KEITH & DEAN
By Ronald Robbins Edited
by Bill
An annoying,
persistent, sound reverberated through the dark still bedroom, waking Dean
McCall, up from his deep sleep. He fumbled blindly in the darkened bedroom, as
he felt for the telephone. He groggily answered, “Hello”.
“I’m sorry
to wake you Dean,” Keith Lindstrom voice said through the earpiece of the
phone, “but I’m in deep trouble and I need your help.”
Dean shook
his head as he switched on his bedside lamp, “Christ, it’s
“Please,”
Keith pleaded. “You’re the only one I can trust. I’m begging you . . . if you don’t help me; I’m as good as dead.”
“Okay, Okay!
Cool down, dude. Are you on drugs,
because if you are, I’ll beat the shit out of you?”
“You know me
better than that. I'm not tripping out, this is serious, Dean. I wouldn't be
calling you in the middle of the night otherwise?”
“Okay . . .
where are you?”
“I'm home.”
“What the
hell do you need me for? My God, you
have a damn household staff to take care of you. Anyway, where's your watchdog,
Bruno?”
“Look, your
wasting valuable time. Can I count on
you or not?”
“Okay, okay,
I’ll leave as soon as I can throw some rags on.”
“Dean, don't
tell anyone you're where you’re headed, not even your folks.”
“Who the
hell would I tell at two in the morning? Anyway, my folks are out of town?”
“One more
thing buddy, the code has been changed, the new code is 1830. Once you’re through the gate, come around to the
back entrance. I’ll unlock the door and turn off the alarm and the flood
lights. Dean, I hate to ask you this,
but will you use your bike to get here?
I’ll explain why after you get here, please hurry.”
“You don't
want much, do you? It’ll take twenty minutes longer by bike to get to ride over
to your place?”
“It can’t be
helped. Try not to be spotted and keep off the main roads?”
“All right,
I see you in a half hour?”
* *
* * *
The mansion
looked deserted as Dean approached the main gate of the Lindstrom
Plantation. No light was seen through
any of the windows. Dean rode his bike
around to the back and parked it at the rear entrance. The door was unlocked as Keith said. He took the rear service staircase two at a
time up to the second floor. The light
was shining brightly from the open door to Keith’s bedroom suite. Dean noticed
four large plastic leaf bags in the hall outside the door.
Dean walked
into the sitting room and called out to Keith.
“I'm in the bathroom,” Keith answered.
“Holy sweet
Jesus,” Dean exclaimed when he saw Keith. “What in Christ’s name happened to
you?!! You look like you went 15 rounds
with Mike Tyson?” Dean was not prepared for what he saw. Keith was completely naked standing in front
of the sink. His face bruised and swollen.
His back and buttocks were covered with red and blue welts, as if he had
been beaten.
“Thanks for
coming, Dean. We've got to load up my van and get out of here,” Keith said. “I didn't want to get you involve in this,
but I’m too weak to make it on my own. Will you please reach into the bottom of
that medicine cabinet and take out one of the 6-inch Ace bandages. I tried to do it myself, but I can’t bend
over. Your going to have to bind my rib
cage, I think they broke a couple of my ribs?”
Dean found
the bandage and wrapped Keith's ribs.
When Keith turned to face him, Dean saw the ugly burn marks around his
genital area. “Oh my God, Keith, who did this to you? You're in bad shape,
buddy. I’m taking you to the emergency room, pronto?”
“No!! You’ll find a spray can of Dermoplas ointment
and a bottle of Lourcet pain killers,” Keith said. “Good, now give me two tablets right now and
spay the cigarette burns in my groin area.”
Dean did as
he was asked. “God that feels better,” Keith said. “Now grab several pairs of
surgical gloves from the medicine chest and follow me.” Keith winced as he
walked out of the bathroom.
“Keith, don't
you think you should put some clothes on first?”
“Not now, we
don’t have any time to waste. Anyway, my Uncle is the only one in the house and
he's out cold until tomorrow.” They
walked down the hall to his uncle's room.
The heavy draperies were drawn.
Jeb Lindstrom, Keith’s uncle was sprawled out face up on the bed sound
asleep. He was dressed in black leather
boots, pants and a fancy harness with all kinds of chain and buckles. Dean followed Keith into Jeb's dressing
room. The walls were neatly lined with
suits, shirts, slacks and racks of shoes.
Everything was in perfectly order.
Mounted on the wall at opposite end of the room, was a large full-length
mirror.
“Dean, put on
a pair of those rubber gloves and feel for a button to the right of that fifth
shelf right next to the mirror. Dean found the button and depressed it.
