The Village

Seth’s Perspective

Everybody had come to Wilmington to support The Village and all the guys, damn what an amazing weekend it was. We were building something great and everyone was rallying around the cause. I was so damn lucky to be surrounded by good people who didn’t hesitate to help others, they inspired me to be my best. But now it was Monday morning and I had to deal with Taylor, ugh. I just grabbed some toast and a cup of coffee with the guys before I left the house at 7:00 for our 7:30 session.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to be there?” Max asked.

“I got this” I replied with a sigh. I was not looking forward to it, but it needed to be done.

“Stay firm” Max said. “Help him with next steps, be supportive, but don’t back down. He’s a master manipulator.”

“I know. I love the guy, but don’t trust him for shit. Him living in the building poses a risk” I said. “I already texted our realtor Denny to help him find an apartment and I’m gonna call around town to see who’s hiring so we can find him a permanent job. We’ll get him set up, and I’ll keep counselling him, but I’m afraid he’s gonna bring a trick into that building and put the other guys in danger so he’s gotta go.”

“I’m still blown away that it was Cam and Elliot” Zach said with a snort. “They must’ve freaked the fuck out when they saw him at The Village!”

“Hey, at least they came clean and tried to do the right thing” I said. “But the whole thing still sucks.” Cam and Elliot had hired Taylor as a rent boy while they were in town for the event. They had no clue he was part of The Village until they saw him at Harrington House. The bottom line is that they both resigned from the board to minimize any damage to the organization, and the board decided to remove Taylor from Harrington House before he put the other guys at risk and to show him that actions have consequences.

I jumped in The Green Dragon and blasted some 90’s tunes to clear my head as I drove to the office. I parked in our small lot behind the building by Ricky’s old Chevy, Timmy’s pick-up, Colton’s silver Toyota with the red door, and the old green Beetle Craig had donated to The Village. We had decided to register the Beetle under The Village and keep it at Harrington House so the residents had transportation to work… another thing I’d need to add to my to-do list. When I got out of my car, I noticed pamphlets from the church under the windshields of the four vehicles. I collected them all before I entered the offices from the alley and dumped them in the kitchen trash can before I made the coffee. After I had my coffee, I sat in my office prepping for my session with Taylor. He showed up at exactly 7:30, we greeted each other as we walked into the therapy room.

We sat across from each other, each waiting for the other to speak. I was hoping he’d get the ball rolling with an apology, or show some sort of remorse, but no such luck. “So, a lot happened this weekend. What are your thoughts on everything?” I asked breaking the silence. He just sat there. Silently. I stared back. Finally, he answered.

“I feel bad that Cam and Elliot got fired from the board.” He said quietly as he avoided eye contact with me. That may not sound like a huge answer, but it was to me. Taylor was showing empathy. He was thinking about somebody other than himself. A little remorse would have been nice too… baby steps.

“Well, they weren’t fired, they resigned by choice. Do you understand why?” I asked.

“Because of what they did” he said trying to come up with an answer.

“They resigned because they’re trying to do what was best for all involved… the right thing” I corrected. “They didn’t want The Village and those in the program to suffer because of their actions… they faced the consequences.” I watched his face as I spoke, hoping he was thinking through his actions instead of trying to figure how to talk his way out of it. “You know, Cam had a hard start when he was first on his own too. He moved to Chicago and got the crap beat out of him by a bully” I said, still watching Taylor for a response.

“Is that where he got the scars on his body?” He asked showing empathy again. I nodded in response.

“Being on the board of The Village was important to him, but he thought resigning was the best thing for all involved” the room was silent again. “What do you think is the best thing you can do for all involved?” I asked putting the ball in his court.

“I need to stay here. You can trust me, Seth.” He said desperately pleading.

“Taylor, do you really think you staying here is what’s best for all involved?” He nodded in desperation; he knew better but he wanted to stay… he felt he needed to stay. Unfortunately, that ship had sailed. “You’ve got to think about the others. You are not a lone wolf here.”

“I will be! When this is over, I’m back out there fending for myself” he barked back.

“That’s what adults do, Taylor. They fend for themselves. We’re here to teach you how to do that… but you need to freaking listen to us and take advantage of the opportunity to learn and grow. And for the record, we’re not going anywhere. We’re in this for life, all you have to do is call us. Once a villager, always a villager” I said. I truly believed everything I said, I’m not so sure Taylor did.

