A Trial of Strength

A TRIAL OF STRENGTH - PART 416 By Rob Williams

CHAPTER 416 – "TOUGH LOVE & ROUGH SEX"

IN THIS CHAPTER:

The young blond jock, the cop's boy Jamie, distracts his buddy Larry from his drug problems with a rough-sex version of tough love. The arrogant young mechanic kneels shirtless on the garage floor, body streaked with oil and grease, in degrading defeat. Turned on by the scene the cop Mark submits to similar treatment from his boy. But finally Uncle Mike shows his boy Larry that the only drug that really counts is love.

************ In the previous chapter *************

Jamie and Larry were good-looking young men in their early twenties. Jamie was the boy of the macho cop Mark and lived in the tribe's Los Angeles compound. Larry was the boy of Mike, known to the tribe as Uncle Mike, the middle-aged, still handsome bar owner in Palm Springs.

The two young jocks had a history that went back a long way and they loved each other like brothers – well, maybe a bit more than brothers if you count their occasional sexual couplings.

But Larry had hit a rough patch. He had become dependent on crystal meth, which threatened his relationship with Mike and the loss of his motorcycle repair business. It took an ugly turn when Mark brought Jamie out to the desert to visit their old friends. Larry had taken Jamie out to a small remote house in the desert where they had fought about drug use. Larry had injured Jamie and abandoned him tied up in the basement.

He had been rescued by Mark who threatened to arrest Larry. But Jamie pleaded with Mark to let him try to help his buddy with his problem. Jamie asked Larry to take him to the industrial area where his motorcycle repair business was housed in an old garage. After weeks of neglect it was a mess – oil, grease and debris everywhere – and they set about cleaning it up.

They ended up looking like two greasy mechanics, shirtless in black jeans and boots, one a muscular blond, the other well-built and dark-haired. This was not the first time they had been here like this. When Larry started the business they had cleaned up the trash in the old garage,

Now Jamie said, "And you remember how that ended up – you holding me down on the workbench and fucking my ass? Man, you were rough. I swore I'd turn the tables and get my own back on you, but I never did – not so far anyway," he grinned suggestively.

Larry shifted uncomfortably and said. "I gotta level with you, dude. That shit I been snorting ... it has a weird effect on a guy. Makes me feel great, real sexy, and I can watch porn for six, eight hours beating my meat. But it's all in the mind, not in my dick. Can't get a hard-on and it's tough to cum, but it don't matter `cos I feel so damn high just stroking my limp dick and watching porn."

He paused and took a swig of beer. "Downside is that it spoils you for any other kind of sex. You can't get your rocks off any other way. It's why I haven't had sex with Mike for weeks.

"Sure, part of me would love to have you take your revenge – that old fantasy of two sweaty, greasy mechanics fucking. I been looking at you working, buddy, and you are more fucking gorgeous than ever. But I can't fuck with you, not like we did before, `cos regular sex is not the same anymore and I couldn't get it up anyway. Nobody wants to fuck a guy with a limp dick."

"I do." Jamie said. "Larry, watching you working hard out there, all sweaty and smothered in oil, got me real stoked. I looked at that workbench and imagined you ... Ah, never mind."

Larry saw the disappointment on his friend's face and said, "All you wanna do is fuck me, dude? Like payback for that first time here? Jamie, I love you, dude. You've been a real friend though all this crap so ... well, if a limp dick wouldn't put you off ... I guess I could give it a try."

Jamie laughed. "Hell, not the most enthusiastic come-on line I've ever heard but, what the fuck, let's `give it a try' as you say. But we gotta do it right."

By `doing it right' Jamie meant doing it rough. In a few minutes Jamie was staring down at the handsome, dark-haired mechanic lying on his back on the workbench, his bare chest and face streaked with grease. His arms were stretched up to the corners of the bench, wrists roped to the bench and his jeans had been pulled down around his feet. Larry tugged at his bound wrists. "Not sure about the ropes, dude. Feel kinda scared."

"You should be scared, man. I got a score to settle and you're gonna get what you deserve."

Again Larry struggled. "No, dude, you're scaring me. I'm not into this. I told you sex is different for me now. Maybe if I could do a couple of lines ..."

"Not his time, dude. No drugs this time. Just my big hungry dick in your ass." It was what the tribe called a Randy fuck, the kind the tough gypsy boss gave. Jamie leaned down, pressed his hands on the mechanic's oily pecs and gazed into his eyes while his rod pistoned in his ass.

Jamie may have looked out of control but he knew exactly what he was doing. Larry needed to be shocked out of his dependency on drugs for sex. He needed another craving to take its place, the kind all the tribe's men had, the hunger for a macho stud to fuck and get fucked by.

Larry was groaning now, the pain decreasing as he gazed at Jamie and drifted into a sexual euphoria. But this time the euphoria was not drug induced. He was not watching a screen and stroking a limp dick. He was staring up at a handsome young jock, his buddy, feeling his rod pile-driving his ass ... and his own dick stirring back to life.

Jamie's eyes were staring down at him with an intensity that mesmerized Larry, pulling him back from that malevolent world he had drifted into and lost his mind and his soul. Larry moaned, "I love you Jamie. Fuck me, do it hard ... I need it, man. Yeah, that's it ... you're making me hard, bro. Untie me, let me touch my cock."

"No, Larry. No more jerking off. If you really love me you'll cum for me like this. What's it gonna take? Pain? You really wanna feel it?" Jamie's eyes flashed and he fucked harder than ever before, pounding Larry's ass like a jackhammer until the climax came.

Larry's eyes opened wide, his body convulsed and he pulled frantically at his bound wrists as he felt Jamie's juice pouring in his ass. He howled as his own cock exploded with jets of semen that splashed down on him and mixed with the oil and sweat on his heaving chest.

When it was over and Larry was on his feet his eyes gleamed. "Jamie, that was incredible – I didn't think it was possible. Dude, I need more, a lot more."

"What? What do you mean, buddy?"

"It's hard to explain, Jamie, but ... see, doing the drugs I did was a whole new feeling, different from anything else, a kind of ecstasy. I know that it's terrible for a person but I needed that high and thought I could never match it with anything else. But I just did, Jamie. We just did. It was, I dunno ... the sex, the bondage, the pain, your dick in my ass, the love in your eyes, all of that. And you took it to the extreme. It's better than drugs, even more intense.