With that,
the mirror swung inward revealing a small room.
“The light switch is to the right just inside the door,” Keith
said. One side of the room contained
filing cabinets the other side was lined with all kinds’ leather clothes and
S&M gear. Mounted in the center of
the back wall was a large steel door to the walk in safe. To the right of the door was a computer
console with two IBM computers, a laptop and a desktop. Keith booted up the
computers and copied the files from the desktop to the laptop. “This won’t take
long,” Keith said. “While that’s running, I need to remove the back-up tape
copies and some important papers out of the safe.” Keith opened the safe and found the folders
and the tapes he wanted and handed them to Dean. “Here put these into one of
those plastic bags?”
Keith locked
the safe and checked the computers. “Good, another ten minutes and the files
will be copied.” He had Dean open the
filing cabinets, remove several file folders, and place them into the plastic
bag. Keith returned to the computers and disconnected his laptop from the host
computer. Before turning the main computer, he formatted the hard drive, zapping
the entire hard drive. “Pay back is a bitch, uncle,” Keith said as he turned
off the computer. They left, closing the safe door and the hidden panel and
returned to Keith Suite.
“Dean would
you take all the bags downstairs and set them inside back entrance,” Keith
said. “When you've finished that, come
on back up and help me dress.”
When Dean
returned, he found Keith was standing with his back against the wall with his
eyes shut. “Keith, are you going to make it?
I still think I should take you to see a doctor.”
Keith opened
his eyes with a pained expression on his face. “If you did that, you would be
signing my death warrant. I cannot stay in the State of
“Okay,
Tiger, we’ll do it your way.”
Keith led
out a sigh of relief, “Grab one of the large suitcases in my dressing room and
pack it with some underwear, socks sweat suits and whatever else you think I'll
need. One more thing before you close
the bag, take the three folders from the middle drawer or my desk and pack them
in the bag as well.”
Keith slowly
and painfully walked to the bathroom and took a clean terrycloth robe from the
rack. He filled his shave kit with and
returned to the bedroom. “Would you help
me on with this robe, I can't raise my arms?”
“Jesus,
Keith. I can’t believe your uncle would
allow this to happen to you. Those burns on you testicles and penis are oozing
again; I’ll give them another shot before we go.”
“Thanks
Dean, you’re a lifesaver.”
After he
spayed him once again, he helped him put the robe on and found a pair of slip-on
loafers in the dressing room. What's
next?” he asked.
“My wallet,
it’s on the night stand. We have one more stop to make, then were out of
here. We’ll take the elevator to the
basement.” Keith switched off the light
as he left the suite.
They rode
the elevator to the basement. Dean followed Keith into the gym and back to the
weight lifting room. He opened the door
at the back of the room using the touch pad to the right of the door and walked
in. “Holy Christ,” Dean said. “This is a
damn torture chamber.” The room was
complete with ropes and leather hardness dangling from chains from the
ceiling. There were leather ankle cuffs
bolted into the floor. The same type if
restraints were attached to the wall. Directly in the center of the room was a
tilt table. Hanging on the far wall were
every type and size of torture device made, from whips, dildos, cock and ball
stretchers, tit clamps, electric prods, everything to make a slave’s master happy. Dean noticed the fresh blood in the center
wooden table. The tilt table had harness
straps and special gadgets attached to it.
It looked like something from a Frankenstein movie. “This is where they tortured you, isn’t it?”
Dean asked.
Keith nodded
his head, “we've got to take all the video tapes out of that filing cabinet,”
Keith said.
Dean filled
five bags and carried them out to the elevator.
Keith turned off the lights and closed the door. They rode the elevator to the first
floor. Dean moved everything to the back
door.
Keith pushed
the garage door opener and asked Dean to back his van up to the back door and
load the van including his bike. After
the van was loaded, Keith walked into the garage and returned with a briefcase
in his hand. He set the alarm system and
closed the back door to the house. Dean
helped him into the van. “Where to,” Dean asked?
To the
nearest public telephone, then to the airport” Keith said. When they reached
the main road, Keith said, “This is the plan. When you find a telephone, I want
you to charter an Air Ambulance to fly me to
“Sure, I try
to make it this coming weekend. I’ll take a couple of days off from Wendy’s why
all the secrecy?”
“My uncle is
going to try to find me. He will definitely check out my friends to see if they
know anything. He has no clue where I'm
headed. That’s why I want the van in a safe place until you’re ready to drive
it to
Dean
returned after making the call. “You don't look good at all Keith, I really
worried about you.”
“I'm feeling
much better now that you're with me.
What did the Air Ambulance people have to say?”
