sandwiched between Jake and Kevin all night. It might have been that I was just overly tired, but whatever the reason, I felt better when I awoke the next morning.

We got up, along with everyone else, and prepared for church. I made sure we arrived early, so we could say a couple of extra prayers as we waited for things to begin. It was a typical service, but I was surprised to discover the sermon happened to be about the prodigal son. I thought that was ironic.

Once the service was over, we all went out for our normal Sunday brunch, but we hurried through it and finished quicker than we normally would have. I believe everyone was anxious to get back home, in case the phone rang. Once we arrived, we changed and got comfortable. We spent some time relaxing and watching television, as I figured this would keep everyone calm. During one of the commercials, I told Kevin we'd leave around 2:00, so I could take him back to his campus.

Even though I could tell he wasn't happy about leaving so early, he realized it was a long round trip for me to make. It was also imperative I get back early enough to get some rest, because I still had to work tomorrow. After calming down a bit, Kevin came over and sat on my lap, so he could talk to me.

"Can I come home next weekend too?" he wanted to know.
"May I," I corrected him.

"Will you stop being a educator and answer my question?" Kevin shot back, mildly annoyed.

"That's like asking me to stop breathing," I teased back, " but I suppose it would be all right if you came home next weekend too. I just need your assurance your studies aren't suffering because of this."

"They aren't," he confirmed. "I promise."

"Okay. Then you may take the bus again," I agreed, "but this time I'll give you the money so you can buy the ticket yourself. Get a round-trip ticket, to and from York, so neither Jake nor I will have to spend very much time on the road, driving you back and forth. Okay?" He nodded.

Once I felt Kevin was fine with what we had discussed, I excused myself and summoned Little Ricky. I asked him to call the Spences, to see how his mother was doing, which he did. When Margaret informed him his mother was about the same as yesterday, Little Ricky advised her we wouldn't be coming down today. He couldn't take another day of seeing her that way. Margaret agreed, and since I'd heard the gist of his conversation, I called Little Ricky to sit with me.

He was on my lap and I was trying to console him when the phone rang. Kevin jumped up and started for it, but I advised him I wanted to answer it. I didn't want Kevin taking the call, just in case it was bad news. After asking Little Ricky to excuse me, I went over and picked the receiver up somewhere between the fifth and sixth rings.

"Hello," I greeted.

"Hi, Pop," the voice responded. "It's me – Vinnie."

Chapter 43
What's Lost is Found

"Vinnie! Where the hell are you and where have you been?" I screamed into the phone, which brought Kevin running toward me.

"Right now I'm in Altoona," he told me, before Kevin cut him off.

"Vinnie, I'm so sorry," Kevin yelled over my shoulder and into the receiver. "I love you and I was a fool. Please forgive me and come home." He was crying again by this point.

"Pop, I'm not sure I'm ready to talk to Kevin yet," Vinnie advised me, "but I just saw a missing poster with my picture on it, so I realized I'd better call home."

"I'm glad you did, because we've been frantic for two weeks," I told him. "Can we come pick you up?"

"Yes, I think you'd better," he agreed. "I'll have the guy I'm with leave me here and I'll wait for you. I'm at a rest area on I-99, just north of Altoona."

"Okay, wait there and I'll get to you as quickly as I can. You have a lot of 'splaining to do, Lucy," I added, but Vinnie didn't respond right away. I wasn't sure if he got the joke, but finally he spoke.

"Are you trying to pretend to be the husband on 'I Love Lucy'?" he asked.

"That was my intent," I replied, "but obviously I didn't do a very good job."

"Oh, you did," he offered, apologetically, "but I had to try to think back to seeing that on Nickelodeon.

"Thank you, for being so kind, but you've still got some 'splaining to do, Lucy," I repeated.

"I know," he replied, sounding very timid, like a small child who knew he was going to get punished for his transgressions.

"You know Kevin will want to come with me," I warned. I realized Kevin probably wouldn't let me out of his sight or be denied a chance to join me, now that he knew Vinnie was all right.

"I know, but I'm not sure I can deal with him just yet," he confessed. "I still love Kevin, but I can't get over the hurt and anger because of what he did. I'm also kind of embarrassed, because of what happened afterward." I assumed he meant disappearing like he did, but I could tell he was trying to be honest with me.

"Well, Kevin feels much the same way," I added, "so maybe you two could work things out, if I bring him with me." He didn't say anything for quite a few uncomfortable moments, but then he finally responded.

"Okay, if he wants to come and explain why he did what he did, then I'll try to meet him halfway," Vinnie agreed.

"That's good and I'll pass the message along," I told him. "It will probably take us a couple of hours before we get to you, so see if there's someone on duty there and let me know."

"You want me to do that right now?" he wondered, after a slight pause.

"Yes, just leave the phone hanging and then come back and tell me," I advised him.

"Okay, hang on," he agreed, before he ran off. A short time later he came back and gave me his answer.

"Yes, this is a monitored rest area and there's a person on duty," he explained.

"Good!" I exclaimed. "I want you to stay with him and wait for us. Don't go anywhere until I get there. Is that clear?"

"Okay, I promise," he agreed. "Thanks, Pop, and I am sorry for making you worry."

I hung up the phone and turned toward Kevin, whom I had been trying to hush during the entire conversation. At times, he made it nearly impossible for me to hear what Vinnie was saying.

"Why didn't you let me speak to him?" Kevin challenged.

"Because Vinnie wasn't ready for that yet," I informed him, "but he did agree to let me bring you, so you can work things out in person." Kevin began to calm down after hearing this.

"Get your coat, but go the toilet first. Once you've finished, grab some drinks and throw them in the small cooler, so we can take them with us," I added. "Then we'll be on our way. I just want to call Uncle Steve and let him know we've heard from Vinnie and then I'll tell Jake what's going on. We can talk more about this in the van."

"K," Kevin responded, simply. I could tell he probably still had a thousand questions he wanted to ask, but apparently he was willing to wait and do this on the ride to pick up Vinnie.

I called Steve and informed him that I'd just heard from Vinnie and was going to get him. Steve was as relieved as I was and asked me to have Vinnie call him as soon as we returned. I was sure he wanted to discuss the inappropriateness of his actions with him as well, so I promised I would.

