This is the continued story of Simon's Journal.
I would highly recommend you read the first volume of this story,
Simon's Journal
Thirteen Days -- The First Crusade
before you begin this
novel.
The following narrative is nearly a complete
work of fiction.
Any similarity to actual individuals living or dead is completely
unintentional.
If reading a coming of age story about boys wearing diapers and exploring their
awakening sexuality is offensive or illegal in your area, then might I suggest
you go read War and Peace or something equally stimulating.
Simon's Journal
Volume II
Thirteen Nights -- After the Crusade
Written by
Danny
Author of Thirteen Days
PART 1 -- Sunday, March 07, 2004 -- Peace, the Greatest Victim of War
At exactly 4:57 AM I was awaken by a strange sound. Almost immediately I figured out that it was Jamie sitting at his computer and typing.
"Jamie?" I spoke in a parched morning voice.
He didn't jump or act surprised; instead he turned and said, "Go back to sleep!"
"What time is it?" I asked.
"It's 4:57 now go back to sleep!" he turned back to his computer and went back to typing.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
His form appeared to glow from the light of the monitor before him. I saw his head fall forward as he again spoke, "I'm just chatting with someone online."
"Who?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes.
"The President!" he said.
"Of what?" I asked not getting that he was being sarcastic.
Still whispering but sounding irritated he growled, "Would you just leave me alone and go back to sleep please?"
"I can't sleep with you over there tapping on the keyboard so loud!" I growled back.
I saw the silhouette of his head fall forward again. Without saying anything else I heard him typing again, but not for very long. I assumed he must have told who ever it was that he had to go because he turned off the computer, which put us back into the dark again. I expected him to get back into bed with me, but he didn't; instead he clicked on his bedroom light. It was so bright that it hurt and I had to pull the covers over my head to shield my eyes.
"JAMIE!" I yelled from under the covers.
"Will you shut up!" he said in a strong whisper.
"Then turn off the light!" I moaned throw the blanket.
I waited a few seconds and then tried to peek out from under the covers. The light was still on however not for much longer. Maybe half a minute later the light went out.
Still feeling irritated I snottily said, "Thank you very much!"
There was no more noise from him. I listened, but couldn't hear anything at all.
"Jamie?" I whispered into the darkness but got no reply.
"Did you leave?" I asked which I now realize was a pretty stupid thing to ask.
Despite trying, I could not get back to sleep and after a while I finally gave up, got out of Jamie's bed and went in search of him. It didn't take me long to find him. He was curled up on the sofa watching the television. He was wearing his robe which made me aware of the fact that I was only wearing a diaper and from the weight of it I must have wet more then once while I had been asleep.
I sat down at the other end of the sofa; his sock covered feet were only half a cushion away. "Are you okay?" I asked softly.
"Just leave me alone!" he said and I thought it sounded like he had been crying though he didn't look like it.
"W-what d-did I d-do?" I asked trying my best not to be offended or to get upset.
"Nothing! Just drop it!" he said rolling himself around so that I could not see his face anymore.
I sat with him, without speaking, all the way through some stupid movie about a guy training monkeys in a libratory to fly airplanes that would drop nuclear bombs. I wondered to myself why he didn't try to find something better to watch and maybe he would have if I had told him I didn't like it, but I chose not to say anything. I suffered through the movie along with him; I mean, I guess he was suffering; I don't know really.
When the movie was finally over, I got up and that is when I realized he'd fallen back to sleep. I couldn't believe that I sat and endured that badly made movie for nothing. Not knowing what to do next, I decided to go back to the bedroom to put on some clothes before Marsha woke up.
However, when I stood up my diaper nearly fell off my hips. I don't think I was surprised really, I just didn't realize that I'd wet so much while I'd slept and while sitting watching the movie. I had obviously wet enough that my diaper was filled to its maximum capacity and was on the verge of leaking.
To keep it from falling off me, I had to hold the diaper in place. After checking the spot where I had been sitting for any wetness and happily finding none, I did a funny kind of duck walk back to Jamie's room. As soon as I had made it back, I let go; the diaper fell off me and landed around my feet with a bit of a splat sound.
Now I was in a bit of a pickle. It would be foolish of me to try and go around without a diaper given that I've been wetting myself without knowing anything about it and yet I wasn't sure I could put a regular diaper on all by myself.
Not knowing what to do, I decided to do what I knew I could do. I picked up the wet diaper, rolled it up, used the tapes to secure it closed and then placed it in Jamie's wicker trashcan. I had gone back to my bag and was getting out a new diaper when Jamie came walking into the room looking groggy.
"Boy I am glad you are awake! Can you help me put this on?" I held out the clean diaper to him, but he walked right past me without saying a single word.
Something in me finally snapped, "W-why are you mad at m-me?"
He didn't answer but instead pulled off his robe, tossed it into the bottom of his closet and proceeded to dress himself. When he sat down on his bed to pull on his shoes, I tried to sit next to him but he just stood up and walked out with one shoe on his left foot and the other in his hand.
"Jamie, wait?"
Even though I tried calling after him, he didn't even slow down. I sat at the foot of his bed trying to think of what I could have done to make him so mad at me, but try as I might, I could not reason it out at all.
While sitting and trying to imagine what it might have been, Marsha walked into the room wrapped up in a black and gold oriental style silk house robe. Had her hair not looked as if it had been combed with an eggbeater, she would have looked good enough to go out on the town.
She walked in to see me sitting stark naked, holding a fresh diaper and looking despondent. Completely out of instinct I, like an idiot, tried to cover my nudity with the folded up diaper.
Still trying her best not to make me feel embarrassed she simply said, "Come on, I'll help you with that!"
As she said it, she brushed several strands of hair out of her face and hooked them behind her right ear.
Embarrassment did not dare rear its ugly head at me this time. I was too upset and confused to bother with a stupid emotion like embarrassment.
"M-Marsha? D-did I d-do s-s-someth-thing wr-r-r-rong?" I asked her.
Looking confused she asked, "What do you mean?"
"W-w-why is h-he s-so m-m-m-mad at m-m-me?" I hated that I started to cry, "W-what d-did I d-do?"
She bent down and held my head to her warm, silk covered chest.
In a soft motherly voice, she said, "Simon, you didn't do anything! Jamie is mad because he got in trouble. That is all. It has nothing to do with you."
"W-why? W-what d-d-did he d-do?" I sobbed into her silky house robe.
She pulled me away while still keeping her arms around me. As if she was trying to peer into my soul, her eyes appeared to be probing my own before she finally let out a held breath.
"Do you know that Jamie idolizes you?" she asked.
I scrunched up my nose as I grunted my confusion, "Huh?"
"He does!" she nodded. "Each time he comes back after spending the weekend with you, he seems so happy and talks about you non-stop for hours!"
I had a hard time buying into what she was saying. Until just recently, Jamie and I had been mortal enemies; never missing a chance to get each other into trouble or to cut the other person down with our words. Heck, we'd fought so much that I think mom and dad were starting to have second thoughts about having us sleeping in the same room.
"Jamie wants to be just like you in every way!" she said.
I sniffled and asked, "B-but I-I-I a-alw-ways th-th-thought h-he h-h-hated m-m-me?"
"Have you ever noticed that he dresses like you, combs his hair like you and even scrunches up his nose just like you do when you are confused about something?" she brushed the tears from my cheeks.
"Th-then w-why is h-he b-being m-mean t-to m-m-me n-now?" I sniffled again.
Marsha took a deep breath and let it out again before telling me the reason.
"Jamie wants to be just like you and I've caught him several times wearing your GoodNites here at our home."
