Exit Stage Left

By Chris James

Chapter Nine

The legal fallout from the Steve Milner concert would continue for years. All the ramifications of who was going to pay for what and when didn't affect the remainder of the season. Arthur Pierce made sure Tony removed any contentious events from the list and that meant they lost only two nights of music. The other shows on the schedule remained intact and there were a couple of weird ones in the mix.

Spring Grove had never hosted a circus before, but the Latterby Circus was the exception.

"Clowns and jugglers I get," Mike said. "But animals, they have to be kidding."

Tony had decided that now he ought to sit in on discussions about the technical needs of a show before it arrived. It was a political move on his part, something that might have prevented the Milner fiasco, but probably not.

"Does this say trampoline?" Kenny asked.

"I saw that, we can raise the ring another eight feet," Mike said.

"Excuse me, guys... page two, half way down the sheet... they have a horse act," Dennis said.

"Oh, I am not gonna like that one bit," Kenny said.

Mike grinned. "Why, Kenny... I thought you were used to shoveling shit by now."

"Funny man, who is going to clean up the carpet afterwards?" Kenny asked.

"I'm sure they have an answer for that," Tony said. "It's only one weekend, four shows, but you'll need a full crew."

"Got it covered," Kenny said.

"Good... now let's talk about Michelle Kennedy," Tony said.

"I want her autograph," Mike said, "for my daughter of course."

"Sure, we all believe that," Kenny said, and they all laughed.

"Pretty lady," Dennis said.

"And she's ours for a whole week, this is the season topper," Tony said.

"OK, you may have her autograph too," Mike said.

Tony grinned. "Count on it."

Michelle and her two sisters had been touring all summer and Arthur Pierce had been trying to fit her into the schedule for six months, then they had an opening. Her music was on top of the country pop charts and having her perform at The Grove would be a definite draw, Tony expected to sell out all six nights. It would close the season in style.

The circus came rolling in on Saturday morning, as did the two additional union men. It took four men to raise the ring and any structural changes to the theatre stage were considered union work. The ring hung from the roof on four huge chains, each attached to a manually operated hoist.

Kenny and Dennis sat watching, waiting for the truck and the rest of the crew to arrive. The union guys took an hour to raise the ring a few feet at a time, stopping to check the lighting cables didn't get pinched along the way. Of course all the lighting instruments were now out of whack and had to be re-aimed. The process would be reversed when it was brought back down the following Monday.

John, Matt and Bobby arrived just as the truck pulled in. They unloaded the various crates from the rear of the vehicle and lined the backstage area. Last off was the trampoline and it was full sized, a great big heavy thing on wheels. Then one of the handlers unloaded the horse from its stall at the front.

None of them had ever come in contact with a horse before, but they all stood and gawked at the size of this beast, she was huge and beautiful. Truly white horses were rare, but here was one that was really impressive. The handler led her around the grass beside the theatre to work the kinks out of her legs, and of course she left a few horsy souvenirs on the lawn.

The first performance was scheduled for two that afternoon with another at seven that evening, same for the following day. Tony had hinted that tickets sales were lukewarm, meaning there would be at least a third of the house empty at every show. And then in walked Nick Latterby with his cast.

He stood at the top of the main aisle and smiled. "It even looks like a circus ring," He said to his performers. "This will be fun."

Kenny and Dennis showed the six men and three women to the dressing rooms. As usual when shows like this rolled in the star dressing room had a sign on the door that said storage; no one was going to mess up their premier dressing space.

Latterby met with the crews and Mike, running down the list of things they needed to know. The bottom of the ring now stood twenty-four feet off the ground; the trampoline act needed a clear twenty feet so there was room to spare. The clowns and their horse act only required a sixteen foot clearance, and that was OK too.

They were handed a sheet with the order of the acts, what pieces went up and down which aisle and that was about it. Kenny went and taped a large arrow on the ramp at the bottom of aisle six, the main corridor on and off the stage. All the performers would enter and exit here. The props and equipment would use the secondary aisle, which was number seven.

At one point Dennis looked up and saw Pat down on stage removing the center plate that covered the microphone outlets, so he wandered down to see what was up. Pat was just sliding a heavy steel plate over the cutout and Dennis got it.

"How much do horses weigh?" Dennis asked.

"Too much, better safe than sorry. You got any of that blue paint left?" Pat asked.

