Chapter 11

Slowly, I pulled the chest out of the pile of magazines and removed its lock, which I set on the floor. Next, I opened the chest with both hands and looked inside. I felt my heart fall and whispered with horror, “Jesus in heaven.”

* * * *

There were dozens of pictures of naked boys inside the treasure chest. Underage boys bare of shirts, pants, and underwear. Naked males of different ages: between eight and sixteen, I guessed. Peach-colored male children with limp cocks, hairless underarms, and plump bellies from too much sugar in their diets. Nine-year-olds with missing baby teeth. Twelve-year-olds with brushes of hair beneath their navels. Fifteen-year-olds with cut erections, blowing kisses at the camera. Sixteen-year-old boys shooting semen against their torsos after masturbating, scooping the goo up with their fingers and licking their fingers clean.

Such foul pictures.

Two hundred twenty-seven in all.

Most in color.

“My God,” I whispered, feeling sick to my stomach.