The Pale Blue Sky

by Jack Lynch

Part 4 - Carey, Chapter 2

13 Years Old. Cowboys and Indians.

20 inches of snow. A veritable blizzard. Everything stopped. No cars passed by his house. Snow whipped by the wind formed drifts as high as the windows on the first floor. Best thing ever to happen. No school!

After the wind settled down and the sun came out, Carey decided to venture over to the park a few blocks from home. The going was kind of slow. From time to time, he had to trudge through packed snow in the street almost up to his knees. The roaring sounds of snow plows filled the neighborhood.

When Carey got to the park, it was clear he'd come late to the party. Dozens of kids and adults were engaged in all kinds of snow-centric activities: building snow men, playing king of the mountain on huge piles of snow, and throwing snow balls. Just as he got onto the playground, splat! He was hit on the side of the head with a snowball. Laughing and spitting snow out of his mouth and wiping it from his eyes, he spied the culprit. Karl, one of his classmates, laughed and jeered at him.

Payback time! Carey initiated a vicious snowball fight with Karl and his younger brother Steven. After pushing each other down and making a furious attempt to bury 11-year old Steven completely in snow, Carey stood up to catch his breath. He immediately was tackled from the side and thrown headlong into a just finished snow man. Giggling, he turned over to see Liam. Carey froze in delighted surprise.

Carey idolized Liam. Or, maybe he was obsessed. Soon after Liam and his family moved to their part of town he started attending Carey's school. He quickly became the most popular kid in the 7th grade.

In addition to being a top student, he was supremely good looking. Light chestnut, almost auburn colored hair cut like Justin Bieber. Bangs covering his forehead and eyes. Sometimes they fluttered as they brushed against his luxuriously long eyelashes. Beautiful brown eyes. Luminous light brown skin made him look like he'd just spent the day on a California beach. Carey had seen some of the girls in his class positively swoon over him.

When they played basketball during gym, Liam was sometimes on the skins team. That meant Carey could secretly ogle him without a shirt on. He admired Liam's muscles and the perfect definition of his chest and his narrow waist. In contrast, Carey stood on the sidelines watching with his arms tight across his bare chest and his hands hugging his armpits to hide his scrawniness.

It wasn't long before all four boys were caked in snow. Carey could feel wet snow creeping into his shirt collar and underneath his pants legs. Feeling flushed and cold at the same time, he knew it was time to call it quits.

Liam asked, "Hey! You guys wanna come over?"

"Sure!" and "Yeah!" They all answered at once.

Liam's house, on the corner just across from the park, was the coolest looking one on the block. They entered the house through a side door by the huge double car garage. Liam's house even had a mud room right inside the door just for coats and shoes. Carey had never seen anything like that. The boys stripped off their wet coats, hats, boots, and mittens leaving a trail of them on the floor as the snow quickly melted into puddles on the tile floor.

After pulling off multiple layers of clothing, Carey looked at Liam. He looked ever so cool. With one swipe of his hand, his perfectly cut brown hair fell precisely into place. He wore an awesome dark blue t-shirt with a double collar that made it look as if he was wearing a polo shirt and a t-shirt at the same time. Instead of sweat pants like most kids wore, Liam wore shiny basketball warm-up pants with a big Nike logo going down one leg. Carey stared down at his own stupid t-shirt, a faded Star Wars design that should have hit the give away box a long time ago.

"Follow me," Liam said. "It's ok. My Mom's at the store."

He led them down the stairs right next to the kitchen to a massive family room containing a pool table, foos ball, and various other games and toys.

Five large framed prints lined one of the walls. Reproductions of catalog ad pages from a national chain store, they featured photos of a younger Liam. In some he was wearing long pants and a shirt. Others showed him in active wear and and a jacket. One showed him in a swimsuit, bare chested, holding an inner tube. The boys paused to examine and admire the pictures.

"Are you like a model?" Karl asked, his mouth dropping open.

"Oh, that's something I did when I was younger. My mom put me up for some ads."

"Wow! How did that happen?"

Carey was speechless. He couldn't help but stare at the photos with awe.

"Some lady saw me in a fashion show at the mall," Liam said. "It was kinda cool. We went to the city a couple of times for pictures."

That's sick!" Karl responded. "Are you still doing it?"

"Nah. I guess they don't like to use the same models all the time, especially since I grew out of the sizes they wanted."

Liam spied Steven looking at the foos ball table.

"Wanna play?"

Steven nodded hungrily. The boys broke up into pairs. Carey and Karl pulled pool cues off the wall while Liam and Steven tore into the foos ball game. They played several rounds switching partners and alternating games.

During a pause between games, Karl was about to pull a Monopoly game off of a shelf when Liam asked, "How about cards?"