I started to grunt and scrunch up my nose again, but having her comment on it made me aware that I did it, so I stopped myself.
"H-He h-has a-alw-ways p-p-lick-ked on m-me f-for w-w-w-wetting m-m-my b-b-bed!"
Marsha scooted herself farther up onto the bed as she'd been sitting right on the edge of the mattress.
"I think Jamie wants to be so much like you, that he gets frustrated at times and that makes him upset."
I looked away from her for the first time and down to my dangling feet as I thought about it all before asking.
"W-why is he m-mad t-today? W-w-what d-did he d-do?" and as soon as I asked it, I knew the answer.
She cleared her throat, "I came in to check on you during the night and found him wearing one of your diapers. I made him get up and take it off. I told him that some people have real problems just like you and it isn't right to imitate that sort of thing. He's still brooding because I told him that he was grounded to the apartment for today as punishment."
I suddenly felt like someone had stomped on my heart and smashed it into the mud. Yeah sure, Jamie asked me to put the diaper on him, but I did it and now he is in trouble because I put it on him last night!
Without thinking I started to speak, "B-but h-he was onl-ly d-doing th-that s-so I-I-I w-w-would n-not f-f-f-f-feel b-b-bad or Emb-barrassed."
Marsha a's gaze changed. I felt as if she were searching to see if I was telling the truth now, which of course I wasn't, but I'd committed myself to attempting to bale Jamie out and I wasn't going to quit half way into the effort.
"H-honest! H-he w-w-was!" I said.
She continued to look at me quizzically before finally pointing to the diaper I was holding and saying, "Come on! Let's get you into that and dressed."
The two of us stood up together. I went to the side of the bed and lay down and she taped the diaper into place after wiping me down with one of my baby wipes. She didn't use the diaper cream or the powder this time and although I noticed I didn't bother to reminder her.
She was helping me into my pants when she called out, "Jamie? Can you come in here a minute please?"
My heart began to race! My plan to free him from his single-day of house arrest was in danger. Jamie appeared in the doorway to his room looking seriously miffed.
"Simon just told me that the reason you were wearing a diaper last night was because you were trying to make him not feel so bad about having to wear them around you. Is that true?" she asked him.
She was looking at him as she asked her question and I tried to catch his eye in hopes of passing some mental message, but he never looked up from the floor. When he finally nodded his head I wanted to shout halleluiah, but that would blow our lie right out of the water.
Marsha stood up and looked at me and then back at Jamie.
"Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?"
Jamie looked up finally and said, "I don't know." which is, of course, the customary response all us kids are to give an adult whenever they ask us anything at all. I think it is like a law or something.
Without saying anything Marsha reached into Jamie's closet and pulled out a large gray sweatshirt.
Holding it out before me she said, "Arms up!"
I raised my arms as high as I was able to with my armor on, she slipped the shirt over my head and pulled it down into place. It was really big and actually hung down past my backside.
She turned to Jamie who was still standing quietly in the doorway.
"Well, it was a nice gesture and you're not on restriction anymore. However, I do not want you doing that sort of thing anymore!" She paused long enough to glance at me and then back to Jamie before telling him, "Why don't you help Simon get his socks and shoes on and I will go get breakfast started."
Jamie was smiling as she left the room. He walked over to me and looking me right in the eyes he asked, "Why'd you tell her that?" To which I shrugged my shoulders as much as my armor would allow.
He looked toward the open door then tuned back to me, smiled again and gave me a quick peck on my lips.
"Thanks!" he said
"So you aren't mad at me anymore?" I asked.
Pulling his eyebrows down to a point in an attempt to look mean he said, "I wasn't mad at you!"
I gave him a fake jab to the gut, "You sure had me fooled!"
After helping me to get my socks and shoes on, we went and had our breakfast. On the way out of his room he playfully swatted my diapered bottom which made a loud, deep popping sound.
We had scrambled eggs with
There were a limitless number of things we could do today and for starters we tromped back to Jamie's room for a while.
"You think Ian might want to paint us today?" I asked as Jamie started to make his bed.
"Dunno, but we can stop by and see!" Jamie said as he arranged his pillows.
I started helping him make the bed while we continued to talk.
"I'd really like to see how he does those paintings." I said.
"I've seen him do it lots of times." Jamie said.
"Want to go over there now?" I asked.
"He doesn't get up this early; especially if he was out the night before." Jamie said as he and I pulled the bedspread up over the pillows.
"Plus he might not be alone." he added.
Not catching his implication I asked, "What do you mean?"
Instead of using words Jamie looked at me and wiggled his eyebrows up and down. I giggled as the image of Ian in bed with another guy formed on the movie screen within my mind.
"Can I ask you something?" I asked.
"I think you just did." Jamie said with a mocked up innocent expression.
"Now don't start that again!" I shook my fist at him and he acted like he didn't even see me do it.
"What then?" he asked while smoothing out the wrinkles in the bed.
"Your friends and you?" I started to say.
He started to walk around the bed to my side, "Yeah, what about us?"
"You guys really have a," I dropped my voice so that I was barely audible, "sex club?"
Jamie let loose a rolling kind of chuckle, "Yeah, we really do!"
Jamie started smoothing out my side of his bed while I asked; "You really do all that stuff you told me about before?"
"Yeah, sure do!" he said and totally by accident he was moving his arm backwards in a sweeping motion and his elbow caught me right in the crotch. Thanks to my diaper it took most of the blow, but it was still hard enough that my poor little marbles began to ache and drew back up into my body for protection. I doubled over and fell forward onto the bed.
Jamie began to laugh and with no sympathy at all said, "Hey! I just got all the wrinkles out of that!"
As if it would help at all, I was holding the front of my pants and moaning. "You jerk! You got me right in the privates!" which only made Jamie laugh that much more.
Now Jamie had done it on accident and really didn't hit me as hard as he might have had I not been wearing the diaper, but when I rolled over and sank my fist into his groin, it wasn't by accident or as slight a hit as his had been. I nailed him dead in his tenders. He fell right to the floor, his body curled instantly into the fetal position and his eyes were squeezed completely closed. I don't think he was breathing either. I started to laugh while still holding my own jewels as they still hurt.
"You are so dead!" he groaned without moving his mouth at all.
"Serves you right!" I laughed.
Groaning as if the words were being gargled out from the back of his throat, "Oh you butthole! I didn't mean to hit you!"
"I didn't mean to either!" I laughed.
He opened his eyes and moved for the first time, "You absolute jerk! You did too mean it and you know you did!"
"You want me to kiss it and make it all better?" I teased and he tried to kick me, but when he moved his leg it only caused his injured boyhood to hurt even more.
"I'm so going to kill you when I get up!" he said and this time he sounded more like his normal self again, which allerted me that he would be getting up any second.
I jumped to my feet and ran from his room,
through the living room and into the kitchen where I assumed I would find
Marsha but she wasn't there. I turned and looked back out of the kitchen to see
Jamie hobbling slowly my way. He was dragging one foot as if it was partially
paralyzed and he was all hunched over, clutching his groin. He resembled some
junior version of an old horror movie monster. I was reminded of
I ran out of the kitchen and positioned myself so that the table was between Jamie and me. If he would move left I would move left too making it impossible for him to get a hold of me.
I was giggling like mad as I tried to apologize, "Okay! I am sorry! I am sooooo sorry!"
"Not as sorry as you will be when I catch you!" he growled and almost smiled.
"Jamie I am very, very, very, very, very, times a thousand, sorry!" I was still giggling, "Please don't kill me okay?"
"Let me `Frog' you twice and I'll call it even!" Jamie offered.