Pat taped the plate down and Dennis swiped over it with a thin coat of paint, it would dry within the hour. Then Pat went over and bounded up and down on the aisle six ramp. It was constructed well, Dennis had discovered that on previous occasions when it had been taken out for painting.

"Guess it will hold, wasn't made for it... we'll see," Pat said. He looked up the aisle towards the top a hundred feet away. "You ever see a horse climb a slope?"

"No, I don't know a damn thing about horses," Dennis said.

"Faced with a steep incline a horse will try to run up it just to get to the top, walking is not an option. You guys be careful of that beast making an exit, I hope the handler knows what she's doing."

"You don't think that girl will try and ride up the aisle, do you?" Dennis asked.

"Probably not a good idea, I'm more concerned about the kids in the seats. Let's get Tony in here to look at this," Pat said.

Tony was in agreement, the kids might try to touch the horse as it went up and down the aisle. To prevent that all the seats on either side of the aisle were taped so they wouldn't fold down leaving a cushion of space. Kathy was told to have her ushers ask the adults to sit in the closest seat so that kids couldn't climb into the aisle, it was the best they could do.

Music for the show was pre-recorded, one piece for each act. The performers had their little acts timed to go with the music, but it would keep Pat on his toes. The lighting was fairly general, Mike could play around with it, and Latterby didn't care.

By one-thirty the busses began to arrive and the lobby filled with kids and chaperones. Dennis stood watching as Ted guarded the door to the theatre.

"This is a whole lot calmer than that damn rock show," Ted said.

The place was filled with excited kids running around, the noise level was in the loud range, but Dennis could only agree... this was definitely calm by comparison. The show ran on time, and from a kiddie perspective it was fun, funny and colorful. Dennis was sure the adults were bored silly, he was.

But the crew moved props up and down the aisles between acts, no hurry, no creeping in and out. It was all done under lights so the kids could watch. John, Matt and Bobby struggled a bit with the weight of the trampoline so Dennis put his shoulder into the task as well. The horse and rider performed quite well, even in the limited space, and as Pat said the horse tried to run up the aisle leaving her rider in the dust.

The show lasted just over an hour. That was probably the attention span of the average under six crowd and definitely the break point for the adults who had to watch. But again Dennis stood beside Ted as the audience exited and the kids were bubbling with excitement. Dennis had his moment in the sun when one little girl thanked him for the show; she had seen him on stage.

"Aww, so you have fans now," Ted laughed.

Dennis grinned. "Hey, some of us got it. What are you doing for dinner?"

Ted looked around and raised his eyebrows. "Whatever you want."

Dennis sighed. "I meant for something to eat."

"So did I," Ted said.

Ted had learned that oral sex was fun, especially once Dennis was all worked up from other activities. Now it was his passion, he wanted to do it all the time. What could Dennis say? It was rarely planned; completely off the wall and the results... he couldn't argue with that. So it became a game for them both.

The last place it had occurred was at the carwash as they waited for the machines to move them down the line. The windows were covered in spray and then soap, Ted went for it. Dennis was watching the end of the line coming up as Ted did his thing; it became a race to the finish... and Ted won... they both did. Risky behavior was addictive.

They had two hours before the evening crew call, plenty of time to eat dinner and think about dessert, they managed both. The evening crowd was a little older, the six to eight variety and their parents. Latterby was having fun backstage trying to teach Kenny how to juggle while the clowns pulled pranks on one another, and then the show started.

Everything went fine until the girl on the horse seemed to get confused and aimed her mount up the wrong aisle. The main aisle was a good eighteen inches wider than aisle seven, but it would have worked if Dennis and the other crew members weren't about halfway down it with the trampoline.

One look at that charging horse was enough incentive for them to reverse course. The trampoline was heavy and ungainly, but it seemed to fly up the aisle. Unfortunately the horse was faster and Dennis could almost feel the animal breathing down his neck. John and Bobby pulled like mad as Dennis and Matt pushed.

They reached the top of the aisle and kept on going, straight into the wall with a loud crash. The horse was frightened and tried to take a shortcut over the last row of seats, a beautiful leap. The performer had tried to hold the reins but lost her grip as the horse leapt and then landed.

