Chapter 4
As the governor was making his way to his room, he ran into the president. At first, they made small talk, but that did not last long. Governor Lopez knew the president and he did not wait around to make small talk with him. He needed to say something, and was making his way to whatever it was.
“Let me make this very clear before I say what I really want to tell you. At no time was I eavesdropping on your meeting. It was just you were loud at times in the conversation and we were able to hear you down the hall. This building is old, but like your son Josh, you have a very heavy voice that carries pretty far.
Now with that said, I am going to say what I stayed up to tell you. The Federal government is not going to stop prosecuting your ex-wife. I am running for re-election, not the attorney general. Even if I lose come November, the new attorney general will carry on with the cases that were being worked on from the previous administration. I promise you Daniel that your ex-wife will not slide away. She will be brought to justice for what she has done.”
The governor for the first time was lost for words. Never before has the president or any one for that matter told him something that got him tongue-tied as he is right now. All he wanted from the day his ex-wife shot at him and his family is for her to face justice. Not because he is bitter but no one is above the law, including the both of them.
“To tell you the truth sir, I am lost for words. When I heard the attorney general’s office decided to drop the charges against my ex-wife, I was angry. I cannot say I was angry with you because I knew you had nothing to do with that. Still it is your attorney general who to me looked weak on crime, and I was going to say as much when I got in front of the cameras back in Austin.” President Bush was stunned that Daniel was going to throw members of his administration under the bus.
“I knew it was going to harm you and I was going to do what I can to not let that happen. However, we both know the minute I order the state attorney general of Texas to prosecute my ex-wife; the press would be ripping that apart. They will have a field day saying I am over reaching and using the powers of my office to carry out a revenge on Martha, which we both know is wrong. All I want is for her to face the right justice and that is all. Not only did she try and kill me, but a lot of other people as well.”
“Exactly and that is why I’m going to make sure the attorney general’s office does what they are supposed to do, their job. That office has to be above the politics of the day no matter what is happening in the nation. The only thing they are supposed to be looking at is the law and those that broke it. So again I am going take care of it, so there is no need for you to do anything at your level.”
The governor thanked the president several more times before they moved to another topic. They talk another hour before they both called it a night. On his way to his room, the governor checked in on his kids. His two oldest, Daniel Jr. and Carlos were sharing a room, and they were soundly asleep when the governor peaked in.
Brandon, Josh, and Cesar were sharing the other room. When the governor looked into their room, he found it odd that Cesar was not sleeping with his son. Instead, he was sleeping on the floor between the two beds. At first, the governor thought Cesar and his son had a fight, but as he looked closer at them, he saw them holding hands, which told him his first thought was wrong.
Quietly he walked into the room. When he got to Cesar, he leaned downed and gently shook him. It took a few shakes, but Cesar came to life. Before saying a word, Daniel let him get his footing. Once he saw Cesar was among the living, he started to whisper.
“What are you doing sleeping here on the floor? The president and the first lady made sure to give you two a room that had a full size bed so you and Josh could sleep together. But here I found you sleeping on a very hard floor, what is going on?”
Rubbing his eyes, Cesar responded back in a whisper. “Josh and I thought it was best that we didn’t sleep in the same bed together while we are sleeping in the White House. We do not want anyone to be able to ask the president, or you why we were allowed to sleep together in the house that really belongs to the people. The president is already having a hard time with his election; we didn’t want to add to it.”
Daniel understood where Cesar was coming from, but wished that he and his son did not make that decision. The president and the first lady knew what they were doing when they set up the sleeping arrangements. If they were afraid or didn’t want Josh and Cesar to sleep together in the same bed in the White House, they would have said that. President and Mrs. Bush never shy away from saying what is on their mind.
“Thank you two for thinking about the president and me, but we know what we are doing.” Daniel Sr. got up and extended his hand to Cesar. “Do not be sleeping on this hard floor. Come on get up and get into bed with my son.” Cesar grabbed Daniel’s hand and he helped him up from the floor. “You boys are way too used to having each other in bed with you; there is no way you guys are able to sleep without the other at your side.”
The governor watched as Cesar gently crawled into bed with his son. When he saw him cuddle up and his son automatically grab for Cesar’s hand, he could not help but feel for them. These two love each other with all their hearts, but they know they have to live by different rules, which was sad for this day and age.
A straight couple would have never thought of what they thought about how it would have looked to the outside world that they are in the same bed together in the White House. However, here is his son and boyfriend who had to think how that would look to others. In order to make sure no one would try to use it against the president or him, they decided not to sleep together, which isn’t right. No matter whom a person loves, the governor thought, they should never have to think what these two were thinking, never.
The next morning the Lopez family was up and ready to go by nine. The president and first lady made time to have breakfast with their guests before they headed back to Texas. As the governor and his family were heading out, the president pulled the governor aside and assured him that he is taking care of what they talked about last night. Before letting the governor go, the president asked Daniel once more if he would be his running mate, and once again, Daniel respectfully declined.
All the way back to El Paso the plane ride was quiet. The governor and those of his administration that came up with him were in his private office dealing with state matters, while Barbara, Rose and Isaac were talking about the upcoming baby. Josh, Cesar and their brothers tried to listen in, but it was too boring. They ended up falling asleep somewhere in the middle of the conversation.
They didn’t wake up again until the plane was touching down. When they felt the wheels of the plane hitting the runway, they jerked awake. Those sitting at the windows, looked out and couldn’t believe that they were already home. It felt to them like they had just closed their eyes for just a few minutes.
Daniel Sr. did not go back to Austin until the following Monday, giving the family a chance to be together. The next time he was going to be back was the week of Christmas, which was not that far away. Still he felt he needed to spend as much time as he could with his sons due to the fact their mother is out to make trouble for him. He knows that she is willing to do anything she had to do in order to hurt him, including hurting their kids.
When Sunday rolled around, everyone in the house was in a sorrowful mood. None of them wanted Daniel to go back, but they knew he had to. When Josh, Cesar and their brothers were heading to bed, they tried to talk their father into letting them miss their morning classes to see him off, but Daniel said no. He didn’t want them to miss any more school than they already had. As well, he felt something else could pop up that his kids might need to miss school and if they used up all their time, they wouldn’t be able to.
After the governor left, the house was quiet. The press that camped out at the entrance of their street was pretty much gone plus all the extra security that was at the house. Things went back to normal by Wednesday, not only at the house, but at school as well.
When the boys returned to school on the prior Friday, everyone walked up asking how it was staying at the White House, meeting the president and his family and for Josh singing at the Lincoln Monument. The questioning didn’t slow down until Tuesday, but stopped all together by Wednesday.
Mr. Franklin asked Josh the first day he was back for copies of his music so the Show Chorus could learn it. He really wanted the sheet music for the second song Josh sang for the president and his father, Liven the Vida Loca. Josh not only had no problem giving his instructor the sheet music, but was honored to.
When he walked into class on Wednesday, Mr. Franklin handed out the sheet music to Liven the Vida Loca. At first, it didn’t make any sense to any of the others in the Chorus how this song was going to work, but after Mr. Franklin showed each of them systematically their part, they saw it would work and got into it.
Fifteen minutes before the end of class, Josh asked if he could speak with the class. Mr. Franklin did not have any objections and turned over the reins. Josh waited for everyone to take their seats and quiet down before he started to speak.
