Tomorrow's Clown (Part 1)

‘Why are you in here?’ Rob snapped, looking at his mother’s skeletal frame sat on the edge of his bed and picking fluff from his candlewick bedspread. His voice was bitter, as though he hadn’t seen her in years, really he’d hardly looked in to see her for almost the whole week. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, softening to her surprised and slightly guilty look.
Rob had just had a splintering row with his sister Susan, so he was in no mood to have a bust up with anyone else, least of all his mum.

Susan had been sitting on the living room couch with the sternest of expressions painted on her face waiting for him as he sauntered in. Rob had just stood there, running his fingers through his hair, waiting for it all to start.

He was slightly surprise she was there at all, her boyfriend’s latest posh car hadn’t been outside the door or anywhere along the street. But then, Rob hadn’t really been looking. He was too wrapped up in Padric, and what they’d just shared over the last forty-eight hours.

‘This is our house, Rob,’ his sister said angrily. ‘I live here too!’
‘Not for much longer,’ Rob bit back.
She looked over at Padric hanging back in the hall, and the acid look on her face deepened. ‘And how are you now?’ Her voice showed that she really didn’t care.
'Padric is with me.' Rob answered as Padric just shrugged.

‘I can see, can I?’ Susan barked. ‘He’s stood standing there, isn’t he!’ She rose from the settee as though ready to lash out at the first unfortunate soul who crossed her path. ‘I only asked if he’s better after the accident, and he can answer that himself.’
Padric inched into the living room cautious of all the neatness and cleanliness and highly polished new furniture. ‘It hurts, still,’ he said shyly, moving his right shoulder slightly. ‘But I’ll be fine for the engagement party.’

For a moment, Rob’s sister said nothing. Then, firmly, trying to keep a calm expression, she pushed up her angora cardigan sleeves and said, 'Rob, in the kitchen; now!’ She smiled a chill smile at Padric as her petticoats flounced by, ‘And it’s nice to see you up and about again, Padric.’ Padric shivered in her shadow. Rob just shrugged, indicating that Padric should sit down while he tailed in behind his sister.

The kitchen, as bright and clean and new as the rest of the house, was already a-buzz. Rob’s twin aunts Assumpta and Concepta where there, buttering bread and smothering Rob with kisses. His eldest sister, Joan, was there too, but now did not look like the best time to acknowledge it. Sat at the smooth formica table, her face held a picture of venom, and her voice cut through any pretences. ‘Rob, good of you to turn up!’

Rob neededed to talk to Susan alone. But Susan knew her battleground, so all the advantages were with her. She knew it, and Rob knew it too. ‘Sorry!’ Rob said, and almost with humbled sincerity. ‘I had things to do.’

‘Things to do!’ Joan laughed. Jabbing the air with a meat carving knife she made her point clear, ‘Family comes first with us, you hear! How d’you think we got through the war and everything since, eh?’
‘Here we go,’ Rob sighed, sinking into a chair. ‘Just like dad: The War!’
Joan flushed, and laying aside her knife she raised her hand as if to strike Rob.

‘Joanie!’ Concepta intervened. And Assumpta drew Rob to her breast, ‘He was just a baby, you can’t expect him to have all them memories we do.’
‘Ceppie, he has to learn,’ Joan’s eyes filled with a penitent’s tears. ‘Life just isn’t what we want, it never has been and it never will.’
‘And he’s not a baby now, aunt Sumpie,’ Susan sulked. Giving him a most knowing look, she said, ‘So what were the things you had to do?’

Rob turned from them and stormed out of the kitchen, heading for his bedroom. Susan followed, berating him and demanding he come back.
Padric stood in the hall, his embarrassment growing. ‘Here, Susan, give him these, and tell him not to forget the Methodist Youth Club tomorrow from half-seven.’
Susan flashed a killer look, ‘What’s this?’
‘The music arrangements we’d set up for your engagement party, next Saturday.’
‘It’s hard for Susan,’ Rob’s mum patted the bed for Rob to come and sit beside her. ‘She feels responsible for everything. You, your dad, me.’
‘She’ll miss you,’ Rob nodded, sitting beside his mother and taking her close.
‘No, Rob,’ his mother replied. ‘She’ll miss you.’ They gave one another a conspiratorial glance, something they hadn’t done in years, and they laughed in unison. ‘Now, your aunty Mabel is in the loo - you know she can’t go if she thinks people are listening in. So, away back down and talk to Susan proper. Like you used to do.’