"Only difference is that the drug high can be got from a couple of lines of powder. What we just did takes a lot more – and I want more, Jamie. I want to feel, really feel. I want to shrug off all that other crap. It's meaningless, but what we did means something. I loved it, I need it. I want to prove to you and myself I can kick the other shit. I want to make amends to you, I want to be punished for what I did – punished and loved all at the same time, like just now.

"Most of all I want to be able to love again, Jamie. I want to love Mike the way he deserves to be loved. Because I know now that love is the best drug in the world. Look, I know we can't do it like this often, and I wouldn't want it. But right now, just this once to get me over the hump, I need to feel it physically, I need it rough, need it to hurt. Can you do that for me, Jamie? Right here and now. You're the only guy in the world I could ask for that. Can you, dude?"

Jamie smiled at Larry's gleaming face. "Sure I can, dude. And this is just the place, just as we are – two sweaty, greasy mechanics one pulling the other back from the edge of the cliff and teaching him a lesson he won't forget." Jamie's voice got harsh. "OK, over here, boy, under those chains hanging from that beam."

The macho dark-haired young mechanic stood there shirtless, grimy with sweat and grease, beltless black jeans hugging his slim waist. Slowly he raised his arms to the chains.

********************* CHAPTER 416 ***********************

Jamie stood back and gazed at the pornographic sight in the middle of the garage. The dark-haired mechanic was stripped down to black, beltless jeans and boots, his face and bare chest streaked with oil, his wrists tied to chains hanging from the ceiling.

The chains were attached to a winch used to hoist a motorbike for easy eye-level work. Jamie now turned the winch and watched the mechanic's arms rise up slowly until they were stretched upward, his feet still on the ground.

Jamie went to the back office, got another beer from the mini-fridge and took up position in an old metal chair facing Larry from about fifteen feet away. Lit only by weak fluorescents in the ceiling the room was hot and humid with an oppressive, sinister feel.

Sprawled in the chair Jamie locked eyes with his captive across the room in total silence except for a dripping tap in the corner and the sound of Larry's heavy breathing. Jamie took occasional slugs of beer, his eyes fixed on his helpless prisoner as if deciding what to do with him, what punishment to deliver.

As Larry gazed at the muscular young jock, stripped to the waist, his tousled blond hair falling over his square-cut grease-stained features Larry felt an anticipation running through him like an electric current. It was not unlike the excitement he felt whenever he chopped crystal with a razor blade and ritualistically scraped it into prefect lines. He experienced now, as then, the tingling anticipation of the rush he would soon be feeling.

That was Jamie's plan – to replace one euphoria (uncontrolled and harmful) with another – a sexual euphoria that, in skilled hands, would do no harm. He stood up and, ignoring the bound Larry, looked around the garage where shelves held tools and spare parts. Jamie selected a small flat length of wood, a paddle that Larry used as a paint stirrer. Next he found a length of thin rope and two plastic spring clothespins used for clipping wet rags to a line.

He put the clothespins in his pocket, approached Larry, draped the thin rope round his neck and looked into his eyes. "Man, you look so fucking hot like that. But I can't have a buddy who's messed up on drugs, so I gotta show you there's another way. Starting like this."

Jamie curled his hand round the back of Larry's head and pulled his face forward into a grinding kiss. The natural passion of the two men was intensified by the sultry heat of the gloomy garage and the tense situation of one young mechanic about to suffer at the hands of another.

When they pulled apart Larry moaned, "I love you, man. Help me. Punish me. I need to feel it."

Jamie traced the wooden paddle over Larry's bare chest and abs, then slapped his body with short, rapid blows of the flat side, making Larry wince and jerk at the chains as he felt the stinging blows. It was not so much the pain that excited him as the wild sensation of being helplessly bound, at the mercy of another young man just like him.

Jamie growled, "You said you wanna feel it, buddy. OK, try this." Jamie pulled the two plastic pins from his pocket and Larry gasped as Jamie clamped them on his nipples, then slapped them from side to side with the paddle, jerking the pins hard in a prolonged bout of tit torture. Larry howled and his head thrashed from side to side, his dark hair flying across his face.

When Jamie felt the man had suffered enough he stepped back and said, "Let's see if it's having any effect."

He ripped open Larry's jeans and let them drop round his feet, exposing his semi-hard dick. "Well, we're getting there," Jamie grinned. "This should help." He dropped to his knees, took Larry's cock in his mouth and sucked it hard and repeatedly, feeling it stiffen in his mouth. "Fuck," Larry groaned. "Fuck, man ... that feels so damn good."

Finally Jamie pulled his mouth off his dick and stared at the now-erect penis. He grabbed his balls and slapped them lightly with the paddle. Larry's groans got louder and when Jamie began to hit the cock from side to side with the paddle the groans became screams.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Jamie said. "First a little cock and ball torture – now for the tits." He stood up. "Brace yourself stud. This is gonna hurt." He swiped the paddle at one of the clothespins, wrenching if off the nipple and Larry's head jerked back with a howl. Then the same with the other tit and another yell as the pin ripped off and flew across the room.

"Shit, fuck, man," Larry yelled, "that fucking hurt."

"Yeah but you're dick's as hard as a rock. This is gonna hurt too." Larry flexed his abs as Jamie gut-punched him with both fists. Then he pulled the thin rope from around Larry's neck, raised his arm and brought it down across his back, then repeatedly across his pecs and abs. Larry's naked body writhed as he tugged frantically against the chains, pulling back in a hopeless attempt to avoid the worst of the pain.

Jamie, like the other boys in the tribe, had been well trained by Randy and Zack in scenes like this, taught to hurt a man only enough to bring him to the limit of his pain threshold and then back off. So as Larry felt the rope lash his body the pain became tolerable and, watching the shirtless muscle-jock raising his arm again and again he yelled, "Yeah, do it stud. I can take it ... I need to feel it. Fuck yeah, I fucking love it, man. Such a fucking high. Do it!"

Jamie was turned on by the sight of the stripes in the oil and grease on Larry's chest and the image of the naked mechanic in chains, pants round his boots, his stretched muscles flinching under the lash. "You wanted to feel it, man, to feel the sting, the head-rush of getting whipped by your buddy. Look at that fucking dick oozing pre-cum. Now you're gonna know how good it feels to beg another man, buddy."

Jamie raised his arm and curled the rope round Larry's bare ass. "Aaagh ... no! Stop. Man."

