Banish the Nightmares

Chapter Four

by Juju

When Mom and I got home, Bobby and Benji's Grampa was there and he was just as cool as I remembered. I don't have any living grandparents so it's nice to be around Bob. He gave me a bone-crushing hug and picked me up with just his hands under my armpits.

"This one looks pretty healthy too Dan, you must be feeding him right."

He set me down and gave me a less intense but more loving hug. He's a big guy and as boisterous as his grandsons. He's also very smart and extremely well read. He loves it when I recognize a quote or allusion to literature. We all had lunch together and then he said he had to take his boys home to get more clothes and he was going to get the perishables out of the fridge so it didn't stink when Geneva got home with Jack.

Bob is the man who made Bobby and Benji proud to be gingers and taught them how to deal with bullies who made fun of their hair. Benji beat up a boy two years older when he refused to apologize for saying bad stuff about his hair. The kid did apologize but only after he got his butt kicked. Nobody at THAT school says anything bad about ginger hair or freckles.

After they left, I had no plans so I called Peter to thank him for recommending his uncle to me.

"Jules Hi, what did your parents say about seeing my Uncle Ray?"

"I saw him today, he's pretty cool and I wanted to say thanks and I have something to tell you but I don't want to do it on the phone."

"I could come over if it's okay with your rents."

"Rents?"

"Parents, you chimp, you've never heard that before?"

"Nope, maybe I'm backwards."

"Not hardly; I heard your report on Charlemagne."

"Oh um, okay, let me ask Dad, he's right here."

When I came back on the phone, I told him to come on over and told him where we lived. He said he already knew because he visited our neighbor and saw me.

I sat on our porch and read until he appeared from behind one of the big oaks that line our street. He trotted up the walk and gave me a combination handshake and hug.

"So, does Ray think he can fix you?" Peter asked, grinning.

"He said it doesn't work that way but he might be able to help me cope better."

"Sorry, I guess I shouldn't joke about it. It's kind of serious huh?"

"Gotcha! You should see your face, man."

"Funny dude; so aren't you worried I'll give you nightmares again?"

"That's what I wanted to tell you about."

I told him how he had appeared in my dream and shifted my attention and how I woke up before the really bad part happened.

"Really?"

"Yeah really, thank you Peter, it wouldn't have happened if you weren't so nice. I'm really sorry I avoided you and I hope we can still be friends."

"Jules, that's all I really wanted. I liked you the first time I heard you speak in class. It was about history and you pointed out the textbook had bad info in it. You got us out of a test that day and I had more time to study."

"Yeah, some of the stuff I find in our textbooks is so wrong I wonder why they buy them. Hey, would you like something to drink?"

"Sure, whatever you have is fine except Dr. Pepper, it sucks."

"C'mon in and you can pick for yourself."

We took our drinks and a bag of cheese snacks up to my room.

"Cool room dude! I like your house too. It looks really old."

"Yeah, Mom says it's a Victorian but I don't know much about houses."

"Do you decorate it for Halloween?"

"Oh yeah, it's the greatest looking haunted house on the block. All the other houses are um, Mom called them Craftsman or something. They were built after Nineteen Hundred. My Dad really gets into it and goes full ‘Addams family.'"

"He sounds cool."

"He's very cool, he left my phone unlocked and turned on my data and wi-fi."

"Not mine, I think he's just so busy with my sister and the twins that he doesn't realize I'm growing up. He's a good dad though, but I used to have to practically sit on him to have a conversation."

"So are you the oldest?"

"No, my sister is but she doesn't give me too much crap because she knows what I can do to her if I want to. She doesn't always follow the rules about boys in the house. She's not a whore but she likes to make out with guys."

"What about the twins you mentioned?"

"Yeah, about them; I love them to death but they never leave me alone. I can't even jerk off without them banging on the door. Oh shit, I um. I didn't mean to say that."

"No big, everybody does it who can."

"You too?"

"Absolutely."

A faint look of surprise crossed his face. Boys our age were usually in serious denial about masturbation.

"Well, anyway, the twins are the reason I came here instead of you coming to me; you see, besides the fact they wouldn't give us any privacy, they look like the little boy you described the other day."

"Oh, oh man. I'm probably not ready to meet them then."

"I figured. You know I looked like that too when I was little. All us kids have the same eyes from my mom and we're all blond."

"I always wanted a little brother but it couldn't happen. I guess I wrecked my mom when I was born and she couldn't have any more kids."

"Well, when you think you're ready, I'll loan you one of mine." Peter laughed and it was musical and light and I had to laugh with him.

"Um... can I use your bathroom?"

"Door's right behind you, knock yourself out."

"Oh cool, I have to share with the twins. I never get it to myself."

"Ma maison e' ta maison."

"Tous parle francais?"

"Oui, et toi?"

"Yeah a little, you're pretty good, now if you'll excuse me?"

I picked up my book but about five minutes later, I heard a rhythmic noise like a floorboard squeak. I felt my face get hot when I realized what he must be doing. Then I began to imagine how he looked and how his penis looked. Was he circumcised like me or still hooded? I realized I was super hard and reached in to adjust myself. There was a knock on my door which turned out to be Dad."

"Are you dancing up here again? I'm hearing a creaky floor joist."

"Um, No Dad, Peter must be listening to music in the bathroom." I said this even though I could plainly see the earbuds under Peter's hoody on my bed.

"I'll have to take a look later on and see if we have a structural issue."

