Mayfield Magic

 

CHAPTER 34

MASON’S ADVENTURE BEGINS

 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4

 

<Aiden and friends>

 

Aiden looked at the digital clock on his dresser and saw that it was ten after nine. Since he woke up five minutes ahead of the alarm setting, he could have lounged in his bed for a few more minutes. But every muscle in his body wanted to stay in bed and sleep in for another two to three hours, so he figured he might as well get out of bed right away.  He and his best friends had done some texting before going to bed to set up a plan to give Mason a little good-bye party before he left for California. All Mason knew about his schedule for the day was that he was being picked up at four o’clock by some driver he figured was hired by At The Majestic to drive him to the airport. The group consisted of Nolan, Gordy, Miles, Riley, Grant, Lenny, Lance, and, of course, Aiden. They had to go to Mason’s house in the morning because everyone except Aiden and Miles had plans for the afternoon.

 

Aiden rose from his bed, got down on his knees, and said his morning gratitude prayer, showered, and, without bothering to dress, headed downstairs for breakfast. Phil was at work and Larry was in the family room reading the morning newspaper and listening to a Mozart symphony.

 

“Good morning, pop,” Aiden said as he entered the room.

 

“And good morning to you, too. I like your breezy outfit.”

 

“The nice thing about it is everything matches,” Aiden grinned.

 

“You’re on your own for breakfast.”

 

“I figured as much, but I wanted to check on two things first. How did the Mariners and Marty do last night?”

 

“Five to one loss and Marty went oh-for-three with a walk. They only got three hits, and one of those was a home run by Wade Whalen in the seventh inning for their only run.”

 

“Well, they’ll come back and win tonight,” Aiden said confidently. “My next question is, are you still driving some of us to Mason’s at eleven?”

 

“No, I thought I’d let Nolan drive.”

 

“Poppppppppp be serious.”

 

“Come on, sport, why wouldn’t I be driving. I told you I was going to do it. Other than you and Nolan, who am I driving?”

 

Since Aiden knew he had asked a dumb question, he didn’t say anything about his pop’s comment. “Gordy, who’ll ride his bike here, the twins, and Riley. The rest are riding their bikes to Mason’s house. Now, it’s time for me to cook up some delicious oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar for Nolan and me.”

 

Aiden had the oatmeal cooked up to just the right thickness when Nolan gave his special knock then entered the house through the front door. The special knock was to prevent surprises and indicated that the person knocking was Nolan. It wasn’t necessary for anyone to let Nolan into the house. He had a house key if he needed it. The same rules applied to Aiden at Nolan’s house.

 

“Hey, it’s the naked oatmeal chef,” Nolan grinned as he walked into the kitchen. He took off his clothes, folded them, and set them neatly on the chair.  Because he was wearing an apron, Aiden wasn’t exactly naked, but by house law the Naked Chef had to wear an apron when cooking. The boys exchanged a loving good-morning kiss and then Nolan went to the family room to say hello to Larry.

 

Larry couldn’t help but be impressed by the physical specimen Nolan had become. He was a well-developed thirteen-year-old, in both the muscle and in the reproductive organ departments.

 

After eating breakfast, the boys went upstairs to Aiden’s room and sat out on the balcony. “It’s nice and warm out here,” Nolan said.

 

Aiden checked the thermometer located under the eaves. “It’s already seventy-four,” Aiden noted.

 

“It’s supposed to get up to eighty-eight today.”

 

“I bet you wish you could hang around the pool all day.”

 

“I do, but my mom is willing to drive me to Meadow Park so I can visit with some of my old buds before school starts. She’s got the day off, so I’ll take what I can get when I can get it. If I’d known about the Mason thing, I would have planned it on a different day, but this was all set up before we left for the Brawl.”

 

“Are you gonna fuck Carter?” Aiden asked. Carter had been Nolan’s best friend in Meadow Park.

 

“Well, as you know, since you’ve heard what we’ve done blow by blow, so to speak, the farthest we’ve ever gone is wildly humping each other’s dicks. And wildly means with lots of kissing. And as you also know, we’ve talked about fucking, but since Carter is straight, it hasn’t happened.”

 

“But he wanted to do it bad before you moved away. Doesn’t sound all that straight to me.”

 

“So maybe, he’s bi. Besides, look at Trent and Mac and how they go after each other. And don’t tell me they’re not straight, because they are.”

 

“Yep, that’s the fun of being a kid—we can be whatever we want to be. Including two gay lovers who are madly in love with each other.”

 

“Are you talking about us?” Nolan asked.

 

“You know it. Wanna fuck here on the balcony?”