"No way!" I protested, "You hit me first anyway!"
Jamie moved two steps to the right so I to moved two steps to my right.
"I didn't mean to do it! You did!" Jamie said as he suddenly moved halfway around the table, making me move just as fast to keep him at bay.
I tried to out think him, "I thought we were supposed to be at peace and not at war!"
"You are the one that broke the truce!" Jamie jogged left two steps and then back right all the way around the table once before stopping again.
"Stop!" I said laughing.
Marsha came out of her room with her hair wrapped in a towel.
"What's going on?" she asked.
This time Jamie lied to her, "We're just playing mom."
"Well you're being too loud! Take it down a few notches." She said and went back to her room.
I looked back at Jamie who, while I had not been looking, had taken the chance and moved to where he was almost on my side of the table. Since I was closer to the living room I turned around and made a desperate attempt to reach his bedroom. I made it and got the door closed and locked before he got to it. I heard him slam into the door followed by a thud that I guessed was him falling to the floor.
Concerned that he might have really hurt himself I unlocked and opened the door again only to have him barge in and nearly knock me over in the process.
"Now Jamie! Remember, I have broken ribs!" I said holding my hands up to keep him at arms distance.
He balled up his fists and raised his middle finger so that the knuckle was sticking up from his fist.
"Where do you want your first `Frog'? In the arm or the leg?"
"Jamie please I am really sorry!" I said backing up until I was against the other wall.
In the distance I heard the phone ring but Jamie still stood there waiting for me to choose.
"If you don't pick one then I will!" he faked a jab at my arm.
"Please don't!" I dropped to my knees and pleaded for mercy.
"Jamie, phone for you!" Marsha called out.
"I'll just have to get you later then!" he said and ran out of his room to go get the phone.
I stood up and raced after him. He was in the kitchen talking into the phone.
"Yeah, but not very long." I heard him saying.
There was a pause as Jamie listened to the caller before he spoke again, "Okay, let me ask."
He pulled the phone from his mouth and asked Marsha, "Can we go over to Paul and Noah's?"
Marsha was making herself a cup of tea and was dipping the teabag into the hot water when he asked.
"I wish you would!" she responded.
Jamie put the receiver back to his mouth, "She said yes! We'll be right there!"
He paused for a moment before saying, "Okay, bye!" and then hung up the phone.
"Come on!" Jamie said taking half a step away from the phone.
"You two check in every hour!" Marsha said.
Jamie grabbed me by my arms as he said, "Okay see ya mom!"
We were out the door in less then a second; Jamie turned and before I could react, gave me a `Frog' in my right arm that hurt so bad it felt like I was going to die.
"Oh you are such a punk!" I said rubbing my arm.
"You got one more coming!" he laughed as he moved several steps backward out of my reach.
"No way! I only hit you once!" I objected.
"Okay, then we are even!" he agreed while still moving away, but not turning his back on me.
I wanted to run up to him, grab him by his ears and shake the crap out of him, but I was too busy rubbing my lifeless arm.
"Dang Jamie that really hurts!" I whimpered.
"Oh stop belly-aching and come on!" he said from half way down the hall.
I was cradling my arm and trying to wiggle my fingers as I walked.
"You know something?" I asked as the two of us stepped into the elevator.
"What?" he asked.
I shook my still throbbing arm and said, "We sure suck at keeping the peace going between us."
As the elevator doors opened Noah and Paul were there to greet us.
"Hi Jamie! How's it going Simon?" Paul said.
"Hey guys!" Noah said as Jamie and I walked out of the elevator.
I waved at the same time Jamie asked them, "What are you guys doing out here?"
"Had to take the trash to the chute." Noah answered.
Not missing a beat Jamie said, "But Paul is still here?"
Paul started slap-boxing with Jamie.
"Oh you are so not funny!" Paul said.
I must admit that I got some satisfaction when Paul accidentally cold-cocked Jamie upside his head. Jamie started to stagger and nearly fell over had he not staggered into Noah.
"Oh sorry! Are you alright? I didn't mean to hit you so hard." Paul said helping to steady Jamie. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from busting out laughing. When Jamie recovered, he was rubbing his jaw and trying to act as if it didn't hurt, but I knew it had especially since it had only been a few days since I'd given him a shiner and busted his nose.
Jamie tried to look macho and not dazed as we walked down the hall to their apartment. Despite being in the same building and having the same overall floor plan, I was surprised how different their apartment looked inside from Jamie's. Where Jamie's mom had decorated their place to look very modern and clean, Paul and Noah's had a much more lived in look. The floors were covered in a multi-shaded brown carpet; the walls were all painted in a generic off white with tons of pictures all over the place of Noah and Paul at various ages. There were also a lot of plants hanging from the ceiling, some on shelves, several here and there on tables and an absolutely huge palm kind of tree that was so tall that to keep the tops of it up, someone had tied the very top of the tree to three hooks that were in the ceiling. Now that I think about it, maybe that was to keep it from being knocked over. I think the thing that made their apartment look so different is that there were no walls separating the Living room, Kitchen and Dining room areas. It was like one big grand living space.
A frumpy sort of woman, with hair that looked to have been over bleached, came walking out of the kitchen dining room area carrying a laundry basket full of freshly washed and folded clothes.
As if she didn't even see Jamie or me she said to Paul and Noah, "There you are. I was calling for you."
"We were taking out the trash!" they answered in unison.
"Well now you can go get your clothes off the washer and take them to your rooms. Put them away where they are supposed to go, folded them neatly and do not just stuff them into any old drawer or dropped them on the floor!"
Paul and Noah looked a little uncomfortable and didn't put up any argument as they started toward the kitchen. With no walls to obstruct the view I saw that on the far side of the kitchen were two bi-fold louvered doors that were open revealing a tired and un-matching washer and drier set.
"Leave your dress shirts in there! I will iron them later today!" she shouted which caught me off guard and maybe startled me a little.
She was almost to the other side of the great room before she bothered to acknowlege that Jamie and I were even in the apartment. The way she addressed Jamie made it sound like he was one of her own children and not just a friend.
"Jamie? What have you been told about wearing shoes in the house?"
"Sorry!" Jamie said kicking off his shoes. Not wanting to get verbally chastised too, I quickly kicked my own shoes off as well.
When I looked back up she was gone and Paul and Noah were walking back toward us, both carrying armloads of folded clothes. I looked down and for the first time noticed they were both in their socks, which I realized was why they didn't get yelled at for wearing shoes in the apartment.
"Come on!" Noah said, leading the way for Jamie and me.
Paul had raced ahead of us and was already in their room. The three of us were just crossing the living room when a man came out of Paul's and Noah's room carrying a cordless screwdriver.
Seeming surprised to see Jamie and I he said, "Oh hi there Jamie, and this must be your brother Sampson?"
He stuck out his free hand to shake mine.
"The boys have told me all about you, Sampson! That is a great and noble name! It's from the bible you know?"
I shook his hand and politely corrected him, "Actually my name's Simon."
"Oh yeah? Well, Simon you say? Oh now then there's nothing noble about that."
He turned to look at Noah for a second, who looked positively horrified. Then turning back to me he raised his cordless screwdriver as if he were attempting to rob Jamie and me.
"Oh wait, wasn't there a Simon in the bible too?" and raising his cordless screw driver high into the air he announced, "Ah yes, one of the twelve! Yes, Yes! Simon is truly a noble name! I shall never forget again!" and walked off, rustling Noah's hair in the process.
Noah had turned so bright red that I expected his head to pop like an inflamed zit.
Not making eye contact he said, "That was my dad. Everyone calls him Buzz."
