Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 05:53:05 EST
From: Djedoric58@aol.com
Subject: The Bull Singer Chapter Ten

THE BULL SINGER
By DJ
CHAPTER TEN

I moved up to lie behind him and asked, "Joey, I won't be  angry, but have
you been with anyone before?"
He turned his head to frown at me. "No.  Why?"
"Joey, I need to know. You're certainly not a  virgin."
Joey wrenched away from me and buried his face in the  pillow. "Leave me
alone, it's none of your  business."
I rolled away from him, shocked both at the evidence and  at him lying to me,
and he scrambled out of bed, his face dark with anger. He  grabbed for his
clothes began to dress. I sat up, wondering what to do, I felt  so cheated.
Coming to the bed, he pressed the call button. "What are you going  to do?" I
asked him.
"I'm going home."
He sat on the bed and put his shoes and socks on, and as  he moved to stand
up, I leaned over to place a hand on his shoulder. He shot off  the bed and
turned to scream at me, "Don't touch me!"
Just then, the door opened and Benjamin walked in. "Joey,  what's the
matter? Has he done something to upset you?"
"I just want you to take me home." Joey spat out. He  began to breathe
erratically and wouldn't look at either of us as he dragged on  his jacket. He
started for the door and Benjamin caught him as he went past.  Joey jerked away
from him and began to run.
Benjamin took a bleeper out of his pocket and pressed it  twice. "I think you'
d better get dressed, Mr. Alton," he said as he hurried out  after Joey. I'
ve never dressed so quick in all my life. In just my pants and  socks I ran out
of the bedroom and into a converging group of bouncers trying to  catch a
speeding teen. He avoided them like a centre forward dodging defenders  while
sprinting for a goal. Anything he could lay his hands, on he pulled into  the
path of his pursuers as he led us through the house, down corridors and  through
room after room, trying to find a way out.
One of the more agile men managed to catch him and  wrapped his arms round
the boy's waist, lifting him off his feet. Joey screamed,  "Let go of me you
bastard," and brought his feet and elbows into play. A lucky  back kick caught
the man in the crotch; he let go of Joey and staggered away  holding his
crotch, and Joey fled. The next man nearly reached him but he got  away and
eventually found a door leading to the rear gardens. He pushed it open  and shot
through it, and there his flight came to a painful end by a wet patio  and a flight
of steps.
The men were almost on top of him, their hands clutching  at him. He wrenched
free, leaving the bounce holding an empty jacket. The next  one grabbed his
shirt and that ripped, and the sudden freedom made him jerk  forward. His new
shoes slipped on the wet marble and he tumbled down the steps  to lie in a
crumpled heap at bottom.
"Joey, no!" I thrust everyone aside and ran down the  steps, oblivious of
the wet soaking into my socks. I reached him with the  bouncers close behind and
I feared the worst as I knelt to gather him in my  arms.
"Don't touch him, sir," one of the bouncers warned and  pulled me away. "
Let me check him over first in case he's broken something."  Wanting to get to
him, I tried to push the bouncer away but the others gripped  me and hauled me
to my feet, and held me there. The man kneeling beside Joey  checked his
pulse, and pushed his eyelids up to check his pupils. Joey was out  cold. The
bouncer checked all his limbs, and felt his chest for cracked ribs.  Two more
bouncers appeared carrying with a fold down gurney, and I watched  helplessly as
they laid it beside Joey and carefully rolled him onto it, turning  him on his
left side and checking that his breathing as not obstructed. At least  they
seemed to know their first aid skills; something I knew little about. I  thought
they were going to carry him up the steps and I started to pull away  from my
captors to climb up them but they raised the gurney to full height and
wheeled it away from the steps. Puzzled, I walked after them as they wheeled it
through a tunnel under the steps and into a lift.
This went up  to the ground floor and opened out onto a narrow corridor,
where Elias sat  waiting with Charlie by the open door of a bedroom. He pointed to
it and the men  wheeled the gurney inside. The look Elias gave me was not
friendly at all. He  indicated the bedroom with a jerk of his head and I followed
the gurney in. If I  thought our bedroom was luxurious, this one was out of
this world, with silks  and velvets, priceless glassware, paintings and
gold-work. There was another  room beyond, kitted out as a treatment room complete
with a young man in a white  surgical top. I guessed this was the old man's
private physician. Nice if you  could afford you own clinic. I was about to go in
but the bouncers came out and  pointedly drew the door shut. They stood in
front of it and stared a challenge  at me.
