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Disclaimer
– If you want a story with lots of sex, look elsewhere. This is
a love story. Seeing, as it is a love story, sex is in there, but it
is in realistic balance in the characters’ lives. The story
contains sexual encounters between high school age minors, and has
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resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is
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Trails
and Tribulations
Chapter
9
Answered Prayers
We
played a two hour game of cut-throat Risk, which I won. It was just
too easy when I started off with most of North America from the draw
of cards, but, I took it easy and kinda toyed with them until Roger,
who started with Australia, tried to take over Asia. After the game,
Aunt Alice fixed us hotdogs and chips for dinner. We took off for my
house, after we ate, to watch some movies. Roger picked out Cowboys &
Aliens. Roger has always been a Sci-Fi and Horror freak. If the movie
didn’t have vampires, werewolves, aliens, long-dead dinosaurs,
or magic, it had to be about sports, or he didn’t like it. I
didn’t care about the genre as long it was a good story.
We
piled on my bed with me in the middle again. Roger got comfortable
and held onto the remote for the movie. Meanwhile, Joey snuggled up
to me and I wrapped my arm around his shoulders as he nuzzled his
head between my chin and right shoulder. Right then and there, I
finally realized as I held Joey close that the scent I had come to
associate with him had to be his shampoo. It had a vague aroma of
strawberries, which I really like. As I lay there holding him close
to me, I inhaled deeply, allowing what I termed the ‘Essence of
Joey’ to surround me.
I heard both of them giggling.
“What?” I looked at both of them.
Roger smirked
and elbowed me in the ribs. “Are you smelling him?”
“Well,”
I paused, trying to sound like I did nothing unusual. “Hell
yeah, I was. What?” I looked back and forth between them and
they started to laugh. So, in my defense, I admitted, “He
smells good. I love his shampoo.” I blushed.
“Aww,
Andy.” Joey purred, as he turned his head and kissed me on my
cheek. Roger just rolled his eyes.
A smile lit my face like
Times Square. Yes! Score one for me.
After snuggling with Joey
and watching the movie for about twenty minutes or so, I thought I
recognized an actor.
“Isn’t that the old dude from
that last Indiana Jones movie? You know the movie about a crystal
skull, what’s his name, uh, Harrison Ford?” I asked
elbowing Roger.
“Yes, in fact, he was Indiana Jones in
all the Indy movies, and he was also in the first Star Wars movies.”
Roger smiled, showing off his movie knowledge. “I think I read
somewhere once where a lot of gay boys were all hot and bothered over
him back in the day. Is that why you remember him?”
“Okay
smart ass, what other movies was he in?” I was only slightly
annoyed by his last comment, because for an old dude he was sorta
hot.
“Well, he was in Blade Runner, Witness, Patriot
Games, The Fugitive, Air Force One,” Roger continued to name
films looking smugly at me, “and Six Days Seven Nights, to just
name a few.”
“And who is all hot and bothered, and
knows everything about Mr. Ford?” I grinned.
“Shut
up!” Roger grabbed a pillow and smacked me with it, as he
realized I had set him up.
I chuckled to myself, ‘Andy
two, Roger zero’.
“Play nice.” Joey said,
turning his head to look up at me with a smile. I rolled my eyes, but
smiled back at Joey and nodded.
I thought of the three of us
laying there on my bed, what an awesome picture that would make. Then
I remembered I wanted to take a bunch of pictures of Joey.
Kissing
the top of Joey’s head, “Joey, let me up. I need to talk
to dad for a sec.”
He rose up off of me so I could get
up, and I took off to find my dad to take some pictures for us. I
knew the camera was ready since I checked it the other night. All I
needed was my Dad.
First, I checked his bedroom, but he wasn’t
there, so I headed downstairs. I wandered into the kitchen, but Dad
wasn’t there either. While in the kitchen, I checked the clock
and noticed it was only seven-thirty. I figured, even if it was a
Saturday, he was probably working on court stuff, so he would more
than likely be in his office.
