Howdy Doody

The Geppetto Project

Chapters 7-8

Chapter Seven

Storms Coming!

"It's turning, it's turning it's turning. Those fucking morons keep telling me it's turning and the bitch keeps coming!" Bert screamed into the phone as Sid entered Bert's office on Monday Morning. With a cup of coffee in his hand, Sid decided against any levity as he sat down in front of Bert's desk.

"Bert, there's nothing we can do from here, the busses are rolling on Alligator Alley from Fort Myers. They'll be there this afternoon and sitting in the parking lot. If you want to pull the plug, do it," a voice from Alexandria told the Administrator.

Bert's blood pressure rose about 50 beats per minute. "God fucking dammit, don't you fucking people know I got 350 kids sitting on a fucking mangrove pile in the middle of shitsville and I just can't pick up stakes and walk away in a few hours?" Bert screamed at the intercom.

"I need information and all I get is bullshit from Coral Gables. Are those assholes moving out their families?" Bert asked.

"We have no information about that Bert. They tell us she's going to head North before it reaches Florida," Alexandria reported as if on Quaaludes.

Bert closed his eyes. "What about Camp?" he asked the phone.

"Camp will be ready by 1800 tomorrow," the voice said after a 45 second delay.

"Thanks, do me a favor," Bert said to the phone.

"What do you need?" Alexandria asked.

"Pretend one of these kids was your own," Bert told the voice and disconnected the line.

"That ain't the way to win friends," Sid told his boss.

Bert smiled but said nothing. "She's over the British Virgins and still coming. She's a Category 3," Bert told his friend.

"Another 800 to 1,000 miles [1,250-1,500 km] and the trees start bending around here," Sid contemplated the results.

"How long we got?" he asked.

"24 hours before we start loading supplies into the semi's," Bert told his subordinate.

"In 48 hours we start loading the kids onto busses and moving them out. You know the drill Sid, little one's first."

"If we have to go, take the Tamiami Trail back to the Alley and I-75 to Camp. Stay the fuck off the Turnpike and I-95. Remember what happened during Andrew," Bert told Sid. Sid nodded his head. Hurricane Andrew wasn't an evacuation; it was a panic once the crowds hit the Turnpike and over-whelmed it.

"I don't fucking understand it. We have satellite capabilities that can tell us what brand of cigarette a man is smoking walking down a fucking street in Moscow, and we can't figure out where a fucking hurricane is going!" Bert said to no one in particular.

Sid smiled. "Boss, it took us over 70 years to find the Titanic, and we knew where she went down!"

Bert half smiled. The task before him was immense.

"Let's lock and load. Get the Evacuation Team in place, in 48 hours I want everything these kids will need to get them to Camp on those trucks. If she passes Great Inaugua, we're out of here," Bert told his assistant.

"Talk to me Sid, where's Bruce?" The administrator asked now switching gears.

"He's eating, he's sleeping and he's pretty much attached to Greg. He's still depressed, it's showing in his sex drive, but he's making moves," Sid reported.

"Moves on Greg or with the other boys?" Bert asked. Sid shook his head.

"Strictly Greg," Sid responded.

"Kevin said he never did initiate with the other boys, it was always someone else's decision," Bert said.

"And with Kevin?" Sid asked.

"The same. Kevin never asked the boys to sleep with him, he just picked them up in the middle of the night out of bed," Sid shook his head.

"It took a giant step for Kevin to admit that Sid, he's learning how fucked up things were at Albemarle," Bert said in defense of the teacher.

"How's Greg handling the situation? I see the hickeys on Bruce's neck," Bert now asked the man.

"He's been told to let Bruce initiate, but to draw the line at penetration. The hickeys are his doing during masturbation," Sid told Bert.

"He's a good boy and knows what we're dealing with." Bert nodded his head.

"I have a talk with Bruce set for this morning and another this afternoon. Let's get together just before dinner with the team and discuss all the Must Specials," Bert told Sid.

Pretty much the rest of very close to an hour was spent on the rest of the residents of the school,

From little Kenny to the cook who was being transferred to another school to keep him away from the chef's chopping block. Hurricane or no, life for very close to 500 people had to continue and problems never really disappeared completely. By 8:00 Sid was stepping off Bert's stairs on his way back to Beachview as he looked out at the palm trees that hung quietly and still in the morning sun. He wondered what they would look like by Friday.

Adam awoke with Sammy out on the porch with David and Jesse and the two new boys who had spent the night. He was a little miffed that the new boys elected to romp in private, when he was very recently chastised for wanting the same exact thing with Sammy. This was something he was going to bust Sid's balls about! Adam hit the showers and was half done as Sammy came bounding into the bathroom with Leonardo and promptly put the turtle down on the shower floor. As the turtle scooted for a corner and safety, Adam looked down on Sammy who still had the remnants of a happy morning slowly sinking to the floor. Adam turned the boy around as he got down on his knees and began washing the boy.

"Hey guys, breakfast is downstairs!" Sid said as he came into the bathroom and sat down on the toilet.

"We're eating here Uncle Sid?" Sammy asked as he turned around so Adam could wash his front.

"Yes, we're going back to the routine now that the new boys have gotten use to us," Sid told the boy as he reached in and gave him a kiss and sat back down.

"We got two of them here Uncle Sid. They slept here with David and Jesse last night on the porch," the little boy said as Adam continued to wash him silently.

"The porch?" Sid now asked.

"Yes, the boys felt funny with me in the bedroom last night and needed more privacy," Adam said as he turned and looked at Sid for the first time.

"Well ain't that sweet! Bert always did want a little more modesty shown around here; wait till I tell him the good news!" Sid said.

As Sid changed his shorts because of the wet washcloth thrown into his lap, Joey and Trevor returned from Bay Watch. Their overnight with Billy, Ethan and Arthur was a huge success and Sid now recalled why overnights on school days was not a great idea as both boys fell into bed and back to sleep. Beachview would need a sitter for the morning to watch over four boys sleeping off the night's revelry. David and Jesse woke up ready to take on the world, but Andy and Kenny needed their batteries recharged big time.

"Smooth move Exlax!" Adam said to Sid as the two men looked down on four bodies.

Kevin in Coquina awoke to the sound of Greg in the shower with Bruce. Like the Beachview overnighters Larry and Mike fared little better with their two new found friends, Bobby and Jackie in the sleep department. Bobby and Jackie were ready for sleep by 10:30 or so. With their newly acquired freedom to romp at will and openly, Larry and Mike had both Green Tree boys awake until well past midnight and even then, neither Larry nor Mike cared if their partner was awake or asleep. As most boys know, a boy's penis can't tell time, and doesn't really care if the host is asleep or not, they still get stiff, and they still appreciate the attention right through some very incredible dreams. Larry and Mike finally gave up the ghost somewhere around 2:00 with their guests genitals a crimson shade of red.

Kevin came into the bathroom with Michael just as Greg was finishing drying off Bruce and putting him into underpants.

"They don't look like they're going to be waking up anytime soon," Kevin told Greg as he stepped into the shower with Michael and began washing the boy.

"What happens now?" the man asked. Greg shook his head.

"I guess I'm going to have to tell Uncle Sid about it. He'll probably chew my head off!" the senior boy responded.

Sid had already heard from Dan that he had three boys down from 'battle fatigue' and with Greg now standing in front of him, he needed three not one house sitters until the boys awakened. In all probability the boys were down for the morning and wouldn't be seen until lunchtime.

"Sorry Uncle Sid, I didn't think they'd stay up half the night," Greg told the man.

"That's OK Greg it's not your fault, your Uncle Sid is entirely to blame," Adam told the boy.

"I'll explain it to Uncle Bert when I tell him the good news," the teacher said. David and Jesse giggled while Sammy wondered what happened now.

Jeanette came to school right after first class to pick up Bruce. The boy was happy to see the girl, he was captivated by her and now seeing her walking into class with Kenny on her hip, he was even happier when his teacher told him he was free to go as she waited for him at the door.

"Uncle Bert sent me to bring you to him," Jeanette said as she bent down and kissed the boy on his cheek. It was a small fast kiss, but Bruce froze the moment of her lips touching him in his mind. She had soft lips, and smelled of citrus as she approached his face. He could feel some moistness on his cheek, but dared not touch it. Bruce was smitten very badly, and this girl was the love of his life forever and ever. Little Kenny rode the girls hip in a pair of Carter training pants and a butt crack showing that would make a plumber green with envy. Getting into her cart, Bruce sat next to her as she allowed the boy to steer while she operated the pedals. To steer, sitting close was necessary and Bruce's leg sat against hers as a strain began simmering in his groin.

Once at Bert's Jeanette allowed Bruce to carry Kenny into the house and plunk the boy down on the back porch as Jeanette brought over some toys for Kenny to play with.

"We can talk here on the porch, or we can talk someplace else alone Bruce, I have some questions for you that are pretty personal and you might want to talk in private," Bert began. As Jeanette sat down, Bruce sat down beside her.

"It doesn't matter," Bruce told the man.

"No Bruce, it matters very much. We're going to talk about you and some very private things. If you talk in front of Jeanette, it's because you want her here," Bert told the boy.

"If you want Jeanette to stay, I want you to tell me that. Otherwise, we talk alone."

"She can stay," Bruce told the man.

"Because that's what you want her to do?" Bert pressed.

"Yes," Bruce responded.

"No problem, if that's what Bruce wants, that's what Bruce gets!" Bert said as he reinforced the message to the boy.

While Bruce was completely unaware of it, for the next half hour and the next few months, he was doubled teamed by two of the most skillful Child Psychology Majors in the State.

When he wasn't with them, he was with Sid, Gloria and Johanna in one capacity or another. Together, the five staff could take apart a broken twisted child and make him or her whole again.

With Bruce, that's exactly what they intended to do, and proceeded to do it.

Bruce's infatuation with Jeanette was a very deep secret known only to Bruce, he never even told Greg about his love for Jeanette. His team knew his secret by that same afternoon, and built upon the information to the boys benefit without disclosing his 'secret' even to Bruce. He is now 12 years old, he'll be 13 in January. Jeanette is still his first love, but he has recently met a girl his own age that is slowly making inroads into his heart, probably in a few years Bruce will look back and smile at his bout with 'Puppy Love.' He'll never look back and smile at his first four years of life, but he has been taught how to move on and the 'Bee Sting Bracelet' came off his wrist just before Thanksgiving of that year. Bruce remained with Greg until Greg went to college last year, in three more years Greg will be returning to Green Tree to teach.

By Tuesday morning, Bert was ready to go to Coral Gables himself and kick the shit out of everybody there. Isabel was still coming on, but she had slowed down and was building strength by the hour. Four semi's sat in the mangroves off U.S.1 along with 15 coaches. 19 men and women wondered what the fuck they were doing sitting in mangroves while a hurricane bore down towards them. By 9 a.m. truckloads of supplies started appearing out of the mangroves and the drivers sat there staring at each other wondering where all this shit was coming from. By Tuesday night, the trucks were loaded, and moved out to sit in Islamorada and await further orders. The busses were then loaded with water, food and sealed crates. Bert had less than twelve hours to pull the plug unless the storm magically turned and he wasn't optimistic. The drivers now sat back and watched as car after car pulled in with very serious looking men in them with Government license plates and no other markings. Each bus would have an 'escort.' The censuses of opinions among the drivers was that they were removing soldiers ready to invade Cuba. They were 45 years late, but it was a good guess anyway.

The boys attended school Tuesday because Bert wanted them to have a 'normal' day.

Even the boys knew it was far from normal, trucks never stopped entering and leaving the compounds and each boy had a crate to pack with a list of clothing he needed to pack into them before breakfast. The boys were told it was a drill, but the word Hurricane circulated among them and the only ones being fooled was maybe Camp Kenny. The boys didn't panic, they saw and heard an adventure swirling around them, and very few fell asleep before midnight as they watched the adults around them scurrying about. Very few boys were in their beds, most had moved their blankets and pillows to the porches facing the roads watching trucks pass by with half a dozen senior boys in them piled high with crates. Greg watched many friends go by wishing he was with them, but he knew he couldn't leave Bruce.

By 10:00 at night Sid was back with Bert and the Evacuation Team.

"They're all awake out there boss, do you want them put down?" Sid asked the Director. Bert sat back in his chair and thought for a few seconds.

"No, leave them alone. If they have to be on a bus for 14 hours, it's better if they sleep through most of it," he responded. Bert was now getting briefings every half hour from Alexandria. They no longer quoted the National Hurricane Center, whenever they did, they heard a curse laden tirade from Bert for the next five minutes.

"She's still moving west, but she's moving north too!" the voice over the speaker told Bert.

"How fast west, how far north?" Bert asked the voice.

"Not sure!" the voice reported. Bert's eyes rolled to the ceiling.

"Jeb's telling folks in Miami to go and gas up their cars," Bert told the voice.

"You figure he's just bought some stock in Texaco?" Bert asked sarcastically.

"Hello Bert, we understand the problem, we'll get you out of there if it becomes necessary," a voice familiar to Bert told the man. To Sid, his boss seemed to calm down a bit with the new voice. Sid knew Bert could piss off the Pope if he had a mind to, and right now, they might need all the help they could get very soon.

"Good to hear you Harry, where are you?" Bert asked.

"Langley," the voice replied.

"Harry, my chief problem isn't getting off this sandbox with my people. It's having someone in Coral Gables blind side me by stirring up the bar flies further up the keys. One fucking accident on any bridge locks down the road out of here!" Bert told the man.

"We know that Bert and Coral Gables has orders to advise us first before they give any evacuation orders out concerning the Keys. We've also got McDill on standby just in case we have to evacuate you by air."

The 11:00 advisory was watched like a hawk by everyone, but it really didn't give a whole lot of new information. The storm was a Cat 3, and was the size of the state of Texas. Bert watched as stupid arrows and lines were drawn on the maps, but it was now dark and the satellites were relatively useless. The 'Cone of Probability' went from Marathon to Norfolk and Bert walked away in disgust from the tv.

"Harry, save some money. Give them a dozen darts and a map," Bert suggested.

"Look on the bright side Bert, everybody in Key West is bellying back up to the bar with their cockatiels and poodles," Harry said. Bert smiled for the first time in hours. Sid disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a Vodka Tonic for Bert and a beer for himself.

"Sorry boss, I left my bird at home," he said as he took a swig. Bert again smiled.

"Don't start celebrating too much Sid, we have a 5:00 advisory coming up and if Great Inaugua ain't there no more, you're on bus duty."

Nobody at Bert's house slept that night, the majority of their work was to figure out whose crate went in what bus and to make sure that boy was on that bus. The kitchen didn't sleep either, they were making hundreds of sandwiches and finger foods to keep the boys happy until they reached Camp. Buildings and grounds were busy throughout the night shutting up storm shutters and nailing up plywood, and house by house, the sleeping boys on their porches were stepped over and around as the workmen encased the houses in plywood and corrugated steel. Adam had never been through a hurricane before but the seriousness and urgency of the staff around him told him he didn't want to be either.

"Each building stands 10 feet [3 m] above sea level," Dave from Buildings and Grounds told Adam as he nailed plywood.

"If a Cat 3 strikes here, you and I would be standing in water chest deep," he told Adam as he stood in the living room.

"Basically, the school would be gone."

By 3:00 Bert was getting antsy again.

"Harry, doesn't NASA have a down range site on Great Inaugua?" he asked the man. After a pause, the man answered.

"Yes, they track down range for the Cape," the man replied.

"We're calling them now."

"Ask them what direction the wind is blowing in," Bert requested. About five minutes later the voice from Langley came back "North, Northwest to South, Southeast." The voice responded.

"Since when, for how many hours?" Bert asked.

"Four, maybe five hours Bert," he said, "she can't be south of the Island. She's east and moving North," Bert calculated.

"Why so Bert?" the man asked.

"If she were south of the Island, they'd be getting hit from the East to the West," Bert replied.

"She's moving faster north than she is west," Bert told Langley.

"Great Inaugau agrees with you Bert," the voice said after a delay of about a minute.

"That doesn't mean she can't do a 360 degree loop and come back in any direction she wants to," Bert told the voice.

"The only way she would do that is if she had no steering direction," Bert told Langley.

"Harry, see if anybody's awake in Coral Gables and ask them if this thing is being steered or not," Bert requested.

"If I wake them up Bert, are you gonna believe them?" the man asked.

"Sure Harry, all they have to do is show me the isobars to prove it!" Bert replied.

"You keep this crap up Bert and Bob is going to think you're looking for his job!" Harry said.

"No, no Harry, tell Mr. Sheets I'm not ready to retire yet!" Bert replied.

Bert sat back and took reports from his staff as he waited for the information he asked for. Basically, the school was closed down tight and only the doors to the houses remained to be secured once the residents left.

"Bert," Langley said.

"Yeah Harry," Bert responded.

"Bob himself said that the isobars are tight, she's not drifting, there's little to no chance of a loop, whatever that means," the man said.

"He also said that whoever is busting his fucking balls in the Keys needs to get a life," Bert smiled.

"Did he send you pictures?" Bert asked.

"Yes, our people agree, this puppy is very tightly wound and has a definite incentive to move," Bert smirked.

"But of course Bob's not saying where yet!" he said.

"The plane's out there right now Bert, he'll know in about an hour," Harry said.

"Thanks Harry. Do me a favor, tell down range to call you instantly if the wind doesn't continue to rotate out of the north western quadrant," Bert said.

"Will do." Langley responded.

"Are we in the clear?" Sid asked his friend.

"It sounds good. But do you know where a hurricane can go?" Bert asked his friend.

"No, where?" Sid asked.

"Any fucking where it wants to!" Bert replied.

"It's coffee time children!" he said as he got up to go and take a shower.

The 5:00 coordinates of Isabel had it to the east of Great Inaugua by about 200 miles [300 km]. To Bert, this was very good news, but he still wanted to see the satellite pictures that wouldn't come in for two or three more hours. To make matters even worse, a thunderstorm totally unconnected to the hurricane was about to hit the school and if lightening was in the area, Bert wasn't about to allow the boys or staff outside. As a downpour rained down outside, none of the staff was too convinced that the end of the world wasn't all that far away.

The boys were buttoned up in shuttered up houses and Adam was one of those who was certain that what he was hearing on the roof was the beginning of the end. As the first light of dawn was approaching, Adam wondered why the hell the boys weren't up, showered, dressed and standing in line ready to evacuate. Instead, he looked down upon boys sprawled on the porch very fast asleep. With Sid gone, he didn't know what was going on and with a cup of coffee in his hand, he looked out the front door and waited.

Days, weeks, months and years later Adam smiled and even laughed eventually about the morning of the 15th of September, 2003. But on that morning he picked up Sammy who was about as sound asleep as any boy could get and rocked the boy in a chair on the porch and hugged him as tightly as he dared to without waking the boy up and scaring him. Adam wondered if the both of them were going to survive the next few hours. He didn't have the answer, but he determined that if Sammy didn't make it, he really didn't give a fuck if he did either. Adam thought about his Mom and Dad, his sisters and his brother. He regretted not being able to say goodbye to them, but he was sure in his heart they knew he loved them. That was about all he could do, everything else was out of his hands and he clutched Sammy in his arms and pressed his nose into the boys scalp and cried for him.

At 7:30 in the morning, a half hour before the National Hurricane Center in Coral Cables announced the news, Bert was informed that Isabel would skirt the Bahama Islands to the East and was headed on a direct path for North Carolina.

"If you leave right now Bert, you can probably catch up with her," Langley told the man.

"Thank you Harry, I'll take a rain check," Bert told the man. The busses remained on standby until noon on Wednesday, and then Bert ordered them off loaded and released. The Government cars disappeared almost as fast as they arrived, and the semi's were unloaded in Islamorada into a storage facility there and eventually returned to Green Tree. Isabel moved into North Carolina, Virginia, and points North killing 24 people directly and dozens more indirectly. Green Tree dodged the bullet this time, but in Florida, you live in a shooting gallery when it comes to Hurricanes.

The Green Tree Way

Alarm clocks at Green Tree are unknown; they have no use for them. Breakfast isn't ready before 8:00 and on school days; school doesn't start until 9:00. Most of Green Trees boys woke up naturally by seven or 7:30 without clocks. On that Wednesday morning, very few people stirred before 9:00 except for Camp Kenny children who were fairly oblivious as to their plight.

When the intermediate boys did wake up they were incredibly disappointed. To the adults around them, the hurricane was a nightmare scenario; Hurricanes kill people and they couldn't have been in a worse location if they planned it that way. To 8 to 16 year old boys, it was a fantastic adventure that promised danger, excitement, travel, no school and best of all, chaos. Now, the storm was going away.

"Shit!" said Jesse as he watched the crews taking down the shutters and removing the come-alongs that were holding down the houses roof rafters. Adam smiled to himself as he reloaded the fridge with food.

"No fair Uncle Adam! We never have any fun," Jesse complained. Adam just kept working and shook his head.

"Well, maybe next time!" Adam replied.

Bert was very clearly in charge of every aspect of Green Tree as its Director and Chief Administrator, but Bert was also not so stupid as to believe that he alone could deal with the entire population by himself. As any good Administrator did, he relegated his authority to those people he had complete trust and faith in to carry out his policies and practices. Sid was a prime example in the intermediate boys complex, and for the little one's, Bert's complete confidence was placed in his staff headed by the girls, specifically, Jeanette, Gloria and Johanna.

Bert was a 'modern' thinker in most ways, but in one area, he was a traditionalist. He believed unflinchingly that babies needed females to raise them, at least through age 4, if not 5. He also believed that babies needed to bond to their caregivers and nothing bonded stronger, faster or better than a human being nursed by a loving and caring fellow human being. Since men made terrible wet nurses, Bert decided he needed to provide his babies with the real thing. Obviously, the girls Bert would be bringing in had to be a very special breed.

American wet nurses are close to impossible to find. An American woman might consider nursing her own baby for a week or two after birth, but their fear of incest or sex abuse charges is overwhelming to them once the baby starts giving the nursing mother any kind of feeling that could remotely suggest that she is enjoying the activity. Since having her breast sucked on is almost always a sexual act: They just can't have that! I mean its not like their breasts were made to provide milk to an infant is it? In fairness, American woman's fear of breastfeeding has a very legitimate basis in reality. Most American mothers know of the woman who reported to her social worker of having 'sexual feelings' when breastfeeding her baby and the baby was very promptly removed from the mother and placed into foster care. No, it didn't happen 50 or 100 years ago; try 2! Put a baby on the cover of a magazine drinking its mother's milk and you just may as well have the baby sucking off Daddy! "It's horrible", "It's immoral", "It's Filthy" most good christain asswipes will tell you (Baby Talk, July, 2006.)