He pulled a deck of cards out of a shelf that was wedged between two other games.

"Ok." "Cool!" they all chimed in.

The four boys sat down on the floor, cross legged. Liam sat across from Carey; Karl and Steven across from each other.

"What do you want to play?" Liam asked.

There was a long pause until Karl responded, "How about strip poker?"

Laughs and hoots followed.

"How do you play that?" Steven asked quietly.

Liam said, "I know. You play a game and every time you lose, you have to take something off."

Steven looked at Liam with a blank stare. "Then, what?"

"Then you're naked, dork!" Karl blurted.

The boys all laughed.

"I dunno how to play poker," Steven said sheepishly.

"Maybe we could just play gin rummy," Liam offered.

"I know how to play that!" Steven exclaimed.

"Ok, so here's how it goes," Liam said. "Whoever wins a game, the other three have to take something off."

In that moment, Liam's gaze turned to Carey. Carey's heart skipped a beat.

"Ok! Let's do it!"

Liam dealt the cards for their first game. Carey won. They all giggled a bit nervously. After a pause, Liam and Steven each took one sock off. Since Karl was already barefoot, he had to take his t-shirt off.

Carey won the second game, too. Liam smirked as he pulled his other sock off. Steven did the same. Blushing mildly, Karl took his sweatpants off revealing a pair of basketball shorts underneath.

Carey won the third game! Chuckling, Steven and Liam each took their shirts off. Carey couldn't keep his eyes off of Liam's exquisite shoulders and chest, smooth like velvet, free of freckles and moles.

They hooted at Karl who blushed even deeper. He stood up and whipped his shorts off. He was now clad in only a pair of blue underpants trimmed in white. Looking at Karl, Carey was relieved to see someone who was just as skinny and bony looking as he was.

Saved from losing his last piece of clothing, Karl won the next game. Steven pulled off his sweatpants and was now left wearing just a pair of thin fleece shorts. Liam followed. His basketball pants hid a pair of black bike shorts. They hugged his hips and legs, long enough to cover his legs to mid-thigh.

Hoping no one would make fun of his bony shoulders and flat chest, Carey pulled his t-shirt over his head. As he pulled it off of his arms, he looked at Liam. Liam stared back at Carey, a half smile on his face.

Steven won the next game. There were all kinds of hoots and laughs. Karl had a silly smile on his face; he was beet red. After a pause, he put his knees together, grabbed the waistband of his briefs and yanked them off. They all stared at Karl's 6-inch erect dick, pinkish-red and sticking straight up.

"Karl!" yelled Steven in dismay.

Carey and Liam looked on, half smiling. Karl resumed his cross-legged position, now naked, with his dick sticking straight up and two balls hanging between his thighs.

Liam said, "I'll go next."

He got up on his knees and peeled off the biker shorts to reveal white briefs. His underpants seemed to gleam white against his skin. He switched positions from sitting cross-legged to laying on his side with his legs stretched out straight.

Carey couldn't help but admire Liam's nicely shaped legs and belly button on his flat stomach. He stretched his legs out and pulled his own sweatpants off after which resuming his crossed-leg position. He was embarrassed by his worn looking gray Fruit of the Looms.

"I won!" Steven yelled as he threw both of his arms straight over his head after winning yet another game.

A long pause. Liam and Carey looked at each other.

"Ok," sighed Liam. "I'll go first."

Because he was laying on his side, he grabbed the waistband of his briefs with his free left hand and yanked them over his hip. Raising his other hip he eased the briefs over his other hip and pushed them down to his thighs just above his knees. Sort of wiggling his legs and pushing with his hand, he kicked the briefs off.

The three of them stared at a now naked Liam.

Carey's mind raced. Finding it hard to breathe, he was overcome with Liam's beauty. His beautiful three inch flaccid cock lay across his leg, resting on top of two perfectly cute balls. Carey had never seen an uncircumcised dick before. It looked strange and, in some ways, wonderful. A light dusting of pubic hair sat neatly above his crotch. Laying on his side the way he did, Liam's hips formed a graceful curve to his narrow waist. His sides widened to a defined chest where two perfect brown nipples were centered.

Liam and Carey stared at each other. Silently, both Steven and Karl turned their gazes to Carey. After a momentary hesitation, Carey grabbed the waistband of his briefs and pulled them down and off. He stretched his legs straight out in front of him, daring the other boys to get a good look. All three boys' stares locked onto Carey's crotch. Carey knew he was hard. There was nothing he could do about it. A very slight smile formed on Liam's lips.

Suddenly they heard a door open and slam shut upstairs followed by the tapping of shoes against the floor.

"Liam! I'm home!"

Liam's mother.

