Part X.
I couldn't believe it. He had to be kidding. "You're not serious," I half-asked, half-said into the phone. "But he couldn't possibly..." Tommy continued to talk into the phone. My god. He wanted to see me... Ok, not SEE me, since he's blind.. but he wanted to talk to me, to be with me.
I fell onto my bed and exhaled a lover's sigh. This was too perfect. Too wonderful and perfect. I smiled and glanced at the clock by my bed. OH SHIT, I almost exclaimed to myself. It was almost time for English. I got up and jumped into the shower. I quickly cleaned myself, combed my hair, and rushed to class.
English passed uneventfully. As I was in the halls after English, trying to pass through the Red Sea, I heard loud laughter. Man, I wish I was Moses in times like this. Just lift up my arms and WHOOSH.. everyone gets out of my way. Wishful thinking. I turned and saw Dan. He stared at me, daggers coming out of his eyes. "What do you want, faggot?" he coldly called to me. My face turned white. He had found out.. How had he found out? Well, it didn't matter anymore... I just had to escape. I turned and started to walk away, but his cold, overly muscular hand shot out and grabbed me. "No you don't." He pulled me into a dark corner. I thought he was going to kill me.
He threw me on the floor. I fell like a rag doll. I was as frightened as a deer facing oncoming headlights. This was the end.. This was my final day... "Why," he started, grabbing my shirt right by my shoulders and pulling me up, "did you take him from me?! We were so close! It almost happened, but then in you trot.. Your little faggotty ass... Thinking that you're all fucking that! He was to be mine!" He screamed the last sentence and exhaled his breath heavily. Yuck. I could smell alcohol on his breath.
"You bastard!" he continued, his eyes swelling with anger and hate. "You and that little fuck, Jamie! You're lucky you're still alive." He was breathing heavily. I saw beads of sweat developing around his brow and lower neck. "You bastard... I hate all faggots." He raised one arm as if to punch me. I squeezed my eyes shut as his blow hit me. He hit my stomach with full force. It was as if a cannon ball had been shot at me. Tears were developing in my eyes.
"But Dan," I managed to say between coughing and gasping for breath, "you're a faggot... too."
"I'll fucking kill you, man!" he screamed, his testosterone hitting a horrific high. "I'll rip your balls off!" His teeth were clenched together and his lips were raised. Even in this terrible moment, I thought to myself, And people find football players ATTRACTIVE? "I know you're a faggot," he continued, "and if you so much as touch my Tommy... I'll fucking kill you! You've taken him from me. It's all your fault." Tears of frustration dripped from the corners of his eyes.
Then he let out an inhuman scream. He grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me up with all of his strength and roughly pushed me into a wall. We were out of the corner now. Maybe someone could see us and help me..
My limp body bounced into the wall as he punched me again. "I'll kill that blind little fuck, too!" he screamed, preparing to punch me again. This time however, my eyes raged with fire. He wasn't going to touch Devon. That bastard! I lifted my leg and kneed him in the groin with every ounce of power that I had in me. Dan screamed in pain, holding his wounded crotch. He knelt on the ground in pain, his head lowered.
"You won't touch Devon, you piece of shit!" I screamed, jumping on him, with a power that I didn't know that I possessed. I bent my arm and lifted it to the left, slamming my elbow on his shocked face. "Nobody, not even you is going to touch him! You understand?!" I screamed. Was this really me? "And for your information, Tommy has no interest in you! He only wants Jamie. He wants someone with a heart as big as his... Not some piece of shit like you!" With that, I spat on Dan's head in disgust.
Dan then began to cry. I was amazed that a guy that heartless could. "I'm not.. gay," he said in between tears. "I'm not a fucking fruit. I'm a man, just like my dad. And Tommy isn't a cocksucker either." He looked up at me with reddened eyes. "You're just making this up," he told himself. "You gaddamm queer!" he screamed, and grabbed my throat. I shook in fear, rather than pain. Suddenly, I heard running footsteps and loud yelling.
"Get off of him!" a voice screamed. Dan's hands were yanked from my throat. I looked up to see a short teacher with horn-rimmed glasses staring at me. I looked over at Dan, who was apparently held at bay by the teacher's foot. The teacher looked over to Dan. "Now Dan, you know the rules. Mr. Mordrin wouldn't appreciate that. But I saw him start the fight." The teacher's eyes shifted as he said the lie. "Now go to your room and freshen up." Dan gave a half-smile and walked off. "I believe you have an appointment with Mr. Mordrin," he said, indicating that I should leave.