 

“Before the week is out, I promise. But right now, I’m gonna save it for Carter just in case.”

 

“I guess that’s what happens when you get all that pubic hair,” Aiden smirked. “You can only get it up and do it once a day, if that.”

 

“Okay, Sweet Cakes, you asked for it. We’ve got two challenges on the table. One day this week we will fuck on the balcony—at least once and I hope more.”

 

“And the other one? As if I can’t guess.”

 

“On a day before school starts, we go from morning wake up to falling asleep to see who has the most cums in a day,” Nolan said with mock seriousness.

 

“Start and end times to be decided the day we do it. And I say we put a friendly wager on it.”

 

“A friendly wager? Wow, my Sweet Cakes is getting all hoity toity. And what kind of WAGER are you proposing?”

 

“This isn’t about me asking you to marry me, this is about me taking your money away from you.”

 

“Okay, so how much money do I get when I win this bet?”

 

“I kinda like what Trent and Mac bet on Calvin. How about a three-penny bet?”

 

“You’re on.” The two lovers touched cocks to seal the deal.

 

Aiden checked the time and saw it was time for them to get dressed. “I want a complete report on how good a fuck Carter was.”

 

“And I hope I get a complete report on whoever you fuck today.”

 

“It would be Mason if I could get him away from his mom. And, I can tell you it won’t be Gordy. I’m positive he’ll be shooting a cumload inside of Kalie. But I’ll figure out somebody.”

 

Nolan and Aiden were sporting rock hard pubescent erections. “I’d fuck you now, Sweet Cakes, but it’s time we got going. Damn those timekeeping devices,” Nolan said.

 

“I know this much, Sugar Bear. We’re going to be so ready to fuck on this balcony I just totally, absolutely know we’ll do it more than once.”

 

“You’ll get no argument from me.”

 

Nolan and Aiden rose from their chaise lounges and started into Aiden’s bedroom. Just as they stepped off the balcony the doorbell rang. “That’s gotta be Gordy,” Aiden said.

 

It was Gordy, who had come from town on his bike. He would ride to Mason’s house and back with Larry, after which he would continue his bike ride to Kalie’s.

 

“Well, I should have known you two would be naked and hard when you answered the door,” Gordy smirked.

 

“Just the thought of you coming to Aiden’s door was enough to turn us totally on,” Nolan said.

 

They went up to Aiden’s room where Aiden and Nolan quickly dressed. Aiden showed Gordy and Nolan the four books he had picked out from his collection for Mason to take with him. They were titled “Hothead”, “Super Slugger,” “Wild Pitch,” and “Squeeze Play.” All four books were baseball stories whose main characters were middle school boys and were written by Hall of Fame shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. with Kevin Cowherd.

 

“That should keep Mason from getting bored on the long airplane rides,” Aiden said.

 

“They’re great baseball stories, that’s for sure,” Gordy agreed. Like Aiden, Gordy had read all four books. Nolan had read “Hot Head” and “Super Slugger”. He had liked them both.

 

Aiden placed the books in his string backpack and the boys went downstairs to meet Larry for the ride to Mason’s house. Aiden told Gordy that on the way they would pick up Riley and the twins.  

 

<Mason>

 

Mason was awake by eight. He put on the pair of pajamas he wore when he left his bedroom and went out the door to take his morning piss and then look for his mother. She was taking the day off to help Mason with his quick turnaround to California. She couldn’t help but feel that her powers as a mother had been taken from her. She knew that wasn’t true because she had consciously decided not to stand in her son’s way, but because of the speed at which everything had happened she couldn’t help but feel helpless.

 

Her spirits were quickly raised when Mason came into the living room, sat next to her on the couch, and gave her a shoulder squeezing hug. “Good morning, mom. I love you.”

 

She returned the hug and gave her son a kiss on his forehead. “I love you, too. I missed you so much and I’m gonna miss you even more, now.”

 

“I’m sorry mom,” Mason said contritely. “But this is, like, something I gotta do.”

 

“I know, I know. I hope for nothing but the best for you,” Madeline said while she thought, ‘because I don’t think either one of us will be able to handle it if this becomes a big flop.’ She gave Mason another hug and kiss. The look of determination on Mason’s face was a good reminder to her that she was making the right decision.

 

“What are we having for breakfast?” Mason asked. “I hope it’s a big one because I’m really hungry.”

 

“I thought I’d make pancakes and sausage. Will that be big enough?”

 

“Oh, yeah, it’s gonna be even better; it’s gonna be humungous enough.”