When I turned to face Elias, Benjamin had joined  him and looked equally
suspicious. I felt like a schoolboy brought before the  headmaster as Elias said, "
Well? Are you going to tell me what happened or do I  let Charlie's boys beat
it out of you?"
I didn't think Joey would want me to tell everyone what  I'd found. "I'll
talk to you in private, if you don't mind," and indicated the  bouncers. Once
they had gone back into the treatment room, I said, "I haven't  even touched
him yet, but Joey's not a virgin, and someone's hurt him in the  past. Why don
't you ask your physician to check him out if you don't believe  me?"
Elias looked up at Benjamin and nodded. Benjamin walked  into the treatment
room, honouring me with an angry Frankenstein glare as he  passed me. A moment
later the two minders came out and took up their positions  again. Elias said,
"If you've hurt him I'll have you  flogged."
"I haven't, I swear. I wouldn't, I love him too  much."
Elias didn't look as if he believed me and I was thankful  when Benjamin
re-appeared, his eyes filled with angry tears. Through the open  door, I watched
the physician pull off a pair of latex gloves and throw them in  a waste bin
before joining us in the bedroom."
"Well, Sam?" Elias asked  him.
The physician looked at the two minders and they moved  back into the
treatment room. Once the door was shut, Sam said, "Mr Alton is  quite correct, sir.
You grandson has been abused. As far as I can tell, it's  happened over a
period of time. There is evidence of several tears of the anal  ring, which have
been allowed to heal without medical attention.  I noticed the fading bruising
on his  back and buttocks, but they are of a more recent nature, but not as
recent as  Joey and Mr. Alton's arrival here."
"Thank you, Sam," Elias said, "and what about the fall he  had?"
"I haven't finished my examination, sir, but there's  nothing broken. I don'
t think I'll find anything more than severe  concussion"
"Very well. Return to your patient and let me know  the details as soon as
you can." Now it was my turn. "Mags, I'm sorry I  misjudged you. And I thank
you for bringing this to my attention." Slowly his  face wrinkled with emotion
as the full force of the situation hit him. He passed  a hand over his eyes for
a moment, and when he took his hand away he looked  haggard. "I've failed
the boy. I should have listened to you, Ben. Who could  have done it?"
"I asked Joey if he had ever been with a man," I said,  "and he said no." I
went to sit on the edge of his bed. I too, was feeling  pretty wretched.
Elias looked up at Benjamin. "What do you think,  Ben?"
"Treat the boy, gently, Elias. He is obviously frightened  about something,
or someone."
"Yes, and I can guess who."
"You don't know that, Brother. Let's wait till the boy is  awake and can
tell us what has happened."
"Well, the bitch must have known about it. Her boyfriends  must be behind
this and she must have known." Elias nodded. "You're right Ben.  We can only
wait. Charlie, get someone to bring Joey a new shirt, and the rest  of Mr. Alton'
s clothes and a dry pair of socks. Mags, you wait here with Ben;  I'm going to
pull in some outside help."
Charlie wheeled him away and I frowned at Benjamin. "What  does he mean,
outside help?"
"We have several contacts capable of searching out the  truth, Mr. Alton.
They are the same people I always call on when I have to find  Mz. Street every
time she disappears. Let's just say they work in a not quite  legal way, but
they are far better than private detectives and have never let me  down yet.
They already have a dossier on most of Angel's ex-boyfriends and her  currant
ones. If any of them have shown an inclination to abuse a child in the  past, they
'll find out and report to my brother. Won't you make yourself  comfortable,
Mr. Alton?" He indicated an armchair beside a coffee table. "Your  clothes
will be brought to you, shortly. I'll just go and check on  Joey."
"Thanks, Benjamin, and the name is  Mags."
"Thank you, Mags."
Left  to my own devices, I settle down in the chair and wondered if Joey
would ever  let me go near him again. I was sure whatever trust had been built up
would be  in the dustbin now, and I felt sad at the thought of our
relationship being in  jeopardy. I had to admit that I was falling in love with him. Then
my thoughts  turned to Billy, and I wondered whether I was being unfaithful
to his memory;  surely not. "What would you have me do, Billy? You are still my
love, my  everything." But would he want be to be on my own? No, he wouldn'
t, and  there was my answer.
