"Huh?" Jason sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "That's pretty." He scratched his chest and pecked Kyle a kiss. "Hey, I wonder ... You think maybe they've got a court here?"

They left Nelson sleeping and walked toward the houses. Along the way they came across a guy in an orange miniskirt chopping wood. Jason asked, "You guys got a hoop around here?"

Miniskirt Guy gave Jason a blank look. "You mean, like, for basketbal?" He shook his head. "Nah."

"How can these guys not have a hoop?" Jason asked Kyle as they ambled on toward the bathhouse. After they showered and washed up, they continued on to the main house.

Breakfast consisted of yogurt, raisins, pomegranate juice, and applesauce pancakes made by Voluptuous Clorox, who-to Kyle's relief-now wore a tie-dyed Tshirt.

After Jason and he had eaten, Kyle carried a covered plate of pancakes and some juice back to the tent for Nelson, hoping to rouse him. But Nelson wouldn't budge.

"I'm not waiting for him," Jason complained. He unzipped Nelson's sleeping bag, grabbed his ankles, and dragged him out of the tent.

"What the hel!" Nelson woke up kicking and screaming. "Leave me alone!"

"Get your lazy butt up!" Jason dropped his ankles onto the ground. "I'm not waiting around for you every morning."

"Screw you!" Nelson shouted, puling himself up.

"In your dreams." Jason grinned.

"No, in my nightmares," Nelson shot back.

To calm him down, Kyle handed Nelson the pancakes and juice. While Nelson sat beneath a tree to eat, Kyle roled up their sleeping bags. Jason folded up the tent and disassembled the poles.

Then Nelson cleaned up at the bathhouse and they carried their stuff to the car. Jason asked him, "You sure this time you have your cel?" Nelson quickly checked his pockets before grumbling, "Yeah."

As they finished loading the car, Horn-Boy walked up, hornless now. He looked almost normal in jeans and a tank top-except for the daisy behind his ear.

"Hey, good morning." He gently handed the daisy to Nelson. "How far are you guys going today?"

"Memphis," Kyle replied. "Can you tel us where's the nearest gas station?"

Horn-Boy gave them directions and explained how to get back to the interstate.

"Okay. Thanks, man," Jason shook Horn-Boy's hand.

"Yeah, thanks," Kyle shook hands too and folowed Jason into the car, leaving Nelson to say good-bye privately. Yet Kyle and Jason couldn't help watching in the rearview as Horn-Boy rested his hand on Nelson's chest.

"What's he doing that for?" Jason asked.

"I don't know. He's saying something."

They both watched, curious, as Horn-Boy left his hand on Nelson's chest a moment before removing it. Then Nelson grinned and wrapped his arms around Horn-Boy, and they kissed ... and kissed ... til Jason punched the horn and shouted out the window, "We don't have al day!" Nelson held up his middle finger at Jason, kissed Horn-Boy one last time, and climbed into the backseat of the car.

As they waved good-bye and began bouncing down the dirt entrance road, Kyle asked, "What was he doing with his hand?"

"He was praying for my heart." Nelson gave a wistful smile. "He wished me peace, joy, love, and lots of hot, groovy sex!" Bringing the daisy to his nose, Nelson gazed out the rear window. "That place was so freaking amazing!"

"Weird," Jason corrected.

"No!" Nelson countered. "It's the rest of the world that's weird. Why shouldn't you be able to dress how you want, act how you want, and love who you want? If you're so straight-acting, then why don't you have the guts to just let yourself go and be who you are?" Jason was quiet after that and Kyle said, "The place was definitely interesting." At the gas station Jason filed up the tank and Kyle went inside to pay. Behind the register sat a woman with a long, thin face, puled-back hair, and a gray T-shirt.

Though she smiled a little, she seemed so plain compared with the people at the sanctuary. Kyle recaled Nelson's comment from the night before about The Wizard of Oz and Technicolor. It now felt like they'd stepped back into black-and-white.

An hour later they arrived in Nashvile to see the sights. As they drove through downtown, Nelson stuck his head out the window, pink hair waving in the wind, shouting "Woo-hoo! Nashvile!" as people on the sidewalk stared.

Kyle squirmed, but he knew there was no stopping Nelson.