The door to his office was
closed, so I knocked before I opened it. When I looked in he was on
the phone, but he motioned for me to come on in. I took a seat in
front of his desk. I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed he was
talking to someone about Joey’s parents. Before I could
understand what the call was about, Dad ended the call.
“What
can I do for you Andy?” Dad asked, while closing a folder on
his desk.
“I need a couple of favors Dad. First, will
you take us to church tomorrow? We talked with Pastor Irvin today and
Joey seems comfortable with him. I liked him too.” I paused,
and Dad sat back smiling. He nodded his consent, so I continued.
“When we were at Joey’s house the other day getting his
clothes and things, I noticed the house was full of pictures, but
there were none of Joey anywhere, not one. The second favor is I want
fix that.” I paused while I figured out what to tell Dad. I
didn’t want to out myself to Dad, at least not without talking
to Joey first. I figured that I would borrow Roger’s act and
used my sad puppy dog eyes as I continued. “We were lying in my
bed just now watching movies and I thought that would make a great
picture, but, if one of us took it, one of us would be missing from
the picture. So, would you mind taking a couple of pictures for
us?”
When I finished, Dad laughed at my attempt to be
coy. He sat smiling, and shook his head like I’d lost my mind.
When he finished laughing, he finally spoke.
“Of course
I wouldn’t mind doing things like that for you boys.”
I
hadn’t moved, and I think Dad could sense I had more to say,
because he just sat there waiting on me to decide.
“Joey,
Roger, and I have been talking about the family meeting last night,
and we are a little worried about how concerned you and Aunt Alice
appeared,” I paused and looked Dad in the eyes as I asked,
“What is it we aren’t being told?”
“I’ve
already told you about the history of the McCray family. I also told
you JT’s dad was recently in my court room, and as a judge, I
sometimes have to make rulings that can anger some of the people
involved. That’s my concern.”
I watched as Dad sat
back in his chair, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Reopening
his eyes, he leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him,
while focusing on me. My heart began to beat a bit faster as he
looked me in the eyes and began telling a story I’d never heard
before.
“Andy, there are things in this world that are
hard to explain without experiencing them for yourself.” Dad
looked out the window and he seemed lost in thought. “Your
mother’s family has lived in this area for a very long time.
Did you learn in school the history of this area, as far as who
settled it?” Dad turned his attention back on me and I just
slowly shook my head no. “I better fill you in then. A lot of
Irish and Scottish immigrants settled here in the seventeen hundreds,
leaving the east coast and shall we say, the modern ways.” Dad
seemed to sense my confusion and paused. “Let’s say they
came west to so they could practice the ways of the old
country.”
“What do you mean by that?” I
stared at dad in confusion, trying to grasp what he was telling
me.
“Have you heard of the druids, Andy?”
“Do
you mean the religion?”
“I know you have heard of
Merlin.” Dad smiled.
“Yes. He was a druid?”
“Yes,
he was one of many druids. A druid is a priest or priestess of an
ancient Gaelic religion that predates the Roman conquest of the
British Isles. It is still practiced today, although not to the same
extent that it once was.” Dad sat back a moment. I could tell
he was simply laying out the groundwork so that I’d be better
able to understand the details when they came up later, just like he
used to do in the courtroom before he became a judge.
“Your
mother’s family can trace their ancestry back to Ireland to a
time before Christ was born. There are people still living here in
the mountains that can also trace their lineage back to those times
as well. And some of them still practice the old traditions. When
they first moved here, a tribe of Shawnee Indians was already here.
Daniel Boone, a person I know you have heard of, was a friend of the
Shawnees, and he had been the person that had shown the first
settlers how to get into Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap, down at
Middlesboro. Daniel introduced the settlers here in Letcher County to
the Shawnees, and the two groups made fast friends because of their
mutual respect for nature and their common religious beliefs.”
Dad stopped and took a drink of water.
While Dad took a drink,
I considered what he had said so far. My mother’s family might
have been druids? That wasn’t something you learned every day,
but I knew Dad wasn’t done with his lessons yet.
“The
traditions of the old country, and the Shawnee’s traditions
were shared among the two groups and they grew in knowledge. Over the
years, most of what was learned has been lost. So now, there are only
a few women that continue the old traditions today; they are known as
‘granny witches’.”