We talked a little longer, he pled his case, then I laid out our decision. “I’m going to continue to counsel you as long as you want my help, we’ll help you find a permanent job and a place to live, We’re going to stand by you, but you cannot at Harrington House.” We talked details as he slowly came to grips with the reality of the situation and realized he wasn’t going to talk his way out of this with a loophole. We talked a lot about doing the right thing for the greater good, and right versus wrong. I was blown away at how little he seemed to grasp those concepts… but I guess if your father knocks you out then bludgeons your mother to death just a few feet away from your unconscious body it may cloud your understanding of those notions. I had to keep reminding myself that the guy had been through hell and all he really knew was survival. I was ABSOLUTELY NOT going to abandon him, we just needed to turn up our efforts to make him self-sufficient. By the end of the session, he seemed to be starting to accept the reality of his situation, but it seemed the only thing he was remorseful about was getting caught. It would take time to change his thinking, but I was patient.

That morning, Taylor’s future was my main focus. I made several calls and lined up two decent opportunities for him. The first was with an insurance agent down the street who I had met going door to door introducing myself. One of the companies he represented had an agent training program. He asked me several questions about Taylor including if he had his high school diploma. I told him no and figured that would be that, but the guy still wanted to meet with him. There were a couple of tests that assessed computer skills, basic language, math skills, etc. If Taylor could get through those, the diploma wouldn’t matter (I also got the Beetle set up with insurance while I was on the phone with him). The other opportunity was with a local car dealer that Daddy James (Brody’s dad) knew, he had positions open in the sales and service departments. I texted both leads to Taylor and to my surprise, he immediately followed through and set up interviews with both men. Maybe he was taking this seriously after all.  Denny was looking for apartments for him, but I needed a backup plan just in case so I called Tommy and Darius. They agreed to take Taylor back temporarily if he couldn’t find a place to live, but we agreed that there would need to be some changes like a curfew and no car privileges. They loved the kid too, but were pissed about being lied to and Darius was none too happy that Taylor was using his car to go meet tricks… they felt used. Well… That was my morning.

At noon, I went to the DMV and registered the Beetle to The Village, it was surprisingly empty so while I was there, I got my NC Driver’s License with our new address on it. I got everything handled in less than an hour. My afternoon was spent interviewing Case Workers, I had been talking to people for weeks and finally had two candidates that I was ready to move to the next level. One was a young gay man from Charlotte just a year out of college. He was inexperienced but extremely resourceful; we saw eye-to-eye on a lot of things. The other was a transgendered woman from Chicago with a great resume. She and I had a lively interview and her perspective challenged me; that was probably a great thing for the future of The Village. Two completely different personalities. I set them each up with follow-up Zoom interviews with Max, and a couple other board members.  I was hoping to have a yay or nay on each of them by the end of the week then set up in-person interviews. We were having to tighten our belts to afford this position, but in the long run it would free me up for more counselling, big picture thinking, and grant writing. Speaking of grant writing, I had applied for a grant to cover the new position for two years and had my fingers crossed it would come through.

I stayed late for a 6:00 session with Colton who had to work until 5:00 at the docks. Talk about a contrast to my session with Taylor! He came in with an update on his savings account, a lead on an apartment, and a huge smile on his face. “Cody, this guy I work with at the docks has a two bedroom apartment and his roommate is moving out to go live with his girlfriend” he said excitedly. “The rent is cheap and it’s closer to work, and Cody’s a good guy.” Colton was taking control of his life and doing his best to make things happen. At the very end of his session, I asked if he had fun at The Village event and the cookout at BroMax this weekend. He smiled wide and nodded, his face was bright red.

“What was the highlight of the weekend for you?” I asked. I used those kinds of questions to get my clients to think about the good things and what makes them happy. That little guy turned beat red and said, “meeting Craig.” Then he exhaled and said “he’s just like me and he he’s doing so great! I can do it too.” Colton said. He talked about Craig as an inspiration and role model, but it was clear there was more to it than that, Colton was into Craig. I asked a few questions, but he avoided any talk about romance. I dunno, I think the two of them made perfect sense… they were a lot alike and had gone through similar life experiences, plus they were both cute as hell. There weren’t any rules against them dating, but they both had fragile hearts, especially Colton. Craig had grown stronger, but Colton was still longing for a connection with his family was vulnerable, and then there was the long distance thing. I just didn’t want to see either guy hurt. When he left, I advised him to move slowly and protect his heart but I knew my warning had fallen on deaf ears.

