Seth’s Perspective
It had been a crazy couple of weeks, but then again, crazy had become the norm for us with all the shit that went on in our world. If the hurricane threat wasn’t enough, Karen brought Johnny Black into our universe and turned it upside down. Zach caught Karen sneaking around with Johnny Black when he and Freddy dropped her off work after the storm passed, that freaked Freddy out. Zach and I had a “come to Jesus” with Karen and basically told her to choose between him and her kids, she claimed to be choosing the kids, but then that S.O.B. shows up at Zach’s office to threaten him… that was it for us; we were officially off team Karen. We spent a night at my in-laws because we didn’t feel safe in our own home, Zach got a restraining order on Johnny the next day, but he was still MIA so we were on high alert.
Meanwhile, it was Family Day at Soccer Camp; Freddy was so excited! He wanted Karen there so badly, but there was no way in hell!! I feared letting her know our whereabouts in general now… I wasn’t convinced that she didn’t put Johnny up to threating Zach, however, Zach believed her and the kids loved her so it was complicated. We put off talking to the kids about the situation; it was clear what we needed to say, ‘Momma was bad again, and you can’t see her.’ The problem with that? Our six year old took the world on his shoulders. He’d lose sleep worrying about her and would somehow take on her problems. If we mentioned Johnny Black, then Freddy would worry about him coming after his family. For most of his life he had to take care of his family, Zach and I had vowed that we would take that role on for him so he could just be a damn kid.
Okay… sorry for being the downer, on a happy note, Freddy kicked ass on Family Day at Soccer Camp! It was his team against Teddy’s, Freddy’s team won, but Teddy’s team put up a good fight, our two boys were clearly the MVP’s. At the end of the dat, all the kids had a great time and were great sports. While Freddy was tearing up the soccer field, Izzy found a new calling as a cheerleader. Screw Barbie, screw princesses, screw babies… Izzy had a new obsession, cheerleading! OMG, every single sentence started with ‘Weddy? Okay!’ Her hands seemed to find their way onto her hips regularly, and she randomly broke out into dance and a cheer for pretty much everything. Like one morning, she came down to the kitchen for breakfast, put her hands on her hips and yelled “Weddy? Okay! Gimme Z, gimme 4, gimme Q, gimme dubbo you, what it spew? Bwekfest!! YAY!”” Then Ali cheered along with her, and Freddy rolled his eyes and told her that Z4QW does not spell breakfast (however Zach noted we should have her assign all our passwords for added security, lol). So, cheer had become a thing around our house now. At first, we all cheered with her, but after a week or so of it, Ali was the only one left on her cheerleading squad. Well… Ali and Kelly… she loved it! Mrs. Mavis had been sick for a couple of days so, Kelly and Nathan volunteered to watch the kids While we were at work, and Freddy was at Soccer Camp. They went on field trips, did arts and crafts, made dinner for us, and of course, Kelly taught Izzy (and Ali by association) a couple of cheers. I thought Izzy was gonna die when Kelly showed up one morning with a cheerleading outfit and rainbow colored pom poms. She. Went. INSANE! She got Ali little matching shorts and a jersey too. That night when Zach and I got home, we were greeted with a rousing cheer of “U-G-L-Y you aint got no alibi… you ugly yeah, yeah… you ugly!” Izzy got every syllable right, Ali did his damnedest to keep up, and Nathan and Freddy both died laughing. The kids were loving their time with Grandma and Grandpa, they had our kids during the day, then went to help Riley and Eli at night. They were surrounded by their grandchildren and loving life! They were both so ready to move to Wilmington permanently.