Dean said,
“They have a plane standing by and will be ready to take off in thirty
minutes. I told them that you wanted to
be flown to
“Dean, you
don't know how much your help means to me.
I have one last favor to ask.
It’s going to take a while before I’m back to normal and I don’t know
anyone in
“I’ll be
glad to help you out, Keith and I’d do it for free if I didn’t need the money
for college.”
“That's why
I want I want to pay you a salary. I need you more than Wendy's and the pay
will be a hell of better.”
“Hey, now
you’re talking my language, Tiger.”
Dean parked in
front of the aviation terminal.
Keith said,
“Open my briefcase and take out the envelope with your name on it. There is
five thousand dollars in cash in that envelop. That should take care of all
your expenses with some including any airfreight charges. Take the backup tape
I made and forward them to me in
“So do I.”
Dean said. “Let me run into the terminal and check on your aircraft.” He left Keith in the van and walked into the
terminal. He returned a few minutes with the Air Ambulance people and the
bodyguard. After Dean introduced Keith
to Tom Blake, the bodyguard, he said, “Before you move Mr. Limberg, he would
like to have a few words in private with Tom.”
Tom got into the driver’s side and closed the door. Five minutes later, Tom got out. “Mr. Limberg
is ready to be moved,” Tom said. They transferred Keith to a stretcher and
wheeled him into the terminal. Dean
locked the car up and followed them with Keith’s luggage. They wheeled Keith directly to the
plane.
The
bodyguard took the bags, the computer and briefcase from Dean and stowed in a
small baggage compartment. “I'll take
care of everything, Mr. Limberg,” Tom said. They filled out the paperwork and
the pilot took the credit card from Dean and left. A few minutes later the pilot returned, and
said, “Everything is in order, Mr. Limberg; we’ll be taking off momentarily.”
Dean opened
Keith’s briefcase and replaced his card and wallet. He walked over to Keith and
patted his hand. Dean said, “Tom make
sure the hospital locks up Mr. Limburg’s bags when you arrive. I'm sure Emory has a secure place to take
care of that.”
Keith said, “Thanks for
everything, Dean, you’re a life saver.
I’ll see you in
“Mister
McColl, sorry to have kept you waiting, I'm Doctor Peterson, Keith's doctor, we
spoke earlier this week. Let's sit in
the doctor’s lounge and talk.”
They found a
quite corner and sat. “Keith has listed you as his next of kin,” Dr. Peterson
said. “How are you related to Keith?”
“We are
close friends, I'm not a blood relative,” Dean said.
“Keith is
still in the intensive care unit and will be for another few days. He had to have emergency kidney surgery two
days ago. This is his third major
operation in six days. We feel we have stabilized his condition. We had to report this case to the Dekalb
County Police Department. The Police filed an incident report to cover the
hospital and the County. We're required
by law to report all cases like this. Of
course, there's nothing the police can do about this since the incident took
place outside their jurisdiction. However, the report will be on file with the
County if Keith decides to press charge.
All Keith told us was he was beaten up and he knows who his attackers
were.”
“Keith has hired the Law firm of Hancock,
“Doctor, please
fill me in on Keith's condition,” Dean asked.
“He is still
listed in critical condition. Keith is
lucky to be alive. It was not for the
skills of the doctor on the Air Ambulance he would not have made it. Keith was bleeding internally when he arrived
here. He had a punctured lung, a broken
jaw, two badly bruised and inflamed kidneys and a bladder infection. He has an inflamed scrotum, swollen
testicles, and multi cigar burns in his groin area. His rectum was such a mess it took the specialist
two hours to sew him up. His entire
body, including the soles of his feet were injured caused from the severe
beating he received. The beating was a deliberate act of a sadist who inflicted
the beatings over a period of several hours.”
“According
to my colleagues, this is not the first time Keith had been abused Mr.
McColl. They found scar tissue on his
wrists and ankles. He looked like the
POW I treated in
“Can I see
him?” Dean asked.
“Of course,
you can sit with him as long as you want.
The staff may chase you out from time to time, but I see no reason why
you can't stay with him. It's somewhat
difficult for him to speak, so don't encourage him to talk. He needs a familiar
face around him about now. Don't be alarmed
by all the tubes and monitoring equipment that is attached to him. Since your
are his next of kin, you have a lot to say about what happens to him, more so
then his attorney at this point, don’t let Mr. Graceland push you around.”
“Don't worry,
doctor, Keith is my best friend and if I have anything to say about it, no one
is going to hurt him, ever again. This shouldn't have happened to a nice guy
like Keith. I can only tell that he had
a tough life ever since his parents were wiped out in an automobile accident
five years ago. One question, where are
his personal effects?”