I walked off, in a daze.
****************************************
(As told by Devon)
I was getting impatient. I called over to Lara, and had her bend down so that I could whisper into her ear. "How much longer?" I impatiently asked her.
I could feel her smiling as she softly laughed and whispered back, "Now calm down, honey. It's going to be ok. You have about an hour left until lunchtime." She patted me kindly on the back and walked away.
I impatiently waited for the hour to pass, and it finally did. As Lara guided me to the cafeteria, I heard a concerned voice call out, "Tommy! He's over here!" I didn't really take much notice of it, as thousands of other conversations were being held at the same time.
Lara suddenly said, "It's that boy again..." I almost asked her if she meant my one and only, but I was almost immediately answered by another's voice.
"Hi, Devon," he briskly said. He seemed worried. Buy why? "Have you seen Ben?" I could hear his footsteps and another's beside him.
"Whoever you are," I answered, "I haven't seen anyone for years. And no, I have yet to speak with... Ben." I paused before saying that perfect name. It certainly deserved reverence.
"That's odd," he said, a bit too concerned. "I haven't seen him all day."
I paused for a moment, becoming worried. "So why did you ask me?" I curiously asked. What did this person want?
"I'm sorry," he responded. "My name's Tommy, and this is my boy... This is my friend, Jamie. We're the ones that e-mailed you."
I stopped dead in my tracks, which could have caused a minor collision of bodies; bodies that were brainlessly swarming into the cafeteria. I began to get upset. I hid it well, though. I think. "You mean... it was just a TRICK?!" I exclaimed in half-pain, half-anger. "You set me up as a fool?! Not that it matters anymore... Not that anything matters."
"Hey, slow down there, bud. We just said the words that he was afraid to say. He helped us, we helped him. Anyway, he's got it for you... bad." I calmed down a bit. We continued to the cafeteria and decided to wait for him. So we waited. And waited. Minutes felt like hours.
"Something's wrong," I said. "He's not coming. Something is very wrong." I heard footsteps approach the table that we were at.
"Damn, boy!" Lara exclaimed to our visitor, "Looks like someone gave you a major whooping!" The visitor ignored her, but took a seat. Tommy later told me that the visitor sat backwards in his chair.
"Hey, fags." the voice coldly said. Jamie and Tommy seemed to gasp simultaneously.
"Listen football boy," Lara threateningly hissed, "I am going to get you and your dumb ass kicked out of here so fast you won't know what hit you! Forget Rosa Parks! I got more will than a damn Italian!" Lara was full of rage. She could be so overprotective.. and I loved her for it.
"Shut up bitch, or I'll let the whole school know what side of the bed your friends here sleep on!" Lara muttered in response. "Now Tommy, you and I are gonna get close. Real close. And you'll dump the math nerd." Jamie seemed to be holding back his anger, breathing deeply. "From now on you're going to do what I want, when I want.. or the whole school is going to find out your little secret!"
"You wouldn't," Tommy almost emotionlessly said. "Because you'd expose yourself." The visitor paused to think about that point. "What did you do with Ben, you little fuck? The school may not know my sexual preference, but they'll soon see my violent side if you don't tell me. I swear to god, I'll pound every grin off of your asshole face!"
"Probably expelled!" he gleefully replied. But how could this be! Impossible! Not my Ben! "He was caught, attacking an important athletic star!" With that, the stranger laughed to himself. "But I promised to finish my troubles to Ben.. so I shall!" With that, I heard a distinctive swoosh. "I'll rip your guts out, you blind fuck!" he screamed.
"Oh my god! He's got a knife!" screamed Jamie. I heard Jamie jump out of his seat and pull Tommy with him, protecting his love.
However, before Jamie had even escaped his chair, I heard a louder metallic click. I heard Lara jump out of her seat and the visitor gasp in shock. "Put that down, you little fuck! Don't make me do it! I'm authorized to protect this boy no matter what. How much of a chance do you stand against a skilled marksman?" I'd never heard or perceived Lara like this...
The knife fell to the floor with a soft ping. The visitor fell out of his chair and pulled himself backwards, sliding on his butt, away from Lara. I heard Lara, the general, call out to us: "Let's book!" She helped me up, and we ran. We ran like the wind.
It's moments like that that I wish I could see more than ever... Just to see the disbelief in his face... the unwanted visitor's face.