Anyway, in other news, River had inherited some land from an uncle. Zach was representing him, the estate lawyers sent him the will and a personal letter from the uncle. The uncle was considered “two spirit” which in its simplest definition meant he was “fulfilling a third gender,” in this case it basically meant he was gay. In the letter, his uncle wrote that he knew River (his namesake) was two spirit as well and so he saw him as a kindred spirit. Some tribes honor the two-spirited, others reject them… their tribe rejected the notion. Uncle River had left the family after his father’s death (one of the few people who accepted him) to escape Shadow Wolf (his brother, River’s dad who obviously did not), without his father as a buffer he didn’t feel safe around Shadow Wolf. Their father had split his acreage equally between his sons. Shadow Wolf tried to take all the land by intimidation, then he went to the courts and tried to take it legally… he failed both times. However, his brother sold him some of the land, and the brothers came to a lease agreement on the rest. Uncle River owned one hundred acres located in the middle of Shadow Wolf’s almost seven hundred acre production farm, he leased it for $150 per acre, about half the going rate. The land had a decent market value, but was extremely valuable to Shadow Wolf who couldn’t work around it, not to mention his need for the outbuildings on the property. It was a win/win for both parties. Shadow Wolf worked the land and his brother received a regular income of about $15,000 a month gross from the lease agreement. In the letter, Uncle River stipulated that this arrangement stay in place, unless River wanted to work the land on his own (something River had zero desire to do). River was not allowed to sell the land as long as Shadow Wolf owned and operated the production farm. It was a damn nice inheritance that would set the two formerly homeless boys up for a good life.
There was other property in the estate that was still being sorted out, but the fate of the land was spelled out clearly. Zach was in the process of settling the legal matter of the land and could transfer it to River without him having to go home and face his father, however, his father made it clear that he was not happy with the outcome… “tough shit” was Zach’s legal response. River now about to have a lucrative, steady income from the inherited land. The money opened new doors for River. He continued to work at the candle company while her explored his options and searched for opportunities. Meanwhile, Che was in the Police Academy and had solid, future goals… their future was bright.
Then there was Sams who was back in Wilmington for his mother’s trial. His grandmother invited our family over for dinner; He and his father wanted to meet with Zach just to talk through expectations, they were nervous about court. Although Zach had nothing to do with the criminal trial, he was representing the two guys for any civil issues that might come up (they were still all over the news as April Willis/Marnie Morris continued to spark sensational headlines.
Sams’ Perspective
I was back in Wilmington with my entire family. I was excited to see everyone, but scared shitless about my mother’s trial… me and Dad were the star witnesses and didn’t know what to expect. Zach told us that he DA had piled on so many charges that she had no chance in hell of walking free. Everything from bigamy (she never divorced my father before marrying Gary), to arson, to kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment, and a million things in between. On our last call, he said, “April Willis/Marnie Morris has seen her last day of freedom.” I wanted to believe him, I was scared shitless of her and Gary… if she was ever free again, there was no doubt in my mind she’d come after me and Dad; she saw us as the reasons for her failure of a life.
My entire family accompanied us to Wilmington and we stayed with my Grandma, she did her best to make this a happy occasion. She even invited Zach and Seth’s family, and my friends River and Che to dinner to welcome us home. Oh, and when I say “my entire family” I mean Dad, my stepmom (Caroline), my half-sisters Charlie and Rosie, aaaaaaaaand… Marcus. My ‘boyfriend’ it was still weird to think of myself as having a boyfriend. I met Marcus about a week after I moved in with my dad. I work for my dad’s construction company fulltime, but I work at my step uncle’s coffee house parttime, so does Marcus. Looks-wise he reminded me of Che, but personality-wise they were polar opposites. Che was more of a thug with a heart-of-gold type (the heart of gold trait was one the two men shared). Marcus, on the other hand was eloquent and well educated. He lived at home, worked at the coffee house, and was a Pharmacy student at a small university. He came from an amazing family who accepted him fully, and treated me like one of their own. The best thing about Marcus was that he brought out the best in me. He motivated me to be my best self. I had been working out and put on a little muscle, I wasn’t Scrawny little Franky Morris from the swamp anymore. Honestly, I think the best way to describe my life now was… well… normal. I was Sams Willis, and I liked Sams Willis!
