Rufus took stock of himself. He was getting nowhere with the envelope and if he went on as he was, he'd end up ripping up the result sheet. He sat down on a bench in a corner where no one else was. He slit the envelope with his little finger and pulled out the sheet. His eyes opened wide when he saw that he had all As, and with stars, strangely enough, either against just the subjects he liked or where he liked the teacher. He counted up. That was going to cost Mum and Dad £170. The money was by the bye. He was just pleased to have gained such a good set of results. He went to pull out his phone to text his parents when he realised he had left it on the kitchen table.

"Oh, no!" Was everything against him today? With results like that obviously not. He returned to the bike sheds, out of habit glanced behind them to see if there was anyone he knew there. No, strangely empty. He unlocked his cycle and was just cycling off when he saw Toby and William walking in through the gates. They had already got their results at home and the three boys compared, a more sophisticated version of a game of 'I'll show you mine, if you show me yours'.

"Maybe, I don't know," replied Rufus. "I'm off to London for the weekend and I've got lots to do in town first. I might see you there. Dunno."

"Me. I'll tell you all about it when I get back. We're going to see Swan Lake at Covent Garden. Gotta go. I left my phone at home and the parents will be tearing their hair out. See ya around."

Finally Rufus regained control over his life. When he walked into the kitchen Hugo and Magnus were still in their night attire, that is nothing at all, while consuming their breakfast.

"Tell me about it," said Rufus as he passed them the sheet with his results on. He saw the errant mobile in the fruit bowl in the middle of the kitchen table.

"This is brilliant," said Magnus. "Congrats my little shaggy red-haired brother and he got up and hugged him.

"Not bad," said Hugo, the only sibling to have achieved a B in a subject in his GCSEs. Rufus got on with texting the parents and soon received congratulatory replies. When the excitement had calmed down a bit, Rufus said

"Hey, you two, you know your bedsprings creak like hell and can be heard all over the house?"

"That's what you call it," Rufus replied. "And I suppose the grunts are part of the trampolining technique like those women tennis players?"

"Okay, fair cop," said Magnus. "Hugo and I were making up after last night's little er… contretemps."

"You're just jealous because you've only got Madam Palm and her five sons to play with."

"Oh, of course, you're off for the weekend with that harlot from Mum's agency, you wanton little huzzy," continued Hugo. Buttering himself a piece of toast and draining the last of the coffee out of the cafetière, Rufus grinned and said

He worked out what he had to do that day. The essential thing was to collect his DJ from the cleaners. Everything else was optional, even though desirable. He didn't want to carry the dry cleaning around with him all day and so he walked to the shop to fetch it. Arriving back home, he cleaned his black shoes ready for the big night. School shoes would have to do, but they were in good condition and he brought up quite a shine on them. That took him to lunchtime. The twins were out, doing whatever the twins did and so he raided the fridge and put together a snack. He didn't realise how hungry he was until he finally stopped and took time out. As he as munching, he looked at his result sheet again and felt really pleased with his grades. Then he fetched his GY mag and started reading it. This time he turned straight to the centrefold and started drooling over Gabriel Thomson. 'I'd like to get him under the duvet. He could be some serious fun. Whoops, I'd better stop doing this. I'm boning up already and I am under a vow of chastity until tomorrow.' He went on to read the article and was surprised to see that Gabriel had played the character in the My Family series from the age of thirteen through to adulthood.

Rufus was enjoying the quiet when he thought he'd better check his mobile. It was switched off and that's why it had been so quiet, but once he switched it on all hell was let loose, mainly with 'Where the hell have you been all morning?' messages. By the time he had responded to them he thought it was time to get on with his jobs. His mother had promised to pack his weekend bag if he set out everything he wanted packed. 'Men don't know how to pack anyway,' was her mantra. After doing that he checked his 'supplies'. If need be, he would have to pick up some condoms in the supermarket. It was too late to order over the internet. He could not assume that Michel would bring any, though he thought he was pretty savvy. Rufus had no problem with buying 'supplies' in a supermarket as he just had to pick them off the shelf and put them into the basket, and he'd had plenty of practice when out with the twins, though he preferred the net as there was more choice and they were cheaper. Supermarkets were only just coming round to the idea that gay men preferred certain types and brands. Still, all this was academic as he discovered he had a dozen pack of extra strength still sealed and plenty of lube. He would naturally pack them himself.

The next job was to get his hair cut. Again, thanks to his brothers, he knew a barber who ran a sympathetic little shop in the back lanes of town. If he or his partner knew you were gay, they gave a discount and refused to take a tip. The fact that the discount had been added in the first place and was effectively a levy on his straight customers never occurred to anybody. Naturally it was well patronised by the gay community. Perhaps it was the barber's pole outside that gave it away. Instead of being painted red and white, it was in the colours of the rainbow flag. 'Of course,' thought Rufus, 'he'll have something for the weekend, sir, especially as a specialist shop,' but as he had already ascertained, he didn't need anything anyway.