His stomach was twisting in knots as he clung over the stair rail, feeling himself slowly turning numb. Padric took a step backward, to call in from the front door, ‘The Youth Club, Friday. Plenty of ripsnorters,’ he called in passed Susan, ‘Michael, Row The Boat and Rock O’ My Soul.’
‘He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands,’ Rob jiggled his hands in the air as he came down to join Susan and Padric.
‘Don’t!’ Susan, laughed at the presumed blasphemy.
‘It’s OK,’ Rob stuck his tongue out, ‘we’ll do Lourdes, The Village Of Saint Bernadette, just for you little miss Susan Bernadette.’
‘Make sure you do, little miss Robert Pius Mary,’ Susan took him in her arms with a kiss. ‘And do that Christmassy one The Springfields have just released, Bambino.’
Rob and Padric looked at each other and pointed: ‘Bags I Dusty.’ ‘Bags you Dusty, definite, mate - you have the eyes.’
‘But there’ll be none of this,’ Rob mimicked the local Methodist minister as he and Susan broke into an exhibition of The Twist at its dirtiest, and Padric gave them some vocal accompaniment while they went around and round and up and down.

‘That’ll do, there!’ Rob’s dad called as he came from the kitchen. He pulled Susan away from the door, and thumbed Padric away from the it. ‘There’ll be no complaints from the neighbours about lewd goings on here.’

Rob patted his old man’s back, then backed off as dagger-looks fired at him. ‘All right, pops, calm.’
To Susan Padric called in through the letterbox, 'Tell Rob, see him tomorrow!'
Rob threw his hands up, ‘United Nations, Pax Vobiscum,’ he said politely.
His father didn’t answer, so Rob just watched the anger and disappointment mounting as Padric walked away from the door. Mabel and Rob’s mum came down before the confrontation had time to develop, ‘Go help your mum, Susan.’
‘We’re fine, Bob,’ Mabel called to her brother.

Rob stepped forward as his mum stumbled a little at the last stair. ‘There now,’ he said, as she had so often comforted him, ‘safe in my arms.’
All of a sudden Susan let out an ear-punching squeal and ran toward the kitchen, sending them all flying like so many skittles.
At the radio on a shelf, she huddled over the speaker. Cuddling in close, she mooched in her best, worshipful, girly fashion to the Idol, Presley, and his latest flame.
‘That girl is way too young to marry,’ Rob’s father tut-tutted.

A few minutes later, Rob heard the sound of his sister’s boyfriend’s engine revving. When Susan and he went out to look, they heard Ed burn rubber and drive away down the street with a screech as they opened the door.

‘Sit, there,’ his sister said, her voice sounding very cold once more.
Reluctantly, Rob slunk over to the wall along the side entrance to the house.
Her eyes had the same dark ferocity that had once lit their mother’s, and had made the two of them nervous of upsetting her. After a lapse into silence, Susan said, ‘I ran into Will, he said you’ve been avoiding him.’
‘Nah!’ Rob look away. ‘Not avoiding.’
‘What then?’ Susan insisted.

The scream of tyres from the top of the road had both Rob and Susan up on the low wall and waving at Ed as he growled the motor by them.
They gave a mock huddle at the thrill of a young man behaving so stick-shift crazy for one of them. Sitting back down, Rob said, ‘I’ve been busy recently.’ He looked into Susan’s eyes to see if she believed him. She didn’t, but it didn‘t seem to matter.

‘I also heard from that foreman, Mr. Marx.’
‘Graucho? Well?’
‘It was through Helen, his secretary, Will’s girlfriend, you know Will,’ she nearly said something else, but held back. ‘She told me that you been off sick for a couple of days, and they wanted to know why.’
‘And?’
‘I lied.’ Susan picked at imaginary bits of smut on her flowery dress.

Rob kissed her and the two of them leapt up to go and meet Ed as he drew up and climbed out of his sparkling second-hand, white-walled Ford.
Ed hugged Susan tight, laying kisses on her like they’d gone up for sale. He also gave Rob a pinch and a wink when he saw Susan was totally wrapped up.
‘The weather’s on the change,’ Ed said, proudly pointing at the radio on his dashboard. ‘Looks like that good spell’s done for,’ he beamed, happy as a sandboy.