“This year has been one crazy year. I had forgotten about an offer that was made to us during the summer.” That grabbed everyone’s attention. “As you guys know George Strait performed at the benefit concert I put together during the summer. During the concert, he offered for the second time to do a show here in El Paso, but with one request. He wants us, the Show Chorus, to be on stage performing as well.”
The class broke out into several conversations and neither Josh nor Mr. Franklin could make heads or tails out of what was being said. Since it was getting close to the end of the period, Mr. Franklin whistled to grab attention of students. He wanted to give them time to talk it out, but time is what they didn’t have left for the day.
“Okay ladies and gentleman we have been offered something that no high school Glee Club or Show Chorus has ever been offered, a real concert with a famous star. First I would like to thank Josh for bringing this to us.” All at once in one way or another, the students thanked Josh as well. “What I think we should do is think about this overnight and come back tomorrow with our answers. Not all of you have to agree to do this. If any of you do not want to perform in the concert, just say so and you will be excused.”
“The only thing I would like to add to what Mr. Franklin has said is that George asked me before I left with my family to Washington if we have discussed his offer. He would like to know as soon as he can what we decide. That way if we are going to do this, he can put the wheels in motion to get the place and everything else that comes with a concert.”
The bell rang, but Mr. Franklin held back his class. “Boys and girls you need to think about this tonight and come back with answer tomorrow. That way Josh could get with Mr. Strait and get everything going for the concert. We are working on a deadline.” Mr. Franklin clapped his hands indicating to his class they could go.
On their way out of the classroom, they stopped Josh asking him questions about what he announced in class. He gave his fellow Show Chorus members all the information he had, which put a smile across their faces. It did not take much out of Josh to talk anyone into wanting to do the concert. They all had their minds made up when they walked up to him that they have every intension of doing it.
As Josh walked to his next period, he passed Patrick and Immanuel in the hall. At first, he didn’t know it was them until he looked a second time. Patrick was leaning against the wall, and Immanuel was leaning into Patrick, covering most of Patrick’s body kissing him. They looked like they have been a couple for years.
Coming up for some air, Patrick looked deep into Immanuel’s eyes. “Thank you for not running away from me scared like a little girl. I always thought that anyone that would meet me would do that because of the baggage I come with. It is a lot and I know it is taking a lot out of you to handle it.”
Stunned at what Patrick just said, Immanuel did understand why he said it. Everyone that he has told that Patrick and he are going out knew about Patrick and could understand why he is going out with him. They all agreed the same thing, after the shooting Patrick was a little crazy for a while. To all those naysayers Immanuel simply replied that he loved Patrick and there is nothing anyone can tell him that will make him love Patrick any less.
“I don’t know where this is coming from Patrick, but I wish you wouldn’t think that way. I love you and that is all there is to it. All of us come with baggage that the other has to either except, or walk away. I have no plans to walk away from you because I consider you a prize. A big prize that anyone in my shoes would be trying to win.” Immanuel leaned in and passionately kissed Patrick.
Neither of them wanted to leave their little world, but the warning bell rang, making them come back to earth. Immanuel reluctantly broke the kiss, grabbed Patrick’s hand and walked to class. When they walked in, it felt to them like everyone was looking at them, but they were wrong, it was only the ones sitting at the desks near the door.
Meanwhile back in Austin, Rich sitting in his office getting some work done when his secretary walked in letting him know that she was able to get the meeting he wanted with the governor. He gathered a few things and made his way out thinking on how he was going to handle the meeting. Knowing the governor the way he does, he knows he can’t go straight into the main reason he wanted this meeting, more so after stepping down.
When he reached the governor’s office, his secretary let him right in. Rich thanked her as he walked past her desk. When he walked in, he found the governor finishing a call and hanging up the receiver. He turned around to walk out when the governor told him to come on in. Turning back around, Rich made his way to the couch and sat down. Shortly after he sat down, the governor joined him.
“I am glad that you asked for this meeting. I was about to have my secretary call yours and set something up before the week is over. Ever since I returned from Washington, there have been several things on my mind. Of course, one of them is following up to make sure the president is doing what he said he was going to do concerning Martha. Do you by any chance know anyone that you can trust in justice?”
Scratching his head, Rich tried to think if those that he knows are still up there. “Yes there a few people I can call and find out what is going on. Give me to the end of the day sir and I will see if the justice department is working on refilling the charges against Martha.” Rich scribbled a couple of things down on his tablet.
“Good thank you for helping me out on that. I know it has nothing to do with matters of state, but I need to know if the president I going to be true to his word or just said what he said to stop me from doing what I was planning to do. If justice is not already working on refilling the charges against Martha, I want you to get me the state attorney general. I am not going to let anyone string me along like a lost little puppy.”
“I understand and I will make sure if nothing is being done to bring the state attorney general up to speed on what is going on before you meet with him. You need to stay as far above all this because it can come back to bite you in the butt during reelection.”
“I would like to see anyone that is going to run against me for my position try and use my request to the state attorney general’s office to prosecute my ex-wife for breaking the law. I will make mincemeat out of them if they try to throw it at me. Moreover, the voters will laugh them out of the room for doing it as well. It is always the other way around when it comes to someone like me talking to his attorney general about a charge against someone in his or her family or close personal friend.”
“I agree with you on that sir, but they are going to try and twist it around to make it look bad. Yes in the past it is a governor, senator, congressional representative or anyone in high political office trying to influence the judicial system not to prosecute someone they know. Here you are asking the judicial system to prosecute, which most voters will have no problem with, but there are those few on the fence. They can be tipped over to the wrong side if those that are running against you say the right words.”
“I care about all the voters, but I can’t sit back and let Martha get away with what she has done. If that means I might lose a few voters by doing the right thing, then so be it. I will not govern by fear of losing voters or my bid for reelection. The people I know are tired of their leaders governing that way.
Now that we are in the topic of reelection, I have been thinking about that a lot since I came back from Washington. Seeing the hell the president is going through on his reelection campaign I want to be prepared. Since you decided to leave here, but you helped me get elected last time around. I was wondering instead of going into the private sector to work if you would start putting together my bid for a second term. I know I have not been in office a year yet, but I don’t want to be worried about that. All I want to do is concentrate on doing the work the people of this state sent me here to do.”
“Of course sir I would be honored to get the ball rolling on that. We are going to have a very tough reelection campaign ahead of us if the Republican Party goes through with what they are discussing. They don’t consider you a republican. Therefore, they want you out as much as the Democrats do. They are lining up several candidates to run against you for your own ticket. So before we even get to the main event, we have several small fights that we are going to have to win.”
“Why is this the first that I am hearing about it?” Governor Lopez got up from his seat and walked over to get him and Rich a Pepsi. “I know they are angry with me for not going their way on topics, but they were wrong. At the same time, I didn’t push the Democrats ideas down their throats. I pushed my own and got them passed.”
“That is the problem sir, the Republican Party is not happy that you are not pushing right wing ideas through the houses. They felt that you taking the governorship from a popular Democrat you were going to give them a blank check from the voters to do whatever they wanted to do. Nevertheless, from the moment you took office, you have made their lives a living hell. They don’t want to work as hard as they have been working and getting their agenda through the houses they control.”
“All that is nothing but a load of bullshit they are shoveling. Everyone knew from the moment I ran for this office what type of governor I was going to be. So they shouldn’t have been surprised when I got here that I was a man of my word. I am here because of the promises I made and I plan to keep those promises.”