“There
locked up in a vault in our security office.”
“Good.”
“I'm glad
you asked,” The doctor said, “Keith asked me to give you this envelope when you
arrived. However, before I hand you this envelope to you, I’d would like to see
your identification, Mr. McColl?”
Dean pulled
out his wallet and showed the doctor his driver’s license and his GA Tech
identification card.
“Good, now
let me take you in to see Keith.” He handed Dean the envelope as they left the
doctors lounge.
The doctor
painted a darker picture that necessary, Dean thought. Keith looked a hell, but a lot better than he
did the last time he saw him. The doctor
left him alone with Keith. Dean sat in
the chair next to the bed. He reached
over and took Keith’s hand.
Dean thought
to himself, I can’t believe a guy as nice as Keith could be treated so
shamefully. Even bandaged as he was Keith was still a handsome young man. I
have always envied him because he had it all; good looks, intelligence, an
outgoing personality. Keith was not tall; about five-ten, with blond curly hair
and green eyes. He face was perfect, with his fine chiseled features. He had a trim body, broad shouldered with a
narrow waist. Keith could have been
tennis pro, if his uncle didn’t stop him. He was also a medal-winning
swimmer. That was the odd thing; he
never noticed any marks on Keith's body before.
Not like the ones the doctor described. But, then again this past summer
they didn’t swim that much. Last week was the first time he had seen Keith
naked for some time and he was surprised to see that he had no hair on his
body.
Keith opened
his eyes and tried to smile.
“Hi tiger,”
Dean said. “Don't try to talk just
listen. The doc said you had a rough
time, but the worse is over. Sorry it
took me so long to get here, but that butt head of an uncle of yours was
keeping an eye on me. You were right
about him. He came to see me the day you
left. I’m glad I stuck around the
airport after you left. I took the stuff over to the airborne fright. They
packed up everything and shipped it to the address you gave me. I didn’t bother keeping that rental car
either. I rode my bike back home and slept until it was time to go to
work. Your Uncle Jeb showed up at
Wendy’s before closing that night. We
talked about everything but you. I asked him to tell you that I was working the
weekend and couldn’t make it to your pool party.”
“I went
through our cover story about Tech with the folks and Wendy's. I loaded that
pile of junk I call a car and drove it to the airport unloaded my stuff in your
van. Then I drove my car to the junk yard.
They gave me a hundred bucks for the car and a free ride back to the airport,
end of story. The doctor gave me this
envelope before, should I open it?”
Keith nodded
his head, yes. Dean let go of his hand
an open the envelope. It contained two
sets of keys. One set for Suite-22 at
Colony Square Condos with a parking garage card for
Dean,
Rent two safety deposit boxes at two different banks.
Stow all the papers I took from my uncle’s safe. You can drop off my suitcases
off at our apartment. Remove the hard
drive from my laptop and lock it in the small apartment safe. Move all your stuff into the apartment and
make yourself at home, because that's where we will be living until we find
another place. Sorry, it’s a one bedroom
suite, but that is all they had available.
Keith.
Dean stuck
the envelope in his pocket and took Keith’s hand again. “That's fine with me, Tiger,” Dean said. “I'm going to stick to you like glue and I
kill anyone that lay's a hand on you again.
I'll take care of everything this morning and be back after lunch.”
Keith smiled
and squeezed Dean's hand, He whispered, “Thanks.” He closed his eyes and
drifted off to sleep.
Dean
finished his errands and returned to in the hospital by
Keith opened
his eyes and smiled. “Feeling any better
handsome?” I asked.
“Much
better,” Keith wrote on his note pad.
“I took care
of everything you mentioned in your note,” Dean said. “I've moved my stuff into the apartment, it's
a great place. It must be costing you a bundle.”
“I’m glad,”
Keith wrote. “It's the best I could do over the Internet. Doc said I could go home in a week?”
Dean read
the note, “Great, then I can start looking for a job,” Dean said.
Keith smiled
and shook his head, no.
“Don’t worry,
Keith I won’t start looking until after I take you home. You get some sleep and
I’ll be back tomorrow to visit you in the morning. We can discuss our future plans when you can
talk again.”
*******************
“The doctor
said I can go home tomorrow,” Keith said.
“That’s
great,” Dean said. “I’m glad you don’t have to keep writing those notes
anymore?
“So am I,”
Keith said, the doctor said my speech would improve a little every day. It still hurts to move my jaw, but the speech
therapist said I be back to normal in no time, if I stick with the program.”
“Mind if I
borrow your newspaper?” Dean said, it’s time to eyeball the want ads.”