After I filled Jake in, Kevin and I got in the van and were on our way. Kevin began to interrogate me, shortly after we got going. "What did Vinnie have to say? Where has he been and who was he with?"

"Please, slow down," I responded, "He didn't tell me much, but he did say he was all right and would wait for us at the rest stop. He said he'd give us the rest of the details later."

I could tell Kevin wasn't satisfied with what I said, but I think he also knew that was all the information I had. Therefore, he just settled into his seat for the long ride. I glanced at him as I drove and noticed his legs were bouncing up and down, as if he were suffering from a bad nervous condition. He was also fidgeting in his seat, which was most likely his response to being uptight about how he was going to apologize to Vinnie for what he'd done. I decided it was best not to say anything to him at this point, so I let him continue to try to work things out in his mind.

Even though it was a cold winter's day, the road was clear, but the surrounding countryside was still covered with snow from previous storms. The sun was shining brightly and I would have considered it a perfect day for a ride, if we didn't have other things on our minds. We weren't able to focus on the lovely weather, because we were thinking about what we were going to do after we got to where Vinnie was waiting for us.

After about an hour of traveling, I asked Kevin to open a drink for me, because my throat was beginning to feel quite dry. I conjectured this was caused by a combination of nerves and being in the dry heat of both the house and then the car, but I desperately needed to moisten my lips, mouth and esophagus. Kevin handed me my drink and then opened one for himself, but we continued to sit in silence, as we got closer to the place where we'd be reunited with Vinnie.

I began watching Kevin more closely now, well at least as closely as I could while driving. As I did, I realized I'd never seen him this nervous or worried before, not even when he was going through his medical problems.

"Okay, what's up?" I asked. The sound of my voice caused him to look up and the sad expression I saw plastered across his face nearly broke my heart.

"I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get Vinnie to listen and forgive me for what I did," he told me. "I'm really worried he's not going to want to have anything to do with me, including hearing what I have to say."

"I know he's probably disappointed and possibly even angry with you," I agreed, "but I think he still loves you and will most likely forgive you, over time. It may not be easy, but I think you can work things out."

"Did he tell you that?" Kevin asked, hopefully.

"No, Kevin," I replied. "As I told you, we didn't have time to discuss much, but I know Vinnie and I know you. That's why I'm sure you can smooth this over in time."

I hoped that would hold him until he and Vinnie could get together and begin to iron out their problems. However, I noticed his legs where still bouncing up and down, like they were before. I took this to mean my words had brought him little comfort.

As we finally approached the rest area, Kevin began to lean forward in his seat, as if this would help him see Vinnie sooner. Driving along the long service road, Kevin's head was snapping from side to side, as he sought some sort of sign of his boyfriend. When I pulled into a parking space and turned off the engine, Kevin immediately opened his door and was ready to bolt from the van.

"Hold on there sport," I advised him. My comment caused him to stop, with the door partially opened.

"I want to go find Vinnie and speak with him first," I advised him. "I think it's best if I speak with him alone, so I can find out where he's been and why he didn't call us, before you and he begin to work out your problems. That's why I need you to wait here until I get back."

"But, Daaaaad…" Kevin wailed, upset. However, the high-pitched voice he used made it sound as if it were a scream. It almost sounded as if someone had just stabbed him.

"No, it has to be this way, Kevin," I replied, unrelenting. "I have things I need to handle with him first, before he gets distracted with your concerns. I know this doesn't make you happy, but we have to do this one step at a time."

"But I've waited so long to tell him I still love him," Kevin whined again.

"He knows that," I reminded him. "He heard you shout it out when he called home earlier today, but I'll make sure I let him know you didn't want to wait."

"Well, I don't," Kevin confirmed.

"I understand, but there are more important issues to be dealt with," I offered. "The fact that Vinnie just disappeared was totally uncharacteristic of him and could have had disastrous results, so I need to talk to him about this. I must be certain it won't happen again."

Kevin let out a very audible, and defeated, sigh, before he folded his arms across his chest and slumped down in his seat, in a posture of surrender. I took it to mean he wasn't going to continue to argue with me, so I got out of the van and walked toward the main structure. As I drew closer, I wondered if Vinnie had followed my instructions and was waiting for me in an office area. Before I had time to consider it further, I saw him emerge from a small room, where he'd obviously been waiting with the person who worked there.

Vinnie didn't say anything at first and merely walked toward me, with his head bent down. Occasionally, he would lift it slightly, so he could glance in my direction. I was sure he was doing this so he could read my expression and see if he could tell how much trouble he was in.

"I'm sure glad to see you," I told him, to break the ice. He didn't answer right away, but then timidly lifted his head to reply.

"I'm glad to see you too," he mumbled, "and I'm sorry I made you worry and run all over looking for me."

After telling me this, his chin dropped back against his chest and he looked like a puppy that knew it had done something terribly wrong. Seeing his reaction, I walked up and gave him a hug, even though it was awkward to do. I had to completely wrap my arms around both of his, while they were stiffened against his crutches, so he could support himself.

"I'm glad you're all right," I told him, which caused his body to relax slightly. "I still think we need to go somewhere and talk, before we go back to the van. Kevin is waiting there for you and wasn't happy about having to stay behind, but I have things to discuss with you first, before you two delve into your situation. I think if we go to the van, he will try to dominate the conversation, so you two can make up. He is desperate to tell you how sorry he is."

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet, but you're probably right about what would happen if we went to the van," he agreed. "I guess we can go back to the room I've been waiting in. The guy is very nice and he'll probably just go out to do some things, so we can use it."

"I hope we don't put him out, but that would work fine," I agreed. "Once we're finished, you can go and see Kevin, so you two can work things out." Vinnie nodded weakly, before he spoke.

"Give me a second and I'll to ask the guy if we can use his office," Vinnie stated. "I'm sure he'll agree."

Vinnie immediately wheeled about and went back into the room I saw him emerge from a couple of minutes earlier. He wasn't in there long, before another man came out and approached me.

"Go ahead and use my office, if you want," he informed me. "I have some things I need to do anyway and it will take me a while before I finish."

I thanked him for his kindness and then he disappeared. As soon as he did, I entered the room and confronted Vinnie.

"Okay, I want to know what happened, from the very beginning," I demanded. "And I also want to know why you didn't contact us during this whole time." He hung his head again, before answering me.