“There is no need to sell me on what you are doing because I was sold on it from day one. It is those over in the capital that weren’t sold. They thought they could control you, but found out that they couldn’t.
With that said, I am going to get to work on your reelection as soon as you get my replacement. We are going to have to line up many donors in order to raise a lot of money. Because this time around you are going to have to spend a lot in order to match what the other two sides are going to spending.”
“I know fund raising is part of this job, but I don’t want to be one of the normal politicians that will sell their office for money to get the office. I want to be able to walk back in here and do the work of the people without owing any special interest groups.” Rich had no idea where this was going. They need a lot more money this time around and the only place to get that much money is from those the governor despises.
“I know you were not too happy the last time with me when I told I didn’t want that money. Therefore, I will understand if you get angry with me now when I say I won’t accept that money this time around as well. There has to be other ways to raise the money we need, and I know you will find it. That is why I am letting you know this early that I do plan to seek another term in office.”
For the next forty odd minutes, the governor and his chief-of-staff laid out the ground rules on how his campaign is going to run. There were a few things the governor caved in on, but the majority he didn’t. At the end though, Rich was able to live with how the campaign was going to be run. As they were finishing up with the ground rules, Rich knew he was running out of time to talk about what he came in to talk about.
“We have talked about this in the past briefly, but I was wondering if you have changed your mind on throwing a gay rights bill down on the floor of the houses. I know it is a third rail issue and many politicians shy away for those issues, but you are not those politicians. As you have said many times in the past and in the conversation you will always do what is right. It is right and time that the gay community of this state has equal rights under the law.”
“I agree with you that it is high time that the gay community of this state has equal rights, but there are not enough votes in the houses to get anything like I want passed. It will be so watered down. It won’t change a thing when it reaches my desk for signature. It will be a feel good legislation and nothing more than that. I want real change the first time out because we will only get one chance at this.”
“Your right in everything you say and I agree. I want real legislation passed that has teeth in it that will make real change.” Rich laid down his tablet and files beside him because he was afraid he was going to drop them on the floor since he was moving his hands around a lot. “The problem I see right now is that you have not even started creating a bill so we can see what is going to be the biggest hurdles in it to pass.”
Governor Lopez got up and walked over to his office safe behind a picture on the wall. He punched in his combo, opened it and pulled out a huge file before closing it again. With the file at hand, he walked over to Rich and handed it to him. Rich looked down at the file and knew right away, what he was holding in his hand.
“That is my gay rights bill I just handed you. It needs some polishing, but it is basically done. Why don’t you take it with you and go over it, but make sure you don’t lose any of it. The copy you have in your hand is the only one I have of the bill. It can be redone, but it will be a lot of work to do that.”
“Don’t worry sir, I’ll make a copy of it the minute I leave here and bring you the original back.” Rich started to skim through the pages. “I didn’t know you had gotten this far with the bill. Boy do I feel like a fool right now, by what I just said. I should have known you had already made a bill that is probably as close to your heart as it is to mine.” Rich closed the file and looked into the governor’s eyes.
“This bill means a lot to me. Because not only do I have a gay son, but because I believe, it isn’t right that a chunk of our society is not recognized under the law. No one should be stripped away of their rights that are given to them as an American citizen because of who they fall in love with. That is not right and needs to be changed.”
Rich agreed with every word that the governor spoke. More than ever, he knows he made the right choice when he worked to get the governor elected. It looks like for the first time the gay community of this state have a person that will fight to give them the rights they deserve. Rights he deserves and never thought he would live to see the day that a Republican governor of the state of Texas pushing this kind of bill to be law.
“Once you go over the entire thing, get back to me what you think. Then we will bring the entire staff in on it, including Al. We are going to need all hands on deck in order to get this bill through the houses and that is where Al comes in. He somehow pulls off the impossible. I know that both of us agree that this bill is going to be hard to pass.”
“That’s true, but we are going to get it done.” Rich tapped on the bill with a big smile on his face. They talked a few more minutes before Rich had to go. Not only was he late for his meeting, the governor was as well. As he was walking out of the office, Rich promised the governor that he would get this bill back to him within the hour and not discuss it with anyone until they put it down on the floor.
On his way to his office, he could help but to feel good about the meeting he just had with his governor. Not only he talked about what he went in there to talk about, but walked out with a bill. On top of that, he was the first to be told that the governor plans to run for reelection and he was asked to run it. Just when he thought his life might go back to being somewhat normal, it’s turned upside down into a whirl spin.
At El Paso High Josh couldn’t wait for the final bell to ring. Coach Montoya gave the swim team the rest of the week off from practice. They had no meets coming up and the coach did not want any of his swimmers to get hurt practicing, even though he felt that they needed it. Some of the swimmers on the team have been eating a little too much, which caused them to gain weight, and that weight slowed them down in the pool.
Josh was not one of them. Even when he had no practice at school, he swam at home to not only keep in shape, but to continue to get faster. He was not satisfied with the speed he was swimming, even though he is swimming faster than he ever swam. No one on his team or anyone he has competed against is able to stay with him in the pool.
Caesar tapping Josh on his shoulder brought him back to reality. He closed the locker door, grabbed Caesar’s hand and together made their way out of the school. As they reached the front door, Josh saw Mr. Franklin and Mr. Edgar walking towards them. He wished his teachers a good evening and walked out with his security behind him.
The two teachers walked to Principal Michael’s office. They did not bother to ask the principal’s secretary if he was busy, they just walked to his office. When they got to the door, the Mr. Edgar knocked a couple of times and then popped his head in. Principal Michaels waved them in as he put away the file he was working on.
“I understand you two are having several problems dealing with the combining of your classes.” He looked at his two instructors. “Keep in mind combining your classes was not my decision. You two sat down and decided that on your own for the good of the school. I just signed off on it. Since you two were able to come to that solution, what is it that you can’t figure out together and need my input on?”
Not giving Mr. Franklin a chance to respond, Mr. Edgar right away spoke. “We joined the two programs together for the good of the school. It didn’t make sense to have two groups like ours in the same school competing for the same thing. We do not need to compete against each other when there are plenty of other schools for that.
Both of us agree one hundred percent on that, but another problem has risen up that we didn’t think about when we joined our classes. We didn’t consider which one of us is going to run the class and which one is going to assist. For the last couple of days we have been going back and forth on that and have not gotten anywhere. We need your help on it.” Mr. Edgar pointed back and forth from him and Mr. Franklin as he sat down.
“Neither of you two want me to be making that decision for you, because one of you is not going to like the outcome. You were able to put your differences aside to join the classes, why can’t you do the same as far as who is going to run the class. Pay wise you two are going to be paid the same that you always have. It’s just the title.”
“Yes it is just a title, but a title that gets you more respect with the students.”
“Come on Mr. Edgar a title doesn’t do that. You get the respect from your students because they look up to you. They are eager to go to your class and have you teach them. Don’t mind how much homework you give them. All that and much more is given to you because you have earned their respect.” Principal Michaels looked over at Mr. Franklin. “Sir you have not said a word on this, what do you think?”
“I think we shouldn’t be having this conversation. Mr. Edgar and I are instructors that are teaching the same class, nothing more, nothing less. One day he will start the class and the next day I will. At the same time all through the class period, we teach the students together. The kind of class we run does need two instructors in order to give the student more one on one time that would not be there if there was only one instructor.”