Frantically, the boys grabbed their clothes and got dressed. They all ran up to the kitchen to find Liam's mother putting away groceries. After introductions, she directed them to the large round kitchen table for milk and cookies. As they talked and giggled, carefully avoiding any reference to the earlier activities, they chomped on delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies and drank their milk.

Midway through their snack, Liam's father came home. He was the drama director at the high school. After finding out their names, Liam's father insisted they call him by his first name, Brett. When he finished helping Liam's mom put away groceries he pulled up an additional chair and sat down next to Carey.

Carey couldn't believe how good looking Liam's dad was. His own dad suddenly seemed old and plain looking. Brett had dark, medium short hair, a narrow face, square jaw, bright brown eyes, and an athletic build.

Brett wanted to know something about each boy. When it was Carey's turn, he tried to be funny so he said his ambition in life was to grow up to become a plumber on the space station. Everyone got a good chuckle out of that.

Brett laughed and, as he did, he patted Carey's upper thigh.

"Good one!"

Instead of removing his hand, however, Brett just left it on Carey's thigh. Carey froze. Out of the corner of his eye, he looked down at Brett's hand. As the chatter continued Brett smiled and looked across at Liam who returned his look with a blank expression on his face. Did Liam know? Carey's breath caught in his throat, his pulse quickening. This was freaky!

"Time to get home boys. It'll be dark soon," Liam's mom said.

Brett's hand dropped away from Carey's thigh. The boys all got up, dutifully carried their plates and glasses to the kitchen counter, and thanked Liam's mom.

As they were getting their still damp coats and boots on, Brett said, "Hey! You guys should come over tomorrow for Costumes!'"

"Ya! Costumes!'" Liam yelled.

"What's Costumes?'" Karl asked.

"I've got a whole closet of extra costumes downstairs from shows we've done in the past," Brett explained. "It's fun to get dressed up and improvise. You know, play act."

"That sound like fun!" Karl said.

Since the next day was Saturday and there was no school anyway, the boys all agreed to meet up at 10 in the morning.

Carey knocked on the side door at Liam's house the next morning just before ten o'clock. Liam looked better than ever when he answered the door with a bright smile. He wore a cool looking dark blue shirt and a shell necklace. As Carey was getting his boots and coat off, Liam told him Karl and Steven couldn't come over because they had to go to some kind of church thing.

"But we can still have fun," Liam said as he started down the steps to the basement. "My mom is at a meeting but dad will be down in a minute."

Liam led Carey to a closet just off the laundry room jammed full of costumes on two metal rolling racks. Rifling through the racks, Liam came across an Indian costume complete with a headband and feather as well as a bow and arrow set.

Chuckling, he asked Carey, "How about Cowboys and Indians?"

Carey laughed.

"Sure, but there's only one Indian costume."

"Here's another one," Liam replied as he pulled a second Indian costume on a hanger out from the rack.

"Who's going to play the cowboy?"

"I'll get my dad. Wait here."

Liam returned a minute later with Brett. Apparently, he'd already clued him in on the Cowboys and Indians thing. Or, had this been the plan all along?

Brett ran his fingers along the rack. He quickly pulled a cowboy outfit off of the rack. It came complete with boots, a hat, and a toy gun in a holster.

Laughing, he said, "You boys get changed. I'll be right back."

And, with that, he grabbed the cowboy costume and went back upstairs.

Liam grabbed both hangers and brought them into the family room. Throwing them over the top of a couch, he started unbuttoning his shirt. Following his lead, Carey pulled his own sweat shirt over his head. As Liam unbuttoned his pants and started pulling them off, Carey noticed parts of the costumes seemed to be missing.

"I don't get it. What kind of Indian costume is this?"

"It's like a loincloth and a headband and stuff."

Ok, he thought to himself. Weird. Just go with it. After they got their shirts and pants off, Carey picked up one of the loincloths. It looked like two square pieces of buckskin held together with a raw leather cord.

"Here. Let me show you."

Liam grabbed the loincloth and ran it around Carey's waist. He quickly tied it into a knot adjusting the two pieces so one hung across his crotch and the other one covered his butt.

"Ok. Take your underpants off."

Carey looked at Liam in disbelief. Liam just stared back. After a moment, he just shrugged his shoulders and pulled them off.

Liam looked down at Carey's loincloth. After returning his gaze back to Carey's face he stood back and pulled his own underwear off. Completely naked except for the necklace, he grabbed a long narrow piece of cloth, wrapped it around his waist, between his legs, and expertly looped it back through again. As he turned to the side to pick up a headband Carey could see the cloth barely covered Liam's butt crack.

Carey was both shocked and awestruck. Liam looked so damn…sexy! He could feel himself getting hard. Just at that moment, Brett burst down the stairs.

"Ok boys! Time for war paint!"