Rob couldn’t breathe, his chest felt like caving in under a vice. Rob hadn’t expected Ed to pay attention to him that soon. Ed Maxwell was so much older than Susan, and had been a schoolboy crush for Rob. He’d been doing National Service during Suez, so when he came back from Cyprus on a cold day in the oil starved Britain of 1957 his tanned good looks were like a breath of Hollywood, but standing there, live, in front of them.

Leaning against the bonnet of the car Ed flexed his arms to run his fingers sensually through his sandy gold hair. He smiled at Rob, catching him staring at the mat of hair poking through a crisp loose-buttoned shirt. ‘Like the motor?’ Ed asked.

Looking down at the tyres Rob replied, ‘Sure.’
‘This woman said you’d like a spin,’ Ed told Rob with another smile.
‘You never told me you said that!’ Rob almost sulked at Susan.
‘I only said you two need to get to know each other better.’
‘Well there’s no time like the present, is there, Rob Neil?’
‘Take Five,’ Rob said as a reply, but nodding to the music on the radio.
‘You like Jazz? That’s good.’
‘Brubeck? Of course, everybody does.’ Rob tried to keep from making a fool of himself with Ed. Yet Ed was persistent, as well as more than a bit of hunk.
‘I need a hand,’ Ed said looking straight into Rob’s eyes. He leant in toward him and added, ‘Georgie’s doing stuff for that photographer he helps.’

Rob could guess what kind of hand Ed was after, and it wasn’t just with the preparations for the engagement party. Worst of all he knew he’d give it too.
‘It’s OK, Rob,’ Susan started to say when Creole Jazz popped over the airwaves.
‘But it’s Aker-time, gal!’ Rob laughed and spun Susan off into a jittering jive.
‘Can’t you do anything to control them?’ Ed laughed and clapped along as Mister Neil came out of the house. Rob’s father shrugged it all off, totally at a loss.
The neighbours and his family applauded Susan and Rob as their dance came to an end. ‘They should be on the ITV,’ Mrs Cutts said leaning over the separating wall.
Ed threw his sports coat into the back seat of the car, covering a few boxes and crates. ‘We’ll do a quick errand, Sue, before we drop the stuff of at Saint Aloysius’ Hall.’ Then he bend down to hug Susan. ‘And we’ll be right back for you.’

Rob waved back to Susan as Ed’s car sped off, he turned to see if her face said she knew what he knew was going to happen. She just smiled and waved.
As he drove, Ed lay his left hand on his thigh by the ruck raised in his trousers. Nonchalantly he traced the swell of his heavy bollocks with his thumb, and cast smiles over at Rob every so often.
‘You’re doing well at Barnes’ factory, I hear.’
Rob shrugged and tried looking out the window, but his eyes always came back to Ed’s golden smile and his tempting groin.
‘But I bet you have more fun doin’ the music scene.’

Ed took the long way round to the Church Hall where the engagement party was to be held. He drove passed the toilet where he’d seen Rob leave with another man.
‘Isn’t that where I saw you with the Record Shops fella, Grayston?’
He knew it was, just like he knew it was from there that he followed them to Charlie Grayston’s house. And where he drove passed again when he’d offered Rob a lift home - for a price.
Ed turned up a secluded lane and stopped the car for the help he expected. He eased is seat back and ran his hand over the back of Rob’s neck.
Rob shivered.

‘Awh! don’t be shy on me now,’ Ed whispered. ‘You were sweet the last time, real sweet.’ Ed leaned forward to tune in the radio. ‘Here’s some music to put you in the mood a little better, eh?’
‘Look,’ Rob said, turning to face Ed, ‘I like you, you are a fantastic bloke, but..’
‘But what?’ Ed’s tone started to turn hard.
‘My sister loves you Ed!’
‘So, you owe me - big time, little man.’ Ed took hold of Rob’s neck and pushed it down toward his flies. ‘Now start making this worth my while.’