Jamie laughed, "Yeah, their dad's nuts, but he's cool!"
"Glad you think so!" Noah said turning and walking into his room with Jamie and me following behind.
Their room looked like someone had set off a bomb. There was stuff everywhere; toys, games, clothes and books, all scattered everywhere.
"Wow!" I said at seeing the mess, "My mom would kill me if she ever saw my room like this!"
I noticed that Paul, who was sitting on the bed, had not put his clothes away like he'd been told but had instead dropped them on the floor in front of the dresser. Noah on the other hand did put his clothes away but not before kicking Paul's stuff out of the way so that he could open the bottom drawer of the dresser.
"Dad screwed the shelves to the wall so they won't fall over again." Paul said which drew my attention to the fact that the shelves on the far wall were bare, except for what looked to be a pair of dirty underwear dangling from the edge of a middle shelf.
After using his foot to push the bottom drawer back in, Noah said, "Yeah, mom used to yell at us all the time to clean up but she hardly ever does now."
Paul jumped in, "Yeah, she said as long as we bring home B's or better on our report cards she won't say anything about our room."
"How did the shelves fall over?" Jamie asked bending down and picking up a Gameboy from the floor.
"Butthead over there." Paul started to say.
Noah picked up one of Paul's' clean shirts that Paul had just carried in and threw it at his brother, "You're the Butthead that threw my bear all the way on top!"
"Bear?" I said and wished I hadn't as soon as the word was past my lips.
Noah again blushed and Paul, not willing to let the subject pass without taking another stab at Noah said, "Yeah little baby Noah can't go beddy-bye without his Teddy Bear!"
As if he had rocket implants in the soles of his feet Noah launched himself into the air and came down on top of Paul with his fists flying in from every direction.
"Get off, you dweeb!" Paul groaned as he tried to fend off Noah's attack.
"You promised you'd never tell!" Noah said landing a swinging left into Paul's stomach and ending the battle... for now.
I felt really out of place, like I should leave but I also felt like it would be rude to just walk out. Jamie, who had not even paid any attention to Paul and Noah was standing beside me playing with the Gameboy, he finally looked up at me and said, "Don't worry, they always fight like that!"
I was concerned for Paul who was curled into a ball on the bed clutching at his stomach and gasping for air, "You okay?" I asked.
Noah answered instead, "He's fine except he's a butthead!"
A couple seconds later Paul raised himself up in time to kick Noah in the back, but it must not have hurt because Noah didn't even flinch.
"You jerk! You nearly knocked the air out of me!" Paul then rolled himself off the bed and stormed out of the room.
"I think you really hurt him." I said to Noah.
"No way!" Jamie said, "I've seen them fight worse then that!"
Noah was still looking a little embarrassed over the Teddy Bear comment but soon got over it, or at least acted like he did.
Noah tried to change the subject by sayting, "Which one you got there?"
"Pokemon Gold." Jamie answered without looking up form the game.
As if it really mattered Noah said, "That one's mine, you can play it."
I noticed that on the wall separating their room from the rest of the apartment were two movie-sized posters for Star Wars Episodes 1 and 2 taped to the wall.
"You like Star Wars?" I asked.
"They are only the best movies ever!" Noah said.
From off in the distance came his mothers' shrill cry. "Noah! Stop hitting your brother!" to which Noah only rolled his eyes.
Paul came back into the room later looking as if he might have been crying.
"Tattle Tail!" Noah said to him.
Paul then countered with, "Least I'm not a diaper baby that sleeps with a Teddy Bear and sucks his thumb!"
I felt myself flush with embarrassment at the words, "Diaper baby," and Jamie surprised me by suddenly whipping the Gameboy at Paul and hitting him right in the chest.
"Ouch! Dang Jamie that hurt!" Paul cried out.
Jamie looked like as if he was seeing red. He positioned himself in front of me basically protecting me from an impending attack.
With both hands raised defensively he snapped at him, "You better watch what you say or I'll bust you right in the mouth!"
Noah took a step away form Jamie, Paul was rubbing and holding his chest where the game had hit him hard and not realizing what he'd just said he asked, "What did I say?"
Noah suddenly understood why Jamie was so mad and gave Paul a shove! "You jerk! You know Simon has to wear Diapers!"
I couldn't believe what was being said and all I wanted to do was run away, which is exactly what I did. I was at their front door, shoes in hand before the three of them caught up to me. With tears streaming down my face I grabbed the knob and started to turn it but Jamie barged in front of me, effectively stopping me from opening the door.
"Get out of my way!" The words flew off my tongue as if strapped to a nuclear missile.
"Jamie wait!" I heard Noah say from behind me.
Seething I said to Jamie, "You told them!"
Jamie tried to touch my arm but I batted his hand away.
"I only told them so they wouldn't say something to embarrass you last night." He said.
I don't think I've ever been as mad in my life as I was at that moment. Much like had happened the morning I had taken on Peter and his friends all by myself I suddenly lost control and with a single punch to his stomach, Jamie tumbled over. I turned the doorknob and was out the door with Paul following quickly behind me.
"Simon stop! Please! I didn't mean anything by that! I..." he stopped midway through whatever he was going to say when I turned and had a shoe raised into the air ready to strike him down.
Paul had his hands raised to try and block me if I chose to swing.
"I'm sorry I wasn't thinking I was just mad at Noah!" he said.
I threw my shoe at him and he ducked out of the way. I threw the other and missed him only by a fraction of an inch. I then turned and ran down the hall to the stairs. I expected him to come running after me, but I didn't hear him. I took the stairs back to Jamie's floor and was going to go through the door when I noticed the grate on the wall was not fastened correctly.
Not really thinking about what I was doing, I took hold of it and it lifted open. I slipped into the duct behind the grate and lowered it back into place. After making my way all the way to the big metal door that led to the garden, which I found was not closed all the way, I stepped in to find Becky inside watering the plants.
I startled her so much that she screamed when she saw me, "AAAAHHHH!" and dropped the watering can. It hit the concrete floor with a clunk and spilling water everywhere.
Having hoped that I would find the place empty so that I could sit myself down for a good cry and finding that was not going to happen I turned and started to leave. Becky must have seen that I was crying because she ran over and caught me by the back of my shirt.
Sounding genuinely concerned she asked, "Wait Simon, what's wrong?"
All I could say was, "Please let me go!"
She pulled me back a half step, enough so that she could get around in front of me, "What's the matter?"
"I just want to be alone, please!" I said before totally breaking down which didn't help the way I was feeling given that I didn't really even know Becky and didn't want her to see me crying.
She stopped trying to get me to tell her what was wrong. Instead she put her arms around me and patted the back of my head affectionately while I sobbed into her fuzzy sweater. I suppose it was because Becky is several inches taller than me and the way she was holding and shushing me made her seem kind of motherly. I imagine that is what it must be like to have an older sister to run to.
I was able to get all my tears out before the two of us were interrupted by the clank of the metal door being opened again. As it swung open Becky and I had to move out of the way. She released her embrace and I turned so that my back was to the door while wiping my eyes and nose on the sleeve of Jamie's sweatshirt that Marsha had put on me this morning. In an odd sort of way I felt kind of good to be wiping my own snot on Jamie's shirt.
"There you are!" Noah said as he came in.
"What's going on?" Becky asked sounding angry, "Why's Simon crying?"
Noah ignored Becky and said, "Simon? We're sorry! We didn't mean too, I mean... uh, we shouldn't have said those things! We weren't thinking!"
"Why? What did you say to him?" Becky asked still sounding mad.
"Becky would you just shut up for a minute! This has nothing to do with you!" Noah said in a very nasty way.
