Say Uncle (Kadavro & Yep)

[Yep]

The setting sun in the rearview mirror only served to remind Tucker Lee Johnson of how long he had been in the car. What started out as a ride with a smile on his face and a horrible tune to the songs that came on his iPod, hooked up to the upgraded radio, transitioned to a quiet drive with an exhausted frown since about three hours ago. He was used to the trip to his uncle's house thanks to the yearly visits his family made--usually just his mom and sister, with his dad tagging along only half of the time--but this was his first time driving the entire eight hours from Illinois alone. No one came with him since this was, after all, not going to be some two-week-long visit. After receiving a deferred admission, he was able to spend that year after his high school graduation scrounging up money for college down in Chattanooga, and his uncle was nice enough to allow him to stay at his place, which was in a nearby town.

Fortunately, Tucker was almost at the house. Finding relief in knowing that his journey was almost done, he drove a little faster than what was permitted, and after making two more turns, he finally arrived at the address. He pulled his red '99 Pontiac Sunfire into the driveway of the two-story home and cut the ignition. The first two steps outside the car were awkward from his legs being a little stiff, but he enjoyed the chance to finally stretch them anyway. While making his way to the trunk, he removed his shades, revealing his blue hues, and clipped them to the front of his blue T-shirt.

One by one he removed the few pieces of luggage he had and put the straps around his shoulders--while making sure he didn't mess up his spiked up brown hair, a style he had been wearing for a few months now, when slipping the straps around his head. Despite what people may think from first glance at his small build, the nineteen-year-old had some muscle, so he was able to support the weight of his things, not that they were too heavy, anyway. The last bag out of the trunk was the suitcase with his clothes. This he would have to roll up to the porch, which he did after closing the trunk and making sure his car was locked. Once he reached the front door, he slipped his keys into his cargo shorts pocket and rapped his knuckles on the door a few times before taking a step back. Now he waited for Uncle Mason to answer, preparing a small, worn out smile for when he would see the man's face on the other side.

 

[Kadavro]

Why had he agreed to this? He hadn't seen his family in years, and all of a sudden they decided to tell him that he was hosting his nephew for the next few years, that they didn't want to bother with getting housing on campus, how he would have made Father so proud... He wasn't going to be happy about this. He had left his family behind long ago, heading to strike it off on his own and didn't look back. Why should he? Okay, maybe he did look back at times. At least tried to. He hadn't gotten visitors, though. He could hardl be expected to take a road trip for no reason since he got his job in the area a decade before. He was always on call. He got paid even when not at the dams, but that was only so they could legally have him forced to stay if there wasn't a replacement around.

And here the kid came. Strange the dogs hadn't started barking yet. Getting up from the TV, he went to get on some decent clothing. Tartan shirt, clean wifebeater, beaten bluejeans, grease over a fair bit of everything... No hand me downs, just extra large clothing that he had worn and beaten into submission over the years. Bending, rumbling, small fires, spills, he gave them everything. He wasn't fat by any means, though he was fairly wide at at the arms and chest. He worked out a fair bit while repairing buildings and machines, as well as just lugging stuff around from the fields to his garage for smelting. He was shaven, though not all that well, at his hair was sandy brown, bleached from the sun through with a hair bit of grease and dirt in it. While it was a bit longer in the front, it didn't cover his neck, allowing it to redden, as well as keeping aprons from getting caught in it. He headed to the door after finishing last minute preperations, then opened to see his nephew.

 

[Yep]

There had been some delay between when he knocked and when his uncle answered. Combined with the fact that he was rather impatient to be able to relax after the long drive, Tucker was about to knock again, but stopped himself from raising his hand up to the door when he saw it begin to open. That smile was on his face in an instant, but it turned out to be short-lived when the awkwardness of it all quickly set in. He didn't know the man very well, after all, so standing here on his porch with all that he chose to bring with him was a little weird. Maybe he should have considered the dorms a little more, but he had decided this could turn out to be the cheaper option, and his mom told him her brother would have no problems with him staying here.

After a few seconds of silence, he decided to say something: "Uh, hey. I--uh--made it." Yeah, that was a good start. He topped it off by offering a sheepish smile with a flash of his pearly whites. Now to cut to the chase: "Can I come in? It's been a long drive." His voice possessed a warmth to it--soft yet, in an odd kind of way, perhaps, a contradictory strength. It was a quality that might have suggested the ability to sing. Unfortunately, he could do no such thing.

As he waited for Uncle Mason to allow him inside, Tucker glanced down at the man's attire, noticing the grease stains. Admittedly a little gross, he did often find such a dirty look attractive on most men. It suggested hard work, which just added to a guy's masculinity, in his opinion, and that was the kind of thing he went for in potential partners. It was also part of the reason he enjoyed that landscaping job he had in the summer last year. Too bad he didn't have it for long. The same guy he had the hots for turned out to be a total jackass, and after one too many passive-aggressive insults, Tucker ended up getting into a fight with him.