The tight grip threatened to get tighter, so Rob curved round. He leaned into Ed’s body for a moment just to breathe and to fumble open Ed’s slacks. Rock hard against his fingers, Ed’s cock strained to be free.
‘There now,’ Ed almost purred, ‘that’s not so bad.’
Rob sank down on Ed’s tent, taking in the strangely sweet salty-sour aroma. Again the tight grip pressed with bruising strength. So Rob nibbled on the trembling knob poking up through Ed’s underwear to greet him.
‘Say!’ Ed cried, as Rob chewed through the material. ‘Be careful, don’t ruin my clothes with the slobber, I’m going out with your sister tonight.’

Rob dropped down to his knees and moved to a better position. Yanking at the waistband of Ed’s trousers and old-fashioned boxer shorts, he prised them away as Ed eased up, and forced them down his calves so that they would get wet.

Licking at Ed’s tender ballsack, and lifting up the fat shaft of his cock, Rob’s mouth opened wide to envelope Ed’s bell-end knob. Rob closed his eyes and felt Ed’s whole body quake as he drew the thick knob into his mouth and gently played on the loose foreskin with his tongue.

With an explosive smack, Rob pulled back. He licked around the rim of Ed’s foreskin then into the close sensitive marriage of knob and cover. He smiled up at Ed, who trembled with each new sensation.
Ed stared down in awe as his dick once more disappeared between Rob’s lips. Throwing his head back, he sighed, ’Yeah, like that.’ Then looking down, he added, ‘Nice and easy does it.’ His lips pursed as Rob screwed on him. ‘Yeah, all the time.’

The memorable awareness of having a warm cock filling his mouth caused Rob to melt in delight. He worked harder at Ed, then relaxed as he drew him close to the edge.
As Rob swallowed Ed’s entire cock, taking it a deep, he pulled up for a full breath. And to tease Ed’s cock into keeping going for longer. Rob kept returning to Ed’s dripping cock, and sending it to the back of his throat, using the gagging muscles to milk him and to draw awe-filled ‘fucks’ from Ed.
‘Can’t hold it for much long, man,’ Ed whimpered.

Rob moved his tongue back and forth along the short length of Ed’s bone, his lips kissing against the responsive balls.
Sliding back and forth, he continued to bob. His mouth enjoyed making love, as he went up and down Ed’s throbbing hard-on. Rob’s warm mouth and his skill, seemed to delight every nerve ending in Ed’s body. For Ed had to grab his shoulders to steady himself through the trembles that took over his whole frame.
Rob placed his hands around Ed’s tensing thighs. His fingers massaging across the dense hairy muscles. And he pulled Ed in closer, as once more he sucked his cock into his mouth and began slow short strokes.

Licking the steady flow of pre-cum around Ed’s engorged cockhead at the end of a few strokes, Rob nibbled his way back to down to Ed’s writhing balls. Finally Rob took hold of Ed’s cock in one hand and kissed the pre-cum around the ever alert knob-end, sending a fresh set of shivers through Ed before returning the hard shaft back in his mouth.
Ed cried out, unable stand the intensity of the feelings. ‘God! you gotta let me cum. Fuck, I’m going to burst.’ Soon his balls tightened up in their hairy sack, his shaft tensed, and gripping spasms rippled with each suck into Rob’s mouth.

Sensing Ed was too close to stop, Rob licked a finger and forced it passed Ed’s clenching butt muscles, along his crack and toward his tight little hole.
Ed moaned in complaint, but he came in Rob’s mouth with astonishingly powerful blasts of masculinity. Groans, whimpers and shakes forced Ed to bite on his wrist as he writhed with a trail of aftershocks following the first explosive jizz.
After Ed’s orgasm subsided, Rob eased up off his knees. Slowly, with a tease he withdrew his finger from Ed’s crack and took his spunk stained mouth from his cock.

Ed sat up with a shock and looked in his rear-view mirror. In the darkening evening two figures were entwined in the lane behind them.
‘That’s your friend, Will Mallon, isn’t?’
Rob took a swift look, then sank back.

‘And that’s his girlfriend Helen he’s tackling. Dirty beasts, he’s got his hand up her skirt and into her knickers. And she’s got a handful of something too.’
Ed switched on the engine and his lights just to see them duck away in fright.
And not for the last time, at that moment, Rob imagined himself truly alone.

To be continued: Tomorrows Clown, part 2.