I remember the first time I saw Marcus. My uncle introduced us and I just stared at him, I mean I couldn’t form words, all I could do was take him in, “Hey, you okay, man?” He asked with a big, warm smile, and a little chuckle. All I could do was smile and nod. Damn, he was cute with his twisted hair, dark skin, light brown eyes, and of course that smile… I already told you about that. Right? Anyway, I was lovestruck. After I worked there for about a week, he asked me out (and got a “hell yes” as his answer). He took me to this soul food place all the locals flocked to. It was cafeteria style and there was a line outside like a block long. You had to know what you were doing to order… we walked through the line and Marcus ordered for me so I didn’t look like a complete idiot. He took the food to our table while I poured the Sweet Tea. The food was so amazing, but the company was even better… goddammit, he was funny, smart, and cute as fuck. I wanted this guy, but I was naïve and totally inexperienced; Marcus was kind and understanding.
We went out on a few dates and took it slow, then one night he surprised me. “Listen, I like you, but I know you’ve been through some shit and I don’t want to add to it” he said as we sat in my car, in front of his house after our date. (Oh… oh yeah, totally off the subject, my dad gave me the down payment for a brand new Jeep Wrangler and cosigned the loan so I’d have a reliable vehicle for work). Marcus continued, “um, my parents went to Pigeon Forge for the weekend and I got the place to myself… I was hoping you’d stay tonight.” I figured this was coming, and I was so, so, so ready for it.
“Yes!” I shouted in excitement, Marcus laughed while I regained my composure. “I mean that sounds nice.” I parked my Jeep in the driveway and followed him into the house. He made some popcorn, got us a couple of sodas, then we kicked off our shoes and watched… well something… I could not have cared less what was on TV. I was only interested in what was on the couch… beside me. Things started out innocent enough; his hand on my knee, my knee bumping up against his, him shifting a little bit so that there was no space between us, my arm around his neck… etc. Then he kissed me tenderly. His soft, full lips touching mine. We wrapped our arms around each other and soon were kissing passionately. He made the first move, resting his hand on my knee, then moving it up until there was zero denying that he was groping my crotch. My eyes opened, then my hand reciprocated. We were engaged in a full-on make out session complete with groping on the couch in his parents living room. Things were moving fast.
We were both lost in our lust when Marcus stopped and asked, “do you want to go further?” He was a sweet, caring guy.
I nodded and whispered, just inches from his lips, “Yeah. I really want this.”
“You sure?”
“Yup. I want this.”
He stood up, grabbed my hand, and pulled me off the couch. I followed him upstairs to his room, it was clean, and meticulous with a black and white striped comforter… kind of boyish, kind of manly. Kind of like him. I felt comfortable. We stood next to the bed and made out, taking each other’s clothes off as we did. Our kisses were passionate and our hands were desperate as they unbuttoned, tugged, and stripped. We got each other down to our underwear before I took a step back and looked. “day-um” I growled.
“Back atcha’, Boo.” Marcus said back with a whisper in his voice and a playful sneer on his face. This was gonna be fun. We both inhaled, and with our eyes locked, we hooked our thumbs under our waistbands then pulled our underwear down and kicked them off. We were still looking each other in the eyes when Marcus said with a smirk, “We both look on the count of three, okay?”
With a giant, anticipatory smile on my face, I nodded my head yes, then we counted together, “One. Two. Three.” Then we looked down at each other’s cocks, I let out an audible gasp as I looked at his darksome manhood and discovered that he was like Che in yet another way, if you know what I mean. If you don’t know what I mean, I’ll spell it out… B.B.C! OMG, I wouldn’t say Che was small in comparison, but Marcus was definitely bigger, and his veins were so defined. It was beautiful! The rest of his body was lean and toned, I couldn’t wait to dive in.
Marcus smiled, “you like it?”
“Hell yeah” I said without thought or hesitation, then asked, “you like mine?”