 

As Mason dug through his stack of four pancakes, he was convinced he was eating the best breakfast in the world. Madeline shook her head as she wondered how a boy so small could eat a breakfast so big. She knew Mason was below average in size for a boy who would be turning thirteen in a little over a month, or in 46 days as he put it.

 

“Here’s your schedule for the day,” Madeline said after Mason licked his plate clean.

 

“Mom, you gave it to me last night, remember?”

 

“But it was late at night, and you were pretty sleepy, so I thought a quick review wouldn’t hurt.”

 

“Okay. You’re the mom,” Mason grinned.

 

Mason listened through the packing schedule, was reminded to double check the personal stuff he packed in his backpack and baseball equipment bag to make sure he didn’t forget anything.     

 

“Before I pack any of that, I’m gonna make a list to make sure I take everything I want. I know you’ll make sure I have plenty of underwear. Just remember, wherever I’ll be staying they’ll have a washer and dryer so you don’t need to drown me in clothes.”

 

“It sounds like we’ve got it all under control,” Madeline grinned.

 

“And if we don’t, we’ll get it all worked out, as Aiden would tell me.”

 

Mason showered and the packing began. Madeline held off on packing the underwear, socks, t-shirts, and shorts until after she had washed what Mason had brought home from the tournament. She had packed the best he had for the seven-day trip and would probably pack the same items for this one.

 

What she was going to pack that she didn’t pack for the baseball trip was two button down shirts and two pairs of dress pants. She let Mason pick out which ones he wanted. He objected to having two of each, saying one of each was enough since wherever he was staying really would have a washer and dryer.

 

Around eleven o’clock there was a knock at the door. Mason answered it and was surprised and pleased to see a group of his friends. Aiden, Nolan, Gordy, Miles, Riley, Grant, Scott, Trent, and the twins were at the door. Scott and Trent were last minute additions who rode to Mason’s house on their bikes.

 

Aiden spoke for the group. “We thought we’d wish you a smooth flight back to SoCal and that you hit nothing but your best notes ever once you get to East Harbor.”

 

Mason saw the Honda Pilot parked in front of his house along with bicycles parked on the lawn and knew that Larry had driven them there. He invited them into the house and the group sat in the living room. Some sat on the sofa or a chair and some simply sat on the floor. Madeline, who had been expecting the boys, welcomed them to the house and offered them apple juice. She looked around the room at the ten wonderful boys who had come to say goodbye to their friend. It was just three years ago that Mason would come home crying because everybody hated him and picked on him. And to those who didn’t pick on him, he was looked at as kind of a weird kid who liked being alone. Gordy had tried to make friends with him, but Mason had been afraid to make friends with anybody because he had lost all of his trust in his classmates, But Aiden Miller, the new kid in the school, changed everything. Now he was their teammate and best friend.

 

“We brought you some books,” Aiden said. "It’ll give you something to do on the airplane and when you’re sitting around looking for something to do.” He pulled four books out of his string backpack.

 

“They’re all books about boys like us playing baseball,” Gordy said. “Aiden and I picked them together. They’re all by Cal Ripken, the Hall of Fame player and some guy who wrote it with him because he knows how to write better than a baseball player.”

 

Aiden and Gordy had considered two other baseball books on Aiden’s bookshelf but decided, as good as they were, one was too serious to take on a trip that was supposed to be something fun, and he was in the process of reading the other one. Aiden was going to make sure Mason got them after his return.

 

The books were small paperbacks and took up next to no room, so Mason put three of them into his suitcase. He put the first book of the series into his backpack to read on the airplane.

 

Trent apologized for Mac not being there. “He and his dad had something planned,” was all he said.

 

“Okay, we gotta go,” Aiden said. “Gordy wanted to see you off with us, but he has a lunch date with Kalie, and we’ve got to get him there.” 

 

Mason got a hug and a word of encouragement from each of the boys who came. When Aiden saw that Mason’s mom had left the room, he added a long kiss to his hug.

 

After his friends left, Mason brushed away some tears. “What’s got you all sad?” Madeline asked when she re-entered the room.

 

“I’m not sad, mom, I’m totally happy that I got so many good friends.” Suddenly Mason started to giggle.

 

“Now, what’s got you laughing?” his mother asked.

 

“Nothing much. I just thought of something fun a lot of us did.” What had set Mason to giggling was that after his friends left and caused a surge of emotion, he realized that he he’d had oral sex, anal sex, or both with all ten boys at some time.

 

“It was so nice they gave you some books.”