“I agree with Mr. Franklin on that. There is really no need to have this conversation for me to decide who the instructor is and who the assistant instructor is. Both of you are equal in position, which means you have the same authority. Just don’t place your students against each other. Work together as a whole and at the end of the day everything else will fall into place.”
“No sir, once again I disagree with you and I’ll tell you why. All week Mr. Franklin has been working on song selection and you will not believe whose songs he picked.” Mr. Edgar looked directly at the principal. “Come on sir whose songs do you think he picked for our kids to sing.”
“I don’t know Mr. Edgar, why don’t you just tell me and stop playing this game.”
“Josh’s songs, yes you heard me right, one of our students songs were chosen for our kids to sing at our next competition. You know how that is going to make us look to the rest of the schools, do you?” Principal Michaels shook his head. “Let me tell you! It will make us look like idiots out there. No one knows the songs and that in our type of competition is a no, no. In order to win, we need to sing songs that people know really well.”
“I don’t see what is wrong with Mr. Franklin’s song choices. Heck, if I was in your shoes and had a famous student like Josh, I would pick his songs as well. The young man has done several concerts already. On top of that, he has sung in front of the president twice and has had the honor to sing with the greats in country and rock music. Come on Mr. Edgar you can’t be blind to all this. Josh is a gold mine that you need to use.”
“Mr. Edgar left something out of all his ranting here this afternoon. Through Josh’s connections, he has lined us up a concert with George Strait. Mr. Strait himself has been asking Josh when is it possible for him to come into town and perform with our Show Chorus. Josh informed the class about that today and boy let me tell you how thrilled all the students were hearing the news.”
Principal Michaels leaned forward with a stunned look on his face. “You have to be pulling my leg on that. That is the best news I have heard all week and let me tell you I needed to hear good news. Do you know much money we are going to get from this concert? Our school really needs some extra money right now to fix some things and get other things that we have been putting off for a while now.”
“That I can’t answer, but I will find out. Josh’s songs are good ones, and if judges and the audience do not know the songs that means they have not been on planet earth watching the television or reading the news. The songs I chose were the songs that Josh sang for the president and his father this last time around.”
“I have never stepped in and told neither of you what you can and cannot perform. You guys are the instructors and know the rules a lot better than I know them. Mr. Edgar, this is not going to be the first time I do that. Whatever you two choose, I am fine with that as long as it is within the guidelines that have been set out for you to follow.
Since you are dead set on me to decide on who the head instructor is and who is the assistant Mr. Edgar, I will do it. Like I said, one of you is not going to be happy about my decision.” Principal Michaels rubbed his chin. “Mr. Franklin is the veteran instructor here so that makes him the head instructor. You will be the assistant.
I have also been toying with another idea since you joined your classes and now with this meeting I have decided what to do.” Principal Michaels pulled out the files he was looking at when Edgar and Franklin first walked in. “The old auditorium where you are holding your classes Mr. Franklin is too big for just your class, but just right for both of yours and Mr. Edgars. Therefore, I am going join all your classes together starting immediately. I need the extra class place and you two are showing you can get along.”
Mr. Edgar tried not to show how displeased he was with all this, but he was not doing a good job at it. Principal Michaels saw the displeasure in his face, and relished it. After all he is the one that walked in here demanding things that he should have known was going to go against him if he kept pushing it.
“What about the name of the Show Chorus/Glee Club. We cannot keep calling our class this name, so what do you think we should call it?”
“That is not my decision to make Mr. Edgar. Your regular classes will be called what it has always been, Music Appreciation. As far as your fourth period class, that decision should be left up to the students. Hand that decision over to them to make. After all they are the first students in the newly formatted club.”
There was one more question Mr. Edgar had, but decided to keep it to himself. He got up, thanked Principal Michaels for his help, and walked out the office, followed by Mr. Franklin. They walked back to their classrooms in silence. Mr. Franklin knew that his fellow instructor was not pleased on how it all unfolded but it was he that set up this meeting for clarification on who was going to do what.
When they reached Mr. Edgar’s soon to be former classroom, Mr. Edgar asked to speak with him. “I know this is my entire fault and now I need to deal with it. I just felt we needed our positions cleared up for the best of the program. Now that has happened, we need to talk about the solo position. I have a solo artist and you have one, but we only need one. That leaves us with who that person going to be. Should we leave that decision up to the class as well?”
“That really didn’t work out too well the last time for you, did it?” Mr. Edgar shook his head. “That decision is ours and ours alone to make, which should not be hard to do. You and I fought over Josh last year because we both know he is the solo artist in the bunch. Why don’t we just make this easy on ourselves and put him in the solo position and your young lady as his back up.”
“I don’t agree with you on that one.”
“It seems that you have not been agreeing with much this afternoon.” Mr. Franklin slammed his fist on the desk. “Out of the two soloists we have Josh is the best. I know you agree with that since you fought me for him last year. Don’t make the same mistake you made by taking out the best person for that position because I promise you if you do he is not going to come back a third time.”
“So it is my decision who is going to be the solo artist?”
“No it is our decision to make and I am hoping I don’t have to fight you on this like everything else. Josh is the best person and must stay in the position. The solo artist you brought with you from your club will fall behind him, as his back up like it should have been last year. It is plain and simple; the best person gets the position.”
“I made a promise to my solo singer that she was not going to lose her position with our classes joining together. Now you are telling me I’m going to have to go back to her and tell her I was wrong. I can’t and won’t do that. There has to be another solution to this problem like both of them holding the title of head solo artist. They take turns in each competition. One time he sings and the other time she does.”
Mr. Franklin could not believe what he was hearing from his fellow instructor. Not only does it sound like a load of bull, it is a load of bull. He can’t understand why Mr. Edgar is even asking him to entertain this ridiculous idea. There is no way it will work and it will start more problems than solve them.
“Look I don’t know what is going on with you Mr. Edgar, but whatever it is I hope it is temporary. I know deep down you know Josh is the best person for the solo position and should keep it. I am not saying your student can’t sing. What I am saying is she is not as good as Josh and therefore should be his backup. None of this one competition she sings and the other he sings. That idea creates more problems than it solves.”
“You are seriously asking me to go back to my student and go back on my word that I gave her? That isn’t right and I know you know that. I don’t see why we don’t try what I suggested for a while and see if you are right. If it causes more problems then, we will have this conversation again.”
“Sorry Mr. Edgar, but no, we will not meet in the middle on this. Josh is our solo performer and your solo performer will be his back up. If Josh loses it for one reason or another, she steps up and takes over.” Mr. Franklin walked to the door. “I know you see it my way, but for some reason you are refusing to agree with me. Maybe tomorrow you will agree and maybe you will not, but I don’t care, the decision has been made.”
Mr. Edgar didn’t like being talked to the way Mr. Franklin was talking to him, but if he were in his shoes, he would be doing the same thing. Josh is the best solo artist and they should always keep the best in each slot. It was just he was unwilling to lose this fight as well even though he was fighting for the wrong person for a position.
Back at the Lopez home, Josh and Caesar went up to their rooms and did their homework together as they normally do. Once they were done, Josh changed into a pair of swim trunks and headed down to the pool to try to put in at least thirty minutes of practice before dinner was ready, but it was not in the cards.
He ran into Brandon on the way. At first, Josh was not going to say anything to his brother because he was determined to swim some laps, but as he passed Brandon, he could see that there was something weighing heavily on his mind. In fact, Brandon has had the same look on his face for the last couple of days.
