Tommy's First Year at College

Chapter 29 Financial irregularities

Jonathan was so concerned about Tim's revelations that he immediately arranged to drive to Womble the following Saturday to talk to Dom. He told Dom that it was important to ask Tim to find out if there had been anything suspicious or any unexpected happenings in connection with the Ovenden family finances.

A few days later Dom said that he had contacted many of his acquaintances involved in internet security, and was told that there was a major agency based in Eastern Europe that specialized in hacking into the bank accounts of wealthy or prominent people in the west. By creating financial chaos, they could discredit the person in the eyes of the public and the government and in the ensuing situation, extract large sums of money out of their bank accounts without much attention being attracted. Two major civil servants at two important ministries had lost their jobs after it was found that they had received major payments for supplying financial details of government departments' bank accounts. At once Tim and Jon contacted the heads of their four major charitable ventures, the Camford Men's Fitness Centre, the Edmund Heptinstall Educational Trust, the Afforestation Trust and the drystone wall repair trust, urging them to conduct an immediate internal audit of all their books and bank statements, looking for unexpected and/or unexplained transactions. He also asked each organization for a complete list of all present and past employees with details about qualifications and subsequent employment for any who had left. Tim, Dom and Lord Wakefield took the same type of action, in case there were any security issues in Tim's offices.

Two days after these events, both Bernard Silverdale of the Heptinstall Trust and Robin Banks of the Afforestation Trust reported significant withdrawals from bank accounts. These were of a total value of a couple of million pounds for each trust. No invoices were found in either organization's offices to support any of these withdrawals. However, they were in small amounts over a period of three years, and were not consistent with stolen computer data. They were more consistent with employee embezzlement. The discovery was particularly embarrassing to Bernard Silverdale, as he had been brought in by Tim and Jon to run the Heptinstall Trust after a previous occurrence of embezzlement by his predecessor. Curiously, no financial irregularities were found in the books of the Fitness Centre, possibly because its bank balances were much smaller. A few days later, Tim found that several of the Ovenden family trusts had also been the subject of embezzlement. This suggested strongly that the thefts were associated with Tim's office in London. The thefts, though, did not explain the mysterious WESF organization and its activity.

Chapter 30 The flat-warming party

Two days after the end of term, Tommy and Martin took all their possessions from their college rooms to the flat in St Saviour's Street. They did not use the bedding they had brought from college, they bought new silk sheets to fit the king-size bed that they were to share. "I've had a spoilt upbringing, Martin!" said Tommy. Ever since I was adopted, I've slept under silk sheets, and now I can share them with you!" They had to buy quite a few things for the flat using a cheque which Martin's father had sent him for his recent birthday.

A week or so after moving in, they held a small flat-warming party to which they invited David and Jon, Sandro and Dom, and Caterina and Beatrice. The party had an Italian theme of course, with Italian snacks and Italian wines, including a pannacotta that Martin had made himself. Some Italian was also spoken as they drank Prosecco, though out of courtesy to Martin and Dom, it was only idle chat and not conversation. While billed as a flat-warming, the party had the additional function of being Tommy's coming out.

The only person to be surprised at Tommy's revelation that he was bi, was Dom, who nevertheless welcomed him warmly to the gays in the family. It was the first time that Martin had ever met a lord. Beatrice who had known Tommy for a couple of years said that she was not surprised. His obvious reluctance to go further with her had made her realize soon after they started dating that he liked men as well as women. Tommy resolved to phone his brother and sister and let them know about his new lifestyle, before Sandro or his parents could give it away. Caterina, with the tact and wisdom of age, did not say 'I told you so' to David, but she felt like doing so! So the main role of the occasion was to introduce Martin to the closest members of Tommy's family. Even Martin's self-confidence was put to the test by meeting all these close relatives of Tommy's at the same time!

After they had gone, Martin said, "That was a bit of an ordeal for me! And I haven't met your sister yet. How many other relatives do you have that I have not yet met?"