He chuckled in response and exhaled a guttural “damn, you’re long” as he dropped to his knees. I was still kinda scrawny and self-conscious back then, I’ve built up some muscle since. He looked up at me as he took me in his mouth, it was clear he thought I was fine the way I was. It felt so damn good. I couldn’t look away from his eyes, they were hypnotic, their light color and dark flecks sparkled through the darkness. Add that to the contrast of his dark hand on my white tool, and the sensations that his tongue was sending through my body, and I was gone. He pulled off me and told me to sit on the bad; I did. I would’ve done anything to, or for him. My legs were hanging off the side and he was kneeling between them as he continued sucking. I eventually lay back with my hands behind my head, looked at the ceiling, and just enjoyed the most amazing experience of my young life. His lips and tongue licked and sucked my cock, balls, and then my taint. He pushed my legs back and moved his tongue down my ass crack and into my pink pucker. I moved my hands to his head and pulled his tongue deeper inside me.
He broke free of my grip and asked, “You like that?”
“Hell yeah” I moaned. He snickered before he hopped up on the bed. We moved around until I was flat on my back with him on top of me in a sixty nine. He plunged his huge cock into my mouth and down my throat… yup, he was definitely bigger than Che. His cockhead was purple and the size of a plum, it barely fit in my mouth and almost fucking choked me to death when it hit my throat. I choked and sputtered around it but didn’t give up. If he choked me to death… fine, I’d die happy as hell. I grabbed his balls and pulled them to add another sensation to the pleasure my mouth was giving him. He grunted in ecstasy around my long cock as he continued to work it with his hand and mouth, I could’ve cum right then and there; Marcus sensed it and backed off.
He flipped around, put his face inches from mine, and pushed his plum-sized cockhead against my tight, tight, hole. “Can I?” He whispered.
“Be gentle” I pleaded. I wanted him, but I knew damn well that the road to pleasure would be paved with some pain. He pulled a bottle of lube out of his nightstand, squirted some in his hand then went to work slickening up his pole and my hole. The cool gel felt amazing on my burning hole.
“Push out” he whispered as he pushed in, there was a sharp pain when his giant head stretched my sphincter open… wide open. I bit my lip to get through the pain, as Marcus pumped his way in and out of me the pain subsided and morphed into euphoric pleasure.
I was so happy that his family wasn’t around as I screamed, “Please fuck me harder, holy fuck, you can fuck my anytime you want, as hard as you want, never fucking stop fucking me you hot motherfucker” I was babbling on in a lustful incoherence as he fucked me. Nothing ever felt that incredible. He jerked me off as he fucked in and out of me, “I’m close” I whispered as my nails dug into the flesh of his brown back. Marcus picked up the pace of his stroking and his fucking.
“Yeah, boy, let’s cum together” Marcus said in a whispered grunt, I felt his breath on my lips, and his eyes looked through me. That was it… I fucking exploded with a huge grunt as I pulled his lips against mine and shoved my tongue down his throat, I was pulling him tight as if I was trying to get his tongue as deep inside of me as I could. With a final thrust and an inhuman grunt, he shot his white gold deep inside me. We kept kissing, and he stayed inside me until he went soft.
We lie there for a minute catching our breath, then I texted my dad, ‘staying at a friend’s tonight. See you in the morning’and I spent the night. That was the first time Marcus and I made love. It had been several months since then and he was still at my side.
He had insisted on coming with me to Wilmington, honestly, I didn’t want him, Caroline, or my sisters there. Things were going to come up, painful things about my childhood or lack thereof, and I hated the idea of reliving it, especially in in front of the people who I loved. They knew me, Sams Willis, not Frankie Morris, and frankly I didn’t want them to know him… I had grown to hate him. He was a stupid coward who was afraid of his own mother and let himself be a victim; I was fine leaving his ass behind. My Dad and I had both been going to therapy… together and separately. I was doing my best to accept my past, but I wasn’t ready to just lay it out in front of the people I loved. Anyway, as much as I didn’t want Marcus to come along, he came anyway. “I’m not letting you face this alone” he whispered to me one night when we were alone “I love you too much.” We were only together a few months, but the ‘I love you’s’ flowed freely between us, they felt natural. Maybe we were forever, maybe we were just for now, all I knew is that he was good for me. Damn good.
