asked Brian without looking at Harry.

“No.”


The clock by Harry’s bed showed 3.45am. Brian appeared deep in sleep as Harry got out of bed to go to the bathroom. Brian’s eyes half opened as Harry turned back to look at him. They both smiled.

“Do you want to fuck me?“

“Let me think about it,” murmured Brian.

He was tired. A 12 hour bus trip from Eastern Tennessee, freezing weather, a bit of hunger and being fucked three times by Harry had made him snuggle up the blankets like a baby.

Harry flushed the toilet and returned to the bedroom.

“I’ve packed Vaseline into my ass. If you want to screw me, just help yourself.”

Harry got back into bed and turned on his side, with his back to Brian. Their feet intertwined.

Brian lay on his side facing Harry’s back. He liked sleeping with someone else. In the Navy he would have a bunk of his own. He’d probably have sex with other sailors- this was pretty common, he’d heard, especially when the ship was at sea- but he doubted he would be able to spend the night sleeping body to body with another man.

At home he finally got his brother Tom’s bed on the back porch, when Tom went off to work for the Tennessee Valley Authority, in June 1939. This was a big deal for the family as they were total supporters of FDR and all his plans for America, and for folks like the Smith family of Cooke County Tennessee.

In July, Brian’s twin brother Anthony, and also sleeping on the porch, got into bed with Brian. The family knew about it and nobody said anything. Anthony was simple, with the mind of a five year old, but the body of an eighteen year old. He could never leave home and had not been to school. He stopped crying in the night when he started sleeping with Brian.

After thinking about the matter, Brian decided that screwing Anthony would be wrong, but all things considered, masturbating him was an easy way to keep him calm. By September masturbation had progressed to letting Anthony fuck him. Brian didn’t mind. Anthony liked it and it seemed to have a very beneficial effect on him.

By October, money had started coming home from Tom. Anthony was put to work chopping wood all day and stacking it for the winter.

Anthony’s accidental death by drowning in early December broke everyone’s heart. Brian wrote to the Navy and after doing a medical exam was told to report to the San Diego Naval Base. They gave him a Greyhound Bus pass.

Brian had been inside Harry for about five minutes, before he spoke.

“Have you ever had sex with someone you love?”

“‘Someone I love or someone who loves me?”

“Both.”

“I’m in love with everyone I sleep with, almost. But they are not in love with me.”

“That’s sad,” said Brian

“Very. But I can live with it.”

Brian steadily pushed his cock forward. It got that extra bit harder, as it always did as climax approached.

“You’re a nice guy, Mr. Harry Whoever.”

“Harry Anthony is my name, pilgrim. Glad to meet you.”

Brian came with a sudden intensity and buried his face in Harry’s back. Slowly