All this talk about the
settlers, granny witches, and Indians left me wondering if he was
ever going to answer my question. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if I
even remembered what my question was.
“I have always
believed that God isn’t restricted as to how He can work His
will. Through experiences I’ve had with your mother’s
family, I have learned to listen, with an open mind, to any advice
given; and I have been advised that our family will soon come under
attack. Andy, when I say family, I am including Steve, Alice, Roger
and now, Joey,” Dad said, pausing briefly for emphasis. “Now,
there are many ways that one can be attacked. What we asked you to do
will help keep you away from physical harm. As for other ways of
attack, I will do everything in my power to make sure we are all
protected.” Dad gave me a weary half-smile, trying to reassure
me that everything would be alright, and that we would all make it
through this safely. “For now, that’s all I’m going
to say on this subject.”
“Okay Dad. I’m not
sure that I understand everything you told me concerning mom’s
family, witches, and wizards, but I won’t worry about that
right now. I promise to do what you have asked us to do, and I
understand better now why you were so worried.”
“Great!
Now, let’s go take some pictures.” Dad smiled, got up
from behind his desk, and followed me back up to my room.
Dad
spent the next half-hour clicking away as the three of us struck all
sorts of poses and goofed around. Eventually he gave up and set the
camera down.
“Okay, boys, I have some more work to
finish. Don’t stay up too late.”
Once Dad headed
back to his office, we took turns with the camera. I took twenty or
so pictures of Joey, then ten more of Joey and Roger together. Then
Roger was sweet enough to take about a dozen of Joey and me together
next. I was surprised, but by the time we were done, we had about
eighty pictures which I uploaded to my PC. We then sat down, and I
had Joey to pick out the ones he wanted copies of and e-mailed them
to him, then repeated the process with Roger. Finally, I picked out
some and sent them to my Wal-Mart account to have several prints made
of all of us together, along with a special one of Joey and
me.
While we were looking through the photos we wanted, I was
trying to figure out how much of what Dad had told me I was going to
pass on to Roger and Joey. I decided to keep it simple and to tell
them only what I fully understood. Which, to be honest, wasn’t
much. We talked about it for a while and decided to just do as we
were asked, since it didn’t really change our daily routines
anyways.
By the time we finished talking, it was nearly ten
o’clock. Joey and Roger decided they wanted to head home to
make sure they had clothes ready for church, take a shower, and get
to bed early.
Roger gave me a hug and took off, leaving Joey
and I alone. I wanted to give Joey a huge hug and a kiss, but I was
still worried about his back.
“How’s your back
doing Joey?” I asked as I walked up to him.
“It’s
a lot better today, but I forgot to change bandages before we came
over here.” He looked down at the floor like he had been caught
doing something bad.
“Awe Joey, I’m so sorry that
I forgot.” I thought I’d take the blame so he wouldn’t
feel bad about it. “But you can have Aunt Alice change them for
you before you take a shower. A couple of hours shouldn’t make
that much of a difference.”
I hooked my index finger
under his chin so I could look directly into his eyes. When he looked
at me, he had that mischievous smile of his and I knew that I had
been had. “You played me, huh?”
He leaned in, and
as his lips brushed mine, I wrapped my arms around his neck. His lips
press harder and his passion built, as he wrapped his arms around my
waist. Our mouths opened slightly, our tongues met, and battled for
control. This was new for Joey, and I decided to submit to him by
sucking his tongue as I would if it was little Joey in my mouth. He
pushed his groin into mine, causing little Mikey to stand up and pay
attention to what was happening. Then, Joey slid his hand down and
cupped my ass cheeks in his hands and squeezed. Oh my God, I think
that caused me to make wet spot the size of a silver dollar on my
shorts. I was starting to lose control. I pushed back against him,
grinding our hard throbbing cocks together as I deepened our kiss. He
sucked my tongue into his mouth and gave it the same treatment I had
given his. My knees weakened and I fell back onto my bed pulling Joey
on top of me. He slid his hands up the front of my shirt. As he moved
them to my quarter-size nipples he was grinding our cocks together
harder. Suddenly, like he had been hit with an ice ray from Mr.