“I have a
proposition to make you, Dean. The doctor has told me that it will be at least
two months before I can do things on my own. Even then, I won’t be able to do
the marketing, or the ordinary everyday things that must be taken care of. For
sure, I can’t take a shower unless someone is around to assist me in and out of
the tub or shower. If you’re willing, I
would like to hire you to take care of me until I’m able to take care of
myself. I'll pay you three hundred
dollars a week, including your room and board. Promise me you will give it some
serious thought before giving me your answer?”
“What’s to
think about, I'll take the job under one condition? If you allow me contribute
my fare share of monthly expenses.”
“It's a
deal,” Keith said, “One more thing, it you feel uncomfortable helping me bathe,
I’ll hire a nursing service to take care of that. I also plan to hire a
cleaning service to come in once a week to clean the apartment.”
“It doesn’t
bother me one bit to take care of you. I’ve had plenty of practice taking care
of my younger sister and brother. Furthermore, we don’t need a cleaning service
either. Save your money. I can take care of that too. That’s nothing new to
me. I did the same thing at home every
week. I’ll bet I can do a better job than any cleaning service you’d hire. It’s not a big apartment and it will give me
something to do around the place. Don’t worry, Tiger; I’ll take good care of
you.”
“Thanks
Dean, you’re a good friend.”
“By the way,
your lawyer called me last night. He wants me to drop by and tell him my side
of the story. What do you want me to tell him?” Dean asked.
“Tell him
the truth?”
“Keith, I
don’t know the truth. I only know what I saw that night. Maybe some day you
tell me what happened that night?”
“I realize I
owe you an explanation, and you shall have it one day, but let me do it in my
own time.”
“Did I
mention that the apartment did not come equipped with linens?” Dean said. “I went through every closet and cupboard in
that apartment looking for bedding, and guess what, Nada? Luckily, mom had packed some towels and
sheets for me. The other day I stopped
by the mall and bought a half a dozen sets of matched bed linens, mattress
pads, pillows, and bath towels. I don't think it's healthy to use another person’s
pillows. Since you’ll be spending a lot of time in bed, I bought you six queen
size pillows.”
“I don’t
understand, they said the place was fully equipped,” Keith said. “I thought that would include linens.”
“I've keep
an expense report and the receipt for the five thousand dollars you gave me. I
have $3,200 left. Do you want me to
deposit it in your bank account?”
“No, you
hold on to it for now. Take $1,200
dollars and open up a checking account in your own name. The $1,200 will be your first month’s
salary.”
“What about
my share of the rent?”
“Don’t worry
about that now. We can work that out later.
You'll need to establish credit before you can apply for a credit
card. Now that you are working for the King
Corporation, you will have an income. In a few months you can apply for a
credit card. My accounting department
will handle your payroll deductions and your expense account. Next week we’ll
take care of all the paperwork.”
“What, or
who is the King Corporation?”
“That is a
private corporation that I own that takes care of my business and personal
expenses. It’s like any other corporation.
I have my own administration staff, my legal eagles, financial
consultants, tax experts, actually the whole nine yards. The attorneys that administer my trust set it
up for me, when my parents died. It was
for my own protection. The corporation is the watch dog over from my
investments and my estate.”
“Look Dean,
I’m asking you to be patient with me until I'm mentally and physically able to
cope. My main concern right now it to
regain my health. Right now, I feel exhausted and drained. It’s an effort to stay awake. I’m putting
myself in your hands from now. If you do this for me, I promise you will never
regret your decision. Be my friend, or brother, I trust your judgment. Do what
ever you think is necessary around the apartment. Don’t worry about the cost.”
“The pantry
is empty at the apartment. Why don't you stock up on the essentials and
anything else you think we will need?
Buy a case of German Moselle and an Imported Merlot wines. You might order a case of Jack Daniels and a
couple of bottles of Christian Brother’s brandy. We may as well enjoy life while we can.”
“I'll take
care of everything, Tiger.”
“Good, I
promise I'll tell you everything,” Keith said. “Maybe after you hear my story
you won’t want to stick around?”
“I doubt
that, unless you committed murder, or are into drugs? Tell me you’re not mixed up in anything like
that?”
“Of course
not,” Keith said.
“Then you
have nothing to worry about. You know I
don’t think much of your uncle. You and I have been friends since you moved
into
“You never
mentioned that before,” Keith said. “Who
didn't you like?”
Dean said,
“Norman Thornton, Ken Grant and Chuck Olson for openers. I could never
understand what you saw in them. You’re nothing like them. Those three are
arrogant, conceited, and down right mean people. You don't know how many times they tried to
break-up our friendship.