My grandma had invited everyone over for dinner the night we got back to town to welcome us. Dad and I got to meet with Zach before our court appearance, my sisters got to meet Zach and Seth’s kids, Marcus got to meet River and Che (who I had told him all about… yes all), and my family got to meet the people who brought me back to them. It was a great night, I felt like the most important, and most loved person on earth… It was a far cry from the loneliness, and uselessness I had felt for thirteen years.
The next day was my mother’s first day in court… the day I had dreaded. I sat in the gallery with Dad, Zach, Marcus, and my grandmother; they both insisted on being there whether I liked it or not. Caroline took my sisters to the beach with Aunt Trudy (or Uncle Rudy as she was officially being called again). The first day was spent spelling the case out for the jurors and entering things into evidence. My “mother” sat there, shaking her head in disagreement as the prosecution told the real story of my life. It was an awful story and it hell sitting there reliving it… but it was the truth. Next, my mother sat there nodding as the defense told her version of the story… a complete and utter work of fiction. I had Dad on one side with his arm around me, and Marcus on the other with his hand on my knee as I held my emotions in. There were so many times where I wanted to stand up and yell “BULL SHIT! IT’S ALL BULLSHIT! SHE’S A FUCKING MONSTER!” but I stayed the course and just listened to the fairytale of April Willis/Marnie Morris. Meanwhile, my mother sat there in her “perfect wife costume” playing the victim as the Prosecuting Attorney painted her as an abused spouse, desperate to get the child she loved away from a dangerous man. What a crock of shit. She was a mean vindictive bitch who hated the good man who married her and used her son as a weapon to hurt him.
On the second day, the prosecution called their witnesses to the stand, I sat in the gallery with the same people, plus one… my stepbrother Parker. We had been in touch a lot since all the shit hit the fan, he was there to support me, and as an additional witness if the prosecution needed him. Gary was the first witness called, he was facing his own set of charges in both North Carolina and Florida. Zach told me he cut a plea bargain for his charges in North Carolina in exchange for his testimony. Fear ran through me when he walked in the room and stepped up to the witness stand. I fucking hated him, Parker and I looked at each other, just his presence made me feel better. They asked Gary several very pointed, very specific questions and he answered. Oh my god, his voice, his fucking voice! Every syllable out of his mouth made my flesh crawl and writhe in utter disgust. I loathed him. But I’ll say this much for the scumbag, he threw my mother under the bus pretty damn quick. He spoke about how he loved me like his own son, and even gave me his pickup when I turned 16 (all lies of course, I drove his truck maybe three times in my entire life), he claimed that he had no knowledge of me being kidnapped, and never knew my first name had been changed, etc. He was convincing as hell, I was starting to question everything I had lived through, wondering if I remembered things correctly; I doubted myself.
Parker was sitting on the other side of Marcus, he leaned over my boyfriend and said, “he’s lying like a mother fucker.” I can’t express what that meant to me. Parker wasn’t there all the time, he didn’t see it all, but he saw enough… he knew the truth. Dad took the stand after Gary, talk about a contrast. He told the story of our family before my mother’s “alleged crimes” (Alleged” my ass… she did everything they were accusing her of and more. I was there, I saw it all!
Dad stepped down from the witness stand, then I heard it loud and clear: “The prosecution calls Samuel Willis Jr. to the stand.” Zach nodded at me, I got up and walked toward the witness stand passing my mother along the way, I stopped dead in my tracks as my blood ran cold. My dad walked past me, patted me on the shoulder, “Just tell your story. She can’t hurt you anymore.” I still wasn’t sure of that.
To be continued…
