There’s Something About
A Fielding Boy

Chapter Sixteen

“You don’t have to be ‘straight’ to fight and die for your country; you just need to shoot straight.”
(Barry Goldwater)

The logical place to start the process of discovery was where we were! Hickory Woods would be at his usual watering hole come late afternoon and, if we were lucky some of his cronies would be there with him.  Hickory would seem to be a good resource, or at least a beginning since his Uncle Roy sold the “Riverside” to Dan, for seeking insight into the accumulated wealth of Bill and Dan and subsequently, “Big River. For some reason, I felt it was important to get a handle on that wealth, since it seemed to play an important role in the growth and development of the entire area and the various families.

In the meantime, while waiting for the waterhole to become active, Lee seemed to find another hole just as appealing.  Loving Lee Fielding was beyond description at times! I thought we were going to clean up a bit after having breakfast with Bill and Dan, perhaps write some, have lunch, rest, and venture to the “Riverside” at the appropriate time.  It just didn’t go that way!

All it took was a gentle hug, several soft kisses on my neck, lips, under my shirt on my belly, and after unzipping my britches and dropping them to the floor, a series of nuzzling, ticklish, sensuous kisses on my turgid peg and I was ready!

Lee siphoned me dry, lubricated my home plate with plenty of saliva, and with a gentle swing forward of his bat, hit a home run, rounded the bases, and with a grunt, a sigh, and “Oh man!” slid in for a home run! Did the crowd erupt in loud cheers? No, there wasn’t one, but Lee erupted his salute to the event from the end of his bat, his delight spewed out in copious amounts inside the confines of the stadium, and continued until his and my excitement ebbed!

Around four o’clock, when we arrived at the “Riverside,” we were greeted by Hickory, Jack, and Frank.

“Where’s Herman?” I inquired, as I brought a round of tap beers for the boys.

“He’s home,” answered Jack sadly, “his wife’s not doing too great! She’s had heart trouble and I don’t think she has that long to be with us. It’s just tearing Hermie up something terrible!”

I imagined it would, since the boys said Hermie and his wife had been together since shortly after they both graduated from High School.  Even though I’d only known Lee for a short time, I knew I’d feel the same way should anything happen to him.

“Hickory,” I asked before the beer glasses emptied, “when did Danny buy the ‘Riverside’ from your Uncle Roy?”

He thought a moment and answered, “Shortly after he came home from the army.  Only he didn’t buy it alone!”

“Oh?” I queried.

“Yeah,” added Frank, “Young Billy was partnered with him on the deal.”

The fight pretty well established Dan and Bill’s personal relationship as far as kids in school and the community was concerned. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind about it; they either never said or cared!  Apparently the families accepted it and the immediate community as well. Billy worked at the store, helped Dan and Ross with the chores, and Dan worked at the Riverside. They both had pretty good years at school, especially Dan.  Dan got his homework done, was on time for school, and his grades were up.  His Aunt Agnes thought Billy Iverson was the greatest thing since sliced bread because of his influence on her nephew!

Dan and Bill were both smart and each had talents that complimented each other’s such as Danny’s cock fitting nicely in Bill’s ass and Bill’s growing, maturing prong in Dan’s mouth.  Between the two of them, they were doing well, both in school and financially. It continued into Billy’s eighth grade year.  It was the summer before he entered high school, which was Dan’s senior year, everyone discovered another of Billy’s hidden talents – he could pitch a baseball!  Not only pitch a baseball, but “rocket that son-of –bitch like a bullet,” according to Jack.

“He was such a cute little shit,” Jack continued, “no one ever thought he had an arm on him – no one except Danny! Danny and Billy’s grandfather had been working with him for some time on his pitching.”

It all started one day out on the farm and the boys were horsing around throwing rocks at fence posts and making crazy bets on who could or couldn’t hit the posts. Billy seemed to be more successful than the others.  In an attempt to raise the ante, Ross, Samuel, and Danny bet Billy he couldn’t hit the same fence post at eighty feet or so three times in a row. If he did, he’d win a blow job from all three of them.

“I guess Billy just grinned and started throwing the rocks,” mused Jack. “I often wonder what those boys thought when the third rock hit the post.  Anyway, Billy was amply rewarded, I understand.”

“Anyway, Billy made the baseball team and Danny was at every home game and most away games.  It was a good time for them.”

Danny graduated from high school and began working full time for Roy Wood at the “Riverside.” Working, taking care of his livestock, going to Billy’s games, and still have a little social life kept him pretty well occupied. Bill continued to work weekends at the store and now worked until closing on Friday and Saturday nights. He’d walk down to the “Riverside” and wait for Danny to get off work, since he usually only worked the kitchen. If they were real busy and Dan had to work the bar as well, Bill would pitch in doing dishes and cleaning up.  The two of them just didn’t like to be separated for long it seemed!