"I want to go to the Grand Ole Opry first," Nelson announced as they parked the car. He'd been on a country music kick ever since Jeremy had taught him to two-step.

"You guys go," Jason said, grabbing his basketbal. "I want to find a court."

Kyle suddenly got a holow feeling in his stomach. "Don't you want to see the Opry and stuff? Isn't that the whole point of this trip? To experience things together?"

"I've got to keep up my practice," Jason said, looking away. "I promised Coach."

"I know, but ..." Kyle struggled for words, wanting to be supportive but also eager for Jason to see the sights with them.

Nevertheless, Jason insisted on finding a court. A parking lot attendant pointed him toward a school down the street. The boys agreed to meet back at the car in two hours. And Kyle watched in frustration as Jason dribbled his bal down the sidewalk.

Nelson chattered excitedly while he and Kyle toured the big red brick building that had been home to the original Grand Ole Opry, hosting performers ranging from Minnie Pearl to Patsy Cline to Bruce Springsteen. He insisted they get their souvenir picture taken on stage, paying for it himself. He grabbed the prop banjo and told Kyle, "Open your mouth like you're realy singing!"

Kyle grabbed the guitar and they posed behind the stage mike while the tour attendant took their photo.

The picture came out great, except for the fact that Jason wasn't in it.

After the Opry the boys wandered along the honky-tonk shops and clubs on Broadway. Nelson took a camera phone photo of a cute cowboy playing his guitar on the sidewalk. After that he asked Kyle, "Why'd you stop me from getting laid with Horn-Boy last night?" The question didn't surprise Kyle. He'd figured Nelson would bring it up eventualy. "First of al," he explained, "because you'd just met the guy. You can't sleep with someone you just met."

"Why not? It's just sex."

"It's not just sex," Kyle said in a low voice, embarrassed that other tourists walking by might hear them. "It's never just sex. You're trusting a guy with one of the most special parts of you-and you need to know him first."

"Oh, Kyle!" Nelson swung his arm around him. "You're so old-fashioned."

"Plus," Kyle added, "you were stoned, giggling al nutty-like. First it's rum, then it's pot, what's it going to be next? Crack?"

"Yeah, boy crack." Nelson gave a sly grin. "You're overreacting, Kyle."

"No, I'm not! Drugs screw up your judgment. You could've done something unsafe."

"I would've been safe." Nelson reached into his pocket and puled out a condom. "See?"

"Would you put that away?" Kyle felt the color rushing into his face. "Even with a condom, he might've had some disease besides HIV. Every day the news reports some new drug-resistant STD."

"You are so controling," Nelson groaned and shoved the condom back into his pocket. "Just like my mom. What did she tel you, anyway?"

"To look after you," Kyle answered. He was enjoying being with Nelson, just the two of them, in spite of having to chew him out-and even though he missed Jason.

He swung his arm around Nelson, and Nelson smirked. "So that means you'l decide if I get laid or not?"

"No." Kyle stopped at a DON'T WALK signal, holding Nelson back. "It means I'm not going to let you do something stupid." Nelson darted a glance at him, then looked each way down the traffic-empty street.

"Kyle," he said at last, not bothering to keep his voice down. "I think you need to stop trying to control me. You and Jason better get laid. Soon!" With that he stepped into the street, crossing against the signal, leaving Kyle amid the stares of the crowd.

But even though Kyle's cheeks grew hot, he remained lawfuly on the curb, wondering if Nelson was right.

chapter 17.

As Jason had headed toward the school down the street from the boys' parked car, he'd seen in the distance a group of African-American guys playing ful-court.

Immediately he felt a connection, like family, and counted the number of players: five-on-five.

On the empty court beside them, Jason began the drils Coach Gameron had given him-a little self-conscious at first because of the guys on the next court, until he got into the flow of his shooting workout.

As he dribbled across the concrete, he tried to sort out his thoughts about the crazy Faeries and their sanctuary. He'd never experienced anything as wild as that before: the wacky clothes guys wore, the tribelike dancing around the fire, and the girls flaunting their boobs in his face.

That topless thing had totaly crazed him. But why? Hadn't he figured out he was gay? Then why'd he gotten so excited by bare girl titties? Kyle and Nelson obviously hadn't.

