Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 23:08:19 -0800 (PST) From: Mark Getty Subject: The Best Revenge Part II This is the second installment and I hope somebody read the first installment! If you have read the story so far let me know what you think! email me at mgetty@planetout.com You all should know the drill about the disclaimer so I won't bore you with the details! Enjoy this installment! Steve woke up the next morning wondering if it was all a dream until he started to climb out of bed, his aching body reminding him of his brutal workout the night before. His parents were both gone and a note was pinned to the pegboard reminded him that Terry would be here when he came home. The day at school was long and irritating, his teachers all yelled at him for not paying attention. He heard the final bell of the day with a sigh of relief, at least he wasn't caught by surprise to see Miss Hyde's car in the driveway. He walked in the house and quietly shut the door walking into the kitchen to find his Mother sitting at the table with Miss Hyde. "Hi!" Steve looked around and wondered where his new foster brother was at. The two women were talking, Terry was obviously nowhere to be seen. "Where's Terry? I figured you guys would be still giving him the third degree when I got home. "He is upstairs and leave him alone, he has had a very rough day! His Father came to see him at juvenile hall, I walked in on the end of it and I do not understand how any parent can treat a child that way." The look of disgust and anger on his mother's face said far more than her words. "Steve, I'll introduce you to Terry and then I need to be going. You all need some time to get to know each other. Miss Hyde paused, not sure if she wanted to speak or not, "Mrs. Randle, I'll let you tell Steve and your husband whatever you think is best about what happened this morning, I'm sorry you had to go through that, I appreciate your still wanting to go through with this." `What happened?" Steve jumped into the chair that Miss Hyde had just left with a look of concern on his face. Questions tumbled out of Steve in a rush. "Are you Ok? Is Terry OK? Did he try and hurt you? Is he staying here?" Miss Hyde frowned and wordlessly motioned that she was going upstairs. Mrs. Randle stood up and Steve quickly began to follow His Mom put her hand on Steve's shoulder to keep him in the chair. "Miss Hyde, I won't be telling Steve anything about this morning until I can talk to his Father, I need to talk to him first. As to what Terry's Father said this morning, I think that is up to Terry to tell Steve when he is ready to do so. I didn't raise my son to hate people! The last comment was delivered with a look on his Mother's face that Steve had never seen before, a look of anger that was totally out of character for the mild mannered person he was used to seeing every day. "Steve, you have to trust me and not ask questions about what happened. Terry has done nothing to hurt me and I don't think he ever will. I don't want to say anything more about his until after I talk to your Father. I want you to promise me something and I mean this, if you ever see Terry's Father or Brother around here you will call the police right away and never let them into this house! Will you promise me that? Her expression softened as she realized that she had scared him pretty badly with what she had just said to him. The look on his face said that he wanted to ask even more questions now. "Mom, what`s going on? You always told me everything and now he shows up and you won't tell me what`s going on! "I can understand that you don't like this at all, but you need to wait until I can talk to your Father." Steve could hear that tone in her voice that told him that any further argument would be pointless. "I also suggest that if you have any homework you get it done before your Father gets home. I don't think you will have much time after dinner." Steve looked at his mother and muttered "fine" and walked upstairs to his room. He ignored the scolding that trailed after him. He tried to work on his homework, he had been upset with his parents for doing this and even more upset that things were changing already. He had just barely gotten started when there was a knock at his door. "May we come in?" Miss Hyde peeked into his room and smiled. "I want you to meet someone." Steve got up and pulled the door open and saw Terry for the first time. Terry could only be described as scrawny. He was dressed in a sweatshirt that was several sizes too big that only emphasized how small and thin he was. Steve looked him up and down and was amazed at how thin his wrists and hands were. Steve wondered if he was sick or something. He stood there wondering what to do next and Miss Hyde repeated the question. "May we come in?" "My Dad was right, they don't want me here!" Terry spun on his heel and started back down the hall, thinking that he would be leaving and have to go back to his father. He slumped forward the feelings of rejection obvious by the way he moved down the hallway. Steve realized that he had an urge to run down the hall and stop Terry from leaving. "Stop!" Steve suddenly felt ashamed of how he was behaving. The shout echoed in the hallway, much louder than he intended. He felt even more ashamed when he saw Terry stiffen in fear when he shouted. "I'm sorry, can we try this again? Steve spoke again making sure to speak softly. He saw Terry turn and saw the look of resentment on his face. "I'm Steve." he stuck his hand out and waited for Terry to take it. The silence hung heavy in the air as the two boys stood several feet apart. Steve grew embarrassed as Terry stood unwilling to make the next move. Steve took a step and repeated `I'm Steve, you`re?" Terry didn't move but softly said "Terry, my name is Terry." He backed up against the wall as Steve approached. "I just hope you don't hate me!" Miss Hyde stepped between the two of them. Steve, the three of us are going to have a long conversation and I need to know if you are willing to give Terry a chance and get to know him before you decide that you don't like him?" "I just know that his Dad treated him pretty bad and he hurt his brother like you told us, I am afraid he is going to hurt one of us! I don't want to see him hurt my Mother! I don't care if he tries to kick my ass, I just don't want him to hurt my Mom!" Terry laughed bitterly, then suddenly reached up and pulled off his sweatshirt to reveal his upper body. Steve gasped as he saw the bruises all over Terry's belly and ribs. Terry turned away and showed his back, Steve saw the welts and scars and gagged at the sight of the welts and scars and bruises all over Terry's back. "Why shouldn't I have tried to kill him, he was going to kill me if I didn't try and stop him. You saw this and almost got sick, I had to live through it!" the bitterness and anger at what he had been through showed in the hate on Terry's face. "Don't hate me because of what your family did, I just know that we won't let that happen anymore! Steve felt himself getting furious that someone could treat another human being that way. "I don't know why your Father would tell you that we would hate you, I can't believe that a father could ever treat his son the way he must have treated you!" Steve felt himself tense with anger and realized that he was clenching his fists. Miss Hyde pushed Steve back, and he realized that he had moved even closer to Terry who was now trying to push himself inside the wall with fear at Steve's approach. Steve flamed red with embarrassment and backed down hoping he had not hurt Terry or scared him away. Something in him crumbled and all he wanted to do was make sure nothing like that ever happened to Terry again. "Terry I promise you that we are all going to make sure that nothing like that will ever happen to you again, I promise!" "You don't even know me, why do you even care?" Terry was still clinging to the wall, but was relaxing slightly at Steve's calming down and backing away. "Besides, once you find out about me, you won't want me around either!" Miss Hyde stood silently, hoping that she would not have to intervene to stop something from happening. She knew that this time would be critical in terms of whether the two boys would even get along. She knew that it was very important that Steve was open to whatever Terry would tell him and she hoped that Steve's mother was right and Steve would not push Terry away. She froze as she heard the next words come out of Terry's mouth. "I'm gay!" "Oh! Was that why you thought I would hate you?" Steve laughed and shook his head. "I don't care! It is not that big a deal for me, I have relatives that are gay and one of my favorite teachers is gay. My Dad will tell you the same thing!"