Trouble Triangle (Tyler's Trouble Trilogy)

by Casey, Travis

  We passed by a souvenir stand on our way backstage. Holly insisted I needed a new shirt, so she bought me a 'Knight is Right, God is Righteous' t-shirt. Reverend Knight's photo at the top of the shirt, and a cross emitting golden rays around it at the bottom. I threw away what had been my best shirt and slipped on the new one.

  Holly flashed her backstage pass and security led us to Reverend Knight's dressing room. Another security guy checked her ID again before opening the door.

  Mr. Knight smiled as we entered and waved off his make-up artist. Standing up, he extended his hand and locked my fingers in a vice-like grip again.

  "Tyler, good to see you, son," his voice bounced off the walls and reminded me I still carried a delicate state. "Hey, I like the shirt." He play punched my shoulder. "I thought of that design and logo myself. You like it?" he asked.

  "Sir, I threw away a five hundred dollar Gucci shirt to wear this. I think it's brilliant."

  I smiled. He smiled.

  He cocked his head to one side. "What happened to your eye?"

  "Oh, it's nothing, really." I gingerly touched it. "I was giving a hand to help a disabled person out of the back of one of the vans outside. You know, the vans that bus in the handicapped. I was wheeling this lady down the ramp, I slipped and fell, and caught my eye on the handle of her wheelchair."

  "God bless you, Tyler. You're a good man. I'm ashamed to say, but I may have misjudged you, and I should know better." He looked toward the heavens, opening his arms to a full stretch. "Judge not, least ye be judged," he bellowed. "By the measure ye judge, so shall ye be judged." He pulled out his hanky, wiped his brow and returned to earth. He laid a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. "Son, will you forgive me?"

  I briefly wondered what he would do if I said no. "I don't see anything you need to be forgiven for, sir. My nature has always been one of turning the other cheek." I thought I better throw in some Shakespeare for good measure. "The quality of mercy is not strained."

  His glasses came off, the handkerchief came out, and he wiped his eyes. "You really do know your Shakespeare." He looked at Holly standing next to me. "Princess, you've done well. You got a keeper here." He stepped in and bear-hugged me, cracking my back in the process.

  "Thank you, sir," I gasped, hoping he'd release me before the spinal column snapped.

  "Come on, kids. We got a show to do and souls to save." He sounded like an exuberant school kid and I admired his passion.

  Holly and I sat on tan, metal folding chairs some ten feet behind the pulpit he pounded. His voice rose to that shaky preacher tone, "One does not have to enter the flesh," then spoke softly, "to appreciate the person." He screamed, praised, and got the hanky out every other minute. He damned anyone having sex without a marriage certificate, and blessed those in matrimonial union.

  I periodically looked at Holly throughout his sermon. Her head bowed, chin tucked into her chest, looking at the floor. A deadpan expression covered her pretty face. She looked deep in thought and I wondered if her next sexual escapade wouldn't be until after she wore a wedding band. His message that powerful; her guilt that great.

  The sermon finished to great rounds of halleluiahs and Amens. He had a satisfied look, and the crowd seemed moved. We returned to his dressing room where he offered a prayer, asking for his message to take root with the sinners. Then he suggested we all go to Red Lobster to celebrate his success.

  Holly and I sat together on one side of the booth, her father on the other. She looked sexy in her yellow sundress. Not having had sex with her for over a week drove me crazy. I knew the fine curves that dress concealed, and despite the Reverend's sermon, I found myself getting turned on and wanted desperately to do her right there…or in the restroom. I didn't care, I just wanted her.

  After we ordered, Holly excused herself to go to the ladies' room. Having not been invited to join her, I remained at the table with her dad.

  "So what're your plans for the future, son? You a career man?" He clasped his hands in front of him, resting them on the table.

  I shrugged. "Not sure, sir. Sea time would mean being away from Holly, and that would sadden me." I really would miss her if I was away from her for months.

  "You two really do make a fine couple. I think you're well suited to each other. What is it you like most about her?" He reached across the table and lightly tapped the side of my shoulder. His eyes searched my soul.

  My mind scanned every part of her body. So many bits to choose from as to which was my favorite. Since he was under the impression I had never seen his daughter naked, I thought it best not to mention her tits or bibble box.