“Hey little brother what is going on?” Josh said as he turned around and headed back to Brandon. “And do not dare tell me there is nothing wrong because I know you as well as I know myself. The look on your face is giving you away. What has been bothering you for the last couple of days?”
Brandon looked up at Josh and he started talking. “I am so confused right now. I see you with Cesar and you guys are really in love with each other. Same thing with Daniel and Carlos and their girlfriends, you can tell they are in love. I have gone through a couple of girlfriends, but never stayed with one more than a couple of months, but I think that might change. How do you know if you found the person you are supposed to be with?”
“You just do Brandon, you just do. This right here tells you if you have found the one for you.” Josh tapped Brandon’s chest where his heart is. “The organ in your chest is the one you need to listen to when it comes down to love, not your brain. If you let your brain interfere, you might lose the person that is the one because you are over thinking it.”
“Josh you thought Chris was the one, but look what happened there. You two looked right for each other, acted as if you were together all your lives and went through the hardest time in both of your lives together, but again look at what happened. You guys were not even together half a year before you broke up. If you two didn’t make it and you thought he was the one, how do I know that will not happen to me?”
“To be blunt with you Brandon, you will never know one hundred percent if anyone is the one. Yes, everything you said about Chris and me is right, but you forgot one important fact. We were each other’s first love. It is rare that you end up with your first love for a life partner no matter what sex you love.
The good thing for you Brandon is that you have had your first love and second love. Now whomever you think is the one for you, might actually be the one for you. Don’t let her get away because you are thinking too much about the thing. Too much thought and no action will only get you regret, and will only make you always wonder if I did that, instead of this, would you have gotten the love of your life?”
“I agree with Josh on that.” Both Josh and Brandon turned to see Daniel Jr. and Carlos walking towards them. “Carlos and I went through several girlfriends, like you, before we ended up with the ones we have today, and I don’t know if my current girlfriend is going to be my wife. Don’t get me wrong on what I am saying, I love her, but I don’t know what the future holds for us. All I know right now is that I want to be with her and that is all that matters. If you have the feelings about the girl you are talking about, you need to go for it. Stop thinking with the head on your shoulders and use the other two.”
Everyone cracked off laughing seeing Daniel Jr. grab his Johnson. “What happens if I ask her to go out and she says no? I do not know if I can take that and still see her everyday at school in my classes. It would be too embarrassing for me.”
“Look just follow your heart, not just your heads between your legs like Daniel here said. You guys can’t let your heads between your legs lead you around and make every decision for you.” Josh scratched his head. “Well neither can Cesar nor me could do that as well. We don’t have the worry like you guys have on getting your girlfriends pregnant, but do have things that we have to worry about.
I am getting way off base here. If you think she is one, just throw caution to the wind and ask her out. Yes, she might say no and you would have to see her every day after that, but she might say yes as well. You will never know unless you try it. When you see her tomorrow, walk over to her and ask her out.”
Brandon listened to Josh more than he listened to his two other brothers. It was not that he didn’t trust their opinion, it was just Josh and he were close. They have been there for each other when the other needed the other. This issue is no different from what he has gone to Josh about before and Josh was able to help him through it all.
“Okay I will do what you are recommending, but I really hope she doesn’t say no. I really like her guys, I mean really, really like her.”
“There is no way any girl could turn down a Lopez guy.” Daniel Jr. wrapped one arm around Brandon’s shoulders, pulled him into his chest and started to rub his free hand through Brandon’s hair. “We are too good looking to get turned down. If she does, there is something wrong with her and you’re better off without her.”
“That is very true!” Carlos jumped in and started to give Brandon a wet willy. “She is going to say yes, so don’t worry your little head over it.” Brandon broke free from his brothers and started to comb his hand through his hair trying to fix it.
Josh felt bad for Brandon and just as he was about to step in, Rose walked out to where they were and let them know that dinner was ready. On their way to the table, Josh and Brandon walked behind their brothers and Cesar. Josh took that time to pump Brandon up and made sure that he knew that their brothers were just playing with him.
Due to talking with his little brother, Josh did not get to the pool before dinner. Lucky for him, Cesar is always taking care of him. When he was heading down to dinner, he noticed Josh and his brothers talking and that Josh didn’t get to the pool as he planned. He was dry in his swim trunks, without a shirt, which is a no, no. Quickly he turned around and grabbed Josh a shirt from their room so he wouldn’t get into trouble.
As they were heading in for dinner, he gave Josh the shirt. With a big grin across his face, Josh put on the shirt and then leaned in and kissed Cesar and at the same time, he started to fondle him. Immediately Cesar got hard and by getting hard the moment Josh touched him, Josh got hard as well. Both of their erections were noticeable, so they quickly sat down hoping no one saw their how stiff they were.
All through dinner, it was the normal conversation at the table. How was your day to what they plan to do the rest of the evening sort of stuff. When they finished eating and helped with the dishes, Josh and Cesar headed off to the pool together. At first Cesar was not going to swim, but as he sat there watching his handsome boyfriend swimming back and forth in the pool, he had to jump in.
Once he made sure there was no one around that would take offense to him swimming in his boxer briefs, Cesar stripped down to them and jumped into the pool, scaring Josh. After the initial scare wore off, Josh swam over to Cesar, pulled him in and started kissing him. Once their lips touched, both guys got hard.
Making them even harder, Josh started to grind his dick against Cesar’s. It got too much for Cesar, he had to push Josh away or he would have exploded right there in the pool, but Josh was not about to stop. He was excessively hard and did not want to land up going from the pool to a cold shower and a case of blue balls.
He went under the water and swam up to Cesar, placing his hands around the waistband of his boxer briefs. Gave them a couple of tugs, but didn’t pull them completely down. Instead, he placed his lips on Cesar’s hard member and started to suck on it through the fabric of the underwear, making Cesar moan and move around in the pool like a fish out of water. That only got Josh more into what he was doing.
Running out of breath, reluctantly Josh let go of what he went down to have and came up for some air. When he brushed the water off his face, he saw Cesar’s head leaning to the back and he was still moaning very softly. Josh did not want his boyfriend to explode without him getting any, so he took a deep breath and went back under the water.
This time he pulled his underwear down before going right down on his lovers’ rock solid dick. He managed to go up and down about three times before coming up for air. After taking a couple of breaths this time Cesar pulled Josh towards him kissing him long and hard allowing Josh’s tongue to enter his mouth and just about massage his tonsils.
At the same time, he reached down and removed Josh’s swimming trunks letting them fall to the bottom of the pool, and at the same time kicked his off as well so they were both in the pool naked.
Grinding against each other they both got very hot and almost ready to blow, so Josh lifted Cesar out of the water sitting him on the side of the pool so he could finish off what he started underwater without having to come up for air.
Cesar could not stop moaning with lust and delight as Josh started to give him a fantastic blowjob, he moved his hands onto his lovers head so he could guide the movement and speed prolonging the deep throat sucking a bit longer.
Sadly, all too soon he found he had reached the point of no return and with a deep guttural moan whispered, “I’m coming”.
Come he did with a vengeance-sending wave after wave of his love juice down his boyfriends’ throat. Josh started to gag, there was so much but managed to get it all down.
As soon as Josh pulled off him, Cesar jumped in the water lifting Josh up onto the side proceeding to go down on him.