"Well, there's my gay brother Luke in Italy and his partner. I must get in touch with him, because I want us to stay with them on our visit to some classical sites in Italy in September. I've also an aunt in Italy, who's Luke's biological mother. She and her husband have a daughter, who was brought up as Sandro's sister. You know of course that Sandro is not a biological cousin. Although I call him cousin, he is Luke's biological brother! Then there's also my uncle Jeroen, Dad's younger brother, who is married with two children and lives in Switzerland.

"Martin, there are some other things I need to tell you that to me are vitally important. You know that I take my faith very seriously. That means that in the vacations I will go to church every Sunday, though it can be like in term-time at 8 in the morning, so don't expect a lovely lie-in with me on Sundays. But that does mean that the rest of the day is available to go out with you or go to bed with you, although I hope that we will spend some weekends at Ixton with my grandparents. You haven't seen Rockwell's Barn yet. It's a converted farm building with an indoor pool in beautiful countryside about an hour's drive from Camford. It belongs to my parents, but my grandparents now live there permanently, and of course they are anxious to meet you. I would like you to come to faith, but only by my example. I will never try to coerce you or talk you into any kind of belief. If you ever come to faith, it will be because you want to. If I'm a bad Christian, you will never want to become one!"

Martin replied, "My darling Tommy, I love you. I am now the one not wanting to rush! I have no plans to be converted to Christianity, unless your example impresses me. I just want to cook for you and eat and sleep with you, and of course as soon as possible to fuck with you! We'll see how our relationship develops." And he threw his arms round Tommy and kissed him violently.

Chapter 31 Telephone call from Tommy to his brother

Tommy: Hi Luke, this is Tommy. Big goings-on in Camford! I have moved out of college for a year into an apartment so that I can live with my new boyfriend!

Luke: WHAT?? Are you telling me that you're gay?

Tommy: No, bi, actually!

Luke: Why didn't you choose a duplex room? I assume that he's a student?

Tommy: Yes, but at a different college, Sanguis. His name is Martin, and he's passionately in love with me. He's also reading classical languages. He's a year older than me. He comes from Sheffield, near Dom's family seat. Please can we both come and stay with you in September?

Luke: I'm terribly sorry, Tommy, but it will have to wait until next year. Tom and I have given a home to a pregnant girl called Olivia, and we hope to be able to adopt, or at least become guardians of, her baby, as the man who got her pregnant has disappeared without trace, and you know how we are longing to start a family. The whole business has not been finalized, but by next year, if all goes well, you will both be able to come and meet Olivia and the baby boy, who is due in June. Have you told Cathy yet?

Tommy: Luke, that's wonderful news! I know how you have both longed to become fathers. No, we haven't told Cathy yet. She's the next on my list to phone. Martin is an opera enthusiast, so we hope to see a lot of opera when we do get to Italy. Look, we have a spare bedroom, so that the next time Tom comes to Camford, he's welcome to stay with us. We could play duets together. I don't get much time to play the piano these days. Our new apartment is very handy for getting to Boni's or anywhere in the town centre, and is about 15 minutes walk from the labs. Tom could sample Martin's cooking! He's a really good cook, my new boyfriend. I'm very proud of him.

Luke: Tom would enjoy that. We need to see more of our younger relatives, because we are rapidly approaching middle age! Tom's students are young of course, but you can scarcely get matey with people that you're teaching. So for that reason too we are delighted at the prospect of a baby boy. I can't help of course being glad that you have decided to be gay, or at least bi. You'll find it much easier to make a man happy than a woman! Also you'll get more sex!

You're a believer, like Tom and me, so let me recommend some scripture for you to read on the subject of man-man love. Read the gospel of John. In it you will find that Jesus loved two men rather more than the rest of his disciples. One was Lazarus. You may remember the gospel reading at Dom and Sandro's blessing service:

See how he loved him!

say the Jews when Jesus weeps at Lazarus's tomb. And then there is

the disciple that Jesus loved

. He cuddled up in an intimate way to Jesus at the last supper. Some people think he was the same person as Lazarus. I'm not saying that any sex took place, but man-man love does not need to involve penetrative sex. However, the gospels do contain one example of perverted man-man contact, when Judas betrays Jesus by kissing him. That has rather brought public displays of affection between men into disrepute. But if anyone EVER tells you that man-man love is sinful, just tell that person to read the fourth gospel.