Freeze, he froze.
“Oh God, Andy! I’m so sorry.”
Joey was almost in tears.
“What are you sorry for? I
loved what we were doing.” I said softly, as I gently rubbed
his neck reassuringly.
“We agreed to go slow and I
allowed myself to lose control,” Joey said, with his voice
breaking as emotions overtook him, and he refused to look at me.
“Joey, if we ever start doing something that I don’t
want to do, believe me, I would stop it and tell you I didn’t
want to do it. I was fine with what WE were doing.”
Joey
was still laying on top on me, and I could feel him trembling. I
reached my hand up to cup his cheek as I kissed his sweet lips. He
returned the kiss but he was beginning to pull away from me.
“I
need to get going,” he said rolling off me and standing up. He
hurriedly wiped his tears away and got ready to head out the
door.
“Joey,” I said, stopping him as I grabbed
his wrist before he could take off. He turned to look at me. “Please
don’t be upset. You didn’t do anything that I wasn’t
willing to do. Okay babe?”
Joey nodded and grinned. “I
love it when you call me babe.”
I stood up and he gave
me a beautiful, soft, good-bye kiss. Just before he walked out of my
bedroom, he turned and gave me a cute little wave with a dazzling
smile. When he turned and left, I noticed that those tight sweats he
was wearing left little to the imagination. No wonder I could feel
all of his manhood when he was grinding into me. I closed my eyes and
fell backwards onto my bed as visions of Joey’s sweet butt
filled my mind.
I slept like a baby that night, and my dreams
were filled with me and Joey doing all sorts of dirty things to each
other. I’m sure that if I told Joey half of what I dreamt we
did together, he would feel really guilty. Needless to say, I woke up
a sticky mess and had to change my sheets. I just hoped that Dad
wouldn’t notice.
Dad and me met Joey, Roger, Uncle
Steve, and Aunt Alice outside the church before service. Every
Sunday, everyone seems to gather outside after Sunday school until
about five minutes before church started. When I got to Joey and
Roger, Sarah and Mary Tillman were talking to them.
“Hey
Andy,” Roger said, noticing me for the first time. “About
time you got here.”
“Hey guys. Good morning,
Sarah, Mary; and I had to wait on Dad, Roger.” I smiled at Joey
and tried to be calm.
About that time, Dad walked by and gave
me a little pat on the back of my head.
“That’s
not true. Someone had to change clothes four times before we could
leave, and it wasn’t me.” Dad smiled before walking
on.
“Well, I had to look my best for church, you know.”
I was trying to play it off, but I could tell the four of them
weren’t buying it. At least Sarah and Mary didn’t know
why.
Thankfully, the girls walked off to join their parents.
As they walked away, Mary whispered something to Sarah and giggled.
Sarah looked back at us and blushed before she covered her mouth and
whispered something back to Mary, which left them both in stitches. I
hadn’t forgotten that Sarah was asking questions about Joey
last week at the bus stop. I knew I had a hot boyfriend, and I
intended on keeping him.
We finally went inside and all sat
together in the third pew from the front. Uncle Steve sat on one end,
followed by Aunt Alice, Roger, Joey, me, and finally Dad.
Soon
the service began; the choir welcomed everyone with songs, and then
led the entire congregation in a couple of songs. Things continued
along until a Deacon offered a prayer and instructed the ushers to
begin to collect the offering. I noticed Joey was squirming a little,
and I realized that he probably didn’t have any money on him. I
didn’t want to see him upset, so I quickly reached into my
billfold and discreetly handed him a ten. He turned with a smile, and
I winked at him. Joey blushed and mouthed a “thank you.”
Happy to have made him smile, I mouthed back, “You’re
welcome.”
Looking at him, I wondered what it had been
like for him in the past, being the son of a minister. I hoped he had
some good memories of church, but the stories he had told me so far
seemed more like a horror story. Yet, his strong faith had to mean he
did have some good times, even though he had an evil man for a father
and minister.