"I said you're gonna beg, big guy. Let me hear it." Jamie whipped his ass again and saw the white mounds bounce under the lash as Larry howled. "OK, OK, please stop, man, I can't take anymore. Please, man, I'm begging you. No more ..."

Jamie threw down the rope and ran his hands over the sensitive flesh of the striped chest, causing Larry to yell as his fingers brushed over the raw nipples. "That's better, dude. Now you feel the euphoria of pain and domination, no chemicals needed, just the love of a hot buddy. You gonna do whatever I tell you, stud?"

"Yes, sir," Larry groaned, reveling in the sensation of being totally dominated by another man, chained up completely at his mercy. He had been dominated by the drugs that controlled him but this was way more of a rush, a whole new world.

Jamie wound the winch down, lowering the chains and Larry instinctively sank to his knees, his arms still stretched up tight. Jamie stood before of him, unbuttoned his jeans and pulled out his iron hard dick. "You see that? You see that rod with pre-cum dripping from the end. I'm gonna give you a choice, man – more flogging or you suck my dick. What's it to be?"

"I'll suck your dick, sir."

"Hmm, nah. You look so good under the lash. You need more."

"No, sir, please, have mercy. Let me suck your dick. I'm begging you sir."

Ah the ecstasy of total humiliation. The young macho mechanic always considered himself the hot stud around town. He often worked in the leather bar, showing off behind the bar under the red lights, serving drinks shirtless under the admiring gaze of the leathermen who fantasized about getting fucked by him. And when he worked alone here in the garage he sometimes caught sight of himself in the old mirror in the back office. He admired himself and flexed his muscles, even pulling out his cock and jerking off to his own mirror image.

And now here was the arrogant bar-tender, the stud mechanic, naked on his knees, arms stretched up in chains at the mercy of the young blond jock. His body striped with oil and grease he had suffered bondage and domination, the paddle, the whip, cock-and-ball torment, and tit-torture. And now, broken and degraded, he was begging for mercy, begging to suck his captor's cock pointing straight at his face. It was total humiliation – total exhilaration.

"OK, man," Jamie said, "you look so damn hot, such a sexy mother-fucker that I wanna cum down your throat. I wanna watch that handsome face eating dick, so I'll have mercy on you. You suck my dick real good and no more whipping. Open up, boy."

Larry's jaw sagged open and Jamie drove his shaft down his throat. Larry gagged and choked and Jamie pulled out. "Hey, man, if you can't take dick we better go back to the whip."

"No, no, please, sir," the mechanic said desperately. "No more whipping. Fuck my face, sir. I wanna eat dick. I can take it."

Jamie stared down at the rugged face, at the spit oozing from the open mouth and down his chin, tears mixing with oil streaks as they ran down his cheeks. The degrading picture of the once-arrogant mechanic now humbled was a huge turn on for Jamie. "Damn, that is so fucking hot – I gotta shoot a load down your throat, boy."

He pushed his dick in again, gentler this time, partly because he didn't want to hurt Larry and partly because the mere sight of the chained mechanic had brought him to the edge of orgasm. He grabbed Larry's tangled dark hair and pulled his face forward onto his cock. He watched his own cock driving in and out of the handsome face and knew he had to cum. As his cock pistoned harder and harder in his captive's mouth Jamie groaned, "Fuck, that's hot ... I'm gonna cum ... damn, I'm gonna cum ... yeah, drink it, boy ... aaagh!"

Larry gulped hard as the pounding cock exploded in his mouth, pouring hot jizz deep down his throat. Then Jamie pulled out and blasted the last of his juice over the dark, macho face.

Jamie stared in awe at the pornographic image of the beaten young mechanic kneeling on the floor, his tortured body slumped in exhaustion hanging from the chains binding his wrists. His dark hair hung down over his handsome face that was smothered in oil, sweat and semen, tears streaking his cheeks, cum flowing from his sagging jaw and dripping on his heaving chest that was marked with stripes of the whip.

"You gotta see this, dude," Jamie murmured. He went to the back office and took the mirror off the wall. He dragged a chair over next to his and leaned the mirror against it facing Larry who raised his head and groaned, "Damn, that's fucking hot, man. I gotta cum, buddy. I gotta cum."

Jamie went to him and freed one of his wrists. Then he turned the winch raising the chain a few feet so Larry was hanging from one arm, knees bent, feet dragging on the floor. He stared at himself in the mirror, a picture of a once-proud muscular young mechanic, now broken and humiliated hanging in chains. It was one of the most homoerotic images he had ever seen.

Jamie sat in his chair next to the mirror and said, "Beats all that porn you watched hour after hour stoned out of your mind with a limp dick in your hand. Look at yourself, man, and the guy who broke you – an alpha male beaten and tortured into total submission, begging for mercy. You'll have no trouble busting a load this time, dude.

"But I first I gotta hear you apologize for what you did, strung out, attacking me and leaving me tied up. And while you're at it apologize for bad-mouthing Mark, a cop who was just doing his duty. But most of all I wanna hear remorse for Mike, the man who loves you and whose love you rewarded by putting him through hell.

"Look at that broken man in the mirror, dude, and watch the final degradation. You've been dominated, strung up in chains, beaten, face-fucked and made to beg. The ultimate humiliation now is to blow your wad as a sign of remorse for being such a complete asshole."

Larry wrapped his free hand round his stiff dick and stroked it slowly. Hangin from one arm he stared first at the victorious blond jock, then at the rugged young mechanic sobbing in defeat, tears streaming down his face. "I've been a total asshole – hurt the guys I love most. Forgive me, buddy, please. I love you Jamie." He pounded his cock and blasted a stream of semen that splashed down at the feet of the man who had broken him – an act of abject submission.

For a moment Jamie watched mesmerized as his old pal Larry hung limply from the chain, sobbing, his tortured body smothered in sweat, grease and semen, his tormented mind starting to clear in the catharsis of pain, remorse ... and exhilarating sex.

Then Jamie sprang into action. He quickly released Larry and helped him over to a chair. He sat opposite him, knees touching, and held his hands. "You OK, Larry?"

Larry raised his head ... and grinned. "Fuck, dude, when you do it you really do it. That was an unbelievable experience. So fucking sexy, so much better than getting high on meth and jacking off to porn."

Jamie nodded. "Like I said, buddy, exchanging one high for another. Of course, sex can be addictive too but the difference is there are other guys involved and there are always checks and balances, especially in the tribe where Randy is real strict on controlling things so no one ever gets hurt. He watches out for everyone and protects them – especially the boys.