"Well, I guess Kevin's told you what I saw when I opened his dorm room door," he began. When he looked up to gauge my reaction, I nodded, so he continued.

"I was so upset I couldn't even say anything, so I just left. As I was driving away, I saw Kevin run out after me and heard him scream for me to stop, but I couldn't face him then. Instead, I started driving home, but I was so hurt and crying so hard that I could hardly see, so I pulled over at a rest area. I really don't remember a lot about what happened after that, but I will tell you as much as I can recall."

"And why don't you remember what happened?" I asked him.

"I don't know," he said. "Maybe my mind is blocking some of it out or it might be that I was just so angry that I can't remember what I did, but I do recall bits and pieces."

"Okay, tell me what you can then," I advised him.

"Well, after sitting in the 4Runner and crying for a long time, I finally got out and went to the men's room. There was hardly anyone around at that time and it was dark out, so I hoped no one would see my red eyes or ask any questions. I think I washed my face and then I believe I went and sat on a toilet for a while. I think I closed the door to the stall and locked it, so no one would disturb me. It wasn't because I had to go, but I needed time to think about what I should do next.

"When I finally went back outside," he continued, "I couldn't find the 4Runner and that's when I began to feel even more stupid. I guess I left the keys in the ignition and someone stole it and all my things."

Vinnie stopped and looked in my direction, as if he was waiting for me to begin yelling at him or tell him how dumb he was. When I didn't react, he swallowed hard and continued his story.

"That was too much for me to have to deal with, especially after finding Kevin with that other guy," he admitted, "so I guess I must have broken down and started crying again. I kind of remember somebody asking me what was wrong and I think I told him I caught my lover cheating on me and my car had just been stolen. That's when he asked if he could help. He said we had to call the police and tell them someone had taken the car, but I told him I'd get in big trouble if I did that. I said it would be better if I waited to do it after I got home. I told him I thought I should tell you first, face to face.

"He didn't agree and kept arguing with me that it needed to be done quickly, before witnesses left the area." Vinnie added. "He said I had to report it stolen immediately or call home and tell you, so you could report it. I think I avoided having to do that by telling him you were away on a trip or something. He tried to get me to call the police again, but when I wouldn't, he finally gave up trying to pressure me." Vinnie paused in his story, as he tried to remember what came next. Moments later, he began again.

"I think the guy was mad because I refused to call you or the police," Vinnie admitted, "but he still tried to help. He asked me where I was heading and I think I told him I was going home and could use a ride. He said if it was continuing on I-70 he'd give me one, so I agreed I was and thanked him."

Vinnie paused again, and I almost used this lull to tell him how foolish he had been to accept a ride from a total stranger. However, since I didn't want to cause him to clam up and not tell me more, I didn't. However, I was pretty sure he had already figured it out for himself. I only had to wait a few seconds, before he renewed his tale.

"I got in his car," Vinnie continued, "and he started driving. He asked where I wanted him to take me, but I don't remember what I told him. He informed me later that I told him I'd just let him know when we got there. I guess I must have forgotten, because I never did. I was thinking so much about Kevin and what had happened that I didn't even realize it when we passed the exit I should have taken to get back." Vinnie paused again, to see how I was going to react to this new revelation.

"I'm sorry, Pop, but I didn't even think anything about it until he got off at another exit, to get something to eat," he confessed "It was a good thing I had kept my money on me and hadn't left it in the 4Runner too." I nodded, to let him know I agreed, but I didn't want to stop him from continuing his story.

"After I realized we'd already gone by the exit I needed to take to get home, I didn't know what I should do," Vinnie advised me. "I didn't say anything to the guy who was giving me the ride, because I didn't need for him to think I was a complete idiot. I was already thinking that about myself." This time Vinnie didn't look at me, because I'm sure he felt I was silently agreeing with him. After a slight pause, he started again.

"While we were in the restaurant, he asked me again where I wanted him to drop me off," Vinnie stated. "He told me later I said something like, 'it doesn't matter – I've lost my lover, so I've no place to go.' I guess that's when he decided to just take me home with him, until I figured out what I was going to do."

Vinnie stopped again, but this time he lifted his head and looked into my eyes. Once again, I felt he was trying to gauge my reaction and see how upset I was with him. His eyes were moist and I know it pained him to tell me all this information, but I wasn't about to let him off the hook. Even though it was difficult for him to admit these things, he had to learn his lesson. Besides, I guess I was also paying him back for causing us more than two weeks of extreme worry.

"So what happened next?" I prodded.

"The guy asked me lots of questions," Vinnie went on. "He wanted to know if I was still in school, where I lived, what I was going to do now and things like that, but I don't think I told him very much. Even though he didn't really know a great deal about me, he did say he'd let me stay with him for a few days, until I decided what I wanted to do next. I guess I must have told him I was eighteen, so he wasn't worried about getting into legal problems by letting me crash there." Vinnie paused again, because he knew he had not only taken a ride from a stranger, but had also told him some of his personal information.

"Anyway," Vinnie continued, interrupting my thoughts, "I don't remember much after that, except he kept trying to get me to call the police to report the 4Runner being stolen or call home and let you guys know where I was. I faked calling you one day, so he'd leave me alone. I guess he must have believed I contacted you, because he quit bugging me about that, but he didn't stop telling me I had to get over whatever it was that was troubling me and go back to my family."

"Vinnie, didn't you think we'd be worried to death and wonder where you were?" I asked. "Didn't you think we'd be frantically looking for you and thinking something awful might have happened?" Even though I didn't want to unload on him, I found I couldn't hold my tongue any longer. Vinnie looked at me sheepishly, since he realized how upset I was, before he began to answer.
"I really didn't," he admitted. "I was only thinking about Kevin – what he did and what I was going to do next. That's all I could think about." His head dropped down after he said this, until he was looking at the ground.

At that point, I decided to soften my approach. I was worried Vinnie might shut down completely and definitely didn't want that to happen. There was a great deal more I needed to learn about his time away from home, before I allowed Kevin and him an opportunity to make up.

Chapter 44
More Details

"Okay, I want you to tell me more about this guy you've been staying with," I informed him, as I tried to tone down my volume and rhetoric. "I want to know who he is and what you two did during that time."

"His name is Don, but all his friends call him Duck," Vinnie began. "He said when he was little his family called him Donald Duck. It was their way to tease him and the Duck part just stuck."