Give my love to your friend Martin. Anyone who loves you must be a nice guy. I hope that you may eventually be able to bring him to faith, but even if you can't he is a lucky guy to benefit from your prayers. Tell him that from me!

Chapter 32 Tommy comes out to his sister

When Tommy phoned his sister Cathy, she groaned when she heard his news. "Not ANOTHER gay in the family! The family will die out if all the male Singleton-Scarboroughs only like men!"

"Only a woman could get away with that kind of remark! How's my little godson?" asked Tommy.

"He's sweet. He's now pulling himself up on things and trying to walk. Why don't you come up for a weekend and bring Your new boyfriend? We've got a guest bedroom with a king-size bed. Have you met his family yet?"

"Martin's an only child with a widower father who's about to remarry, so he doesn't have much in the way of family. He hasn't even met his new stepmother yet. I've met his father, who seems very happy to accept me as his son's lover. They live in Sheffield, which is a nice city."

"Yes, Sandro's partner Dom worked there for six months in his first job after leaving university."

"I've got another piece of news for you. Luke and Tom have got a live-in girlfriend, and she is expecting a baby boy in June!"

"Which of them is the father?"

"Neither! Like Luke's mother, she had a brief affair with a man who abandoned her and disappeared. Under Italian law, the boys can't adopt the baby, but they can become his legal guardians. Needless to say, they are both thrilled!"

It was arranged that Tommy and Martin would visit Cathy and Edmund at the end of July, before going to Sheffield.

After several months of police investigation into the embezzlements at the Overton family trusts and the Heptinstall and Afforestation trusts, an arrest was made. A former employee at Tim Ingledown's offices in London was traced and found to have very large bank balance. In addition to the embezzled money, the man had been in receipt of regular substantial payments from an organization know to have Russian connections. It transpired that he was being paid to obtain confidential banking and password information. However, greed was his downfall. In addition to passing information to his Russian-connected paymasters, he had put his own hand in the till, and these thefts had exposed him. All the trusts involved at once closed their existing bank accounts and transferred their financial assets to other banks via an untraceable route. He was charged with fraud and false accounting, and made to surrender his passport to the police. While he was on bail, Tim's private detective kept a close eye on him.

Tim was deeply apologetic to Dom's father and to David and Jonathan. "I don't know how this has happened!" he told them. We are a very small group in the office. Everyone is discreet and well paid. The man came to us with impeccable credentials. However, we do not know what other damage he may have done. Please keep your eyes open, and in particular let me know if you get letters from lawyers whom you do not know. I am now going to conduct an audit of all the Ovenden and Singleton-Scarborough family trusts to find out exactly how much pilfering has been taking place in them. It may be too that we can show that there has been negligence on the part of the banks."

A few months later the man came to trial. He was sentenced to seven years in jail, and made to repay some of the embezzled money. Some of the missing money was shown to have gone to Russia, and the judge took this into account when sentencing him. Tim's office immediately approached their former bankers and told them that unless the banks compensated them fully for the lost money, they would make the banks' breaches of security public knowledge. Immediately the banks repaid the missing money.

These events however, shed no further light on the organization calling itself Women's Equality in Sport and Fitness. Accordingly, Tim Ingledown advised that they should no longer employ an investigator to look into the organization, because months of observation had led to nothing.

Chapter 33 A visit to Cathy and her family

The visit to Cathy and Edmund was interesting. Since Hugh had been born, they had lived in Richmond-on-Thames. They had decided that although Greenwich would have been more convenient for Edmund's work, Richmond was a better place for a child to grow up in. Tommy did not know his sister very well: she had left home before he was adopted. Before they set off, he rang her and asked if she and Edmund liked opera. When they said that they did, he booked tickets for four persons for the Royal Opera at Covent Garden on the Saturday, preceded by dinner in a nice small restaurant nearby. He asked Cathy to get a baby sitter to look after their son, Hugh. He was a sweet little boy. He took a great fancy to Martin and kept trying to climb on to his knee.