  "Most guys probably notice her good looks. I've been fortunate enough to have been exposed to her inner beauty. Her soft, caring side. And I admire her strong moral principles." I leaned in and he did the same, like sharing a secret. "She didn't even let me kiss her till our tenth date." I leaned back.

  He smiled and shook his head, moving back to sit upright. "Ahhh, that's my girl. I'm so pleased her moral compass is holding course, especially with the pressure of young men in the military who may not share her values." He dug in his pocket and pulled out his hanky. He took off his glasses and wiped his eyes. "God bless you, Tyler." He finished wiping and put the hanky away. He leaned in again, smiling broadly. "Hey, what do you think of her cooking? Pretty good, huh?"

  "Sir, if I was a chicken, I'd like nothing better than for Holly to smother me in an avocado sauce and shove walnuts up—."

  The Reverend erupted in laughter before I could finish. Lucky for me. Holly returned to find her dad still laughing.

  "What's so funny?"

  Mr. Knight regained composure. "Princess, treat this guy like a diamond. He is forever."

  I stood up to let Holly back in the booth.

  "Glad you approve, Daddy." She leaned over and whispered in my ear. "Thanks for making such a good impression. It really means a lot. I owe you one."

  The waitress arrived with our food.

  I watched Holly as she ate. She had a unique way of eating crab legs. After snapping them in half, she'd suck the meat out of the shell; no fork required. It must have been some suck action. As she sucked one, I was sure she slid it deep into her throat and let out a quiet moan. Mr. Knight was totally engrossed in his surf n' turf, oblivious to anything that may have been happening around him. He ate like he was at his last supper.

  Reverend, Father, whatever…I couldn't help myself. I placed my hand on Holly's knee and slowly inched it toward her honey pot. She looked at me with a crab leg jutting out her mouth. She placed her hand under the table and slid it across my thigh, toward my crotch. I grew hard as her hand moved ever closer. Her hand cupped my balls. I smiled knowing she couldn't resist a little public action. Then she squeezed, hard. I yelped like a dog that had his tail stomped on.

  Mr. Knight jumped and about choked in his lobster tail. "You okay, son?" He sputtered.

  I sat doubled over. "Yes, sir. Just had a sharp pain. I think I'll be all right in a minute."

  Holly popped the crab leg out of her mouth. "Are you sure you'll be okay, Tyler?" she asked in a concerned fashion. "It would be a shame if it got any worse. And, like, it could get much worse." Her voice had a menace about it and she gave me that look from the top of her eyes with her head lowered. I got the message and placed my hands above the table.

  "No, I don't think it'll be coming back."

  "Good." She smiled.

  I needed a distraction, and it sat across from me. "That was a really good sermon, Mr. Knight. Holly and I feel much stronger in our vows to abstain from se—, well, you know, because of your words today."

  "Thank you, Tyler. Glad to be able to offer some encouragement. I hope other youngsters got the message. I hate to see it." He shook his head. "Teenage pregnancies, single mothers, venereal diseases. All because people choose to have sex out of wedlock." He lightly rapped his knuckles on the table. "Damned be the wicked immoral fornicators, blessed be the husbands and
wives."

  "Matthew?" I asked.

  "No, me." A smile spread across his face. "Pretty good, huh?"

  "Wow. Sounded like scripture to me." Holly gave me a sideways kick.

  After dinner, Mr. Knight wanted to walk around Honolulu. I suggested Waikiki, but he wanted to see the real downtown, not the tourist area. Said he wanted to feel the city, not the glitz. Holly parked and we got out to walk. He made remarks as we walked around town as to the amount of sinfulness he could feel looming in the air.

  Mr. Knight and Holly walked together, a few paces in front of me. I was so caught up in watching her ass wiggle, even in a dress, I lost sight of where we were. All I could think about was shoving my hot co—

  "Tyler. How ya doin', buddy?"

  Shit. The Pinnacle building. I didn't know how to play this one at first. Holly and her dad wheeled around to see Otto looking at me with outstretched arms. Since he called me Tyler, an unusual name as the Reverend pointed out, there didn't seem much point in denying his existence.