Rufus got on his cycle again, rode into town and locked it up in the Square. He could already see some of his schoolmates there, but he just waved and got on with what he had to do. He entered the barber's shop and counted the number in front of him. Only two. He didn't mind waiting as the walls were hung with interesting pictures – famous homosexuals, bodies beautiful and framed postcards with a risqué gay joke in the seaside style. Also there was a large notice saying 'Under 16s by appointment only' and a good selection of top shelf magazines. When Rufus climbed into the chair he asked for his hair to be cut short and sleek, despite what it looked like now. The barber took the main body off quickly with the electric clippers and then finished off the rest with a cutthroat razor. When he saw the final version he was amazed at the transformation. He thought back to his Narcissus act in front of the mirror that morning and thought he could almost fall in love with himself if there weren't already so many cute and beautiful boys out there.

"You'd be surprised at the demand for it as a natural colour. Your hair is very good quality, as well. You'd be surprised too how well paid it is."

"Well, give me first refusal, sir, if you change your mind. I have the right contacts."

Rufus paid and departed, walking with a spring in his step at the ego boost. Dressed in his tanktop and cut-offs it hadn't been necessary for him to claim his discount. With his hair cut, he enjoyed a new confidence. Now he just hoped that Michel would like it. He walked round the shops to see if there were any clothes he liked, but thought his present wardrobe would be quite sufficient for the weekend. He might see something he liked in London. All the errands done, he made his way to the Square and looked for William and Toby along with a number of classmates. William and Toby were wowed at Rufus's haircut. The boys mingled and talked about their GCSE results. There were very few disappointments, particularly as it was unlikely that the ones who had not done so well would turn up to a victory parade. After he had spoken to almost everyone he said to Toby and William

"Sorry to disappoint you, but not this time, girls. It's only a milkshake and I've something to tell you about." They made their way to Burger Star, gave their order in and sat down at a table. They got talking and Rufus was able to tell them about his work experience, meeting Michel Ledivin and the weekend in London he'd won and was sharing with Rufus.

In time the boys parted, Toby and William returning to their friends in the Square and Rufus to his bike in the Square. Once he was home he sat down to plan the weekend and see what else he had to do. A lot could be left until the following morning and thankfully the twins had something on, which would leave him to get on without a lot of interruptions and questions. In this quiet moment he wondered what he and Michel would be doing, not socially, but sexually. He didn't make himself any promises. However, there was little he hadn't got up to under the guidance of his brothers and so he was prepared for anything. On the other hand he did not want to appear either pushy or reticent. Where was the middle line? As far as Michel was concerned, he was obviously experienced, but how much so? What did he want to get out of this weekend? Why had he chosen Rufus as his partner after knowing him for less than a week when he virtually had the pick of the unattached models Veronica Lindstrom employed (and some of the attached ones too).

Rufus's thoughts were interrupted by the return home of his father who immediately took his son in a hug and congratulated him properly on his GCSE results. After that he took out his wallet and gave him the promised bounty.

"I was going to transfer this to your bank account, but you might need it for a little shopping in London. Just be careful where you keep it. There are a lot of petty thieves in the capital. Spread it round your body."

"Thanks, Dad. I'll keep it in the pouch of my jockstrap. They won't want to put their thieving little fingers in there."

"I like the hair cut. It defines your craggy features much better. You look really handsome… and Swedish like my father."

"Out somewhere. I don't know. You know we're all worried about you and Mum, don't you?"

"That's great to know we've got your support. It's the gay thing, plus, I think, the menopause. She took it hard to discover that not just one, but all three of her children were gay. She worked at it and she's been a good mother to you, but when she found I was gay… or bi… whatever… that was the last straw. And of course she views me as the cause and therefore she blames me. The ironic thing is that she has built her business around gay people and been tolerant, but I suppose when it crossed her own doorstep that was different. I'm trying to get her to see the doctor, particularly because of the menopause, but she won't go.

"You'll have to ask Hugo and Magnus about that. They're very secretive and they keep the kit in their room. They try to keep me out of it."

"I haven't been involved for weeks now, not since before we went on holiday, but I'm still interested. Not in the pain side, but the domination and psychology part. I can't see the point of causing unnecessary pain. I don't know what I want to do in life yet, but psychology does interest me."

At that point a car drew up on the drive. Veronica had arrived home from work, and at the normal time. She bounded in to congratulate Rufus with a hug for his results. Carl felt this was progress. After the celebrations had died down – the twins still hadn't appeared – Veronica asked about supper, and it was agreed that if she was going to help Rufus pack, Carl would cook.

Rufus dashed upstairs, put his case on his bed and apart from washing kit and his 'supplies' he laid all his needs out on the bed, including his dinner suit. After fifteen minutes his mother was there. She did a superb job and there was plenty of space for more in the case, which wouldn't have happened if Rufus had packed.

"You boys certainly wear some weird gear these days." Rufus blushed. "Your brothers are just the same. And the boys at work. So I suppose it must be all right." The job done, Rufus said

Authors deserve your feedback. It's the only payment they get. If you go to the top of the page you will find the author's name. Click that and you can email the author easily.^* Please take a few moments, if you liked the story, to say so.

[For those who use webmail, or whose regular email client opens when they want to use webmail instead: Please right click the author's name. A menu will open in which you can copy the email address (it goes directly to your clipboard without having the courtesy of mentioning that to you) to paste into your webmail system (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo etc). Each browser is subtly different, each Webmail system is different, or we'd give fuller instructions here. We trust you to know how to use your own system. Note: If the email address pastes or arrives with %40 in the middle, replace that weird set of characters with an @ sign.]

^* Some browsers may require a right click instead

The Sins of the Father

by N Fourbois

Chapter 19