“Uncle Roy loved having them around,” mused Hickory, “He never married and the rest of the family figured he was a bit queer himself and come to find out, he was; although to my knowledge he never took advantage of the two of them. They were almost like the family he never had and by the gods, he did dote on them!  I did hear one time Danny or Billy would mention on the sly there might be someone somewhere who could help Uncle Roy out and make certain arrangements, but I don’t think it was ever proved!”

“Everything was going well for Dan and Bill until the war broke out in Korea!” growled Hickory. “I’ll be damned if Danny didn’t up and get drafted and so did Ross.  Ross was in college at the time and Danny was working at the ‘Riverside’ so he had no reason for deferment.  Ross didn’t even try!”

Billy was just crushed and scared shitless Danny was going to be killed or maimed like his older cousins.  Danny made him promise to go on to college when he was gone to the army.  Billy had another year of high school left and Danny wanted him to start college. When Dan left for basic training, he gave Bill the pickup truck he’d bought a couple of years before, wrote a will leaving everything to Bill, and left!

“It was a long couple of years for Billy,” Hickory allowed. “Billy took over for Dan at the ‘Riverside,’ took care of Dan’s and Ross’s hogs, played baseball, and still graduated at the very top of his class. When Danny got out of the service after a couple of years or so, they bought the ‘Riverside’.”

“How?” Lee asked.

“I dunno,” shrugged Hickory, “they just did!”

Fortunately, I only had to buy three rounds before we left that afternoon for the camper.

“That session didn’t tell us much about the money, did it?” Lee commiserated.

“Not really, but it did give us more of an insight on Bill, Danny, and the community, I think!” I remarked hesitantly. “I’m beginning to think this really isn’t about the money as much as it is about the community and the populace’s acceptance of gays, even before it was the politically correct thing to do! In fact, what do we really care about the how and with what they bought the ‘Riverside’ but what they did in the years after they did? We’ll just have to talk to Dr. Ross next to see what else he can add to this story. Where does he live, Lee?”

“I thought you knew,” he responded.

I just wobbled my head from side to side indicating I really didn’t have a clue!

“Not far from your place on the Pecatonica- just outside of Platteville.”

Lee was a quick study when it came to helping me ready the camper for travel home. We stowed things away inside, making certain anything that might tumble, rattle, or fall was either in a cupboard, closet, a drawer, or on the floor. We disconnected the sewer, water, and cable, but not the electric.

“I generally save that until just before I pull out, in case I need the electric for any of the tear-down chores. The refrigerator kicks over to LP gas automatically when the electric is shut off so I don’t need to worry about it, but I always check to make certain the refrigerator is working before leaving.”

The stabilizer jacks were raised, the wheel chocks removed and stored in the front compartment where the hoses, water and sewer in separate sealed containers, were stored, and the camper was attached to the truck via a heavy duty equalizer hitch and electric cords, and the electric cord for the camper was disconnected.  After a quick check of our running lights and brake lights, we were ready to roll.  Lee followed me in his pickup.

At home, I backed the camper onto its gravel pad by the barn, unhitched it, lowered the stabilizer jacks, and connected the electric cord to the outlet I’d had installed on the pad. All we’d have to do before we took it out again would be re-provision it, put in our clothes and any other items we wished to take, and we’d be gone.

Lee called Dr. Ross and we arranged to visit them at their home on the next Sunday.

“Be here by nine in the morning,” Dr. Ross informed Lee, “and we’ll ‘brunch’ it for breakfast and lunch.  It’s going to be great to see the two of you!”

Lee and I spent the intervening days arranging, re-arranging, and settling in to our home together. He decided he’d use the guest cottage for his art studio, leaving the spare bedroom I used as an office for me to write.

“Art can sometimes be messy,” he advised. “Rather than have paintings and the smell of oils around the house, the guest cottage would be perfect. Out of sight, out of mind; leaving the sunroom for us to enjoy!”

It was so pleasant to sit on the porch, with someone you love, in the late afternoon enjoying our before dinner libation or have breakfast there in the morning.  Cuddling up with Lee at night brought a sense of comfort, security, and pride.  You bet I was proud; he was handsome, gentle, a consummate lover, and my boyfriend!

We arrived at Drs. Jim and Ross’s two-story home located on the northeast outskirts of Platteville a few minutes before nine.  The home was nicely situated on an acreage, had a fenced in pasture where two horses and one burro grazed, a small barn, and a large three stall garage. Off to the side of the home, in what appeared to be a backyard, was a swing set, a slide, and a teeter-totter. I found this puzzling, but decided to hold my own counsel on the matter until someone explained it.