Now there was an excited horse running around at the top of the theatre. Dennis urged the crew to move the trampoline to the stage once again and they did just that, setting it up as they had been instructed and double checking the latches. Then the four of them turned for the aisle and ran up the slope... straight into the horse. No one had been able to catch the beast and so it tried for a return performance on a stage now occupied by the trampoline. And then out of nowhere stepped Brian, the maintenance man.

Calm as could be he grabbed the reins and tossed his work jacket over the horse's head which brought it to a halt. It seems horses are reluctant to move when they can't see where they are going; no one knew Brian had been raised around the animals. Once the horse calmed down the performer and a few clowns led the animal up the proper aisle and back to her stall. The audience applauded and Brian took a bow.

Latterby was disturbed but pleased by the outcome. It was decided right then that Mike would light the aisle bright as could be for the next time the horse made an exit. John had a sore shoulder, he'd hit the wall at the same time as the trampoline. That particular wall panel had a dent in it from then on, a reminder that things will go wrong even with the best of planning.

It was during the middle of the week starring Michelle Kennedy that the thought came to Dennis, this had been the best summer he'd ever experienced. Foremost in his mind was the love he shared with Ted, which never would have happened if he hadn't walked into this theatre.

Standing in the dark by the backstage door, Dennis could look across the theatre and see Ted standing by the lobby doors. He could tell Ted was watching him, just as he was looking back at Ted. Dennis placed a hand on his head and saw Ted repeat the gesture. It was just something they had started, something they could share that wasn't too obvious.

On stage Michelle and her two sisters were wailing out a song about broken hearted lovers. Yes, this is what he wanted to remember in two weeks when school started up again. At Cabot he would be back to the grind of petty details and endless hours of work. Spring Grove had been like a real crazy vacation while doing what he loved.

Summer stock was never like real theatre. They didn't create the shows here, they just handled them. This experience had taught Dennis to think on the run and look at things critically from all different angles. He'd learned some things from Mike and Pat, and he hoped they would be back next summer, Kenny wouldn't.

Kenny would be off to Texas in a month for college, and then he planned to stay on with his uncle's family next summer. If Dennis came back he'd run the crew, Tony would accept that. Arthur Pierce had been backstage the night before and told Kenny goodbye, but then he had turned to Dennis and thanked them both for their good work.

"My spies tell me you both averted some disastrous situations this summer, Milner was just the most obvious. I hope you come back next summer, Dennis," Pierce said.

"I'd like that."

But summer had meant the freedom to see Ted every day and that would soon end. The production schedules at Cabot would allow Dennis time on weekends, for a while at least. But as the semester moved on there would be further commitments that ate up his time. He knew just one thing, he would do nothing to hurt Ted... they would work this out.

Michelle Kennedy gave them a wonderful ending to the season and everyone said goodbye, then headed for home. Mike had given Dennis his private phone numbers and told him to keep in touch. Tony said he would call early next spring when the season's schedule became set. Kenny shook hands and wished him luck.

Dennis was faced with a week of nothing before school started. Ted could sense the gloom setting in and took Dennis fishing; they would live on the boat for three days and nights. It was the right thing to do, and they both relaxed.

"Dad wanted us down here because he's buying me a car," Ted said shortly after they arrived at the marina in Rio Vista.

"Wow, maybe he'll get you something real sweet," Dennis replied.

"I hope not, it needs to be something simple. Can you imagine what will happen if I drive some fancy car to school. No way, that focuses too much attention on me."

"I don't see you as the quiet type anymore. Shy Ted is a thing of the past," Dennis said.

"Around you maybe, but there are certain types at school I would just as soon ignore me," Ted replied.

"So what kind of car is he looking at?"

"I have no idea, we'll find out on Thursday when he shows up here."

So for three days they lay in the sun and pretended to fish, throwing back a few dozen small catches. But it was the nights they cherished, the romantic evenings that stretched into the wee hours of the morning. It was a time when they became equals in life and in love.

Ted could not remember when his body had felt such a thrill, but Dennis was a gentle lover and they both wanted this moment of sharing. Now they could give and receive without hesitation. Dennis was shaken by the experience but only because Ted began to cry when they were done.

"It isn't the pain... it's the discovery," Ted said as he wiped away the tears. "You don't know how long I've waited to reach this moment, I finally understand myself."

Dennis nodded as he stared down into those watery blue eyes, and all he could do was smile. "I know... it makes you feel whole."

"You make me feel whole, D... you really do."

