Chapter 5

Living outside of Mellowbush, they’d never bothered with fences. The backyard butted up onto the fields owned by Mr. Parker—or at least, Mr. Parker had owned them when Thomas had moved away—leaving it wide and open for anything the Durling family might want. A clothesline was strung between the two maples, and the old-fashioned tubular swing set sat crookedly on a knoll. Nothing anchored it down. When he’d gotten old enough to pump himself high on it, it had a tendency to tip over. That sensation of falling had been the most exhilarating thing in the world to him until he turned fifteen and touched his first cock that wasn’t his own. It still created a swirl of whimsy in his gut when he looked at it.