After the offering was taken up, Pastor Irvin
walked to the pulpit, and welcomed everyone to church this morning,
made some announcements, including what time the youth group for
teens would meet that afternoon, and began his sermon.
“My
sermon this morning will be taken from the Book of Matthew, Chapter
22, and Verses 36 through 40. Please rise and join me in prayer.”
I
have to admit that I didn’t start out listening very closely to
his words, but I started paying attention when Pastor Irvin started
saying things like, “open our hearts with your love; let us
hear your message with love; let every man, woman, and child know
that you love them just as they were born; let them be filled with
love.”
Pastor Irvin instructed everyone to take their
seats. “As Jesus sat teaching in the temple, the Sadducees and
Pharisees tried to entangle and tempt Him with their questioning in
Matthew, Chapter 22, and Verse 36 through 38.
“A
lawyer asked Jesus, Master, which is the greatest commandment in the
law?
“Jesus said onto him, Thou shalt love the Lord Thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
“I
knew a man once that loved to golf. He was on his high school golf
team and earned a scholarship to play at a fine university. He was
almost, but not quite, good enough to turn pro after college. Yet he
didn’t care, because he played for the love of the game. While
at college, he met a beautiful girl and they were married shortly
after they graduated. However, his love of golf never diminished, and
he could be found on the golf course most of his free time. Luckily,
he had a very loving and understanding wife. She loved him so much
that she was willing to let him enjoy what he loved to do without
ever complaining.
“One day, after a routine doctor’s
visit, she was called to return to the doctor for a follow-up. The
doctor had devastating news for her; she had been diagnosed with
stage-four cancer, and the prognosis was not good. The man stopped
playing golf and spent every free moment that she had left with her,
because he loved her more than anything else on this earth. Not even
golf was more important to him. Just as his wife never complained
about his golfing, because she had loved him with all of her heart
and wanted him to be happy, he put her needs and desires over his for
the same reason, and never complained about giving it up. Putting
someone ahead of our own desires is love. God loves us and He expects
us to put his will ahead of our own. His will be done.”
The
pastor took a moment and I was shocked how passionately he was
speaking. This sermon was about love but he was speaking about it in
a way I’d never heard before. I couldn’t wait to hear
what else he had to say.
“Jesus had more to say to the
Pharisees:
“And
the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
“If
we follow these two commandments, and accept Jesus as the Son of God,
then we are right with God. But I say to you, my brothers and
sisters, how can we be right with God if we do not love our neighbors
as ourselves? For if we hate a man because of the color of his skin,
we have not the love of God in us, because that man is our neighbor,
and we are breaking one of the two great commandments.
“Jesus
came to fulfill the Mosaic Law, the law handed to Moses. When Jesus
said in the Sermon on the Mount, ‘Do
not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not
come to abolish them but to fulfill them.’
Once Jesus fulfilled them through His sacrifice, He had already given
us the two commandments to follow. Love God with all your heart,
soul, and mind and love the rest of God’s children, your
neighbor, as you love yourself. Think about it for a moment. If you
love someone, would you steal from them? If you love someone, would
to lie about them? If you truly love someone, would you kill them?
No, you would not.”
Wow! Pastor Irvin really did get it.
Listening to the pastor I couldn’t help but look at the people
most important to me. Dad was engrossed in the Pastor’s sermon,
and Joey seemed ready to cry. Even Aunt Alice, Uncle Steve, and Roger
seemed affected by Pastor Irvin’s sermon.
“Now I
ask you, if you love someone, would you persecute them for who they
love? What gives us the right to condemn a person for loving another
human being? God made us as we are, and God doesn’t make
mistakes. Love is the greatest power in the universe; God is love.
For as long as I am the pastor of Graham Memorial Presbyterian
Church, I will not turn anyone away because they are gay or lesbian.
For we are ALL God’s children and I shall not judge.”
I
have never been so shocked in my whole life as the entire church
stood up clapping and saying amen. I was so glad Joey had asked us to
come this morning.