It was the first time Ted had called him D, it wouldn't be the last. Now there was a way for Ted to express what was in his heart, and every time Dennis heard that D he would remember this moment... Ted wouldn't let him forget.

One of the first things Ted did was give Dennis his old cell phone. Dennis had avoided the damn things simply because it gave his parents entirely too much access. With all those hours away from home he knew his mother just couldn't resist calling, and it would always be at an inopportune time.

But Ted needed the contact, and Dennis could never deny any need the boy had. Mr. Cavanaugh had immediately upgraded his son's phone to a family networking device, now that he was driving it seemed like a good idea. But Ted had started something and every morning when Dennis turned on that phone there was a message, brief and right to the point. Ted sent him a capital D with heart after it, a sign of his love.

They had a lot of time to kill on the boat so there were hours of conversation about the upcoming semester and what it would mean for both of them. Ted was appalled at the number of hours Dennis was expected to give to the production schedule, it seemed so unfair. The years at Cabot were supposed to be a hard core look at technical theatre; it couldn't be any other way.

So much of early education was academic and Cabot had to balance that against the trade school image it had. Students were encouraged to seek college degrees, but there were still those that would look for jobs in the industry once they graduated.

Dennis now understood that path; Mike and Pat had set him straight. The unions valued family connections and dedication, educational experience wasn't high on their list of necessary qualifications. From their standpoint if they wanted you to know something you would be taught, if your father hadn't done it already.

Without connections Dennis didn't see a union career in his future, and Mike laughed at that.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Mike had said. "Pat and I are your connection, but you need to earn a place. No matter what the locals say we both agree you need education." And then he went on to explain why.

Producing a show, a film or a play was expensive at every level. There was usually millions of dollars involved, and the trade unions got a large piece of that. For that kind of money they wouldn't suffer fools. On stage or set, no matter where it was, the cost was coming out of tight pockets, it was no time for inexperience.

Experience was something that came with time, and thus those in the union started young and learned from their parents and their peers. It was rare that a son didn't follow in his father's footsteps; where else could he get a guaranteed job that paid over a hundred thousand a year? The union paid well but they demanded loyalty which guaranteed their piece of the pie.

Dennis hadn't grown up union so he would have to learn the trade from a school. The one thing schools had over the profession was that they produced things cheaply, labor was free. All the trades worked with pretty much the same materials and equipment, in school and out. What Dennis was learning were the basics which could be refined in a union position if he could pick a specific field.

The older hands in the union didn't have that much respect for college boys who knew nothing about reality. Mike had said he'd seen stacks of applications pile up on the local union manager's desk, they were probably still there. Mike had a young son, and when the boy reached ten or so his father would begin showing him things. If the kid had an aptitude he would be allowed to work at sixteen.

"I won't push him like my father did me all those years ago. I worked so much I almost flunked high school; I spent six years getting a college degree. I can't do that to my boy. All I can do is show him my life and see if he wants in, that's the responsible way to do it."

If Dennis worked around Mike for the next few years he knew the man would put in a good word for him with the local union... if that's what he wanted. But what sixteen year old knows what he wants? And that's why Ted became aware of the dilemma as they sat in the sun on a quarter of a million dollar boat, Dennis needed to tell someone.

All things being equal, Ted talked about what he wanted to do; he wanted to be a journalist. At Fremont there were no freshmen on the school paper, but he was a sophomore now. Writing about varsity sporting events seemed like a slow death, so Ted said he'd leave that to others.

"What will you write about if not that?" Dennis asked.

"People, events... theatre," Ted replied. "I'm going to become a Cabot booster for obvious reasons. But I want to do an insiders look at musical events, popular culture is a big topic at school."

"You want to go to rock shows?"

"Not just that... coffee house bands, garage bands, there's a whole lot of music out there that needs to be covered."

Dennis knew he was right. Sacramento wasn't exactly the underground scene found in Seattle, but there were lots of bands. They would welcome the publicity.

"If you do it right then people will respect your opinion," Dennis said. "Respect is the first way to make money."

"You got it, I knew you would understand," Ted said.

"So you'll be going to all these places without me, is that wise?"

"You think I need a bodyguard?"

Dennis laughed. "No, I don't mean it like that. I was thinking of the ladies."

"Oh hell, I won't waste their time. It's going to be hard enough to get thru the door with some of these people. They won't take me seriously at my age; I'll have to fight my way in."

