Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 00:08:23 EDT From: William Watts Subject: The Castaway Hotel 2 - chapter 6 Legal Notice: The following story contains descriptions of graphic sexual acts. The story is a work of fiction and has no basis in reality. Don't read this story if: **You're not 18 or over, **If it is illegal to read this type of material where you live, **Or if you don't want to read about gay/bi people in love or having sex. The author retains copyright to this story. Placing this story on a website or reproducing this story for distribution without the author's permission is a violation of that copyright. Legal action will be taken against violators. I wish to extend my thank you to Ed for his editorial assistance. If you have enjoyed reading this story, you will find other stories by me at http://www.teenboyauthors.org/thewolf/, in the 'Other Stories' section. E-mail responses to the stories, story suggestions or other 'constructive' comments or advice may be sent to: bwstories44@hotmail.com. * * * * * * * * The Castaway Hotel -Book 2 - by BW (Young-Friends). Copyright 2000 by bwstories44 Chapter 6 - A problem out of control. May 2000 **************************************************************************** AUTHOR'S NOTE: One of the occurrences in this chapter is based on something that happened to a young friend of mine in the middle of May 2000. He had a reaction to the drug ecstasy, slipped into a coma and passed from this life. He was a terrific kid and one of the last that I would have expected something like this to happen to. I'll miss you Mikey and the next few chapters are dedicated to you. **************************************************************************** Next Monday was Cole's birthday so I planned a surprise party for him on Sunday. The boys have arranged for Brandon and Jay to come over on Saturday, spend the night, and then be there for the party on Sunday. I doubt that he ever had a party before he came here, let alone a surprise party, so I was probably as excited about this little bash as any of the boys. It was now Friday afternoon and the older children in my school were at lunch. A page came for me over the intercom and I knew there was a problem. None of the faculty and staff liked to use the intercom, except for emergencies, because it was old, worked poorly and the messages came out garbled. "Mr. Currie?" "Yes." "Could.come.Cafeteria? Cole.caught.mas.ate.and .hit.aide.head." "He did what?" The person repeated the message but it was worse than the first time." "I'll be right there." I hoped they understood that. I ran down to the cafeteria to find two of the teacher's aides, one on each side of Cole, and he was looking very sheepish. "Jo Ann and Terry, would you step out here in the hall with me so we can discuss this. I'm not sure that I understood what you were saying. Cole don't you move." We walked out into the corridor and I turned to the aides. "I'm not sure that I understood what you were trying to tell me. You know how the intercom is." "I hope that you're not going to pull the typical parent thing and try to protect Cole just because he's your son," Jo Ann said. "I saw him do it." "Do what? I couldn't understand what you were saying." "We said that Cole was caught slinging mashed potatoes and they hit the aide, Terry, in the back of the head." I started laughing and had to control myself. "You think that's funny?" Terry shot back, as they gave me the most disgusted look that they could manage at the time. "No, I don't, but I'm relieved that it wasn't what I first thought you said he did." "Why, what did you think we said?" "I'm not sure if I should even try to explain this, but I guess you deserve at least that after my outburst. With the breaking up of the message over the speakers, I thought you said that Cole was caught masturbating and it hit the aide in the head." They looked at each other, trying to picture this and they both turned red and began to snort back their response. It didn't work and, now, we were all laughing in the hallway. People passing by us in the corridor and the kids in the lunchroom thought we had all flipped out and gone completely crazy. "Oh, Josh. I'm so sorry that I spoke to you like that earlier. I was afraid that you were going to brush this off because he is your son." "I think that both of you should know me better than that by now. I would never protect any of my boys when they were in the wrong. If anything, I would be even harder on them than anyone else. Send Cole out here and I'll deal with him now. He'll be going back to my office with me to discuss this incident further." They both apologized to me again and then they started to laugh some more when they looked at Cole. He didn't understand what they were laughing about and he thought he was a dead man. He walked out with his head down and his shoulders slouched as he shuffled out to me. "Up to my office, young man. We'll discuss this situation up there." He walked beside me up to my office, never glancing at me even once, and the entire walk was done in complete silence. We entered my office and I closed the door before I told him to sit. "Now I'd like to hear your version of this story." "I shot some of my mashed potatoes at one of the other kids but it hit the aide instead." He never looked at me during that whole sentence. "Do you want to explain why you were shooting potatoes at another student?" "Not really," he shot back quickly. "Well, I'd like to hear it." He looked up at me and he had this sad puppy dog look on his face, but he wasn't crying. He looked into my face for the first time since I went down to get him and I could tell that there was more than embarrassment causing his reluctance. "Please, I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't do that without a reason. I'd just like to know what it was." He studied me for a while longer, giving him time to choose his words carefully. "A boy at the other table was saying that I was dumb and that I was so stupid that I wouldn't be in this school if you weren't my father." He almost spat his words out, rather than speak them, and I knew that those words had hurt him deeply. "You know that you're not stupid or dumb. You just have some trouble learning. Even Albert Einstein had a learning disability, but look at what he accomplished." "Was he right? Would I be sent to another school if I wasn't your son?" It was almost as if he hadn't even heard what I had said. He was obviously concentrating more on what the other kid had said than what I could tell him. "No, Cole, you wouldn't. There isn't anything wrong with you that we can't compensate for. You just need to learn differently than most of the others, that's all. It's not that you can't learn the materials. You just need another approach." I paused so he could digest what I had just told him. "I'd like to know who was