Josh was so hot and ready that it did not take more than three or four deep-throated sucks for him to blow just as much if not more than Cesar had. Once again, the whole load was swallowed down with not a drop being wasted. After all, they didn’t want any telltale white scum floating on the pool otherwise every one of the family especially their brothers would know what they had been doing. The two lovers looked longingly into each other’s eyes and Josh whispered softly, “I love you more than anything and anyone in the World.”
“I’m happy about that because I love you just as much if not more.”
They kissed before Cesar, a wicked grin on his face, broke away diving down to rescue Josh’ and his clothes. He grabbed them swimming to the other end of the pool and then waved Josh’s swimming trunks in the air.
“Come and get them.” He shouted after putting his own briefs back on while still in the water. As Josh started swimming down the pool Cesar got out running away from the pool edge still waving the trunks.
Josh had no option but to get out of the pool and chase Cesar. Once he caught and tackled him they rolled around on the grass unable to stop laughing, in fact the only way they stopped was when Josh kissed his lover grabbing his trunks at the same time.
Lying together on the grass Cesar said, “It’s a good thing nobody came out of the house.”
“Yes and don’t forget this is another part of the house christened, but we still have a long way to go.”
The next morning Josh and Cesar had big grins on their faces that gave away they had sex the night before. On top of the grins, they were whistling the same tune, which grabbed everyone’s attention. At the breakfast table, Daniel Jr. and Carlos started to tease them, plus when they got to school, their friends picked up where their brothers left off.
When Johnny joined them, they all quieted down. Ever since he, his mother and sister moved here to El Paso, he seemed to be out of his element. The first time Josh approached him about it, he just said he didn’t like being the new kid, but now that can’t be the case since he is no longer the new kid. It is December, a day away from their Christmas break, which means the school year is almost halfway done.
Feeling bad that his friend is still feeling the same way he was feeling the first day he got here, Josh wanted to do something. Instead of walking out with the others to the stadium, he and Cesar pulled Johnny to the side. At first, Johnny thought that he was in trouble or something was wrong. Josh saw that and right away put him at rest ensuring him that he was wrong on what he was thinking.
“I am just worried about you my friend. There is something bothering you and don’t try to say I am wrong.” Josh patted Johnny on the shoulder softly. “I feel that we have gotten to know each other very well in the last five months. Your looks I have gotten to know and that look on your face right now is the same look you had the first day of school, so give it up, what is wrong?”
“There is nothing for you guys to worry about. It is just I do not know anyone outside of school and we are about to start our winter break. You guys live far away from me, which means I will be spending most of my winter break alone. I know it is not your responsibility to make sure I am not alone, but I wish we lived a lot closer to each other.”
Hearing what Johnny had to say, hit Josh so hard it felt like a hundred pounds of bricks were dumped on him. He had completely forgotten about Johnny and the fact that he has no other friends other than his group. To make matters worse the closest house they were able to find on that side of town was a few blocks away from the school, but a couple miles away from his house. That made it impossible for Johnny to walk on over.
“I do not how, but we will find a way to get you to my house everyday during the break. There is no doubt in my mind if I would ask my Uncle Isaac, my grandmother and even my head of security, they would all say yes and go and pick you up every day. Just give me to the end of the day to figure this all out, okay?”
Johnny shook his head in agreement, ending the conversation. As they walked out to join the others, Josh knew he did help his friend because he had a big smile on his face. Seeing that, it made him feel good. When they joined the others, it didn’t take long to get into the conversation they were having.
It was not long after they joined the others that the warning bell rang. Like a herd of cattle, all the students in and out on the football field and stadium filed their way in an orderly fashion up the stairs and into the building. Like the days before, Josh and Cesar went to their locker and got their books for the afternoon, but said their goodbyes right there since they did not have the same class this period.
Like the days before, Josh thought to himself as he walked to Mr. Franklin’s classroom on how much he misses Cesar during this period. At the beginning of the year, he was pretty close to quitting Show Chorus so he would have all his classes with his boyfriend, but Cesar would not allow him to drop a class that he loves for him.
Soon after roll call was taken, Mr. Franklin and Mr. Edgar explained to the class what happened the day before. Not going into detail of the meeting they had with the principal, they were able to inform them that all the classes are going to be joined together. No one at first had any questions, but when Mr. Edgar asked again, his solo performer raised her hand. Everyone knew what she was going to ask and hoped their teachers had the answer.
“Mr. Edgar since our classes are going to be joined together permanently now, who is going to be the main solo performer and who is going to be the backup.” She looked over at Josh. “I think like last time you should let the class vote on it so we can get the right person in that position.” She looked around at the others with a big smile.
Instead of Mr. Edgar answering the question, Mr. Franklin did. “There will not be any voting in this class. This is not a democracy, it’s a dictatorship. What Mr. Edgar and I decide on is final and if any of you don’t like it, there is the door.” Mr. Franklin pointed to the doors in the rear, causing everyone to turn around and look.
“We looked at both solo performances from last year and made our decision off that. Both of you are great solo artists and probably can make music you career, but we had to pick which one of you that not only was the better singer all the time, no difficulties, but also fitted our Chorus just right. Now out of respect to both of you, we will discuss our decision with you two in private before the end of period. Let us move…..”
“I am sorry for interrupting you sir and thank you for thinking about how one of us is going to feel by not being picked, but the class is going to find out. Therefore, I would like to know now and I’m pretty sure Josh agrees with me.” Everyone looked over at Josh to see what his reaction was. All he did was shake his head.
“Fine if that is the way you want to do this, I am okay with it as well, how about you Mr. Edgar?” Mr. Edgar shrugged his shoulders. “It looks like we are all in agreement here. After a lot of discussing and as I said before looking over all the tapes, we decided to make Josh here our solo performer and you will be the backup.”
“That is bull shit sir and you know that! You know damn well I am a better singer than he is and the only reason you are giving him the solo position is because who his father is and what he has done for this club. I am not going to let you get away with this.”
“Sit your butt right back in that seat and settle down before you land up being kicked out of this class.” Mr. Franklin walked over and looked the young teenage girl in her eyes. He could see the hatred she had in her eyes at that very moment. At first, she refused to budge, but Mr. Franklin was not backing down. Close to a five-minute standoff, she finally did what she was asked, and sat down in her seat.
“Those that came from the Glee Club let me make this rule very clear to you guys. None of you will disrespect the instructors in this class or your classmates. If any of you disrespect the other, you will be out of this class. I don’t care who you are or who you are related to, you will be finishing off the semester in detention losing credit for this class, is that understood?” All at once, the students said yes.
“Ma’am, I am going to let this slide with a very stern warning because you were just given bad news, but don’t take this as a weakness. If you pull a stunt like that again you are out of here. Do you understand what I am telling you?” Reluctantly the young woman shook her head. “Good I am glad you are seeing it my way.
By the way, you are wrong on what you said. We did not give Josh the solo position because of his father, nor what he has done for this club. None of that was even discussed when Mr. Edgar and I were deciding who was going to be the solo performer. What was discussed is who sang better all the time and sorry to burst your bubble, it was not you.”
Mr. Franklin walked back to the front feeling the daggers being shot at him. He turned around and went right to the discussion they left off on the day before. One by one, each student said yes to the concert. Once ever student voiced their answer, Mr. Franklin turned to Josh and asked him to get the ball rolling.
“One last thing before we release you for the winter break. While you are enjoying your three weeks off from school, we need you guys to do something.” The class started to moan thinking they were going to get homework to do during the winter break. “Since we are joining the two clubs, Glee and Show Chorus, we need a new name. You guys are the first students in the new club, so Mr. Edgar and I agreed that you should be the ones to choose the name. Now this is how it is going to go….”
