South Africa
Part 69
Based on emails from August, 2002.

Ouch! Shit! I saw those pics of Gary's gross stitches on his news page. Actually, they were on his back, but you know what I mean. I'd had stiches when I was about 7 or something, and it was cos I'd slipped on a take-off in the surf. My board hit me on the chin and split it open. There was just fucking blood everywhere. So I had to get a couple of stitches, but they weren't done like Gary's. "You sure you went to the doctor? That looks more like you went to a butcher."

Anyway, the thing was... those pics didn't give me a fucking hardon... just in case Gary was wondering.

And now it was bricks through his front door? That Luke dude was playing pretty rough. I actually wondered if it was him or whether he was arranging that whole lot of shit through connections. There could've even been adults involved as well. Maybe ol' Cunt Eyes' dad was involved, and they wanted to drive Gary out of town or something.

Meantime, my weekend had been pretty laid back. I mean, it had been pretty quiet. Not that I laid back for anybody, or that anybody else laid back for me. :)

On Friday, Steph and I went to Blink nightclub, and it was OK. We had a pretty good time. Steph had her hand under my T checking out my pecs and abs, and that felt pretty tight. Gary?

"I'm not here."

Had a few drinks but nothing major. It wasn't that I didn't want to get a bit slaughtered cos I was definitely in the mood. But I figured that all the dancing we were doing kinda sweated the booze out of me. Hey, I wasn't exactly sober but I was OK.

Managed to get a ride home OK. Then we stood outside Steph's house talking for a while. Actually, we sat on the wall. I can't remember what the fuck we were talking about, but I do remember that it was just cool.

I was too fucked to even wank after I'd arrived home, but that was cos I was more tired than anything.

On Saturday, my dad was busy sorting out unwanted shit in the garage, so I got involved in carting some of it around to the end of the driveway cos he'd arranged for someone with a truck to come and take it all away.

The weird thing was that we'd gotten around to talking about cars, and my dad wanted to know what kinda cars I liked. That just proved how little we'd spoken in the past. But I told him that I really dug the Honda Civic. That was a fuck off car. It would've been totally cool to pick up a fucked one, and then strip it down before rebuilding it. There was a Honda Civic in the movie Fast and the Furious.

Like I said, the weekend was pretty quiet. Only saw Winger on Sunday. Thought I'd take him off to the movies on Saturday night, but he'd been playing rugby during the day so we didn't connect. When I saw him on Sunday, he told me that he and Jason had gone to the movies on Saturday night.

"And on Friday I was out with all my buds and the girls at a school bud's house."

"You seem to be pretty busy lately."

"Yeah. Hey, check out what I'm wearing."

"The wristy I gave you. Hey, that's pretty damn cool, buddy."

"Kiff, huh? How's your weekend been?"

"Pretty damn boring."

But I did find things to do. I'd updated the surf links on Cody's site, so at least the weekend had been a bit productive. Oh! And I wrote an email to Wizid as well after I'd received the one that Gary had forwarded to me. No biggie. Just a short mail.

I'd also been stuffing around with some graphics. Did a cool graphic with the Cody Glass. :) And I told Gary that I'd send it to him sometime. As an email attachment? Nope. I had a surprise in store for that old dude.

Also did graphics featuring Egor in boardies that I'd attached to his bod using PhotoShop. It was called "Body Logic", and it let me analyse the lines, and make sure that everything was in proportion. Those were like graphics that I was doing for the October News Page already. I wasn't gonna have time later to work on this shit [cos of school exams] so I figured if I worked ahead I could at least have something to upload to Cody's World later.

The surf links were pretty cool. They had pics on those sites of all the Cape Town surf spots. There were two pic sites that I'd linked to... Pierre Marqua's site, and Chappypix. They both had up-to-date surfing pics. Chappypix also had a couple of pix of the Red Bull Downhill Extreme, as well as D-IX2002.

"If you check out the pics of Kalk Bay, Gary, you'll understand why Code never liked it. It's a fast grungy take-off over a reef and he got himself fucked up there a few times. Hey, we all did. It's not for the feint hearted. There's a few cool pics of Long Beach as well."


I wrote Gary again the next day.
Hi Gary. So what? You're getting two emails in two days. Just uploaded Cody News. Thought you might want to check it out and relax, and have a wank or something. :)

Cheers

Your friend and the Codeman's

Steve


G'day Steve,
Yeah, I've had better experiences. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the pics of my stitches didn't give you a hardon hehehe. They're pretty gross. But I figured I should have them photographed for posterity. I had several stitches on the top of my head some years ago after having been whacked with a meat tenderizer. But I couldn't see those, so I can't compare them to the battle wounds I've got now.

As for Luke and his mates, your email about updating Cody's News page arrived just as I was posting Luke 012. I'd posted Steve 068 about two hours beforehand. Yesterday wasn't a good day. But I have to admit that it would've been a lot worse if it weren't for your emails and others that keep me going. I was so distressed last night that I couldn't cook dinner for the guys. I went to bed early, and have been up since about 2:00am.