"True, so why don't you begin with something you already know to get some attention. Write a short piece about the summer at Spring Grove... from Milner to Michelle Kennedy."

Ted looked at him and smiled. "Don't mind if I do, the Milner disaster will get a lot of talk when school opens."

Three days of sun and sex, good for the body, mind and especially the soul. Dennis felt like a new man, and then Mr. Cavanaugh arrived on Thursday morning. He climbed aboard just after Dennis got out of the shower. By then the boys were tanned with a tinge of pink around the edges, Cavanaugh must have seen that because they were both naked. He gave his son a grin.

"Put some pants on," He said, and tossed Ted a car key.

The car was a Chevy Nova, nothing fancy or souped up, just a normal dealer stock car. Ted smiled at the deep red finish.

"So nothing fancy about it?" He asked.

"Nothing obvious," His father replied. "You can work on the looks over time, but it's already got a lot of bells and whistles."

Like a top of the line stereo system, GPS, Lowjack security system and built in phone. Dennis would never look at his Volkswagen the same again. The provisions of Ted's license didn't allow Dennis to ride with the boy for the first six months, only adults could do that.

"So what have you boys been doing?" Cavanaugh asked.

"Sunshine and fish, that's about it," Ted said.

"Would you like to go for as spin in our nice clean boat?"

"Sure, why not... Dennis would enjoy it," Ted said.

Cavanaugh called the marina office and said he was going down to Glen Cove and back, they told him the waterways were clear and happy sailing.

"Is the crew ready?" Cavanaugh laughed.

"Aye aye, Captain," Ted nodded.

The diesel engines fired up and Ted cast off the lines with Dennis' help, and they slowly backed away from the dock.

"What's in Glen Cove?" Dennis asked.

"Lunch, they have a nice café," Cavanaugh said. "It's about a forty mile round trip, we'll go topside once we get out on the river. See if you can coax Ted up there, will you? He's not too happy about heights."

Cavanaugh eased the boat out of the marina and into the Sacramento River where he turned south. Here the channel had been cut wider and deeper by the hand of man to allow larger vessels access to the city. There was no large ship traffic out this morning, just some smaller boats.

"Ted, take the wheel while I go topside," Cavanaugh said.

With a grin Ted moved over and stood at the wheel of the boat. His father pushed a few buttons and nodded. "You know the routine, wait for the buzzer."

Dennis watched Mr. Cavanaugh leave the cockpit and disappear up a ladder.

"You going up there?" Ted asked.

"Will you come with me?" Dennis asked.

Ted nodded. "For a while, I told you it makes me dizzy."

"What's he doing?"

"Taking down the curtains, the buzzer will go off when he takes control up there." And then the buzzer went off and Ted took his hands off the wheel.

"Let's go see the view," Ted said.

The flying bridge was wide open now; the plastic curtains had been removed then stowed in the bench seat. Ted climbed up first and Dennis followed. One look around and he understood Ted's dislike of the height, there was only an open railing between them and a long fall to the water.

There was a low windscreen across the front and it was a lot breezier up here than below, but it was also more exciting.

The channel ran almost five miles before it reached Sherman Island. With the small amount of traffic on the water Mr. Cavanaugh opened up the throttles a bit more and it did feel like they were flying. One look told Dennis that Ted was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"You've been down this way before, how long will it take us?" Dennis asked.

"About two hours if we don't have to wait for the bridge to open," Ted replied.

"I thought they had ships come this far, am I wrong?"

Ted shook his head. "They do, the highway bridges are high enough, but there's a railroad bridge down at Benicia, they have to haul it up for tall traffic... I think this qualifies. What is it, Dad, twenty feet?"

"Twenty four makes me comfortable." Mr. Cavanaugh replied.

Sherman Island soon appeared, a low sandy area that was also a nature preserve. The area was overrun with wildfowl and great flocks of birds wheeled around to land, a beautiful sight. Fifteen minutes later they entered Suisun Bay, a broad stretch of water that spread out to the north and a place where tanker ships tied up at the terminals.

Cavanaugh now looked at the GPS device in the console for a heading and turned the boat slightly.

"These are all things you learn to do when you take the Coast Guard classes," He said. "I'm not rated for the open ocean myself, although this boat could handle it. I think when I retire we'll get a larger boat, maybe a sailboat."

"Dad... when did you start thinking about that?" Ted asked.