I heard a thump behind me and then Noah cry out! "Ouch Becky! Why'd you stomp on my foot?"
"Because you are a jerk! Now get out and leave us alone!" Becky said.
"Stop pushing!" Noah said.
"Get out, and don't come back!" Becky shouted and then I heard the metal door clank closed again.
I felt a hand on my shoulder, then saw Becky's arm reach around me from behind and taking hold of my elbow she turned me around and embraced me again.
"You okay?" she asked in a soothing voice and I found it remarkable how she could go from sounding so violent one second and gentle the next.
I had nearly stopped crying and Becky loosened her grip on me.
"You want to talk about it now?" she asked.
I shook my head no.
"Want to help me water the plants?" she asked as if talking to a small child.
I nodded.
"Okay, I'll have to go get some more water. Will you be alright while I'm gone?" she asked as if she were going to be gone more then a few seconds. I remember Jamie telling me that there was a water faucet in the room with all the pipes and ducts, which was just on the other side of the storage room.
After I nodded again she picked up the watering can and went to fill it up. She was back after a minute or two but she wasn't alone. Noah was with her and was looking very humbled. I also couldn't help but notice that he was limping slightly due to Becky having tromped on his foot. He was still only wearing socks afterall.
"Noah just told me what happened." Becky said softly.
I spun back around so that I did not have to look at either of them.
"I don't want to talk about it." I said.
I could not understand what Becky said next because she said it so softly but afterward Noah spoke.
"Simon?" his voice cracked.
When I did not respond I heard Becky say, "Noah, tell him or I will do it for you!"
Noah cleared his throat and said, "Simon, I used to wet the bed too!"
Then I heard Becky say, "Tell him the whole truth!" while putting an emphasis on the word whole.
Noah sighed heavily, "I... I still do sometimes!"
When they had come back into the garden they had not closed the metal door so we heard when Jamie and Paul were coming through the grate that led into the storage room.
I turned to see that Jamie was the first in.
"He's in here!" he whispered to Paul who came in to and closed the metal door behind him.
Instead of addressing me Paul turned to Becky, "We could hear you all the way out by the stairs! Why didn't you have this door closed?"
Jamie spoke up next, "I bet everyone could hear what was being said."
I was looking right at Noah when Jamie said that and I saw as every bit of color washed out of him and he started to look like he was going to pass out or something. I don't think any of us expected him to do what he did next. With no warning whatsoever Noah leaned forward and puked right there on the concrete floor. The smell quickly overtook the rest of us and I could see everyone turning various shades of green. Becky went over behind a tall concrete pillar and opened a window to allow fresh air to blow in swiftly.
Jamie and Paul had taken Noah over to the grass to lie down and Becky was trying to use the watering can to wash the bile down the floor drain a couple feet away. When she went back out to get more water I slipped out behind her but she didn't know it. I managed to hide behind a stack of boxes until she re-entered the garden room and closed the metal door. I went through the grate, through the plumbing room, back into the ducts and out the grate by the stairs. I then made my way back to Jamie's apartment.
However when I reached the door I found it locked and so I had to ring the bell. When Marsha answered the door she looked a little confused.
"Where's Jamie?" she asked.
"Oh he's still at Paul's and Noah's." I lied.
Then a look of understanding came about her.
"Oh, you need a change?" she asked.
Now I honestly had no idea but I figured there was a really good chance that I did, so I nodded to her. She escorted me to Jamie's room and when I unbuttoned and unzipped my pants I saw that I was wet, maybe not wet enough to warrant a changing just yet, but I went ahead and assumed the position on Jamie's bed without saying anything.
Marsha unfastened the tapes to my diaper and without removing it from under me was cleaning off my front diaper area when the intercom buzzer sounded. The buzzing meant that the security guard down in the front lobby was buzzing up.
"Don't go anywhere!" Marsha said with a funny grin and I must admit that it was funny.
PART 2 -- Sunday, March 07, 2004 -- A League is Formed and a Toe is Broken
I was laying there on Jamie's bed with my boy nudity exposed to the elements and I didn't, in truth, care. I was lost to my thoughts as I wondered if Jamie, Paul, Noah and Becky had realized I had taken off again and if they had, were they again searching the building for me. In an abnormal sort of way, I was deriving a trivial yet satisfying amount of pleasure from this demented game of Hide-and-Seek that I was playing. At the same time, I was feeling fiercely perplexed and besieged by everything that I was trying to keep contained within my skull.
I am not sure of the exact time that transpired while I waited for Marsha to return. However, when I saw the things on Jamie's wall moving slightly, I realized she was on her way back in. I made a mental note to try and remember that when I see him again, to tell Jamie how inventive a warning system that actually is.
Now, I had no other expectations than to see Marsha walk back into Jamie's room and I had none of the fears or worries that I'd been feeling about having her change my diaper. Somehow, something in the way I viewed her had changed within me and having her change my diaper or see me naked seemed as normal as if one of my own parents were going to do it. In fact, I could not understand why I had been feeling so squeamish around her this weekend. I was ready for Marsha to come finish the job she had started but when mom walked in holding a new package of diapers under her arm, I was taken wholly by surprise. I blinked twice just to be sure my eyes were not playing tricks on me. For maybe half a second I had the notion that I had fallen asleep and was dreaming but as quickly as the notion formed it vanished in a cloud of mental vapors.
"MOM!" I roared ecstatically when I saw her.
"Hi sweetie!" she said pulling off her coat so that she could finish the job Marsha had started. Her smile was like sunshine on a summer day. I felt all-warm inside just seeing her again.
"W-why are you here?" I asked.
"Marsha called this morning and said you were almost out of diapers and I also wanted to see you!" she said.
"Is my room done? Can I come home now?" I asked.
"Shhhh, lay still and let mommy get you cleaned up and diapered okay?" She said giving my nose a tweak before raising my bottom, pulling the wet diaper out from under me and wiping my backside clean too.
Out in the other room I could faintly hear dad's voice as he was talking with Marsha. I also heard another man's voice but I did not recognize it.
"Is dad here too?" I asked.
"Yes, we took a break to bring you more diapers." She said sliding the fresh diaper under me.
"When can I come home?" I asked.
"Soon!" Was all she offered as a time frame.
"How soon?" I asked trying to nail her down to a specific time.
"Pretty soon!" she teased.
"Mommmm!" I droned and chuckled!
Just having her with me made me so happy that all the bad feelings that had been flowing through me today seemed to run away and hide from her shinning smile.
"We should be finished and back this afternoon!" I heard dad say.
I looked past mom to see dad standing just inside the doorway of Jamie's room.
"Hi dad!" I said equally glad to see him.
Dad smiled proudly and said, "Hi there slugger! You been having fun?"
Not wanting to make them worry at all I lied, "Yeah the best!"
"Where is Jamie anyway?" Mom asked while looking around the room as if he might be standing silently in some corner.
"He is at Noah's and Paul's still." I said.
"Are those friends of his?" dad asked.
He picked up the wet diaper from off the bed where mom had left it and began to fold it into a neat white football shape.
"Yeah!" I said and giggled when mom accidentally tickled me as she applyed the baby powder.
She pulled the diaper up and taped it into place before helping me to my feet and pulling my pants back up over the fresh diaper. She was zipping up my pants when I noticed that dad had a large Band-Aid under the left side of his chin.
I started to giggle and mom, while giving my knees a squeeze, asked me, "What are you giggling about?"
I pointed at dad and asked through my giggles, "Dad was using a hammer again huh?"