"Yes, I've heard of that happening to other guys named Don," I concurred, "but tell me a little more about him."

"He's only a few years older than me," Vinnie added. "He's in his twenties and lives alone, but he has a girlfriend that comes over from time to time too. He's also not much bigger than I am and that helped, because he let me wear some of his clothes. I didn't have anything besides what I was wearing, since it was all in the 4Runner when it was stolen."

"Had you taken enough money with you," I asked, "to pay for everything you needed during this time?"

"Not exactly," Vinnie confirmed, "but Duck paid for what I couldn't."

"That was very generous of him," I replied, "but we'll have to reimburse him for whatever he spent on you."

"Yeah," Vinnie agreed. "That and more. I owe him a lot."

"So what made you finally call home when you did?" I wondered.

"Duck was going to the Penn State campus to watch some sporting event," Vinnie told me, "so I thought I'd go with him and find Danny. I figured we could spend some time together, but I also planned to tell him what had happened and then ask him what he thought I should do next."

"So why didn't you go ahead with that plan?" I asked.

"I was going to, but after we got on I-99," Vinnie continued, "I had to take a leak, so Duck pulled over at the rest stop. While I was in the toilet, I guess Duck started checking out the bulletin boards, to kill time while he was waiting for me. When I came out, he called me over and showed me the missing poster with my picture on it. I take it you guys put it up."

"We did, but we hadn't done that originally," I confessed. "In fact, it was Kevin who made us go out and put them up along that route. I would never have thought about distributing them along I-99 and only did so because Kevin was so insistent about it.

"How did he happen to think about doing that?" Vinnie wanted to know.

"He was just frustrated sitting around and doing nothing, so he grabbed the atlas and studied it," I informed him. "That's when he announced we needed to put the fliers up along I-99 and I-79 too, seeing we'd already put them up along I-76 and I-70."

"Neat," Vinnie commented enthusiastically, after concluding Kevin must still love him or he wouldn't have gone to all that trouble. After I prodded Vinnie for more details, he kept going.

"Anyways, Duck called me over and pointed at the poster and said, 'Dude, I THOUGHT you called home.' I told him I did and you must have put that up BEFORE I called, and he bought it," Vinnie explained. "Then I told him maybe I should call home and arrange to get picked up this time, so he handed me his cell phone and told me to call right then."

"I'm glad he did," I responded, "and I owe both Kevin and Don a great deal for getting you back to us safely."

I hugged Vinnie again, but it was slightly easier when I did it this time, since he was sitting on a table and his crutches we're leaning against the wall. Not only did that make it easier, but when I hugged him, he also hugged me back.

"I'm really sorry for making you worry," he told me again, "but I guess I just wasn't thinking clearly after seeing Kevin and that other guy." I merely hugged him a little harder in response, to let him know all was forgiven.

"Vinnie, I don't hate you for what you did," I told him, as I broke our embrace, "but you did not use very good judgment. I could have understood you not getting in touch with us for a few days, but…" I let my words trail off, to give him the opportunity to fill in the blank.

"I really wasn't thinking clearly while I was with Duck," Vinnie admitted, "or I probably would have called sooner. I do remember Duck continually trying to convince me I should get in touch with my lover and we could get past our problems. Duck said if I couldn't do that, I should just move on and find someone else. I did listen to him, but I wondered what he'd have said if he found out my lover was another guy.

"Anyway," Vinnie continued, "most of the time I was there I'd just sit or lie around thinking about Kevin, but mostly I kept seeing him and that other boy sucking each other off. I also kept remembering how much it hurt to know my plans to spend a romantic Valentine's Day with him had crashed and burned."

Vinnie started sobbing after saying this, because it reopened the wounds that had not yet healed. It also released the torrent of water previously held back by the dams in his eyes. I gave him some time to purge himself of these feelings and then tried to comfort him, as much as I could.

"Look, I can only imagine how much that must have hurt and how angry you would have been," I stated, "but I can only tell you what I saw, and that was how badly Kevin felt about what had happened. I won't try to defend his actions or make excuses for him, and you two will have to work this out on your own. I can only tell you he's been in a world of hurt for the past couple of weeks, ever since you took off."

"Really? He felt that bad? Do you think he still loves me then?" Vinnie was asking these questions to make sure he wasn't misreading what I said. He was still hopeful Kevin hadn't permanently tossed him aside for someone else.

"Yes, Vinnie. He felt terrible and I believe he still loves you," I confirmed. "In fact, I'll bet he's probably about ready to start ripping the interior of the van apart, because we're taking so long in here. We'd better get going, before he actually does it." Vinnie looked a little relieved, yet I could tell he had many more questions he wanted answered.

"Then why did he do it? Why was he with that other guy?" he managed to get out, but I squeezed his shoulders comfortingly.

"I told you I won't try to explain things for him, but I will say that we all make mistakes," I explained.

"Maybe, but his was a huge one," Vinnie replied. "I still don't understand why he would have done anything like that, if he really loves me." Even though I didn't want to get involved, I felt I had to offer Vinnie something to encourage him.

"I think Kevin was missing being with you and thinking about you made him horny." Vinnie looked at me like he didn't believe what I was saying, so I continued.

"You see, I believe when he thought about Valentine's Day, he thought about you and his hormones kicked in. The problem was, it then occurred to him he was going to be alone on that day. Unfortunately, for the two of you, he was already horny and that led him to someone else. The hormones made the decision for him. At least that's the way he explained it to me.

"He also told me the other boy meant nothing to him," I added, "but he was available and provided Kevin with a chance to get his rocks off. I think if you two talk this out and don't overreact, you'll be able to reach an amicable understanding." I now saw a spark of hope in Vinnie's eyes.

"I really do love him and want to forgive him," Vinnie said, "but I just don't know if I can. Every time I close my eyes, I can still see him and that other boy sixty-nining." I nodded slightly.

"And I'm sure you will continue to see that image for quite some time to come. The thing is, do you love him enough to forgive him?" I asked, and then gave him a minute to think about his answer. When he didn't respond, I continued.

"You know, when I'm not sure if I can forgive someone, I think of the phrase by Alexander Pope. He was an eighteenth century English essayist and poet who wrote the famous line, 'to err is human, to forgive, divine.' That's why, whenever I get upset with one of you boys for something you've done, like now, about your running away and not calling home, I think of that line and then decide if I love you enough to forgive your mistake."

