Boy in the Rain 6

GUYS! I am back again with yet another chapter about Jesse, Toby, Dave, Darren and, our new main character that you will get to meet in this chapter, Sam.

Wow, I would really, really like to thank you guys once again for the major response I am getting after each and every chapter of BITR. I know that my replies are sometimes a bit short, but they truly need be with me getting emails in volumes exceeding seventy per day!!! All that is SO worth keeping on writing!!!

Enjoy this chapter guys. Chapter 7 will be the last chapter of BITR, but keep in mind that BITR is only the first story of a trilogy of sorts. Maybe it will even grow to be a series, who knows? The two stories following BITR are Boy in the Church, and then Boy in the Restaurant. Boy in the Church will shed a lot of light on Sam's story while still focussing heavily on Jesse, Toby, Dave and Darren. Boy in the Restaurant will also introduce a couple of new characters, including a homicidal veterinarian! Sounds interesting, huh?

There should be no delay between the last chapter of BITR and the first of BITC. Things will just continue as normal, with me posting a new chapter every few days (or so I hope!).

Jesse woke up around 11 o'clock that night. He desperately needed to get to the bathroom and it was with great care that he extricated himself from Toby's limbs that seemed to have wound like vines around his own body. After peeing in the en suite bathroom in Toby's hospital room and splashing his face with cold water from the hospital basin he returned to the room.

Despite his ordeal that day he wasn't sleepy at all and, after checking that Toby was still sleeping, he sneaked out to have a cigarette. As he lit his Marlboro outside the main entrance to the hospital, he fleetingly wondered where Darren and Dave were. The last time he saw them was just before he sprinted up the stairs like a lunatic so that he could see Toby. He was sure that visiting hours were long gone, and he worried about the fact that nobody had informed him of it.

He was somebody who, as a rule, stuck the rules, and he felt a little bit guilty because of the stunt he pulled earlier. Just as he managed to extract his cell phone, a beautiful and sleek Samsung Omnia, from his tight jeans, it vibrated with a text message:

Am with ur uncle. Aranged wth hosp staff 2 let u stay the nite. C u 2morow mornin. Luv. Darren

Relieved, he took a last deep drag of the cigarette and walked back into the hospital foyer. He still wasn't tired and decided to have a look around the 24 hour snack shop for something to eat. He managed to get himself two Mars bars and a packet of potato chips and just as he was finishing them up a sign in the long hallway caught his eye:

He stared at the word `chapel' for quite a long time. Why not, he thought. Every bit may help at this stage. It was with a feeling of unjustified unease and trepidation that he made his way to the small room. He hadn't been in any Christian establishment for quite a while, and he still wasn't sure whether he really wanted to go. But a tiny voice in his head said: for Tobes, and that was all it took.

Despite his anxiety, his eyes sparkled when he entered the room. To Jesse, it was beautiful. Large biblically themed portraits adorned the spiced beige-coloured walls and thick, brown carpeting lay below his feet. The pews were made of a dark mahogany and the small pulpit at the far end of the room was a contemporary glass and chrome design. Right in front of it were dozens of small, lit candles. All in all the room had a modern yet cosy and familiar theme to it, and Jesse immediately fell in love with it.

He was totally unaware that, as he took an unlit candle at the door, a frail, blonde figure was watching him from a shadowed area at the back of the room. The boy kept his eyes fixed on Jesse as he slowly, reverently, walked towards the altar and lit the candle. It was still watching as he kneeled and started to pray out loud:

To the powers that be... God... I ask you to help me once again. I have been scared of Toby from the beginning, scared of the feelings that he evoked in me. Now I am scared of the feelings he has inside himself. I cannot imagine how worthless life has to seem to a person before they attempt to commit suicide, but I now know that Toby's life had been horrible. Whatever the relationship between Toby and I turns out to be, I ask that you help me to understand him, and to help him. Even to... love him. Amen.

Tears started to roll down Jesse's cheeks as he spoke the last words. Prayer was not something that he did often, and he still wasn't quite sure that it would make a difference, but it was still an intense experience for him.

`You disgust me.' A soft, drawling voice said from directly behind the kneeling Jesse. `You and the guy you were praying for... Toby. How... how dare you pray for a faggot in the house of God.' Shocked, Jesse quickly got up and spun around. Standing in front of him was an extremely thin, extremely tall boy. Even though he was easily a whole head taller than Jesse, it was obvious that he was younger.

`Wh-what?' Jesse managed to utter, then, recovering marginally, `Who do you think you are?'

`No! Who do you think you are, coming into the Lord's house, speaking to him as if he should show you and your kind mercy.' Jesse, totally astounded by the blonde boy's harsh words, just stood there, unable to reply. I turned out that he didn't need to as a large, red-faced man bit short grey hair steamrolled into the chapel and made a beeline for the blonde.

`Samuel! Where have you been you little cocksucker?' The boy was totally startled, and Jesse could see his eyes widen with fear. "Oh, and who is this, eh Sammy? One of your queer friends, no doubt. It's a good thing that I arrived when I did. I can just imagine what you heathens would have gotten up to'. The strange man finally reached the boy, evidently called Samuel, and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

`You are coming with me now you little pansy,' he breathed menacingly. `And you,' he said, turning to look at Jesse, `don't let me find you near him again, y'hear? I will make sure that your faggy ass gets a good beating if I do.' And with that he turned around and walked away, dragging the non-protesting form of Samuel with him.