"And in his own way Mike is like that, though his approach is more low-key, less `caveman' than Randy. Randy would have done what I just did to you – only it would have been a lot tougher. Mike is tough too but when it comes to someone he loves he hesitates, not sure what to do."

Larry gripped Jamie's hand. "Dude, I gotta go to him. Right now. Damn I've been a total dick with that guy. I love him, Jamie, and I hope he loves me enough to forgive me."

"So let's go find out," Jamie smiled. "You fit to drive?"

"Fit for anything, dude, thanks to you."

At the house Mike and Mark were sitting in the kitchen anxiously awaiting news of the boys. Mike had been buoyed by the quick call from Larry that things were going great and that they would be home later than expected. That was before Larry was stretched in chains, unable to make a phone call or much of anything else, at the mercy of his buddy Jamie.

When they heard Larry's truck screech to a halt in the gravel outside they tensed, having no idea what to expect. Whatever they might have imagined it could not have lived up to the sight that met their eyes when Larry burst through the door, his eyes gleaming with an excitement Mike had not seen for a long time, a far cry from the unnatural gleam of dilated pupils.

And his face and body! Still shirtless his chest was smothered in what looked like a mix of grease, sweat and semen, and marked by the obvious stripes of a whip. His face was just as filthy with dried cum on his forehead, cheeks and chin. Jamie followed close behind looking much the same, minus the whip stripes and semen.

"Jesus Christ," Mark said, "What have you two been up to – no, I don't think I want to hear."

Mike stood up and Larry threw his arms round him in a tight hug. It was the first time in weeks Mike had felt warmth and affection like this from Larry and he held on tight. When Larry finally pulled away he grinned, "Sorry sir, I've made you as messy as I am. But don't worry, sir, I'm not high ... at least not in the way you think. I guess I'm high on love and sex and ... high on life.

"See, Jamie and I talked about drugs and I explained the euphoria I got from drugs, how it was different from anything else and I needed the meth to feel it. But he told me there were other ways to get high without shoving stuff up my nose – he said we had to replace one euphoria with another. And dammit he was right. Here's what happened."

Mark made a sign to Jamie that they should leave Mike and Larry together but Larry insisted. "No, please stay, sir. I want Jamie to be here – without him none of this would have happened."

So they sat round the kitchen table and they let Larry talk ... and talk. He described everything in excited detail from start to finish, blow by blow, holding back none of the vivid scenes of one young alpha male dominating another – first butt-fucking him tied to his work bench, then chaining him up, whipping and paddling him and climaxing with the searing memory of the beaten mechanic slumped in chains staring at himself in the mirror.

"It was such a high, sir, I got everything I deserved and I loved every fucking minute of it. The feeling of being tied up at the mercy of another man, a gorgeous man like Jamie here, was such a trip, different from anything else and much better than a pathetic jerking off on meth."

Finally he stopped, his chest heaving with excitement and Mike grinned at him. "So what you're saying kiddo is all I have to do is chain you up every night, whip you, torture you and leave you begging for more. Well, that should be a piece of cake."

Larry laughed. "No, sir, that's not what I need at all. That's the kind of scene those leather guys in your bar fantasize about. But it only worked because I love Jamie and I realized that love, all kinds of love, is the best drug of all."

"And what kind of love do you want from me, kiddo?" Mike asked gently.

Larry reached forward and stroked Mike's face. "The kind of love you've always given me sir, before I lost my way with all that shit I was sniffing and treated you so badly. I want to make it up to you sir, to make love like we always used to, then fall asleep in your arms. And when I want another fix of that wild, bondage and domination stuff ...

"Hell, you don't have far to look, kid," Mark laughed. "You've got a whole tribe of men who get off on that stuff all the time. Just ask Randy, especially after a rough day on the construction site, or drop into the leather household of Zack, Darius, Miguel and Finn. They'll be pleased to work you over real good and send you flying to the moon, screaming all the way."

"Or," Jamie said, "you could get a repeat performance from me, dude ... any time. When you feel the urge just insult me real good and ... we're off to the races."

When the laughter died down Larry frowned, "Sir, I know I'm not out of the woods yet. I'll still get those bad urges for the drug, but now when I feel it I'll come for help to you, or Jamie or ... even Mark, now I know he's not gonna clap the cuffs on me and arrest me." He grinned roguishly. "Although, after today, getting cuffed and arrested by a gorgeous stud cop like you, sir, may not be such a bad idea."

Mike smiled at him with his old, wise smile. "Larry, I'm real happy to hear you talk like this – open and sharing everything with me and these guys. There are things I'm gonna suggest like you going to CMA meetings – you know, Crystal Meth Anonymous 12-step programs. I have a list of the Desert Cities meetings ..."

"And I'll be happy to go with you, dude." Jamie added.

"Thanks Jamie," Mike said. "But right now, Larry, I'd like to take you over to our favorite spot in the far corner of the garden and ... like, get to know you again, I guess."

"Yeah, I want that too, sir. Let me get cleaned up first ... you don't want me like this."

"The hell I don't!" Mike laughed. "I've never seen you look hotter than you do now, grease, sweat, jizz and all. And I bet that gorgeous body is feeling real tender right now." He reached out and ran his hand over his chest and flicked his nipples."

"Aaagh," Larry recoiled. "How did you know, sir?"

"Larry, I've been around the block a few times, especially running a leather bar for so many years. And those leather guys you mentioned are not all just talk. We've had our moments. I can tell you stories that would make your hair curl – if it weren't such a greasy mess."

They stood up, Mike put his hand gently over Larry's shoulder and smiled down at Jamie. Mark old son, you have a boy here you can be real proud of. The best buddy a boy like Larry could ever have. We'll see you later. Right now my boy and I have things to say, and do, to each other." They walked off together across the garden.

Mark smiled at his boy. "Mike's right, Jamie, I am proud of you – damn proud. What you did to Larry to get his mind off drugs was a stroke of genius, and it seems to have worked."

"Thank you, sir. But you know, when Larry was talking a mile a minute, real hyper, didn't he look and sound like he did when he was high on drugs?"

"That's only to be expected, Jamie, for a while anyway. Reminds me of once when I went to a dinner with my cop buddies and one of the guys there had been a recovering alcoholic for some time. He got up to make a speech and as he talked it sounded for all the world like he was drunk – same exaggerated mannerisms, same sounds, even to slurring his words. I thought he had fallen off the wagon and I looked at his glass expecting to see liquor. But no ... just water."