 

“It was Aiden who got me into reading,” Mason said. “He had so many books that pretty soon I was getting into reading them because I wanted to be smart like Aiden. I even learned a lot about the music he likes since we became friends.” Aiden’s favorite music genre was classical. “I even kinda like some of it. Anyway, when’s lunch?”

 

“You don’t know how much I missed feeding that bottomless pit of yours. I swear you’ll be shooting up any day now and we’ll have to buy you new clothes.”

 

“I’m ready for that growth spurt, like they call it in health class.”

 

Lunch was two hot dogs with chips. After lunch, Mason spent the afternoon riding his bike for exercise, finishing the book he’d been reading so he could start one of the books Aiden had given him, playing a couple video games, watching TV, and sitting back in the big recliner thinking about the adventure he was on the verge of starting on.

 

One other thing he did was make a call he knew he should make but had been putting off. The call made him nervous, even though he knew it shouldn’t. But he finally took a deep breath and called a number he knew by heart.  He was hoping the call would go unanswered, but that turned out not to be the case.

 

A man’s voice, sonorous even on the phone, answered with a friendly, “Hello.”

 

“Hi, Mr. Richards, this is Mason.”

 

“Good afternoon, Mason.” George Richards knew from the readout on his phone who was making the call, but he liked his students to go through the entire introduction protocol to get them used to speaking formally on the phone. Mr. Richards was Mason’s voice teacher. “I take it you’re home from California.”

 

“Yep.”

 

“And to what do I owe this honor since I know we won’t be meeting again for lessons for a couple of weeks.”

 

Mason told his teacher about the recording contract and how it came about. The teacher listed patiently to his prize pupil. “You say you’re leaving this evening?” he asked.

 

“Yep. In about an hour.”

 

“Well, I wish you’d called me earlier, but I can understand that you were put in a tight schedule. I would have suggested we get together to discuss this and maybe work on a few things. That said, this sounds like a great opportunity and I have heard from more than one source that At The Majestic is a great band and a first-class operation. I’ve seen a couple of their concerts online—I wished I’d been able to see what you did with them.”

 

“It’s still online,” Mason told him. He gave Richards the URL of the website.

 

“I’ll take a listen. And I will tell you this much—I think you are ready to do this. And that you’re smart to do it before your voice breaks. Right now you’re comfortable where you are and will be able to sing with total confidence.”

 

They talked for a couple more minutes with Mason listening intently to a couple of suggestions from the teacher he idolized. “Listen, Mason. Feel free to call me anytime if you have any questions, need help, or just want to vent. I’ll be here for you.”

 

“Thank you, Mr. Richards. I’m looking forward to our lessons as soon as I get back home.”

 

“And I’m looking forward to my copy of the CD.”

 

They said their good-byes and disconnected. Mason tried to remember why he was nervous about making the call. His teacher was awesome as always and Mason was happy he had called him. He walked over to the front window just to see if anyone was coming up the street.

 

Meanwhile, a little over thirty miles to the west, an SUV took an exit from Interstate 5 into what seemed the middle of nowhere and headed east on Highway 12. “Where are we going?” Alejandro, the thirteen-year-old boy in the passenger seat, asked Jacob, the driver.

 

“We’re picking up a passenger.” Jacob was intentionally vague to play on Alejandro’s curiosity. Alejandro thought Jacob was driving him to his plane at Seattle’s Boeing Field for his flight home to East Harbor. Instead, he had been driven to a small city called Centralia and was now heading on a two lane highway through farmland to who knew where.

 

Alejandro had many questions. ‘Who is this passenger?’ ‘Why are they taking someone with them?’ ‘Why wouldn’t the passenger meet them at the airport?’ Jacob told him all would be revealed soon and so Alejandro sat back and looked at the combination of farmland and forest land fly by.

 

At Mason’s house, Mason looked impatiently at the clock on the TV cable box. The time was almost four o’clock, which was when he was supposed to be picked up by Jacob and Alejandro. Mason paced back and forth at the front window waiting for a car to pull up. He wished he knew what kind of car to look for. Another minute ticked by. It was seven minutes until four. Since Mason had learned playing sports that if you were on time, you were really ten minutes late, as far as he was concerned his ride was now officially three minutes late.

 

Alejandro’s thoughts were interrupted as they entered a small, lakeside town. At a red traffic light, a traffic light they later found to be the only one in town, Alejandro caught a glimpse of the lake to the north. The light turned to green, and Jacob continued east for a couple of blocks before making a right turn on a tree-lined residential street and drove south for just over three blocks. 

 

Madeline held her son from behind, quietly telling him to relax and stay calm. “But mom, they’re late,” Mason said.

 

“It’s not even four o’clock yet. Jacob assured me he would be right on time.”