European woman on the other hand actually realize what those two bags are really for and they are much easier to find. But, we are talking about Geppetto boys and Bert knew he'd have a little too much explaining to do coupled with the fact that the wet nurses would most probably be sexually viable. That was strictly against the rules to the folks that paid him, but Bert didn't always follow the rules by the book. The girls Bert would eventually come to rely upon were all Geppetto girls who passed on the gene to their children. These girls almost always had brothers who were Geppetto boys and the girls had all agreed to have tubal ligations to prevent its further spread.

Eventually, existence of the girls at Green Tree became known to the folks writing the checks, but, what was never said out loud never existed, and nobody ever spoke about it. (Don't ask, Don't tell) Green Tree's trust in the girls was complete and total. They ran Camp Kenny with Bert's blessings and their authority was unchallenged.

With the threat of evacuation now over, Jeanette, who was one of the senior girls in Camp Kenny set about to return the camp to normal. She had 80 boys ranging in age from 16 months to seven years in camp and another 25 staff who lived with the boys. Camp Kenny also contained the schools infirmary, which held boys or staff sick or injured from all three compounds, and that morning, the infirmary had eight boys in it and a staff member, Anthony, who was a college student injured in a car accident in Boston less than two weeks earlier. Anthony came with baggage, his name was Spencer and he was eight.

"Buildings and Grounds and Maintenance is going to be all over the place, so let's make sure that none of our boys gets lost under a tire. The beach is open, the pool is open, get them away from the buildings until the men have a chance to re-open them," Jeanette advised the staff.

"We're on our own for lunch, the kitchen won't be back on-line until dinner. Check your refrigerators, if you need something, let the kitchen know and they'll see that it's delivered," she told the assembled.

"Now, any problems?" Jeanette asked. Most of the group giggled.

"Spencer!" Marguerite called out. Jeanette rolled her eyes as more giggles floated throughout the room.

The eight year old boy had been sleeping in the infirmary since his Junior Counselor was hurt. Spencer and Anthony were inseparable before the accident and since the accident, they were conjoined. It was Bert's decision to keep the two together in the infirmary, and that wasn't something the Camp Kenny staff had any problem with. What they did have a problem with was Spencer's growing dominance over his counselor and his intransigence concerning allowing the counselor to leave his sight. Literally, Anthony could not be taken to the bathroom without Spencer insisting he accompany him. The infirmary staff's patience with Spencer was running thin.

Jeanette's involvement with the boy ran deep, as did Spencer's involvement with most of the woman at Green Tree. He came to the school as a four year old, and as a four year old, he was wet nursed by every single girl who had been induced to lactate for the boys they cared for. Spencer was highly dependant when he first came, having been severely abused as both a baby and toddler. Jeanette, Gloria and Johanna all breast fed the boy as a four and five year old, and now, he had regressed to the point where he was once again demanding their milk because of the emotional strain he was now under. Spencer was not just another boy to Jeanette and those who nursed him.

"Jeanette, Anthony's on pain medication he doesn't have to be on except that Spencer insists on sleeping with him!" the girl told her Supervisor.

"What does Anthony say about it?" Jeanette asked. The girl smirked.

"Anthony wouldn't complain about Spencer if the boy got up and did a tap dance on his ribs!" she told the girl. Several infirmary staff nodded their heads.

"Spencer listens to you, he listens to Gloria and he listens to Johanna. Nobody else reaches him!" she told Jeanette. The girl looked at her two friends.

"I'll sit down with him again Jeanette, but without Anthony putting the brakes on him, we're beating a dead horse," Johanna told her friend.

"Spencer's dominant, and Anthony's allowing it to happen. I don't think it's healthy for either one of them."

Jeanette sat for a very long time in thought.

"Johanna, you work with Spencer. If nothing else, he's got to realize that Anthony's medical condition isn't being helped by his clinging and we're going to stop it if he won't. I'll get Dave over here to talk to Anthony. Dave knows Anthony better than anybody," she told the group.

"So we can tell him to stop climbing into Anthony's bed?" Marguerite asked.

"No. Anthony can and Bert can. Nobody else can" she told the group.

Spencer was oblivious to the decisions, he was oblivious to most that went on around him since Anthony returned to him from Boston looking like he was run over by a train. The boy was now living in the Infirmary with his Junior Counselor and making damned sure nothing else terrible ever happened to him again. Spencer loved Anthony like he loved no other human being, and he would protect him now as he had failed to do weeks earlier when it was suggested that Anthony go away to College. As long as he kept Anthony with him, Anthony would be safe and would love him.

The relationship between Spencer and the three girls who raised him since arriving at Green Tree was a dichotomy for the boy. Spencer not only disliked, he feared women. All his life, he was abandoned, used and mistreated by them. They neither nurtured nor protected him; to the contrary, they beat, starved and placed him in situations that risked his very life. Spencer had cigarette burns on his buttocks and scars on his back that attested to the validity of his fears.

It took Bert and the three girls that Bert surrounded the boy with six months to break through the boy's defenses, and they knew they had succeeded when he accepted Jeanette's breast with tears streaming down his cheeks. Gloria and Johanna quickly followed, and these three girls alone Spencer came to trust as a four year old. Now at eight and fast approaching nine, he was still their 'baby' but the baby was spinning himself out of control.

Spencer loved all three girls, but Johanna was somehow always the most special to him. Then again, that wasn't surprising. When Spencer was five, one girl was chosen by the team to never, ever, fail to see Spencer's point of view from his prospective and to very vigorously defend him. Johanna was chosen as that girl. Over the years, Spencer could be 100% wrong in everyone's eyes, but never in Johanna's.

Spencer sat on the bed next to Anthony playing a game of 'war' when Johanna came into Anthony's room. The little boy beamed as he saw the girl.

"Look Johanna, I'm winning!" Spencer said as he showed the girl a pile of cards next to him.

"That's great!" she said as she wrapped her arms around the boy and kissed him in the side of his neck.

"How are you Anthony?" she asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

Anthony smiled. "Fine. I guess we're not leaving.?" he asked the girl.

"No, the hurricane is moving north and away from us, so we're safe," she told the man.

"What hurricane?" Spencer asked.

"It doesn't matter Spencer, it's not coming here." Johanna responded.

"Anthony, you are scheduled for x-rays this morning and your ribs will be re taped." Johanna told the man as he lay there. Johanna wanted no arguments from Spencer concerning Anthony's activity since the real purpose was to separate the two so that both could be counseled separately.

"Spencer, you know that you cannot go with Anthony to x-ray, so it's a great time for you and I to have Talk Time," she told the boy.

"Why?" Spencer asked the girl.

"Because you and I haven't had private time for a long time, and I miss not talking with you," she replied.

"About what?" Spencer asked.

"Well, that's what we'll discuss during talk time," she said.

"Anthony will be gone for about two hours and its better than sitting here all alone," she told the boy. Spencer thought for a few seconds.

"And then I'm coming back here and Anthony will be here," he stated rather than asked.

"Yes Spencer," she told him. The little boy looked at the girl for a long few seconds deep in thought.

"OK," he said. Johanna knew the boy was very close to balking, but didn't.

All Green Tree boys, especially the younger ones, were use to both showering and being massaged by staff. Little Kenny and Timmy, like all the boys were massaged as a routine by staff both male and female, and by the time they left Camp, they were sold on the practice. While it rarely included anything sexual, stimulation was stimulation and the boys rarely complained when they were laid down and baby oil appeared. Spencer didn't find it unusual at all when Johanna and he entered the shower room and Johanna suggested they shower and she would massage him as they talked.

Spencer agreed even faster than usual because they remained in the infirmary building thereby keeping the boy even closer to where Anthony was. Spencer was showering with the girls from age four and there was no modesty involved as the two shed their clothing and entered the showers together. Like all staff, Johanna sat down on the floor as Spencer placed his head on her stomach as he lay between the girls legs and she began much more of a massage than a washing as she started at his head and worked her way down. The real purpose of the shower was to get Spencer relaxed and as the boy was trained to do, he went completely dormant as the girl simultaneously washed, massaged and slowly talked to him. Spencer's defenses were as solid as a brick wall but inch by inch, she stripped the boy naked of his suspicions as totally as his body that lay before her.

Anthony's x-rays and taping took place as his Uncle Dave counseled the boy who had been with Dave for almost six years. Dave's problem, as well as Bert's, was the reality that both men had to face which was that Anthony was gay and he was in love with Spencer. The problem would have been minor if Anthony and Spencer were a couple and Anthony was dominant, but that was not the case. 18 year old Anthony was subservient to Spencer, ten years his junior. Getting Anthony into college and away from Spencer was difficult enough initially, now after the accident, Spencer refused to even consider allowing Anthony to return to school after he recovered and Anthony would not, or could not, go against Spencer's emotionality concerning the subject. Basically, an eight year old boy was running his life.

"Anthony, you've wanted to teach since you were 12 years old," Dave said to him.

"If you don't return to school, that's all down the drain," he counseled the boy.

Anthony hung his head. He knew what he was being told was true, but without risking Spencer's extremely negative reaction, he felt somewhat trapped. At the same time, he would remain with Spencer, and that over shadowed all other thinking.

"I'm sorry Uncle Dave, but I won't destroy Spencer by leaving him again. It was hard enough for him to do it once; it would devastate him if I did it again," the boy told his mentor.

"That doesn't sound like you've got a lot of faith in the staff around here." Dave pressed the boy. That remark stung Anthony; he loved each and every staff member at Green Tree.

"I'm sorry Uncle Dave, but I promised Spencer I wouldn't leave him again and I won't do it!" he told the man sitting beside him.

"They have on line studies available at Boston College; I can earn a degree that way and teach," he said. Dave pretty much knew he wasn't about to change any minds but he was still disturbed by the nature of the relationship.

"Anthony, Spencer's eight years old. Today, everything's just fine between you two," he counseled.

"He's going to grow up Anthony and when he does, he just might choose a different path. Where will that leave you?" he asked the boy.

"You're allowing your life to be dictated by a boy who knows nothing about life yet. That's a very shaky foundation." Dave told the boy.

Anthony said nothing as his tears fell down his cheeks. People in love very seldom reason, and Anthony was no different even if the person he loved was just a little boy who meant everything in the world to him. Dave wrapped his arms around Anthony as the man had done thousands of times in the past.

"Anthony, we will support you in whatever decision you make, but we'd be doing you no favors if we told you that the decision to stop school was the right one," he told the boy.

"You'll probably be talking to Uncle Bert, he thinks you should return to school too," the man said as he stood up. Bending over, Dave kissed the boy on the forehead.

"We love you Anthony, that's never going to change," he said as he took his leave. Dave was superb at his job, but his job had nothing to do with Child Psychology. He was smart enough to know that Anthony needed to be talked to by Bert or Sid, not the maintenance man.

Johanna's talk with Spencer fared little better. The best she could do was to convince Spencer not to expect Anthony to hug or cuddle with him. Anthony had bruised and broken ribs along with internal injuries that weren't mending as quickly as they could have because Spencer was receiving attention from Anthony that his body couldn't produce without a great deal of pain. Even Spencer laying his head on Anthony's chest was excruciatingly painful to Anthony, but he said nothing to the boy and was relying instead on pain medication that was highly addictive and did nothing to help him heal.

"I know you want Anthony to get better, and he can't do that without your help." Johanna told the boy.

"He never said it hurt him," Spencer told the girl.

"No Spencer, I'm sure he didn't. But still, we know he is being hurt, so you need to keep his injuries in mind every time you touch him. Anthony loves you and you love him. It's OK to ask if something hurts, that's what two people do for each other," she told the boy as she pulled him into her lap and put her breast to the boys lips. Spencer took in the girls warm milk as he thought about her last words.

Any discussion about Anthony returning to school found a dead end with Spencer. Johanna knew the boy probably better than any staff member there. Johanna knew the boy had a tendency to 'turn off' whenever he heard something he didn't like and he was doing it every time the subject came up. Spencer was adamant that Anthony would remain with him at Green Tree.

Bert awoke in mid afternoon on Wednesday after being up for close to 36 hours the previous two days because of the storm. The return to normalcy for the school was the priority focus of the meeting, but Spencer wasn't ever very far off Bert's radar. Like Bruce, Spencer was a high priority child, and the Crises Team governed his handling. Nobody on the Team didn't agree that Anthony should return to school, the only question was; how did they accomplish that. Ultimately, the decision was Bert's to make. As he always did, Bert listened to all arguments.

"The major problem we have is that an eight year old boy is running an 18 year old boys life. I think to a large extent, that's true," Bert began as he decided how to handle the situation.

"The accident rocked Spencer's world to the core and now he's reacting to it. At the same time, I think it rocked Anthony's world and I think he's reacting to it as well. He's hiding behind Spencer and letting Spencer call the shots for him," Bert told the group.

"Anthony came face to face with death as far as he's concerned, and he's not ready to go back to Boston!"

"Think about it. If you had a busted rib cage, would you be allowing someone to climb on top of you no matter how much you loved him? I don't think so," Bert continued. Adam sat back and looked at Sid sitting alongside him.

"Now you know why he makes the big bucks!" Sid said to his friend very quietly.

"I suggest we withdraw Anthony from school for the time being. Once he get's on his feet we can get him on line schooling until he's ready to go back full time, but I don't think Anthony wants to see Boston any faster than Spencer does at this point in time," Bert concluded. "And their living arrangements? Jeanette asked.

"Leave them in the infirmary until Anthony is ready for discharge. On Monday, we'll have Spencer back in school in the intermediate boys compound and sleeping in the infirmary at night. Once he's discharged they live in the intermediate boy's compound," Bert recommended. Adam closed his eyes. He didn't even want to think about where that might be.

It took all of Wednesday and Thursday to return the school to normal after the evacuation threat and by Saturday, a normal routine was re-established for the boys. Bert's next objective was to split up the Albemarle boys so that they were not all the same age in the same houses. By Saturday, the Albemarle boys had mastered the transition to Green Tree rules as each monitor reported to Bert that the boys no longer exhibited modesty or shame concerning themselves, they could and did screw with the most prolific of Green Tree boys with open abandon. It took Green Tree boys one week to show the new boys that their dicks did a little more than leaked water.

It took their staff just a little more time to stop taking their boys to bed 'secretly' and Green Tree was once more a whole school all working from the same page.

The one and only glitch that occurred concerning the new group came on Friday evening,

When a staff monitor reported ligature marks on two boys. Bert had both boys report to the infirmary. A routine physical told Bert, Sid and Jeanette the entire story. Two 12 year old boys sat on the examination table as Bert and Sid walked in and sat down.

"Come here boys," Bert told both boys. Jerry and Marty slid off the gurney and both boys now stood naked in front of Bert. Picking up and examining each boys ankles, wrists and necks, Bert had the boys put on underpants as they sat back down.

"These are very strange marks boys. Where did you get them?" Bert asked the unsuspecting boys. Both boys related for the adults that now looked at them that they had been playing 'cowboys and indians' and maybe tied each other up too tight. It didn't hurt, they were fine and promised not to do it again. Bert smiled.

"That's very good news!" he told the boys as each boy smiled back at the Administrator.

"It's also complete and total bullshit." The boys stopped smiling.

"It really doesn't matter what created the marks, either ropes, belts or handcuffs," Bert said.

"Your house is now being searched from one end to the other. We will find what caused the marks and they will be destroyed," Bert told the boys.

"What you boys have been introduced to is absolutely forbidden at Green Tree. I don't want to know the name of any other boy who may be involved; we'll find that out by ourselves. We do want to know when and who introduced you to this stuff and we are going to find out," Bert told the boys who were now crying quietly.

When it came to sex, Bert was probably something of a liberal thinker. A whole lot of people might even think or believe he was a pervert or pedophile. Bert and his staff smiled at the notion, the people who thought that had made these boys, or, whole heartedly supported those assholes waving flags and singing god bless America. Bert or his staff really didn't give a flying fuck what they thought. He didn't particularly give a shit if a boy screwed his balls off twenty four hours a day. But, he did draw a line in the sand, as did his staff, at bondage, S&M and autoerotic asphyxia .

'Society' liked to call it 'The Choking Game', but basically, it wasn't a game, it wasn't done to achieve a 'high' as most 'professionals' will tell you with a straight face today.

It is a radical form of masturbation that can lead to blindness, mental retardation and very often, death. Society's problem today is that little boys and girls heard all those things before about pulling their pudding and it was complete and total bullshit. Now, the children are being told the partial truth and nobody believes them anymore. It's a whole lot like the 'Reefer madness' scam the government pulled back in the 1950s. It's tough to tell children what's good or bad for them when your credibility is in the fucking toilet.

Allowing this bullshit to proliferate at Green Tree was out of the question for Green Tree staff.

"Let's begin at the beginning. If we hear bullshit we're going to know it and the conversation will be over," Bert told the boys.

"There is a school that allows this stuff, but it's not here. If you want to continue, nobody here can possibly stop you and you'll be transferred to a new school where you can do whatever you feel necessary," Bert told the boys.

"Where did this shit come from?" Bert asked the boys deadly seriously.

Bert and the team listened as both boys related the story. Their housefather introduced it, and it was going on for at least two years for them. Bert listened and got more pissed by the minute. The house was searched and a large assortment of gadgets and paraphernalia was found and immediately destroyed along with magazines. From all indications, the two boys were the only one's involved with the houseparent. There was never any question that the staff member was now on his way to a new school for Geppetto boys who were into this lifestyle. Bert's problem was the boys. Sending them out west was to Bert, giving up on them. He would consider that a failure on his part. At the same time, he wasn't about to expose Green Tree boys to what he considered 'the dark side.' What the team now needed to decide was how to keep their boys safe with two 'sharks' swimming amongst them. Two years was a very long time in a boys life, if this garbage had already rooted, the boys were lost to Green Tree.

With the staff member now in room confinement in the infirmary, Bert and the team sat down after dinner to discuss the matter.

"I think the only way to proceed is to lay our cards out on the table to both boys. We won't and can't allow it, and if that's what they want to do, they need to choose to go west," Sid told the group as Bert sat and listened.

"I wouldn't put it out as a punitive message, their new school will accept their choice without prejudice," Sid said to the group.

"And what do we do if they tell us they want to stay?" Bert asked his assistant.

"Two years of this crap is a long time to just give up overnight. It's unrealistic of us to think that it's going to happen. Aren't we just setting them up for failure and risking our own boys in the process?" he asked.

"These boys are too big to be thinking about living in the intermediate boys compound."

Dave, the head of the senior boys compound told the team.

"They need to be at the bottom of the food chain, not the top where they are now. We put the little ones at great risk of being dominated by them if that's what they go back to," he said.

"So what do you propose?" Bert asked.

"At least until we know where they're at sexually, put them in the senior boys compound with a boy who can both control and monitor them at the same time." Dave replied.

"Who?" Bert asked.

"Charlie!" Sid said. As a new Crises Team member, Adam didn't know who Charlie was. He had heard the name a few times, but he didn't even know if it was the same boy.

"Who's Charlie?" Adam asked. Sid smiled at his friend.

"The Energizer Bunny!" Sid replied.

Charlie was a 15 year old boy who had come to Green Tree at two years of age. Charlie was also a Geppetto boy with a capital 'G'. Charlie popped out of his mother's womb with an erection and working on it, and he was still at it 15 years later. Most Geppetto boys were happy going once every hour and a half to two hours or so. Charlie got antsy after 45 minutes and never wasted a recess break since starting school. Every time his mother took off his diaper to change him, he was instantly at his penis and only a one piece full legged pair of pajama's kept him away from his favorite toy until the baby found out he could pull his arm out from the sleeve's and have direct access to his favorite toy. When he was four years old, he was dressed in a big pink fuzzy bunny suit for Halloween by the girls. He still had the picture hanging very proudly over his bed.

Charlie was well liked by every student and staff at Green Tree. Charlie made sure of that, because sooner or later, he was going to be in your pants. "There's no way either Jerry or Marty are going to take control of Charlie, he'll screw their balls off 24 hours a day," Sid reminded the group. Bert liked the idea.

The following morning, both boys were presented with the choice of leaving or staying. Both boys elected to stay. Their houseparent was flown to his new school in Arizona that afternoon. Charlie was set up in his own cottage with both boys and they commenced to set up housekeeping. Staff noticed that both boys seemed very tired for the first few weeks, but by Halloween seemed to get use to their new roommate and other than a greatly increased caloric intake, adjusted to their new lifestyle rather quickly. Both boys were also to learn that what they did with one another was their business unless someone was being hurt or forced. They had to learn all over again that sex was good, sex was fun, sex was love and sex was happiness. Pain or intimidation had nothing to due with love making and every Green Tree boy would rat them out in a New York minute for proposing otherwise.

By Saturday night Beach Dinner, the school was pretty much back on schedule. For Adam's part, he was more than a bit shell shocked between Spencer, the hurricane and then the S&M scare. He was an accountant in his former life, and now, he was living "Mary Hartman! Mary Hartman!" Adam wasn't exactly sure this was the way he wanted to spend his life. On the other hand, there was Sammy. Adam had spent many early morning hours all alone sitting on the back porch of Beachview after the evacuation was canceled and every sensible fiber in his body told him to bail the fuck out. In the mornings, Sammy opened his eyes looking at Adam and whatever common sense the man had hours before melted away as the boy clung to him in an embrace that very few people could ever understand or accept. To Adam, Sammy was a great deal more than a romp in the sack. The child had become his soul and his being and he didn't understand how it had happened. All he knew was that no one in the world meant more to him than Sammy did and leaving him was absolutely out of the question.

This Beach Dinner was the second one the new boys were going to attend and it was a completely different scene as Adam sat with Sid, Dan, Dave and Kevin watching over their boys as they ran amuck up and down the beach chasing sea birds that would never get caught. Spencer and Anthony attended and brought with them the two Cocker Spaniel puppies. Anthony stiffly sat down with his broken ribs as Spencer carried both puppies down to the water. Adam smiled as puddles immediately squatted down and pissed for probably the 100th time that day and then promptly ran after his sister trotting up the beach.

