“My Crazy Initiation”

By: Ron564339

 

E-mail: [email protected]

 

 

            I couldn’t believe it! After ten awesome years of living in the best neighborhood in the world, my parents decided it was time for us to move. I had to leave all the friends that I had made as well as all the cool places that I had gotten used to. Now I was left in a completely strange new town and didn’t have anybody to talk to or anything to do.

 

            At least  we moved at the beginning of the summer, so I didn’t have to worry about going to a new school yet. The problem was that now I was bored out of my mind. I had spent the first week of the summer locked up inside our house, slowly passing the time by watching TV, playing video games or reading on my own. But after that, my mom got sick of it, and she told me “Blake, it’s time for you to stop staying holed up in this house all day! Go outside, it’s a beautiful day! Maybe you’ll meet some other boys you can play with. You might even meet a girl…”

 

            “Mom!” I responded indignantly. “Fine, ok, ok…”

 

            It’s not that I didn’t want to make new friends…I wasn’t shy at all, and sometimes I was even on the cocky side. But it’s just so hard to start all over when everything you ever knew got wiped away one day. But given mom’s tone, it didn’t sound like I had any other choice, and I guess she was right.

 

            So here I was walking down the sidewalk of our new street. It was a beautiful day out, with the warm sunshine beaming down onto my face and a light breeze blowing. It was a nice little neighborhood, with houses right next to each other with fences separating people’s yards. You could see small trees, lawn ornaments, and gardens in the yards of the small houses. All the lawns were well kept and the driveways and sidewalks were free of cracks or blemishes. The beautiful weather led me to close my eyes and fantasize about my old neighborhood. I pictured playing hours of soccer with my best friends out in the field, happy that I no longer had schoolwork to bother me. We would play and play, and then go over to one of our houses and play some Halo or watch some DragonballZ.

 

            But to an outside person, I would just look like any other kid, a ten year old boy with his hands in his jeans pockets and enjoying the nice day. I must have looked happy with my blue eyes closed, the wind slightly blowing my short blond hair and smacking against my small nose, thin cheeks and blue shirt. They would have no idea how lonely I was and how much I missed my old life.

 

            I just kept on walking for a while…my parents felt confident that I’d be safe in this sweet little neighborhood, and besides, they had always let me go outside and play with my friends in our old neighborhood…we were about as responsible as you could ask for a group of boys. So I knew I could just keep on walking for as long as I wanted on this beautiful morning.

 

            As I walked, I eventually came upon two boys playing a game in a driveway. One would throw a tennis ball against the garage door of the brick house they were next to, and the other would try to grab it after one bounce.

 

            I took a better look at the two boys. One was a black kid who wore very baggy clothes and also wore glasses (he was playing really well considering his clothes didn’t seem to be well fit for this game) and the other boy was big (not fat, just really big considering he looked to be about my age), although he had a kinda chubby face and black hair.

 

            The game didn’t look too hard to me, although the two boys were sweating and breathing a little hard…I guessed they had been playing for a while. Because of this I hoped that maybe I could join them and make a good first impression…I wasn’t shy at all and just wanted to meet someone…anyone.

 

            “Hey, whatcha guys doin’?” I asked as I stepped onto the driveway.

 

            “Who’re you?” asked the black boy as they stopped playing.

           

            “I’m Blake…my parents just moved here last week.”

 

            “Oh, a new kid in town,” said the bigger boy. “Well, I’m Tyler and this is Shawn. You wanna play, huh?”

 

            “Yeah, I’d like to try.”

 

            “Well, the rules are real easy even if the game is hard,” said Shawn. “All you gotta do catch the ball one bounce after it hits the wall. If you miss, you have to go stand against the wall and dodge the ball when someone else tries to throw it at you.”

 

            “Alright, I got it,” I said as I approached the space where they were playing.

 

            “Alright, here goes,” said Shawn.

 

            He threw the ball real hard against the wall, and as soon as it bounced off I raced towards it and grabbed it easily.

 

            “Ha ha!” I said. Shawn and Tyler looked at me with a slight hint of awe. Next, I threw the ball and Tyler had to catch it.

 

            He did, and threw it. Shawn got it but just barely, and he threw it real soon, trying to catch me off guard. But I got it easily and was able to make Tyler miss.

 

            He tried to dodge when I threw it at him when he was against the wall, but since he was so big, I nailed him.

 

            After playing for a few minutes, it was clear that I was the best at the game. I was doing so well that I started to brag a little, letting out a laugh as I nailed Shawn with the ball.

           

            It was probably because of this that Tyler said, “Oh, you think you’re good, huh? Well who cares, this game is stupid! We were just playing cuz we were bored!”

 

            “Yeah,” said Shawn. “Our real game is KICKBALL. All the guys play it every afternoon. There are about twenty of us in all, even though not everybody shows up every day. We’re gonna play today at 1. You gonna play, ain’tcha hot shot?”

 

            “Uh, sure,” I said.

 

            “Good,” Tyler said. “Then we’ll see who the real winners are.”

 

            With that, the two of them left. I felt like an idiot…it was obvious I had made them mad. I guess that’s one of my problems, sometimes I can’t control my cockiness. My old friends had never cared, and I had forgotten that these two guys didn’t know me.

 

            But kickball was my game…my best one next to soccer. I knew that I’d be able to prove to them that I could hang this afternoon. And there’d be a bunch of kids there…twenty. ‘Must be a big neighborhood,’ I thought.