"So what was it, sir?"

"It's sometimes called `dry drunk' where a guy who has stopped using still shows some of the same actions and attitudes of when he was still on booze or drugs. Something to do with neuro memory – it's hard-baked in a guy. Larry was high on the sexual excitement you had given him – replacing one high with another – so he sounded like he did when he had been high on meth."

"So Larry was right when he told Mike he was not out of the woods yet?"

"Absolutely, he'll need a lot of support in the coming weeks, starting with regular CMA meetings. I'm glad you offered to go with him. And one important thing I've learned is to remove the triggers that made him use – guys he got high with, places he associates with drugs, even the rituals of chopping the crystal into powder with a razor blade and rolling a dollar bill to snort with.

"And in Larry's case, sex. He seemed to associate sex and drugs so he couldn't do one without the other. That's why your remedy was perfect. Showing Larry graphically that he didn't need to do drugs for sex – great sex could be had in other ways. Larry himself nailed it when he told Mike, `I'm not high ... at least not in the way you think. I'm high on love and sex ... high on life'."

"But what happens when we leave at the end of the week, sir?"

"Yeah, that's a toughie. You know, I used to patrol the Skid Row area in downtown L.A. and saw druggers all the time. In that atmosphere there were triggers all over the place, it was nigh on impossible for a guy to ignore them and keep off drugs.

"So what Social Services did was to remove the guy from a place soaked in drugs to a quiet suburban sober-living house of about six guys on the other side of town – ordinary houses you'd never even notice driving down a leafy residential street, about as different from his previous drug hangout as you could possibly get."

Jamie frowned. "Are you, like, suggesting that Larry should go to a place like that?"

"No, not exactly," Mark chuckled. "But I am thinking that, when we leave here, Mike and Larry should come with us for a couple of weeks, if Mike can leave the bar in the hands of an assistant manager for that long."

"Sounds great, sir, but I was thinking Larry should find refuge in hard work. Wouldn't it be dangerous for him to have all that idle time on his hands?"

Mark smiled conspiratorially. "He wouldn't. See, while you were gone I was speaking to Bob on the phone. He was a bit stressed because that big move they've all been talking about has already started. He and Randy will be moving this week into the house they bought next door. Randy always kept it in great trim for the old couple who lived there so it only needs minor cosmetic work to be ready for him and Bob.

"Next, their old apartment and the whole of the main house's second floor, above us, will be remodeled for Zack and his family – Zack, Darius, Miguel and Finn, Pablo and Tyler too. At the same time Pete and Brandon, Hassan and Eddie will team up to take over Zack's old house across the street, which has already been divided into two separate apartments – a duplex."

"Sounds like a shit-load of work, sir."

"Which is why Bob's a bit stressed. Typically Randy is going at it like a bull in a china shop and it's all shoulders to the wheel. Luckily work at the construction site is kinda slow for the next few weeks, so Randy and Zack have pulled Pablo, Darius and Ben off their regular jobs to work on the house. But that means certain maintenance jobs are being neglected. One in particular."

Mark ginned. "Seems Randy has been complaining to Bob that some of the guys' vehicles and especially all the motorbikes the guys use, all need urgent tune-ups. Pablo and Ben will be too busy. So where to find a mechanic to fill in for a few weeks and work on the bikes?

"The guy would be working under Randy and that tough son-of-a-bitch don't let any of his crew slack off. He don't allow any time for distractions – except for sex after work and on the lunch hour," Mark grinned.

"Randy himself likes a beer or two but, man, the slightest hint of drug use and he'd go totally apeshit. And if a guy needed to stifle his craving for drugs by getting high on rough sex as Larry did with you, Jamie, Randy would be right there to oblige – and the guy wouldn't forget a manhandling by that savage gypsy in a hurry."

Mark grinned. "So I'm asking you, kiddo, where do we find a guy who's an expert bike mechanic and would be available for a couple of weeks to work for Randy?"

Jamie threw his head back and laughed. "You have it all planned out, don't you sir?"

"Well, I still have to run the details by Bob but I'm sure he'll go along."

"I think Bob would agree to anything you suggested, sir. Just flash the badge and threaten to arrest him and he'd fall to his knees."

"Hm, yeah, Bob on his knees ..." Mark mused, then snapped back to the present. "And the main guy who needs to approve is Mike. But I have a feeling he'll be all for it for Larry's sake, provided he can leave the bar for two weeks. Mike loves and admires Randy like a son, though they've had their fights like any dad and his boy. I think the idea of Larry working under Randy would appeal to him, no matter how rough the treatment."

Mark smiled at Jamie. "But enough about all that, kiddo – what about you and me?"

"You and me, sir? What about us?"

"Stand up, big guy," Mark said. They stood facing each other and Mark gazed at the muscular young jock stripped to the waist. His tangled blond hair and face were streaked with motor-oil, his muscular body smothered with dirt and grease. "Fuck, you look incredibly hot like that, stud. That story Larry told of the shit you put him through, the way you worked him over, especially that last bit where you made him kneel to you – it turned me on, man. I was nursing a boner watching you all the time he spoke."

"So what you gonna do about it, officer?"

Jamie assumed he was about to get his ass ploughed, so he was surprised to see Mark slowly pull off his T-shirt. It never failed to make Jamie gasp seeing the shirtless muscle-god barefoot in jeans that hugged his tight waist.

"Were his hands tied when you made him kneel?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, he was helpless staring at my cock. He knew what was coming – the final humiliation."

Mark's blue-gray eyes stared at Jamie as he slowly sank to his knees. Jamie's cock jerked in his jeans as he realized what was happening, and he almost creamed his pants when the cop clasped his hands behind his back.

As Mark knelt his jeans pocket opened slightly and Jamie caught a glimpse of steel at the pocket. He knew instantly what it was. Even off-duty Mark was always the cop and always carried his badge and handcuffs with him, an old habit of being prepared to subdue a man if necessary. Only this time he was not about to subdue anyone. Quite the contrary.

Jamie reached down, pulled the cuffs out and cuffed one of the cop's wrists. Mark was kneeling back against the heavy butcher-block table in the middle of the kitchen and Jamie pulled his arms back round the center table leg and cuffed the other wrist. He stepped back and stared down at the shirtless blond cop leaning his head back against the edge of the table, staring up at the hot young buck standing over him.