"How are you coming along?" Sid asked Anthony as he reached over and gave the boy a kiss on his forehead.

"It's getting better Uncle Sid." he responded as he rubbed his rib cage.

"The doctor says I can probably leave the infirmary by mid week if I want too," Sid studied the boy "Have you given much thought to where you're going to stay?" he asked.

"Are any cabins available?" Anthony asked his teacher.

"No, not right now, we're full up with the new boys and nothings empty. Has Bert discussed this with you?" he asked.

"Uncle Bert says that I can move where I want to, but that I have to sleep on the first floor until my ribs heal up." Anthony told the man.

"Once Anthony figures out where he's going to live, Bert told me to make a bedroom downstairs for him and Spencer." Dave interjected. Sid shook his head.

"Well, then that leaves your choices wide open. None of the houses has downstairs beds in them right now," Sid told the boy.

"Does that mean we can move to the senior boys compound?" Anthony asked his uncles. Dave shook his head.

"Uncle Bert said I could build you a bedroom anywhere in the intermediate boys compound." Dave told the boy.

"Uncle Bert doesn't want Spencer living in the senior compound; he wants him with his peers." Anthony nodded his head.

"Of course if you want to move to the senior boys compound without Spencer, you could do that!" Sid volunteered. Anthony laughed and immediately deeply regretted it as he held his rib cage.

"No problem Uncle Sid. When are you going to tell Spencer that?" Anthony coughed out.

"Touché!" Dan said as chuckles erupted from the group just as a frisbee came winging across the table knocking over Sid's brand new bottle of beer.

"Sorry Uncle Sid!" a boy said as he came to the table to retrieve the frisbee.

"No problem Larry, just go get me another one and then go stand in the corner for 15 minutes," Sid told the boy as he giggled and ran off for another bottle.

"Have you discussed anything with Spencer?" Adam now asked the boy.

"Spencer doesn't care where we move. He doesn't care if we stay in the infirmary." Anthony replied. Sid shook his head.

"The infirmary is for sick people. Once you're well, you move out. Spencer needs to know that and begin making decisions or they'll be made for him," he told the boy. Anthony nodded his head and turned around and watched his charge for a few seconds. Spencer was down on the beach playing with Sammy, Trevor and Joey and the puppies.

"He'll probably want to stay with his friends Uncle Adam." Anthony said not turning back around. Adam's eyes closed for a few seconds.

"Well, if that's the case, we can always look on the bright side," Adam told the boy.

"Since your Uncle Sid also lives with us, he can pick up after Puddles and Cuddles all day and night!" The boys on the beach all turned around to look back at their table which had erupted in laughter. Uncle Sid was getting dumped on again and it was time to return to the Uncles and see who won.

Once the girls and the Camp Kenny children arrived at the beach, dinner was served to the music of Strauss, Puccini, Tchaikovsky and Bach. The boys loved the food, but they also loved the 'game' their Uncle Sid now played with them. Sid would put together the night's music and the boys would have to guess who the composer was. One piece was always a 'ringer' and not that well known by the boys, and the first one to guess that piece was rewarded with a Giant Hershey bar which Sid held up. Only the intermediate boys could play, and it usually ended the meal very close to desert and a fair amount of bedlam. Candy was rare at Green Tree, and very highly prized by the boys. The prize was won by an 11 year old named Evan who came to pick up his reward for naming Puccini's Musetta's Waltz from La Boheme. Adam watched as Evan and seven of his closest friends followed him back to his table with the spoils.

"That's another one they won't forget anytime soon!" Sid said as the boys retreated.

Bert was delayed from dinner because of administrative duties, but showed up just as the din died down.

"I see Uncle Sid is keeping everything nice and calm and peaceful for dinnertime," Bert said as he sat down next to Dan and Kevin.

"Evan won Uncle Bert but Uncle Sid cheated!" The 11 year old Brian told Bert.

"Brian, you need to know by now that your uncle Sid always cheats," Bert told the boy in mock seriousness.

"Hey, wait a minute! How did I cheat?" Sid asked the boy.

"We never heard that before!" Brian told him.

"Wrong grease ball! You heard it twice during the summer at camp. You just weren't paying attention," Sid responded.

"He's probably lying to you right now!" Bert said to the boy as he leaned over. The boy looked up to his Uncle Sid who now sat there with a grin on his face.

"No Uncle Bert you're just fooling me," the boy said studying his Uncle.

"Uncle Sid always plays the songs before he makes them a Grand Prize."

Sid looked at Bert and stuck his tongue out at his boss. Dinner decorum was once again lost.

With both Bert and Sid now sitting down together, their table became Grand Central station as one boy after another came up to give Bert a hug and maybe a quick message or two. Bert was a hands on Administrator and was as well liked by the boys as were their teachers/house parents. Probably the only difference was that Uncle Bert had all the power and they knew that well. There was no problem Uncle Bert couldn't fix and he always had time to listen to them. Adam watched as Bert snuck forkfuls of food in between hugs, kisses and very private conversations as boy after boy found his way onto Bert's lap or wrapped around his side. Caleb ended up in his lap as Bert finished desert with the boy getting the lions share of it.

Once dinner was over, the music picked up tempo as it always did, and Gloria retrieved her charge, a now sleeping boy with a very fat tummy.

"Good night Uncle Bert, it's time for this little fire cracker to be put down." Gloria told the man as she bent down and kissed him.

"How's he doing?" Bert asked as the girl turned the boy onto her shoulder.

"He's sleeping through the night and eating everything but the wall paper," she told the Administrator. Bert smiled.

"By next week he'll probably be a deep water swimmer. Once that happens, we'll probably save a ton on clothing. As it is it's almost impossible to keep pants on him!" she told Bert. Jeanette came over and gave Bert a kiss good night carrying little Kenny in her arms. Like Caleb, the 16 month old was sound asleep with a thumb firmly planted in his mouth.

"Another pound!" Jeanette told the man without being asked.

"If he keeps this up, I'm going to need a back brace!" she told Bert.

"Spencer!" Jeanette called out.

"Time to go back," she said.

"But we don't have to go back home for another half hour!" Spencer told the girl.

"Intermediate boys don't leave for another half hour Spencer, you live in Camp Kenny remember?" she reminded the boy.

"Uncle Bert?" Spencer said looking for another opinion.

"Sorry Spencer, maybe next week if you move out of the Infirmary," Bert told the boy. Spencer was disappointed, but with Anthony now rising to leave, all appeals were exhausted. Bert and his team smiled as the dejected Spencer picked up the puppies and withdrew from the party Spencer knew was now building on the beach.

"That's one way to move his ass out of the Infirmary!" Sid said as he watched the group walking back to their compound.

Once dinner was over the rest of the boys knew that the formalities could end. It was now a Beach Party and clothes began littering the beach as one bare ass after another made its appearance. Some staff joined the boys, but for the most part, they stayed at the tables watching over the flock and talking and joking amongst themselves. Bert, Sid and Kevin were particularly interested in watching Greg and Bruce. In his house, Bruce was comfortable with the people around him and even within the confines of Beachview and Bay Watch he was neither shy nor retiring. However, at school, and away from the houses, his unfamiliarity with the people around him made him withdraw to the safety of Greg or a known staff member. Now, the men watched as Greg stood among a circle of his senior boy classmates as Bruce clung to him protectively.

Bruce's wristband told each senior boy that the little nine year old was on suicide watch. They already knew that Greg was now taking care of the boy, and the hickey's on Bruce's neck told them that Greg was taking care of Bruce's every need. It didn't shock them, but it probably wasn't something they themselves would have chosen to do. To them, a nine year old was pretty green when it came to playing. As the boys all stood around telling Greg about the evacuation scare excitement, Bruce relaxed a little. These boys were friendly, but not aggressively pushy towards the boy and he liked it that way. After probably ten minutes Bruce needed to pee and whispered into Greg's ear. Greg excused himself to his friend's and walked down to the beach.

"OK, let it fly!" Greg told Bruce as he stood there next to the boy.

"Right here?" Bruce asked.

"Sure, look on the bright side, you're feeding the fish!" he told the little boy as he pulled out his own penis and let it go. Bruce wasn't exactly sure if this was something he wanted to do, but his bladder was as the pressure increased with the boy holding himself in a strangle hold. Good idea or not, Bruce had to go and pulled up the leg on his shorts and dug around his underpants to bring out a purple headed penis that already had the front of his underpants a little moist. As Bruce urinated, he looked around at dozens of boys playing in the water and splashing around him. Not one paid any attention to the boy now pissing in their bathtub and Bruce was happy for that!

"I guess we're making some progress," Sid said as he watched the boys add some liquid to the Gulf of Mexico. Kevin also watched as not only Bruce, but his other seven boys romped naked in the water. Most of these boys were with him for years. He had never seen them looking so happy.

"Has Bruce made any moves on the other boys yet?" Bert asked.

"Not according to Greg," Sid replied. Bert thought for a few seconds.

"Tell Greg we want Bruce interacting with his peers but it has to be on Bruce's initiative," Bert told his assistant.

"Greg's also free to play if Bruce initiates it with him," Sid nodded his head.

"How far can he go?" Sid asked.

"No restrictions," Bert replied.

"You don't think that's going to slow down any interaction with peers?" Sid asked his boss.

"It might a little, but it'll let Bruce know he's in the driver's seat," Bert replied.

"Bruce is screwing because Bruce wants to screw, not because someone else wants him to."

"While we're on the subject, where's Michael?" Bert asked Kevin. Two weeks earlier, Kevin would have sworn on a stack of bibles he never touched the boy. Now, who the fuck would he have been kidding except himself.

"He sleeps with me at night, and I keep telling him he doesn't have to," Kevin told the Administrator as he sipped his iced tea. Bert nodded his head.

"And what about with the other boys?" he asked the teacher.

"I've never seen him with another boy, but I'm sure it's happening," Kevin replied.

"But you have seen Andy and Larry and Mike jumping each others bones," Bert said unemotionally. Kevin turned a little pink, but nothing outrageous.

"And Kenny and Jesse and David as well, but they're very different boys than Michael is," Kevin replied.

"Different?" Bert asked.

"Michael always has been a shy and retiring boy," Kevin told his boss. Bert looked around him and whistled for Brian. The 11 year old came over to Bert.

"I've made a bet with Uncle Sid," Bert told the boy.

"He bet me you could get an erection in 30 seconds and I bet him you could do it in 10. Who won the bet?" Bert asked the boy. Brian looked down at his penis.

"You owe me $20.00 Sid," Bert told the man as he patted the boy on his rear and sent him back to the beach seven seconds later.

"Brian came here a very shy and retiring boy," Bert told Kevin after Brian was out of ear shot.

"Michael's come a long way in a week but he still has a way to go.

"Shy and retiring." really means ashamed and guilty around here. When Brian first came to us we couldn't get his pants off for a shower for a week," Bert told the teacher.

"He was ashamed of his body and embarrassed by it. I think it's fair to say that condition no longer exists," Bert said.

"These boys have enough baggage already, they don't need nonsensical crap to worry about.

"If Michael is happy sleeping in your bed, that's fine, but for his own growth needs, he needs to interact with peers as often as possible or he's going to grow up socially handicapped and lost without an adult," Bert counseled the man.

"Encourage independence now Kevin or be prepared to have a very dependant adolescent on your hands for years to come."

"Well nobody ever asked me what I thought!" Sid now interjected. Bert, Kevin, Adam, Dan, Etienne and Dave all looked at Sid waiting for him to continue.

"I think he could have gotten a boner in five seconds and I don't know how I owe you $20.00!" Sid replied. The mini meeting after dinner ended in a small roar of laughter as the intermediate boys turn came to return to their houses. For the most part, the men strolled back casually joking and talking in small groups as boys overtook them running back to their respective houses to climb into the showers first. Adam was very happy he wasn't part of the laundry crew as very few pieces of clothing strewn all over the beach were picked up and returned home.

Bert and Sid stayed behind with Dave and the senior boys who would remain on the Beach for another 45 minutes or so.

"Beginning Monday Sid, I want the new boys split up and mixed with our boys," Bert told his assistant.

"Whenever possible, let the new boys and their staff work out the changes, but I want every house to have every age represented at least once," he told the man.

"What about Michael?" Sid asked.

"Leave Michael in Coquina, Greg and Bruce too," Bert replied.

"Spencer boss," Sid cryptically said to Bert.

"Any consensus?" Bert asked the two men.

"Beachview seems the most obvious placement; he's got Sammy, Joey and Trevor there for him," Bert thought for a few seconds.

"That's OK with Adam?" he asked the two men. Dave smiled.

"What?" Bert asked Sid.

"Aw nothing boss, he's just not a dog man yet but I'll learn him!" Sid responded. Bert rolled his eyes up.

"Dave, make a room and rip out the carpet!" Bert ordered as he left for his office and two more hours of paperwork.

Adam returned to Beachview as Jesse and David approached him wanting to sleepover at Dan's house. Adam agreed telling the boys to have their Uncle Dan send over boys if he was running out of room at Bay Watch. Going up into the loft, the bathroom was a steaming mess as two eight year olds and three nine year olds sat on the floor of the shower a writhing mass of shampoo, torso's, arms and legs. Now and then a head and some hair could be seen. Somewhere under that pile was Sammy, Adam could hear him giggling. Adam watched the pile and figured maybe by osmosis the boys would emerge somewhat clean. He grabbed a pile of towels and sat down on the back porch that over looked the beach and the senior boys as the music played on. About ten minutes later, five drowned rats walked out to the porch with bodies gleaming in the soft shadow of the bon fire on the beach. Adam got some level of cooperation at drying the boys hair, but very little else as the boys now laid down on the floor and watched the beach party and the senior boys.

About five minutes later, Adam sat listening to Sid's music and pretty much mellowing out for the night when the very distinctive sounds of a small herd of buffalo grew larger and larger up the carpeted stairs and around the hallway. To a chorus of "Hi Uncle Adam!" Billy, Ethan and Arthur appeared on the porch in their birthday suits and wet hair all carrying pillows. Adam now had five eight year olds and three nine year olds. Only a troop of 25 girl scouts could compete with the decibel level coming from Beachview that night. Adam retreated downstairs to compose a Thank You note to Dan.

Once the music ended for the senior boys, the slamming of doors upstairs began. Adam knew that the boys were playing a very nice quiet game of chess, or, making each other extremely happy until the first light of dawn. Either way, he could hear himself think again! A few minutes later Sid came in and plunked himself down in a chair.

"Why's it so quiet?" he asked after about 15 seconds.

"Houseguests," Adam replied.

"Sid, I truly love the music, but aren't you afraid the neighbors are going to wonder what crabs out in these boonies are playing Guns and Roses at 500 Watts?" Adam asked his friend. Sid chuckled a little.

"500 Watts my ass, that's 750 Watts of Phase Linear you're listening to and the neighbors have already asked about it." he responded.

"So?" Adam asked.

"They've been told it's testing of psychological warfare equipment to be used against the prisoners at Guantanamo," Sid told his friend.

"They don't hear it anymore," Sid said as he smiled at Adam.

"It's amazing the kind of bullshit you can pull when you wave a flag in front of these folks!" Adam shook his head and went for two beers.

Adam and Sid waited about 15 or 20 minutes and nobody upstairs came up for air.

"Too quiet," Sid said as he got up and grabbed two bottles of Perrier and gave one to Adam.

"We could be down here all night. They're either sound asleep or dead from exhaustion." Walking into their bedrooms, each man looked down at intertwined sleeping bodies. Each double bed received two bodies and sheets were pulled up. Who was sleeping with who could be discussed in the morning, for now, you were going to get pissed on by whoever you slept with since all eight boys always gave the mattress protectors a run for their money. Adam tucked Sammy in and kissed the little boy. He knew at some point in the middle of the night the little boy would realize his new 'pillow' wasn't quite large enough and he would find his way back to Adam's chest.

The boys in Beachview fell asleep sometime between 9 and 9:30 according to Adam's recollection and therefore, Adam calculated he would have about nine hours of sleep and wake up sometime around seven or so. Just after 5:00 the dam broke for Sammy and Adam received a bath of about 98 degrees [37 °C], Sammy never twitched, he just let the river flow. At 5:15, Adam sat on the floor of the shower with Sammy in his lap still sound asleep as Sid came in to find out who was showering before the sun came up.

"You're taking this shower stuff a little too seriously good buddy," Sid said as stood at the toilet pissing.

"Broken water pipe," Adam responded still half asleep and washing Sammy's back.

"Oh. I'll change the sheets," Sid replied as he flushed the toilet and went to the linen closet for refills. Adam's new night's sleep started just before six in his nice dry bed. Sammy awoke right around 7:30 wondering why his hair was soaking wet. I guess you peed last night and it must have all gone to your head," Adam told the boy as he brought him into the shower once again. Ten minutes later Adam looked back into the shower room as he went downstairs for coffee. He thought the shower was kind of packed with five boys in it. Now it had eight and he couldn't tell which arm or which leg belonged to which body.

Bert always had breakfast with the little one's in Camp Kenny who awoke much earlier than the rest of the school. Then he'd take a little boy or two with him and visit with the intermediate boys. As Adam and Sid and the boys ate breakfast out on the veranda, the sound of Bert's cart horn sparked added life to the boys. Spencer came in with both puppies quickly followed by Bert and a three year old with one hell of a cough and a dripping nose.

"Morning guys," Bert said to the boys as he bent down and gave each one a kiss.

"This is my pal Chip," he said as he sat down and put the boy in his lap.

"Chip has a pretty good cold, so don't get too close to him," Bert advised the boys as he picked up a piece of toast and presented it to the boy. With the puppies now on the floor and looking for food contributions, Bert didn't need to worry about the boys interacting with the little boy. Breakfast was over, and half the boys were under the table.

"Spencer's made a decision," Bert began after making a cup of coffee.

"He's going to be staying here with you two if you don't mind," Bert said. Spencer now came over to the table.

"With Anthony!" he said decisively.

"That's wonderful news Spencer," Adam said sitting back.

"And you've decided to give the puppies to the little boys in Camp Kenny?" he asked. Spencer looked at Adam for a few seconds not quite sure what he just heard. Then a small smile came over his face.

"That's silly Uncle Adam," he told the man as he went back to the boys.

"Silly me," Adam said as he reached forward for his coffee.

"So Chip, don't you want to go over to good old Uncle Sid and give him a great big hug and a huge juicy kiss?" Adam asked the three year old. Chip stayed glued to Bert and slobbered all over his toast. Chip had a low grade fever and wasn't in a playful mood. He merely looked over at Sid.

"Maybe next time Chipper," Sid told the boy. Bert smiled.

"How do we arrange the sleeping?" Adam now asked buttering an English muffin.

"We've had to do this before when someone couldn't climb the stairs. We convert the porch area off the living room to a bedroom and put in glass panels for air conditioning," Bert told Adam.

"Anthony can use the downstairs bathroom until his ribs heal," Adam nodded his head as Bert looked around at the boys playing on the floor with the puppies.

"Aren't Billy, Ethan and Arthur at Dan's?" he asked.

"They stayed overnight last night. Sid is introducing a new program of seven day a week overnights for all the boys," Adam replied. Bert turned around and looked at Sid.

"Boss, he's kidding!" Sid said defensively.

"Come on Chip, let's get out of here before these two find a way to sell you off to a troop of gypsies," Bert told the little boy as he picked him up. Bert's departure came as the boys gathered on the front porch with Sid and Adam. The morning sun made Sid sneeze just before the man left and Adam had one more opportunity.

"Thank you Chip!" he said to the little boy as he waved. Bert went tooling down the path giggling to himself with Spencer wondering why. Spencer's move in day with Anthony occurred on the following Wednesday. By mid December, both puppies were house broken as was the upstairs carpet and two legs on the kitchen table after they got through teething.

As he usually did, Sid attended Vespers whenever possible on Sunday morning. His attending always drew a larger than normal amount of boys to attend also. Adam grew up in Connecticut as a Catholic, and like most, rarely went to church past age 10 or 11 when he was old enough to voice opposition. He did attend services at summer camp, but only because it was mandatory.

At Green Tree attendance was strictly optional for the boys and staff so Adam felt no pressure to attend from the Administration but the boys were something else, especially Sammy. The boys didn't really see attending as something religious, more like something social. In a strange reversal, Adam now found himself being dragged to services not by an adult, but by children. Adam was happy to see and hear that services were much lighter than what he was use to as a child, no fire and brimstone crap, no 'wretch like me' bullshit. Just as Sammy did to Adam, Bruce dragged Greg in, but Bruce was there more because his 'secret' love was there and he could sit next to or very near Jeanette as the girl attended to Little Kenny.

Lunch after Vespers was always eaten together in the Dining Hall, and attended by the entire school. With Spencer and Anthony soon joining Adam in Beachview, the three house consortium of Coquina, Beachview and Bay Watch now consisted of eight staff including Greg who was "Officially" recognized by Bert as an Uncle, and 22 boys. Because all of Kevin's boys were nine years old, the group now had ten boys all the same age. Bert wanted the boys age range more diverse, and the hunt was on. Both Michael and Bruce would not be moved. Michael wanted to stay with Kevin and Bruce was already attached to Greg. The consensus of staff opinion was that Andy, Larry, Mike and Kenny from Kevin's dorm would be moved in teams and be replaced by 11 or 12 year olds that agreed to trade places. The mini meeting at Sunday's lunch eventually saw a new round of musical beds that by Tuesday included Brian moving into Coquina with Kevin and Greg. Making the new switch wasn't difficult to pull off, the group had the 'magic' draw, Uncle Sid!

That Sunday lunch also saw the beginnings of two new clubs for the boys, Adam wanted an Astronomy club, and Sid and Kevin began preparations for the Drama Club. Adam desperately wanted some form of stability forming around him after almost three weeks of non stop mayhem and he almost got his wish. Towards the end of the meal, Jeanette handed Adam, Kevin and Dan a piece of paper from Bert.

"This afternoon at 4:00 there's a pox corn party in the recreation room."

Jeanette began.

"Those boys are invited, and they will have another one tomorrow at Camp Kenny, same time," she told the men. Adam looked at his list. Sammy was the only name on it.