"It won't be tomorrow, but when I do retire I'm not just going to sit around like your Grandpa did. Wouldn't you like to sail to Tahiti or someplace exotic?"

"Sure, but can it wait until after I get out of school," Ted said.

"I'm talking twenty years from now; you'll have your own family by then."

"I'm getting dizzy, I need to go down," Ted said.

Dennis went first to make sure Ted was safe on the ladder. They got to the bottom and Ted headed straight into the cabin.

"Are you OK?" Dennis asked.

"No, there he goes saying things about me raising a family. I want to tell him, D... I just want to tell him it isn't going to happen."

"He doesn't need to hear that now, Ted. You have to be in control of your own life before you can do that. Look, he loves you, but neither of us knows how he's going to react to your announcement. All this, the boats, cars, everything he's got is for you and Kathy, he loves you both. Don't get upset over this now, he doesn't need to know anything right now."

Ted nodded. "You're right. I just keep thinking he'll be so disappointed when he finds out."

"He might surprise you. It won't be easy, I don't even want to tell my parents, but someday I will," Dennis said. "If we approach it the right way they'll be better prepared to handle it. He trusts you, Ted. You've made some major changes in your life. Let's show him the successes first and then he'll trust you to make the right decisions, even on this."

Ted smiled. "When did you get so wise?"

Dennis shook his head. "Sweetie, I tell myself these things every damn day, we're both in the same boat."

Ted nodded, and then gave him a kiss. "OK, let's go back on deck... I don't want him to worry about me."

Within the hour they were approaching the Benicia-Martinez Bridge and Dennis could see the bank of red lights across the lowered railroad bridge. Mr. Cavanaugh gave three blasts on the boat's horn and received a single blast back. Slowly the middle section of the bridge began to rise and when it reached the top the lights turned green. They moved beneath the steel structure and waved at the man in the control station.

Once they were under the highway bridges Dennis could see a huge tanker sitting at the docks on the far side. Beyond it was another cove to the north side of the bay and the boat turned towards it.

"That's Glen Cove," Ted said.

Mr. Cavanaugh slowly maneuvered his way through the marina and approached the public docks at the end. After a few maneuvers he reversed the props and brought the large craft up against the padded bollards, a mere kiss of a bump.

Ted climbed down and tied them up, while Dennis marveled at the whole operation.

"Good going, Mr. Cavanaugh... that was smooth," Dennis said.

He smiled in return. "Glad you liked it. I certainly won't tell you about my attempted landing after I first bought this baby. That was a disaster."

The small restaurant was already filled with people, but they didn't have to wait long. The food was good, and so was the conversation. Ted told his father about joining the school paper and received praise in return. Dennis gazed out the window, only half listening to the conversation.

This semester at Cabot would allow him new challenges as well; he was past the newbie phase. Brady usually rotated the students through the various departments which unfortunately meant Dennis would find himself learning to sew at some point. But Corky was gone and Vince was in his place running the scene shop. Tommy was gone as well, but there were others who would do the lighting. He was probably doomed to a year of being second string.

Dance was probably his best bet, everyone tried to avoid that. What Dennis wanted was a design credit, something that would bring a great deal of personal satisfaction. Brady would probably hand him one of those shows to develop, at least it would be a beginning.

Spending a summer with Mike at The Grove had been a great experience. Their talks had been filled with information, usually delivered in the form of stories about past work. The tricks of the trade were worth knowing and Mike was a master of them all.

No one at Cabot had told him about scoring the colored gel for the lights with a pounce wheel to vent the heat from the lenses, Mike did that. And when Pearlie James had brought in her all star revue for three nights Dennis had seen Mike adding a light green gel to the lineup.

"OK, I have to ask... why green?" Dennis had asked.

"Most of the general wash of light across the stage is in pinks and ambers, flesh tones to you and me, but not to Pearlie. Black performers look washed out with only those colors, a bit of green gives them the right skin tones."

It wasn't obvious but Mike was right, a dash of green made the difference. These were things Dennis could use in his own work. Spending time with a professional discussing the best use of lighting equipment would give Dennis the edge, and he thought that's why Mike had been so open with him. Now he would look for the chance to prove it.

"So Dennis," Mr Cavanaugh said, "what's on your agenda this term?"

"I really don't know. The production selection is a faculty thing; we just have to wait and see. Knowing in advance gains me nothing since I won't know which designer they will choose for a particular show. Our favorite saying over there is 'deal with it.' You have no idea how true that becomes as the year progresses."