“You’re
kidding,” Keith said. “How long ago was
this?”
“In our
freshman year at St. Anthony's Academy,” Dean said. “The three of them cornered
me one day on my way home from soccer practice. They warned me to stay away
from you and proceeded to beat the crap out of me to make their point. That was my first serious warning. Their second warning put me in the hospital
for over a week with two broke ribs. My
folks were afraid that things would get worse if I didn’t drop you as a friend.
Dad went to the Sheriff’s office to make a complaint. The Sheriff told Dad to
go ahead and press charges against all three guys, but it wasn’t going to do
any good. It would be my word against
theirs. The Sheriff did question them. The claimed that I got my injuries
during practice plays after the school hours.”
“After that,
Mr. Thornton and Mr. Grant invited dad out to lunch and told him is a very nice
way that their sons may have become too caught up in the game. They apologized
for their son’s behavior. They had talk
to their sons and assured my father that it wouldn’t happen again and hopped my
dad and I would forget the incident and not make a case out of this. They said they liked to continue working with
my dad and hoped that any student rivalry would not jeopardize that
relationship. In other works, play ball
or you won’t get anyone more of our business.
Naturally, they knew my father depended on their business.”
“So that the
reason you stopped coming around and gave me the cold shoulder in school?”
Keith asked.
“Right on,
Tiger.”
“I never
understood why you dropped me like that. I could not for the life of me, figure
out what went wrong. You really hurt my
feelings. Funny thing was when I brought
this up to them they claimed they were as mystified as I was about your attitude.
Then after what seemed like an eternity, you became friendly once again as if
nothing happened. I could never quite
understand why you refused to visit the
“What
changed your mind? After all you went
through why did you bother with me again?”
“Because, I
finally took care of your friends. Look Keith I valued your friendship, and
consider you as my best friend. Yet, at the time I hand no choice. It was
either you friendship, or my families well-being I had to weigh in the
balance. I could not allow our
friendship to stand in the way of my father making a living. Your friends don't fight fair, Keith. If it
was between them and me, I would have won in the battle. I could take care of
each of them in a fair fight.”
“But why
didn't you come and tell me, Dean. We
could have worked it out together?”
“You are
wrong, Keith. It would only have gotten
worse. Those guys are spoiled rotten and
are used to having things go their way. Their sadists really, they enjoyed
beating me up, and furthermore, they liked having that control over us. I’m
sure they relished the idea of cutting me out of your life. They’re cowards
really. They can dish it out when
they're together, but they’re bunch wimps when the tables are turned. It took me a while, but with the help of a
few of my good friends, I got even. We
followed them for months until I knew their routine. I caught each of them alone and gave them a
dose of their own medicine. They aren’t
stupid. They got the message all right, but, they couldn’t prove it was me and
they weren’t about to start talking.”
Keith
smiled, “I sure wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of your hands in a
dark alley. You could snap me in two without
any effort at all. You’re one big dude,
Dean. I’m curious, how tall are you anyway?”
“Six-four
and 195-pounds of solid muscle,” Dean said smiling.
“That's what
I figured,” Keith said. “One thing I
never understood is why you never went out for football?”
“Don’t think
I didn’t want to, however, the risk of a serious injury was too great. My dad
went to college on a football scholarship and to this day is still is in pain
for the injuries he sustained playing ball.
If he doesn't take his medication he can’t function. My dad is 43 years old and he has had both
hips and both knees replaced. You think
I want to be like that when I reach his age.
That's why I went out for soccer and participated in the Decathlon.
“I've always
wanted to try out for the decathlon like you did,” Keith said. “But, my uncle wouldn't allow me.”
Dean saw
that Keith was beginning to tire. He
couldn't keep his eyes open. “Look,
Tiger I think you've had enough talking for one day. I'm going to run along
now. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Keith
smiled, “yeah, I'm a little sleepy all of a sudden. Thanks for staying so long.”
Dean patted
his hand and left.
TWO
Dean pulled
into the underground parking garage of the
He
returned with Keith's overnight bag and they took the elevator up to the 22nd
floor. “This is a nice apartment,” Keith
said. “The windows face south, that's
great; I've always liked a Southern exposure.”
“It's really
a super apartment,” Dean said. “It's
very quite. The manager told me that the
walls and floors between apartments are concrete. The only time I've heard any noise at all is
when the fire trucks pass by, even then the sirens are hardly noticeable.”
Keith looked
around and sat very gingerly in one of the club chairs. “This is a lot softer than those hospital
chairs,” Keith remarked.
“It's almost
lunchtime,” Dean said. “Is there
anything in particular you would like to eat for lunch?”