It's a running joke in my house that every time dad so much as touches a hammer. Usually he hits his thumb or finger, but there have been times where he has whacked himself in the head, dropped it on his foot or missed what he was trying to hit and instead whacked himself in the leg. Now dad couldn't see mom's face, she was still kneeling down in front of me with her back to him, which was a good thing because she was having to screw her face up something awful to keep from laughing out loud.
Mom's effects at concealing her laughter only fueled my own. I could not hold back and was snickering and giggling while dad humorously caressed his injury.
"I'll have you know that I was wounded while trying to..." he stopped himself before he gave away anything.
Mom turned to give him a look as if to say, "Shut up before you blow the surprise!"
"What?" I bounced with excitement.
"Just never you mind!" Mom said grabbing my head and kissing my forehead as she stood up.
Inside I was thinking, "I WANT TO GO HOME! I WANT TO GO HOME! I WANT TO GO HOME!" but on the outside I said, "Oh okay!"
Mom wrapped her arms around me and gave me a big hug; it felt so good that I did not want her to stop.
When she finally did release me, dad bent down and said, "My turn!"
He swooped me up into his arms and lifted me from the bed. He had his arms braced under my diapered bottom, which allowed me, in essence, to sit, perched against his chest with my head resting on his shoulder.
"Yeah!" dad said with a loving sigh, "Don't you ever get too big for me to hug okay?"
"Okay!" I agreed hugging his neck with all my strength.
From out in the living room there was a voluble commotion. It only took me a second or two to realize that Jamie and his friends had charged in looking for me.
Dad put me back down and mom quickly helped me get my pants pulled back on before the three of us walked out to the living room where Jamie, Becky, Noah, Paul and now Vanessa were all standing. Jamie had my shoes in his hands. The five of them looked so guilty, like a teen of crooks caught with their hands in the bank safe as the lights come on.
I was looking around trying to figure out where the other man was I had heard while Marsha and dad had been out here talking a few minutes ago but aside from Marsha, mom and dad, there were no other adults around.
Jamie tried smiling.
"Hi dad!" he said.
Thinking fast Jamie then said to me, "Uh, you forgot your shoes!"
The moment might have gotten awkward had Marsha not said, "Why don't all of you run and play for a while?"
I turned to mom and dad to ask, "When do I get to go home?"
Dad flicked me in the forehead as a joke and answered, "You have plenty of time to play more! We will call later when it is time."
However, I did not really want to go with Jamie and his friends but I did anyway.
Jamie told his mom, "We're going back to Noah's and Paul's!" And the five of them absconded with me right in front of my parents.
Several feet outside Jamie's apartment I tried to get them to let go of me but the five of them were gently pushing and pulling me in the direction of the stairs.
"Come on guys stop!" I tried to protest!
Vanessa said, "We need to talk!"
"We aren't going to hurt you!" Paul added.
When we reached the first grate behind the door to the stairs Jamie opened it using his handy-dandy quarter. Noah and Vanessa went in first then Jamie and Becky pushed me in with Paul bringing up the rear so that he could close the grate properly.
No one talked this time until the six of us were back in the garden with the metal door securely closed and latched.
It was cold in the garden room because they had left the window open to allow the stench of vomit to dissipate, which it had. Vanessa went behind the concrete pillar to close and latch the window again while the three boys forced me to sit down on an overturned bucket.
"We have decided something!" Becky said sounding as if she was the spokesperson for them all.
"Well I've decided something too!" I said trying to struggle against Jamie, Paul and Noah's hands that continued to hold me from attempting another escape.
"What?" Vanessa asked emerging from behind the pillar.
"That I don't want anything to do with any of you or your club?" I said as if spitting my words onto the ground and stomping on them.
"Club? What club?" Becky asked looking right at Jamie who I fully expected to look surprised and or guilty but he did not express either of the two.
"Your sex club!" I said trying to tug away again.
"Careful! Don't hurt him!" Jamie said as he and the other two boys attempted to keep me seated on the bucket.
Acting very melodramatic, Becky threw her hands in the air and said, "Secrets are only secrets when no one tells them."
She paused long enough to give Jamie a hard, cold gaze, "Isn't that right Jamie?"
"Yeah!" Noah said firing his own icy gaze at Becky.
"Let me go!" I said trying one more time to get away.
"Not until you hear us out!" Becky said as she walked over and placed a single finger over my lips.
Since she had done nothing but show me kindness today I opted to yield, for the moment, to her will.
"What then?" I said relaxing under the three boys restraining hands.
Becky turned and looked out one of the dirty window panes with her arms folded over her chest. She began to speak rather cryptically, making me feel as though I were playing a part in some bad mystery movie.
"Secrets that get out can be made secret again if those that know the secrets swear to never tell another living soul as long as they live!"
Noah started to spout off at Becky, "If some people would have..." but stopped when Paul barked at him, "Shut up, will ya Noah!"
Becky turned back toward us and calmly said, "Simon? You know about our secret here," she motioned to all the plants around us, "because someone broke our code and told you." She said while looking right at Jamie, "And we all know about your diapers because," I felt myself flush as she again looked right at Jamie, "someone broke your trust and told us."
She took a step toward Jamie who I could not see but could hear breathing hard right behind me. She continued, "And you know about our secret club because that same someone broke our most sacred code and told you!"
Just beyond Becky, Vanessa was averting her eyes from my own. Becky unfolded her arms, reached down and picked up one of those small gardening hand shovels and I started to worry more for Jamie then myself at that point. The small shovel had a green handle while the actual shovel part looked to have at one time been painted white but now only a trace of the original finish could be seen close to the plastic handle.
I felt Jamie shrinking behind me and I realized that the hand resting on the left side of my neck belonged to him because it was trembling something fierce. Becky took a half step toward the four of us while holding the small shovel up before her.
It was Noah who broke the mounting tensions with, "You and Paul broke the code too!" he yelled to Becky effectively stopping her in her tracks.
Becky appeared indignant that anyone, let alone Noah, should interrupt her grandiose performance.
Noah sounded both confident and frightened as he shouted, "Paul told Simon that I still sleep with a Teddy Bear and you made me tell Simon that I still wet the bed sometimes!"
Becky sneered at Noah as if she was just
forced to eat an entire lemon...
Noah added, "You can't make Jamie take the walk unless you and Paul do it too!"
I wanted to ask what `The walk' was but Vanessa, who had been standing quietly, leaning against the pillar this whole time finally spoke up.
"Why don't we just admit that everyone broke the code and get past it!"
Now any Vulcan worth his pointy ears would tell you that the natural enemy of emotion is and always has been pure logic.
"Everyone broke the code! Everyone!" she said.
Paul offered a small bit of incite, "You didn't!" he said to Vanessa.
"Code? What code?" I asked.
Maybe feeling a little betrayed, Becky turned on Vanessa and for an instant I thought Becky was going to lash out at her but she didn't.
"She's right!" Becky announced, "We are all guilty of breaking the code!"
With growing frustration, I asserted myself by re-stating my previous question and this time it came out spiced with a drop of my own venom.
"What 'effing code?" except I actually screamed the `F' word at them.
It worked, I got their attention. I felt a hand cover my mouth and not knowing or caring whose it was I opened my mouth and chomped down as hard as I could. It turned out that the finger I had clamped onto was attached to the hand of Noah. He let out a cry that could wake the dead. Jamie was pulling on my face from behind while Paul had straddled my legs and was trying to yank Noah's finger from my teeth. I didn't hang on for long, only long enough to scare the crap out of Noah, which was about ten seconds.
He pulled away cradling his hand, jumping around and howling, "He bit me! He bit me!"