"Why is Sammy the only one going to the pop corn party?" Adam asked the girl. Jeanette shook her head.

"Not pop, pox!" she told the teacher.

"Pox?" Adam asked.

"Good Buddy, I don't think Bert was looking to spread a cold this morning," Sid now chuckled.

"Chip?" Sid asked Jeanette.

Jeanette nodded.

"Welcome to kiddie land Adam, hope you've already had Chicken Pox!" Sid told his friend.

"Chicken Pox?" Adam asked Jeanette.

"Chip has Chicken Pox and is now contagious. All boys who haven't had it yet will be exposed to him and hopefully they'll contract it," Jeanette told the teacher.

"Sammy's been exposed to it six or eight times before, but he hasn't come down with it. He probably won't at this age, but we can always hope," she told Adam.

Adam now thought back to his own childhood when a friend in the second grade came down with Chicken Pox. He went on his first overnight sleepover with three of his friends and had a really great time. Ten days later, he was trying to scratch his stomach off. At seven he thought his mom pulled a pretty dirty trick on him. Sammy, Arthur and Billy received invitations, Billy took the brass ring.

With visions of Adam needing to plaster Sammy in Baking Soda for the next few weeks, Adam shook his head and concentrated on the Astronomy Club. He would order ten telescopes on Monday. Sid's collaboration with Kevin with a Drama Club would turn out to be much more extensive. The club would expand with each production they would eventually put on, and the very first that would be put on for Christmas was Peter Pan.

Sunday Dinner of Roast Turkey brought to Green Tree a relative return to normalcy that would pretty much hold through the Fall with a few minor exceptions. As did all the houses, a stuffed Turkey with all the trimmings was put out and Adam sat down to Dinner almost feeling 'alone' with just 11 people and two kitchen staff eating together. Anthony and Spencer had joined them for dinner and would return to the Infirmary to sleep. Adam watched Spencer carefully during dinner. Immediately after Anthony's return from Boston, he couldn't go to the bathroom without Spencer being there. Now, so long as Spencer knew Anthony was in the house with him, he was comfortable not being physically attached to him. Spencer's dimple's had returned to his cheeks, and he happily played with his friends and the puppies. As the evening progressed, Adam was much more comfortable about Spencer moving in. Aside from Anthony, Spencer allowed no adult near him, not even Sid, but with his peers, Spencer was back in full swing. When a bedroom door closed or a bundle was on the shower floor, Spencer was a part of it.

Showers went as smoothly as dinner did with Sid, Jesse and David showering first and then the five little ones took their turn. For Sammy that meant two showers, one with Joey, Trevor, Christopher and Matty, and one to actually get clean with Adam. By now the routine for the five boys was set, they could play in the shower for ten minutes or so and then each boy would get their hair shampooed with Sammy being last. With the other four boys now finding ways to keep each other happy, Sammy took his shower with Adam. Sammy didn't love showers, but he did love the attention he now received from Adam. Sammy knew this was his Uncles private time with him and Adam would make him a very happy little boy even if his fingers did get all wrinkly.

Sunday night after showers was 'quiet time' for the houses, the boys all knew that the routine included getting their nails clipped, ears cleaned, hair brushed and maybe even cut. They made a game out of 'fussing' about it, but at the same time came to expect and even looked forward to it. A fifteen or twenty minute preening meant you had quality time with a staff member, it was not time to be squandered. Rarely had Christopher or Matty been willing to allow Adam to get physically involved with them, this time of the week was different as both boys sat in Adam's lap as the teacher poured over every inch of their bodies with no resistance or reluctance whatsoever.

Adam did Sammy first, then Christopher and ended with Matty across his lap. As Adam put down the boys leg after clipping his last toenail, Adam looked down at a sound asleep nine year old very much at peace with his world.

Bedtime came earlier than usual, by 9:00 all but Jesse and David were still awake and now retiring with Sid in his room. Adam had the musketeers as Adam and Sid had come to dub them, since they had become a very cohesive group. Adam slipped in next to Sammy who was done for the night. At some point in the middle of the night Adam awoke to something moving in with him. And then something else. Adam went back to sleep figuring either Joey or Trevor or both had pissed and were looking for drier quarters. The very early morning hours found Adam awakening with a whisper in his ear.

"I have to pee Uncle Adam." A voice very quietly said. Adam was still groggy, but he thought he was making great progress. One of the boys actually awoke to get up to go to the bathroom. Silly Adam!

Turning his head, he now stared directly into Christopher's face. He was surprised, but pleasantly.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Adam asked the boy. Christopher said nothing as he shook his head no.

"Joey told me!" Christopher whispered as he continued to look into Adam's eyes. Adam had been sound asleep moments before, so it took him a few seconds to figure it all out. Adam was also very well aware now Matty was awake and very attentive.

"Warm lemonade," Adam thought to himself as he reached down and grabbed Christopher by the thigh and pulled the boy around. With a pat on the bottom, Adam felt the boy's penis fill as Christopher released the nights catch and Adam was hoping the mattress had already taken the brunt of the deluge. With Christopher now good to go for the next hour or so, he reached over and pulled Matty to him as he lowered the boy's penis into his mouth as Matty lay across Christopher's chest. Once Matty's bladder was drained he turned Matty back around to face him as the boy lay on top of him.

"Did Joey tell you why I did that for him?" Adam asked both boys. Christopher and Matty nodded.

"Why?" Adam asked.

"Because you love us." Christopher replied.

"Yes, I do!" Adam replied as he kissed both boys on the forehead and then lowered Matty on top of Christopher.

"Now I have to go pee," Adam said as he got up with both boys giggling. Adam figured it was a fair trade; about a quart of warm lemonade to crack two icebergs.

Adam had absolutely no doubt whatsoever that any one of the boys would have taken an ad out to announce the new arrivals so he decided to preempt them at breakfast.

"OK guys, let's see now, Jesse, you were first, David was second, Sammy was third, Joey was fourth, Trevor was fifth, Christopher was sixth and Matty was seventh this morning. Have I missed showing anybody I love them? he asked the boys. Sid raised his hand.

"Ain't gonna happen!" Adam said as the boys giggled.

"Guys, there's over a hundred boys in the compound. I love them all, but the boys in my house are the only one's I want to prove it to," Adam told his boys.

"And Spencer too?" Sammy asked.

"Let's let Spencer decide that OK?" Adam asked the boys.

"I'll let him know just as soon as he gets here," Sid said as he took a sip of coffee. Adam shook his head as the boys retreated upstairs to get dressed for school and discuss Christopher and Matty's new discovery.

As with the five boys in his house before them, Christopher and Matty fully accepted Adam as their Uncle and gave Adam full access to their bodies from that morning forward. Adam knew full well that both boys had taken a huge step. What most outsiders would have considered a rather crude, if not humiliating act on someone's part was anything but to these boys. At their age, they couldn't offer anything more from their bodies and symbolically, it was the same as becoming blood brothers but without knives and bloodletting which they knew was forbidden. To the boys, it had nothing whatsoever to do with piss. If you loved them, this is how you proved it. And you did have to prove it. Adam still needed to ensure Sammy's sense of security with him first, but neither boy withdrew from the man nor did they avoid his touching them. Adam's last hurdle was now Spencer, and Spencer knew from the boys themselves that Adam was a formidable Outside Uncle that could make any boy extremely happy in a situation many found somewhat dull and almost boring some of the time. The only difference was Spencer had Anthony and he neither needed nor wanted anybody else special in his life.

By Wednesday, Dave and his crew had finished converting the porch into a bedroom for Anthony and Spencer and the two moved in without much fanfare. The puppies however were a different matter. They were now three months old and even Adam found them adorable when they weren't using the upstairs carpet as their toilet. Both had learned to climb stairs and pretty much had full access to the entire house. Adam had a gate installed at the bottom of the stairs to keep them downstairs during the day, but once the boys came home from school, the puppies were climbing.

A Peter Pan Christmas

Kevin would be the director, Sid volunteered as producer. Bert's first question was; how much is this going to cost? Bert didn't particularly care, but he did need to make sure funding was available. Both Kevin and Sid thought that $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 would handle it and Bert made a note to that effect.

"Get as many of the boys involved as you can, the main goal is to make sure they have fun, maybe learn something , and walk away proud of their efforts," Bert suggested.

Bert came away from the meeting happy with the results; the main reason was to get Kevin involved with the Green Tree way of doing things as soon as possible. He looked forward to a nice calm quiet Fall leading up to Christmas and then to sit back relaxed and watch the boys put on a show that he hoped wasn't going to put the other boys to sleep in boredom while they danced around a stage. Bert forgot he was dealing with Sid and now Kevin.

A Broadway road show production of Phantom of the Opera might have been a fair comparison to what occurred over the next three months. Bert could kiss his two grand goodbye, it cost closer to 40 grand by December 23rd. Kevin spent almost a week reading and then writing a script from James Matthew Barrie's original tale about the little boy who refused to grow up. His script called for 25 parts, a pirate ship, flying boys, and a light show with pyrotechnics that would make Pink Floyd blush. Bert had a stroke, but it was too late. Kevin had already laid out his plans to Sid and to the boys before Bert had heard that Green Tree had gone Hollywood.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Bert said when he read the script.

"This is fucking nuts!" he exclaimed.

"Boss its Peter Pan, what can we take out that wouldn't radically change the story?" Sid told his boss.

"Sid these are kids, let them use a little imagination. Use a raft instead of a pirate ship!" Bert told his assistant.

"Shit boss, this ain't Huckleberry Finn!" Sid responded.

"How are we gonna put a cannon on a raft?"

"A cannon!" Bert exclaimed.

"What the hell kind of a pirate ship would it be without a cannon?" Sid asked the man.

"Flying boys? You're going to wire these kids?" Bert now asked.

"They could get killed Sid, you just don't fly kids around!" Bert told the man.

"No problem boss, there are four Geppetto boys up in Sarasota who work trapeze, they'll be happy to come down and teach the boys."

"Sid, we're talking flying. Flying and trapeze are two different animals. Do you know why Peter Pan is always played by girls?" Bert asked his assistant.

"Because boys don't like getting their nuts squeezed off!" Bert practically screamed. "Dave says he thinks he can make harnesses to prevent that," Sid replied.

"He thinks?" Bert responded.

"Sid, we're not dealing with marbles here," Bert told the man. Bert read some more as he gulped down another Vodka Tonic.

"You got enough light stuff here to put on the Rolling Stones," Bert said without looking up from the script.

"That's next year boss," Sid said. Bert now did look up.

"Only kidding," Sid told the man.

"You two know that this show stays here right? You know its not going to Broadway or Cannes!"

"Well its like you always said. If you're gonna do it, do it right!" Sid told the man.

"You're so fucking full of shit. I never said that in my life!" Bert responded.

"Oh, maybe it was Adam," Sid said.

Bert ripped up the budget figure of two grand and production went into full swing in October with auditions. No problems were had filling the spots for the Lost boys, Pirate boys and Indian boys.

In fact, there were so many that wanted to participate, the show was put on twice, the 22nd and the 23rd of December to allow another 18 boys to 'fly.'

It was Adam's every intention to remain removed from the production, this was Kevin and Sid's show and Adam really never did get bit by any acting bug. He figured he would fill in for either man with their boys whenever it was needed and that would be his contribution. Many staff took the same tact, but it rarely worked out that way. The Drama Club was taking over the school because it had all the right ingredients; Indians, Pirates, explosions, and of course, flying.

Sammy and Joey were Indians, Billy, Ethan and Arthur were Pirates. Spencer was a Lost boy. Adam got to teach math, but adding and subtracting was the last thing on many boys minds that fall.

Dave soon learned that putting on a production was a little more involved than he first contemplated; his job was to build the ship, the stages and scenery and to fly wire along the beach and out to the island that would be capable of holding up to 25 boys without breaking their necks as well as their balls. This was no small feat, and eventually became a physics project for some students in Harvard who weren't aware of the true nature of their assignment.

Sid's suggestion about using a group of Geppetto boys who now work in high wire acts and lived in Sarasota became fruitful, the school now sports a high trapeze that the boys first used for Christmas of 2003 to get them acquainted with being airborne and to instill trust in one another by passing and catching. What began as a simple exercise on the trapeze for Bruce that had nothing to do with his dependency, became the key that would ultimately lead to independence for him. Once he learned Jeanette would play Wendy, he was determined to play Peter, and so it was.

Bert's initial shock at the exploding plans of Kevin and Sid for the first production of the Drama Club disappeared after Peter Pan was put to bed. Green Tree holds two productions a year for its boys, and Bert's no longer interested in the cost, he only wants to know how many boys are going to shed their cocoons and blossom.

For whatever reason, it seems to take forever for Halloween to come around for boys and that year was no different. As a boy, Adam loved Halloween, but by ten he had to very reluctantly give it up because of peer pressure and very nasty neighbors who slammed doors in his face because he was 'too old' to be out Trick or Treating. He had already lost Santa Claus to his advanced aging at 8, and now, one more part of being young was stripped away from him. Green Tree philosophy according to Bert and the staff was a tad different. The Easter Bunny, Great Pumpkin, Santa Claus and Kermit were very real for as long as you could believe in them. Telling anybody in Camp Kenny otherwise was very foolish on a boy's part; staff would be very disappointed in you and that was the ultimate rejection.

Intermediate boys were or course much more sophisticated, but nevertheless put out cookies and milk at Christmas, colored Easter eggs in exchange for baskets and looked forward to wearing costumes and going Trick or Treating. The word 'baby' was seldom used around these holidays.

Even the older boys in the Senior boys compound found it difficult to remain aloof; it was tough to act grown up when Uncle Sid walked into the Dining room for the Halloween party dressed as Little Bo Peep with Puddles and Cuddles surrounded in a sweater of Lambs wool.

Adam's first Halloween at Green Tree found the man sitting back and watching as boys of every age celebrated the day as it was probably first envisioned but not seen for probably more than 40 years or so. In Connecticut after Adam had gone out, he spent the next three hours at Greenwich Hospital waiting to have his candy x-rayed for needles that never existed in the first place.

The rainy season was now pretty much gone and so were the thunderstorms. The humidity was easing back and Adam sat on the back porch downstairs with Sid and Anthony after the boys finally retreated to bed. Sid sat down and popped his last mini milky way into his mouth as he handed Adam and Anthony a beer and popped his own.

"Candy and beer?" Adam asked. Sid swallowed the last of the candy and took a swig.

"Brings out the flavor like a fine wine," Sid responded. Adam shook his head and giggled.

"You're so full of shit," Sid now chuckled as Anthony just sat there and listened to two Uncles tear each other up for probably the tenth time that afternoon. Anthony's ribs were pretty much healed and walking up stairs no longer bothered him. He could now move if he wanted to and Beachview he knew was fairly full upstairs.

"I can move anytime you want me to Uncle Sid." Anthony said.

"Stairs are no problem and if you need more room, it's no problem," Sid looked at Adam.

"Do you want to move somewhere special?" Adam asked. Anthony shook his head no.

"It's just that we have 11 people here; some houses have just seven or eight in them." Anthony told Adam.

"Does Spencer want to move?" Sid now asked.

"He hasn't asked." Anthony replied.

"Then Uncle Sid or I have no problem with being 11 people. Unless one of you wants to move, stay right where you are," Adam told the boy.

"No matter where you live, you need to start thinking about your schooling. If you're not going back to Boston, it's time you got on-line and continue your education," Sid counseled the boy.

"I can't go back, Uncle Sid." Anthony replied looking down at the floor.

"We don't think that's a wise decision, but it's your decision to make. Uncle Bert will make the arrangements for in-line schooling and you need to begin to start moving your life forward again," Sid told the boy.

Anthony was 18 years old, but nevertheless, he had been practically raised by Sid as a child, and found no shame with getting up and kissing the man good night. As an Uncle, Adam too got a kiss, but it wasn't quite the same to the boy and Adam fully understood that. With Anthony now back in his bedroom with Spencer, the two men sat alone on the porch as the houses lights around them disappeared until nothing but a low hanging moon in the west looking out over the Florida Bay illuminated the nighttime sky. Both men sat there for a good long time nursing their last beer of the night before Sid finally spoke.

"I hope I reached him," Sid said.

"Tough to call," Adam responded.

"Why so?" Sid asked eventually.

"Well, I think the message was great and it was very clearly defined," Adam responded.

"But I'd have a really tough time taking advice from a grown man sitting in front of me with a frilly dress on!" Adam said.

"Oh Fuck!" were probably the last words the compound heard that Halloween night.

As the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays now approached, Adam headed a household that contained eight of the most perfect boys he could ever imagine. Each one was very distinctive, each one had their attributes and flaws and not one of them would Adam have traded. For whatever reason, Sammy held the key to the man's heart, and Sammy alone could twist and maneuver his way with Adam and the both of them knew it. At the same time, Sammy had family and the Holidays always brought them back together. Bert hated Family visits, but he knew that they were essential for both the boy and his family if one existed.

Family visits with the boys at Green Tree were out of the question for security reasons, they were always held in Miami at a 'safe house' owned and maintained by Green Tree. Many Green Tree boys had no parents who loved them, they were the lucky ones. Sammy had two parents who loved him profoundly and had been devastated by his diagnosis. Somehow Sammy's father kept his wife intact and was wise enough to know that Sammy would never be able to function in the 'normal' world, and allowed Sammy to be placed at Green Tree.

Time had been kind to Sammy, he was enrolled in Green Tree at age 3. Green Tree was his life, and these nice people spent some time with him.

'Mommy' was very nice. So was 'Daddy.' But those were two words that Sammy had very little cognitive meaning of and it took Bert a long time explaining to two inconsolable parents after every visit.

Sammy was returned to Adam after his visit. Sammy was a little less active, maybe a little more thoughtful, but basically psychologically intact as far as Sid, Jeanette and Gloria were concerned. Adam sat with the boy wrapped in a comforter on the porch with Adam rocking him in a chair as the boy slept soundly in Adam's lap when Sid appeared on the porch. Sitting down, Sid took a sip of his drink as Adam sat rocking the boy with his face sitting on top of the boys head.

" I remember the day at camp I asked you how his parents could walk away from him," Adam said to his friend.

"Not possible good buddy, and our job is to bring him up and try to get him back to them if at all possible," Sid told his friend.

"That's what they want, and that's what they're waiting for." More than a few minutes past without either man speaking. Finally, Sid stood up.

"I'm heading off to bed. Keep in mind Adam, this is visiting season and historically it's a lot tougher on you guys than it is on us," Sid said to his friend.

"Toughen up or you'll be useless to the boys and useless to Sammy. He needs you and so do the rest of us."

Adam fell asleep that night watching Sammy as the boy's face lay on his chest and the boy didn't exactly snore, but it was a little more than heavy breathing. Snoring to Adam was obnoxious. This was acceptable. Adam had been advised that he had three more parent visits coming up, he began concentrating on toughening up.

The Thanksgiving Holiday rolled around faster than Adam would have preferred. His parents were coming to Boca Raton and he was expected to make an appearance. The man had always had a good relationship with his father and rarely in his youth did he have the need to conceal anything from the man, they always had a fairly open and honest relationship. That was no longer possible, Adam knew his father would never in a million years understand his new life at Green Tree nor would he ever approve. Adam would never do anything intentionally to hurt his family, but, at the same time, he knew he would never leave or abandon the boys, especially Sammy.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Adam drove to Boca and spent four hours dodging question after question about his new position, and came away knowing that something was going to have to be done to satisfy his parents inquisitiveness about his new career. They we're ecstatic about the money he was putting into his savings and bank accounts, but were puzzled by not being able to visit with him at school and watch their son in action with his students. For Adam, it was a very long four hours.

"Bringing anybody to School is out of the question," Bert told Adam upon the teacher's return.

"But a short visit at camp during summer can be arranged and that usually satisfies curiosity," he told Adam.

"We've done it before. The boys know there are strangers about, and they know to keep things under wraps until they leave. To the boys it's a game like pretending to be a motel," Adam smiled at the thought which brought him to Green Tree in the first place.

"My mom is more than little curios about the fact that she can't pick up a phone and just call me," Adam told the Administrator.

"She doesn't understand why I don't have a cell phone," Adam told Bert. The man sat back and listened as Adam explained his visit.

"Let me see how we can solve the communications problems. Cell phones are out, they're a security risk that Alexandria won't permit. But we can probably patch in a land line that can be secured," Bert told Adam. Several weeks later, Bert made good on his promise, Adam received a note one afternoon: "ET, call home!" the message read. Adam's mom needed to go through the school's 'switchboard', but she could call the school and Adam would return her phone call as soon as he was available since the individual houses had no phones because the boys had 'abused' the phones when they called home. (Or so the official story went).

Thanksgiving Day began for the boys as it had for probably millions of others, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on tv. Between the rehearsals for Peter Pan and now the added time consumed by the boys to make each other Christmas presents in arts and crafts, the wood shop or the metal shop, the boys had very few hours when they were on 'down-time' doing nothing. As soon as Santa appeared in front of Macy's, it signaled the start of the present making, and the boys now had two missions that took just about every waking hour of their time and it now flew for Adam as well as the boys.

Adam had not felt the 'Holiday Spirit' since sometime around age 11 or 12 when he found out there was no Santa Claus. His friends always told him since age seven or eight that it was a 'myth' but secretly, Adam didn't really believe his friends but would never tell them that. Maybe at 11 and 12 both David and Jesse knew the same thing, but if they did, they didn't show it and Adam wasn't about to change any minds one way or the other. At Green Tree, Santa was alive and well, and you had Uncle Sid to contend with if you spoke otherwise!

As Adam had learned through the Fall and into Winter, Dave not only headed the senior boys section, but was the school's Chief Engineer. He had degrees in nothing. He stopped attending school at 16. Dave was a Geppetto boy and had attended the school since the age of 10 when he was brought to the attention of Bert's mentor, the original founder of Green Tree. While the man had no formal education, he was, and is, a mechanical genius. There is nothing Dave can't fix, and if it's not fixable, nothing he can't make from scratch, sight unseen. Since early Fall it was Dave's job to oversee the building of the pirate ship and the rigging that would be required to 'fly' the boys for Peter Pan, and Adam watched as Dave sunk into books about steel construction, dimensions and properties, beam and girder design, connections and mathematical tables. To Adam it was all relatively simple; hang a wire and dangle some boys in the air. Now, it was like setting up for the Flying Wallenda's.