Jamie sneered, "Seems like we've been here before, officer. You look tough but you're a glutton for punishment. Last time we tangled I fucked your cop ass. This time it's gonna be a dick down your throat. I just got through face-fucking that stud mechanic in chains, and now it's your turn, officer." He pulled open his jeans and yanked out his long stiff rod. "See this, officer? You want it, don't you?"

Mark's response was to let his jaw sag. Jamie grabbed his blond hair, pulled his face back and drove his cock into the open mouth and down his throat. Unlike Larry earlier Mark didn't gag once, but his eyes filled with tears as the head of the boy's cock pushed against the back of his throat again and again. "Now you know how the mechanic felt, man, tied up helpless and forced to eat dick."

Mark loved getting topped by his boy. First, as he had said, he had been stoked by the thought of Jamie chaining Larry and working him over. And second, he had told Jamie how proud he was of him, and now wanted to prove it in a graphic way by submitting to his boy, a shirtless cop forced to kneel and eat the young stud's dick.

Jamie stared down at the amazing sight of a cop being humiliated like this, a fantasy even more pornographic than the mechanic in chains getting the same treatment. "Fucking beautiful, man, a macho cop getting his face ploughed, helpless in his own handcuffs."

Jamie's rod pistoned in his mouth and tears were running down the cop's face before Jamie slowed down and pulled out. "I'm not gonna make you drink my jizz, officer. I wanna beat my meat while I look at you on your knees telling me how much you want this."

Mark gulped and groaned, "I love it, man. That story of you and the mechanic. I wanted to take his place – a cop chained up like he was, getting whipped, his cock and balls beaten, tits tortured, then humiliated on his knees with cum slamming in his face."

"Yeah, big tough cop like you, that's some fucking fantasy. Well you're gonna get it, big guy. Let's hear it, officer, let's hear how much you want it."

"Fuck, yeah," the cop groaned, "I wanna see you shoot that fucking load, man. I wanna feel it. Give to me, stud ... I want it bad ... I ... aaagh!" He was blinded by a stream of jizz slamming in his face. His jaw dropped and the next blast filled his mouth and he swallowed hard.

The picture was so graphic, so hot, that Jamie came again and again, staring at the shirtless blond cop on his knees, hands cuffed behind his back, his chiseled Greek-God features getting drenched in semen that poured down his forehead and cheeks, out of his mouth and down his chin, dripping on his bare chest.

"Man," Jamie yelled, that looks so fucking gorgeous. Man I want you to get off on me too just looking at me." He reached round and uncuffed Mark's right hand. He lifted his left arm up high, bent it back over the table and cuffed it to a metal grate on the table.

He stepped back and said, "Yeah, that's how Larry was, kneeling with one arm chained up, the other hand free to work his cock. I wanna turn you on, man. I wanna watch you cum just looking at me, getting off on me."

Jamie sat in a kitchen chair facing him. He put his arms round the back of the chair and linked his hands tight behind him, as if he were cuffed to the chair. He struggled and moaned, trying desperately to get free.

Mark gazed at the erotic image of the muscular young stud tied to the chair, shirtless in jeans and boots, filthy with dirt, grease and sweat as if he had already been worked over, struggling to get free to avoid more punishment.

And Mark went wild, grabbing his own cock and pounding his cock, weaving an elaborate fantasy of his own. "Man, that looks so fucking incredible," Mark groaned, "a young jock tied to a chair and worked over by a gang of thugs. His master's a cop, but they've cuffed him too and they're forcing him to watch his boy get thrashed." Mark struggled to free his bound arm, leaning forward, his muscles bulging. Jamie played into it, writhing in the chair, wincing under the blows, face getting slapped from side to side, blond hair flying.

"No," Marked yelled. "Stop ... I'll do anything ... you want me to cum? Is that what you want? OK, I'll cum ... anything." He pounded his cock frantically ... "I give up ... shit, I'm gonna cum ... I'm gonna cum. I love you Jamie ... aaagh!"

Mark shot a ribbon of juice across the floor, held his breath and spurted another and another. When he was drained his head slumped forward and Jamie raced out of his chair to release him. They fell on the kitchen floor rolling over in each other's arms, kissing, licking, biting ... and laughing. "Fuck," Mark said, "you looked so damned hot, dude. You are fucking sensational, so much fun to play with. Nobody does it like you, kid. We gotta do stuff like that more..."

Whenever you say, officer. But right now d'you think we should check on Mike and Larry, make sure they're OK?"

Mike grinned. "I wouldn't worry about those two, kiddo. I think they can take care of each other real well."

Mark was right, of course. When Mike and Larry had reached their favorite spot in the garden, a grassy area under big shade trees, they sat on the grass facing each other.

Larry launched right in. "Sir, I feel so ashamed at the way I've treated you lately. I don't know how to apologize for ..."

"Then don't try, kid. I think I know what you're feeling, kinda confused after all the shit you put yourself through, and then that wild scene with Jamie, god bless him. I tell you, one of the few good things about getting older is getting wiser. Hell, if you don't get wiser what's the point of getting old? I've been around the block more than a few times, and running a bar you pretty much see and hear it all.

"So I do have some idea of what you've been going through and, like you said, you ain't out of the woods yet. We got a lot of work to do and I want us to concentrate on the future, our future, rather than feeling grief about the past. But none of it will mean a thing unless we're good, you and me. Are we good, Larry?"

"Sir, however it may have seemed, I never stopped loving you. After Jamie got through with me in the garage the only thing I could think about was asking you to take me back. I don't deserve it, but I need to know you want me back, sir."

"Larry, you say you never stopped loving me. So what do you think? That I can turn love off like switching off a light. No, kiddo, that light burns too bright, you don't just snuff it out. Of course I love you, boy, and by my age you get to know what love really means. To me it's like you never went away, but if you need, sure I'll take you back ... and I mean really take you.

"Why the hell d'you think I wanted you the way you are, all messed up, smothered in grease and Jamie's cum, your body all tender, covered with whip marks and your tits on fire? Man, when you described what Jamie did to you I wished it had been me in Jamie's place. You should a' called me to come and watch. I could have brought some of the guys from the bar. Hell, we could have sold tickets.

"Let me look at you, boy. So he strung you up to the chains on that hoist, whipped you and paddled you, the whole game – bondage, domination, cock and ball torture, tit torture, butt fucked, face-fucked – straight out of the leatherman's handbook. And you loved every minute of it – you got high on it."