When we stopped in front of the house, Drs. Jim and Ross stepped out onto and down from the porch to welcome us to their home. Leading us into the dining room, we were treated to a large table set with service for more than just the four of us.  A buffet table was replete with food; warming pans containing scrambled eggs, hash brown potatoes, and ham and bacon; a large bowel, settled on a bed of ice in a shallow tray, filled with sliced fruit, and beside it a tray with fresh, hot from the oven, muffins of various types.  Coffee, tea, water, and milk, along with cream for our coffee, were at the end of the table.

“My word,” I exclaimed! “Someone went to a great deal of work just for the four of us.”

Dr. Jim laughed, “I must confess, Ross and I didn’t do this alone, my great-niece Alicia and her family are going to join us. She’s the one who did the most of the work, Ross and I just sort of helped out. They’re in the kitchen; come on back and I’ll introduce you to them.”

Standing near a kitchen counter, laughing, sipping a cup of coffee was a very attractive African-American woman and an equally handsome Asian-American man.  It didn’t take but a moment and Lee and I felt completely comfortable and welcomed by Alicia and John Meyers.  Alicia was the granddaughter of Dr. Jim’s younger brother, Charles Wilson.  Alicia and John met while he was in medical college in Iowa City and she was finishing her degree in nursing. After he finished medical school and his residency, Drs. Jim and Ross offered him a position in their practice. Dr. John was a third generation Philippine-American (my mistake) and his color, stature, bright smile, and olive skin bespoke of his genetic heritage.

When I inquired if the family was here or at home, Alicia thought they must be somewhere, but they’d been warned to stay clear of the food until we arrived!

“We better get out there before they convince Grandpa Ross to them get at the table,” she said with an amused determination; “Not that it wouldn’t take much convincing since he just spoils them rotten!”

We were too late!

Ross had three boys, two definitely twins, and one younger lad clustered about him, while he was preparing their plates. The boys were just chattering up a storm with him until we entered the room and they suddenly became shy and really huddled close to him! Their dark hair and big brown eyes captivated me at once!

Ross whispered something to the three of them; they smiled, bobbed their heads up and down, and walked over to introduce themselves.

“I’m Les and I’m ten,” spoke one of the twins

“I’m Lyle and I’m ten and his brother,” he said pointing at his twin.

The youngest stepped up, put his hands on his hips and said, “I’m Kevin and I’m eight and I’m hungry – can we eat now Grandpa? We did as you asked!”

Before he could respond, a voice from the doorway said, “I’m Scott and I’m twelve going on thirteen,” and an almost carbon copy, except slighter smaller, of John Meyers came into the room.

Dr. Ross nodded and the plates were prepared for the three under his charge while Scott prepared his own. He bid the four of them to sit down and when they did, they left an empty chair in the middle for him to join them.  Clearly they loved him and he loved them!

As I watched, I inquired, “Why do the children refer to Dr. Ross as ‘Grandpa?’”

Dr. John laughed and explained; “Quite simply, Jim is Uncle Jim and since Ross is much older, Adriana, our oldest, assumed he was Grandpa and it stuck!”

With that, almost as if it was her cue to enter, Adriana stepped into the dining room from the living room.  If I thought the boys were beautiful, Adriana was beauty personified a thousand times!  Her long black hair, soft olive complexion, brown seductive, almost almond-shaped eyes, and petite form accentuated by the grace of her movement into the room would stop any straight boy’s heart in an instance!  She was the product of the genetic heritage of all of the beauty of her Asian, African, and Philippine ancestry, assimilating with the Pacific Islander features she also carried, made her a very gorgeous young lady indeed!  Adriana was not very tall, but she didn’t need to be, her delicacy and fine features captured a person and focused their attention on her. In short, she was a stunner!

I leaned over to Lee and whispered, “Somebody’s dad is going to have to guard her with a shotgun!” and Dr. Jim overheard me.

“I think he already does! I don’t know if there’ll be a boy her father thinks is worthy of his daughter, but he just might be surprised some day.  She has a mind of her own, somewhat like her mother!”

The brunch was superb in every way; the food delicious, the conversation pleasant, light, and interesting. The younger set were well behaved, but encouraged to take part in the discussion by adding their own school stories, likes and dislikes, and what they’d done since they last visited Grandpa Ross and Uncle Jim. The two men were delighted with the children and paid careful attention to each as they spoke and conveyed their interest through nods, smiles, or comments.  Clearly, Ross and Jim doted on these children and the children loved the attention they received in turn.  They seemed bothered not in the least by the relationship the two men shared.

“What else have they known?” explained Dr. Jim after the Meyers family returned home. “They’ve been coming here since they were toddlers, playing on the playground equipment, riding horses, riding about in the burro cart, and enjoying our attention.”

“And so it was and so it should be,” added Ross. “Children are what they are taught, what they see, and what they feel in others.”