I'm glad your email about updating Cody's News arrived. I checked it out after I'd posted Luke 012 and enjoyed it. You're quite a wit! Whaddayamean158? You're doing an excellent job, Steve. It's very entertaining as well as informative. There was one pic - supposedly of you - that spun me out hehehe. THOSE PECS! Jeez. No way I could stay upright if I got a gawk at those in real life.

Steph had her hand up your T? When's she gonna start writing me emails? Sometimes I feel like a sci fi writer who's never been into space. But I do remember blowing Big Boobs Baker once and having handfuls of his pecs as he shot his load down my throat. His pecs felt like a couple of rump steaks. Totally awesome. He must've known some pretty kinky dudes, though. One day he asked me if I wanted to watch him take a dump hehehe. He was sitting on the loo and I declined. Eeek! No thanks.

Yeah, the communication between you and your dad is improving. Maybe you've both been doing a bit of maturing lately. As for Honda Civics, I remember the first ones. Toey little cars. I've been in a few models, and they're quite impressive. I used to be a bit of a car freak but not now. TT does me just fine. But if I did have a big quid [dollar] I'd probably buy some classic number like a 50s Rolls or Merc or whatever. I used to own a '67 Merc and it was a helluva car. Wicked suspension. I had her up to 105 MILES per hour once hehehe. That's pretty damn quick. The most I ever got out of a VW bug was 85. But I don't drive like that anymore. TT, according to the manual, is capable of about 95 mph, but there's no way I'm gonna try it.

Cody used to write me about Winger getting more involved with his younger friends. Cody was a bit pissed off about it, but he also realized that Winger needed to be with guys his own age. Four or five years diff doesn't mean much when you're in your 20s or over, but it's a big diff when you're a teen. Anyway, as I used to say to Cody, "If you let it go and it flies away, you never owned it. If it comes back, it's yours." Wingnut always had a special place in his heart for the Codeman, and I think the same applies to his feelings for you. :)

Yep, I noticed the graphic with the Cody glass. I'm sipping from it now. :) You're quite the artiste! You're also an entertaining writer with a cool sense of humor. I think you're gonna develop a pretty healthy following. Makes me wonder what you'll do later in life. I know what you should be doing now... boardies modeling so that we can all GAWK. But you've got an obvious creative bent, so maybe that will lead you by the nose into some kinda creative pursuit as a profession. Or at least a serious hobby.

Thanks for all those cool things you wrote about me on the News page. Brightened up my day, especially after not being able to sleep, and with all the Luke hassle. Just phoned Kathy the cop to bring her up to speed. But she's out on escort duty. "Is the Queen out here or something?" "No, escorting a prisoner." "Oh! One of those escorts!" Anyway, she won't be back 'til about 11am or whatever. No point in talking to the other cops cos they're not familiar with the case. And I hate having to explain everything a million times.

What did you say about my mind? Sharp? Hasn't been too sharp lately.

Haven't checked out your new surf links yet, but I will. I think I might spend a bit of time catching up with email. There's a stack of it.

Your friend and the Codeman's,

Gary


Midday, August 22, 2002. "Hey, Steve! Your package arrived!"
"Package?"

"Not the one in your undies, you bloody dingaling! The one you mailed to my PO box!"

"Cool! I was really worried about that. I'd forgotten to include your postal code on the envelope, and like it's been since August 8 when I fucking posted it. I was worried that you weren't gonna get the fucking thing. Have you opened it?"

"I don't wanna spoil it."

"Spoil it???"

"I can't smell any perfume. Did you sprinkle some on the package?"

"Jesus! JUST OPEN IT!"

"That would be like sacrilegious or something. Can't I just frame it like it is?"

"How will you know what's inside?"

"You could tell me."

"Gary."

"What?"

"Just open it."

"You're sounding all macho and bossy again."

"OPEN IT!"

"OK, OK, OK, already. Stop yelling! You'll frighten the neighbors."

"Have you opened it yet?"

"I'm trying not to bugger it up."

"You've buggered everything else up lately, why not bugger up the package?"

"Shuddup, Steve. Ooer!"

"Ooer what?"

"There are clothes in here... boxers, Speedos, a T, beads, and a card. Speedos? What the hell am I gonna do with Speedos?"

"Read the letter."

"The clothes don't look new. What's the story?"

"Just read the fucking letter."


 

Hi Gary

I wanted you to have a special birthday so I've put together a few things that I think you will appreciate more than anyone I know.

The black flannel gym shorts you would have read about in the story I wrote for your birthday. So you did catch them after all hahahahahaha! They were part of Code's school togs.

The Speedos are ones that he brought around to my place and put on one day when my folks were home, and we wanted to swim. Otherwise, he would never have worn anything. He looked cool in them and the material moulded to him when it was wet. They haven't ever been washed since he got out of the pool that day.