 

            After I passed a few hours wandering around the town (I figured out where the kickball field was by doing this), I went to the field. As I walked onto it, I noticed that there were about fifteen kids besides Tyler and Shawn on the field. They were currently all circled around in the middle of the field.

 

            “Alright, who ain’t here?” yelled one kid in the middle.

 

            “Billy’s sick today,” said another kid.

 

            “And Randy’s off with his mom and little brother,”

 

            “And Stephen’s gone on vacation, remember?”

 

            “Ok, that means we got seventeen today,” said the first kid. “One team’s gonna be short a man,”

 

            “I don’t think so Jeff,” said Shawn. “We got a new bro in town.”

 

            As all of the boys turned to look at me, Jeff spoke to me. I noticed that he had blonde hair and a lot of dirt on his face. But he also wore a look of confidence, and I could tell he was the leader of the group.

 

            “What’s your name, kid?” he asked me.

 

            “Blake,” I responded. “I just moved here,”

 

            “Good, you’re just what we need,” said another kid. He wore a baseball cap backwards over his light brown hair, and he had a lot of freckles.

 

            “Yeah, Sam’s right, you make eighteen,” said Jeff. Shawn and Tyler’ll were tellin’ me that you can run real fast and you think you’re somethin’. Well, you better show us what you got today if you wanna keep playin’ with us.”

 

            “Yeah, that’s right,” said another kid. This kid was also black and didn’t look like he was that nice. “If you start to suck, we gonna let Kelly or one of those other GIRLS over there take yo’ place.”

 

            All of the boys laughed as the kid who had spoken pointed towards the fence. There was a group of girls on the edge of the dirt behind the dugouts, apparently eager to watch the game.

 

            “And don’t cry like a little baby if you don’t do good,” said another kid. This one had longer hair but had torn jeans, and he had a way about him that made me think he could fight well.

 

            “Hey, calm down,” said Jeff. “Don’t worry about Reggie and Chris. They’re just tryin’ to scare you. Just play good and you’re cool.”

 

            With that, we divided into teams…I was picked last since I was the new guy.

 

            Unfortunately, I didn’t play as well as I normally do. Maybe it was because I was nervous to be around all these kids I didn’t know. Maybe it was because of the words of Reggie and Chris before we started. Or maybe it was because of the girls who were watching us.

 

            I played in the outfield. One time, I failed to catch the ball as it came to me. Another time I stopped it as it rolled towards me but I overthrew it. Each time I made a mistake, I could see by the looks on the faces of the other boys that they were irritated. Then they would whisper things to each other.

 

            But as the game went on, I started to prove myself. Sam and Jeff were on my team, and for some reason they were supportive of me. When Reggie was pitching, I kicked it hard enough to get a double before racing around the first two bases. Later, I caught a ball in the outfield. Then I narrowly avoided an out while racing to third base.

 

            Despite my efforts, our team was still down one with two outs in our last inning. Chris was pitching and I was up, and since we had a guy on second, we still had a chance. Even though most of my team still thought I would mess up, Sam and Jeff seemed to be cheering me on.

 

            Chris rolled the ball perfectly toward me and I nailed it. I sent it flying between the fielders, and because I was so fast I was able to race home before they could get me out.

 

            My team burst into cheers and congratulated me…even some of the kids on the other team did. As we celebrated, I looked over and noticed that Jeff, Sam and Shawn were huddled together and having a quite conversation. As we finished cheering, the three walked over to join us.

 

            I then looked over and noticed that one of the girls was smiling at me. I looked away out of embarrassment, and Sam noticed.

 

            “Ha ha, that’s Kelly,” he said. “I think she likes you.”

 

            As the other kids circled around, Jeff announced that they would play again later that week. When a couple of the kids asked why they wouldn’t the next day, Jeff just gave them a look and said, “You know why. The same reason as when we cancel kickball for a few days every now and then.”

 

            Some of the kids still didn’t look like they knew what Jeff was talking about, but a small little kid said in a squeaky voice, “Yeah yeah! We gotta do the…”

 

            “Shut up Aaron, you little punk!” said Reggie. “But Jeff, why we doin’ it now?”

 

            “I’ll tell you later,” said Jeff. With that, everybody scattered, some going in groups. As the kids all separated, Jeff came up to speak with me.

 

            “You were really good today, Blake.”

 

            “Thanks!” I said. “Kickball’s one of my favorite sports.”

 

            “Well, it’s our game, we play it all the time. I think you’ll fit in around here just fine. But there’s something else I wanna talk to you about.”

 

            “What?” I asked.

 

            “Well, normally I don’t do this with new kids, but I like you, Blake. I’ve talked to a couple of the guys, and we’ve decided to allow you to join ‘The Real Cool Guys’”

 

            “What’s that?” I asked.

 

            “Well, Sam came up with the name, and even though it kinda sucks, it’s been that way from day one so we won’t change it. Pretty much, it’s our secret club. Yeah, most of the kids around here are ok, and they’re good for playing kickball and everything, but there are a group of us that are really good friends who started a club together. We meet every now and then in the treehouse in my backyard.”

 

            “What do you guys do?” I asked.

 

            “I can’t tell you anything about it unless you’re a member,” Jeff said. “But that’s where you’re lucky. We’re gonna give you the chance to join.”

 

            “So what do I gotta do?” I asked.

 

            “It’s real simple…tomorrow just show up at the treehouse around 1. I’ll show you where my house is right now. Before you can join, you have to go through the initiation.”