"You'd make a good farmer," Cavanaugh said.

"What? I can't imagine I know the first thing about farming," Dennis laughed.

"It's a production nightmare; they just have to deal with it. So many factors impact their work. But like you they have an objective, they just have to get there."

"Oh, from that standpoint I understand. I just think it's a good idea we don't have to grow our own food, I like to eat."

"I just want to wish you both a good year in school. New things, new challenges, I'm a little jealous every time Ted starts a new class," Cavanaugh said.

"Aw, Dad, I'll be glad to let you do my homework for me if that will make you feel better," Ted laughed.

"Fat chance, but you know I'll always help. Each person on a team has different strengths; you have to use what you got and ask for the rest. I don't think either of you are slackers in the academic world. Just remember that one day someone will challenge your knowledge and you have to be ready for it."

"Is that before or after I become a farmer?" Dennis asked, and they all laughed.

The ride back was easier; the Captain stayed in the cockpit and showed Dennis the controls. They talked about the rules of boating, and the emergencies a crew often faced. It wasn't long before Dennis found himself at the wheel, at least while they were on the broad Suisun Bay. By four o'clock they were back at the Rio Vista marina, topping off the fuel tanks and closing up the flying bridge.

Dennis thanked Mr. Cavanaugh for the trip and the time on the boat. Ted was smiling; he got to drive his new car home now. Dennis followed them down the 12 until the split, and then he headed north to home. Tomorrow he would meet Ted at his mom's house to help him pack and move his stuff to his father's place. Then the boy would be closer and Dennis didn't think anyone would question their time together.

The move was quiet and efficient, but Ted had enough stuff to fill both cars. Neither his mother nor Kathy was there. Ted didn't seem to worry about it, there wasn't going to be any celebration. Dennis helped Ted carry everything into his father's house, and that was it.

Tomorrow they both had school and Dennis had promised to be home for dinner. He didn't want to leave Ted with mounds of stuff piled on the floor, but there it was. They kissed goodbye and promised to exchange information about how the first day went. Mr. Cavanaugh was just driving up as Dennis was leaving; at least Ted wouldn't be alone.

Dennis went home and had dinner with the parents, watched a little television and went to bed. He planned to be one of the first to arrive at Cabot, if for no reason other than to get a look at the assignment sheets which would be tacked to Brady's office door.

As expected his phone rang at six, no voice just the message screen, the capital D and the heart. Dennis smiled and dialed Ted back, ready to send his stored message. He knew Ted wouldn't be mad, he might even laugh. But the boy would know he was loved. Dennis hit the button to send the message, knowing on Ted's screen would appear a teddy bear surrounded with a heart. Oh yeah, he'd hear about that.

There were only about twenty cars in the lot by the administrative wing when Dennis drove on campus. Lights were burning in the lobby as Dennis plowed through the doors. The R and J trophy looked like it had been polished; he was proud to own a piece of that.

Brady's office was down the hall to the right, back by the scene shops. There was a small group of students standing near the shop doors, faces he didn't recognize. From a distance Dennis could see the sheets tacked to Brady's door, but at the same time a boy detached himself from the waiting group and approached.

"Dennis King?" The boy asked.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Corky described you to me, that's how I knew to ask... I'm Brandon Stevens, his little brother."

Oh? Corky had never said anything about a brother attending Cabot; much less that he was cute as hell.

"Nice to meet you, Brandon. I was just going to see what my fate is for the semester," Dennis said.

"I already know, I'm your assistant," Brandon said.

Dennis smiled. "OK, let's go see what we're doing."

Dennis and Brandon were on the sheets, Master Electrician and his assistant for the community theatre Christmas production of... and Dennis looked down at the show sheets to find out.

"Oh no, he has got to be kidding... The Nutcracker?" Dennis groaned.

"What's wrong with that?" Brandon asked.

"It's not a dance show; it's a ballet... like the dance version of an opera, a huge production with tons of lighting. You better plan on sleeping a lot between now and the first of December, after that it's going to kinda iffy."

"I did some lighting in middle school, I'll work hard," Brandon said.

Dennis smiled and remembered what Corky first said to him. "We have no choice."

"Cool," Brandon said.

"I'm glad you think so... I'd prefer it if you would just shoot me now."