The four of us were settled on the porch enjoying the peace and quiet of the countryside and a light libation. Hoping to lead the conversation toward Bill and Dan, I simply said, “Lee and I spent an enjoyable afternoon with Hickory Woods and some of his buddies talking about the big brawl you boys had in the parking lot of the ‘Riverside’ some years ago!”

“That was one hell of a fight!” Ross reminisced, “I had no idea what Danny had up his sleeve.  In fact, I hadn’t even bothered to peek in the back of Gary’s truck and check the box. I was too damned busy watching the boys from Patch Creek.  All I could think of at that moment was how fucked up we’d be once the fight started.  There were four of us, not counting Gary, against eight of them.”

“Billy was making me nervous swinging that sock back and forth; when he screeched ‘HAUL ASS’ I damned near crapped my britches.  I was standing right next to the little shit when he took off running toward that bunch!  Danny played hell catching up with him. Of course, Samuel and I just waded in to the melee.  I barely heard Gary shout ‘Kick ass’ and all of a sudden there were Fielding’s all over the place.”

Ross just shook his head. “There’s something about Danny Fielding that just makes him want to make something happen and he sure as hell did that day!”

Dr. Jim hadn’t heard the story before and wanted to know what happened afterwards.

“Nothing,” stated Ross matter-of-factly, “everyone left Billy and Danny alone.”

When Billy began playing baseball things really began changing for Billy and Danny as far as the community was concerned. Danny was working at the ‘Riverside’ at the time and was bound and determined Billy was going to go to college after high school.

“You know what Danny did?” Ross queried.

“No!” I replied. Everyone, it seemed to me, I encountered asked a question which I had no answer to or even any idea where they were going with it.  I could just have easily said, “Yes; he grabbed two of the Patch Creek boys and fucked them senseless,” but I’m certain it wouldn’t have been correct.

“He put an empty gallon jug, like one of those pickled eggs come in, on the bar, put a sign on it announcing ‘Billy Iverson College Fund’ and I’ll be damned if patrons of the bar didn’t start throwing money in and when Billy pitched a no-hitter, they really tossed the money in! Once a week Danny would count out what was in the jar and take the money to the bank.  This kept up until he went into the service.”

Billy took over Danny’s job at the “Riverside” and entered college in La Crosse. He and Roy decided to keep the jar on the bar, but changed the sign to read “Riverside Scholarship Fund” and let anyone living in the area be eligible to receive money from it.  They even put together a committee of patrons to help decide how it would be distributed each year.

Ross, Samuel, and Danny all received their draft notices about the same time.  Of the three of them, Ross and Danny were the only ones to actually be inducted and serve.  Samuel had a slight heart murmur and ended up 4-F and didn’t have to go.

Billy was more than just distraught at Danny’s induction; he was just about heart-broken. If it hadn’t been for the support of the Randal’s, the Fielding’s, Roy Woods, his mom and grandparents, along with the community, he would’ve suffered even more.  The night before the boys were to report, Roy Wood threw a big party for them at the “Riverside.” Billy never let go of Danny except for one time when Danny took Gary aside for a “little chat.”

“Billy sidled up to me to wait for Danny to get done,” recalled Ross. “Danny walked Gary over to a corner of the barroom, gripped his shoulder, and said something to him. I don’t know what he said, but Gary’s face blanched, and shortly after that left for the evening.”

Ross and Danny were sent off to different army bases for boot camp. Ross ended up serving as a corpsman/medic in a MASH unit in Korea and Danny stayed stateside.  It was the MASH unit assignment that convinced Ross he wanted to be a doctor. Danny ended up being a cook! He really didn’t care what they did with him or where they sent him.  The only thing he wanted was to get back to Billy.

“Danny and I were real careful, during boot camp and afterwards, to not give anyone a clue we were homosexuals.  We talked about it before we went and knew we’d be rejected if we admitted it, but that just wasn’t us.  It was our duty to go and go we would!  If we were caught while in the service we’d be court martialed and probably imprisoned, so we decided to keep our mouths shut, our pants zipped, and our assholes clenched tight!”

“When Danny was discharged, he went back home and after a while, he and Billy bought the ‘Riverside.’  Billy was out of college then and working at the bank in town.  I was going to medical college in Madison, using the G.I. Bill, and working at the ‘Riverside’ when not in class.”

“How in the world did they scrape together the money to buy the ‘Riverside’? inquired Lee. “Army pay wasn’t all that great back then or now, for that matter, and with Billy in school, they couldn’t have had a great deal set aside.”

Ross frowned, thought a moment, and finally answered, “You know, I really don’t know for certain.  I do know I heard, once I was home, Danny sent home money to Billy and sometimes there was a lot of it!”

I tried probing, gently, where it came from but all I received from Ross was a shrug of the shoulders.  That old fox knew, he just wasn’t going to say!