 

            “What will I have to do?”

 

            “I can’t tell you anything now,” Jeff said. “You gotta show up. If you chicken out at any time, we can’t let you join. So whadda ya say?”

 

            “Alright, I’ll be there.”

 

            “Good. This should be interesting.”

 

            After that, Jeff showed me where to find the treehouse and introduced me to his mom, and after that I went back home.

 

            I told my mom about everything that happened and she was happy for me. Satisfied that I had met someone, she let me hang around the house for the rest of the day.

 

            I kept thinking about what had happened. This was awesome…not only had I fit in right away because of my good playing, but Jeff, the supposed leader of these kids, wanted me to join their club. I hadn’t been in a club even in my old neighborhood…this sounded really exciting.

 

            And this “initiation”? How bad could it be? I just dominated everyone in kickball, so I was sure I could handle anything they threw at me. ‘Bring it on’ I thought.

 

            So, as the next day came around, just as planned, after talking to Jeff’s mom to let her know that I was there to see Jeff, she told me to go around to the treehouse. Once I got there, I yelled to let them know I was there. Instead of letting me up, they decided to come down to see me.

 

            There were seven of them there, and I recognized them all: Sam and Jeff, the leaders, Chris and Reggie, the tough guys, Tyler the big boy, Shawn the black kid with baggy clothes, and the tiny Aaron.

 

            “Glad you made it buddy,” said Sam with a smile.

 

            “Looks like he didn’t chicken out after all,” said Chris. “I guess I lost the bet. Here’s your quarter Shawn.”

 

            Although I was a little angry that Chris didn’t believe I would show up, it made me feel good to see that Shawn thought I would.

 

            “So what now?” I asked.

 

            “Well,” said Tyler. “Jeff told us about how you want to join our club, so now you have to be initiated.”

 

            “That’s right,” said Reggie. “And if you fail, we ain’t lettin’ you get in.”

 

            “Right, so here are the rules,” said Jeff. “Between now and the end of the initiation, you have to do EVERYTHING we say. If you refuse even one thing, you fail. You understand?”

 

            “Yeah, ok,” I said.

 

            “Ha ha, this’ll be great,” said Chris.

 

            “Oh yeah it will,” said Shawn.

 

            “Yeah yeah,” said Aaron. “Hey Jeff, this is gonna be real funny, ain’t it? Blake’s gonna have to put on a di…”

 

            “Shut up!” Chris said to Aaron as he smacked him in the head. “You know the rules!”

 

            “Oh, right,” Aaron said softly, rubbing his head.

 

            “All right, well, first of all, we have to blindfold you,” said Sam.

 

            ‘Blindfold?’ I thought. I wasn’t crazy about the idea of not being able to see, but I didn’t wanna blow my chance right from the beginning, so I complied.

 

            Shawn handed Sam a black blindfold and Sam tied it around my head. It did its job…despite the bright sunlight I couldn’t see a thing.

 

            “All right, so now you gotta follow us,” said Reggie.

 

            “Yeah,” said Jeff. “Tyler, Chris, guide Blake along so he doesn’t fall or anything.”

 

            “It’d be funny if he did, though,” said Chris.

 

            “Shaddup,” said Sam. “Just do your job.”

 

            With Tyler and Chris helping me along, I just walked in the same direction as the other guys. It was real frustrating not to be able to have any idea what was going on, but I knew it wasn’t a big deal. Still, I was a little bit more scared than I was before.

 

            After we walked what I guessed was a few blocks, the guys told me we were going inside. From what I heard, we were going into Sam’s house. I felt myself being led through a door, and it seemed like we walked through a few rooms before we stopped.

 

            Once we had finished walking, Jeff told me to lie down as I heard someone shut a door and lock it. Once I did, I heard Sam say, “Ok, you can take off your blindfold now.”

           

            Once I did, I was a little surprised by what I saw. We were definitely inside, but the room we were in was kinda funny. It was a baby’s room, I guess you could say a nursery. Judging from the light blue wallpaper and furniture, it was a baby boy’s room.

 

            I looked around for a second. The wallpaper had Lion King designs all over it, and that was definitely the theme for the room. I saw a crib, a rocking chair, a toy chest, a set of drawers, and a changing table. Basically just your everyday nursery. As I looked around at the other guys, I wondered what was going on.

 

            “What is this?” I asked.

 

            “This is my baby brother’s room,” said Sam. “My parents are gone right now and they took him with them, and even though they’ll be gone all afternoon, we have to go as fast as we can.”

 

            “So shut ya mouf, and don’t ask any more questions,” said Reggie.

 

            “Oh, cut him a little slack,” said Jeff.

 

            “You didn’t cut ME any slack,” said Chris.

 

            “That’s because you were a butthole,” said Shawn.

 

            “Would you guys just shut up,” said Sam. “Come on let’s get started with Blake.”

 

            “Right,” said Jeff. “Alright, Blake, you just lie there and don’t move. We’ll do everything. Let’s get started…Aaron, you take off his shoes. Reggie, you take off his shirt.”

 

            As Aaron and Reggie worked, I just forced myself to relax. I still had no clue what was going on, but I was still determined to pass this little test.

 

            Once Aaron and Reggie finished, Jeff said, “Ok, now get his pants, Aaron.”

 

            Out of instinct I grabbed and held my pants when Aaron tried to reach for them. But then Reggie said, “Yo, son, you forget already? Do what we say, or you ain’t gettin’ in.”

