Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2012 20:56:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Brian Roberson Subject: A Summer Abroad Chapter 12 (Revised) All the usual caveats apply "A Summer Abroad" XII "Redemption" It was early the next morning, and Josh and Mark were silently eating cereal in the kitchen of their villa. They told Aunt Mary that they had eaten some bad fish and had gotten food poisoning. She clearly didn't believe them, but she had no real proof otherwise that they had gotten drunk. She simply told them to not tell their parents about it when they returned, and she then went out for the evening with Bertel. They then went to sleep around seven in the evening and slept for almost twelve hours. Mark had once again insisted on sleeping on the love seat. After they finished, they went to the sink and washed out their bowls, and returned to the bedroom. Josh sat on the bed and Mark sat on the love seat. "So do you want to try going over to see Etienne again?" "No! Fuck Etienne!" Mark snapped bitterly. "If he doesn't want to see us that badly then why bother!?" "I can't wait to get off of this island. Once we get back we'll start getting over all of it. At least we'll have each other." Josh said. "Actually, Josh...we won't." Mark said quietly with his head down. "We won't? What do you mean?" Mark looked up at Josh and tears welled up in his eyes. "I can't do this, Josh. I can't be in this kind of relationship. With anybody. It just hurts too much." "But, Mark. I'm not going to suddenly leave you like Etienne did!" "How do you know? You can't predict what will happen in the future! What if you move? What if I move? What if you meet someone else? What happens when you go to college and I'm still in high school? I can't do this anymore. I just want to be alone forever." Mark said. "Mark...come on, sit next to me. Please?" "No Josh! There's not going to be anymore 'sitting next to you', if you know what I mean. What we did was fun, but it was because we were on this island and I got carried away. I don't want to be fucking other guys anymore. I'm sorry." Mark said. "But Mark," Josh said as tears welled up in his eyes. "It was so good. Even when it was just the two of us it was good, and you liked it, you know you did! Why would you possibly want to turn that down?" "Josh, I did everything you wanted! I went along with all of it! You got to do all the things that you always wanted to do with me, and then some! But I'm not going to be your boyfriend when we get home! I'm sorry, I just can't do that." "Oh Mark...!" Josh said as he burst into tears. "I'm sorry, Josh." Mark said as he got up and left the room. Josh burst into wailing sobs as he heard Mark open the front door and leave the house. Mark walked out into the hot sunshine. He went down to the nude beach and sat by himself in a corner while naked families frolicked around him. He was oblivious to them all. All he could think of was the dull hurt in his mind. All he could think of was Etienne. He rose to his feet after a few minutes, brushed the sand off his shorts, and walked back up the stairs to the street. He got to the top just as Josh was emerging from the villa. Josh's eyes were red and his face was swollen from crying. "I'm going over to Etienne's." Mark said. "I am too." Josh replied. The boys then walked in grim silence over to Etienne's house. They went up the street to the house and up to the door. As Mark knocked, Josh looked down and noticed several large bloodstains on the ground. Etienne's grandmother then answered the door. She looked stressed out and haggard and didn't even have her wig on. "Please, Etienne he is here?" Mark asked in his rudimentary French. "Etienne is resting in his room, he's staying inside today and he's not accepting visitors! I'm sorry, goodbye!" She replied in French. She started to close the door but a weak, muffled voice behind her stopped her while she was doing so. "Mama. They can come in." Etienne said in French as he appeared behind her. Josh and Mark both gasped wide eyed when they saw him, and Mark put his hands over his mouth. Etienne's right eye was black and swollen shut. His head and jaw were both wrapped in gauze, and his mouth was mostly covered. He was shirtless, so the boys could see a big bandage around his midsection, and a big nasty bruise covering most of the left side of his chest. "Oh my God!" Josh exclaimed. "Etienne? What happened?" Mark said at the same time. "No! You need to stay in your room and rest today!" Etienne's grandmother said in French to Etienne. She then turned to the boys as Etienne turned around and starting shuffling slowly back to his room. "You two, go away! Shoo! Shoo! " She said right before she slammed the door shut. The boys stood in horror and looked at each other with dropped jaws and wide eyes. They then both went around to the side of the house where Etiennes's bedroom window was and stood under it. They knew from much experience that Etienne's bed was right next to the window "Etienne!" Yelled Josh. "Etienne! We know you're in there! Come on!" Mark yelled. Etienne then sat up in bed and appeared at the window. "Hey guys." He said almost unintelligibly from under the gauze. "What happened to you?" Josh said. "Three guys." Etienne said. He then pounded his fist into his hand. "Three guys beat you up?" Josh asked. "Oui. Yes. They're locked away." Etienne said. "What did they beat you up for?" Mark asked upset. Etienne looked down. "I don't know." Just then Josh and Mark could hear Etienne's grandmother enter the room and start yelling. They ran off down the street and returned to the villa. They found Aunt Mary in there and began telling her about what had happened to Etienne. She told them that she would go over there with them the next day, after Etienne had had some more chance to get rested up. The next day, in the early afternoon, the three of them went over to Etienne's grandmothers house. Aunt Mary had made a gift basket with a bunch of candy and books and music tapes for Etienne. They knocked on the door but no one answered. They then headed to the shop. They entered and saw Etienne's grandmother standing behind the counter. Aunt Mary, who spoke fluent French, got the whole story as to what happened from Etienne's grandmother. After the three hooligans assaulted Etienne, they then raided the house, expecting to rob it. Instead, they were immediatly confronted in the hallway by Etienne's grandmother, and a twelve gauge shot gun that she was holding. St. Sebastians island has no official police force or government. Instead, the business and property owners on the island serve as both. When they saw her with the gun, they turned and ran out onto the street. Unfortunately for the would be robbers, the owner of the dry cleaners across the street was outside waiting, and also with a shotgun. The teens were then marched at gunpoint to the small jail in town, where they were currently waiting for a Moroccan judge to fly in whenever he got around to doing so. A taxi cab was dispatched to take Etienne to the hospital. He had a fractured jaw and cheek bone, a mild concussion, and bruised ribs. When he was stabbed, the knife blade hit one of the shells on the necklace he was wearing under his shirt, which kept the blade from penetrating too far into the skin. He turned out to only need three stitches. Aunt Mary relayed all this information to the boys in English as Etienne's grandmother spoke. "Where is Etienne now? Can we see him?" Mark asked. "He's gone, he left an hour ago to return to his parents in France." Aunt Mary relayed from Etienne's grandmother. Aunt Mary then turned to the boys. "I'm so sorry, guys." The boys looked at each other in horror. " You said he just left an hour ago?" Josh asked frantically. "That's what she said." Aunt Mary replied after affirming that with the grandmother. The boys then immediatly ran out of the store with Aunt Mary calling out behind them. They ran full speed out into the street towards a cafe which rented bicycles. They quickly grabbed two bikes, threw a $20.00 bill at the surprised owner behind the counter, and took off full speed towards the airport. Weeks on the island had allowed them to learn every nook and cranny of the place, and the boys began pedaling full speed into the nature trails that ran through the middle of the island. They had a shortcut that they knew of that would take them right to the harbor, which the airport was right next to. They swerved around hikers and tourists as they skillfully rode through the winding paths. They eventually wound up riding full speed down a steep hill, where they plunged right into the road that ran along the harbor front. A box truck full of fish packed in ice slammed on it's breaks, causing much of it's cargo to all spill out onto the street. The angry driver honked the horn and yelled in French out the window at them as they disappeared into the traffic. The boys weaved through the moving web of taxi cabs, trucks, motor scooters, and bicyles until they finally reached the airport entrance. They threw down the bikes and bolted into the airport terminal entrance. They looked through the small crowds of people, some sitting in chairs and others standing in lines waiting to board. It was in one of these lines that they saw Etienne, He was dressed up in a nice suit and stood near the back of the line, holding two suitcases. They rushed over to him yelling out his name. "Guys! Why are you here?" Etienne said in surprise as he quickly turned towards them. "Etienne! Why are you leaving? You're supposed to be here a week longer than we are!" Mark said. "I...I can't stay here anymore." He said. "Etienne," Josh said as tears welled up in his eyes. "Why do you hate us? What did we do?" Etienne looked down. "I don't hate you, I love you." He said quietly. " I love both of you. I can't bear the thought of you leaving. I can't bear the thought of not being with you guys. I got scared and didn't want to love you anymore, so I pushed you away. Everytime