 

[Kadavro]

Mason gave an appraising look over his nephew. Nice smile, though it seemed forced, as if he was going an advertisement for Colgate. He sniffed, brining in wiffs of what he thought might be perfume, though might just have been bodyspray or something from his toilet bag. "Of course." Masons said, reaching passed Tucker to pick up his bags before leading him inside, not paying much attention to him. "Bathroom's to the right." He instructed with a sharp nod to an open door which clearly had no lock while passing a table that looked like it came from Ikea, underneath the mounted had of a buck which seemed to be showing it's skull under the badly taxidermied hide. The place seemed to have a strange mix of styles, with things either too old, too modern, or looking as if they had been hand made. The repairs weren't too shoddy, but they got overly complicated at times. "Your room is going to be upstairs. If you are scared of heights we'll clear some things away for you to sleep in the den."

Yahhh, have him in the den. He hoped his sister hadn't coddled him too much. The man she married seemed just as weak as her, though she made it up with her tongue and temper, things he hoped hadn't been passed down to this kid. "I'll take you around town tomorrow after you have slept. Get you a library card." Teen or not, he was still a book ripper to him, and he wasn't letting him use his card. "If you don't need to sleep right now I can make you something quick, but I usually only cook for one and you might not like it." Maybe the boy could cook, even if the punkish hairstyle suggested otherwise. "There will be the usual rules here, so it's clear. We aren't as lax and liberal as in Loiue. No taking girls here after dark without an escort, nothing before marriage, keep away from the Greasers, and don't drink and drive. Any questions?"

 

[Yep]

Tucker opened his mouth to protest his uncle carrying his suitcase with his clothes in it, but it was too late. He was already walking away with it. Tucker frowned a little. Man pride. He already had quite a bit of it, thanks for feeling the need to counteract his rather soft-looking appearance, and it was a little more amplified around the more muscular guys. Regardless, he shrugged it off. The remaining few bags were still on his shoulders, so it wasn't like it was that big of a deal.

He followed the man through the house, looking around as he did so to get a feel for the man's...odd decorative tastes (not that he expected anything spectacular). When the bathroom was pointed out, he glanced at it, noting the lack of a lock, but it wasn't that big of a deal--as long as it wouldn't lead to one of those awkward situations where one barged in on the other unintentionally. As for the comment about being scared of heights, he smiled and said, "Nah, the room upstairs will be fine."

Tucker slightly arched a brow at the sudden mention of getting a library card. It just seemed like a random thing to suggest doing, unless the man thought he was a reader, but he wasn't. Sure, he enjoyed most of the books he read in school, but it wasn't something he did during his free time. He was going to say the card wouldn't be needed, but before he had the chance to, Uncle Mason continued speaking. Tucker just listened for now, unable to keep from smirking vaguely at the first two rules. He briefly wondered how his uncle would react if he blurted out right now that he was a fag. That probably wouldn't have been a good idea, though. It would majorly suck if he got kicked out within the first few minutes of getting here.

"No, no questions." At least, not yet. "And something to eat would be great, but if you aren't feeling up to it, I don't mind doing it myself. I won't burn the house down. Promise." He hadn't eaten anything since early afternoon, but he didn't want the man to feel like he had to whip out a frying pan, mainly because he wasn't so sure if he wanted to try his uncle's cooking with what he told him. Then again, could someone really screw up something like a burger?

"Oh, and thanks for letting me stay here, Uncle Mason. If there's anything I can do to repay you, let me know." Although he hoped there wasn't anything, or at least nothing too bad. He certainly wouldn't mind getting a free ride. Tucker glanced toward the stairs as he adjusted one of the straps on his shoulder. "Where upstairs is the room?"

 

[Kadavro]

So far he seemed to be the quite sort, probably critiquing the decor or turning up his nose at the area. He'd just have to accept it, though. Looking into a spare room which looked like it belonged to a hoarder, with boxes of magazines and newsletters on engineering, technique guides on metalsmithing, and catalouges for tools the size of phonebooks. Getting to a room two more doors down, he opened to show a room with removed boxes obvious by the outlines in the dust. "Haven't much time to get it decorated, but I'm sure you will find what you like." There was a bed and table, but not much else. He hadn't had much time over the last two days since he got the call. He didn't know if they had simply had a check bounce or if they wanted to rent out his nephew's room to make ends meet and decided to send him over there for the summer. He new very little other than that they had managed to sign lots of things giving him responsibility over the kid and he didn't want to deal with litigation that could damage his reputation.

