That Sunday was the first day with Nick living with me and my mom. I can remember that day not because Nick had moved in our house, but because Nick had taken over my life. He was kurt with me during that afternoon. He was finding his tools scattered about the front yard, back yard and garage. Then he and my mom went to their room, and when they came out, my mom was crying. I went after her. She stopped and told me that Nick and she had a long talk about me and that they had decided I need a different kind of love, different than she could give me. She looked behind me and when I turned, I saw Nick standing there. My mom hugged me and kissed me and told me that she loved me. I turned to Nick as if to say, "Whats Up?" Nick told my mother to go into the kitchen that he was taking me to his house to have a talk. He then glared at me and ordered me to the car. < p>
Nick didn't talk at all on the drive to his old house. I kept trying to prod him for information, but all he said was I'd find out soon enough. I told him I only had two more hours before 4 pm and the pool would be closed. I had to practice my strokes. He said I wouldn't make laps today, it's too late for that. < p>
His tone made me real nervous. Nick lived about 5 miles out of town on a 5 acre plot of land. He didn't farm it and was planning to sell it after he and mom married. We had barely made it inside the front door when he started talking to me. He started, "Nick," he said real loud, "I've been thinking about how to approach this subject with you, and I can't find a tactful way to get through it. So I've decided to take the approach my daddy took with me." He started in on how he'd noticed a lack of discipline for the law, and recounted the time me and my friend Billy were caught breaking into coke machines at the school one weekend. He talked about how much of a slob I was. He said I needed more discipline and was planning to instill it on me whether I liked it or not. I told him he wasn't my dad and didn't have that athority. He shot back that he wasn't my dad, but for as long as it took, he was my keeper. "Now life as you know it has just changed. You are no longer in charge of your life, I am." he said. His attitude was really too much, I told him to go to hell.< p>
Without warning, he grabbed the front of my shirt and swung me into the living room, I landed on the couch. "Get your pants down, boy!" I couldn't believe my ears. What did he just say? "You heard me, get em down!"