I see you I love you more. I couldn't see you anymore because of how sad it makes me." Etienne then burst into tears. "Come on, Etienne. Let's go over here." Mark said. The three of them went over to a quiet bench in a corner. Josh sat next to Etienne on the bench and delicately put his arm on his shoulder while Mark cross legged sat on the floor in front of them. "Etienne. Stay with us. Don't leave early. Please. We're here for six more days. We can spend it together. We'll start saying goodbye now and still be together. We hate to leave you too, but at least we can still be here together for the time that we do have. Come on, please?" "Please, Etienne." Mark said as he grabbed Etienne's hand. "Etienne, I love you too." Josh said. "I love you, Etienne. Please don't go. Please." Mark said. Etienne burst into tears and began sobbing as people walking by stared in curiosity. Mark sat up on the bench and gently put his arm around his back. Eventually Etienne got his composure back, looked at both of the boys one at at time, broke into as much of a grin as his fractured jaw would allow, and nodded in affirmation. Josh and Mark both whooped for joy, got up, and gave each other a big hug. Etienne got up and the boys hugged him around his neck. It hurt Etienne a little when they hugged him, but he didn't show it and he didn't care. He was determined to spend every single second with these two American boys until they boarded their plane, and he was happy beyond words at the love and the friendship that they gave him. The boys went outside the airport terminal and retrieved the bikes. They then got a taxi cab to take them back to his grandmothers villa. To all of their surprise, she and Aunt Mary were in there having coffee. Both of the adults were happy that Etienne was staying, although his grandmother was slightly peeved that they didn't change the date on the ticket while they were at the airport and that she would now have to go over there and do it. The three boys then retired to Etienne's room to help him unpack. "We're so glad that you decided to stay." Josh said. "I'm still very sad that you're leaving soon." Etienne said. "I am too. We're both going to miss you." Mark said sadly as he kissed Etienne on his cheek. Etienne grabbed both of their hands. "We have to promise to stay together always, all three of us, for as long as you are here." "We will...and Josh and I will promise to stay together after we leave." Mark said as he gazed into Josh's eyes. Josh's face lit up and he broke into a huge, joyful grin. "Yeah!" He said joyfully. "It's going to suck when we leave, but we'll be here all three of us until then." Mark said. "Until then." Josh said as he stuck his hand out. "Until then." Etienne said as he put his hand on top of Josh's. Mark grinned wih that goofy looking braces grin of his. "Until then." He said as he put his hand on top of Etienne's. Aunt Mary was sitting on the steps by the door, listening in. She then realized what she needed to do. "Guys!" She said as she got up. "I need to go make some phone calls! Meet me back at the villa in a little bit! All of you!" "OK." They all said at once. After the boys had finished unpacking, they headed back to the villa. Aunt Mary got there shortly after they did, and she called them all into the living room. She sat smiling at them on the couch next to Bertlel, who had his arm around her. "Guys, I was thinking. We're all having such a good time here, and none of us really want to leave." She said. The boys all stared at her. "Yes...and...?" Josh finally asked. "And you know that I won that $20,000 at the casino the other night." She continued. The boys continued to all stare at her. "Yes...and...?" They all asked at once. "I was thinking that maybe we could stay for an extra week and go back on the 19th instead." The boys all looked at each other with joyful faces, screamed in delight, and grabbed each other in joyful hugs, which caused Etienne to cry out in pain. "Oh! Etienne! Sorry! Yay!" Josh cried out. "Thank you Mary! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Mark cried out. "I already called all your folks, and it's OK with them if it's OK with you!" The boys all yelled in joy again. They then all looked at each other with huge grins, and began tearing off their clothes right there in the living room. "What are you guys doing?" Aunt Mary asked with a perplexed chuckle. "I think that they are headed to the beach!" Bertel laughed in his Swedish accent. The boys then ran naked out the front door and sprinted across the street right through a startled group of Japanese tourists. They ran laughing down the steps to the beach. Etienne pulled off his bandages as they ran through the sand amongst the sunbathing, playing, and frolicking beachgoers. They ran full speed to the cove, stood side by side on the big rock, joined their hands together, and plunged into the sparkling blue water to swim amongst the fish, and under the blue sky, and the puffy clouds, and the bright yellow sun. The End