Vinnie looked up at me, timidly, when I mentioned his mistake specifically. I think by tying my forgiveness for what he had done to his possibly forgiving Kevin for his transgression, the message began to sink in. After considering my words briefly, he finally responded.

"So, tell me honestly," he stated, with a questioning look. "You don't think he loves the other guy he was with?"

"No, not at all. The guy just happened to be there and provided Kevin with a chance to get some sexual relief," I told him. "By thinking with the wrong head, Kevin went for the easy solution to his problem. There was no emotional attachment or love involved. That's what Kevin told me and I do believe him." Vinnie's body began to relax more.

"Okay, I think I'm ready to talk to him about this now." He started to get up, but I stopped him.

"Before you do, I have a few things I want to go over with you," I added and Vinnie's expression changed again. I could see he was apprehensive about where this might be heading.

"I understand what happened that night," I told him, "but I'm still having problems with your actions. I can even agree that you might not have been thinking straight for another day or two, but you were gone for over two weeks. Are you truthfully telling me you never seriously thought about calling home, to let us know you were all right?"

If ever I saw a guilty expression on a person's face, it was plastered all over Vinnie's mug at that moment. He wiggled and squirmed a bit on his crutches, while he struggled with how he was going to justify what he'd done and rectify the situation. Even though I told him I had forgiven him and was happy nothing bad had happened, it was now clear I wasn't going to allow what he had done to slide.

"I hardly remember anything about the whole first week," Vinnie explained. "Like I told you, I was kind of in a daze. I can't even believe Duck let me stay with him that long. I guess he felt sorry for me, knowing the 4Runner had been stolen and I'd caught my lover cheating on me. I'm not sure why he took care of me, but he did, and he even made sure I ate and everything."

"I'm glad he did all of that for you," I agreed, "but it still doesn't explain why you didn't call home."

"Well, I did think about it from time to time, when Duck harped on me about it," Vinnie said, "but it wasn't until last Sunday that I began to realize what I'd actually done. Once I understood that, Duck began to explain the parts I didn't remember. He actually told me nearly everything that had taken place since he first found me. When he saw I really didn't remember much of it, he made sure he told me all of the details that I'd kind of blocked out of my mind.

"After I realized what I had done," Vinnie continued, "I kind of panicked. I knew it was my fault the 4Runner got stolen, along with my clothes and cell phone. Realizing this made me feel like a damn fool and I figured you'd be really pissed at me for doing something so stupid. This gave me two things to worry about.

"Not only was I was still upset about Kevin," Vinnie went on, "but I had all this other shit to deal with too. Even though I thought about calling you then, I was scared about what you were going to do, because it was all just dumb. Besides that, I wasn't ready to face everyone and answer their questions about Kev and me."

As Vinnie rambled on, I thought he was beginning to look like the proverbial kid who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He looked about as scared and uncertain as I'd ever remembered seeing him react, or any of my boys, whenever I cornered them about their actions.

"Okay, so when did I become this ogre that you're scared of coming to now?" I asked, while trying to get a response in a light-hearted manner.

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused by my approach.

"Well, you said you were scared of what I'd do to you, so which kid did you see me murder or maim? You must have caught me doing something like that," I teased. I was also hoping this would take some of the pressure off of him.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Vinnie shot back, still confused.

"If you were that scared of me, you must have had some reason for thinking I was going to do something awful to you," I stated, more explicitly this time. "So, what did I do in the past that made you think I was going to torture you or something?" Slowly his face began to brighten, as if a light had gone off in his head.

"Oh, no. It was nothing like that," Vinnie confessed. "It was just that I still wasn't thinking clearly. I wasn't really scared of you; it was just that, for some reason, I kept thinking I was going to get punished – really hard. I know I had no good reason to think it, but I just did."

"Well, I'm not sure I understand your reasoning," I said, "but I'll leave it alone for now. So, tell me why you didn't call before deciding to go talk to Danny?"

"Well, for some reason I still thought you were going to be really mad at me," Vinnie reiterated, "and I thought Danny could help me figure out how to keep that from happening. I guess I was more concerned about you having a heart attack after you found out about everything getting stolen, rather than your just being so mad at me."

Vinnie looked at my face now and I think it was because he was worried about how I'd take this new disclosure. I also assumed this was the real reason he hadn't called home and not because he was worried about being punished. I was touched he would even consider my health as a factor, but I felt it imperative to dispel his concerns.

"Look, even though I've had one heart attack," I told him, "you boys don't have to keep worrying about it happening again. I'm watching my diet, taking care of myself and have nitro for emergencies."

"But we don't want you to get to the point where you have to use it," he blurted out, "because it might mean we'd lose you, like Little Ricky lost his dad. That's the biggest reason I didn't want to tell you about everything that happened."

"And you thought letting me worry about whether you were all right and wondering what had happened to you wouldn't be worse?" I think one of us was missing a vital bit of logic.

"I guess I never thought about that," Vinnie said, "just that you would get really upset if you heard about the car getting stolen and everything else."

"Well, that hasn't happened and it won't, so I think it's time we got things back to normal," I suggested. "If you weren't eighteen, I think I'd be considering grounding you until you were, but I will warn you I will be less apt to go along with any more of your proposals in the future. This is mainly due to the fact that you have shown a grievous lack of judgment throughout this whole process."

"But, Dad, it was just because I was so upset," he pleaded.

"I would have let that cover a few days of bad judgment, but not over two-weeks worth," I informed him. From the look on his face, it was apparent he was starting to get the point now. Therefore, I suggested he move on to what he was going to do next.

"I think it's time you start to work things out with Kevin," I offered, "so we'll finish our discussion later. I still love you, but I do think you showed a severe lack of maturity throughout this entire period of time. Let's not have it continue when you and Kevin start to hash things out."

I knew he understood my disappointment in him, because if he were a dog, I would say he had his tail between his legs. He also seemed to slink away, as he headed toward the van. I didn't want him to feel defeated, but he had to know how badly he screwed up. It wasn't just Kevin who had made mistakes here, so I hoped by putting him through some discomfort, he wouldn't be so apt to make a similar type of error in the future. However, right now I had to bring him back to the present.