One of the minders arrived with my clothes and I got  dressed in time for
Benjamin to open the door of the treatment room and beckoned  me in. Joey sat on
the edge of a treatment room table in just his briefs,  holding a plastic up
while the medic dropped some pills into his hand. Joey  swallowed the pills and
reached out for me. I went to him and took hold of his  hand. He had a shaved
patch at the back of his head and there was a nasty cut  there that Sam was
ready to stitch. "This may hurt a bit," Sam said as he lifted  the
suture-threaded needle. Joey gripped my hand tightly and grimaced as the  first stitch
went in. While I held Joey's hand I searched his body for fresh  bruises, and
found plenty along with grazes on his legs and hips. I wasn't  surprised; you don
't fall down ten steps without some kind of mark. When the  medic had
finished, Joey still clung to my hand, looked into my eyes once then  lowered his
eyes, an expression of shame on his face. "I'm sorry, Mags, I didn't  mean to
cause any trouble. Can we still be  friends?"
"I never thought we weren't." I said, and put my arms  round him, careful to
avoid the fresh bruises.  I wanted to give him much more than a  gentle hug,
and looked at Benjamin who took the hint and ushered Sam out of the  room,
telling him to go and make his report to Elias. The moment the door was  shut,
Joey turned to me and put his arms round my neck. I held him close and  shushed
him as he started to cry. "It's okay Joey; your grandfather is going to  sort
things out. All you have to do is tell us who did this to you."
I felt Joey stiffen. "I  can't."
"Why, Joey? There's nothing to be afraid of now. Elias  and Ben and me are
going to keep you safe. Nothing's going to happen to you.  Okay?"
"No, I daren't. If I do they'll know, and they'll kill  him."
"Kill who?"
"My--My dad and his family."
"I thought you didn't know your  dad?"
"I don't, but...they know. Please, Mags, I can't say  anything. I'm sorry
Mags, my head hurts and I don't feel too good. Can I lie  down please?"
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This  situation was becoming more
twisted and complex than ever. "Okay, sport. Just  sit tight and I find a
wheelchair or something; you can't walk back to bed as  you are." I released him
and went to the door; Benjamin was sitting the  armchair, and stood as soon
as he saw me. "Could you get me a wheelchair and  something to wrap him in? He
has a bad headache and needs to  rest."
Benjamin nodded his head. "Sam gave him something for the  pain; he's
probably feeling sleepy as well. Wait here with him, please?" He left  the room and
I went back to Joey and found him sitting with his head in his  hands. He
started to fall forward off the table and I caught him just as he  fell. I laid
him down on his side and held his hands while his eyelids slowly  closed.
Benjamin came back pushing a wheelchair, with a folded bathrobe on it.  We managed
to sit Joey up and put the bathrobe on him and Benjamin picked him up  and
placed him in the wheelchair and wheeled him quickly back to our bedroom.
I helped Benjamin put him to bed and accepted Benjamin's  invitation to have
some tea brought in. I just didn't want to leave him for one  moment longer
than I had to; but Elias had to be told what Joey had said.  "Before you go,
Ben, I need to have a word with Elias. An someone come and sit  with Joey while I
go and see him?"
Ban nodded. "Sam was going to come and check him over.  I'll ask him to come
now."  Benjamin  used his bleeper to summon the medic and when he arrived,
Benjamin took me to  see Elias.
The old man was sitting in his private lounge, having  some tea. Once he had
dismissed his entourage of minders, he bade he sit down  beside him and
offered me a cup of tea. I refused because I wanted to get back  to Joey as fast as
I could. Benjamin sat down on a nearby chair to hear what I  had to say
without being obvious. "Well?" Elias said. "What is it you want to  see me about?"
I told them what Joey had said, and Elias put his cup down  quickly. He sat
back and stared, first at me then at his brother. "What do you  make of it, Ben?
"
"I don't know, Ly. I've never seen evidence of the boy  being attacked by
any of Angela's boyfriends; mind you I've only visited them on  the times I
have found her for you. This is all very new to my ears, and very  distressing. I
hope you will listen to me in future,  Brother."
Elias squirmed under Ben's disapproving gaze. "So what do  you advise?"
"Why don't you ask Edward Alton to apply for custody of  the boy?  Failing
that, have Edward  transfer the tenancy of Top Farm from Angela to Joey. That
way he could legally  throw her out and yet still provide a home for the  boy."
"You know I can't do that. The woman has me over a barrel  and well you know
it."
"But it wouldn't be from you, would it? She has no  argument with Edward."
"Doesn't she?"
"What are you trying to tell me,  Ly?
Elias glared at him, then he looked at me and said,  "Mags, what I tell you
now goes no further than this room. Do you understand  me?" When I nodded my
agreement, he said, "Mags, just before Angela was born, my  wife had an affair
and Angela was the product of that affair. Angela is your  sister."