I looked over at Joey and saw he had tears
flowing down his face. That’s when I first noticed that my face
was wet with tears as well. I could feel the love coming from the
entire congregation that morning. God’s love was descending on
us all like a dove. My dad pulled me into a hug, and I noticed that
everyone was hugging each other excitedly as I looked around the
sanctuary. I let go of my dad and turned to Joey, who had just
finished hugging Roger. We threw ourselves into each other’s
arms in a hug like I had never experienced before. Our tears of joy
and happiness mixed as our cheeks rested against one another. Mr.
Horn was right; we did have support in Pine Hills. In fact, it
appeared we had a whole church-full, but I still wasn’t ready
to out myself or Joey.
Pastor Irvin was smart enough to know
this was a good place to end his sermon and quickly ended the
service. As the choir was singing the final song, Pastor Irvin made
his way to the door to shake everyone’s hand as they left the
church.
Dad was the first of our group to reach Pastor Irvin.
I could hear the pastor tell him that he was glad to see Dad this
morning, and hoped to see him more often. Dad assured him that he
most certainly would.
“It’s good to see you this
morning Andy,” Pastor Irvin said reaching for my hand, “I
hope you enjoyed the sermon this morning?” He asked, with a
smile on his lips and a twinkle in his eye.
“Yes Sir,”
I smiled. “I really did like it and I’ll definitely be
back.”
Joey was next in line to shake hands. I could see
him trembling, and I wasn’t sure why. The pastor reached out to
shake Joey’s hand but instead found himself pulled into a hug
by Joey. I could barely hear Joey whisper a ‘Thank you’.
I was relieved that Joey was just still emotional from the sermon. I
had worried that something was wrong.
When Joey and I got to
the sidewalk, Dad threw his arms around our shoulders.
“What
do you boys have planned for today?” Dad asked, giving my
shoulder a squeeze as he smiled at me.
“Well, we talked
about some stuff, but never decided on anything. Why? Do you have
something in mind?”
As I looked over at Dad, I knew he
must or he wouldn’t have asked. That was the thing about my
dad; he always put Mom and me ahead of himself.
“As
matter of fact,” he explained, “I do. What do you say we
all ride over to Norton for some Red Lobster?”
“That
would be sweet, dad.” I said, just as I realized something. “Do
you think we could come back through Flat Gap and stop at the scenic
viewing area on Pine Mountain, so I could show Joey a taste of the
view we’d get from atop High Rock?”
“If
Steve and Alice don’t mind, you boys can ride back with me, and
we can make a side trip.”
Dad stood smiling while we
rushed over to talk to Aunt Alice and Uncle Steve. We kept talking
over each other, which had them laughing before they finally agreed
to our trip. We couldn’t wait to get on the road, eat, and see
the sights.
And that’s what we did. The meal was
wonderful and on the way home driving through Flat Gap, I pointed out
a trail to High Rock and Bad Branch Falls to Joey. He was taken aback
by the view on Pine Mountain when we stopped at the viewing area. You
could easily see Pine Mountain junction from where we were which was
at least ten miles away and about half a mile below us.
By the
time we got home, it was around five o’clock and too late to
make it to the church’s youth group. Roger called home to let
his parents know we were back, and that we were going to watch the
baseball game with my dad. Uncle Steve and Aunt Alice came over and
brought hamburgers for everyone to eat and watched the game with
us.
About half-way through the game I reached a decision.
Looking at Joey, who was sitting next to me on the couch, I nodded
for him to follow me. I got up without saying a word and headed to my
bedroom. When Joey walked in behind me, I closed the door.
“Joey,
I think… no, I know… I’m ready, but, I wanted to
tell you first,” I said excitedly, the words literally rushing
out of me.
“Uh Andy, you’re ready for what?”
He asked, biting his lower lip, as his nerves showed through.
“I’m
ready to tell the family about me. I mean, that I’m gay.”
My palms were drenched with sweat as I anxiously awaited any response
from Joey. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally looked up
and smiled at me. I figured that I might as well go for broke. “I
also would like to tell them about us. What do you think?”
“Are
you sure Andy? I mean, there’s no go backs once it’s
done.” Joey’s voice was strong as he spoke to me. He
never once looked away and his hands gripped mine.