Well, that was totally and supremely weird, Jesse thought as he watched their retreating backs.

Darren was nervous. It was nearly midnight, and he still hadn't gathered the courage to question Dave about their brief conversation earlier that day. He was pretty certain he knew what made Dave so sure that Jesse would run away as soon as he caught wind of the fact that they knew he was gay.

Just at that moment, Dave walked into the living room towards Darren with two glasses of red wine. Darren didn't say anything as Dave handed him the glass before proceeding to sit down with his own glass.

After Dave took a sip of the wine he reached into his pocket and fished out the thin tin can of pocket cigars. He opened the tin, extracted a cigar from it and lit it with a Zippo lighter that was lying on the table.

`Why do you smoke those damn things anyway? You know how bad they are for you.' Darren scoffed. Dave looked up in surprise. Not once since they have met had Darren spoken to him in such a rude manner.

`I already told you that I started smoking them to help me with developing a Character in my book, Doll, who also smoked them. You know I found that I liked them and just never quit. But if it is such a big problem for you I will give them up.' Dave said in a concerned voice. He didn't want to fight with his fiancée.

Darren immediately regretted his outburst. He knew that it was only because he was stressing about the topic he needed to raise with Dave that he reacted like that.

`I'm sorry. You know I don't mind you smoking them. It gives you a classic air.' Darren said, now smiling. `However,' he said, his facial expression becoming sober once more, `there is something else that is bothering me - bothering me a lot, actually. I had an epiphany earlier when Jesse tried to run away, and I don't know how to handle it. I don't even know whether I am right or just a bit paranoid, but it's making me jumpy.'

Darren took a deep breath before asking, `Jesse cam to live with you a couple of years ago when his mother passed away, am I right?'

`Yes, she died in a car accident. The car in front of her got a burst tire while they were doing 120 kilometers per hour on the freeway. This caused a major car pile-up. But you already know all this Dar. What on Earth is going on? You are acting very strange tonight.' Dave said, becoming a bit irritated with Darren.

`And was his mother really your sister?' Darren asked. Dave's mouth instantly fell open, and his eyes took on an astonished look.

`I guessed when you said that you expected Jesse to run away because you did the same thing when you were his age. It actually all makes sense now. You guys look so much alike... ` He mused. He looked Dave in the eyes and said, `You are Jesse's dad, aren't you?'

Back at the hospital, Jesse had returned to Toby's room. He had spent an hour or so in the chapel after the strange incident with Samuel and his dad before feeling his eyes get heavy. As he sat down on the edge of the bed to take off his shoes, Toby woke up.

Jesse turned around in looked into Toby's beautiful blue eyes. `Yes Tobes? What's the matter? Do you need anything?'

Toby looked worried. `Jess, what's going to happen to me after I get out of the hospital? I'm really scared.'

Jesse's heart broke for the boy, but he knew that he couldn't offer any substantial comfort to him. He didn't know what was going to happen either. In a little fantasy of his Toby would get to stay with them and his prick of a father would end up behind bars for what he did to this poor boy, but he knew that it wasn't as simple as that.

`I don't know Toby. I wish I could tell you something to make you feel better, but I really do not know. Whatever happens, though, things will never be the same for either of us. There is something that I want to ask you. Something that I had wanted to ask you last night already. I know that we haven't really known each other for a long time yet, but I am really attracted to you. I can't get your beautiful eyes or full lips out of my head, and I suspect that I do have feelings for you. What do you say we give it a shot... together?'

Toby's eyes flashed and became even lighter than they already were. `Do you really have to ask?' He said before falling into Jesse arms. `You are my angel, my... saviour. I... really like you too. I think you are one of the kindest, sweetest and best looking guys I have ever set eyes on.' He said while blushing profusely.

Jesse's heart melted at the boy's words. As he stared into his eyes, he raised his hand and trailed a single finger lightly down the side of Toby's face.

`May I?' He asked. Toby nodded his consent, and Jesse leaned in to kiss him. The moment their lips touched Jesse experienced a feeling of such complete rightness that it totally overwhelmed him. Tears appeared in his eyes as he slowly, softly, moved his lips over Toby's. This will work out. Somehow this will all come together.

As the whip came down on his back for what felt like the hundredth time, Sam finally allowed himself a little cry of pain. His father was never satisfied until he received vocal confirmation that he really hurt the boy. As an act of defiance, Sam stayed as quiet during his regular beatings as possible. This, of course, infuriated his father even more, worsening his punishment.

His father threw the whip down onto the floor and spat, `For your sake I hope the demons are out of you now. Next time will be much, much worse.' This was a regular routine. Whenever his dad suspected him of any homosexual activity (which was almost every day), he got a beating like this one. His dad's weapon of choice was a wooden cane, but since he had broken the last one in the house on Sam's back the previous week he resorted to the whip.

With his father finally out of his room, Sam finally started to cry, albeit silently. He looked up at the ceiling of his room, whispering through the tears, `Why me? Why me, Lord? What have I done to deserve this?'

In the words of a fellow Nifty author: "I am awaiting any questions, comments, flames or naughty pictures you guys might want to throw at me."

Meph says hi, and warns you guys to comment ASAP. Think of those poor slippers guys!