"Vinnie, do you want to talk to Kevin alone and have complete privacy?" I posed, before he got too far away. "Or do you think you and Kevin can talk while I drive home?"

"I'm not sure," he responded. "Let's go ask Kevin. I think he needs to be part of this decision too."

After hearing his response, I walked back to the van with him. I saw Kevin sit up as we approached and then he opened his door and walked to meet us halfway. He didn't rush toward us, as I expected he might, and it looked as if his conscience was making him slightly reluctant about hurrying to apologize. In fact, both boys were walking very tentatively toward each other, so I positioned myself between them and spoke.

"I need to know if you two want time alone to solve your problems," I asked, "or if you'll be able do it during the ride back?" Kevin looked at Vinnie, who stared back at him, before they both turned toward me.

"I'm willing to do it on the ride back," Kevin stated, "as long as we can do it face to face." That seemed to be enough to get things started and Vinnie quickly agreed. They both hopped in the back of the van, as I got into the driver's seat and placed the key in the ignition.

Chapter 45
Back in the Fold

I started the engine and pulled out of the rest area. We'd have to go to the next exit before I could turn the van around and begin the journey home, so I quickly got it up to the speed limit and moved out of the acceleration lane. I looked in the rearview mirror quickly, to see how Kevin and Vinnie were doing, and I could tell there wasn't going to be any quick or easy fix to their problems.

"Vinnie, I can't tell you how sorry I am that I messed around and ruined your plans," Kevin began. "I picked up the roses and the bracelet you dropped, after I chased you. I'm really sorry and they were both lovely." Vinnie just studied Kevin's face for a few seconds, before he responded.

"Why did you do it? Why would you have sex with someone else?" Vinnie's pain was still obvious in both his voice and expression and stabbed through Kevin like a knife.

"Because I'm a fucking idiot," Kevin admitted, as if that answered Vinnie's question. "I met up this guy I kind of knew and he was willing to have sex with me. I was horny, so I gave in to my needs, but that's just it. It was only sex. I didn't and don't love him. I only love you and I promise I'll never do anything like that ever again."

Kevin's eyes were pleading with Vinnie now, while hoping for the best. He was praying Vinnie would forgive him, as he continued to beg for another chance to prove his love.

"That's the problem," Vinnie eventually responded, "I love you too. It's just that I'm not sure I trust you any more." Kevin looked crestfallen. It almost appeared as if Vinnie had just ripped Kevin's heart from his chest.

"How many other times have you been with someone else since we've been together?" Vinnie pressed.

"This was the only time, I swear!" Kevin exclaimed, hoping his words would convince Vinnie of his sincerity.

"You're telling me you've only done this once," Vinnie reiterated, although it sounded as if he doubted Kevin's words, "and I just happen to catch you? That's pretty extraordinary odds." Kevin knew he was in deep shit with his lover and had to come up with a way to convince him he was being honest now.

"Yes, those are unbelievable odds, but it's still the truth," Kevin stated, in the sincerest voice he could muster. "Since you and I have been together, I haven't wanted anyone else, but I couldn't stand the thought of being alone on Valentine's Day. Yes, I was with another guy, but I was pretending it was you."

Vinnie still wasn't sure how truthful Kevin's statement was, but his claim that he was thinking of Vinnie at the time did lessen the sting of being cheated on, if only slightly. Vinnie wondered if it might be possible Kevin actually was pretending they were the ones having sex together, but Vinnie still wasn't sold on that possibility.

"Why didn't you just come home or call and ask me to come there then?" Vinnie shot back, while trying to clarify how this might have happened.

"Because I thought I could control myself, and I did, until Friday," Kevin explained. "I went out to grab a bite to eat and ran into this guy I knew him from one of my classes. He asked if he could sit with me and I said yes, but I wasn't thinking of anything more than sharing a table with him. I knew he was also gay, so while we were eating I started telling him how much I missed you. I also told him how the family always makes special plans for us on Valentine's Day, so we could enjoy ourselves and not be targets. He thought that sounded awesome, so I continued telling him about you.

"The more I told him, the more I missed you, and just thinking about you got me really hard. When we got up to leave, he spotted the bulge in my jeans and suggested he could help take care of my problem. He said even though he wasn't you, maybe I could pretend he was and that might help me feel better. I know, I know. It was dumb and I was taken in by him, but at the time it made perfect sense." Kevin was beginning to sob now, but Vinnie made no attempt to comfort him.

"Vinnie, you have to believe me," Kevin pleaded. "It was just a moment of weakness on my part and I would never have even considered it, if I knew it would end up costing me your love. I do love you Vinnie and I feel so bad that I hurt you. I swear if you'll give me another chance, I'll never do anything like that ever again. Please say you'll forgive me. Please!" Kevin was begging now and grabbed Vinnie's hands. He was holding them between his own, as his eyes and face pleaded with Vinnie to forgive him.

It wasn't that Vinnie was unmoved, because he could tell Kevin was hurting nearly as much as he was about this mess. What stopped him was the vision of Kevin and that other guy kept popping into his mind. How could he say yes and forgive Kevin, while he could still see his lover and this other boy together? Vinnie continued to struggle with this dilemma and Kevin squirmed.

Seeing Vinnie had not answered him, Kevin became worried and decided to try a new approach. While Vinnie was deep in thought, Kevin reached up and began stroking Vinnie's hair and face, and then he bent forward and placed a soft, light, sweet kiss on Vinnie's lips.

Vinnie reflexively began to pull back, but then stopped. There was no way he could deny he wanted this as much as Kevin did, so he didn't pull completely away from him. The thing was, Vinnie didn't respond or participate either. He wanted to show Kevin he was still a little undecided as to what he should do and Kevin sensed this and ended the kiss, so he could look Vinnie in the eye.

"I don't know how I can convince you that you're still my only love, but I will keep trying," Kevin told him. "Maybe I don't deserve it, but I hope you'll find it in your heart to give me another chance. If you do, I promise you won't be sorry." Kevin continued to hold Vinnie's hands and massaged them unconsciously, as he waited for some sort of answer.

"Okay. I'm not perfect either and I know people make mistakes," Vinnie offered, "but if you ever do anything like this ever again, I'll cut off your last ball and then we'll be finished for good."