 

            I sighed with regret as I remembered, and I just relaxed while Aaron unbuttoned my pants and began to slide them down. It wasn’t just that I was embarrassed to be seen in my underwear, but also that I was wearing…

 

            “Transformer underwear!” Chris squealed with laughter. As Aaron finished taking off my pants, I felt myself go red with embarrassment as all the other guys laughed at the sight of my little kid briefs. I guess I never stopped liking them, and even though I had planned to get some plain white ones soon, I hadn’t gotten around to it…

 

            After about a minute, all the other guys stopped laughing, and as they did so Jeff said, “It’s ok, buddy…especially since those won’t be quite as funny looking as what they’re about to be replaced with.”

 

            “Huh?” I said. What was he talking about?

 

            “Just chill,” said Reggie. “Don’t worry about yo’ little kiddie pants, we takin’ ‘em off right now anyway.”

 

            With that, Chris grabbed my underwear and began to pull them. Again, out of instinct I grabbed them, not wanting to be naked in front of seven kids whom I had known for about a day.

 

            “Dammit, kid,” said Chris. “You know the rules.”

 

            “Yeah yeah,” said Aaron. “You don’t do what we say, you fail. Just like that.”

 

            “Yeah, besides,” said Sam. “It ain’t nothin’ we haven’t seen before. We’ve all seen each other naked, it’s not big deal. Come on, we’re not tryin’ to stare at your wee-wee or anything.”

 

            With that, I let out another sigh of regret and went red again as Chris yanked my underpants down and pulled them off of my ankles, forcing me to lay there on the carpet naked.

 

            “All right, Tyler,” said Jeff. “Get Blake here ready.”

           

            Without warning, Tyler picked my naked body up in his arms and carried me across the room, with the other guys following. I still was confused, but I began to figure it out as Sam draped a towel over the changing table and Tyler set me down on top of it.

 

            “Wait a sec,” I began nervously as Chris and Shawn took the strap attached to the changing table and strapped it over my body, pinning my arms and chest to the table. “You don’t mean to tell me…”

 

            “Ha ha, I think he’s beginning to get it!” said Jeff.

 

            “That’s right, I think it’s time for ‘Blakey’ to get properly dressed,” said Tyler.

 

            “Blakey?!” I asked loudly. “You mean…”

 

            As I tilted my heard forward, I saw my own naked body stretched out across the towel on the changing table.

 

            “That’s it,” said Shawn. “For the next few hours you will be ‘wittle baby Blakey’.”

 

            “You can’t be serious!” I said nervously. This was the last thing that I had expected.

 

            “Oh, we be dead serious,” said Reggie.

 

            I felt my heart pounding in my chest and my breathing get faster. This was NOT what I had in mind. They were gonna...I was gonna be…baby Blakey…?

 

            As I looked around, all seven of them had sneaky smiles on there faces, and Aaron squeaked out, “Yeah yeah! Blakey’s gonna be a little baby today! And first thing’s the diaper, right Jeff?”

 

            “Diaper?!” I asked.

 

            But then I saw. Beyond my legs, I saw Sam wearing that devilish smile and holding something in each hand. I didn’t know much about babies, but I immediately recognized the two items...the first was a canister of baby powder and the second was a disposable baby diaper.

 

            Once again my body kind of took over on it’s own. I automatically tried to get up from the changing table, but my arms were still strapped down tightly, so I couldn’t move.

 

            Jeff must have noticed my resistance, because he said, “Ah ah ah…you know the deal, kiddo.”

 

            I let out a soft groan as I realized he was right. As I continued to furiously blush, I said, “But…me? A baby…?”

 

            “Chill out, kid,” Chris said. “Stop whinin’ so much. Here, this’ll make you happy.”

 

            I saw Chris reach underneath the changing table and emerge holding a blue pacifier. Without warning he stuck the nipple of it into my mouth and said, “There you go, wittle Bwakey! Suck your paci-waci!”

 

            Automatically I spit it out and said, “Shut up! Why are you guys doing this?”

 

            “Hey, now, don’t blow it,” said Shawn. “We told you, you have to be initiated.”

 

            “How many times do we gotta go over this?” asked Jeff. “You know the deal, kid. If you want out, tell us right now, and we’ll let you put your clothes back on, walk outta here, and you can’t join our club. But if not, just lay there and be a good little baby and let us do the work.”

 

            As horrible as this was, I REALLY REALLY wanted to join the club, so I regretfully said, “Oh, all right, I’ll do it.”

 

            “There, now that’s better,” said Tyler. “Here, let me go wash off your pacifier.”

 

            As Tyler went to go wash off the pacifier, Reggie and Aaron each grabbed one of my legs. As they did so, Sam unfolded the plastic disposable baby diaper that he was holding.

 

            “You see,” Sam said. “Ever since my baby brother was born, my parents have always tried to get me to help take care of him. He’s real cute and fun to play with, so I learned how to do all of the things he needs, like put him to bed, give him his bottle, and change his diapers. The guys come over to my house a lot, so I showed them each how to do this stuff since they liked my brother too.”

 

            As he spoke, Reggie and Aaron lifted my legs up towards my head, with my butt pointing right at Sam. I felt Sam slide the diaper underneath me, and then I felt the cool powder smack up against my butt.