"Don't worry, I'll be getting you to work until you get classes." Mason considered what he even knew about the boy. He was going to college nearby, but he didn't know what classes he was after nor why he chose this one other than to freeload off of him. He might have been thinking a bit harshly, but the kid wasn't a kid anymore. Meaning he would have lost any memories of their playing up until the boy became eight and the family moved away. He had trouble remember the name, only knowing that it was something juvenile sounding. "Just say what you want and I'll see if I have stuff to make it. You're going to need a lot more calories on you. Come down when you are feeling hungry. Your bedtime is ten." He was supposed to be here to study, so if he was going to stay up it would be because he was pouring over the local or college libraries for whatever it was he was to try. "And no cooking until I know you won't fill the area with gas."

 

[Yep]

Tucker followed Uncle Mason up the stairs, glancing into the room with the open door. He didn't get much of a glimpse, but he saw the boxes. A few steps later, they arrived at what was going to be his room and Tucker looked around, even though there wasn't much to see. "It'll do." No dresser. Not a problem for now. The dust, though, would be. He wasn't a neat freak, but seeing the dust would bug him. It could be taken care of tomorrow, assuming there was time after Uncle Mason showed him around the town.

"I already plan on working," he replied with a smile. Earning some more money would be useful. Besides, there wasn't much else he would be able to do during the day. He didn't know anyone here, so he couldn't exactly blow off doing anything to party or hang out somewhere. And being nineteen didn't give him the option of clubbing, unless there was miraculously a gay one that permitted people under twenty-one--a fake ID certainly wouldn't work for him. Working wasn't fun, but it would keep him from becoming incredibly bored until the fall semester started. Though if his uncle planned on giving him chores, then that may have been different. Tucker wasn't used to doing anything at home other than keeping his room clean when his mom pestered him about it or doing yard work, which he usually didn't mind.

Tucker glanced down at his body when Uncle Mason mentioned him needing more calories, but he looked up in time to hear his bedtime. He couldn't suppress the smile. "Okay." As if he really planned on listening. He wasn't a kid. He'd go to sleep when he wanted. His uncle trying to tell him otherwise was hard to take seriously. "A burger will be fine, thanks. Actually, I'll take one now. Unpacking can wait." Other than his clothes and what was in his duffel bag, there wasn't much to drag out right now. Tucker stepped over to the bed, setting his laptop case, his duffel bag, and his backpack, which mostly held school supplies he thought he was going to need. "You can put the suitcase wherever," he said before turning to face his uncle.

 

[Kadavro]

At least the boy was 'planning' to work. It wouldn't do much good with a univeristy town staffed by dropouts or mills filled with experienced men. Even the more rural areas had lots of people either on welfare or working at some close knit family business. Not having had famial connections in the area and being considered a Yankee for a while hadn't helped his job prospects at first. Still, what he worked at demanded a certain level of respect. Didn't hurt that he drew checks from working for most levels of the government as a contractor. "Do you have a resume?" Mason asked as he dropped the cases from his hands, then grabbing Tucker's chin in his large, calloused hands as he smiled at the talk about bedtime. "You have a curfew and are going to stick to it unless you first get my permission to be out. Understood?" He gave a bit of a squeeze before relasing his chin and walking by him towards the stairs.

"You have been placed in my care and I won't have you wrecking my standing around here with any hanky panky or vandalism. There is going to be discipline. You will sign the contact to the effect that you are renting here and if you break the rules you will need to pay up." He headed down to the kitchen, wondering if he was being too harsh on the boy. It could be good to just get it all out of the way now. "I have all the keys. I will give you a spare if you behave. If you abuse the trust with that, I will lock the house form inside and you will sleep in your car. Are you able to drink?" He didn't mean it as a questino for letting him go out to bars or anything. He just didn't know if he was allowed alchohol by his parents. He took out a bottle of beer, putting it on the kitchen counter as he got out ground beef and proceeded to fry it.

OOC: Hope the chin grabbing isn't godmoding. Couldn't think of a way to have it at the end of the post.

 

[Yep]

((It's fine.))

"Yeah." Tucker was able to get out that single word when asked about a resume before his chin was grabbed. His eyes widened infinitesimally from not expecting it. Normally he would have found being handled this way kind of hot, but not so much when it came from a relative. He looked his uncle in the eyes, listening to him, before trying to pull away when his chin was squeezed, a scowl on his face. His expressions softened afterward, though, and he followed Uncle Mason toward the stairs. "Okay, understood. I'll be home by ten." Having a curfew would suck--he thought he was done with that after senior year--but he would listen. He would have to if he wanted to avoid the consequences.