  "Otto, buddy." I moved in and gave him a hug. He reeked of booze so I realized he may not be in his diplomatic mode. Stepping back, I grabbed him by the shoulders. "How ya doin', pal?"

  "Yeah, I'm good. Hey, how'd you get on with the head smacking preacher man? Manage to bullshit him with Shakespeare?"

  I looked at Mr. Knight, standing there with his mouth open. Holly stood there opened mouthed as well, which kind of turned me on, thinking what I could shove—

  I slung my arm around him. "Otto." I extended my hand toward Holly's dad. "This is Reverend Knight." I moved my hand toward Holly. "And this is my girlfriend, Holly."

  Otto wiped his hand on his pants and extended it to Mr. Knight. "Pleased to meet you." Holly's dad took his hand. "Holy crap. You're one of those finger pinchers. Lighten up, dude?"

  The Reverend's nostrils flared as he looked at me. "Tyler, who is this man?"

  "Umm…I help out at the soup kitchen, and Otto is one of our customers." I looked at him. "Isn't that right, Otto?"

  He nodded.

  "And we often discuss Shakespeare. Isn't that right, Otto?"

  He nodded again.

  "And you're gonna quit swearing like we talked about, aren't you?"

  More nodding from Otto.

  "Maybe you should apologize to the Reverend."

  Otto stepped toward the Reverend and bowed his head. "Sorry I cussed," he said softly. He looked up at Mr. Knight. "You gonna heal me, Father."

  "What manner of healing are you in need of, Mr. Otto? Physical or…" he cleared his throat, "spiritual?"

  "Well, my life's pretty fu—"

  I kicked my foot sideways and managed to hit Otto's ankle.

  He shot me a sharp look which quickly dissolved. "Oh, right. I mean, my situation is pretty messed up. You know, living on the streets and everything."

  Mr. Knight took out his hanky and wiped his brow, and shoved it back in his pocket. He gently laid his hand on Otto's forehead. "When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles."

  Otto shifted his look from side to side, his eyes blinking wildly. "I feel different, Father. Did you heal me?"

  Reverend Knight put a hand on Otto's shoulder. "Not me, son. A power greater than I. I am but a servant."

  Wow. A bolt of lighting striking in front of us wouldn't have surprised me. Something powerful happened, but I wasn't sure what.

  Holly's feet twitched. "Come on, Daddy, let's go."

  Mr. Knight and Otto stared at each other in a bonding like moment. He removed his hand from his shoulder. "God bless you," Mr. Knight said, looking Otto in the eye. He reached in his wallet and gave him fifty dollars. "The Lord says I should trust you to do the right thing with this. I may not trust you, but I trust Him."

  Otto's face lit up, staring at the fifty dollar bill as we walked away. Mr. Knight stepped sprightly ahead of us. His shoulders thrown back like a man full of pride.

  I wondered if I'd ever see Otto again.

  Chapter 20Holly dropped her dad off at her house and took me back to base. Although I had sex with Debbie the night before, it wasn't Holly. We hadn't had sex for over a week and I missed her wild ways. Daddy may have had a way of healing the sick and disabled, but his presence also acted as a chastity belt.

  Holly was unrestrained, uninhibited and full of surprises; an out and out, anything goes fuck toy. I couldn't believe that she had become so reserved just by her father being on the same island. I liked Mr. Knight. Maybe because if it wasn't for him, Holly wouldn't exist. He was a bit strange and loud, but full of passion. I admired that. Somewhat like Holly, albeit motivated by different powers.

  We pulled up outside my barracks. I wanted to demand that we had sex right there in the back of her Mustang. I had such a burning lust for her, but sensed that until Daddy took the skies, any passion would be put on hold.

  Holly shut the engine off and turned sideways in her seat to face me. I held both of her hands in mine. It was a tender moment looking into her warm eyes. Passion and desire consumed me, but she looked like the vulnerable girl her Daddy thought her to be.

  "Hey, babe, I think you're doing really good. It can't be easy with your dad around and his beliefs. I know how much you like a good fu—, I mean fun time. I'm proud of how you manage to maintain your integrity while he's here."

  "Oh, Tyler, that's so sweet of you to say that. You barely spoke a word all the way here. I thought you were like totally super-mad at me. I know how much you like…well, you know…and you've done really well at not staining."