 

            “So me and Jeff came up with this idea for the initiation to our club. It was real easy to get diapers and baby stuff from my brother, and we plan to save some of it for future initiations…we can buy more diapers any time if we need to. In fact, we’ve been buying our own for initiations instead of using my brothers’ since his don’t fit us kids so good. This right here is a Pampers size 6 that we’re putting on you…looks like it’ll fit you just fine!”

 

            As Reggie and Aaron lowered my legs back down, I looked on in anguish as the guys smiled and Sam shook some of the baby powder onto my crotch. Then, the guys worked together; Reggie and Aaron each grabbed one side of the diaper on the lower end and pulled them up over my waist. At the same time, Shawn and Chris grabbed each side of the upper end, and taped the diaper over my waist. Before I knew it, I was wearing a baby diaper for the first time in about eight years, and I felt really stupid, especially since there was a Baby Mickey Mouse design along the strip that covered my belly button.

 

            It was a pretty funny feeling…the diaper was so different than my underwear. It was thicker, softer, and made a crinkling sound as I moved. What was even weirder about it was that it felt vaguely familiar…it seemed to trigger tactile memories lodged deep inside my brain, especially since the smell of the baby powder had done the same thing earlier. It was almost like I was remembering what it felt like to be a baby again!

 

            “All done!” said Sam with a babyish tone. It sounded the tone he probably used when he changed his baby brother.

 

            “Ain’t Blakey the cutest thing?” asked Reggie.

 

            “I fink he’s just adowable!” said Chris in a mock baby tone as he pinched my cheek and laughed.

 

            “Yeah yeah,” said Aaron. “Baby Blakey’s all set in his ‘cool’ diaper, ain’t he?”

 

            As they all continued to laugh at my newly diapered state, Tyler returned and immediately stuck the pacifier in my mouth. I sucked it reluctantly, and tried to act cool rather than embarrassed.

 

            “But we can’t have little babies just running around in a diaper only,” said Shawn.

 

            “That’s right,” said Jeff. “Chris, you un-strap Blake. Tyler, go get the shirt.”

 

            As Chris un-strapped me and made me sit up straight, Tyler returned with a light blue shirt that had the word “BABY” written on the front of it in weird looking letters.

 

            As Reggie and Sam fitted it over my head and put my arms through the sleeves, Jeff said, “Yeah, I made this during summer camp once. I got a lot of strange looks, but since I knew it would prove useful for our initiations, I didn’t care.”

 

            “All right,” said Sam as he finished putting the shirt on me. To my dismay, it was short enough that it didn’t cover up the diaper at all. “Now that Blakey’s dressed, I think it’s time to get goin’.”

 

            “Right,” said Shawn. “So let’s put his shoes back on and get the stroller ready.”

 

            ‘Stroller?!’ I thought in exasperation. Were they gonna take me outside? I didn’t know if I was up to doing that.

 

            Jeff seemed to notice my worry, but he just smiled and said, “Prepare yourself, kid.”

 

            Chris and Aaron put my shoes and socks on while Sam and Reggie left, to get the stroller ready, I guessed. As they did so, I realized that I wasn’t going to wear any pants, and I felt very naked since I was only wearing a diaper and my shoes and socks from the waist down!

 

            “Wait a sec,” I said anxiously. “Don’t I get to wear pants?!”

 

            But Aaron just smiled and said, “Nuh-uh, you only get your diaper!”

 

            “That’s right,” Jeff said with a smile. “It’s a warm day out, and it’s perfect weather for babies to just romp around in there diapers. Besides, we want everyone to see our little baby’s diapy, now don’t we?” he asked as he bent down and lightly pinched my chin in a joking manner.

 

            After that, Chris said in that sickening mock baby tone, “Ok, now, Bwakey. You know that wittle babies cwy a wot. So wet’s hear your biggest baby cwy!”

 

            Jeff took out my pacifier, but all I managed to do was say, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

 

            “Nope,” said Shawn. “No crying, no club.”

 

            “Oh all right,” I said. Feeling extremely stupid, I let out the best cry that I could. It came out a little more high-pitched than I had planned, so I’m sure that’s why it caused another eruption of laughter.

 

            “Ha ha!” said Aaron. “Blakey sounds just like a real baby! He must be a natural!”

 

            “Hey, he does wear transformer underwear,” Tyler said with a smile.

 

            “No he doesn’t,” said Chris. “He wears Mickey Mouse diapers. Look!”

 

            As they continued to laugh, Jeff soon said, “Ok, ok, that’s enough. Shut up. Ok, Blake, now we gotta hear some baby talk.”

 

            Again, feeling stupid, I let out a stream of goo-goos and babyish gurgles, which resulted in more laughter.

 

            “Ha ha, that’s pretty good!” said Shawn.

 

            “Maybe if you’re real good your mommy will give you some cookies and a big ba-ba of milk!” Chris said to me.

 

            “Hey, guys, we’ve got the stroller out here!” I heard Sam yell from outside his front door.

 

            “Alright, let’s take him,” said Jeff. He grabbed my pacifier stuck it into my mouth again, and then said, “Tyler?”

 

            With that, Tyler hoisted me up into his arms again and carried me out of the nursery and then out of the house. I saw Reggie and Sam waiting by a stroller with big grins on there faces.

 

            The stroller had light blue padding on the seat, and it was the kind that had a bar in front of it going across and another one to separate the two leg holes. Tyler had little trouble putting me in it; he just slid my legs through each of the sides of the middle bar, so I was now sitting in the seat with my legs dangling down. The guys told me to put my feet on a little bar above the ground so my feet wouldn’t drag.