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So this is what Devon's life is like... completely black. I hung there, the red marks on my back swelling... I heard a wheezing breath in the corner... or was it a corner? Wherever I was, it was damp. I heard water droplets plop onto the ground every so often. "I... tried... to warn you," Anthony managed to say. "Escape... before.... it's too late."
I tried to focus.. How did it go? I started singing the beautiful melody...
There is a candle in ev'ry soul
Some brightly burning, some dark and cold.
There is a spirit, who brings a fire
Ignites a candle and makes his home...So carry your candle into the darkness
Seek out the hopeless, confused and torn.
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle and go light your world,
Take your candle and go light your world...
****************************
(As told by Devon)
They were excited about something. Other than our previous incident, that is. I had just found out that my father had personally hired Lara, and saw to it that I was kept alive. But why? He hated me, didn't he? Then it dawned on me... I was all that he had left.
"Oh my god." Lara kept repeating.
"I told you.." either Tommy or Jamie said.. I wasn't really listening that closely. I still couldn't believe it... Lara was a hired bodyguard!
"So that bastard is wanted... I've been a little wary of him for a while."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, suddenly interested.
"We don't think your boyfriend has been expeled, dear." Lara said. I was confused. This was so contradictory. He wasn't my boyfriend... was he? "Damn it's late.." Lara added. "Oh, screw it. This is more important." Lara was speaking very quickly. Something was really upsetting her, but I didn't know what. "Where's the damn phone?" I heard her dialing some numbers, and walked away from me. She didn't want me to hear something.
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(I didn't experence this, but it was related to me at a later time)
Anthony was almost shoved into class. He looked terrible, like someone has just beaten him within an inch of his life. He was wheezing for some reason. Mr. Jackles turned and looked at him. His face was red with fury. "Welcome back! And here is your test.. oh look.. FORTY-SEVEN PERCENT!" Mr. Jackles punched his hand across his desk, forcing his penny loafer briefcase to go flying, papers flying everywhere.
He moved over to where Anthony was, standing in shock. "Where are your friends, you little shit?! They're missing the fun!" He ran over to Anthony like a mad bull, and physically pulled him up and propped him on his desk. "Where are they? Are they little faggots too?" He placed both hands on Anthony's shoulders and forced Anthony to lay on his desk.
"I hate faggots!" he screamed. With that, he pulled a belt out from his pants and cracked it against Anthony's face. Though worn out, he screamed.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! STOP!!!!!!"
"Shut the fuck up!" screamed Mr. Jackles, insanely enraged. The class just sat and watched in shocked silence. Too scared to move. Too scared to breathe. "Do you LIKE being his fuck toy, bitch? DO YOU?!" He cracked the belt again. "Maybe you'll be my assistant one day.. You'll move up the ranks like I did. You want to turn out like me? Do you like being his slave?" Another crack. Anthony was able to swerve and miss it.. barely. "You like to wriggle, don't you, you little whore! All of you little sluts... you FAGGOTS!" Anthony was crying in pain.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, I SAID!" Another crack. "Can't even spell goddamm Roman Pax right!" Crack. "You're a goddamm queer fucking failure!" But there was some spark left in Anthony's eyes all of a sudden. He looked up at Mr. Jackles and spat in his face. "I'll fucking kill you!" screamed Mr. Jackles.
"Do it!" he managed to bark back. "Not like it will make any difference. I'm already dead. He took my soul."
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He had taken me out of the cellar and into his office. He loked the door. He removed my blindfold but had covered my mouth with tape. My hands were tightly tied to the chair, and my legs were cuffed to the floor. Why hadn't I seen this before?
"This behavior is unacceptable, Mr. Dowling," he coldly said. He was so used to having the power. He laughed softly, saying, "Your blind friend is probably dead now. I saw that boy you were fighting with. He was on the breaking point.. and he now has a nice switchblade. You won't be seeing either of them around. And since I had no control over it..." He stopped and looked at me. I was staring away mindlessly.
"We made an agreement, Mr. Dowling, and now it's time to pay up. And you have been initiated.. you did fairly well. Now its time for the final seal." He unzipped his pants and let them drop to the floor. He ran his dirty hands through my hair and whispered into my ear, "You are mine now." A tingle tear formed at the corner of my left eye.
Thank you for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed it. As always, feel free to e-mail me with any questions, comments or concerns you may have. Thanks! =)
David.