Table of Contents

1. Chapter 1: Protector of Children 1 reviews, 10,597 words,

   The man pulled his cell phone from his pocket, looked around the warehouse to make sure his boss wasn’t watching, and then answered.

   “Yeah?”

   “Hey, Culpepper. That kid of yours is in the laundry room with another boy. They were … well, they were doing what you said.”

   “Thanks,” the man said. I’m gonna kill the little fucker, he thought.

2. Chapter 2: Everest 0 reviews, 5,659 words,

   The little boy was soft, smooth, and clean. He smelled of patchouli. The boy smiled, and cooed. “I like Yankees best. They have biggest dicks and strongest seed. I make you feel real good, Yankee. I take your dick in me. You fill me with your seed. Your seed make me strong. You like, Yankee.”

3. Chapter 3: A Botched Saturday 1 reviews, 5,549 words,

    

   The boy licked salty blood from the cut on his lip. He was hungry, but the dumpster smelled too bad to look for food, there. Sometimes one of the girls from the bar would bring her trick into the alley. Sometimes, he could beg a dollar from the girl. Sometimes he could get enough money to buy a little food. Not often, and, so far, not tonight. His head spun, and he passed out.

    
4. Chapter 4: Nothing is Certain but Death and Texas 0 reviews, 2,576 words,

    

   Fred was lying on top of Casey. I had been where Casey was enough times to know exactly what was going on. I didn’t need to see Fred’s naked butt pumping up and down, and I didn’t need to hear Casey’s crying to know. I grabbed a pitchfork and ran toward Fred.

5. Chapter 5: Death and Texas, Part II 0 reviews, 8,171 words,

    

   I saw us lying under the stars. The air was so clear I could easily separate Mizar and Alcor in the Big Dipper. I lay on my back, naked. Uncle George entered me … not like Fred had, but gently and with love. I didn’t know if this was something I imagined, or something he imagined, ’cause by now, we were showing each other a lot of things in our heads.

6. Chapter 6: The Bridge 0 reviews, 5,044 words,

    

   The bridge straddled the Chicago River. The river ran backwards to send the city’s sewage toward the Mississippi rather than into Lake Michigan. The boy didn’t know that. All he knew was that if he jumped from the catwalk into the river, he would die.

7. Chapter 7: Synergy 0 reviews, 3,873 words,

    

   Uncle George kissed me, and then led me to the shower. He covered me with body wash; he massaged shampoo into my hair; he rinsed me off and then he penetrated me while warm water ran off our bodies. I splashed my essence against the wall of the shower when I felt his heat pulsing inside me.

8. Chapter 8: Synergy Part 2 0 reviews, 4,071 words,

    

   The boy had been living in a windowless apartment, eating whatever he could find in the pantry. His need, his pain, had called me to him long before the government bureaucracy was able to put facts together: why a child was truant and why that child’s parents were occupying adjacent slabs in the city morgue.

    
9. Chapter 9: Synergy Part 3: Refuge 0 reviews, 4,126 words,

   Casey and Aiden made a lump in the middle of the bed. That’s not what I saw first, though. What I saw first were two pairs of Casey’s pajamas strewn around the room. Looked like Gary and Uncle George had put the boys in pajamas, and they’d rejected them. I pulled back the covers. I was right. They were both naked and cuddled close together. The bed reeked of boy-pheromones.

10. Chapter 10: Synergy Part 4: Norns 0 reviews, 4,892 words,

     

    Uncle George is bigger than Kevin, and a lot more experienced. He’s had a lot of practice making me feel good, and vice versa. And there was a lot of vice versa that night.

11. Chapter 11: Camp Genesis 0 reviews, 3,894 words,

    The CITs threw off the blanket and yanked me out of the bunk, yelling things like “filthy boy,” “sinner,” and “evil” while they dragged me, one on each arm, to the shower room. My pajama bottoms had come off. My bare bottom burned from rubbing across the wood floor. My penis … I guess it was fear, but my penis had shrunk down to practically nothing.

12. Chapter 12:Vignettes 0 reviews, 10,773 words,

     

     I felt for the briefcase on the seat next to me. It held five hundred thousand dollars in slightly worn currency of the USA: the current price of a twelve-year-old boy.

13. Chapter 13: Leroy and Nomos 0 reviews, 4,249 words,

     

    Leroy was a dreamer, and his mind held the residue of all his dreams. Most of the dreams had to do with a mysterious figure who would become his mentor and lover. Trying to understand that, however, was at the moment the least of my worries.

14. Chapter 14: James and Leroy 0 reviews, 4,441 words,

    Even with all the play-dates my parents arranged, I’d never had a sleepover. I had often wondered what it would be like to share a bed with another boy and whisper secrets in the dark. 

15. Chapter 15: James's Dream 0 reviews, 5,939 words,

     

    I offered a hug to Aiden; he accepted it with grace, warmth, and a sob. “Thank you, Leroy’s daddy,” he said. There was sadness in his voice that even a hug couldn’t cure. I hoped that someday, he would find a new daddy of his own.

16. Chapter 16: Whittaker 0 reviews, 6,824 words,

    The boy’s lips did not move, but his voice echoed in Father Malcolm’s mind. “I am not here. I died when I swam into the lake until I could swim no more, and drowned. I meant for that to happen. My body became food for the fish. I know that my soul is damned.”

17. Chapter 17: Lucas and Mark, Part I 0 reviews, 4,999 words,

     

    “Prometheus is your daddy? The two of you suit one another. If you want him, you may have him.” Lucas wasn’t sure to whom Gravely Voice had been speaking.

18. Chapter 18: Lucas and Mark--Part II 0 reviews, 7,087 words,

     

    When the film ended, Mark kissed my cheek. “I love you, Daddy. Merry Christmas.”

    I hesitated, then kissed Mark’s cheek. It was a chaste kiss, as I felt his had been. “Merry Christmas, Son. I love you.”

19. Chapter 19: Lucas and Mark--Part III 0 reviews, 6,186 words,

    “Aiden’s the first kid my age that I might have been friends with.” Tears appeared in the corners of Mark’s eyes. “And when we get to when he lives, I’ll be three years older than he is!”

20. Chapter 20: Lucas and Mark--Part IV 0 reviews, 5,783 words,

     

    Well, Lucas. You wanted to be a daddy, I thought. Maybe it’s time you started earning your keep.

21. Chapter 21: Lucas and Mark--Part V 0 reviews, 4,996 words,

     

    “What is chasing you?” Lucas asked.
    “I don’t know.” Mark shuddered and then whispered. “I never see it. I always wake up before it catches me. I think if it ever catches me, I’ll die.”

22. Chapter 22: Lucas and Mark--Part VI 0 reviews, 5,790 words,

    “So, where is Mark?” Eddie asked. His voice was raw as he forced it from his throat. He was clearly unhappy.

    “We don’t know,” Dike said.

23. Chapter 23: Lucas and Mark--Part VII 0 reviews, 7,311 words,

    "You have two choices: to live or to die. If you live, you have two choices: to be my friend or to be my servant. I will not permit any other relationship."

24. Chapter 24: Lucas and Mark, Part VIII 0 reviews, 4,634 words,

    ^{I had just made a promise, and I would to keep it. I would keep it even if Set didn’t keep his promises. I had to decide if I would live or die and, if I wanted to live, would I be Set’s friend or his slave. I didn’t like any of my choices but, no matter what, I had to keep my promise.}