 

            For some reason I felt even more helpless in the stroller. The only good thing was that the bar covered up my diaper pretty well. However, that was just cold comfort given what I knew was about to happen.

 

            “All right, have you guys filled him in on the signals yet?” asked Sam.

 

            “Not yet,” said Jeff. “All right, Blake, listen up. In order for you to pass the initiation, you’re going to have to do what we say. For the most part, you only have to follow our lead…just go along with what we tell people. But, we’re gonna need you to do certain things without us telling you…so we came up with some signals for you to catch on.”

 

            “Yeah yeah,” said Aaron. “You gotta act like a baby when we do certain things.”

 

            “Right,” said Shawn. “Ok, first of all, if one of us pats you on the head, you have to start crying. Got that?”

 

            I nodded without taking my pacifier out. That sounded easy enough to follow…but it would be hard to make myself do it.

 

            “Next, if one of us claps our hands, you have to act like you want a bottle,” said Chris. “And you can’t ask for it like a ten year old. Remember, babies speak baby talk, they whine, and they call it their ‘ba-ba’. And then when someone tries to give you the bottle, you have to really want to drink it.”

 

            “Got that?” asked Tyler.

 

            As I nodded, Sam said, “Oh, that reminds me!” He then darted off.

 

            “And finally,” Jeff said. “If one of us grabs you hand, you have to act like you’ve wet your diaper. We’ll probably only do that one once, though…”

           

            “What?!” I asked, causing the pacifier to fall into my lap. I quickly grabbed it. “What do you mean ‘wet my diaper’?”

 

            “Well, obviously babies wet their diapers,” said Jeff impatiently. “That’s what diapers are for.”

 

            “Yeah yeah,” said, Aaron. “But you ain’t gotta really wet it on the spot.”

 

            “Just act like you peed yourself,” added Reggie.

 

            I groaned as I put the pacifier back in my mouth. This was just getting better and better.

 

            “The only other thing is that if someone asks you a question, you should take out you pacifier and answer. But like a BABY would,” added Tyler.

 

            “All right, you got all that?” asked Shawn.

 

            I once again nodded. Around this time Sam came back, carrying a bag with baby designs on it over his shoulder.

 

            “Good thing my mom has two diaper bags for my brother,” he said. “We can just use this spare one.”

 

            I didn’t know what Sam had in the diaper bag, but I knew it couldn’t be good. I soon found out at least one thing, because he soon reached inside and pulled out a stuffed dog.

 

            “Ha ha, nice touch,” said Jeff as he took the dog. “Here, kid, a furry little friend for you to cuddle if you get scared,” he said as he handed it to me.

 

            I just stared at it for a few seconds before taking it. I had to admit, it was a little cute, but I wouldn’t want to caught dead holding it. On the other hand, I didn’t want to be caught dead wearing a diaper and sucking a pacifier all while being pushed in a stroller, either.

 

            “A’ight, let’s go,” said Reggie.

 

            “Right,” said Jeff. “Aaron, Shawn, you guys get a head start and go let ‘em know what’s happening.”

 

            As Shawn and Aaron ran up ahead and left us, I wondered what Jeff was talking about.

 

            Without further ado, Tyler got behind the stroller and began to push me with Sam, Jeff, Reggie, and Chris walking beside me. I’m sure it was quite a sight to behold as they pushed me down the sidewalk.

 

            As we continued, a woman in her yard noticed us. She did a quick double-take at the sight of me, and then looked at Chris and said, “Chris! What on earth are you and your friends doing? And why is that boy in a stroller?”

 

            “Oh, hi mom,” Chris said. I wondered what the guys were gonna say now…was the initiation going to be cancelled. “Well, this is Blake. And we’re just helping him out.”

 

            “What do you mean?” she asked as she walked over in front of me, obviously suspicious of what was going on.

 

            “Well, you see,” said Jeff. “Blake here REALLY likes this girl down the street.”

 

            ‘What?!’ I thought. I didn’t like girls!

 

            “Yeah,” said Sam. “So he asked us to help him out. So we went up and talked to her, and we found out that she really likes to play house.”

 

            “But she be gettin’ bored with her little ol’ fake baby dolls,” said Reggie. “So we gots dis idea…”

 

            “Yeah,” said Chris. “We asked her if she would like to have a real baby to play with. But we couldn’t let her ‘play’ with a real baby…”

 

            “So we asked her what she would think if a real boy dressed up like a baby and played with her like one,” said Tyler.

 

            “And she loved it!” said Sam. “So we told Blake here about it, and it was his ticket in.”

 

            “Yeah, he was all over the idea,” said Jeff.

           

            “Oh, is that so, Blake?” she asked me.

 

            Remembering what the guys said, I took out my pacifier and said in my best baby voice (very reluctantly, I might add), “Uh-huh! Me a baby!”

 

            Chris’ mom couldn’t help but laughing at this remark, and then she said, “Well, isn’t that the sweetest thing! A little boy doing all this for a little girl he likes! And I must say, you’re quite a cute baby!”

 

            I blushed as I could see the other guys stifle their laughs. “He’s even practiced crying to make it even more realistic,” Chris added. “Go on, Blake, show her,” he told me as he patted me on the head.

 

            Deciding this was not the time to back out, I did my best to let out a babyish whine. Again, Chris’ mom laughed and said, “My, that’s very good! You sound like a real baby. And is that…a diaper you’re wearing?”

 

            “Come on mom, you know babies wear diapers,” Chris said.