They arrived at the kitchen by the time the man asked him if he was able to drink. Tucker shrugged. "Kind of. Mom and Dad don't care as long as I'm not driving while drunk." Really, their words were that they didn't want him to drink, but they also said that if he was going to do it that he should at least be responsible. They probably realized it would have been difficult to stop him from getting his hands on beer, even with a curfew, not that they were much good with discipline, anyway. "But I'm not much of a drinker. Only at parties." Maybe that wasn't such a good thing to say, but it had slipped from his mouth before he allowed himself to think about it. "I'm more of a water person." There was pop, but that was only at fast food places and sometimes other restaurants--when he wouldn't be paying the bill. "Where are your cups?" The least he could do was get his drink himself. He didn't think about bottled water. He never drank it at home. Just tap, but then again, that was because they had a filter on the faucet, so it wasn't that big of a deal.

 

[Kadavro]

Kid had nice eyes, he'd give him that. Nice effect with the deer-in-the-headlights look. He briefly looked at some motor oil that had ended up on the boy's face, courtesy of a smear which he hadn't managed to completely wash off off his hands. Speaking of which, he began to wash his hands in the sink again, trying to get anything else off of it before he went further in the meal. Letting the burger sizzle some, he found some somewhat staling buns and took them out. It wasn't green or blue so it should be fine enough for him. At the water comment he got out a cup from a cabinet and filled it for him. He was unsure if he should think of him better for drinking healthy or if he was into the flavored water fads, but the cups would tip the scale in favor of healthy living. At least until he recalled the sentence before that.

"What sort of parties do you go to?" It was only to be expected that it would all come around, back to this. "Wine tastings?" He wasn't against drinking. He drank a fair bit. Same as many around there. The issue was having a bunch of people who couldn't hold their liquor, armed with pimped out cars and broken condoms, making decisions that wouldeffect more than their own little lives. Maybe he should have made an exception for Tucker's girlfirend, if he had one. Give him a chance to vent his urges and not go overboard the rest of the time. "Don't drink water from some of the faucets around here." He added after getting some condiments. "And some of the moonshine will blind you. Never drink anything unbottled." He might have been exxagerating the severity of things a bit. It was hardly as if every single person was a hick and the infastructure was shot. He would know.

 

[Yep]

Perhaps needless to say, Tucker was unaware of the smear on his face. It didn't occur to him that his uncle had dirty hands, and even as the man washed them, the possibility of something getting on his face still didn't occur to him. When it came to the cup of water, Tucker frowned a little. He rather would have gotten it himself. Partly because it felt like something that was too simple for someone to do for him, but also because it would have given him something to do, even if only for a few seconds. Regardless, he thanked him for the water and took a sip of it as he took to leaning against the wall, off to the side. After being in the car for so long, he didn't want to sit again too soon.

A small, humorous smile curved Tucker's lips when Uncle Mason asked him if he went to wine tastings. "No." Before he could say much more, his uncle warned him about the tap water. He eyed the cup in his hand warily, and at the mention of moonshine, his insides felt contaminated. He had the sudden urge to start spitting into his cup out of some weak attempt to purge himself of what little water he drank. He didn't, though. "In that case, I'll buy a case tomorrow." With that, he set the cup down on the counter.

Now that the fear of being blinded passed, he returned his attention to what they had been talking about before. "No, I went to the typical high school parties. I guess it'll be college now, but I don't party too much anymore." Whether Uncle Mason would believe him was probably questionable, but he knew he was telling the truth. Partying became less frequent for him during his junior year. Part of it was because it got boring after a while, but it was mainly because he wanted to avoid feeling like he had to drink a lot. It was during the fall of that year when he met a guy at a party, had one too many like he normally did when he knew he could stay at a friend's place overnight so he wouldn't have to drive, and ended up having unprotected sex. After getting terrified about the possibility of having an STI--the biggest one being HIV--he didn't touch another drop of alcohol until he was sure he was clean. Even after that he made sure to keep it to a minimum--enough to loosen him up, but not enough to completely impair his judgment again. Of course, he earned a few jeers from his friends at the sudden change--they didn't know the reason behind it, after all--but he didn't care.

 

[Kadavro]

Mason hadn't been speaking about the tap at his own home, but more for the places he might be going. Student apartments, youth hostels, whorehouses... Many places that needed repairing, though with only so many plumbers to go around. He hadn't actually found any summer jobs for what's-his-name yet, so he did hope that the boy had at least called ahead to find any places that were hiring, even if he hadn't called his uncle to ask for suggestions. "So, do you have a resume? If you brought it with you I can take a look over it and see if there is anything nearby that might be needing your help. If not, you can go through this week's papers to find anything open." He'd probably only get minimum wage. There wasn't enough work for the people already around there, so unless he had connections he wouldn't get anything more. Sure, he could probably help his nephew, though if he didn't take him up on the offers already given he wouldn't mind just shoving him into a Wendy's.