"Getting boy's into the air is nothing. Getting them back down in one piece is a bit different." Dave said to Adam in early October.

"Karl Wallenda walked tightropes hundreds of feet in the air. The one that killed him was less than 30."

What had started out as a way to involve Kevin as a Green Tree staff member turned into a project at the school that is on- going today. The first production of the new Drama Club would be Peter Pan, and the nights of December 22nd and 23rd were chosen because there was no moon and Kevin needed as much darkness as possible to hide the wires. Close to 24 boys would 'fly'' at each performance, and by the time Thanksgiving had rolled around, there was an Engineering construction going on between the island in the lagoon and the shore that just may have rivaled the wiring of the Brooklyn Bridge as far as Bert was concerned. Dave took the bulk of Bert's wrath because he was the chief architect.

"Jesus fucking Christ, can't we just 'pretend' they're flying?" Bert asked Dave during one meeting.

"Hey, I was told to put together a system that would hold 1,800 pounds [800 kg] of boys all flying on their own wire!" Dave told his superior.

"You don't just stick a pole in the sand and expect that to hold up," Bert looked back at the design.

"This looks like a fucking ski lift!" Bert replied. Dave nodded.

"That's about what it's going to take unless you want the boys to be spilling teeth!"

Bert now looked over to Sid.

"I'm more worried about their balls!" Bert said to his assistant.

"Not to worry boss, we got that covered. The boys from Sarasota are making brand new harnesses now," Sid told him.

"The new design takes a lot of the lifting off the groin area and redistributes it to their backs and hips."

"Sounds real good Sid; you be the very first one to try out the new system, if it fails, I'll sign you up to sing for the Pope!" Bert told the man. As they generally did, one more meeting ended in snickers and laughter.

Thanksgiving Dinner itself wasn't all that special in and of itself, the boys ate a full blown Turkey Dinner every Sunday night anyway. What did make it special was the beginning of the Season, and the coming Christmas Holiday. Santa Claus was coming to town, and the boys excitement told Adam it was a very big deal to them. The spirit was back!

With or without the Drama Club, Kevin's assimilation into Green Tree philosophy was probably complete within a week of his arrival. There wasn't a hell of a lot of foot dragging on the rest of the old Albemarle staff members and by the beginning of October, you couldn't tell one from the other. Ironically, just about the only difference between Albemarle boys and Green Tree boys by mid October was that the Albemarle boys wanted nothing to do with toys. That surprised Adam, Bert fully expected it. Now, with the first showing of the Drama Clubs first ever show fast approaching, Adam, Sid, Dave and Kevin found themselves together more and more making plans and putting together a small production that Rodgers and Hammerstein would have felt fairly familiar with. The bulk of the day to day interaction with the boys went to Anthony, Greg, Etienne and Dan.

Adam for one had never been bitten by the show bug, and right up through show time never really considered himself a part of it. He was helping, but mainly, Adam was there for the boys to assist them whenever he could. He considered himself fairly aloof. Now, as Adam coordinated the action between the shore and the island sitting on the 'Pirate ship' that was moored in back of the island, Adam knew he was a little more involved than he thought he was. The production went off without a hitch. The 'Pirate ship' was a pontoon boat with a false bow and false sides and the Pirates 'flew' from the island to the ship and back to the beach as did the Lost Boys and the Indians. The very big winners were the little ones from Camp Kenny who were mesmerized as boys floated over their heads while Tinkerbell (The laser beam) flew from one end of the beach to another as fast as they could turn their heads.

As the lead, Bruce excelled even beyond Bert's expectations. His desire to play Peter because Wendy was being played by Jeanette went far beyond just a very large case of puppy love, it opened doors in Bruce's mind that he really didn't know he had up until that point in time, and Bruce's maturation wasn't the only one occurring. Spencer was being dragged along, and with a little kicking and screaming, so was Matty who played Michael, Wendy's youngest brother. The very big winners, were some parents and relatives of the boys who received a copy of the tape of the production. The parents didn't know exactly where their boys were, but they knew that they were well and happy and cared for. The looks on the boy's faces told them that.

The showing the following night was put on to put as many boys in the air as possible. Peter Pan and the theater and learning lines was all fine and dandy, but most of the boys wanted to 'fly' and skip the rehearsals and such. Bert wanted the rigging down almost immediately after the play was over. It came down two weeks after New Year's once just about every single boy from Camp Kenny was 'flown' to the island and landed on the pirate ship.

Adam had spent every Christmas of his life in Connecticut. Now, he sat on the porch listening to White Christmas and staring at palm trees. For weeks Adam heard nothing but Christmas music all around him, but this just wasn't Christmas. Where's the snow? Where's the sleds? Where's the cold nippy air biting your ear lobes? "You'll get use to it," Sid told his friend.

"You remember now all the good things. Think back about the snow going down your boots, the slush being sprayed on you from passing cars, the ice you had to chip off the windshield and then sit in a freezing car until the damned thing warmed up," Adam looked over to his friend.

"You're a regular bowl of good cheer. Can you pick my spirits up a little higher?" Sid smiled and giggled a bit.

"Tomorrow night is Christmas Eve. Get as much sleep and rest as you can because we probably won't get to bed before 3:00 in the morning and we'll be up by dawn."

"Thanks for the lift," Adam responded as he trotted off to bed.

It was very close to 10:00 by the time Adam was ready to unravel Sammy from between Joey and Trevor. Once he figured out whose arm or leg went to which body, he pull Sammy down to the bottom of the bed and lifted the boy up. Sammy was out cold. The combination of the play and the activity level of the Holidays combined with school, saw all the boys going to bed almost immediately after showers and they didn't last all that long once they got there. Adam missed his special time with the boy, but Sid had assured him that once the Holidays were over, the routine would revert to the old schedule and Sammy would be romping along with the rest of the boys well into the evening. Adam laid the boy down and adjusted the pillow under his head as Sammy wrapped his hands around the pillow in a hug and moved to his side. Adam spent the next five minutes or so in one of his favorite activities; watching Sammy sleep. In a little over three weeks Sammy would turn nine. He had lost none of his boyish complexion, his hair was still baby soft and slightly curly, and his body was as smooth as it was at age six. Sammy was pure boy. With a kiss to Sammy's forehead, Adam fell to sleep knowing that the little boy at some point in the middle of the night would find a spot on Adam's chest to replace his pillow and Adam was content to wait.

Chapter Eight

Sammy Turns Nine

While most staff were involved just prior to Christmas up to their eyeballs in putting on Peter Pan, Bert and the girls were busy putting together the commercial presents that the boys had written to Santa for. A few, like an F-15 Fighter Aircraft, a horse and a Space Shuttle were taken off the list, but for the most part, the boys received what they asked for. The task wasn't easy, to get all the presents wrapped and under the trees by Christmas Eve meant that 84 presents a day in December needed to be wrapped and that didn't include the presents the boys made themselves. Senior boys became experts at putting together wagons, trikes, bikes and electric vehicles.

After a Christmas Eve Dinner of roast beef, Camp Kenny went to bed right around 7:30 and by a little after 8:00, all but a minor few were up and waiting to catch Santa in the act. The Intermediate boys went to bed at 8:30 and a sneaky few were still conscious at 10:30 laying in wait. With the help of more than few heavily laced egg nogs, Santa and his helpers began filling up the houses as the front porch lights started going out right around 11:00 True to his word, Adam and Sid found themselves slipping into bed just before 3:00 a.m.

As near as anyone could figure out, Puddles and Cuddles were the first to discover Santa had visited and had already begun opening presents as Sammy and Joey bounded out of bed and flew downstairs very quickly followed by the rest of the boys. Adam awoke listening not only to the din downstairs, but to the growing commotion coming from adjoining houses. The humidity had broken in mid November, and increasingly, the windows were open as the temperature went below 70 degrees [21°C]. With the Christmas trees on the porches of the houses, it was little secret that both Coquina and Bay Watch had also seen a visit from Santa. Adam stumbled down the stairs followed by Sid and an Alka Seltzer. Sid, Adam and Anthony watched as a mountain of wrapping paper, ribbons, bows and boxes began over taking the porch and living room.

Many of the presents were battery operated, but a few were gas operated, like model planes, boats and cars. Those to Sid were the toughest ones to deal with, they sounded like a buzz saw as one by one, the boys bounded out of the house and down the stairs to show off or race their new toys with their friends. As full light began to illuminate the island, it shined down on a few hundred boys playing with power toys in their Birthday Suits. Sid headed for the kitchen to make a pitcher of Bloody Marys.

It took a bit of doing, but Adam eventually got his boys back inside for showers. Christmas breakfast was held in the Dining Hall for the entire school, but it was more of a toy fest than a meal. The front outside of the Hall was gridlocked by every possible riding, pushing and electric toy known to man, and a lot of the Camp Kenny boys didn't really understand why they couldn't bring them inside with them. The period after breakfast until lunch was reserved for visiting, and the greater bulk of the visits were made to Camp Kenny as stray presents found their intended owners.

Christmas fell on Thursday Adam's first year, but still, Christmas Dinner was always celebrated outside weather permitting. The weather cooperated, and it was a picture perfect day of little humidity, reasonable temperature and partly cloudy which kept Adam from becoming another French fry. The boys could sit wherever they wanted to, but most waited until they found out where certain staff were sitting before they made any decisions, especially the younger ones.

To Adam's complete surprise, Sid's Bloody Mary had him ready to party once again before breakfast ended. Adam now knew why businessmen on plane's at seven and eight in the morning prefer them nine times out of ten. Dinner began with a small Vesper Service by 5:00, and unlike all other outside meals, this one would not degenerate into a rock fest. It was Christmas, and the music kept the mood.

Perhaps it was the time of the season, or just an impulse on his part, but Spencer approached Adam halfway through Dinner with a small wrapped present.

"Merry Christmas Uncle Adam." Spencer told the man as he handed him the present and gave Adam a small kiss. Adam smiled at Spencer and opened the present that had a fairly familiar shape. Spencer had hammered out an ash tray for Adam in metal shop and engraved it. Adam smiled broadly at his third ash tray of the day. Adam dutifully gushed over the present naturally never mentioning the fact that he didn't smoke, but that didn't really matter. Spencer had spent time on the gift, and that did. Spencer listened and watched as Adam inspected his gift and then took Adam as well as Sid by surprise. Adam expected Spencer to smile and walk back to Anthony or his friends. Instead he once again approached Adam and kissed him again. In Spencer's terminology, it was not a quick 'Hello' or 'Goodbye' kiss, this was a Spencer 'I love you' kiss. Sammy said nothing, but his little wheels were turning.

Almost ¾ of the way through dinner, Bert joined what the rest of the staff and the senior boys were now referring to as 'The Mafia'. The mafia were the inhabitants of Coquina, Beachview and Bay Watch. When you saw one, you generally saw the rest of them, and they were usually looking for trouble in one form or another. As he almost always did, Bert sat down with a little one in his arms, a two year old named Scott who had a death grip on a piece of pineapple. Bert passed the little boy over to Sid as he poured himself a glass of wine. The conversation was pretty much small talk for probably five minutes with Sid chiefly bouncing Scott on his knee.

"Boss, we sprung a leak!" Sid finally said holding Scott alongside him as the boy let go. Bert looked down and nodded and looked at his watch.

"Yea, I figured it was just about that time!" Bert told Sid as he reached back for the boy.

"Merry Christmas Sid!" Bert said as he finished his wine and took his leave. The boys knew something was going to happen when Bert sat down, they just didn't know what. Now, they couldn't wait to find out how Uncle Sid was going to get even! "Ya know Sid, this is the third time this year that Bert's handed you a naked baby," Dan said to his friend.

"One of these days you gotta remember that every time he did, they pissed all over you."

"So you think he did that on purpose?" Sid responded in mock seriousness.

"Nahhh," came a chorus of responses from the mafia. The next act was now in motion.

***

Bedtime for Beachview came early as it did throughout the school. It was a very long day and the boys were going since 6:00 in the morning with no rest. Sammy, Joey and Spencer barely made it though showers. By 9:00 the mafia met in Bay Watch as Anthony and Greg stayed home and were now sound asleep themselves. Adam, Sid, Etienne, Kevin and Dan were soon joined by Dave and Bert on the back porch and the men now savored the peace and serenity of a sleeping school as the waves quietly splashed against the lagoons outer rock ledge which separated it from the Gulf and any possible lurking dangers. This was quiet time for these men, it was also their social time and they did enjoy each others company.

"What's on tap for New Year's?" Sid asked Bert as he handed his boss a Vodka Tonic. Bert thought about it for a few seconds.

"Nothing special unless you want to make it so!" Bert finally replied looking around. Adam shook his head along with the other men. At home, he had gone out a few New Year's Eve's, but for the most part, they weren't worth the hassle of dealing with roadblocks, traffic, crowds, loud drunks and people smashed up against you.

"OK, so we repeat what we did last year. Early dinner and party until midnight for the senior boys."

"Party where?"

Adam now asked. Bert smiled.

"On the beach, but don't worry about it," Bert told Adam.

"If the senior boys party on the beach, my boys aren't about to go to sleep," Adam said.

"On New Year's Eve we don't run on real time good buddy, we run on school time," Sid told his friend.

"When the boys wake up on New Year's Eve the clocks have been set forward three hours. When the party breaks up at 12:30 it's actually only 9:30" Sid told his friend.

"The boys don't know that?" Adam asked.

"The senior boys do, but very few of the intermediate boys do and none of Camp Kenny does," Bert said.

"The only thing that confuses them is the sun that seems to be setting awfully late," Adam shook his head and hoped it worked.

"On two serious notes Gentlemen, a head's up," Bert began as he took a sip of his drink.

"Alexandria wants no part of a repeat of the Isabel scene last September. We will be staying here until June 15, this coming year and will stay at Camp until October 15, unless there's a storm on the horizon in which case we'll sit there until the danger passes." The thought of four straight months in North Carolina didn't depress Adam one single bit. Dave however was on a different train of thought.

"It can get pretty chilly up there by October. The lake is already too cold for swimming." he reported. Bert nodded his head.

"The Corp of Engineers is already retro fitting the cabins with electric baseboard heat and installing a heater on the pool. They said the outside plumbing can survive as long as we get out by November so they can drain the pipes," Bert responded.

"But that's not all. Alexandria wants Camp Kenny out of here. Nobody stays during the summer."

"Out to where?" Sid asked.

"With us," Bert told his assistant.

"The Corp is dropping FEMA trailers on the northern slope and fully winterizing them."

"How the fuck are they going to hide that move?" Sid now asked. Bert sat back and smiled.

"We need to thank Hurricane Isabel. After she kicked ass in September up there, the Governor is screaming for faster Emergency relief when necessary. The State has given FEMA the back side of the mountain as a depot to hold FEMA Emergency Equipment. In effect, the whole fucking mountain is now under Federal Control and the State and Local boys can't set foot on any of it without Homeland Security's prior written approval.

Adam up to this point was strictly listening, but he didn't understand a whole lot of the conversation.

"Where's the north slope?" he asked.

"Remember on the bridal path when I showed you I-77 snaking up into the mountains into Virginia?" Sid asked his friend. Adam did remember and nodded his head.

"We were on the north slope," he told Adam.

"But if camp becomes a depot for FEMA aren't we going to have a lot of people all over the place?" he now asked. Bert shook his head.

"The property we're on is 12,000 acres [48 km²] in total. The Depot will be on the opposite side of the property on less than a 1,000 acres [4 km²] and ringed in three rows of razor wire fencing surrounding it," Sid chuckled.

"Look at it this way good buddy; they're in their little compound looking out keeping us away from them."

"Boss, you said two!" Sid now said to his Director. Bert once again nodded his head.

"It appears we're going co-ed," Bert said to his staff.

"Green Tree and the rest of the schools we're aware about have always been strictly boys. Apparently, there's another Program out there that deal's with girls," Bert told the assembled. Accepting the existence of such a Program was instant on everyone's part except for possibly Adam.

"Why would there be a necessity for girls to be in a Program like ours?" Adam asked.

"Mainly because girls have always been traditionally more protected by everyone around them concerning sex. From their parents to the Court's, they practically have to rape a boy in Times Square before they are brought to anyone's attention, and even then, it's likely they'll be sent back to New York to do it a little better next time," Bert responded.

"Geppetto boys can be identified by age two. A Geppetto girl can only be identified after she has a baby, or if her dna is checked. The numbers crunchers apparently pushed the panic button in 1980 and three schools were opened in Wyoming, California and Montana."

"So just tie their tubes and send them home!" Sid responded. Bert sat back and smiled. It wasn't funny, it was ridiculously stupid.

"Sid, you're much too smart to even believe that 'Society' would go along with that. Boys are boys and girls are girls. A doctor can chop off 1,000 dicks a day in America, but not go near a girl for the same basic operation. Suggest that a boy who rapes gets castrated, and folks will line up with a knife in their hands. Do the same thing with a girl, and you'll get lynched! Have a female teacher screw her male student and she gets 90 days. A male teacher screws a female and he's in jail for the rest of his life! Now you want Ronny with all his Christian Right Brethren to approve wiping out their motherhood? It ain't gonna happen pal, and besides, remember, Ronny had AIDS on his side with God! His people kept telling him to do nothing and shut up and that's exactly what he did. Sorry to lay this shit on you tonight, but tomorrow morning the entire staff will be told. When we get to Camp there's going to be 75 more campers, aged three through 12. They have 25 staff, aged 16 to 26 and they're all Geppetto girls," Bert told the assembled.

"Why Green Tree?" Dan asked.

"Because with our new found cover, we're the most secure school in the Country. Every asshole yahoo in California wants to move to Montana and that's where our new campers are coming from."

Nobody really spoke for a few minutes, 500 questions were being formulated, but not asked tonight.

"All I gotta say boss is that I'm deeply concerned," Sid began.

"I'm being told that you purposely put Scotty on my lap knowing he was gonna piss his little ass off!"

Adam fell asleep that night snuggled in back of Sammy occasionally giggling to himself. Adam knew that what he was involved with was deadly serious, and there was only one alternative to laughing.

New Year's Eve went off without a hitch but more than a few boys were very wary when the New Year's Eve countdown clock said it was a little after 9:00 when the sun was setting. The week between Christmas and New Year's went uneventful for Adam with the possible exception of Sammy who seemed to be staying a lot closer to Adam than he had been during the previous weeks and months prior to Christmas. Nothing had changed in Adam's mind, and he was almost oblivious to Sammy's demeanor. On the other hand, people like Bert, Sid, Jeanette, Gloria and Dan could read a boy faster than a comic book in a Cub Scout Pack.

"Have you noticed that Sammy is clinging?" Dan asked Adam on the walk home from the pool on Wednesday.

"Clinging?" Adam asked his friend.

"Definitely! Has something happened?" Dan asked.

"Like what?" Adam asked.

"Has he been in a fight with one of the other boys? Has he gotten into an argument with you? Has he had an accident?" Dan asked. Adam shook his head.

"Not that I know about," Adam replied.

"It could be nothing more than Christmas and/or his parents visit, but you might want him to go for a beach hike with Bert or Sid soon," Dan suggested.

Sammy's walk took place just before dinner New Year's Eve with Sid. They were gone probably 15 minute's. On the walk to dinner it was a very brief conversation with Sid.

"Geppetto boys are funny little creatures; they can romp in a sea of friends and think little of it. But they usually find one person that they call their own and lay a personal claim to. Sammy's afraid Spencer has the ability to take you away from him. He's not afraid of Joey or the other boys around you, but he instinctively knows that Spencer doesn't just play, he controls. It's been bothering Sammy since the Christmas kiss," Sid told his friend.

"If need be, we'll move Spencer. He has Anthony."

Adam knew he still had a lot to learn about the boys around him, but meeting Sammy's emotional needs was no longer one of them. Adam knew he didn't have to rush off with the boy and spend a week in bed with him to prove his love, but he did have to make Sammy feel 'special' and treat him somehow differently than he did all of Sammy's peers. For Adam, Christopher showed him the way to demonstrate that something special. Forgetting the fact that Christopher was undeniably beautiful to begin with, coupled with his personality that screamed a poise and innocence that could melt an iceberg, Christopher stood out in the crowd above and beyond. This Adam attributed to his single pierced ear given to Christopher by his Mother as a baby. Body piercing of any kind was forbidden at Green Tree for the boys and their male staff. The exceptions were the girls who were only allowed to pierce their ears, and Christopher.

Bert had seen the human pin cushions on the streets and considered them little more than an act masochistic bullshit worn primarily to shock by emotionally retarded adolescents.

"It's an expensive way for them to say 'Fuck you' to everyone they pass on the street and especially their parents," Bert explained to anyone who asked him. It was fair to say that Bert didn't like them.

Bert bent the rule for Christopher when he first came to Green Tree in part for the boy, and in part out of respect for Christopher's mother who was deceased. Adam sought guidance from Sid. His first thought was to get Sammy a pierced earring.

"Ain't gonna happen good buddy, Bert made it very plain that the rule would be bent only once," Sid told his friend.

"If the other kids see Sammy getting one, we're gonna have an avalanche on our asses."

"But how does he explain Christopher to the other boys?" Adam asked.

"Executive privilege!" Sid responded.

"You're kidding" Adam said.

"Not at all. The boys asked him why Christopher got one and they couldn't and Bert told them "Because I'm the Boss!" Sid replied with a small grin.

"But he knows he can't pull that skam twice without a fight," Adam shook his head.

"Every boy here knows the story behind Christopher's earring, it's not an issue for them," Sid said as he prepared to leave on his cart.

"So what would you recommend?" Adam asked his friend.

"Bert's not crazy about rings on the boys, but he doesn't object to a dress up piece of jewelry," Sid responded.

"Like what?" Adam asked.

"A watch, a pendant, a bracelet, an anklet," Sid said.

"Something that comes from someone special and is worn on special occasions," Adam nodded his head.

"Thanks."