Paul and Vanessa were trying to get him to shut up while Jamie and Becky were laughing themselves silly.
Vanessa smugly said, "You shouldn't have put your finger in his mouth!"
"I didn't!" he bellowed, giving me a dirty look and walking all the way over to the other side of the greenhouse room. He flipped over another bucket and sat himself directly across from me while he nursed his aching finger and wiped a tear or two from his eyes with his shirtsleeve. That was the exact second in which I noticed that Noah had a wet spot on the front of his jeans. Evidentially, while I had his finger clamped between my teeth, I inflicted enough pain, or maybe I scared him enough that he peed a little.
That gave me something to focus my attention on for a while, which I think was freaking Noah out because he could not stand that I kept staring at him. Actually, I was staring at his crotch but from across the room, I'm sure he thought I was giving him the evil eye or something.
Just for good measure, Jamie gave me a slap on the top of my head with the palm of his hand and trying not to laugh too hard he commanded me as if I were some common mutt, "Bad Simon! No biting!"
I looked up at Becky who had gone from laughing to not looking amused at all. Behind her stood Vanessa, who had moved closer to the rest of us and was now right behind Becky grinning and appearing quite pleased.
"Okay, if we let you up, will you stay and hear us out?" Becky asked still holding the little shovel and wielding it about as she spoke.
I twisted my head around to look at Jamie, then Paul and finally Noah who was keeping his distance from me now. I nodded my agreement.
"Okay, let him go!" Becky commanded which was really a wasted command given that Jamie was the only one still touching me and even he only had one hand resting on top of my head. I think Paul was afraid of loosing a finger to because after successfully freeing his brother from my dental vise he had moved back to one side and had both of his hands shoved down inside his pants pockets.
I looked over at Noah again and he was completely oblivious to the state of his denims; he was sitting with his knees apart and the finger I bit shoved into his mouth. I won't bother commenting on how gross that is given the fact that it had been in my mouth a moment before. It was kind of funny really. I was sitting there watching Noah while Becky was going on and on about how important it is to keep secrets and a bunch of other stuff too. Mostly she was just blowing hot air. Every few minutes Vanessa would toss in her two cents but really, I wasn't listening to either one of them. I was pretty well transfixed on Noah now. I'm not sure why really, I guess it's because for some reason, I started thinking about sex. It was a stupid time to think about sex, but when I think of the company I was in the presents of, I suppose it should not have been so surprising.
Suddenly, anything anyone said or any move anyone made reminded me of sex and then a thought occurred to me. I have never seen or experienced real sex, at least not in the normal girl and guy way. I looked at Becky, then Vanessa and once again, Jamie's words were replaying in my ears.
"Becky only kisses, but Vanessa will do anything as long as Becky is there."
And just like that I made a decision! I wanted to watch Jamie, Paul or Noah having sex with Vanessa. However, oddly enough, I did not want to do anything with her myself, I just wanted to be a witness to the act.
I felt another thump on the top of my head, this time with knuckles.
"Ouch! What was that one for?" I groaned at Jamie.
"Have you even heard anything I said?" Becky asked and when I looked over at her, she had her hands on her hips exactly the way my mother does whenever she is really upset.
I looked back up at Jamie who was looking at me as if I had a booger hanging out of my nose. Something possessed me at that very second because the thoughts that were forming in my head were not my thoughts and were not anything I have or ever would think about.
I honestly believed that I was thinking to myself when I posed the question, "But how do I even ask?"
"Ask what?" Becky's question snapped me back to reality; making me realize that she was addressing me and that I'd not just thought it but actually spoke the words.
I was trying to come up with something to say, something that wouldn't make me sound like a shmuck. I felt Jamie move his hand. He laid it on my bare neck and gave me a slight squeeze. He bent down and whispered into my ear. His breath was hot and caused a shiver to run threw me.
"Look at Noah's pants." He whispered.
"What did you just say to him?" Becky asked sounding a lot like some old nagging woman.
Jamie fired his words at her like bullets, "I said look at Noah's Pants."
Everyone, including Noah looked and saw what I'd noticed the second he'd sat down.
"Oh shit!" Noah cursed.
"Hey!" Paul said tossing a clump of dirt at Noah, "Watch your mouth!"
"Bite me!" Noah said which of course made Paul laugh.
"Simon already did it for me!" Paul said.
Vanessa let out the biggest sigh before saying, "I'm sick of all this! If everyone's just going to keep arguing and fighting then I'm going back home!"
"No wait!" Becky said, "Hang on a second. Let me finish what I was saying."
"Would you just get to the point and stop talking nineteen to the dozen?" Jamie said squeezing my neck again. I felt as if he was trying to tell me something with the squeeze but I was not sure what just yet.
Becky sneered at Jamie, "Alright!" and then made an offer to everyone, "Why don't we make a new club pack?"
"Who's the `we'? `We' five or `We' six?" Jamie asked, giving me another squeeze and now I got the message. He wanted me to keep my mouth shut for a change.
"All six of us!" Becky and Vanessa both said at exactly the same time.
"But he said that he did not want to be in our club!" Noah spouted off pointing at me with his injured finger.
Jamie squeezed me even harder and it kind of hurt and though I really wanted to say something, I kept my mouth shut.
"Noah! You know how you feel about people being aware that you wet the bed." Becky said.
"Shut up!" Noah tried asserting himself but lost the battle.
"No you shut up!" His brother moved to about halfway between Noah and me, "You're just mad because Simon here knows you wet the bed AND because you were stupid enough to put your finger in his mouth AND because you peed all over yourself AGAIN!"
Noah started to say something else but Paul didn't let him.
"No!" Paul angrily snapped at his brother, "You don't get to talk anymore! You are just trying to be mean and if you keep it up I'm going to be the one that shuts you up."
It was funny to hear these two brothers going at it especially since they looked so much alike. It was like watching someone yelling at his or her own mirrored-reflection.
Paul didn't stop there but leveled one more bit of verbal chastising on Noah. "And as far as you freaking out about everyone in the building knowing you wet the bed? I've got news for you! Everyone has known since we moved in here!"
Noah's eyes grew to the size of mini-planets while his brother continued spewing words at him, "Remember when mom used to have to go to the laundry mat? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that one of us was wetting the bed since she had to drag stinky sheets out of the apartment everyday!"
Noah seemed to be regressing several years' right before my eyes.
With watery eyes he whimpered, "But they don't know it was me!"
"They do, because I told them!" Paul's final words were the preverbal straw that broke Noah's back.
Noah stopped moving, stopped blinking and I think maybe stopped breathing too, but I couldn't be sure from across the green house. He was staring right at Paul as if the two of them had suddenly become locked together in a stare down contest. However, with a single sniffle from Noah the whole ordeal ended without another thing said and no tears being shed, which amazed me to no end.
There was a uncomfortable hush as everyone waited for Paul or Noah to say something else but when they didn't, Jamie finally asked Noah, "Do you not like Simon because he wears diapers or do you just not like him period?"
Noah seemed dazed but rapidly transcended, "I don't, not like him."
Either Jamie squeezing my neck so hard that he was cutting the blood off to my brain or Noah's statement was really screwed up. Either way, I wasn't sure if he did or did not like me.
"Do you not want me in your club?" I asked despite Jamie's attempts to keep me from doing so.
Noah seemed to be having problems with his brain too, "Yeah, I mean, well, what the fuck!" the word was barely out of his lips before Paul was lunging for him.
"Oh shit sorry!" Noah said and quickly covered his mouth with both of his hands.
"Noah if you use bad language one more time I am going to tell your mother!" Vanessa said stepping into Paul's path, effectively stopping him before he could kill his brother.