           

            “Yes, you’re right,” she said. “Well, you boys go on. That’s kind of a weird game, but if she likes it and Blake likes her…well, who am I to judge? You boys have fun.”

 

            She walked away as the guys said bye to her. Once we were out of earshot, Sam said to me, “Good job, Blake. You handled that well.”

 

            “Yeah, and it wasn’t really true…no girl wants you to play house with you as her baby,” added Tyler. That was a relief, at least.

 

            “But that part was easy,” said Reggie. “The real test be comin’ up soon.”

 

            As we continued down the sidewalk, a few more encounters like that one happened, with people asking about my stuffed dog and pacifier in addition to why I was doing what I was doing. But Reggie was right…after we went a few more blocks, the real test was upon me. Because to my horror, I saw up the street, talking to Shawn and Aaron, was Kelly and two of her girl friends.

 

            As we got a little closer, I saw the Shawn and Aaron point at us while the other guys waved to the girls. The girls waved back lightly as I was rolled into close range. My cheeks were burning red, my stomach felt funny, and my throat was dry as I got a clear view of the girls.

 

            “There he is!” said Shawn excitedly as the girls came up to me with big smiles on their faces. Although Kelly’s friends seemed to lose control of themselves at the sight of me, Kelly stayed calm. The other two immediately started to coo me like a real baby and spoke baby talk to me, making me feel even more embarrassed. But I knew if I fought them I would fail the test, so I forced myself to play along.

 

            “Hey, calm down, you stupid girls,” said Chris. He obviously didn’t like girls much either.

 

            As the two girls stopped messing with me, they just let out a little “hmmph!” and backed away.

 

            “Right,” said Jeff. “Baby Bwakey is here for Kelly.”

 

            Kelly just smiled at me and bent over me closely to get a good look. “So this is him? You guys never told me how cute he was!”

 

            This statement was also embarrassing, and it made my stomach feel queasy. But for some reason, it made me feel good too...

 

            “Well, babies are just babies to me,” said Shawn.

 

            Ignoring Shawn’s comment, Kelly just said, “And he’s cuddling his wittle puppy, too! That’s so adorable!”

 

            I could somehow tell that the guys were immensely enjoying this. I couldn’t quite figure out what Kelly was up to…her voice sounded somewhat genuine, but at the same time it was playful…almost in a devilish way…

 

            “Can I play with him?” she asked. It was weird…I couldn’t tell if she was treating me as a real baby or not…

 

            “Why don’t you ask him?” said Chris.

 

            She softly smiled, and then looked at me and asked in a gentle tone, “Do you wanna come out of your stroller and play little guy?”

 

            Again I felt embarrassed, but I managed to pull out my pacifier and say, “Uh-huh.”

 

            “Oh goodie!” Kelly said. She then lightly grabbed my chin with her hand for a second and playfully shook it before letting go.

 

            Tyler then came over and started to lift me out of the stroller. But soon after he did, Sam came over and patted me on the head. That was the signal, and I knew what I had to do.

 

            I immediately started my fake crying, trying to make it sound as babyish as possible. Kelly’s friends jumped at the sound, but Kelly didn’t.

 

            “Uh-oh,” said Chris. “Wooks wike Bwakey is upset!”

           

            “Yeah yeah,” said Aaron. “Blakey’s bawling his head off.”

 

            “But why is he crying?” asked Kelly innocently. But something about her voice told me that she was just playing along with this whole thing…it was around then I realized that she obviously knew about this whole thing…that must have been what Shawn and Aaron had gone off to do, explain this whole thing to Kelly. I got the sense that this wasn’t the first time she had done something like this.

 

            “Is he wet, maybe?” she asked.

 

            “No, I don’t think so,” said Tyler.

 

            “Why don’t we ask him?” Jeff asked as he distinctly clapped his hands.

 

            I knew I had to respond to the signal, so while Blake was still holding me, I stopped crying and said, “Bwakey want ba-ba! Me hungwy!”

 

            “Aww, he wants his bottle!” said Reggie, laughing.

 

            “Well let’s give him one!” said Chris. “Sam?”

 

            I saw Sam reach into the diaper bag and pull out a baby-bottle filled with milk. “Kelly,” he began. “You wanna do the honors?”

 

            “Ok!” she said excitedly. It was obvious she was enjoying this as much as the guys were. I knew that I would just have to play along, and I just hoped this would all be over soon. But at the same time a tiny part of me wanted her to give me the bottle…

 

            What was I thinking?

           

            As Tyler held me, Kelly took the bottle and put the nipple of it into my mouth. Remembering what the guys had told me, I put a smile on my face and eagerly sucked on it, trying to get the milk out. It was a little weird, but not too bad…

 

            After I finished about half of it, Jeff said, “I think little Blakey’s had enough.”

 

            “Yeah, but ain’t we forgettin’ somethin’?” asked Reggie.

 

            “Yeah, you have to burp babies after their bottles!” said Kelly. With that, she gave me a few hard pats on my back. Maybe just because I wasn’t expecting this, I actually let out a soft burp after a few of them! This resulted in even more laughter from the guys.

 

            “Well, I think Bwakey’s sweepy,” said Kelly in a sweet voice. “Here you go,” she said to me, taking my pacifier and putting it in my mouth. Deciding it might be good to play along, I closed my eyes as I felt Tyler put me back in the stroller. I then felt Kelly put the stuffed dog in my arms.

 

            I slightly opened my eyes to see her say, “Ok, bye now little Blakey!”