As usual with her brothers, Cathy took a blunt line. She looked carefully at Martin and said to him, "I would have expected Tommy to fall for someone more macho-looking than you! You're both rather similar in build. It's difficult to guess who is top!"

Tommy blushed violently, but Martin just grinned and said, "Well, feel free to carry on guessing. You surely don't expect us to talk about it? All you need to know is that I dote on your brother." Considering that he had never had any siblings, he dealt with Cathy far more expertly than Tommy. Tommy was beginning to realize that if he was to be any good as a teacher, he must become much more outgoing and robust in his emotions.

The opera that they went to hear was

Aïda

. The international cast were all brilliant, and Martin enjoyed himself immensely. As they went back to Richmond on the underground, he got hold of Tommy's hand and whispered "You may have problems with other people, but you certainly know how to make me happy! That evening was as good as a night in bed with you!. Thank you, Tommy, I love you!"

Cathy grinned at the sight of the two of them, and whispered to Edmund, "That guy has worked wonders for Tommy. He was always so quiet and diffident. Martin seems to be making him much more self-confident. It's amazing how good for the self-esteem having someone fall in love with you is."

Edmund had still not completely come to terms with marrying into a family full of gays. He got on well with his two fathers-in-law, and saw very little of Cathy's brother Luke, as he lived abroad. But he had not met his other brother-in-law very often, and had never thought that Tommy would take up with a man. However, in spite of the fact that Martin seemed more obviously gay than any of the Singleton-Scarboroughs, especially since he was reading an 'arty' subject in Camford and was an opera fanatic, he found him easy to get on with. One night he took Tommy and Martin to the local pub in Richmond. He found to his relief that they were both enthusiastic beer-drinkers. Edmund had feared that they might prefer poofter drinks like cocktails.

It was a very enjoyable men's night out. Edmund himself had read economics at Camford, and was the essential businessman. He had been attracted to Cathy because she was the archetypal feminist, determined to make her way to the top in a men's world. To his amazement, motherhood had changed her radically, and she seemed happy, and indeed anxious, to become a full-time mother, at least for a few years. Nevertheless it was clear to him why his wife had had very little to do with the rest of her family, who were all either artistic or academic, or like her Dad, David, both. It did not surprise him that Tommy's boyfriend should be an opera enthusiast.

Next day the two boys were allowed to take little Hugh for a walk in his push-chair in Richmond Park. He was just beginning to say a few words, and at the sweet age when children mispronounce some of the difficult words that they hear. "We must see more of him," said Tommy, "after all, he's my godson. We must be nice to all my nephews and nieces and see them often, until we get our own kids, which is bound to be a long while yet. Hugh is the third of my nieces and nephews. Sandro and Dom have two adopted daughters and Luke and Tom are expecting a baby boy in June. It will be great when we can start adding children to this list! But it'll be a few years yet."

On the Monday, they took the train back to Camford. That night they went to bed early. Tommy started to undress his friend. He had Martin's T-shirt off in no time. "What do you think of my sister?" he asked.

"I like a woman who doesn't mince her words," said Martin. "She didn't call either of us a poofter, so I know that she is not anti-gay."

"Most women are not," said Tommy, "many straight men are homophobic because deep down they know that gays have more and better sex than they do, and are not victims of what my brother Luke calls the womenstrual cycle! In Rochester's

Sodom

the soldiers enjoyed being banned from fucking women, because they could fuck each other and save the money that they would otherwise have spent on whores. Straight men's only satisfaction is their ability to become fathers, and many men these days don't even want to do that!"

"It's taking you a long time to get my underpants down!" was Martin's reply to Tommy's profound reflections on sexuality.

Tommy grinned, "They've got caught on your cock!" he said. He began to kiss Martin's belly-button which was just visible above his lowered waistband. Then he went behind Martin and began to smother his arse with kisses. As he pulled Martin's underpants and jeans down to his ankles, he pushed his face into the angle between Martin's thigh and the curve of his arse-cheek and began to bite gently.