The T-shirt is another of his leftovers that found their way into my closet. Same story with the check boxers. He normally wore satin boxers so I guess he didn't bother to retrieve those, or they were left 'just in case' he had to cover his ass another time.

There are two sets of beads. The one set is the necklace that Cody made for me for Christmas 2001. He'd made it just before he died, and it was under the Christmas tree at Mr & Mrs T's house. I know what you're going to say but hear me out. I honestly think if he had the chance he would've made you one and sent it to you. I made Cody a necklace one day and he wanted to know how to make them, so I showed him. I guess that was why he made that one for me. I already have one that Cody used to wear, so don't think that I'm parting with Code when I send that necklace to you. But I know that you will appreciate the fingers that threaded those beads, and the teeth that helped tie the knots. The other set is a wrist band that I've made for you to wear. Sometimes those things break and come apart so you just need to be careful.

We'll never meet, Gary. That's a fact of life. But I wanted to do something really special for you, and I know that right about now you are beaming.

I know this won't be the happiest birthday ever. You had four of those just recently, but I hope that these gifts go some way to make it a good one.

Your friend and the Codeman's






"Gary?"

"What?"

"Are you beaming?"

"No. I'm crying."

"Shit! Gary! You're supposed to be happy!"

"I am happy. It's just that I couldn't believe those clothes.... I thought they might've been yours at first... but... I sniffed them and knew they weren't new. I kept saying to Lindsay that it was strange... that the clothes had been worn before. But I didn't wanna think that maybe they were... and then I began to read your letter, and I couldn't fucking cope. I kept having to leave the room after reading each sentence to dry my eyes and blow my nose. Lindsay was blown away as well. Both he and Sue thought your card was just awesome, and so did I. When I opened it and saw the graphic you made of Code's room, I went to pieces. Then I read your note inside the card."

Dear Gary

Some birthdays are better than others

Hope this birthday is good for you.

Sometimes if we dare to dream, maybe

even parts of the dream come true.

I know that the Codeman is sharing this

day with you somewhere, somehow.

Have a radical one.

Your friend and the Codeman's

Steve

"We'll never meet?"

"That's what I said. Fact of life."

"But you and I have met, Steve. Our souls have met, just like Code's soul and my soul met. He called us Soul Buddies. You've poured out your soul to me for the past eight months. You call that not meeting? Hey, it beats the hell out of a handshake, bro. Anyway, I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me... sending me Cody's stuff. I asked you sometime ago to send me something... anything that Cody had touched. But you waited until now. Yes, I've been sniffing his Speedos and whatever, and looking at his pic on the mantle. I can't believe that I'm actually holding something that Cody had touched, and worn. This is the most awesome gift imaginable. But what about you?"

"What about me?"

"It's your birthday just a few days after mine."

"I'm OK, Gary. I've got Cody's World to work on. I've got the most awesome memories. I've got Wingnut and Steph. I've got Mark. I've got Cody's folks. And I've got you."

"Cody used to say that he and his internet friends would never meet, including me. But we did meet. I can't even begin to imagine having a better friend than Cody was to me. Soul Buddies."

"You would have loved him, Gary."

"I did love him, Steve. With all of my being. And I still do. And now I have something physical that I can touch and hold, thanks to you. I was sitting with Lindsay on the front verandah a little while ago, and I was telling him how your gift to me suddenly brought home the truth about Luke... that people like you and Cody are just so superior to the likes of Luke and his dimwit buds. There's no comparision. Absolutely none, and never will be."

"I'm so chuffed that you eventually got the package. I was thinking that maybe it got lost in the fucking mail or whatever."

"No. I was meant to get these things. It wasn't just your wish, it was also Cody's. And you know what I'm gonna do? I'm not gonna put them away in a drawer or whatever, I'm gonna use them. I'm gonna sleep with them, and hold them, and keep them near to me every day, just like Cody used to be always near to me in spirit."

"Cool. Are you wearing the wristy and the necklace?"

"Not yet. I can't put the damn things on myself, and Sue and Lindsay can't either. So I'll have to find someone who can. Hey, I wrote a Steve chapter the other day where you were saying that you'd made a wristy for Wingnut, and a second one for another bud's birthday. I had absolutely no idea that I was the other bud. You've done the most awesome thing for me, Steve. Unspeakably awesome. I could never hope to repay the fav. Never in a million years. Jeez, it wasn't all that long ago that you told me that you'd never done anything for anyone, and that you were totally selfish. WRONG! Hey, Cody was always telling me about how special his friends were. He was dead right. He was a good judge. He saw the qualities in you that the rest of us have only just begun to see, and that you have only just begun to see. As August 29 was approaching, I was getting pissed off that Cody wouldn't be sending me a wish. But he has... through you, Steve... through his friend and lover. So my 58th will be special. Maybe not "radical" but certainly special. Hey, it already is. I just hope that your birthday is at least half as special, Steve. You deserve it big time."

Copyright © 2002 All rights reserved. mrbstories


 

 Steve Part 70