 

            But it wasn’t over yet, because then Sam came in front of me and casually grabbed my hand. Remembering my orders, I said, “Uh-oh…me go pee-pee!”

 

            I actually had to keep from laughing because the other guys were laughing so hard…it actually did sound kinda funny, and I had started to get used to this whole thing, so I wasn’t as embarrassed. I even decided to go even further by letting out soft whimpers and saying, “My didee is wet! Pwease change me!”

 

            Kelly and the other girls giggled as Kelly said, “Looks like you guys better get Blakey into a fresh diaper!”

 

            “Yeah,” said Jeff. “Well, I guess we better get goin’ then…”

 

            After the guys turned around and started to roll me away, Kelly said something I wasn’t expecting. Looking straight at Jeff, she said, “You know, it doesn’t seem like it was too long ago that I saw you in a diaper, baby Jeffy!”

 

            It was now Jeff’s turn to go red as the other guys laughed.

 

            “All of you babies were cute,” Kelly yelled out to the guys as she started to walk away. “But I think I liked Jeffy the best. I remember when I changed his little diapy!”

 

            Once the girls were out of earshot, I heard Shawn asked Jeff in surprise, “What?!”

 

            “Yeah yeah,” Aaron said. “What was she takin’ about Jeff. You don’t mean she…”

 

            “…Actually changed your diaper when you went through the initiation?” asked Chris.

 

            “Shut up about that!” Jeff told them all as they all stifled their laughter. That kind of set the tone quiet for the rest of the trip back to Sam’s house. I didn’t mind; because I couldn’t believe it. As crazy and embarrassing as the initiation had been, I had passed!

 

            Once the guys took me out of the stroller and back into Sam’s little brother’s room, they all looked at me and laughed.

 

            “You were great!” said Shawn.

 

            “Yeah,” said Sam excitedly. “You were definitely the best one! You were hilarious!”

 

            “Plus I think Kelly LIKES you,” Chris said with a wink.

 

            “Naw, she just thinks he a cute little baby,” said Reggie jokingly.

 

            “Yeah yeah, she just wants to give Blakey his bottle!” said Aaron.

 

            “And see him cuddle his little puppy!” added Tyler.

 

            “Anyway,” said Jeff. “You did real good, kid. But there’s one more thing before you pass.”

 

            I gulped. What could he mean.

 

            “That’s right,” said Sam. “Now, to complete the initiation…you have to…WET your diaper.”

 

            “What?!” I asked.

 

            “That’s right,” said Shawn. “Don’t worry, the diaper’ll hold it.”

 

            “And you should have had plenty to drink by now,” said Tyler.

 

            “So go for it,” said Jeff.

 

            “Come on now,” I said. “You don’t mean it. I…I’m wearing a diaper, but I don’t NEED it…”

 

            “Listen little baby,” said Chris. “Until you pass, you’re still baby Blakey. And wittle babies go pee pee in their didees…so do it or you don’t pass.”

 

            “So go on little baby,” said Reggie. “Time to prove yaself.”

 

            Deciding that this really wasn’t that big of a deal, I braced myself. Luckily, I had to pee, so that wasn’t a problem. But it was really hard to get it going…I had been potty-trained for about eight years, and it was even harder with seven boys watching me pee. But after some straining, I managed to get a flow going.

 

            I was worried about it dripping onto the floor, but Shawn was right…the diaper held it all. It felt kinda funny feeling the warm liquid up against my thighs and crotch, but soon, I was done.

 

            Aaron bent over to inspect it, and he said, “Yeah yeah, he’s wet.”

 

            “Well that’s it then!” said Sam.

           

            “Congratulations, kid,” said Jeff. “You are now officially the eighth member of the Real Cool Guys!”

 

            “Right,” said Chris. “Now before we celebrate, go take off your pissy diaper and clean yourself up.” But judging from his smile and tone I knew that I had earned a new level of respect from Chris as well as the rest of the guys. I was one of them now.

 

 

 

 

 

            It’s been ten years since that summer, and as I sit here writing this, I think about how great things turned out. Although all the kids in the neighborhood got along pretty well and played together, there was a special bond between those of us in the club.

 

            I guess it’s kinda hard not to be bonded to a bunch of kids who you know all were treated like a baby for an afternoon to join a club. Each of the guys told me about their own initiations, and how Jeff and Sam were the very first…they were the two who made the club and decided on the initiation.

 

            We did a lot of fun things together in the club, but we swore an oath that stated we wouldn’t tell anybody about any of it, so I can’t write it. But I can say that because of these activities I was very good friends with everybody in the club until the end of high school.

 

            Every now and then we would initiate a new member, and I have to admit it was fun seeing the embarrassment and shock on the new kid when he was babied.

 

            Of course, once we each reached a certain age, we grew out of the club idea. Chris and Reggie were the first to quit doing it, and soon the original eight of us did. We still stayed very close friends and always remembered doing it, but hey, it lost its appeal after we turned about thirteen.

 

            But we passed down the idea of it to the younger members, and they continued to pass it down, keeping the club, and its initiation, alive.

 

            How do I know this? Let’s just say that one day a few weeks ago I went home to visit my parents, and as I walked down the sidewalk, I saw a group of boys laughing and pushing another boy around in a stroller. As they explained to me why they were doing it, I just smiled and said, “Make sure she burps him after his bottle.” I then chuckled to myself as I thought of yet another boy going through our baby initiation.