Mr. Franklin went into detail on how everything was going to work on choosing a name. Each of them can put up, as many names as they want when they return, then the class at a whole will nail it down to three. Once that happens, he and Mr. Edgar are going to throw those names into a hat and pull one out. Whatever name they pull out will be the clubs new name. No one of them objected to the process, which made Mr. Franklin happy.
Just as Mr. Franklin finished the bell rang. As the students headed out, both instructors stood at the door wishing their students a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The rest of the day was as laid back as it was in the morning. None of the students wanted to do anything and the teachers didn’t as well.
When the final bell rang, releasing the student body for their Christmas vacation, Josh and Cesar headed to their locker quickly and threw in their books. Since neither of them had any homework to do over the holidays, they left their bags as well.
On their way home, Josh started to think about how close they came on having to go up to Austin for the Christmas break. Daniel Sr. made up his mind to have Christmas in Austin, but at the last minute, his dad decided to spend the holiday in the new house. He wasn’t fooling anyone when he did a one eighty on that. The change of heart was because of Barbara and how close she is to her due date. His dad didn’t want to jeopardize the welfare of Barbara or his unborn child.
Friday evening was just the family, none of the boy’s friends came down, but the weekend was a different story. As promised, Josh asked his uncle if he could go down, pick up Johnny, and bring him back to the house. Isaac did not object and in fact, he jumped at it when Josh went to him.
When Josh called Johnny to let him know that his uncle was on his way to pick him up, he was stunned. He didn’t hear from Josh yesterday and figured that he couldn’t get anyone to pick him up, but now he sees he was wrong. He thanked Josh and hung up the phone to get ready to head out. As he was getting dressed, his sister came in and asked if she could go. Johnny couldn’t say no to her.
Isaac was surprised to see Johnny’s little sister walking out with him. When they got to the car, Johnny started to explain what was going on, but Isaac stopped him. He told Johnny he did not need any explanation because he understood. With that, they got into the car and headed back to the house.
All weekend and as well as Monday and Tuesday, Johnny and his sister spent most of the day at Josh’s house with Josh and the others. Not everyone showed up at once, but at one time or another there was someone from the group there. Johnny couldn’t remember the last time he had as much fun he was having hanging out with Josh, Cesar and the others.
When he and his sister had to go home earlier on Tuesday, he was disappointed, but understood why. His father and Josh’s father were flying in and they had to get ready to go to the airport to great their fathers. As he was leaving, Josh asked if he wanted to drive with him, Cesar and his brothers to the airport. Although he wanted to do that, he had to turn down the offer. His mother made it clear they were going in their own car.
Having a police escort to the airport, it didn’t take them long to get there. As they drove up, the governor’s plane was just coming to a complete stop. The limousines stopped and everyone got out of them. The doors to the airplane opened and almost immediately, Daniel Sr. stepped out, putting big smiles on his family’s faces.
After hugging and welcoming their father back home, the Lopez family got into the limousine and headed back home. All the way there, they talked about everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks. Daniel Sr. sat back, holding Barbara’s hand, enjoying the lively conversation that was going on. He hung onto every word his kids were telling him. Seeing how happy they were, the governor felt relieved. He has been feeling guilty being away from his kids as long as he has been, but now he sees he had no reason to be feeling that way, they are doing fine.
As his brothers talked, Josh escaped into his mind thinking about how the first half of his sophomore year has gone. Put aside all the extra things he and the rest of the family had done because of his father, it has been one roller coaster ride. It seemed like it was just like yesterday that he was starting his sophomore year, but here he is already almost half way through it. Boy does time fly by fast when you are enjoying every minute.
TO BE CONTINUED…………………
WRITER’S CORNER:
{Welcome back everyone to another filled chapter of “Shadow of My Father”. By popular demand, I did not leave this chapter in a cliffhanger. I have been getting some nasty emails about that, but I understand all your feelings about my cliffhangers. Nevertheless, be fairly warned, there are going to be cliffhangers, but not as many as there has been lately. I do thank those that do take the time to drop me those emails and comments on the site. No matter if they are nice or mean ones. I read every one of them and they do get my blood flowing to write even more and better chapters.
With that said, let us get down to the summation of the chapter. As you, all know I am working very hard on getting this story caught up to my other ones. Therefore, I went through a lot of time in this chapter, and will be doing that in the chapters to come. Be warned though, in a couple of chapters I am going to be very close to the time line of the other stories so this story will slow down again.
At the beginning of this chapter, I picked up right where I left off on the last chapter. I am glad the president stopped the governor and told him what he told him. I hope he is going to follow through on his promise and prosecute Martha. He knows that Daniel is a man of his word and if he does not see action soon, he will do it himself.
You didn’t hear anything from Martha in this chapter, but don’t be surprised to see her pop back up very soon. The emails and comments I have been getting from you guys have detoured where I was going to go with her. Stick around and very soon, you will see that something happens with Martha that changes everyone’s lives.
Since I am talking about Mrs. of the Lopez family, the baby, or maybe babies are coming very soon. I bet you all thought I forgot about that plot, but I didn’t. Barbara is due in January, but who knows something might happen that she will go into labor sooner than they think. Wouldn’t it be neat if they have Christmas babies?
Josh remembered to tell the Show Chorus about the concert that George Strait wants to do with them. I am glad to see they all agreed to do it. It is a once in a lifetime thing and if any of them said no, they would always look back and regret that decision. At least I know I would be doing that if I said no.
I am glad that Mr. Franklin stood up to Mr. Edgar and his solo performer. Man what are the girls at El Paso High drinking that seems to make them get nasty. Mr. Franklin set her and Mr. Edgar straight by making it clear that it is going to Josh and no one else. Mr. Edgar really wanted that, but was just giving Franklin a hard time on the subject.
Go on over to the main page and help the Glee and Show Chorus out on picking their new name. Remember what your musical group was called in high school and put that up for consideration. Of just tell me a name you think would be cool to name the new club.
In this chapter you got to see a little of Patrick and Immanuel. We know they are getting closer and closer. In the chapters to come you will see a lot more of them, especially when things slow down again. That goes as well with Brandon, Carlos and Daniel Jr. They have not been mentioned much lately, but that is going to change really soon.
Johnny Walker Jr. was finally mentioned in this chapter. For those that forgot all about him, he is the son of the governor’s press secretary. Trust me you don’t want to forget about this kid because I have big plans for him. Some of those plans were given away in “Jacob Finding His Way” already. Keep coming back and see what happens there.
I know I skipped some plots that were mentioned in this chapter. Like the one of Rich leaving to run the governor’s reelection campaign and the gay rights bills. Those that have been reading all the stories, you know the gay rights bill is coming to the forefront really soon. As far as running the reelection campaign, that plot will unfold in due time. If I forgot anything else, Trevor please cover it in your corner.
I could stay here all day long, with all the open plots already in this story, but I will not. I warn you though! Do not skip a chapter, or you will be lost. There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacob@jacobmillertex.com, Thanks!}
EDITOR’S CORNER:
A nice happy chapter this one with no real drama, plus I got to do my favorite thing, write a sex scene. Good job I have a long memory LOL.
Well the baby is due almost anytime now or maybe babies. Knowing Jacob like I do do not be surprised if it is triplets, plus if Daniel Sr. is as horny as his sons it could be quads.