"What high school parties had beer?" Yes, he might have sounded someone preachy, hypocrital, things like that, but even if he went into a 'in my day' rant, he would be basically honest about his disbelief. He simply didn't go to the sorts of parties that had booze before he was legally allowed. He went on some questionable Halloween things, but nothing that caused permanent damage to the buildings or furniture. "Be careful if you get offered to go to one of those out of the blue around here. Some charge or are for trading pot and other favors." He flipped the burger, having it sizzle a bit more before he decided it was nearing the point of being finished. Uping the setting on the stove, he looked at his nephew again. "Some of them are even more sinister. I know I said to not take advantage of girls, which you shouldn't have trouble with jailbait given age of consent laws around here." He probably shouldn't have told about that, but he would find out eventually. It was a year higher here than in St. Louis, while a half hour's drive into Georgia or Alabama brought it down to sixteen. Strange stuff, but he needed t learn it after calling the cops on some people he mistook as being underage going at it. Still got them jailed for indecent exposure, though. "You're a pretty boy, so avoid anyone who brings that up. Maybe get yourself punched in the face a few times so that the sodomists don't invite you to their flings."

 

[Yep]

"I have one, but it's on my laptop." Tucker paused for a moment, realizing something. "Um, do you have a printer?" He wasn't sure if the man would have that kind of thing. It wouldn't particularly surprise him if he didn't even have Internet. He hoped so, though, otherwise he might have to do a lot of his work on campus. A printer wouldn't be a problem, though. He could always get one, but first he'd rather get a job. Until then, he could go to a library to print off whatever he needed if his uncle didn't own one.

At the party question, Tucker laughed--more because of the question itself than because it was asked. He quickly sobered up, though. "All of them," he said, unable to suppress his smile. He couldn't help it. It was just a funny question to hear because drinking seemed so prominent. Maybe there were still a few dry parties, but Tucker had never been to one. The smile vanished when Uncle Mason warned him about the parties around the area. He would be sure to keep that in mind, although he wasn't going to worry so much about the age of consent. If he ever did anything, it would probably be with people he met on campus. He didn't think he would have to worry about anything then.

Tucker narrowed his eyes at what his uncle called him. He detested the name, and he would have said something about it, but he was distracted by what came after that. His face lit up at the word he used. Sodomists. That was such a weird word. "Sodomites? You mean the fags?" A humorous grin was on his face. He used the derogatory term deliberately. It got him snipped at a few times by the two gays he hung out with back at home, but he didn't care. He didn't find anything wrong with it as long as it wasn't directed at him or anyone he knew in a mean way. And since he doubted his uncle would care, he didn't hold back on his choice in words.

Then again, would he care? Now that Tucker thought about it, did the man ever have a wife? He couldn't remember his mom ever mentioning one during the few times she talked about him, and the years prior to his family moving from here were hazy. Maybe he preferred being alone--maybe he was asexual. Maybe there could have been a possibility the man was gay, but..."sodomites" was too weird of a word for a gay to use, even if they were a closet case. But maybe he was wrong. Either way, he let the thought go for the time being. "I don't think I want to have a banged-up face, though, especially if I want a job. Maybe I'll just turn them down nicely."

 

[Kadavro]

"Yes, I have one." Mason said as he opened up the bottle. He set the burger on a plate and placed it on front of him, before sitting on a stool. He waited patiently to see if he had anything else to say on the matter. "If you want a scanner though, you will need to look elsewhere. He arched an eyebrow as his nephew laughed at his question as he drank before mentally setting it aside as some sort of inside joke the boy had with himself. He just sat akwardly, wondering how to deal with things. Maybe start instructing him on how to use the laundry, not getting grease everywhere, and how he was going to start cleaning up after the dogs. "Yes, the ass fuckers." Mason agreed after the boy's smile broke out. Apparently he liked dirty words, so he might as well go with the proper translation.

"You probably had a lot more back home, so I shouldn't be surprised that you're familiar with them." Mason may have been a mite uncomfortable talking about the matter, but for the most part he just continued in his lecture mode. He wasn't the best talker in manners like this, with family he hadn't seen in such a long time. Especially when it wasn't on his terms. He did well enough at work and at the local clubs he frequented or took part in, but warning about the dangerous of drugged up kids was the business of the sherrif or chief of police. "Just avoid getting drinks nearby them. Apparently a good deal of them are contaminated with disease." He took another swig as he considered what was said about a banged up face. "Or they might do something to your drink." Huh. Had the kid brought his own shower stuff? He was low on shaving cream and didn't know if he could share and have enough to be decent at work. Then again, the kid seemed like he was too young to have face fuzz.