I think Vinnie's threat shocked Kevin, but he was relieved Vinnie had finally told him he'd forgive him. In his excitement, Kevin almost leapt on top of Vinnie, but his seatbelt prevented that from happening. I did watch as they shared their first kiss of reconciliation, a very tender and passionate affair, during which they reaffirmed their love for each other. I was relieved when I saw this happen, because I knew it meant things would probably get back to normal between them, although I was also equally as certain there were probably still a few potholes in the road ahead.

I believe they would have had sex right there in the van, if I hadn't been with them. Instead, they kept pestering me about how long it would take before we got home. Their actions reminded me of kids on a long trip saying, 'Are we there yet?' They were in a hurry to get home and continually urged me to drive faster, but I didn't do it. Instead, I explained my first priority was to get us all home safely and I think that got to them. They eased up their whining, but not their sexual mauling of each other.

Even though they kept their clothes on, their hands were all over each other, stroking those familiar and sensitive areas. I was surprised neither of them blew their load in the van, being stimulated in that fashion, but I don't think that happened. However, by the time we arrived at the house and began to go inside, they were walking very funny. It was obvious they both had erections and were anxious to get to their room. The problem was, things didn't go as they wanted.

Before they got inside, their brothers came running out to greet them and prevented them from going off alone. The others were curious and wanted to know where Vinnie had been, so they asked a multitude of questions. This slightly annoyed Kevin and Vinnie, because it was interfering with their unspoken plans, but to my surprise, the pair answered the grueling questions, as quickly as they could. Once this had been done and Vinnie had graciously accepted the others' sincerest welcome home, the pair literally raced to their room.

As soon as the door was closed, Kevin and Vinnie began to kiss and make out in earnest. They each longed to reacquaint themselves with their lover, especially his most private parts. Slowly and lovingly they undressed each other, and as they removed each article of clothing, they paid particular attention to the area they had just exposed by its removal. By the time they got to each other's boxers, they were both so aroused that there was a chance they might explode prematurely. Sensing this, they backed off a bit, to give their bodies a chance to calm down.

Once they felt it was safe to proceed, Kevin was the first to let his partner know how things were going to go. He hopped on the bed, got on his back and pulled his legs to his chest, to indicate to Vinnie he was offering him the ultimate prize. Vinnie didn't need any further invitation, but seeing it had been a while since they had done anything, he knew he should loosen Kevin up first.

Grabbing the lube from their dresser, he greased up his fingers and began stretching Kevin's love opening, to get him ready for what was to come. Once he thought his partner was sufficiently prepared, Vinnie slipped on a condom, lubed it up, got into position and began to slide his penis into Kevin's waiting hole.

He entered it like a hot knife sliding through butter, and once he was totally inside, he began to pump in and out, giving both his partner and him pleasure. The pair was kissing frantically, but passionately, as Vinnie made love to Kevin and both boys prayed this meant nothing would ever come between them again.

Their lovemaking session didn't last as long as they wished, however, because they had been so worked up beforehand. Each had been anticipating this moment during the entire trip home, so the session was over way too soon. Vinnie shot his load first, which caused Kevin's penis to jerk and twitch, before it too spewed its hot cream all over his body. The boys continued to kiss and be affectionate with each other, as they cuddled and cooed, but eventually they cleaned up and came out to rejoin the rest of the family. It was obvious how happy they both were, now that they had adequately put the incident behind them.

By the time they had finished, it was getting late. Since I didn't feel like making another long drive to take Kevin back to his campus, I told him he could stay another day and I'd leave work a little early tomorrow, to drive him back. Both boys were thrilled by this news, because it meant they now had the whole night to be intimate, but I soon dampened their joy a little.

"Vinnie, before you do anything else, I want you to call your dad and fill him in about everything that happened," I told him.

Vinnie made a face, indicating he wasn't sure he was up to that task yet, but then did as I requested. He was on the phone for nearly an hour, while explaining everything that had happened since he disappeared. He probably also got an earful in return, to let him know how badly he had messed up. Once Vinnie hung up, I had something more to tell him.

"Vinnie, you still have to go to school tomorrow, even though Kevin will be here at home. You've already missed two weeks of classes and you'll have a great deal of work to catch up on. I'll probably also have to call in a few favors from some of your teachers to get them to allow you to do that. You're going to be very busy over the next month or so, but I will also make sure you have some time to spend with each other, as long as you are making an effort. The thing is, I want you to promise me you'll get to sleep by 11:00 tonight, because you'll need to be well rested before you go back to school tomorrow."

"Pop, can't I just stay home one more day?" he protested. "I mean, after two weeks, what's another day?" I think he figured that argument would convince me, but he quickly discovered he was wrong.

"I guess if you looked at it that way, you might be right, but I don't see it like that. What I see is you've already had two weeks of unauthorized absence from school and I don't want to make it any worse. I've tried to be very understanding about what you went through, but that only goes so far. Now, you're just going to have to go along with my demands." I stood postured before him and I'm sure he could see the resolve in my eyes, so he quickly backed down.

"Okay, if I have to," he whined.

"You do," I advised him. After he threw a mild tantrum, which he thought I didn't see, he settled down a bit. When he did, I thought of something else.

"Oh, by the way, while you were gone, you got a letter." I went to retrieve it and handed it to him when I returned. He studied the return address on the envelope before proceeding.

"It's from Villanova," he screamed, excitedly, and then frantically tore it open. He read it while Kevin and I looked on. After a few seconds, he let us know what it was about. "I've been accepted. I've been accepted," he shouted joyously.

"Great!" Kevin told him. "Congratulations." Vinnie was bouncing around on his crutches, looking at Kevin confused.

"Don't you understand what this means?" Vinnie asked Kevin.

"Yes, it means you got into the college you wanted," Kevin responded, not knowing what else to say.

"It means more than that," Vinnie commented. "It means I'll be in Philadelphia too, so we'll be able to see each other on weekends." Once that information sank in, Kevin started jumping around as well.

"Hold on, you two," I cautioned them. "Remember, your education still comes first. I don't want to hear you're spending every weekend together and your grades are slipping."

"We know," Vinnie conceded, "but this way, we can get together some of the time, especially when one of us gets horny, so we aren't tempted to look for other options." Kevin looked a little embarrassed after Vinnie made this comment, because he knew it directly referred to the Valentine's Day fiasco.