Carey mouth dropped open. Liam's dad wore the holster and gun, cowboy hat, boots, and hardly anything else except for what appeared to be a jock strap. Carey could clearly see Brett's bare butt below the gun belt. His athletic build and hairy chest, thin waist, and muscular legs made him an imposing sight. Without pausing, Brett grabbed a make-up kit out of the closet. Leading them to the bathroom, he quickly applied red and blue war paint to the boys' cheeks and forehead.

Brett obviously had some kind of a story in mind. He directed the boys to move the foos ball table to the side of the room. Swiftly, he directed them to enact a scene where they attacked an imaginary wagon train.

Running in circles around Brett as they shot rubber tipped arrows the boys tried in vain to hit him.

"Bang, Bang!" Brett shouted as he pulled the trigger on his gun.

Liam went down on the floor having been "hit." Brett got the upper hand on Carey in a showdown. With the gun pointed at him with one hand, Brett dragged Carey to the middle of the room with the other where he pulled a pair of handcuffs from his gun belt and secured his wrists firmly together.

Faking a snarl, Brett said, "Ok. We're gonna havta teach you Injuns a lesson!"

Grabbing a length of rope, he reached up and looped it through a hook in the ceiling. Taking an end, he ran it through the handcuffs and tied it in a knot as he pulled Carey's arms up over his head. Carey was now practically suspended from the ceiling. His wrists were pulled so far up, he almost had to stand on his tip toes. It was mildly uncomfortable. He couldn't imagine how he must have looked, now restrained and mostly naked. Liam, now laying on his side looking up at Carey, smiled mischievously at him.

Seemingly, out of nowhere, Brett produced a toy whip.

Moving around to face Carey and shaking it in his face, he growled, "Are ya ready, ya savage!"

Carey was too stunned to say anything. With his hands on his hips, he strutted around behind Carey and huffed and puffed as he readied the whip. Pretending to hit Carey with force, Brett cracked the whip. The force of the whip hitting Carey's back was barely a tickle. Nevertheless, Carey went along with the act as he writhed against the blows and faked screams of pain.

Pausing for a moment and grumbling, Brett moved around to Carey's side. Using the handle as a wedge, he stuck it under the leather cord holding the two pieces of loincloth and, with a quick flick of his wrist, broke the knot open. It slipped to the floor leaving Carey completely naked except for the headband and war paint. Returning to Carey's back side, he resumed whipping him. This time, the blows fell on Carey's naked butt. Carey stopped pretending to strain against the blows. He looked at Liam as he stood there, mostly on tip toes. Liam, in turn, stared intently back at Carey, his eyes roving over his entire body. Carey was excited and a little scared at the same time.

Dropping the whip to the floor, Brett said, "We're gonna havta check ya for any hidden weapons."

With that, he got on his knees and spread Carey's butt cheeks apart with his hands. Carey could feel himself getting red in the face. This was awkward!

Satisfied, Brett said, "Nope. Nothin' there."

Taking a break as he pretended to catch his breath, Brett slowly circled Carey as he inspected his body. With that he moved around to face Carey who was now sporting a healthy erection.

At that moment, Carey was oblivious to what Brett was doing. His eyes were glued on Liam. Still laying on his side, the way he'd wrapped his own loincloth revealed the smooth crease of his leg as it met his crotch. A small mole graced the edge of his hip. I wish I had a mole there. It's perfect, Carey thought. More importantly, Liam's hand alternately tickled the front of the loincloth and dipped underneath the corner of it where his own obvious erection had blossomed. Liam's chin tipped back a bit.

"Looks like I found your secret weapon!" Brett growled.

He got down on his knees in front of Carey, just inches from his cock. Carey started hyper-ventilating. What next!?

At that moment, he heard a distant machine start running. It sounded like the garage door opening. Brett jerked his head up in surprise. Without a word, he stood up and strode quickly to the steps. In an instant, he was gone.

It was quiet for a moment. Then, the silence was interrupted by noise from above. Liam's mom was home.

"Um, do you wanna get me down?"

Chuckling, Liam got up and released Carey from the ceiling and the handcuffs.

Quietly and feeling more than a little awkward, Carey said, "I guess I should be going."

The mood quickly became somber. Carey and Liam both got dressed. Brett never appeared before Carey left.

Before class started on Monday, Carey was sitting at his desk doodling in the margin of his notebook. Feeling someone standing next to his desk, he looked up. It was Liam.

Whispering, his warm minty breath in Carey's ear, Liam said, "Thanks for coming over."

"Ok."

He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"My dad thought you were pretty cool. We should hang out again."

Before Carey could respond, the teacher called for everyone to sit down and be quiet.

Carey never did hang out with Liam and his dad again.

Just a few weeks later, Liam and his family moved away. Rumor had it that that they had moved to LA so Liam could audition for some TV shows.