Jason began shooting free throws to calm his troubled mind. After about the tenth shot he began to feel his center, that integrity point inside his brain that Coach had taught him to identify.

"The eye in the hurricane," Coach had caled it, the point where Jason could feel at peace with himself amid a stadium of cursing spectators, shouting referees, and his own conflicting inner voices.

"Hey, man!" someone abruptly caled to him.

Jason turned. One of the players from the neighboring court stood watching him. "One of our guys left us short. Want to run?"

"Sure!" Jason set his bal down and joined the group.

"You're shirts," the boy told him. "Game's to eleven. Win by two."

Even though Jason knew none of these guys, he quickly felt at ease. Within seconds he'd hit his first shot and his teammates were clasping his hand. It felt great to be around normal guys again, who played by clear, established rules; guys who looked and acted like guys were supposed to look and act, in contrast to those wacky Faeries.

And yet Nelson's comment about having "the courage to let go and be who you are" kept nagging at him. Not wanting to think about it, Jason focused on the game at hand. And when it came time to go, he had to force himself to leave.

As he walked back to meet Kyle and Nelson, he thought what a relief it had been to take a break from 24/7 gayness. Between Nelson's finger snapping and Kyle's hand-holding, hardly a moment could pass that he wasn't reminded of it.

Like now, watching them approach, he could hear them bickering-not like most dudes his age, but almost sounding like a couple of old ladies.

He liked being with them, but ... sometimes he felt so different from them. And yet he was different from the boys on the court, too. Would he ever feel like he fit in anywhere?

"How'd it go?" Kyle offered a tentative smile.

"Great." Jason smiled back. "How was the Opry?"

"Fabulous!" Nelson exclaimed. "You missed out big-time."

"I wish you'd come," Kyle told Jason. "Hey, check this out!"

Jason gazed at the photo of Kyle and Nelson on stage at the Opry. Now he wished he'd gone too. He bit his lip in regret.

Kyle must've noticed. "We can go back if you want."

"Nah." Jason shrugged. "That's okay." He handed back the photo.

"Wel, you can't bag out on Graceland," Nelson told him as they started toward the car.

But Jason slowed his steps as he noticed the passenger door. Scratched into the paint, a word stood out: FAGGS!

"Assholes!" Nelson shouted at ful voice. "The jerks can't even spel."

"Who would do this?" Kyle ran his fingers along the scratch. "How would they even know?"

"Probably that flag on the bumper," Jason speculated. "I told you to take it off."

"If it wasn't for that flag," Nelson pointed out, "we'd probably stil be on the side of the road out of gas."

"Guys?" Kyle interjected. "There's nothing we can do about it now. Let's just go eat." Grudgingly, Jason climbed into the car. As Nelson drove, Kyle guided them past the replica of the Greek Parthenon, which was cool to look at from outside but cost too much to go in. A few blocks away from it, Kyle spotted a barbecue place and suggested, "Why don't we try that?" Inside, the restaurant smeled like a hundred years' worth of wood smoke. As the gum-chewing hostess led them to their table, she stared suspiciously at Nelson's pink hair.

After they placed their order, Kyle asked Jason, "So did you find some guys to shoot with at the court?"

"Yeah." Jason nodded and sipped his water.

Nelson leaned eagerly across the table. "Were any of them cute?"

"Is that al you think about?"

Nelson put a finger to his chin as if thinking for a moment, then said, "Yeah. Were they?" Jason set his water glass down. "I didn't notice."

But that wasn't entirely true. He had noticed a couple of the guys were good-looking, but he just hadn't given it much thought. He'd been concentrating on his game, not on hooking up. Besides, he didn't imagine any of them were gay.

In the middle of the waitress bringing their order, Nelson asked Jason, "So what's it like spending so much time with guys in the locker room? Don't you get totaly horny?"

The waitress nearly dropped Jason's barbecue sandwich onto his lap. "Sorry. Anything else you need?" Yeah, Jason wanted to say. Some tape for his mouth.

"Nelson!" Kyle hissed as the waitress walked away.

"Wel, I'm curious," Nelson insisted and glanced back at Jason. "Have you ever gotten a woody in the locker room showers?"

"Dude, we're eating!" Jason chomped into his sandwich, hoping Nelson would shut up.