"Vinnie, the two campuses aren't that close together," Kevin advised him.

"Aren't there buses or trains we could take back and forth?" Vinnie whined.

"Yes, I guess we could do that," Kevin replied, after thinking about it a second or two.

"Well, then one time we could stay in your dorm room together, and the next time in mine," Vinnie said, hopefully.

"But we'll both have roommates, and I'm not sure they'd be agreeable to us having sex or being affectionate while they're around." Vinnie looked as if his whole world was falling apart again. This seemed to bother Kevin as much as his previous indiscretion had, so I could see he was trying to figure out a way around this problem.

"I guess we could do it on the weekends when our roommates are going to be away," he added, while looking at Vinnie for his reaction.

"Does that happen very often?" Vinnie wanted to know.

"I guess my roommate is away at least one weekend a month," he responded.

"That's not a lot," Vinnie commented, somewhat dejected.

"Well, if your roommate does the same, that could give his two weekends a month to be together," Kevin added.

"Yeah, if they don't both go home on the same weekend," Vinnie commented, sarcastically.

"I guess I'd be willing to let you rent a motel room once in a while," I interjected, to get them past their problem. I hoped it would give them another option and something to look forward to.

"You'd be willing to do that for us?" Vinnie asked, surprised.

"Yes," I confirmed. "I will allow you do that during any month when you can't find a way to get together more than once. The thing is, I'm going to ask you to make it only twice a month, unless it's a holiday weekend or you're staying there over a vacation. Would you both agree to that?" They looked at each other and communicated silently, before Kevin responded for both of them.

"Okay. We can do that," he stated confidently, before adding a postscript. "But neither of you will have to worry about me doing anything stupid like that again, no matter what." Having addressed that issue, he moved over and gave Vinnie a hug and then a very loving kiss.

"Good," I added, once their display of affection had ended. "I hope this is settled now and we can put the whole sordid episode behind us for good then." They both nodded their agreement and then went off to prepare for the next day.

Later that evening, after Kevin and Vinnie went to their room, Vinnie returned the favor Kevin had done for him earlier. Getting ready for bed, Vinnie shed all his clothes, got into bed, and quickly informed Kevin that he could make love to him now. Quickly aroused by the thought, Kevin eagerly complied and soon had Vinnie prepared for their next lovemaking session. As Kevin's pulsing rod entered Vinnie's love tunnel, he whispered to him.

"I do love you," he advised him, "and I'm so sorry for being weak. You'll never have to worry about that ever happening again, because I never want to risk losing you."

This brought a tear to Vinnie's eye and then they began to kiss and hug, as Kevin began his pumping rhythm. As he slid in and out of Vinnie's hot hole, they were both sent to another level of euphoria. The two boys were one again and all was well with the world.

The next day, everyone got ready for school and then I made my way to my office. That left Kevin home alone, but I figured he'd use the time to get some extra rest, since he hadn't been sleeping much, or very well, for the past couple of weeks.

As soon as I got settled in, I called the high school and left messages for all of Vinnie's teachers to phone me, so I could not only ask them to allow him to make up his work, but so I'd also be able to advise them I didn't expect anyone to cut him any extra favors just because he was family. In fact, I told them to make sure he suffered a little for his lack of judgment, so he would have a reminder before doing anything so stupid again. They all agreed to my conditions, so now it was up to Vinnie to catch up.

Around 2:00, I told my secretary I was leaving early for the day, so I could drive Kevin back to Temple University. I had nothing much on my schedule, so it worked out well and she said she'd cover for me. I left, went home and picked Kevin up. Shortly after that, we were on our way to return him to continue his studies.

It was a long trip, but both of us were more upbeat than before, so we had a nice conversation along the way. Kevin told me how glad he was that Vinnie would be nearby the following school year.

"Dad, I'm so glad Vinnie will be in Philly with me next year," he gloated, "but I promise neither of us will let our romance interfere with our schoolwork."

"I appreciate that and I'm grateful for your reassurance," I told him. "I will hold you to your promise." He merely nodded in response, but I could see the wheels turning in his head now, so I knew something more was on his mind. Finally, he clued me in about what he was thinking.

"Dad, would you let me live in an apartment off campus next year, so there won't be as many problems with Vinnie and me being able to get together?" I thought for a second before responding.

"Not next year Kevin, but maybe the following year, when you're a senior," I advised him.

"But why not next year?" he wanted to know.

"Mainly because Vinnie will only be a freshman," I told him, "and if you had your own place, I know he'd be after me to let him share it with you. I won't do that yet. However, if both of you keep your grades up and prove to me you won't let your relationship adversely affect your studies, then I might let you get an apartment near Villanova next year, so you two can stay together. I'll even get you a car to drive back and forth from the apartment to your campus, so you won't have to worry about public transportation schedules to get around."

"Really?" Kevin asked, amazed.

"Yes, but not next year." I confirmed. "I hope you can live with that." He smiled.

"I can," he agreed.

"I don't want you to tell Vinnie, though," I advised him. "I want to make sure he's motivated to do well on his own, not so he can live with you the following year and have unlimited access to sex." Kevin started to protest, but then he thought better of it.

"Okay, but Vinnie will be really excited when he finally finds out," Kevin added.

"I know, but let's leave that for this summer," I advised him and Kevin nodded.

After reaching Philly, we stopped to eat first, before I dropped Kevin off at his dorm. As soon as he was settled in, I asked him what he had told his roommate about all of this.

"Jeff knows I'm gay and I told him I messed up and my boyfriend wanted to break up with me," Kevin explained. "I guess that was enough information, so he didn't ask anything else."

Now that my curiosity had been sated, I told Kevin I had to go, since I wanted to get home as early as I could. Kevin thanked me for everything and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks for always being there for me, Dad," he added, before releasing me. I got in the Grand Am and began to drive off, but as I pulled away, I could see him waving at me, until I drove out of sight.

The ride back wasn't bad, partly because I was fairly upbeat knowing all of my boys were safe and our problems were behind us, at least for the time being. I arrived home before midnight and Jake was still waiting up for me, so I filled him in briefly about the things Kevin and I discussed on the way back. He told me he thought my precautions were wise, about making them wait another year to get an apartment, and then we headed to bed, together.

The End of Book Seven of Castaway Hotel