Larry grinned at Mike, loving his enthusiasm, realizing all over again why he loved him so much. "So is that what you're gonna do to me now, sir – the price of having me back?"

"Nah, Jamie's a tough act to follow and you've had enough of that for a while. Oh, maybe when all this is over I'll visit you in your garage, or drag you out to Hassan's house in the dunes and work you over in his dungeon. But I don't just want you to trade one addiction for another –crystal high to caveman sex. See, you can get high on a whole bunch of other things too."

"Such as?" Larry smiled.

"Well, something as simple, and complicated, as love. Personally I think that's the highest high you can reach. Let's see now." Mike stood up and stared down at Larry lying shirtless on his back on the grass. "That hot young stud mechanic down there has been beaten, fucked both ends and left bruised and tender on the ground waiting for the next high.

"So along comes this old guy – well," Mike grinned, "a middle-aged guy, mature let's say, and the kid thinks, `Can I get high with him? Nah, maybe not, I need a tough young jock like the one who just worked me over'. But the man looks down at him and rubs the bulge in his jeans.

"'What happened to you, kid?' the man says. `Looks like someone beat you up good. Damn, whoever did it left you there looking filthy. Why don't you get comfortable? Take off those boots and disgusting jeans. You could use some tender loving care right about now, eh?'

"So the kid kinda likes the sound of the older guy's voice and yeah, maybe he could use a little TLC at that. Won't make him high like the last guy, but hey, he could use the rest before his next fix of rough sex. So he does what the guy says and gets naked."

Mike watched as Larry sat up, reached forward and pulled off his boots. Then he lay down, arched his back and pulled his jeans down over his ass and bare feet and tossed them aside.

Mike grinned, stroking his bulge harder. "'Yeah,' the guy says, `bare-ass naked, that's better'." Mike knelt beside Larry. "Let's see how bad that guy hurt you, kid." He ran his hands lightly over his chest, barely touching his flesh tenderized by the paddle and whip, but enough to make him jerk and groan. "That bad, uh?" Mike said, tracing the whip marks with the tip of his finger.

When he touched his raw nipple Larry yelled in pain. "Yeah, tit-torture will do that. Hm, when I was a kid and bruised myself my mom used to say she would kiss it better. And it worked." Mike bent down and touched the nipple with the tip of his tongue, then licked both tits gently as Larry moaned in ecstasy.

"OK, what about the mouth?" Mike said. "Guess that got pounded by the guy's dick too. Let's see here. He bent down again and brushed his lips lightly over Larry's, building into a full-on, tongue-teasing kiss. When at last he pulled back Larry stared up at Mike, not with the same gleam as when he was high but with a softer warmth and a barely audible, "Thank you, sir."

"So," Mike said, "Face fucked and butt-fucked was it? OK, let's check out the damage to that ass." He reached between Larry's legs and felt him flinch as his fingers stroked the sphincter and pushed in slightly.

"Damn, it's still filled with jizz. The guy must've emptied a massive load in you, kid. It's real tender too. Only one cure for that. You ever hear the saying `hair of the dog' – having another drink to clear a hangover? That's what your ass needs. Like when you fall off a horse, best thing is to get right back on and ride again. Except that this time you're the one being ridden."

Mike knelt between his boy's legs and pulled his cock out of his pants. "Not exactly a dry fuck `cos that jock lubed you up good, boy. So let's test that hair-of-the-dog thing, eh?"

Larry raised his legs, gazed up at Mike and felt his thick cock ease inside him and slide in deep. He moaned in ecstasy and Mike grinned, "That good, uh? Yeah, some of us don't need whips and chains. Just a plain old simple fuck hits the spot."

Just as Jamie had given Larry the full treatment so did Mike – in a totally different way. While he fucked slowly he leaned down and licked the boy's tits again, then his sensitive chest, his neck and face, ending with another breath-sharing kiss. Then he ran his fingers through Larry's thick dark hair and stroked his face tenderly.

"You feel the high, kiddo?" he smiled. "Like I said, a guy can get high on a bunch of things, but for my money you can't beat good old-fashioned love. Well, maybe not so old-fashioned, eh?" he chuckled, fucking faster.

Larry's face fell from side to side moaning, "Aaah, that feels incredible, sir." He looked up at Mike's smiling face. "I love you sir ... I love you making love to me. Makes me feel so ..."

"High? Feel so high?" Mike grinned. "Seems that's the name of the game these days, the word du jour. Well, we can play that game too, kiddo, with a word of our own – high on love."

Larry reached up, pressed one hand against Mike's hairy chest and wrapped the other round his cock. But Mike swatted that hand away. "You don't need to touch it, kiddo. As I recall, the other guy made you cum while you couldn't touch your cock. We can do that. Stretch your arms out to the sides. Larry obeyed but smiled, "You'll never make me cum like that, sir."

"You underestimate the power of love, kiddo. Plus a little help from our two tender friends here."

Mike quickly accelerated the fuck as pre-cum oozing from Larry's dick. "Never say never, kid. You're gonna cum big-time... right now!" Suddenly Mike reached down and squeezed Larry's ravaged nipples hard, rolling them in his fingertips while he pounded his ass with his cock.

"Aaagh!!" Larry's scream echoed round the garden, his head thrashed from side to side, his body bucked ... and a stream of cum spurted from his cock all the way to his neck and heaving chest. He was dimly aware of Mike's own howls as he pumped his load in his boy's ass.

When Larry's spasms stopped and his heartbeats subsided he opened his eyes and stared up at Mike's smiling face. "Was that high enough for you, kiddo?" Larry pulled Mike down on the grass beside him and lay wrapped in his arms.

Their screams had reached the kitchen where Mark and Jamie were relaxing over a newly opened bottle of wine. "See," Mark grinned, "I told you those two could take care of each other." They waited a while, then Mark said, "But maybe we should go check on them. Those were howls of pleasure, I think, but we better make sure."

When they reached the spot in the garden they found Mike lying on his back on the grass. Larry was curled up next to him fast asleep, his head resting on Mike's chest. Mike grinned up at them and said softly, "Sssh, let him sleep. Long way to go yet."

The following week was full of optimism, though there were inevitably moments when Larry felt the old craving return. But the difference now was that he sought help from Jamie or Mike – or even Mark. Jamie used energetic distraction, Mike tenderness and love, while Mark took a more disciplinarian approach, reminding Larry that giving in to his craving would hurt others.