  "I think you mean abstaining."

  "Like, whatever. I even forgive you for trying to touch my bibble box in front of Daddy." She giggled and gave me a naughty smile. She moved in close. "If it wasn't for Daddy, I would have done it right there. You're such a bad…bad…boy." She licked her lips. My crotch twitched. "As soon as Daddy leaves, I'll make it up to you. Promise."

  "You're worth the wait. Goodnight."

  'Love you' seemed the right thing to say, followed by a hot throbbing, pulsating co— well, that wasn't going to happen, so I left it there. I leaned in and kissed her. She looked quite sad as I left, knowing we weren't going to make love. But I knew she'd be so wracked with guilt if she did consent that it wouldn't be up to our usual standard.

  #

  I woke up Monday morning feeling refreshed. The absence of a hangover put a spring in my step as I walked to the shop. It was just as well to be of sound mind as I took the exam for Third Class Petty Officer in the morning. Although I did very little studying for it, I felt fairly confident that I would pass. Most of the test was on firefighting and damage control, subjects I excelled at in 'A' school. Sober and confident, I looked forward to the rest of the day. Returning to the shop, Petty Officer Watkins called me into his office.

  "Chambers, I need to send a man down to the Evansville. You think you can do a job without setting any Master Chiefs on fire or getting underway with the boat?" He smiled, obviously amused by my past antics.

  "No problem, boss. What you got?"

  "The submariners are having trouble with their hydrostatic testing rig. It's on the fritz. They need to pressure test a recently replaced hydraulic system. The system operates at 3000 psi, so you know what that means."

  "Yeah, we got to test it to 4500."

  "Right. Take our rig down there, hook it up and help 'em test it. Okay?"

  "You can count on me, boss." I gave him an unnecessary salute.

  I took the hydro rig down to the boat and the submariners helped me take it down and get it in position. Some bubblehead named Rumsey and I were in charge of testing the system. We knelt down as we hooked the rig to the system to be pressurized. One of his shipmates, Smith, stopped by.

  "Ooh, la, la," Smith said, "Rumsey, you have got to check out the fox in the R-1 division office." He grabbed his crotch. "She has got to be the hottest piece of tail on this base."

  He could grab his crotch all he wanted,
but that was as close as he'd ever get to Holly. A certain amount of pride hit me knowing that I was the one getting that hot piece of tail on a regular basis. Well, regular when Daddy wasn't in town.

  "Nice tits?" Rumsey asked, cupping his hands in front of his chest.

  "Perfect. Not too big, not too small, just the right size. If she's not lesbo, I'm gonna give her a good hard one before we go to sea." He thrushed his hips.

  "Hey, maybe we should double team her. You don't mind sharing with a shipmate, do you Smitty?"

  "Umm…." I cleared my throat. "If you guys don't mind, that's my girlfriend you're talking about. And I can assure you, she's not a lesbian."

  "You? Get outta town. It's a well known fact that the chicks in Pearl are all lezzy. And what would she be doing with you? She needs a real man, not some faggot."

  I couldn't figure out where these guys were coming from. I never did anything to them. Just because I had a hot girlfriend didn't mean they could kick sand in my face.

  "Come on then, Chambers," Rumsey said, "what's she like in the sack?"

  "What?" I looked at Rumsey. "You some kind of sicko that can't get any, so you get off on listening to other people's tales in the bedroom?" I stood up and looked at Smitty. "And who you callin' queer?"

  "Tell me, Chambers," Smitty said casually, "does she swallow? Like you?"

  "Swallow this, motherfucker." A loud crack sounded when my fist connected with Smitty's jaw. He fell to the deck with the back of his head making another loud noise from the full contact of his skull hitting the metal plating.

  Rumsey scrambled to his feet and landed a punch on my good eye. I retaliated with a solid right hook to the side of his face. We both lowered our heads and kept throwing punches. Then, a sharp rabbit punch landed on my kidney from behind and I fell to my knees.

  "Leave Rumsey alone, you surface puke," the assailant growled.

  I rolled onto my back to see four more bubbleheads standing over me. I closed my eyes and tucked into a ball when I saw their steel-toed boots coming toward my body. They kicked the crap out of me.