 

[Yep]

"Nah, I shouldn't need one. Just the printer will do." While making a note on how he would print off the resume later, Tucker took off the top bun long enough to squirt some ketchup on the patty. By the time he set the bottle back on the table, his uncle was warning him about how the evil gays would rape him. He always wanted to have a conversation with a bigot, just to satirically spout off all of the anti-gay remarks he knew to see their face light up in agreement. If it wasn't for the fact that he had to live with this one and might need some level of acceptance later on down the road, he would have done so. Instead, he went with something else: "Yeah, some could, but not all of them are that bad." He paused to take a bite of his burger. When Uncle Mason started cooking it, he became aware of how hungry he actually was, and now that it was in front of him, he wanted to eat. The buns were a little stale, but right now, he didn't care. Tucker swallowed what was in his mouth. "I know a couple gays. They never tried raping me. Maybe they hit on me, but they backed off when I told them I wasn't interested."

Now that he was done defending the horrible, evil, sinful creatures to which he belonged, or at least for the time being, he tore off another chunk of his sandwich. There was one thing that was now clear to him. He was going to keep his mouth shut about his orientation. He would like to have a roof over his head that was something other than his car's. Keeping it a secret wouldn't be a big deal, though. Tucker didn't mind playing hide in the closet.

 

[Kadavro]

"I wouldn't worry about those you see day to day." Mason agreed, more concerned about disease than anything. When men raped women they could get them pregnant. When women raped men they were mocked and shunned if they tried to complain to the police or coworkers. Woman on woman... No penetration, no sex. Something Clinton said, or something. Anyways, there were plenty of glory holes for college students, though one could only guess what happened in between them. It would only make sense forthem to get someone 'clean'23. He didn't car much for the political correctness squads about saying that gays were less sexually immoral, how they never pushed if you said no, how they didn't cheat on their partners, any number of things that he had serious doubts about, if only because of how often it happened for the heterosexuals. But really, what was there to say after all this? He simply sat awkwardly to wait for his nephew to finish eating and to see what he intended to do next, so as to not... He couldn't really think of a reason as to why he was doing it. It would come to him eventually.

 

[Yep]

"Yeah, okay," Tucker replied. So maybe his uncle wasn't as bad as what he thought. Now he sounded more reasonable, not like someone who thought every single gay was bad and evil and wanted to get into every guy's pants.

Conversation died after that. He wasn't sure if it was because of the recent topic or if it was because his uncle simply ran out of things to say, but it wasn't a big deal. There were a few things Tucker could have said to try to start conversation back up again, mainly things that consisted of getting to know the man, but he didn't bother right now. After a few more bites, he was finished, and he stood up to throw the plate in the trash. For a brief moment, he wondered what time it was and glanced at the clock on the stove. He might actually consider going to bed early, but then again, probably not. Once night would set, he would be awake again. That was how it usually was.

He looked back at his uncle. "Do you mind looking at my resume now?" he asked. Not that he necessarily wanted to think about work, but it wouldn't hurt to see if the man knew where he might have some luck. Then he could stop by those places tomorrow and get the applications. "Or do you know if any restaurants around here are hiring? Flipping burgers and waiting are all I've ever done, except for a landscaping job, but that didn't last long."

 

[Kadavro]

The akward silence seemed to be going well. Just two guys, sitting around, sharing a burger and beer... God, this was boring. Stifling a yawn he watched as his nephew threw away his plastic plate. Must have been driving on the high from energy drinks and was just starting to wind down. Maybe he needed to have him clean out his car so that he didn't attract any animals going after Missourian meat or whatever he would have stored in there.

His nephew seemed to have gotten talkative now and was showing some sign of intelligence. He nodded as he removed the plastic plate from the trash, placing it in the sink for washing. Maybe it was getting a bit beat up. It had so many scars from cutting his food that some water that splashed onto it from a nearby bowel pooled in the center. "Bring down your laptop and I will look it over quickly." He considered if the boy would be able to learn how to repair dishwashers and such, but brushed it aside as being easier to have him do it. "You won't have much luck if flipping burgers is all that you can do, but if you have any hobbies or old clubs you could rattle off we might be able to find your something." They could only hope. He left the room temporarily to look out the window to the drive way. Returning, he took his seat again. "You have everything out of the car? Got an alarm? Red vehichles tend to be the first things anyone hits around here."

 

[Yep]

Tucker nodded at his uncle's acceptance to look over his resume. At the mention of hobbies and clubs, he shrugged while stepping toward the entryway of the kitchen. "Just baseball and working for the school's newspaper." He didn't bother listing gay-straight alliance. In most cases, it probably wasn't going to help him get a job around here. "And I like camping, but I don't think that's going to help much."

He left the kitchen right after his uncle and turned toward the stairs, but he stopped at the foot of them when he heard the man ask about his car. He looked back at him. "Yes and yes." All of his luggage was out and he made sure to take out his iPod when he got out of the car. And unless something happened to it, there should be an alarm. Tucker turned back around and climbed the stairs, only staying up there long enough to grab his Dell laptop. He would return to the kitchen, or wherever Uncle Mason might have been by the time he got back downstairs, and once the device was started up and the document was loaded, he would have handed it to the man.