Mark phoned Bob who eagerly agreed to Mark's suggestion that Mike and Larry should come and stay for a couple of weeks. "If it's distraction Larry needs he'll sure find it here with all the work going on. It sure as hell distracts me, with Randy in full construction-boss mode throwing orders in all directions. If I say he's a pain in the butt for me I mean that literally. When he's all wound up like this he takes his stress out on me, or more precisely on my ass. Not that I'm complaining." Mark could imagine the roguish grin on Bob's handsome face as he said it.

And Mike greeted Mark's idea with relief. "Dammit, Mark, you're a lifesaver. I'm on pretty firm ground while you're here but I was worried about when you left. A couple of weeks with the guys, especially in all that activity, will remove Larry from all the triggers – a whole different environment where he won't have time to think about drugs. And if I know the boys there they'll circle the wagons round him like they do when any of them has a problem."

Mike naturally had some heart-to-heart chats with his boy, who was thrilled at the idea of a few weeks with Jamie and the rest of the tribe. "So remember," Mike said, "you're not in this alone, kid. This week you'll have me and the guys here, and then when we hit town the fun starts."

"Thank you, sir," Larry said. "And Jamie says Randy's pissed cos all the bikes need service and tune-ups and there's no one to do it as they're all working on the construction. Course, working for Randy maybe kinda rough but," he grinned, "I'm no stranger to a bit of rough."

"Tell me about it," Mike grinned. "This week I think you should stay away from the bar `cos that's where a lot of your drug triggers are. I'd like you to concentrate on your bike business and get the garage up to speed again. I'm bombarded with questions from guys in the bar about when you'll be back in business.

"Hell, you've seen all those bikes in the parking lot. They could keep you in business for years. The guys take them to this guy in Palm Desert but they'd much rather deal with you `cos they know you'll give them a fair deal.

"And I've been giving some thought to when we eventually get back here too. With all the business I can put your way I think you should hire an assistant. There's a young guy hangs out at the bar and he's always talking about bikes. Guy like that would be good company for you, give you a chance to help a younger guy get a start, and he'd help you grow the business."

And so the week went on with the same optimism, plenty of laughs and relaxation interspersed with the more serious side. Larry went to a couple of CMA meetings ("Hi, my name is Larry and have a meth problem") with Jamie staunchly by his side. Jamie urged him to take Mike's advice about fixing up the garage and they worked happily together in the place that still resonated with their earlier sexual shenanigans – which were not repeated, tempting though it was.

Mike and Mark spent a lot of time together too. Their friendship was not unlike the relationship between Mike and Randy, where Randy looked up to Mike as a father figure, and Mike admired and loved Randy, though he never hesitated to call him `boy' when he misbehaved.

They were all a real close-knit foursome by week's end when they finally set out on the trek back to the city. Mark persuaded Mike and Larry to ride with them – "God knows there are enough trucks and bikes in that house if you need transportation."

"It was a light-hearted group that hit the road. Mike asked mischievously if they were going to make a pit-stop halfway as Mark and Jamie usually did so a horny Mark could bend Jamie over the truck and get sexual relief in his boy's ass."

"Not likely," Mark laughed. "Knowing this horny quartet we'd never make it back to L.A. They'd be sending out search parties."

And when they did get back to L.A., despite all of Bob's descriptions, they were not ready for the scene of controlled chaos that met their eyes. It was raucous activity everywhere, trucks unloading supplies that were carried to one of the three remodeling sites – Bob and Randy's new house; Zack's soon to be vacated house; and the whole second floor of the tribe's main house. Men and boys were working flat out, and in the middle of it all, like a towering gypsy ringmaster, was Randy shouting orders.

Bob came out to meet them and smiled. "Gives a whole new meaning to that old phrase `excuse our mess,' don't it? Welcome to bedlam, guys. Ooh, here comes the boss"

Randy spotted them and broke free of the turmoil for a minute. He cut a striking figure with his long black hair, rugged gypsy features, heavily stubbled jaw, and wearing his usual sweaty tank top, filthy jeans and muddy boots. "Good you're here, we can use all the help we can get."

He shook Mike's hand warmly, gave Mark a sweaty hug, and looked at the boys. "We've been hearing all kinds of crazy stuff about what you two have been getting up to. You can tell us more at dinner tonight. But right now ... hey Eddie, get your ass over here."

Young Eddie had been hovering nearby and now came running over, his eyes sparkling.

"Kid, help Larry and Jamie carry all their gear to the guest room in Mark's apartment. Then soon as you can, Jamie, Brandon is swamped in the office trying to budget out all this stuff and do inventory control. Mike and Mark, go with Bob to our new house next door. He wants to fill you in on everything that's going on.

"And Larry, when you've stowed your gear go find Pablo who'll show you the bikes and you can see what needs doing. Ton of work, but you won't be working for Pablo, he's busy on the construction. You'll report directly to me, like everyone else round here." Then out of the blue he suddenly flashed that gleaming smile that made men go weak at the knees. "I'm sure glad you're here, guys. A real pleasure to see you again."

Then he turned away and yelled, "Hey, careful with that damn beam over there or you'll smash it through the fucking window. It needs two of you." Then to the young gardeners, "Finn, Tyler, I want that hedge between the houses torn down pronto to give us access between them."

He strode away, back into the fray. Bob smiled at Mark and Mike and shrugged, "Told you so." He put his arms round their shoulders and led them next door. Jamie looked at Larry and laughed. "I guess we got our marching orders dude."

An excited Eddie helped Jamie and Larry unload their gear from the truck and as they carried it to the house he said, "Dudes, I have sooo much to tell you. You will ... not ... believe ..."

TO BE CONTINUED in "A Trial Of Strength" – Chapter 417

Hey guys, this is Rob Williams. I hope that chapter got you off, and I welcome your comments and suggestions, which can be very helpful in planning future chapters. E-mail me in confidence at rw6789@aol.com.

ALSO, I invite you to visit my own Web-site www.atrialofstrength.com. You can read the whole story, with extras including pictures and biographies of all the characters.

AND DON'T FORGET – IF YOU ENJOY THESE STORIES, PLEASE DONATE to the Nifty site. Nifty needs your donations to provide these thousands of wonderful stories. So please, back-arrow to the NIFTY home page and click on "DONATE" at the top. Please give what you can - the other authors and I thank you. ... Rob