It was after 8PM when I finally parked The Green Dragon in front of the garage at BroMax Farm. It had been a long day, and amidst all the work insanity, Zach and I were closing on the house on Wednesday and my in-laws were coming to town on Friday night to help. I was suddenly feeling extremely overwhelmed, almost like a mini panic attack. It was weird that it just hit me suddenly like that, I was usually even keel. I sat in the car for a few minutes trying to gather my thoughts and regain my calm. I must’ve been out there longer than I realized because Zach came out to get me.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked as he tapped lightly on the car window. I snapped back into reality when I heard his muffled voice through the closed window. My face was flushed, my heart racing, and my breathing heavy as I opened the door.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. Busy day, just collecting my thoughts” I said as I got out of my old car. Like I said, it was weird. I never had that kind of episode before, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it, so I hugged my husband, pulled my bag out of the car, and started walking towards the house.

“Max made chicken and rice for dinner, we saved some for you.” Zach said as he put his arm around me and kissed my cheek. When I got into the house Petunia greeted me with enthusiasm. Max, Brody, Zoey, and Baby Maggie were all sitting on the couch.

“Hey princess,” I said as I leaned in to get a kiss on the cheek from Maggie. “What are you doing here?” I questioned her with my annoying baby voice.

“Gina and Dylan decided they needed a break so they dropped her off at the last minute and went on a date night” Max said.

“She’s stayin’ here t’night” Brody added. “Gina’s gonna pick her up before she heads into school in the mornin’.” 

“So, how’d it go with Taylor this morning?” Max asked and I filled them all in.

“He tried to talk his way out of it, but he finally seemed to accept that I wasn’t backing down” I told them, then I told them about his interviews.

“Does he have interview clothes?” Max asked.

“I got a couple of old suits he can have, he’s about my size” Zach said. Hell, I hadn’t even thought about that. I texted Taylor and got an immediate response, apparently, he had been stressing out over what he was going to wear to the interviews. I was happy he was taking all this seriously. Maybe there was hope for him after all. I worried about him more than anyone else in the program. God, what an awful start to life he’d had and I was afraid the horrors of his past may blind him to the opportunities of the future. I told him I’d leave some wardrobe options for him at BroMax tomorrow.

I went into the kitchen and put my dinner in the microwave, Zach and Petunia followed me in sensing something was up. I told him I was just getting a little overwhelmed by everything. Life was coming at me from every direction… things were great, but we bit off a fuck of a lot and now we were moving into the money pit… ugh! What the fuck were we thinking.

“The underwriters approved our loan and the paperwork is ready for everyone to sign. My firm overnighted the package to Old Lady Jones’ executor and they’re supposed to sign off and send it back tomorrow, I’ll set up the wire transfer of the down payment tomorrow, then we go to the firm on Wednesday, we sign on the dotted line and The Witch’s House is ours.” Zach said as he sidled up behind me while I stood woofing down my dinner at the counter and Petunia sat waiting patiently for me to drop something. Zach’s strong arms wrapped around my waist and his soft lips kissed my neck. The news of the house being ours should’ve added to my stress, but Zach’s arms and lips helped it melt away.

“I have to work after I sign the papers, but I should be done around noon and took the rest of the week off” I said. “I’m trying to squeeze all my sessions in between now and then.”

“Yeah, off, Me too” Zach laughed with a scoff. “So basically, we’re both on call and working remotely from our money pit.” Yeah, that summed it up nicely. “My parents are leaving Wisconsin early Thursday morning and should get here Friday morning. Dad said they’re just gonna drive until they get tired on Thursday then find a room and finish up the rest of the trip in the morning.” I loved my in-laws. My father in-law planned to fly home on Sunday night, but my mother in-law was going to stay for a week or so then drive home by herself (I was worried about that). She was going to help us with the demolition so Bubba and his crew could go to work. She also planned to help us with the floors and the cabinets. She’d rehabbed houses before and was ready to dive in.

After I ate my reheated dinner, I went into the living room. By then Maggie was asleep on Brody’s chest and Zoey was laying across him and Max. I had to fight Petunia for a spot on the other couch next to Zach, eventually she let me in and laid across us. It was a nice quiet night at home… exactly what I needed.