“Anything
you fix for yourself is fine with me,” Keith said, “I'm not a fussy eater.” He
turned on the TV and watched the local news.
Dean set up
a snack tray in front of Keith and in front of the chair facing Keith. He was back a few minutes later with a two
large trays. He set one on each snack
tray. He had prepared a chicken soup, a
club sandwich, chips and ice tea for each of them.
“This looks
delicious, I'm starved,” Keith said. “I
was too excited to eat much for breakfast this morning. I was anxious to get home.”
Dean took
the trays back to the kitchen and cleaned up.
He returned to the living room.
“Would you like to change into a lounging robe and lay down for a
while?” Dean asked.
“Yes, I
would,” Keith said. He struggled to
stand up from the low chair. Dean helped
him into the bedroom. He made Keith sit
on a chair while he undressed him. He
shook his head when he was completely naked.
“You had the most beautiful body before this, what a crying shame. I can't believe anyone would want to hurt you
this much. When will they remove the
rest of the stitches?” Dean asked.
“They won't,
they are dissolving stitches. A nurse
will be by in a couple of days to change the bandage and check on my
condition,” Keith said. “I'm not allowed
to get the bandages wet. I hope you
don't mind giving me a sponge baths every other day?”
“I don't
mind at all,” Dean said. “One thing for
sure, I'm going to call the beauty salon in the hotel to come up and give a
decent hair cut and a pedicure. I'll
shave you tomorrow and give you a bath.”
Keith
smiled, “Look, Dean I don't expect you to shave me. We can have the barber come in every morning
to take care of that.”
“What, and
pay a barber to shave that peach fuzz of your, better still, I'll buy a pussy
cat and put a little sweet cream on your face ever morning had have her lick it
off. I'm going to earn the salary you’re
paying me. Anyway, I'd do it for you
even if you didn't pay me. I don't
consider it a chore to take care of you.
As I told you before, if I didn't need the money, I do it for nothing.”
“You're
alright, Dean. I feel more comfortable
having you around than any nurse. The
plastic surgeon warned me to be very careful around those incisions. I feel so helpless and down right embarrassed
to have you do these things for me. I
don't think I'll ever get over the disgusted look on you face the when you
found me three weeks ago.”
“If that's
what you thought, you were wrong. Jesus,
Keith, I was horrified seeing you like that.
I wasn't prepared for that kind of a shock. I was afraid you weren't going to make it,
hell at that point I didn't know what to think.
All I wanted to do is get you out of there. I'll tell you something, for a runt, you sure
got a big pair of balls. I couldn't
believe the way you took the time to gather all stuff while your uncle's sound
asleep in the bedroom. Anyone else would
have passed out from the pain alone. I admire you for that. But, I don't think you're too swift in taking
the chances you did. You were dammed
lucky that I was home that night.
Promise me that you take me into your confidence the next time.”
“There will
never be a next time,” Keith said.
“We'll talk about that some other time.
I'm not ready to discuss it with you yet.”
“I'm as
curious as hell about this whole mess,” Dean said. “I don't need to know, okay. Just concentrate on getting your health back,
screw everything else.”
Keith
smiled, “thanks for not pressing me.”
After he
helped Keith into bed and gave him his medication, he lay on his side of the
king-size bed and read his book.
*********************
They settled
into a regular routine. The nurse came by
to check on Keith until the stitches were removed. After that, he could take
regular baths. Keith continued with the
same regiment of limited exercise and lots of rest. As the weeks passed, they explored the city
of
As a treat,
Dean took him to the Halfway House restaurant, one of the new upscale restaurants
in Buckhead. It was expensive but well worth the cost. After they returned to the apartment, Dean
brought out the gifts he had hidden away. Other than two small bottles of
cologne, Dean gave him a half-dozed pairs of sexy briefs he ordered from International
Male. “I'm tired of seeing you in those
goofy boxer shorts you've been wearing.
Now that your scars have healed I thought you would enjoy these,” Dean
said.
“This has
been a wonderful birthday,” Keith said. “I never expected anything like this,
thanks.”
“While your
going through you mail, I'm going to change,” Dean said, “be back in a few
minutes.”
Keith was
all smiles when Dean returned; he held up a letter and waved it in the
air. “I've been accepted by Georgia Tech.”
Dean
chuckled as he read the letter, “congratulations Tiger. This is great, now that
we're taking the same classes, we'll be able to help each other. This call’s for a nightcap, what will you
have birthday-boy?”
“Pour me a
brandy, please,” Keith said. “I'm going
to change while you fix the drinks.