"Why?" he said standing up and shrugging his shoulders.
Having to speak past three people Noah raised his voice a little, "Hey Simon? You're almost thirteen, right?"
"No numb-nuts! He just turned twelve!" Jamie said and I felt his second hand come to rest on the other side of my neck. For a second I was scared he was going to try to choke me if I said anything else.
"Whatever! But I am willing to bet he's said worse!" Noah argued.
Since Vanessa and Becky wouldn't let him get at his brother, Paul started to turn away from Noah and flung his hand dismissively at Noah.
"You know, you are so lame!" Paul said to his brother.
When he turned toward me, our eyes met briefly. It was long enough that I saw him roll his eyes and give me a smirk. I felt as if he were giving me his vote to let me into the club.
"Can I ask one question?" I spoke up again which earned me a loose choking. I had to reach up and pull at Jamie's fingers to be able to speak again. "So what do you do, I mean, in this club?"
I felt Jamie's hot breath in my ear again as he leaned forward to say something but all he was able to say before Becky interrupted him was, "How stupid are..."
"Whatever feels good!" and the way Becky said it made her skin seem luminous and her eyes twinkled behind her glasses.
I had to quietly clear my throat and pull at Jamie's fingers again before I could respond, "Okay! I could do that!"
I felt Jamie finally loosen his grip so I released my hold on his fingers that I had been keeping from constricting around my voice box and choking the life right out of me.
Still trying to keep the conversation about the sex club going I asked, "So who's the president?"
I should have expected the response I got.
"Bush!" Vanessa said.
"What?" I asked in disbelief that anyone could be so brainless.
"Bush! President George W. Bush! What do you think I'm stupid!" she clarified.
I rubbed my left temple and wanted to say, "Yes you are a complete brainless twit!" but I did not say it; but boy, I sure wanted too!
So as not to sound offensive I clarified my question, "Sorry! I mean who's the President of the Sex Club!"
"We don't have one!" Noah replied sitting with his knees together and his hands covering his crotch to hide the wet spot that we all knew was there now.
In an attempt to be funny I asked, "Do you have Jackets?"
Had Paul been drinking milk it would have shot out his nose just then. He doubled over laughing, "Jackets? Oh that's a good one!" He looked over at Noah who was grinning but not laughing. "We need to get Jackets with sex club embroidered on the backs!"
"Geeze Paul! I wasn't that funny!" Vanessa said.
"You know what!" Jamie said, "It's too cold in here since we had the window open!"
"Yeah!" Noah agreed.
"We can go back to my place! My father won't be up for a couple hours yet." Vanessa said.
We all agreed and after making our way back
to the stairs in silence, Jamie began to explain to me that Vanessa's father
works the graveyard shift at Rumple Paper Mill as a Shift Manager. He gets home
around 3 o'clock in the morning and sleeps so soundly that a nuclear bomb could
go off in their living room and he would sleep right through it. He also told
me that Vanessa's mom owns and runs the Starbucks over on
When we walked into Vanessa's apartment, I was blown away. "Wow! It's like a magazine!" I gasped.
Noah went over and plopped down on a big reddish semi-circler sofa and Vanessa nearly came unhinged.
"Hey! Don't sit there with your wet pee pants on!"
"They are not that wet!" Noah groaned and covered his crotch with his hands again.
"Noah, I am serious!" Vanessa stomped her foot.
Becky chimed in too, "Noah, get up now!"
When Noah stood up and began taking off his pants I nearly swallowed my tongue; and when he didn't stop at just his pants I nearly fell over dead. Seeming triumphant Noah, now nude from the waist down, sat back down again, picked up the remote for the television and started surfing through the channels.
I was completely mesmerized. Heck, I was more then mesmerized--I was in love! I watched as Vanessa walked over, picked up Noah's pants and underwear from the floor and then disappeared into the back of apartment.
Jamie gave me a not so hard punch in the arm.
"Huh what?" I said to him.
"Becky asked if you want some Pee." Jamie said with a mischievous grin.
"Some what?" I asked nearly choking on my words.
"Tea, do you want some Sweet Tea?" Jamie asked.
Thinking that I must have heard him wrong the first time, heck I didn't even hear Becky for that matter, I shook my head to clear the cobwebs before looking over at Becky who was smiling so big that I could have counted every tooth in her head.
"Oh um, yeah sure!" I said feeling a twinge of embarrassment at having been caught staring at Noah's semi-nude form.
This was one of those times when I was exceedingly glad I had on a diaper because without it I am sure the front of my pants would have been bulging out as if I had a broom handle hidden in them.
Jamie, who only a few minutes ago had been defending and protecting me once again turned against me; he began acting as if he was really me. He skipped like a girl over to Noah who had stopped switching channels and was laughing as Jamie made fun of me.
"Oh Noah! I am Simon and I want to have sex with you so much!" Jamie smoozed.
Noah got right into the act, "Uh, I will have to think about it!"
Jamie tried to throw himself onto Noah; "I want to suck your penis until steam erupts from your ears!"
"Not tonight! I got aheadache!" Noah acted as though he fainted.
Becky and Paul, who I had not seen leaving the room, had just returned with several glasses filled with Sweet Tea. The look Becky had, when she saw that Jamie was acting as if he was humping Noah's leg, was simply priceless.
"I want you to make me have an orgasm!" Jamie grunted.
Despite being mocked and made to feel like even more of an idiot for gawking at Noah's nudity then I already felt, I was still finding their angst humorous. However, what Becky did next was even funnier. It became obvious that neither Jamie nor Noah knew Becky and Paul had returned from the kitchen. Becky reached into one of the glasses, pulled out an ice cube and quick as a rabbit she was able to stuff it down the back of Jamie's pants.
Jamie suddenly jumped up yelping and trying to reach for the ice. He was hopping and twirling around, "Man that is cold! Oh that is so not funny!" he said even though he was laughing the whole time.
"Well you looked like you needed cooled off." Becky said picking one of the glasses back up and handing it to me.
Before letting go of the glass, she told me,
"Vanessa's mom is from
"Uh, okay. Thank you!" I said taking the glass. I took a small sip and boy was she right. It was like drinking the pure nectar of the gods
"Wow!" I exclaimed.
"Told ya." Becky said taking a big swig of her own tea.
Jamie finally got the ice out of his pants; actually it fell out of his pants leg. To be gross he picked it up and popped it into his mouth. The four of us all groaned as one.
"You are sick!" Paul said to Jamie.
Jamie tried to smile without loosing the piece of ice, "Mmmmm! Butt Ice! So yummy!"
Noah was still laughing himself sick. He was holding his stomach as he rolled around on the sofa. "Oh man that was too funny!" he said.
Vanessa returned and was quickly brought up to speed as to what had happened while she was gone. I also figured out that she had taken Noah's pants and underwear and put them in the drier for him. The way she did it, I mean without saying a word or making a big deal about it made me think that it has happened before. Enough so, that it was something she now did without really thinking about it. Well, that's how I saw it anyway.
While the five of them carried on, I sat myself in a yellow-gold, wing-backed chair and sipped at my glass of super sweet ice tea. I watched and listened to them for several minutes. The subject kept going from normal stuff to borderline sexual talk and then back again.
Paul asked a question of Becky that lodged itself inside my head ever since hearing it. He asked her, "If you could be any age at all with the condition that you had to stay that age forever, what age would you pick and why?"
Becky sat forward in her seat and looked genuinely pleased with the question. "Oh that's easy! I would be 29!" she said proudly.
"Why 29?" Jamie asked.
"Because my mom says that 29 is the perfect age for a lady!" came Becky