Chapter 20

Day 4 (11) –Richard and Duke

Back at the room, Barbie decided to sleep with her brother, and Tammie declared she wanted to curl up with Duke. The families swapped, and split for each room's bed. Duke spooned against his cousin while the MDFST took the other side of the bed.

He heard the two whispering, then Suki got up, and went out on the balcony where Richard was sitting naked. He had a glass of water in hand, pitcher on the table. He stared out over the ocean.

A minute later, Suki returned to bed. Alone. Duke heard a hissed command. Fuki started for the patio door.

"Hold up." He spoke. "Let me talk to him."

Sighing, he sat up. Fuki looked to her mother, who was studying Duke. After a moment, she nodded, waved for her daughter to return to bed.

Nude, Duke padded outside. If his father could lounge around in the buff, so could he. He grabbed a glass, poured himself a drink too.

He stood at the railing for a bit, enjoying the cool ocean breeze. When his father didn't speak, he knew it was up to him to break the ice. Suki's instructions from when she pulled him aside earlier came back to him.

"If you enjoy the changes you've experienced." She'd said. "It will be up to you to convince your father to embrace them as well. He will be conflicted, uneasy with our activities. I can't explain how, but you're the only one like him we've ever seen. Help him to see the good side of all this. If you help me with this, I promise you'll be rewarded."

The look in her eyes had convinced him she was telling him the truth. A small part of him was concerned, any organization with the kind of abilities these people displayed deserved a healthy dose of fear. The rest of him said, "fuck it!" This was fun; he was in better physical shape than he ever hoped to be. The problem was, if his father had anything remotely close to as clear a head as Duke did, he wouldn't see it that way. He'd get all high and mighty, start sermonizing if Duke let him. He let the silence linger, debated how to open.

"You don't have to stay out here with me, you know." Richard's voice startled him. He nodded towards the bed. "There are three women in that bed. That's got to be more fun than hanging out here with your boring old dad."

Duke sighed, relieved. At least he wasn't going to be ignored. His father could do that sometimes, treat him like a kid, even if he wasn't anymore. He could drive, had a car (POS that it was), did what chores his father demanded. Even worked, keeping up the church grounds. Why couldn't Richard see that?

"No biggie. Tammie's asleep. The Yu girls are waiting for you, not me though."

Richard snorted. "Your cousin. What's with that? Suddenly, she's hanging all over you? Where'd that come from?"

"Ah, well, we might've sorta lost our virginities together the other day. She seems to like me dominating her, now." He laughed. "Called me 'Master' earlier, today."

"Hmph. You took your cousin's virginity? Don't you think that's wrong?" Richard frowned.

Oh crap, this isn't going well at all. How do I turn this around? He's going to lecture me now.

"Well, she sorta begged me to do it and well, ah, I couldn't resist." He ventured.

"Oh, so it's her fault. I see. You're blameless then, since she wanted it. Not like you had any choice." Richard snapped.

Duke faced his father. "Get off your high horse, dad. What were you doing out here all afternoon? Admiring the view? How old is that girl? She's my age! I could say the same thing to you!"

Richard nodded, not upset. "Agreed. I'm not blameless at all. It is my responsibility. Do you not realize how oddly everyone here behaves?"

"Yeah dad, I do. I asked Tammie tonight. Last week, her fantasy about me was romantic, idealized. Candles. Prom or a date or whatever. A whole night of being together, culminating in me making her a woman. Not at all like what happened between us yesterday. She's crushed on me for some time now, it seems. I had no idea. Ha! Too busy chasing girls in my own grade. Never had any luck at all. It really sucked being me."

He held up a hand.

"I'm not whining. I have a good home, decent parents, even if you guys think I'm still ten. Terry's my best friend. We look out for each other. Without him, I'd probably get beat up weekly. The guys on the team were not happy when they found out I was so well hung."

"Hung? What do you mean?"

"Oh, ah, you didn't notice before? How big I was? Before they changed us, I mean."

"Big? You mean your height? I know you inherited it from me. That's a problem for you? I thought it helped you catch."

Duke turned away. Looked back out at the ocean.

"No dad. Hung, like in the TV show? As in, large ... penis. Mine was way bigger than average, even before we got here."

"Oh. Um. I did not. When did this happen?"

"When I hit my last growth spurt, in junior high. It got really long. By then Terry was keen to go out for football, so I joined with him. I hoped cheerleaders would be open to dating, but they didn't want nothing to do with me. All the guys on the team talked trash about me, so the girls wouldn't find out how big I am. They were afraid I would steal their girlfriends. They threatened to beat me up if I ever even asked out a girl who was dating a teammate. I had to go for other girls. But I think word got around, so even they wouldn't talk to me."

Richard nodded. His work with the church's youth group was perhaps the most frustrating. Schools were cesspools of negative reinforcement.

"I know it's been tough for you. It seemed you were doing well. You have a job, a car, play sports, keep up decent grades. I know we demand much from you, but your mother and I couldn't be happier with you as a young man."

"Be nice if you showed it sometimes."

"What would you have me do, Duke? I permit you to drive wherever you want, ask little about where you are during the day. I respect your privacy. We do not snoop in your room. Is this not what you want?"