Dean
returned with the decanter of brandy and two brandy snifters, he set the tray
on the heavy glass coffee table in the living room and loaded up the CD player
with his favorite warm jazz CD’s. He sat
down on his favorite club chair and poured the brandy.
Keith
returned and made for the sofa. He had changed to his lounging robe. He opened it and said, “I thought I'd model
one of your gifts,” Keith said, “I like them.”
Dean smiled, “you fill them out
perfectly. Next time you take a shower,
I’ll give you a shave.”
Keith
laughed as he tied his robe and moved the pillows on the sofa, “I think I might
take you up on that offer.” He stretched out on the sofa. “Ah, this is glorious. He raised his glass, to Dean the best friend
in the world. “You’re a great roommate,
I've never been happier. I hope the next
four years will be as good as these last two months.”
Dean
chuckled, “piece of cake. You're easy to
get along with.”
“You'll
always be my friend no matter what?” Keith asked. “RIGHT?”
“No matter
what,” Dean answered.
“Now that
I'm twenty-one I can tell you what has been going on at Lindstrom Manor and what
led up to that incident in my uncle’s home the night you found me.”
“After my
family was killed in that an automobile accident, the court appointed uncle Jeb
my legal guarding until I reached my twenty-first birthday. That rather bulky envelope that arrived today
was from the law firm that handles my estate.
They officially notified me that my uncle is no longer my guardian and
he is relieved of all legal authority over me.
I'm now in complete control of my inheritance and my estate. Up to this point, my uncle received two
checks every month from my estate, one for my expenses and the other was his
fee for being my guardian. Bruno, in
reality was my employee as his salary came out of my trust fund. Of course, my uncle uses him more as my
jailer. Poor Bruno knew nothing about this until four months ago.
“I was
twelve when I moved in with Uncle Jeb.
He was my father’s younger brother and between them, they owned the
Lindstrom Plantation. My uncle was the
logical choice as my guardian since my mom parents were too old to take care of
me. The Lindstrom Plantation Trust is
the parent corporation that controls all the divisions that comprise Lindstrom
Industries. Neither my Dad nor uncle Jeb wanted to run the corporation, so they
turned the management over to a business-consulting firm that ran the
business.
“Uncle Jeb
and I jointly own all the stock in the Lindstrom Plantation. Since I am the only surviving member of my
family, I inherited my Dad’s interest in the company. In addition to the Lindstrom holdings, I
inherited my dad’s private financial holdings as well, which I might add are
considerable. This does not include the seventy five million insurance
settlements I received from the accident?
“The first
few years I lived with Uncle Jeb, things went smoothly. He traveled eighty percent of the time. I was in boarding school during that
period. When I was of high school age, I
move back home. Uncle Jeb hired a full staff to run place and hired Bruno to
look after me. As long I stuck by his
rules I was fine. Of course, as you know
I was a computer buff, which was my salvation during the long boring years as a
teenager. I loved my family dearly and their deaths were difficult for me to
accept. Living on the plantation was
nice but I wasn’t happy. I was lonely
and isolated from everyone. My computer and my psychologist help my make it
through that period.
“Besides
being a mover and shaker in politics, my Uncle Jeb was always a social animal
and likes to entertain at the
“Naturally,
I was expected to attend these parties as well.
It was at one of those parties, that I was introduced to other teenagers
that were of my same social background.
My uncle insisted that I socialize with young people of my own class and
discouraged me from bothering with people like you. Unfortunately, my uncle considers you, and
most teenagers like you, below our social status. It was at one of those gatherings I met
Norman Thornton and Ken Grant. I had
seen them in school, but our paths never crossed since they were two years
older that me. It was not long after
that they transferred to Chote. Actually, Chuck Olson was the one that
introduced us. You must remember Chuck, he was our age and in several of our
classes? Chuck was a nice guy and was
acceptable, according to my uncle's standards.
He turned out to be a friend and the only one of the group I
trusted. By the way, Chuck was the only
one that stood up for you against Norm and Ken ugly remarks. He helped me
convince my uncle that you were not only a jock, but also one of the top
scholars in our school. That was the only reason my uncle relented and allowed
me to associate with you.
“I'm glad you never dropped me after everything that happened. Norm and Ken were extremely jealous of you, mainly because you were everything they weren't. You were a jock, intelligent and a hunk. Besides which, you were a decent, likable and outgoing, and not afraid of them. You had no idea how much I treasured your friendship. You were the only person I felt that I could depend on in an emergency. All I can say is thank God for computers and modems. I know I would have gone crazy if we didn't continue communicating over the Internet. The computer was my only escape from the dark and ugly world that I was slowly being drawn