I was touched to see Josh and Cesar not sleeping together in the White House because they didn’t want to upset the people. It’s a sad state of events that they had to think that way. Things are changing but very slowly. Which is why it was good to see Daniel Sr. and Rich getting on with the gay rights bill? This is a subject very close to my heart and the more publicity we give it the better.
You may remember Josh and Cesar decided that they wanted to sexually christen all the rooms in the new house and we already know their bedroom and the pool area have been ‘done’ but there may be others we haven’t found out about yet.
Now, Jacob wants a name for the Glee or show chorus so get those ideas coming in. It was dull at my school we were just called the school choir (Boring).
That Mr. Edgar is a bit of a dick head if you ask me, either that or he’s a trouble maker full stop. I hope he toes the line because Mr. Franklin knows what he’s about. I believe the girls at El Paso high are pissed off because all the best-looking guys are gay and they can’t have them which is why they are so nasty.
It was good to read about Patrick and Immanuel and also little Johnny. Let’s hope for all of them true love runs smooth.
Finally, I hope the president does what he says about Martha and she gets put away for a loooong time.
As Jacob says keep reading don’t miss anything and don’t forget to catch up on my stories. A new chapter of Cliff & Derek should be up and running by next Wednesday.
Hugs Trevor
trevor@jacobmillertex.com
Wow!!! The pool sex scene was exciting! For some reason the chance of getting caught or doing it in a place you are not suppose to makes it more erotic to do and even to read. Under the water? That had to be a different experience! It was extremely erotic to me!
I can’t figure out why Mr. Franklin agreed to join the groups at Mr Edger’s request. Mr. Edger can’t handle the glee club so he wants to join his failing glee club with a successful Show Chorus and be the main director while the successful director of the Show Chorus answers to him. What a way to have a larger failed group.
Can you imagine the reaction of the students finding out that this girl is going to replace Josh as the singer? Only her friends and the homophobic students will be glad.
Mr. Edger is not learning from his mistakes. He brings in Josh because she can’t sing. Then he lets Josh go to give the position back to her. He is guilty of unprofessional conduct in dealing with Mr. Franklin and he most likely will tell the girl his version of the story which is unprofessional. He is trying to get a girl who can’t always sing in tune to replace a nationally known singer who has an awesome voice. He was reprimanded for letting the students pick the soloist and here he is again suggesting the very thing that got him into trouble earlier.
This is my prediction:
Mr. Edger will tell the girl his version of how the decision was made when she asks him. That will start another hell storm.
Another major unprofessional move. One that could be used to terminate him or at least have it put in his professional file.
Mr. Edger is head strong about digging his own grave with a career at El Paso Hi. He may get buried in it!
Caleb
PS Mr. Franklin rocks in my book and I am into choral music!!.
Caleb
The sex scene was brought to you by Trevor, I am glad you enjoyed it. I set it uip and figured we have not had a pool sex scene yet in the story and it was due. Trevor write out a very goo one though. Lot ot come as far as the teachers in the Glee Club and Show Chorus. Things wil change and it will be to the good. Trust me next weeks chapters is going to have a surprise that you guys will not really see coming, but hoped it would, LOL!
Another great chapter. Thanks for not having a cliffhanger this time. Once in a while I understand having them but not all the time. Thanks to everyone who works on this story and the others as well. Ever since one of my favorite authors passed away I seem to not have as much to read now. I cannot wait for the next chapter. Thanks again 🙂
James,
I know about the cliffhangers and all. They will be there but I will try and not put as many in there at once. Jacob Finding His Way still has a few to come since that story is written well in advance, but the others will not as I writ ethem. Nut again there will be some cliff hangers and all. I heard about E. Walk, if it is the same writer we are talking about and I am saddned to hear of anyone passing away. I hope I can get near his writing and you are happy wiht what I write and come back week after week.
A new name for the new combined Show Chous/Glee Club could be
“The Singing Tigers”
Bill,
Good one I will put it in the hat for the Show Chorus/Glee Club teachers to decide on. Thanks
Great chapter. Glad that Martha is going to be prosecuted like she should be. I just hope they send her back to Mexico and not let her back in this country. Waiting for the concert with George Strait. I believe that all Mexican women think that they are superior to all men.
My school only had a Mixed Choir. That is not a very good name.
Jim,
Thanks about your comments on the chapter. What is going to come to Martha is going to be good and as I have said she might not land up going to Mexico, instead prison time. The concert with George Straight is still several chapters away, but it is going to be good, I promise you. Now the woman from Mexico, well all I will say there is that they think a lot differently than the woman here. I cannot put my finger on it, but they do. I am glad that I like guys where I do not have deal wiht that, LOL! Take care my friend.
A very nice mellow chapter Jacob. Hopefully Martha will finely get hers. Glad to see Patrick and Immanuel getting tighter. As for the new name for the music class, how about, ‘The El Paso High Music Club’.
I will be awaiting the next exciting chapter(s).
As far as you being as good as Edgar (E. Walk), you already are. In my book you were both equals as writers. I consider you as A-1, and so was Ed.
George
George,
Thank you for you nice comments. These kind actually get me writing a lot more and getting things out there for you all to read, to look at and watch wiht each chapter I publish. It was sad hearing about a fellow author, but I have not read any of his stories. I plan to get some free time and head on over and take alook at his massive amount of work he did.
Do not get use to the chapters being mellow becasuase I am just finishing up the next chapter in this saga and something happens in this chapter that will turn everyone’s world upside down. I hope you guys are ready for it becasue I d not want any suyrpise remarks when the chapter is posted next week.
Hi Guys,
Wow it’s good to get such nice comments and i know it makes Jacob feel that he’s not wasting his time.
I too as part of the team enjoy the accolades, especially when you enjoy the sex scenes.
Keep reading please and telling us what you think.
My idea for the show/glee group.
El’s singers.
Hugs Trevor
Talk about a roller coaster of a ride, this story has been great and this chapter was no exception. Skinny dipping is always awesome and more so when you are with your significant other (not to mention the side benefits!).
As usual, Martha was there in the background, we didn’t hear anything from her, but I felt the concern of Daniel Sr. as he made sure that his family and unborn child are kept safe. The scene at the White House where he had Cesar get back in bed with Josh was tremendous and showed the love he had for both his son and his son’s lover.
Six,
As always thank you for your comments on the story. The love scene credit goes to Trevor, he did a awesome job there. Now as far as Martha, yes she is there in the back ground, but in the chapter to come she comes back to toe forefront several times. You all will not believe what she does to her kids in Christmas. So mucg happens in the next chapter, you cannot afford to misds. I know I say that always, but I really mean it each time I say it. And yes what Daniel Sr. did was great. I wish all parents was like the governor.
Another outstanding chapter, Jacob. I really enjoyed the pool scene, been there-done that and it was good to relive it for a few moments. If your past plots are any indication, I think that we’ve not heard the last from the young lady from the Glee Club. She doesn’t seem like she’ll take not being the Solo Singer kindly. Also, I’m glad that the powers-that-be are not letting up on Martha. Thanks for not making this chapter another cliff-hanger. LOL
Another great chapter Jacob. Martha, again? Don’t you have enough troublemakers in this story? Can’t we finally put an end to the witch? The rest of the story line is so good she doesn’t need to be a part of it unless, of course, you just delight in making those portions of the story revolting to readers.