In total, there were four jobs listed on it. Going in order, they were a cook at McDonald's, a waiter at Applebee's, landscaping, and a waiter at Applebee's again. The first two lasted for the summers after his sophomore and junior years, respectively. The landscaping job lasted for only two months, and then his last time waiting lasted until he quit to get ready to come down here.

 

[Kadavro]

'True.' Mason thought to himself as he waited in the kitchen, begining to clean out some glasses as Tucker went to unpack his things to find his computer. 'You can only get scholarships for football.' He didn't know how long it would take for him to pull it out, log on, and find everything, so he didn't see any reason to just sit around. His nephew came in a bit after with his computer and began to boot it up. After seeing no more progress on the screen, he dried off his hands as the teen waiteded to hand it over. 'Hmmm, so it was Tucker.' He thought as he read the description of the boy given at the topp of each. Age, adress, schools, the like. Hmmm, some Applebee's. Same or different locations, though?

"I'd suggest Applebee's if you can find an place where they would actually tip you. Considering the customers though, I'd try working at babysitting or an old person's home." He scrolled done a bit further, looking for any mention on his hours, though it was doubtful there would be any sort of mention on it. "Did you used to get more from the tips or the salary`? If you can't find tips you would be better off outside of food service." He proceeded to log onto the internet on the boy's computer after a few complicated passwords, taking in the homepage before checking the website for the Department of Labor followed by googling on minimun wages, finding minimum-wage.org. "Work locally, you'll get less pay in Georgia and it isn't worth the time and gas to head to North Carolina. Did you work in Missouri or Illinous? He asked with curiosity, ever unsure where they lived or worked on the eastern or western banks of the Mississippi. "Plenty of work for landscaping around here, though it's mostly under the table stuff and gets nothing for your Social Security." He went to Tucker's favorites list and added the page from the Department of Labor before getting up and finding some a notepad. "Read up on the local laws so you don't get screwed over, look about tomorrow for work, then come to me if anything seems too shifty." He began to scribble down... Something.

 

[Yep]

Tucker gave a humorous smile at the suggestions of two other jobs. "I'm not so good with kids, but I guess I could work at an old person's home if I had to." Maybe kids were more entertaining, but he'd rather deal with the stubbornness of an old fart than the delinquency of some snot-nosed brat. He watched his uncle scroll down the document. There weren't any mentions of the hours, but the locations were the same for the two Applebee's. At the question on what he earned more from, he shrugged. "The tips weren't too bad. It all depended on the nights."

When he saw Uncle Mason bring up Internet Explorer, he was kind of relieved that he chose that over Firefox. Although he thought the chances were small, unless the man would have looked at his history on that browser, he was glad to know the possibility of that happening was nonexistent. Regardless, he forgot about this, though, as he heard the next question. He looked from the screen to his uncle. "Illinois. St. Louis was a little too far away for my tastes. I mean, I would've went there if I had to, but no need for that since I managed to snag jobs that were closer." And as for the landscaping jobs: "Maybe I'll consider it." He shrugged. "I don't mind the work." Maybe he would even have better luck with it this time around. He frowned at his uncle telling him to look up the laws. That didn't sound fun. At all. But maybe he would later. It could be a nice bedtime story. Regardless, he said, "Will do." Then he looked at the notepad Uncle Mason was writing on. "What are you writing?" he asked, not stopping to consider that it might have been a bit nosy to do so. Besides, if it was somehow related to him, he had the right to know.

 

[Kadavro]

Probably hadn't changed any kid's diapers, though he certainly would if he got on the wrong side of the staff at an retirement home. "Just getting the numbers to check the references." Might as well look like he was doing something. Get an idea of the kid's work ethic and personality before he had him working for his house and board. "Are there any summer courses you are taking at the college, by mail, or online? We are going to need to know when you can use your half hour of internet access." Mason wrote down a few more things, added some bookmarks to IE, then slid the mouse to the bottom of the screen, logging out from the internet connection.

"Well, Tucker." He somehow managed to mispronounce a name with two syllables. "Read over this stuff, unpack, and get your rest." He didn't know how tired the kid was, but he really had little to say to him. While it might have been better to let him just use the computer twenty four seven, he wasn't going to have his bandwith drained when the kid was supposed to be working. "You don't have any allergies, do you?" He asked while thinking over breakfast, stretching his arms over his shoulders and behind his back as he got up from leaning over the computer. That stool wasn't the best choice to have used. "Oh, and avoid anyplae inthe city with a streetname having Boulevard. Those are all filled with 'Yankees, queers, ragheads, and Polacks'." He looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging it off. "The Poles are apparently the more dangerous of the groups."