Tuesday, I went into the office early and saw that the damn church put pamphlets on the windshields of all the cars parked behind our building again. They also taped a flyer to the light post in front of the building and slipped some pamphlets into the mail slot cut into our front door. These fuckers weren’t going to let up, and they were going to remind us they were there. I threw all their propaganda in the trash again and took a little bit of satisfaction in knowing they I just wasted their money. If this is as aggressive as they got, I could handle them.

It was a mild work day for me. A had a few virtual counselling sessions, confirmed interviews between the two Case Worker candidates and board members, talked to a couple of organizations that had clients who needed our help, and then caught up on paperwork. Zach showed up about 6:00 to take me to dinner. It was just the two of us at a little place a few blocks away, it felt good to be alone. We talked about anything but work… it was date night, our time to escape the stress.

It was Wednesday, the big day! We were closing on our first home! Max got up early and made a big breakfast for us and he and Brody had a bottle of champagne with a big bow on it sitting on the kitchen table as a housewarming gift. “Good morning homeowners” Max said as we entered the kitchen.

“God, I’m stressing out” I said as I poured coffee for me and Zach.

Just then Brody walked in the kitchen door from the yard with Petunia and Zoey running behind. “Mornin’ neighbors” He said. “Today’s the big day y’all” he added with a big grin.

“Yup, we close at 9” Zach said, “then Seth is going into work for the morning and I’m gonna head over to the house and start working. We’re both off for the rest of the week.”

“Y’all can take Old Blue if you need ‘er” Brody said referring to his old truck. Zach took him up on the offer and we talked about what we were going to do to the house, and where we were going to start. After a good breakfast, the four of us took off to start our days. Brody and Max went to work in the bar like they did every day. Zach and I took separate cars to his office and signed the papers. It was stressfully uneventful and my hand was sore as hell from all that signing… but by 10AM, The Witch’s House was ours. That beautifully messed up money pit was all ours. Zach’s colleagues congratulated us then we walked out to our cars and kissed goodbye as he took off to start work on our home, and I went into the office to tie up some loose ends.

I was in my office on a call when this beautiful young man with a manbun entered wearing a familiar gray suit. It was Taylor and he looked hot as hell in Zach’s old suit. Yeah, I could definitely see how he lured his clients in, I wasn’t into manbuns but he pulled it off well. As soon as I hung up the phone he spoke, “Hey Seth, I got my interview at the dealership this morning. Do I look okay?” as he turned around with his arms out to the sides so I could get a good look.

“You look great!” I said with a proud smile. “What time is your interview?”

“Noon. You said I could borrow the Beetle. Can I have the keys?” He asked. I took the keys from my desk drawer and threw them to him. “Then I have my interview with Marv at the insurance agency at 4:00. I’m gonna land em both.” He said with confidence.

“I know you will. How’s the apartment hunt going?” I asked.

“I talked to Denny and he’s got a couple of leads, but I want to land a job first so I have a better idea of my budget and location. I won’t have a car so I’ll need to be on the bus line.” Taylor said assuredly. He was really thinking things through and taking control, I was proud of him.

“Smart thinking. You should go look at the places anyway, so you know what’s out there. You’ve only got a couple of weeks” I said. That didn’t seem to set well with Taylor, I think he was hoping I’d give in and let him stay at Harrington House a little longer, but the decision had been made. We talked briefly; I gave him a few interview pointers then wished him good luck. He hugged me and thanked me for all my help to get him to this point. He actually hugged me. After he left my office, I just sat there and basked in the moment, I thought he had been ignoring everything I said, but I started to feel like maybe we were making a difference in his life. I finished up at the office and headed “home” for the very first time.

The tires of The Green Dragon crunched the gravel as I drove up the long drive and parked next to old Blue. The dumpster had already been delivered and was sitting next to the garage, the garage door was open. Our first step was to go through all the personal stuff that we bought with the house. Zach had already moved several pieces out of the house and into the dumpster or the garage. I got out of the car, still in my work clothes and went into the house looking for him.

He had all the windows open trying to air the old place out. I walked through the house and found him in the kitchen, he was bent over and emptying out one of the bottom cabinets. His ass was just… just there… staring at me. So perfect and firm in his tight shorts, I couldn’t resist the urge to walk up behind him and smack it. His head was in the cabinet and he jumped and bumped it. “Ow” he said as he pulled himself out, turned, and stood to face me. He was rubbing his head when he saw me there and smiled. “Welcome home he said as he put his arms around my waist and kissed me.”