Adam had now been at Green Tree for 16 weeks and had left once just before Thanksgiving to visit his parents. Now he was headed back off island to Islamorada to find something special for Sammy. It wasn't unheard of, but it was unusual when Bert suggested he could take Sammy along with him. Going off island wasn't a big deal to Adam, but to Sammy, or any other Green Tree boy, it was a Super Adventure. With Sid and Anthony watching the rest of his boys, Adam and Sammy boarded the ferry to shore with the pilot allowing Sammy to steer. A school van was at the other side, and a driver pulled down the highway with Sammy standing and looking out the windshield like he was watching a movie. After the short trip to Islamorada, Sammy spent the next three hours going from shop to shop picking up standard tourist trinkets along the way including enough tee shirts to outfit all three houses. Sammy spent a good half hour crawling all over the 'Pilar' which sat in the center of one shop and Adam spent the better part of another half hour explaining to Sammy who Ernest Hemingway was. Sammy was impressed with the Pilar but unimpressed with Ernest.

Lunch for Sammy was another adventure. He had eaten scrimp before, but it was usually in salad form. It wasn't his favorite food. Now, he sat down at the waterside in a little outdoor restaurant and sat before a cheeseburger that he had ordered as Adam ordered breaded scrimp with fries. After a bite out of his cheeseburger, Sammy was convinced to try a bite of Adam's scrimp. Adam would have preferred the scrimp, but the cheeseburger wasn't bad. The driver just shook his head and giggled a bit.

Eight year old boys who were going on nine don't really like to shop except maybe for candy, toys and trinkets and Sammy was no exception. Looking at one counter after another with jewelry in it wasn't the boys favorite activity and Sammy didn't tell time yet. Nevertheless, he did pick out one piece that he liked, but Adam suspected that it had something more to do with the fact that the piece was advertised as being from a sunken treasure ship. Pirates were still pretty fresh in Sammy's mind, and the van was filling up with pirate hats and cutlasses to prove it.

The return trip to school was just as exciting for Sammy who never sat down once on the ride. By 3:00 Saturday, Sammy was winding his way back through a maze of Cyprus trees and mangrove watching alligators watch him like he was a piece of scrimp.

"These things don't bother you?" Adam asked the pilot as he stared down at the alligators.

"Naa. Alligators have a natural fear of man, the only time they can get dangerous is if you feed them and they lose that fear," the man told Adam.

"If they come anywhere near us we whack the shit out of them with a stick and they know that," he told Adam.

"I'm not afraid of them Uncle Adam, I know how to get away from them!" Sammy said. Adam smiled.

"And just how would you do that, climb a tree?" Adam asked. Sammy giggled.

"Don't be silly Uncle Adam, you can't climb a palm tree!" the little boy responded.

"Tell him what you would do Sammy," the driver told the boy.

"You run 10 times and then you turn, then you run 10 times and you turn, then you run 10 times and you turn until he stops!" Sammy explained to Adam as he moved his hand back and forth.

"Smart boy!" the pilot told Sammy as he ruffled his hair. Adam looked at the pilot.

"All the boys are taught to run a zig zag pattern if a gator comes after them on foot." The pilot said without being asked.

"A gator can run faster than a human, but only in a straight line. If the gator has to turn, he has to stop and then readjusted. After two or three adjustments, the boy is long gone," he told Adam.

"I'd rather just shoot them all," Adam replied.

"Can't do that. That's a Pitt Bull, that's a German Sheppard, that's a Mastiff, that's a Rotweiller, that's a Doberman. These are our guard dogs," the pilot said smiling as he pointed to one gator after another.

Adam and Sammy were back at Beachview just in time for showers before Beach Dinner. The trip back inside the house was more like Christmas once again. Adam cared nothing about the cost, but Sammy didn't pick out a pirate hat, he picked out a few dozen. He didn't buy a sword and Cutlass, he picked out a few dozen. The mafia alone contained almost three dozen boys and quite naturally, they needed one too! Then there were the Uncles to consider, Bert couldn't be forgotten along with six or eight of his favorite staff not to mention that Sammy had friends outside of the mafia! Adam was convinced that when the van left Islamorada that afternoon, the place shut down and had a party on his plastic.

While New Year's Eve was fairly subdued, the first Beach Dinner of 2004 was anything but.

Sid brought out the big guns of music once the Camp Kenny boys retired. With the wire tram still up from Peter Pan, the boys floated overhead back and forth to the island to the tune of Learning to Fly by Pink Floyd and Ziggie Stardust by David Bowie. Adam sat back giggling as Bert just held his head in his hands. Even with an extra half hour reprieve from Bert, the Intermediate boys reluctantly trotted off the beach and back to their houses as the senior boys took the music up a notch and took over the flying rig.

Adam smiled as he stared down on eight little rotund asses gleaming in the moonlight as his boys watch the senior boys continue to play from the back porch.

Sammy's birthday was around the corner and Adam had purchased a small coin about the size of a quarter that Sammy thought looked very nice. Adam had the coin mounted with Sammy's Birthstone and put on a chain for him as a birthday present. Adam had never purchased a piece of jewelry before, and was a little surprised when he found out it would have been cheaper for him to buy Sammy a small used car instead.

"You're fucking kidding!" Sid said as Adam told him the price.

"The man at the store said it was a genuine coin from the Atocha Adam responded defensively.

"Jewelry shops in the Keys have been selling 'Genuine' Atocha pieces for almost 20 years now good buddy," Sid told his friend.

"If that much shit came from that ship, she was bigger than the fucking Queen Mary!"

"You think I was ripped off?" Adam asked.

"The piece is real and its pure gold but I doubt its anything from the Atocha. For one, the Atocha was a Spanish galleon and this coin is Portuguese. It's possible, but I doubt it," Adam shrugged.

"Well, Sammy likes it!" he replied.

"Yeah, me too. Wanna take me to Islamorada?" Sid said jokingly.

Adam's night ended as he got into bed and picked up a very sound sleeping almost nine year old. And put him on his chest. Wrapping his arms around Sammy, Adam gently rocked the boy who didn't flicker an eyelash as he continued dreaming about who knows what. Sammy would receive his treasure on his birthday but Adam already had his wrapped in his arms.

Young children waste a huge amount of time wanting to be big and grownup. Then again, they spend the rest of their lives wanting to be young and carefree again like they were in their youth. Little Sammy was no different. In mid January, he turned nine years old wishing he was 10 or even a big boy of 13. Adam was quite pleased with the nine year old sleeping peacefully alongside him and liked the boy just the way he was.

A boy's birthday is a very special occasion and Sammy naturally expected a party. To Bert, birthday parties were a huge pain in the ass. Necessary, but a pain in the ass nevertheless. Then again, Bert had to deal with over 350 birthdays a year. If a small party was held for each boy by the entire school, Bert would be forever blowing up balloons. Instead, each house held its own lunch party with invited guests.

Sammy's birthday began just around 7:00 when Puddles decided it was time to wake him up with a face washing. The little Cocker Spaniel puppy was now almost six months old, and he, along with his sister had mastered the art of climbing onto the beds much to Adam's chagrin. Puddles had a damned fitting name and really paid little attention to where it squatted for the first four months of its life, but after a few trips across the bedroom, Adam felt the lesson was learned. It really wasn't all that much of a victory for Adam since Sammy, Joey and Trevor were still not paper trained and Adam always awoke longing for dry sheets and blankets anyway. Sammy's 9th year wake-up was no different.

Sammy groaned a bit and moved Puddles under the covers as he turned himself around and climbed on top of Adam. It always took a few long moments before he started fully functioning in the mornings and it hadn't yet registered in his brain that this was a special day for him. Puddles in the meantime had found his way to Joey under the sheets which had him screeching as the puppy found a new source of liquid refreshment. That wasn't a problem a few months earlier, but the puppy now had some fairly sharp little teeth and a fair set of claws. With Joey now climbing over Trevor to get out of the puppies way, Sammy's birthday began.

"He's trying to suck on my dick!" Joey exclaimed as Trevor awoke with his friend scrambling over his chest.

Trevor looked over as the puppy crawled under the sheets headed for him as the boy slipped out of bed. Once Trevor was gone, the puppy turned around and was heading towards Adam again as the man slipped his arm down on top of the sheet. With the puppy now rooting around, Adam told the boys to take the puppy with them for a shower as Sammy giggled. Sammy was very happy and very mellow right up until Adam spoke.

"Good morning birthday Boy!" Adam said as he kissed the top of Sammy's head. Mellow now ended as Sammy's head shot up from Adam's chest.

Sammy was born on the 14th and it fell on a Wednesday that year. Most of the boys opted to hold over their birthday parties to Saturday when they could have it on the beach, but at nine years old, Sammy was a bit greedy as nine year olds can sometimes be. School policy, as laid down by Bert, was that any Birthday Boy or staff did not work on their birthday, so Sammy was getting the day off from school. He also had the choice of meals for breakfast and lunch and he chose "Make your own Belgian Waffles" for breakfast and "Make your own Pizza" for lunch. Any meal that began with the phrase "Make your own" was a bloody mess and Adam knew this fact now very well.

"Today?" Sammy asked.

"Today," Adam replied. Sammy was up and off Adam in two seconds flat. In addition to Joey and Trevor, Sammy lived with five other boys and two more adults. Sammy was now headed for his Uncle Sid's room where Jesse and David slept. Adam listened to the commotion in Sid's room as he got himself out of bed and headed for the showers. Christopher and Matty were still in the process of getting themselves up as were Spencer and Anthony who lived downstairs.

Adam climbed into the shower and immediately sat down as Joey handed his teacher a bottle of shampoo and sat down on Adam's lap using the man's legs as a back rest. This was the way their day began; this was the way their day ended.

"Is Uncle Sid here?" Trevor asked as he sat and waited his turn to get his hair washed.

"I don't know Trevor, I haven't heard him yet, he may be at Uncle Bert's already," Adam replied.

"Is Uncle Bert coming for Breakfast?" Joey asked as the suds dripped down his chest.

"I'm sure Uncle Bert will be here along with half the school," Adam replied. Joey and Trevor giggled. Sammy had invited just under three dozen people to his breakfast, and the school's kitchen staff were already downstairs in the house preparing the meal as the boys showered. Sammy's core group of friends were contained in the three houses of Beachview, Coquina and Bay Watch which held a total of 29 people. With Sammy's 'special guests' pushing three dozen was an easy task.

As Sammy, Jesse and David entered the bathroom, a familiar clatter of ice cream bells came from the open bathroom window and Adam watched as three bare asses split for downstairs to greet the arrival out front of their Uncle Sid. Sid was an early riser as was Bert and the two Administrators' were usually at work by 5:30 or 6:00, if not earlier. As Adam finished Joey's hair and moved Trevor into position, Christopher and Matty streaked passed the door headed downstairs as well. Puddles now got into the act as the puppy climbed out of the shower and after shaking himself off, took off for the stairs with tail wagging and feet slipping.

"Jesus good buddy, one of these days all that soap and water is gonna wash you down the drain and they'll be nothing left!" Sid said as he entered the bathroom with Sammy in one arm and four year old Caleb in the other. With the boys around him giggling and Adam being handed Caleb, it was now Adam's turn.

"Well Sid, that's something you'll never have to worry about. When's the last time you took a shower?" he asked his friend.

"I remember it clearly old friend, it was 1955."

"Sid, you weren't born until 1956!" Adam told his friend.

"No, but I was certainly taking a bath in 1955 wasn't I?" Adam shook his head as the boys giggled even harder.

With Trevor now done, Caleb moved to sit on Adam's lap. Adam assumed the boy was ready to have his hair washed, something Adam was sure had already occurred back in the boys own house, but Adam was agreeable. Caleb sat down for another reason and promptly made it known as Adam watched the stream hit his umbilical cord.

"Atta boy Caleb, you tell him!" Sid said as he undressed to shower his boys. Adam took a deep breath as the boy got a little more comfortable.

"You don't have to do anything else do you?" Adam asked the boy. Caleb giggled as he shook his head no.

"Tell me the truth Caleb; did that mean old nasty Uncle Sid tell you to tinkle on me?" Adam asked. Caleb again giggled and shook his head as the bathroom pretty much disintegrated into laughter from the appreciative audience.

Normally, Sammy was washed by Adam. This morning, Sid would wash him and turn it more into a party than a shower as he usually did. With 11 people in the house, there were still six boys to be washed and Adam got himself, Joey and Trevor into underpants and went downstairs with Caleb who preferred au natural to cotton at all times. Nobody minded, Caleb had the body of a cherub and the looks and personality to match. At age 4, most little boys have a penis that needs to be handled with a tweezer. Caleb did not have that affliction; he had a penis that measured up against his seven and eight year old friends quite well.

The kitchen of the house now had a crew of five from the school's kitchen who were all busy making waffle batter and slicing fruit. One by one, the boys upstairs arrived in clean underpants, and by the cart full, they started arriving from Coquina and Bay Watch. By 8:00 the house looked like Grand Central Station in whity tightys and underoos, and the mess began in earnest as Adam sat back and watched completely happy knowing that the clean-up was going to be done while he trotted off to his classroom.

Sammy was off for the day and would be spending his morning with Bert. The greater bulk of Bert's day was spent with the youngest of the boys at Green Tree, the ones in Camp Kenny where Caleb lived. After lunch, he would spend the early afternoon with Uncle Dave, Greg and Anthony in the senior boys compound learning how the 'Big boys' lived and worked, and then he'd be back with Adam and all his friends after school got out at 3:00. For Sammy, the day was going to be an exciting adventure because normally intermediate boys like Sammy never got to visit Camp Kenny or the senior boys compound. Now, he had that chance.

Except for maintenance trucks, motor vehicles didn't exist on school grounds. Everybody either had golf carts, bikes or battery powered toys to ride around in. After breakfast, Bert climbed into his cart and Sammy took the wheel with Caleb sitting on Sammy's lap as the three headed for Camp Kenny. Sammy's first stop was the pool.

"Hello Birthday boy!" Gloria, Jeanette and Johanna said as the three made their way over to the girls. Sammy smiled broadly as he gave each one of the girls a hug and a kiss. As they usually did, Jeanette had Kenny with her. The boy was now 18 months old. Gloria had Timmy who was 20 months, and Johanna had Scotty, a three year old. All three boys were sitting and playing in the baby pool, the littlest one's in the girl's laps. Caleb jumped into the big pool to show Bert his newly learned swimming abilities. Sammy stuck close to Gloria who was his primary caretaker when he first arrived at Green Tree six year's earlier. Sammy had a real Mother, but for all practical purposes, Gloria was the only one Sammy really knew. As with most boys raised at Green Tree through infancy, these girls were extremely special to him, most especially Gloria.

"You're coming to my lunch right Aunty Gloria?" Sammy asked.

"You bet we are Scooter," she told the boy. Sammy smiled. The only person he allowed to call him 'Scooter' was Gloria.

"Are you bringing Timmy?" Sammy asked. Gloria nodded.

"Timmy's still nursing, and I have to feed him," the girl said. Sammy smiled again. He knew very well the taste of Gloria's milk; he himself drank from her as well as from Jeanette and Johanna many times as a smaller boy.

"You're making him fat," Sammy said looking at Timmy.

"No fatter than you were when you were smaller," Gloria said as she tickled the boy's stomach. Sammy giggled at her touch as he had done thousands of times before.

Bert now came over to the group and sat down on the edge as Caleb went running through the wadding pool with water flying.

"Its getting to be that time Bert. If you don't want a package on your lap, you better get some pants on him," Jeanette told her boss.

"He always drops between 10:00 and 11:30," Bert smiled a bit. When Caleb first came just five months earlier, he was fully potty trained. Now, he pissed where he wanted to piss and he dumped almost as easily. Most Child Care Professionals would have called that a 'Regression' on the boys part. Something was wrong, the boy was exhibiting 'Abnormal' behavior. Bert and his staff didn't see it that way.

Caleb was 'Potty trained'. At 15 months because he had to be; his father wouldn't have it any other way. Caleb stopped nursing when he was two weeks old after his father saw the boy nursing off his Mother with an erection. Caleb was now nursing once again, and nobody gave a dam about the condition of his dick.

Now, Caleb would stop pissing when Caleb wanted to stop pissing. Caleb would stop shitting when Caleb wanted to stop and he would stop nursing when he wanted to stop. At the same time, nobody was about to allow him to take a dump on the living room floor. If he didn't chose to go to the toilet, drop one in your pants if that made you feel good, but that usually wore out its welcome for you in fairly short order at Green Tree and they had the time and patience to wait until it did. The staff was also smart enough to know that a dump also meant something more important to a boy than a smelly, messy ass; it meant undivided attention was now going to be forthcoming. Likewise with nursing.

With a fresh pair of Carter's now on Caleb's buttocks, Bert and the boys headed for Playland, a building that housed the recreation area of Camp Kenny where the bulk of the Camp boys spend their day. These were the higher functioning boys, aged four to six that were now fairly independent when it came to the need for female interaction. Sammy had spent his first three years at Green Tree in this group, and he was very certain that he was never this small or young. Once inside, Caleb took off to play with his friends. At just about 10:45 Caleb delivered a package that was picked up by a counselor's nose and he was promptly delivered back to Bert. Sammy watched as Caleb lay flat on his back playing with a toy car while Bert dutifully cleaned and preened Caleb taking very shallow breaths of air when the wind was blowing just right. With Caleb in his newly clean Birthday suit and Sammy driving, the three returned to Beachview to await the arrival of the lunch party.

Breakfast was a messy affair, lunch was a tad messier. Adam returned from school to have Birthday lunch with Sammy at Beachview and was now followed by a small army of boys looking for Pizza. Not just any old pizza, but one that they made for themselves. Adam never knew that pizza was made with bologna, peanut butter and jelly or marshmallow fluff. He was on a learning curve. Once again, Adam's blood pressure never rose; he wasn't cleaning up the mess.

The school had a reward system in place whereby the boys could all earn 'Points' which then translated into treats, or if necessary, gifts. While the boys lacked for nothing materially, extremely essential items that were critically important to them were always left for the boys to provide for themselves. Things like Pokemon cards, bubble gum, water guns, comic books, and most importantly, candy bars. Only rarely did the boys at Green Tree receive candy for free. Candy was reserved for them to receive by purchasing it themselves, either in good school work, or by reward. Candy was very hard to come by and valued very highly. These items were the Holy Grail of boyhood, and Sammy collected a fair treasure trove after lunch. While Sammy's stash survived, he was probably the most popular boy in the mafia.

After Sammy received his most important gifts, the gifts from Bert, Gloria and Adam were next. As a school, and on behalf of the entire staff, Sammy received an electric piano. He had expressed an interest in learning to play when a group of senior boys formed their own "Garage band" and Sammy watched them play. The piano playing caught his eye, and he dabbled at playing the piano in the recreation hall. Bert noticed his interest and now intended to foster it if he could. Several staff played the piano including Gloria, Sid, Adam, Kevin and Johanna, so Sammy would have teachers available if he pursued the interest. Adam liked the idea; he liked the fact that the piano had a volume key even more. Then again, Adam forgot about Sid.

Adam presented Sammy with the coin next and Sammy thought the gift was very nice. What he liked most about it was the fact that it was a piece of sunken treasure.

"Maybe pirates used to own this!" Sammy exclaimed as Adam snapped the chain around his neck. Adam smiled.

"If not pirates, maybe Jeweler's" he replied looking at Sid.

Gloria received permission from Bert to give Sammy a personal gift, something that was usually frowned upon. Bert didn't want the boys entering a pecker contest with staff when it came to who received the most gifts for their Birthday's or Christmas, and discouraged individual staff gift giving whenever possible. Then again, Gloria was not just another Staff member to Sammy; she was all but his Mother. When Sammy got hurt, he found Gloria very quickly. Gloria knew what Adam was presenting to Sammy and had purchased a gold heart with his Birthstone on it that would hang with Adam's gift around his neck.

"What does it say?" Sammy asked as the heart was being attached to the chain.

"It say's To Scooter. I love you, Gloria." The girl replied. Sammy smiled and wrapped his arms around the girl. (Sammy is now 11 years old and still has very little real comprehension of the value of both gifts which have since been added to through the years. Sammy wears his jewelry on very special occasions, but always needs to get them from the school safe. Otherwise, the insurance company refuses to write the policy on them.)

Sammy was handed off by Bert after lunch to Dave, and the nine year old spent the next two hours witnessing how the big boys lived. Senior boys ranged in age from 13 to 17 and primarily attended school as well as worked with staff on buildings and grounds, maintenance and kitchen duties. These were the boys Sammy aspired to be. It's very fair to say that Sammy, as well as the other intermediate boys, held these boys in awe. They could drive carts without adult supervision, they got to stay up later, they rode around in trucks and worked with the men, they slept in big bunks together, and, they could even smoke! What more could any boy want in life?

Despite the fact that Sammy and all his peers were indoctrinated their entire childhood on the evils of smoking and no staff members in either Camp Kenny or the intermediate boys compound were permitted to smoke, Sammy and his pals saw smoking as the right of passage to teenager status. Bert and the staff did everything to discourage it, but, in the end it was the boy's decision to make and hopefully they would make the right one.

However that didn't mean that upon entering the senior boy's compound, they were handed a carton of Camel's. The privilege to smoke came at a high price. First, the boys were only allowed to smoke in the barracks on the porches. Smoking was banned in bedrooms and in living areas of the barracks. Secondly, the cigarettes were purchased at the school commissary by the individual boys using their points. Bert saw to it that smoking was an expensive endeavor and accomplished only at the expense of other highly desired items like DVDs, Electronic games and magazines. Most especially magazines.

As Sammy was about to discover, senior boys were allowed to collect and display (in the barracks) their favorite pictures from magazines. Most folks who've been in the Army or Navy are familiar with these pictures; they generally came with wide open beavers, exceedingly large tits, or ladies working very diligently cleaning penis's to a glistening shine. 13 to 16 year old boys with poor imagination skills could take a quick refresher course in the bathroom reading the wall's or in their bedrooms reading the ceiling, and it would all come back to them. Or, they could smoke. The percentage of senior boys who smoked was less than the average for boys their age, Geppetto boys would much rather fuck than allow their fun to go up in smoke.

"Wow!" Sammy said as he stood at the urinal taking a piss with Dave as his eye's focused on some partying going on in front of him. Dave smiled as Sammy's penis paid homage.

"You've still got a few more years before you need to start concentrating on that stuff" the man told Sammy as he pulled up his fly.

"Who put all this stuff up here Uncle Dave?" Sammy asked as he reviewed the wall.

"The senior boys," the man responded.

"All finished?" Sammy hesitated for few seconds.