Dad pulled the door closed behind him and my penis was soft as a marshmallow once again. At least for a moment... then I heard the squeaking again and it got faster and suddenly stopped. There was a guttural high pitched grunt and then silence. I heard a flush and then water running. The door opened and a flushed looking boy exited. I couldn't help but giggle and I could feel my own dick straining against the fabric of my soft shorts again.

"What?" Peter asked.

"Oh um, nothing really, my Dad was just here because the floor joist was squeaking."

"Really?" Peter's face was quite red and he looked concerned. "What joist?"

"The one that runs past the toilet in the floor, it's an old house and stuff squeaks especially with a repetitive motion." I giggled again. "Don't worry about it Peter, Dad just asked if I was dancing again."

"Sorry Jules, I really never get the bathroom alone at home, I didn't think about creaky floorboards."

Unconsciously I reached down and squeezed my dick which was pretty insistent and Peter noticed.

"Did I do that?"

"Would it freak you out if I said yes?" What the hell was wrong with me, I hardly knew this guy and I'm acting all um, I don't know," I thought.

"No man, I um... just, I better shut up before I step on my dick again."

"Yeah let's talk about something else." I felt my erection slack off but it remained chubbed and wouldn't take much to set it off again.

"This really is a nice room, is that like a memory shelf there?"

Peter had pointed to a shelf with old toys and a stuffed bear that had been my confidant when I was little.

"Yeah, something like that; I don't know why it's all still there. I guess some of it means something to me."

"I think it's sweet." Peter said and then covered his mouth as if he had said something wrong.

I smiled at him because he was just really nice and I realized he was being honest and let his heart speak instead of his head.

"Thanks Peter." I felt my cheeks turning red but didn't really care.

He told me that all his old toys had been pretty much destroyed by his little brothers. Except for Boggy a small stuffed dog that he's had since he was three. It was safely hidden where they couldn't get at it.

"Boggy was a present from Grampa Ed. I would be really upset if something happened to it."

"Boggy?"

"I couldn't say Doggy when I was three."

"I get it, I used to say "Busketti" when I meant ‘Spaghetti.'" It's just part of being little, so why does it embarrass us so much?"

"I don't know, fear of getting ragged on if you let your feelings show I guess."

"I guess; it sucks though. I bet it would be a nicer world if people just let themselves be tender when they felt it. But they can't because some asshole will make fun of them. My dad says it's better for boys now than when he was our age. You know, like when we hugged at the park yesterday? He said they couldn't do that because of stupid gender conditioning. They were always on them to be a man. And it was worse in his dad's time. Maybe our little boys will be able to kiss when they meet like the girls do."

"Dude! That's um, I don't know, it's really deep." Peter's eyes were glossy and wet and it looked like he might cry."

"Sorry man, I haven't had anyone to talk about that stuff since Campbell moved away. We were pretty tight. Did you have a best friend when you moved here?" I probed.

Apparently he was thinking about the same thing because huge tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Devon was so cool and I miss him so much, I loved going to his house. It was so quiet and he was so nice." That was all he could get out. He stretched out on my bed and faced the wall sobbing.

I spooned up behind him and put my hand on his belly. His shirt had ridden up and I was touching bare skin. We laid there awhile and we must have dozed off. I woke with my dad's hand gently rubbing my shoulder.

"Why don't you invite Peter to join us for dinner, he can spend the night if you want to invite him." I felt a kiss on my cheek and heard my door close.

I desperately needed to pee and that's when I noticed my hand was still on Peter's belly and his hands were both on top of mine. I moved my hand slightly and his fell away. I gently rubbed his belly in increasing circles until I passed over something very hard at his waist band. He was wearing the same style of lightweight shorts as me and I could tell what I had discovered. On my next circle, I went just a bit lower and I felt Peter's whole body push against my hand. I chickened out; instead of making another circle, I pulled my hand back and rolled off the bed to head for the bathroom. I stood there waiting for my dick to cooperate so I could pee when I realized Peter was standing right next to me. I jolted a little and looked down; we could have traded dicks and never noticed a difference. His was almost identical to mine except for a darker scar behind the lavender head. He looked at mine and I looked at his and then we looked at each other's eyes.

"This isn't going to work is it?" Peter asked.

"Shower," I said knowing that neither of us would be able to hit the bowl for a while. I opened the shower door and turned on the water and we hosed down the antique tile that had cost my mother so much time to find because it was from the appropriate era. By then our shorts were around our ankles like six year olds. I squeezed the last couple drops out and Peter did the same. He looked over at me and asked, "Can I?"

I answered by reaching over and gently squeezing his erection as he grasped mine. We just stood there absorbing the sensation.

"It feels really good doesn't it?" Peter asked.

"Oh man, doesn't it. I don't know which I like more; your hand on my dick or mine on yours."

We stood there at least a couple minutes and then released our grips and pulled up our shorts.

"My Dad said I could invite you to have dinner and stay over. Do you think your parents will let you?"

"Probably, Missy's grounded and when she's bored she picks on me. That always leads to a fight so they might say yes just to prevent all that crap. I'll call them."

Peter was right, he was cleared to sleep over and since we're the same size, I could loan him clothes for after a shower. I liked the idea of him wearing my clothes for some reason. Maybe it just gave me a feeling of being closer to him somehow.

It was really strange though; I don't usually click with somebody that easily but he was different and I felt something special like I had with Campbell.