“Damn, you got a lot done already” I said looking into his eyes with my arms around his neck.

“I got a good start” he said. “Oh! I gotta surprise for you” he added grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the old staircase… our old staircase, and up to the master bedroom. The door was shut. Zach turned the knob and pushed it open, he had the room set-up perfectly. Old Lady Jones’ bed was made up with our linens and quilt, the blinds were shut, and there were several BroMax candles burning. “I know we agreed to stay at Max and Brody’s for a while, but I just wanted to be in our own house.” Zach said as he came up behind me, put his arms around me, and kissed my neck.

“Our own house” I repeated quietly as I leaned back into his embrace. He started unbuttoning my dress shirt from the top then moved his way down undoing the buttons one by one. I threw my head back and rested it on his muscular shoulder as a moan escaped me and his lips nibbled my nape then moved to my earlobe. Fuck, that man knew how to work me. He undid the final button and my shirt fell open exposing my bare chest and abs. Zach ran his left hand over me while he his right undid my belt, then my button, then the zipper. My pants dropped to the floor and he caressed my growing manhood through my boxer briefs. Being there, in OUR house with HIM felt incredible, like it was where we were meant to be. All that we had worked for brought us to that place… together. This place… this old weather-beaten house on five over-grown acres in the middle of freaking nowhere. THIS is where we belonged.

I spun myself around and started stripping my sweaty husband. I pulled his T-shirt up over his head while he pulled my briefs off and I stepped out of them and my pants. We continued to strip each other until we were in the middle of our new-old bedroom. Lust took over and I spun Zach around and pushed him onto the bed. He laughed as he fell onto his back and the old bed creaked. I fell on top of him and we started to make out. Zach was an amazing lover but he was the dominant one and liked to be on top, so he rolled us over. He took controlled as he flipped around into a sixty nine, lowered his hardening cock into my mouth and then went to work on my hole with his talented tongue. He was sweaty from working on the house and his funk was strong, but that didn’t matter because I loved his scent.

He ate my ass with a hunger I had never experienced. His hands pulled my firm ass mounds apart as his tongue desperately stabbed in and out of me. He was on a mission to prep my ass for the first fuck of many in our new home. On the other end of the bed, my mouth was making sure he was hard and up to the task. His raging hard cock was buried to the hilt down my warm, wet throat as my tongue licked around its rigid shaft. My nose was nestled in his blonde, sweat-dampened bush and I took a deep breath. FUCK! He stunk from a morning of hard labor but there was always that lingering scent of soap and his body spray left from his shower… I wish I could do a better job of describing it. It was a ‘clean funk’, it was a ‘dirty clean’ I dunno, it was… it was just Zach and I loved it, I could never get enough. Zach slowly moved his cock in and out of me, fucking my throat. My eyes watered and I gagged each time he hit the back of my throat with his bulbous, spongey head. He was picking up speed and throat fucking me harder, I could tell he was getting close. Right as I thought he was going to shoot down my throat he jumped up, flipped around, reached in the nightstand to grab a bottle of lube he had stashed there when he put our little love nest together.

Quick as The Flash he was between my legs lubing up his cock with one hand and my hole with the other. I put my hands on the backs of my thighs and pulled my legs to me, spreading them as wide as I could giving Zach access to my more than willing hole. With one amazing move he leaned over to kiss me and pushed his hard cock into me…. All. The. Fucking. Way. Damn! He hit bottom within just a second or two then just held himself inside me as we kissed. He pulled out slowly then pushed in fast several times, each time exiting me completely. My hole clenched tightly around him on every out-stroke doing its damnedest to keep him inside me. Each time he left I felt empty but each time he reentered it was magical. We fell into the perfect rhythm and I started stroking myself along with his thrusts, we only lasted a few minutes before we both moaned, writhed, and simultaneously shot our loads. I could feel the warmth of his seed coating my bowels. He scooped my cum off my torso as he continued to pump in and out of me. He licked his hand then held it up to my mouth feeding me my own cum. We kissed and shared the taste of my cum. After a few minutes he stopped pumping and fell on top of me with his cock still lodged deep inside.

He laid on top of me with his heaving body completely covering mine and whispered in my ear “Welcome home, baby.” Yup. We were home.

To be continued…