"No, I think I gotta go!" Sammy replied as he put a choke hold on his penis.

"There's the stall, I'll wait for you right outside pal." Dave replied as he smiled and left.

Sammy looked a little flushed, but quite happy as he came back out the front door of the barracks.

"How long is it before I become a senior boy?" Sammy asked his Uncle as he took his hand.

"Oh, just about four years I guess," the man told the boy as they got into the cart.

"That's forever!" Sammy responded. Dave smiled as the boy went into a thinking mode.

"Where do they get all those pictures?" he now asked as the two headed for the maintenance garage.

"From magazines mostly." Dave said.

"Do you have them pictures too?" Sammy asked.

"Dave nodded.

"Yes, most men have pictures like that," he responded.

"How do they make you want to fuck?" the boy asked.

"Its just part of being human Sammy, people seeing other people make love or having sex stimulates the part of your brain that control's sexual feelings. If you saw people making love and didn't feel the way you do, something would be wrong with you. It's natural and it's just a part of life," Dave told the boy.

"Doe's Uncle Bert have them pictures?" Sammy asked.

"I don't know Sammy. I'm sure if you asked him, he would tell you if he did or not." Sammy's little brain was still rolling around.

"Do girls have them pictures too?" he asked.

"I'm sure some do," Dave replied.

"I don't think Aunty Gloria does," Sammy said shaking his head.

"I don't think any of our Aunties do," he said trying to convince himself.

"I'm sure you're right, the pictures you saw are usually kept by boys, not girls," Dave told the little boy. Sammy nodded his head.

"My Aunty Gloria wouldn't have them, she don't fuck," Sammy said matter of factly. At nine years of age, Dave wasn't about to tell Sammy otherwise.

"Sounds right to me," he told the boy.

Sammy spent the rest of his day with his Uncle Dave following Dave around from project to project. In between, Dave answered question after question from Sammy, mostly pointing directly back to the walls in the bathroom barracks. By 3:00 Dave felt a bit like Dr. Ruth as he dropped off Sammy at Beachview with one more question going up the stairs.

"How come girls got two pussies and we only got one?" Sammy asked Dave as the two sat down on the porch next to Sid who was nursing an ice tea.

"Two pussies?" Dave asked the boy.

"Yeah, one girl had two boys, and one boy was sticking her in the front pussy and one boy was sticking her in the back pussy," Sammy said. Sid looked up from his reading.

"Where'd you take him, Hooters?" Sid asked Dave. Dave shook his head.

"Girls need the front pussy to have babies," Dave replied.

"Boys don't have two because we don't have babies, we make them," Sammy nodded.

"I'm thirsty!" the little boy said as he now headed for the kitchen.

"Sounds like the boy had an interesting day. You didn't find a brothel in Islamorada for him did you?" Sid asked. Dave smiled.

"Sure, they all take nine year old boys in and show them the ropes," Dave responded.

"Got an address?" Sid kidded his friend.

"Make the second right in the senior boys barracks and walk into a stall," Dave responded.

"Ahh, Hustler. I've been there!" Sid said. Dave shook his head.

"I would have bet on that!"

"Adam's going to chop my balls off, Sammy hasn't stopped asking questions since he walked out of the stall," Dave told his friend. It was now Sid's turn to giggle.

Sammy poured himself a glass of ice tea and went to the bathroom. The entire afternoon was one question after another and he got a lot of answers from his Uncle. Some explanations he understood, others he didn't, but either way, they were all concerning fucking and Sammy did like to fuck. In the barracks bathroom a picture had fallen onto the floor, and since nobody owned it, Sammy put it in his pocket. Taking it out now, he had the chance to study it a little more closely as he peed. Sammy had seen this scene before thousands of times, but usually between two boys. He didn't really know girls did this too, and whoever the man was, he had the biggest fastest dick going into her back pussy Sammy had ever seen. Not even Uncle Paul's dick was that big! Sammy sat down and studied the picture while he made his penis one very happy nine year old. Wait till Joey, Trevor and the guys see this, Sammy thought to himself.

Sid was all for watching the fun between Adam and Sammy once Sammy started asking more questions, and knowing Sammy as well as he did, Sid knew there would be very many more. Sammy was not only highly sexually active; he was sexually inquisitive and not shy at all about verbalizing any questions. All the boys at Green Tree were the same; sex was something they did, and sex was an open topic in any arena.

"I'll let Bert know you opened Pandora's box for the innocent little tyke, he's probably now going to want to have a sit down with him and explain the fast lane aspects of life," Sid chided Dave. Dave got up knowing he was getting his dick pulled.

"You're a real pal Sid!" he said as he left the porch.

Adam returned to Beachview along with a few dozen of Sammy's closest friends who wanted to share in their friend's new found wealth. A boy with candy was a boy worth knowing, and who knew Sammy better than they did as they bounded upstairs to Sammy's room. Sitting down on the back porch with an iced tea, Adam greeted Sid.

"How'd things go this afternoon with Sammy?" Adam asked as he settled down.

"Well, there's good news and then there's bad news," Sid began.

"The good news is that Sammy's still a virgin. The bad news is that he saw a bunch of pictures in the senior boys compound and will probably want to dissect them with you," Sid told his friend.

"Pictures?" Adam asked.

"Senior boy protocol is to have twat all over the walls, it reassures them of their manhood," Sid responded.

"Apparently, Sammy saw the beaver and now has a few questions," Adam was a bit confused.

"Sammy's never seen a girl before?" he asked Sid.

"Of course he has. He's seen the girls in Camp Kenny. He's bathed and showered with them. He's slept with them. But they're not exactly the same as Hustler girls," Sid told his friend.

"Sammy's been to and seen Gay Paree." Adam shook his head.

"I'll be seeing Bert in an hour, I'll give him a heads up and he'll probably want to talk with Sammy just to make sure Sammy doesn't have the idea that all girls will sit on his face for him," Sid told his friend.

"In the meantime, if I were you, I'd be taking a few extra vitamins. This kind of shit gets the boys looking to screw the cat," Sid said.

Adam was really looking forward to a calm, easy, peaceful slide through the rest of the winter and a smooth transition into spring when they could all return to camp and he could sit back and relax. Two weeks into January and he had a rabbit in heat on his hands. Adam sipped the rest of his ice tea and really wished it was laced with just a bit of Vodka.

Every afternoon Bert held a meeting with his key staff after school and the length of the meeting really depended upon circumstances at the time. The mood of the meeting would always fit the events occurring, and this afternoon's meeting saw no major problems being discussed. Routine matters were handled and then; time for open discussion. Sammy's enlightenment made the discussion just before Bert brought up a new topic, the coming co-education of Green Tree.

Bert, Gloria, Jeanette and Sid listened as Dave explained Sammy's afternoon.

"Why was he brought into the boys barracks? Isn't there a bathroom in the compound that doesn't have pictures in it?" Gloria asked. Dave shook his head.

"Bert's directive said that pictures could be put up in bathrooms and the bedrooms. There are no bathrooms in the compound without pictures in it!" Dave explained to the girls. Gloria and Jeanette now looked over to Bert.

"OK, so I fucked up. I'll put a bathroom in there that's beaver free," Bert replied. The girls had never been in the senior boys compound, so they had never seen the pictures.

"Just how much did Sammy see?" Jeanette now asked Dave.

"Everything short of S&M is fair game. Very little is left to the imagination." Dave replied. Both girls looked at each other.

"It's a guy thing," Bert told the girls.

Dave explained to the group what questions Sammy raised and when his question about Gloria came up the girls took notice.

"Good to know you're defending my honor," Gloria told Dave. Bert smiled a bit, but it was obvious that he had to have a talk with Sammy.

"Every boy in the world knows that all girls fuck except of course for their Mothers who would never do that in a million years. I was twelve before I admitted to myself that I wasn't conceived by my parents kissing," Bert told the group.

"So how are we going to handle this?" Sid asked Bert.

"Simple; there are 'Good' girls and there are 'Party' girls. Sammy saw pictures of party girls and he'll be able to separate the girls from Hustler and our girls in his mind." Dave listened, but still had a question "And what if Sammy directly asks you if the girls fuck?"

"Then, the answer is No, they do not fuck. They may make love, but they don't fuck. Sammy knows what the difference is, we taught him so!"

"I'll have a chat with Sammy tomorrow morning," Bert told the group.

"In the meantime, the trailers are being delivered to the north slope and are being set up as we speak," Bert told the group.

"The north slope is no longer the north slope. It's now known as Pine Ridge, we're changing the name to give the girls continuity with their old school. Next week we'll be receiving the files on the girl's and some background on their old schools policies and practices. Pine Ridge is run by their staff pretty much like we are; we're not looking at a situation like we had with Albemarle," Bert said.

"We're receiving 75 girls and 25 of their staff. The girls range from three to 16 and I understand that they're pretty well put together emotionally. Our job is going to be to put a program together over the next five months and have everything in place for them when they arrive in the beginning of June."

"I thought we weren't leaving Florida until June 15th?" Sid now asked.

"We're not, they're going to be at Camp before we get there," Bert told his assistant.

"Camp Kenny leave's for Camp on the 25th of May and Gloria will be moving to Pine Ridge as Administrator. Jeanette takes over Camp Kenny Administration with Johanna." The Director told his staff. This was new news to the girls.

"How can I move to Pine Ridge? I have Timmy." Gloria asked with more than concern on her face.

"Timmy will stay with you. Pine Ridge will eventually be completely co-ed but the cut-off age for the boys will be 5."

There was dead silence in the room as each member pictured the possibilities in his or her mind.

"Boss, don't we have enough problems over pictures?" Sid asked "We have some mighty spunky five year olds. Shit, Caleb is just four and he'd fuck a duck!" More than a few giggles broke the silence.

"Probably so Sid, but the duck would have to be a male. Three, four and five year old boys don't usually romp with girls. They don't like girls and don't want to have anything to do with them remember?" Bert reminded Sid.

"Keep in mind, Geppetto girls have sexually normal labido's, we don't see our girls running around having orgies do you?"

"Well shit Boss, it ain't like I haven't tried!" Sid retorted. The afternoon broke up with more than a few pillows flying Sid's way.

Adam's afternoon went smoothly and quietly after school despite the fact that Beachview was receiving a larger than normal influx of boy's which Adam chaulked off to Sammy's stash of candy. Sid returned from the meeting about 5:00 and found Adam relaxing on the back porch watching the sand piper's root for food along the shoreline of the lagoon. The last of the material's was being loaded onto trucks from the rigging for Peter Pan, and a small group of boys were having a wake over its departure as Sid sat down with two bottle's of beer. Handing Adam one, Sid chuckled at the group of boy's who looked like they were about to lose their best friend.

"It came off very well," he said as he took a sip. Adam nodded.

"What's next?"

"Kevin is re-writing Oliver. He wants to do a musical version," Sid told his friend. Adam sat back and thought about it.

"Good idea, you'd make a great Fagin."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I penciled you in for Bill Sikes," Sid responded.

"Fuck You1" Adam told his friend.

"Well, I see you two are getting along just fine," Bert said as he walked out on the porch.

"Tell the truth Bert, don't you think Adam would make a good Bill Sikes?" Sid asked his boss.

"From Oliver?" Bert asked. Sid nodded. Bert thought about it for a few seconds.

"They didn't fly in Oliver did they? he asked. Both men shook their heads.

"Burn villages, sack cities, go to the moon, anything that is going to cost a fortune?"

"Bill gets hung!" Sid replied.

"Sounds like a good part to me," Bert replied. "Well fuck you too!" Adam told the Director.

"That's what I like about this place, a good solid working environment!," Bert said as he sat back.

Sid went into the kitchen and came back with a drink for Bert.

"Why's it so quiet around here?" Bert asked as the three men settled back down.

"The boys are upstairs probably delving into Sammy's candy," Adam replied. Bert sat and listened for a few long seconds.

"Bullshit, its much too quiet for that," he told the men. A boy passed by the front of Beachview and Bert stood up.

"Jamie, ring Uncle Sid's bells for me will you?" he asked the boy. The little boy climbed into Sid's cart and rang the bar of bell's a bunch of times.

"Thanks," Bert said as he sat back down. The thud of bare feet and scrambling footsteps told all three men that the boys in the loft now heard the bells as bedroom doors opened and the stairs reverberated from the trample of pounding feet. All three men were staring at a gaggle of boys on the porch in very short order.

"Its almost dinner you guys, you weren't loading up on candy were you?" Bert asked the boys. A whole bunch of giggles told Bert what he suspected.

"We were just playing Uncle Bert." David told the man.

"Oh, well that won't spoil your appetite," Bert told the boys. More giggles ensued as Bert looked around.

"Where's the Birthday boy?" he asked.

"Here I am Uncle Bert," Sammy yelled as the group parted. Sammy landed on Bert's lap in a leap. Sammy was fully dressed in his new necklace as Bert gave Sammy a hug and rubbed Sammy's bottom.

"Are we having fun yet?" Bert asked the boy as Sammy backed off Bert's neck and gave the Director a kiss. Sammy giggled as he nodded his head.

Bert almost always had his dinner with a group at Camp Kenny, but whenever possible he would have it in the house with a Birthday boy in it. As a school night, the boy's almost always ate in their own houses, but with Sammy being part of what was now a three house consortium coupled with Bert's decision to eat at Beachview, dinner for Adam that night was a small gathering of just under half the intermediate boy's compound. Desert was always the Birthday boy's choice and Sammy chose Dutch Apple pie with ice cream. Coupled with the Spaghetti and Meatball main course, Adam was once again real happy he wasn't cleaning up the aftermath.

School night bed time was usually right around 8:00 taking into consideration that the boy's usually played for a good half hour before they considered laying down for the purpose of sleeping, and Adam was ready to give Sammy his undivided attention by just past 8:30. Adam gave up his king sized bed for Christopher, Matty, Joey and Trevor and took the queen sized bed for private time with Sammy. Unlike Sammy, his four friends were dog tired, they had a very busy afternoon with Sammy and had no objections whatsoever when told that Sammy would sleep apart from them. For his part, 'Frisky' would have been a mild description of Sammy as he

climbed up on his teacher's chest and raised his leg up alongside Adam as the man's hand found the boy's favorite spot. Sammy's eyes closed as he snuggled himself into Adam's chest as the boy wrapped his arms around Adam's chest and prepared for what he knew was going to be a long slow ride to primal pleasure that nobody but his teacher seemed to be able to supply him with.

Sammy knew every trick in the book. He knew every position and had used every toy available to him and all his friends, but Adam could somehow take him to a place that he couldn't reproduce without the man he was laying on top of and gave up trying many months before. Sammy played with his friends but he never played with Adam, this was love making and his teacher was an expert. Sammy's Birthday ended as it had begun, in his teacher's arms and in his teacher's bed. Sammy was a very happy boy!

The Girls Are Coming

Green Tree already had female staff taking care of its youngest boys in Camp Kenny, but these were mature girls not girls who basically grew up separated from male society. Contrary to popular wishful thinking, a 12 to 15 year old girl is a formidable peer to the most sexually aggressive of her male counterparts, A teenage girl in heat makes few bones about what she wants, and most little boys who've had teenage babysitters are well aware of that fact! As a boy of 10, Bert's underpants were off and his dick was getting wet with two 13 year old girls before his parents left the driveway when he was babysitted. Bert never complained once, but he knew that this 'Sugar and Spice' stuff was a load of crap! This, coupled with the fact that these were Geppetto boys and girls was going to make for a very interesting summer for Bert and his staff.

The girl's campus was being set-up by the Corp of Engineers back in North Carolina as Bert and his team made plans for the arrival of the Pine Ridge girls. As Director of Green Tree, Bert was a plain speaking Administrator, and his staff all knew that very well.

"What we need to do is anticipate and plan for every contingency once the girls get here. Once the uniqueness wears away, its going to be a footrace to see who gets into whose pants the fastest and we don't have any razor wire to keep them separated." The girls had been around Bert for too long to blush, but they did feel compelled to defend the girls honor.

"We could begin by putting some salt peter in the boy's water," Jeanette suggested.

"That'll take care of the chickens, but who's watching the foxes?" Bert countered.

"We both need to concede that teen girls can be just as randy as little boys." Gloria, Jeanette and Johanna shook their heads and smiled. They knew they weren't going to find any converts in Green Tree.

"The first thing we're going to need to do is split the girls into age appropriate groups. Eventually the three to six year olds will be integrated with the Camp Kenny boys, our problem will be the intermediates, and the senior girls mixing with the boys," Bert told the group.

"There may be some initial staring going on, but children three to six much prefer to keep within their own gender."

"You think that includes Caleb?" Johanna asked.

"Well, for one, we don't know yet, he hasn't ever been around girls. He might try to engage but he more probably will think they're silly and smelly just like most four year old boys do!" Bert responded.

"I think the first thing we need to do with all of them, including the girls is to reinforce the 'No means no' rule. It doesn't matter who they try to engage, if they don't receive permission, they must immediately stop." Gloria, who was now going to be the new Chief Administrator for Pine Ridge spoke up.

"You don't think that the Pine Ridge staff is going to take that as indicating their girls are up for grabs?" she asked her boss.

"No more so than if they were out on the street," Bert replied.

"If a child decides to engage, is there any way for anybody to stop them short of keeping them locked up? We're not running a prison and these girls are going to eventually be out in public sooner or later. Now's the time to teach them how to keep control over their bodies."

"There are 30 girls age six and under. I'm not concerned that they will be any problem. That leaves 70 girls between seven and 26 who will have to be closely monitored until everyone settles back down," Bert advised his staff.

"You're including their staff?" Jeanette asked. Bert sat back in his chair.

"Green Tree has close to 200 men in their age group that would be more than willing to make them very happy campers. I haven't been told that any of these staff are not sexually viable."

"Its never been a problem for us." Gloria replied.

"True, but then again, you weren't attending an all girls school for years prior to arriving at Green Tree. You also came to us one by one and we had the ability to make damned sure your transition went smoothly," Bert told the women.

"Now, we plunking 70 highly prized hens down in the midst of more than 200 roosters and that could create more than a few cockfights around here." Gloria's eyes lifted skyward.

"Nice analogy boss," Sid said as he shifted in his chair.

"I assume as soon as the girls get here you're going to lock him up in a closet!" Johanna said as the girls stood up to go to lunch.

"He's the very first on my list!" Bert replied.

While winter droned on up North and the trailers were all put into place that would house the girls in their new home, Green Trees school year progressed at an ever quicker pace through the Spring. Adam and Sammy settled into the school routine as did everyone. Sammy's insecurity regarding Spencer and his fear that his friend would take Adam's attention and love away from him disappeared with Adam's very deliberate special attention he paid to the boy, most especially at night and in the early morning hours when it was his time with his teacher.

Following Sammy's visit to the senior boys compound on his Birthday when Sammy discovered the magazine side of love as depicted all over the bathroom walls, Gloria paid a visit to the senior boys compound to take an inspection for herself. As a Geppetto girl herself, nothing shocked the girl, but she did take exception to some of the spicier pictures on the wall. Bert had allowed the posting of the pictures by the boys either in the bathrooms or in their bedrooms, but that permission came with instructions not to post S&M or sexually degrading photos. The ball was very clearly being pushed past the scrimmage line.

"Have you seen that stuff? Some of it's pretty sick!" Gloria told Bert.

"I understand that 'Boys will be boys.' But I'd hate to think that they believe the girls who are coming are going to offer them much of that trash," Bert listened to the girl who he respected both personally and professionally.

"I haven't seen it, but Sid and I will go out there this afternoon and take a look," he told the girl.

With Dave, Bert and Sid took a tour of the three barracks that made up the senior boys compound.

The senior boys ranged in age from 13 to 17 and as a group were probably as neat and clean and tidy as any group of boys their age. Bert and Sid stepped over piles of clothing, towels, sheets and blankets and shoe's digging their way to the bathrooms and bedrooms.

"The boys do know we have a laundry here right?" Bert asked the senior boys administrator.

"You have to admit Dave that some of this is stretching the limits," Bert said as he viewed the walls. The leather and the dog collars have to go, it's too close to the line. I'm not going to take this stuff away from them, but the sexually explicit stuff has to be either in magazines or in scrapbooks. They can plaster the place with all the beaver and tits they want to, but if they wouldn't take their Mothers on a tour of their artwork, it can't be displayed openly." Dave understood, but he also knew the boys would object. This was their private home, this was their living quarters and Bert had always given permission in the past.

"How do I explain that?" Dave asked his boss.

"Be honest with them. The Supreme Court may not know what is and what is not porn but our youngest boy does. School policy doesn't allow porn being displayed. If they want to have it, fine, but its not for public display. Nude is perfectly fine, throw up all the beaver you have, but if it's something you know they wouldn't show to Gloria, Jeanette or Johanna, have them keep it in their private stash.

The senior boys collection was cleaned up to Gloria's satisfaction and the commissary had a huge run on scrapbooks.

As the winter progressed, so did the school's production of Oliver. Kevin had re-written the play to adapt it to the school's needs, including a change from the original version regarding Oliver's Mother's death and the character of Bill Sikes as a murderer. The Crisis Team felt that both could be detrimental to more than a few boys in the school including Christopher and Spencer. Adam was now much more involved since he played piano. The added incentive for Adam was that Sammy was picking up piano at the same time. The success of Peter Pan among the boys guaranteed the boys cooperation with Oliver and by Easter, just about every boy in school knew every song by heart. The original plan called for the production to be put on just prior to leaving for North Carolina and Summer Camp. With the coming of the girls the plan was switched to put the show on at Camp. It would be a resounding success with both groups.

Bert's major concern was acclimating the boys, especially the Camp Kenny and Intermediate boys, to the presence and sight of naked girls. Even though the campuses would be separated regarding their living area's, it was automatically assumed that the two would be together during the day and that included in the pool and on the lake. Green Tree Camp was always only boys and those boys were very use to being naked at will. There was simply no way for Bert to now explain to them that they needed to hide their bodies, they had been taught all their life they had nothing to hide and less to be ashamed about. Both Green Tree and Pine Ridge decided the best solution was show and tell. Nudist magazines were delivered to both schools and Sammy and his friends saw pictures of nude peers for the first time in a non-sexual setting. These were girls, this is what they looked like, and this is what you're about to see, was the lesson's they learned from March through early June. By June, the boys no longer reacted visibly. Then again, they were looking at pictures and not in the presence of the real McCoy.