Joey looked
me in the eyes as if trying to read me. I don’t know if he was
searching for an answer, or if he was looking to see if I was
serious, or what. I just opened myself up and bared my soul to him.
He must have found whatever it was that he was looking for, because
after a moment, he pulled back and smiled. There was no denying that
he wanted me to make a choice that I could live with.
I looked
back at him and tried to explain how serious I was. That I wasn’t
just acting on an impulse.
“Joey, I’ve thought
about it a lot. I know the road we will travel will have bumps,
ditches, curves, ups, and downs, but I believe that as long as we
stick together, it will be a wonderful journey. First, we know Uncle
Steve, Aunt Alice, and Roger have accepted you; then there is what
Dad said to me at McDonald, Mr. Horn’s conversation with me on
Friday night, and what Pastor Irvin said to us yesterday. Plus, his
sermon this morning and the reaction it received were unreal. I think
we have support here Joey. Most importantly, I know from the bottom
of my heart that I’m ready to tell our loved ones, that I’m
totally in love with you, Joseph Matthew Adams.”
Joey
threw his arms around me and gave me a kiss that just about made me
pass out. Yep, I was in love. If what I felt for Joey wasn’t
love, then there’s no such thing. Joey broke the kiss and
backed-up just enough so that we could see each other’s
eyes.
“Andy, if you’re sure and you do seem to
be,” Joey leaned his forehead against mine, looking into my
eyes, “then I want to tell them about us, with you.”
“Okay,
let’s get back before they send a search party for us.” I
stole one more kiss as I grabbed his hand and headed back to our
family.
We walked back downstairs, and reclaimed the spaces on
the couch that we had vacated. Once we sat down, I looked around the
room. Everyone was looking at us, and I knew that this was the
moment. I cleared my throat.
“Dad, Aunt Alice, Uncle
Steve, I have something to tell you guys. First, Dad I want to tell
you I love you very much. I have always been inspired by your
honesty, the things you do for others and the love you have always
shown me and everyone else that you meet. I’m so proud you’re
my Father.
“Aunt Alice, you have always been my second
mom. When mom died,” I paused trying to control the tears that
were suddenly threatening to fall. “You where there for me,
just like you have always been there for me. I will never forget
that. I love you Mom. Uncle Steve, I love you as my second dad, just
like Aunt Alice, you have always been there for me too.” I
paused again to wipe my eyes. Joey reached over and took my hand into
his. I looked at him and smiled. He gave me the strength to
continue.
“I always knew that I could tell any of you
everything, and I always have, at least, until recently.” My
head dropped from the shame I felt: not for being gay, but for not
being honest with them from the beginning, even if I had been scared.
Joey squeezed my hand. When I looked up, everyone was staring at me,
waiting for me to continue.
“You are my family, the
people I turn to for love and support and I haven’t been
totally honest with you. I hope you will forgive me. The truth is,”
I paused as I looked at the people I loved the most, realizing that
this was much harder than I thought it would be when I had been in
the safety of my bedroom. I straightened my back and continued. “I’m
gay and I’m in love with Joey and we are together, as a couple.
I mean, Joey is my boyfriend and I’m his boyfriend, a couple,
umm yes, together.”
*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* *
OK,
so that's it for Chapter 9. Thank you for reading and I hope you
enjoyed it. I would love to hear your feedback and comments. I
respond to every e-mail. You can email me at: billybratii@gmail.com
Depending
on my editors and beta readers, I'll probably publish a chapter every
week or two, at least for the foreseeable future,.
I want to
thank you for the kind e-mails with words of encouragement and
advice. It really helps to know that someone is reading and liking
your work. I hope my writing will bring entertainment, but also cause
you to pause and reflect.
There's a number of organizations
out there that offers help in a multitude of ways. They include, but
not limited to -The
Trevor Project
,
PFLAG,
Teen
Line,
and The
Mail Crew.
Also did you know that the most common type of cancer affecting men
between the ages of 15 and 35 is testicular cancer? Here's a link for
more information on the subject. The
Testicular Cancer Primer
Never
feel like there's no help, whatever the problem may be.
And
don't forget to DONATEto
help keep Nifty going!
Thank you.
Billy Martin