 

“Who’s Jacob?”

 

“He’s going to be your chauffeur, and private security, if you can believe that,” Madeline replied.

 

When he heard that he would have a chauffeur and private security, Mason couldn’t help but feel very important. The recording company was treating him like he was a star.

 

“And it’s not four yet,” his mother went on, “so there’s no way they’re late.”

 

“Trust me, they are late. But you wouldn’t understand because you don’t play on the teams I play on.”

 

Before she could respond to that a black SUV with tinted windows pulled up to the curb. Madeline was impressed by an obviously new vehicle. She wondered if it was a rental.

 

Mason jumped up and clapped. “That’s gotta be them. And they’re only three minutes late.” Madeline nodded, pretending to understand what her son was talking about.

 

Mason was ready to grab whatever he could grab and dash out the front door, but his mother held him back. “Let him come and get us,” she told him.

 

Pulling up to the modest house in the small town, Jacob turned off the vehicle and popped open the rear hatch. “Come with me,” gently ordered Jacob. Alejandro rolled his eyes and exited the rental. 

 

Mason and his mom watched a man Mason figured was Jacob exit out of the driver’s door. The passenger door also opened and a blond boy, who looked to be thirteen or fourteen, stepped out. Mason’s eyes almost bugged out of his head as he watched the boy, whose looks he thought were beyond cute and way up to beautiful level, run to meet up with the man.

 

He caught up with Jacob as the front door opened and a small blonde with blue eyes and wavy hair stepped onto the porch. Alejandro’s heart skipped a beat. Jacob broke the spell the boy cast on Alejandro. “Please help Mason with his luggage. I need to speak with his mother.”  

 

Mrs. Johnson welcomed Jacob into the house leaving the boys on the front porch. Alejandro simply said, “Hi.” The goofy smile on his face, however, said a lot more.  

 

“Hi,” said Mason. His cheeks suddenly felt like they were burning. His heart dared to burst from his chest. 

 

The adults watched the two boys standing on the porch staring at each other as they talked. Jacob checked his watch and hurried things along. “Alejandro, help Mason with his luggage.” The boys remained in place. 

 

“Mason,” said Mrs. Johnson. “Mason!” 

 

“Huh?” said the little blond, turning to face his mother.

 

“Fetch your suitcase so Alejandro can help you to their vehicle.”  

 

Mason scooted around his mom to get his suitcase.  

 

Alejandro followed and aided Mason in getting his suitcase, backpack, and guitar out to the SUV. While they rearranged the luggage in the vehicle to fit in Mason’s, Jacob set about easing Mrs. Johnson’s nerves about Mason traveling by himself. 

 

“Alejandro is friends with Dr. Meijer and his boys. We’ll be staying there too, so I can assist in looking after Mason in addition to Dr. Meijer, his partner Zach who is studying to be a child psychologist, and Carol Novak, Simon’s mother.” 

 

Jacob checked to see if Mason was within earshot. Noting the boys were at the SUV, he continued. “Mrs. Johnson, I’m private security. I’m Alejandro’s full-time personal bodyguard. When we are with Dr. Meijer’s boys, I look after them too. It would be my honor to extend my services to Mason while he is in our presence.” 

 

When Mason and Alejandro returned, Mason’s mother felt much better about the situation, except her son being away for a couple more weeks. She missed him terribly while he was at the BaseBrawl. She also understood her boy was growing up and had earned opportunities most children his age only dreamed of. 

 

“Mason,” she said, “you listen to Jacob and Dr. Meijer and the others. Do your best and work hard. They’re taking a chance on you. Don’t let them down because you didn’t take it seriously. I’m going to miss you terribly.” 

 

“I won’t mom,” said Mason quietly. “I’ll miss you, too.” 

 

They hugged before Mason followed Alejandro and Jacob to the SUV. Madeline Johnson watched her son start to climb into the back seat. Instead, he turned and ran back to his mother and hugged her again more tightly. “I love you! Thank you for letting me do this.” Then Mason ran back and joined Alejandro in the backseat. Mason shut the door and waved to his mother as Jacob started their journey to the Chehalis-Centralia Airport to board their plane.  For the first time since he had been offered the recording contract, Mason was completely ready to do it.

 

Next: The Great Outdoors

 

Note to Readers: The parts of the chapter where Alejandro appears were written mostly by The Brat. I revised parts of it to fit into Mason’s side of the meeting. You can find Alejandro’s side in East Harbor Boys Chapter 66. We worked this out so his chapter and my chapter would slide smoothly together. We feel we were successful in that endeavor.