One of the last hurdles which was demanded by Alexandria, was placed squarely on Bert's shoulders, and in early April Adam received a message to stop by and meet with Bert at his office. Adam found Bert in a very serious mood, something that usually didn't bode well for someone or something.

"I asked you here to both show you something and explain the reasoning behind it," Bert began.

"In the past, all our boys undergo a reversible vasectomy between ages 16 to 18. We've always waited till that age to give them plenty of time to understand what's being done.

With the merging of us with Pine Ridge, that plan is out the window, we can't have boys who are producing sperm anywhere near females who could conceive. The same is now true for the girls, in the past, they weren't given tubal ligations until they were at least 16." All the students will now undergo the procedure once they begin puberty and are capable of reproduction." For the Geppetto children it's mandatory, but you are not a Geppetto boy, for you it's optional."

Adam understood the need for what Bert was telling him, but didn't understand why he was being offered the option.

"Alexandria is very aware of our use of Outside Uncles and they also know they cannot force you to have the procedure. At the same time, they won't allow the possibility of one of the girls to come into contact with viable males. You are offered the option of transferring to a school that does not contain Geppetto girls," Bert told Adam.

"You also have the option of resigning." Even the verbalization of being offered the option of resigning stunned Adam to the core. His thoughts instantly went to the little boy who meant more to him than anything in the world. He physically felt his heart pounding as his blood pressure probably went through the roof.

"Leave? They want me to leave?" Adam said completely bewildered and totally mentally confused.

"No, absolutely not, but they cannot take the chance of any of the girls becoming pregnant," Bert told the man.

"Then I won't have sex with any of them," Adam replied once he regained his senses.

"They won't take that chance Adam, nobody around the girls can be capable of reproduction, not even me," Bert told his friend.

"They're making you get a vasectomy?" Adam asked. Bert shook his head.

"No, I had a vasectomy performed years ago right after my wife and I discovered that Robbie was a Geppetto boy and she was the carrier," Bert replied.

"Only a complete fool would pass on this problem to an innocent child," Adam bowed his head and covered his face in his hands.

"I can't just walk away from Sammy. He's not just a bag of potato's or a bundle of laundry," he told the Administrator.

"If you want to be transferred, I will allow Sammy to be transferred with you," Bert told his friend. Adam's thoughts now shifted. Could he take Sammy with him and just walk away from the other boys? Just leave Christopher, Joey, Matty, Trevor, Jesse, David, Spencer? Which ones could he kiss goodbye without ripping a piece of himself out over? Was Sid just a throw away friend that could be replaced without worry or concern? Up until he had the option everything was all Sammy, now, Adam knew it was the entire place, not just a single person. Adam shook his head.

"I can't just walk away from Green Tree."

"Keep in mind Adam, the procedure is reversible. Years ago it wasn't, but today, you have that option."

Two weeks later, Adam along with several other boys received their vasectomy's. At some future date he may opt to reverse the procedure, but for now, Adam is very comfortable with the knowledge that he is incapable of spreading the problem, especially since he met a Pine Ridge staff member that loves Sammy almost as much as he does, and thinks Adam is pretty cute too.

Who knows what the future might bring!

On May 25th, six coaches departed the Keys with the Camp Kenny boys and a support staff of very close to 100 people who would open up Camp for the season and prepare for the arrival of the Pine Ridge girls who would follow a week later. Except for parent visits, this was the first time many of the boys had left the Keys in years. For the older boys including Caleb who had just turned 5, this was an adventure. For Gloria and the staff, it was a 10 hour trip to Valdosta and then another grueling six hours to Camp the next day. One bus's air conditioning broke down which made her staff extremely happy when they had to give up their seats to keep the children happy and cool. To put it mildly, Gloria was happy to see the busses enter through a guarded gate and slip up a very wooded trail to Camp.

Neither Gloria nor any member of Camp Kenny had ever been to the Camp before. They had seen thousands of pictures, but had always remained in the Keys throughout the summer with the little ones. As she got off the bus with Timmy screaming his ass off because another boy had taken his toy, she saw for the first time why the rest of the school longed to return to North Carolina. For one thing, she wasn't sweating and she was outdoors. For another, the sun wasn't beating down on her like a blowtorch.

The busses unloaded at the Camp office, but directly in back of it, was the lake which began to draw the boys like a magnet. Despite directions to the contrary, Caleb and a growing number of boys were already in the water, and Gloria gave up trying to get them out as she posted watchers along the beach as shoe's, socks, pants, shirts and underpants began peeling off their owners.

During Hurricane Isabel, three cabins were lost. One fell victim to a fallen tree and two were undermined and collapsed by water flowing off the hill and flowing into the lake. Now, all three had been rebuilt and all the cabins surrounding the lake were heated for the coming fall. The cabins on the lower camp would now become the new home for Camp Kenny boys and the intermediate boys would all be relocated to the upper camp. Gloria surveyed her new domain and very much liked what she saw. Camp Kenny was very much different than Camp Green Tree. Camp Kenny was a beach, this was the country and Gloria was falling in love with it.

Once the crew that arrived with Gloria put their gear away in their bunks, the distribution of the boys belongings into their assigned cabins commenced with golf carts filled with baggage and the five and six year olds who could beg rides from the senior boys and staff that would open and prepare the Camp. The kitchen crew was already at work with a Bivouac planned since they didn't have the time for a kitchen meal quite yet. Gloria and her staff watched as organizationally, the opening of Green Tree progressed almost without comment or direction from Dave's crew who had done this for many years.

By 8:30, the boys had full bellies and were tucked into bed. For the first time in three days Gloria could relax and sit back. The girl watched the moon shimmer over the lake as Timmy lay in her lap more asleep than awake using her breast more as a pacifier than a provider of nourishment. The now two year old little boy was firmly attached to the girl as he would be for years to come as his sole provider of security, love and protection. He now swam like a fish, was fully potty trained and sometimes even made it through the night dry so long as he fell asleep with Gloria. He was now fully mobile, which was not to say that he didn't prefer to be carried whenever a big person would lower their arms and pick him up. Timmy had mastered the art of the 'Pick me up' and was expending very little energy on mundane items like walking whenever possible. Gloria looked down into the face of the boy as he sucked but not really drawing milk from his caretaker's breast. The dimple on his cheek appeared and disappeared with his sucking and his eyes slowly moved around under his eyelids telling Gloria he was probably painting pictures in his mind. She bent down and kissed the sleeping boy on his forehead for probably the 100th time that day. No Mother could have loved her baby more and Green Tree boys were very lucky to be where they were.

Until she moved up to Pine Ridge, Bert had offered the girl his cabin and as Jeanette joined her with Kenny, she had no question whatsoever why Bert and the boys all loved the Camp so very much. Jeanette sat down with Kenny who was pretty much down for the count. Jeanette put the boy across her legs and rubbed his back slowly as the little boy found a comfortable spot and settled himself in.

"How's he doing?" Gloria asked.

"Yesterday was fine, but I think the change in water has his system screwed. He's been shitting his brains out all day" Jeanette told Gloria.

"Doe's he have a fever?" Gloria asked. Jeanette shook her head.

"Just the shit's I've been giving him Pedialite but he doesn't like it."

"What's he been drinking?" Gloria asked.

"Besides my milk, just the orange juice this morning at the motel," Jeanette replied.

"Unless he got it from me because I drank coffee and the orange juice, that's the only place he could have been contaminated. I've been drinking bottled water since we left Florida."

"Let's see what the morning brings, it's probably just the ride," Gloria suggested.

"So this is Paradise," Jeanette said after a brief pause.

"You don't like it?" Gloria asked her friend. Jeanette smiled.

"Do I look stupid?" Gloria didn't answer she just smiled. In the dead of winter in Florida she knew this scene, little humidity, moderate temperatures , and no unseen biting insects. Except for a very high pitched sound of a few thousand cicada's some where off in the distance across the lake nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but these crickets sure did sound loud for little teeny creatures.

"Have you been up yet to the upper campus and Pine Ridge? Jeanette asked her friend.

"I haven't even been to the kitchen or pool yet, have you? Gloria asked. Jeanette shook her head.

"Tomorrow," she said.

In order to assimilate both groups of children as soon as possible before the older boys arrived, the staff of Green Tree and Pine Ridge had decided to take their students "Cold turkey" as far as being around each other was concerned. The venue for this would be both the pool and the lake.

Since April, the girls at Pine Ridge swam naked. This was no big deal to the Green Tree boys, that was pretty much normal. The girls on the other hand had always worn suits provided by the school. Now, they swam nude as did their staff with them. While still among nothing but females, the transition went very smooth for the girls. Now, in less than a week, they would be swimming together with boys. Both teams elected to "Break" the girls in slowly with the very youngest of Green Tree boys, those from Camp Kenny. Green Tree boys would not arrive until almost two weeks after the girls did, and hopefully by then the novelty of seeing and being with penises and testicles, albeit tiny ones, would be greatly diminished.

Hurricane Isabel had changed the way Green Tree operated in the future, and part of that change was to remain at Camp through the summer until the threat of Hurricanes in Florida was basically over. Since it can get chilly in North Carolina into the Fall, the pool was now heated and the heat was turned up. The pool on the upper campus had both a sauna and steam room attached, and the building had now become very nearly a hot tub. Almost immediately after breakfast the boys were taken to the pool for their first dip which was a complete success.

Because Kenny was still stomach sick from the road trip, Jeanette slipped on a pair of plastic pants on him and sat down with Gloria and Johanna as Kenny waddled into the water. All Green Tree boys were deep water swimmers, having been taught since they were babies or when they first arrived, and Kenny jumped in and took off for Timmy and his friends as the girls watched carefully.

"One of our first jobs is going to get the girls into deep water as soon as possible. We're receiving 52 non-swimmers among the girls and some of them are adults." Gloria told her friends.

"That's a heavy load." Johanna remarked.

"Yes, but it has a bright side to it. The girls are going to be so busy learning to swim, they won't have time to concentrate on the fact that they're naked." Gloria replied. Both girls smiled.

"I think the first two weeks will be a breeze. Our boys have nothing to rave about, and the girls will get use to them pretty quick. It's when the senior boys show up that the shit's going to start to fly," Jeanette giggled a bit.

"I don't think we're talking about shit flying," she quipped.

"What if a student doesn't want to swim?" Johanna asked.

"Swimming isn't mandatory, its optional. If they don't want to swim, they don't have to. We can't make them get naked against their permission. It's the same as saying no." Gloria responded.

"And if none of them decide to swim?" Jeanette asked.

"Then it will be a very long, boring summer for them." Gloria responded.

"We will probably have more than a few wall flowers in the beginning, but they'll get over it, especially the girls." Johanna looked at her friend.

"Why do you say that?" she asked.

"Because girls don't have obvious thoughts being telegraphed. Contrary to popular thinking, boys are more reluctant than girls to being naked because of the probability of erections."

"Amen," Jeanette remarked.

"The biggest problem we'll have is the 12 to 15 year old age group, both girls and boys. We'll keep the girls in with the Camp boys and Intermediate boys, and let the senior boys choose their option, either the pool or the lake. It'll take some time, but things will settle down after awhile."

"So I guess Sid won't be swimming much this summer." Johanna quipped. One more meeting broke up in giggles.

In Florida, the school was preparing to close down, while in North Carolina the Camp was being opened up by the day. Pine Ridge in the meantime was shutting down for good, and tractor trailer trucks were already on their way with the belongings of 100 girls and women who really didn't want to be moving in the first place. Pine Ridge was a warm, comfortable home for them and they were now going to be uprooted to the other end of the country and be placed in a situation that was totally foreign to them. They were not happy campers. Both their Administration and Bert wanted to make the transition as smooth as possible for them.

On June 1, they arrived in Charlotte and boarded busses for the two hour trip to Camp Green Tree and a new life. Their staff tried to keep things up-beat for them, but the staff was as depressed as the students.

Pine Ridge was set-up for the girls in winterized trailers that would hold four girls and a staff member per trailer. Their campus is self sufficient with its own classrooms and out buildings since the girls remain at Pine Ridge year round while the boys return to Florida during the winter months. It was not planned that way, but as the busses rolled in front of Bert's office, the girls first view of Green Tree was of a dozen boys clamoring on a raft just off the beach. As the girls got off the busses, they got their very first view of real live boys and all that comes with them. Caleb and his friends were fairly oblivious to the fact that they were naked. Gloria and her staff heard the first nervous giggles that would progress through the next few days.

It was close to dinner by the time the girls arrived, and the girls first meal was held in the dining hall. With the little ones back in clothing, the girls ate while stealing glances towards the senior boys who were opening the camp. Future dates were in the works, but for now, a sizing up was all that was done. Everybody was much to shy to make any moves, but plans were hatching and evaluations were being made on both sides as Gloria watched protectively.

The following morning it was time to break the ice after breakfast. The boys were use to going to the pool at school after breakfast and they were accustomed to swimming naked. Staff had decided that the easiest way to slide into the situation was to put the boys in the pool and then, by age with the youngest girls being first, send them to the pool and into the water in separate stages. The three and four year old girls popped into the water with no problem. The five and six year olds took a little more time, but they were allowed to wear underpants into the water which promptly fell off or was discarded in roughly 15 minutes. By the time the seven and eight year olds appeared, the pool was a frothing mass of little boys and girls paying absolutely no attention to them, and most of the girls were in the water or at least sitting at the pool edge with their feet in the water taking notes. At just around 11:00 the 9 to 15 year olds were brought to the pool and by then, most of the little one's were either playing in the kiddie pool, napping or out on the playground outside. On day one, half the older girls kept their pants on when they swam, but Gloria considered it a very good start as did the Pine Tree staff.

9 to 15 year old girls love to play 'Mother' and for the next two weeks, the Camp Kenny boys had a 'Mother' carrying them around. They also learned that little boys who have their penises rubbed against hips while being carried have pretty much the same reaction that little girls do when they 'bounce' on someone's knee. Caleb's was not the first stiffy they saw on a Green Tree boy, but it was in the first dozen or so.

One of the major factors that made the process much easier than Gloria had expected was the fact that the greater majority of the girls had come to the attention of the Institute after being discovered sexually involved with their brothers and relatives who were Geppetto boys. In the past, the boys were the only ones removed. Now, the girls were known to be the carriers and they too were voluntarily placed. While they had normal sexual libido's, very few were still virgins. This was something the files didn't report but made perfect sense to Bert once he found out.

"It makes things easier, but I still don't want to be running a whore house. We're teaching these boys to control themselves, not screw everything that walks down the street!" he told his staff.

"We're not going out and buying chastity belts for the girls. If their determined to get laid, there's no way we're going to stop them, but we can instill as much modesty and decorum in both sexes as we can."

Seeing the Green Tree girls breast feed the boys also caught the girls attention, especially when the older boys like Caleb got thirsty. By day three, pool time was a wide open affair, and the only girls wearing pants were the girls who were menstruating and not going into the water. Show and tell was a complete success and Gloria told Bert the girls were ready to move on to bigger and better things.

Since arriving at Green Tree, Adam had been off the Key just five times. As the door to Beachview closed behind him, he was looking forward to returning to Camp. The initial appearance of the girls at School was a shock to the man, but during their three week absence he missed them much more than he thought he would. He hadn't realized how much he enjoyed their company, especially when it came to jousting with Sid. He also very much missed the boys from Camp Kenny, something that surprised him.

The ferry ride off the Key was always a good way to start a war with the boys since each one wanted to steer. The pilot allowed each boy to steer for a few minutes while Adam concentrated on watching the gators in case one of them learned to climb since the last passage.

Green Tree buses began rolling out as they were loaded and with an escort of very somber looking men in very dark sunglasses following in government issued cars, all eight buses caught up with the lead bus just before Ocala. Just as Camp Kenny had done, they stayed overnight in a motel that was completely booked by the school in Georgia, and arrived at Camp just before 3:00.

When the girl's arrived at camp from Pine Ridge, you could hear a pin drop in any one of the buses. When the boys arrived you could probably hear them in the next County. The boys knew where they were going, and the cheering started once the buses left the road and entered the Camp trail. The girls heard the boys long before they saw them, and most retreated a few hundred feet down the trail to safety.

With the Camp Kenny boys now living in the cabins of the lower camp, the Intermediate boys would have to switch cabins to the upper camp. Few boys liked the idea of loosing the lake, but the upper camp cabins were both larger and more remote than the lower camps. They were also closer to the stables, and they were closer to the go-kart track, both of which were a magnet for eight to 12 year old boys. With cabin assignments in hand, the boys walked or grabbed rides in golf carts whenever possible and disappeared up the trail to the upper camp with the girls watching them disappear in a cloud of dust from the sidelines.

Adam was assigned to Cabin 10 with the same 11 people from Beachview including Sid and Anthony. Each cabin held 12 people comfortably and Brian was transferred in to maximize available space. The boys clothing trunks were already in the cabin, and once unpacked, all nine boys headed for the stables and Sid as Anthony and Adam sat down and did nothing for the first time in more than a few days.

Adam surveyed his surroundings from the front deck chair. The cabin itself was tucked into a wooded area with trees alongside and in back of the cabin. There was a picnic area with a fireplace and table to one side of the cabin and on the other side was a bike rack full of bikes and a clothesline. The front porch overlooked a flat plateau of land that the boys used for baseball, soccer, go carts and playing fields. Bridle paths lead alongside the clearing, and went off into the woods in a maze of trails that wound their way through the mountains surrounding them, and other than the stable area, rec hall and pool house, no other buildings were visible. Adam knew that Pine Ridge was about a quarter mile [400 m] into the woods on the north slope, but from the upper camp, it was completely invisible.

Dinner the first night out was a lakeside cookout, which the boys referred to as a Bivouac.

This would be the first opportunity for the boys to come together with the girls, and both the staff from Pine Tree and the Green Tree staff were very keen to see it go smoothly. The girls had now been at Camp for two weeks and being around boys was something they had gotten use to, but the boys they were around were 'Babies' as far as most of them were concerned. Now, things had changed. Dinner was set for 6:00 and the gathering at the lake began. Everybody had seen the pictures, but this was the real deal. Sammy was unimpressed as were most of his eight to 11 year old friends. There was no assigned seating, but you'd never guess that by the separation between the boys and the girls right up until the Camp Kenny boys showed up as they freely intermingled with their new found carriers. Once the food was eaten, the Camp Kenny boys were use to taking a dip, and as the younger boys peeled off their clothes, the youngest girls followed suit so to speak. The ball was now in the hands of the eight to 10 year olds, and Sammy and company wasn't about to be left standing on the beach, they hadn't been swimming for two days and the water looked too inviting even if silly old girls were standing there watching them. Bivouac ended with very few campers under 11, boy or girl, left in clothing. Bert considered it a glowing success.

Camp Green Tree was not a nudist colony, but by the 4th of July, nobody would ever believe that if you were around the lake or the pool. Understandably, the 13 to 15 year olds had the toughest time dropping their drawers in each others company, but once the boys found out that the girls were most impressed with the stiffest package, and once the girls found out that their bodies created that condition, inhibitions disappeared with clothing. Now, their new found freedom needed to be channeled so that Green Tree wasn't running a whore house. Green Tree sex was relatively impersonal. Now that girls were being thrown into the mix, that was going to be changing as Bert well knew. The ratio was almost four boys to 1 girl, so girls had the pick of the litter. Bert expected, and received some fireworks from time to time, but no all out wars.

The effect on the intermediate boys concerning going co-ed was minimal at best despite some of the intermediate girl's best efforts. Sammy and his pals made friends with the girls, thought the girl's were OK, they were great to swim with and play games with like tag or hide and seek, but when it came to romping, what could a girl possible know about doing it? Adam smiled as the girls wanted to play spin the bottle and Sammy and company thought that going horseback riding with their male friend's was so much more fun.

Probably the most valuable lessons learned by both camps during that first summer going co-ed was anatomy class which always ended up on the benches in the sauna during intermediate swim. Since all the campers involved shot blanks, there were no restrictions on them so long as the door closed with all participants' permission.

The girls very quickly learned that even staring at a boys penis had it rising up like a cobra, and touching it got it to rise even faster. Most of the girls Sammy's age had breasts roughly the size of him and his friends but a few early bloomers were obviously filling up with milk the boys noticed and the girls liked the boys to rub their tits almost as much as they liked the girls to rub their boners! Sammy and many of his friends thought for many month's that boys used their dicks to jerk off and girls used their tits. Seemed silly to Sammy, but hey, he didn't make up the rules! To Sammy there was one purpose for tits and that was to give milk. He preferred his cold and from the refrigerator and even if he did want it from tits, he had Gloria to seek out not some silly girl who still ran a dry well.

Pussy's had Sammy and his friends a little more stymied than tits. Nothing was wrong with the back pussy, it was the same as far as the boys could tell, but the front pussy felt different and the girls didn't want the boys to do it with them there because they were 'Virgins' whatever that was! How come they weren't 'Virgins' in both? Nevertheless, it really didn't matter, if you did find a girl who would play with you with her front pussy, these crazy girls always wanted you to kiss them on the lips, AND they wanted you to stick your tongue in their mouth! Sammy and his buddies thought girls were nice, but sometimes a little strange!

Girl's also giggled a lot, especially when they asked you to suck on one of your pal's so they could stand around and watch. Then they'd let you kiss their front pussy but what for? There was nothing there to kiss!

Adam figured it would take four maybe five year's before Sammy figured things out for himself and in the interim, he'd watch Sammy and his boy's learn the same exact way he did in his parents downstairs rumpus room with the neighborhood gang. The only difference would be that he had to make sure the door was locked.

Adam was now back in camp and was just one week shy of his Anniversary when he first arrived as a tired accountant thinking he had found himself a weekend layover. Adam had no clue what the future would bring, but as he sat on the front porch of the Cabin watching Spencer rocket a ball into the woods at the end of a batting swing with five of his boys chasing after it he smiled broadly to himself. He didn't know if Spencer would find himself a girl and 'Change trains'. He didn't know what the future would bring for any of his boy's most especially Sammy, but he did know he was going to find out.

"Happy to be back at Camp?" Sid asked his friend as the two sat back and sipped a beer. Adam thought about it for few long seconds and smiled again.

"Wouldn't everybody be happy to be where we are?"

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