 

[Yep]

Tucker smirked a little at hearing what Uncle Mason was writing down. "Going to call 'em up yourselves?" Not that he really had anything to worry about. Maybe he had a few occasions where he goofed off a little, but for the most part, he was a good worker. He considered himself a good waiter--always checking up on his customers, making sure they had a drink, the like. Maybe his time at McDonald's was questionable, but he was younger then. Besides, they probably forgot who he was, anyway. The only one he would be concerned about was his landscaping job. Hearing that he got into a fight could really hurt him, but his defense was always the same thing: anyone else would have done the same if they were working their ass off in the summer heat alongside that douchebag.

When asked about any summer courses, he was about to answer, but he stopped when he heard how long he could have Internet. He frowned, although he didn't argue about it, as much as he wanted to. He didn't want to cause any more...minor altercations like what had happened upstairs when he didn't take the bedtime seriously. "No, nothing for the summer." He considered requesting that he have the thirty minutes during the night, but figured that would be an easy giveaway for why he would want it at that time. His uncle, as a guy, should understand the need for porn, but it would have been a little weird letting the man in on his little habit, since, you know, they were related and all.

Tucker lightly winced at the mispronunciation of his name, but he didn't comment on it. Instead, he turned his attention to his laptop, but it didn't stay there for long. He looked back at Uncle Mason, shaking his head. "Nah, no allergies." For a moment, his gaze drifted downward, seeing the exposed skin from his uncle's shirt lifting up as he stretched. Looked like his uncle was on the hairy side. He lifted his gaze back up when he saw the man's arms falling back down, not wanting to be caught staring. Subconsciously, he licked his lips. That was when he heard his uncle's warning. He would have been a little put off by the derogatory terms--except "queer" and "yankee"--but it sounded more like he was quoting something, which didn't make it as bad. At the mention of the Polish apparently being the most dangerous, though, Tucker couldn't help but to smirk a little. "Even more than the roofie-slipping queers?"

 

[Kadavro]

Odd for the boy to be smirking. What could possibly be funny? "No idea what roofies are, but the rainbow brigade can't take a punch and only go after the Poles when they outnumber them." The history of the local Poles having escaped the Nazis and Reds also meant that they had some martial spirit in them and weren't too keen on the overly liberal. "The Poles are a bit more professional, and don't like how some of their sons get targetted by gays. For various reasons..." It went without saying why. They were a bit more exotic than the local fare, without being overly so as in the case of the Muslims. The scandal of photoshopping using the heads and bodies of Turks for a nude calender aside. Someone had even managed non-doctored photos from the times people weren't completely decent. While he had his suspicions, he did not know for a fact how someone had gotten near nude picks of him with his towel half falling off his waist. "You'll probably be spending more time at college going whatever it was you were going to do." He hadn't found it very clear on what general things he was doing there, but it wasn't currently his top concern.

Time to just wrap things up. "Well, Tucker." Mason said as scratched his belly around the belt, sticking his fingers done to get an itchier area. "Do you need to check your e-mail or anything?" He considered how he might not even need to use his connection and just head over to the libraries, bars, schools, or anyplace of the sort that might have it. Might be worth his time, might not. Either way, his only other option for more time besides butternig him up would to by to use his uncle's computer, wherever it was kept. "If you need to shower before you turn in be careful with the towels. Some of them got motor oil on them when they fell onto some rags near the washer." It was a shame. Sure, many of them were a bit small for him, but his regular large sized one had also went down, leavng him to dry himself in the sun or to use a smaller towel until he was damp and it was dripping. "Anything else?"

 

[Yep]

Tucker was a bit surprised the man didn't know what roofies were since he warned him about how some gays might slip things in his drinks, but he shrugged it off, thinking that it just might have been a term he never came across. Instead, he listened to the rest of the man's response. When his uncle said that Tucker was probably going to be too busy with college, anyway, he said, "Journalism." He gave a casual shrug. Not that it was that big of a deal, but he thought he would at least mention it, even if the man might not care to know. He wasn't sure what his minor was going to be. He hadn't considered it yet, figuring that he would decide during the first or second semester.

His gaze drifted down to where Uncle Mason was scratching, his eyes widening infinitesimally as he half-expected to see the hand go farther down his pants. He quickly returned his attention to eye level, though, not wanting to get stuck staring. At least he could just pass off the glimpse as a minor distraction this way. He dispelled the thoughts and shook his head. "Nah, I can look at that stuff on my phone if I need to." He regarded his uncle's warning about the towels with a small nod, hoping he could remember that tomorrow morning when he did take a shower. Otherwise he might be in for a nice surprise. As for the last question, he shook his head once again. "Nope, but I'm gonna need the connection if I'm going to look at that stuff you told me to look at." He glanced at the laptop that was still on before looking back at his uncle.