this boy is?" "I can't tell you." "Can't or won't?" "I guess it's that I won't. I'll handle this myself. I don't need my dad taking care of my problems. That would only make it worse. I'll either learn to ignore him or I'll prove to him that he's wrong." "That proves it right there." "What do you mean?" "You solved your problem all by yourself. You looked at the situation, decided what would be best for you, and you made your decision. A stupid kid would have taken the easy way out and let me handle the problem for him. You didn't do that. That proves to me that you're not stupid." Cole flashed me a little grin and walked over to me. "Thanks, dad. You made me feel better without doing anything to interfere." "Well, don't start feeling too good. You still have to be disciplined for the mashed potato thing. You knew better than to do something like that." "I know, but I just lost my cool. I'll accept whatever punishment you say and I won't complain. I know that I deserve it, though I wish my aim was better." "Very funny. You are assigned to three after school detentions, starting on Monday. Now, go out and take a seat in the waiting area until your next class. It will only be a few more minutes until the bell sounds." "Okay, dad." He started to leave my office and then stopped at the door. "I'm sorry that I did that. I know that you're disappointed in me and that I embarrassed you by what I did. I'll try to do better from now on." "Come here, you stinker." He walked over to me and I gave him a big hug. "You didn't embarrass me, though I was a little disappointed that you didn't resolve your problem better. I love you and I understand that we all make mistakes from time to time. As long as the mistakes are minor, you learn from them, and you're willing to take responsibility for your actions, then I can live with that." I kissed him on the forehead. "Now get out of here, you rascal, before I change my mind." He started to leave the office and I gave him a playful smack on his rear. "What was that for?" he said laughing. "For making me forget I was the principal and causing me to slide into my father mode. I don't usually kissed and hug the other students." He smiled and went out the door. He would have barely had time to sit down before the bell sounded. He waved to me as he headed off to his next class. Friday night I could still see the tension between Kevin and Dustin. After dinner, Dustin came to me and asked for a favor. "Dad, do you mind if I go to the football game with some of my other friends. I need some time away from Kevin so I can sort this thing out." "No, I don't mind. Whom will you be going with?" He told me the other boys' names and I didn't hear the names of any others that I didn't want him to hang around with. "Will you be going home with us or will they bring you back?" "I'd like to hang with them for a while after the game. They'll bring me home later." "Alright, just be home by midnight." "Thanks, dad. I love you." He left to get ready to join his group while I fed and hurried along the others. Before long, we packed up the van with all the boys and headed for the big game. It was the big high school rivalry game. Brandon and Jay met us at the game and the boys went off on their own to look for their other friends. I went up into the stands and found a group of teachers and other administrators to sit with. It was nice to talk about other common interests besides the boys. It was one hell of a game, although our team lost it on the next to last series. There was a mental breakdown in pass coverage and the other team's quarterback found one of his receivers completely open about thirty yards downfield. He hit him with a perfect pass and it only got worse from there. The receiver did the rest of the work by sprinting into the end zone, thus completing a sixty-seven yard scoring play. After the extra point, they kicked off to us and our fastest back returned the ball to just over mid-field. Our team drove another thirty or so yards, only to fumble the ball on the fourteen-yard line. The other team recovered the fumble and ran out the clock. It was a tough loss but an interesting game to watch. I met the boys back at the main gate. Brandon and Jay were with them and we talked for a few minutes before we said our good-byes. We all went home and the boys cleaned up and goofed around for a couple of hours before they went to bed. Midnight came and went and there was no Dustin. I stayed in the family room and watched the tube while I waited for him. The program ended and it was now one a.m. There was still no Dustin and I was beginning to worry. This was not like him. Before I knew it, it was after two, and the phone rang. "Hello." "Hello. Is this Joshua Currie?" "It is." "This is Sgt. Mulligan from the police department. Do you have a son, Dustin?" My heart sank. "Yes, I do." "Well, I must inform you that we've just rushed him to the hospital. We're not sure what's wrong with him, but he was unconscious when he was discovered." "Will he be all right?" "I'm not sure. The doctors are checking him over now and they asked me to call you. They need you down there to sign some forms and get your permission to treat him." "I'll be right there." I went upstairs and woke both Danny and Kevin. I told them what was up, asked Danny to look after the others, and I took Kevin with me to the hospital. I knew that he'd be deeply hurt if I didn't. We talked a little on the way down and Kevin kept envisioning the worse case scenario. I told him to think positively until we talked to the doctors. We arrived at the emergency room, announced our presence to the receptionist, and we were rushed over to the intensive care unit were Dustin was lying on the bed. Kevin walked over to stand beside him while I discussed the situation with the doctor who just entered the room. "What's the matter with him, doctor?" "We're not positive, but it looks like a drug overdose or a reaction to drugs." "It can't be. I don't think he's ever even tried drugs before." "I'm sorry, sir, but the parents are often the last to know when their children start experimenting. The police are questioning some of the boys who were with him and alerted us to his problem. We're running blood tests to try and discover the exact nature of the problem." "Where are these other boys?" "They were taken to the police station to fill out reports. One of the officers will bring back any of the relevant information." "Will you inform me at that time. I'd like to be privy to your discuss with him." "Certainly. You stay here with your son and I'll let you know when he contacts me." "Thank you, doctor." I walked over and put my arm around Kevin's shoulder and looked at Dustin's prone body on the stretcher. As was typical, there were multiple tubes attached to his body carrying oxygen, drugs, and who knows what else into his system. Kevin was crying softly. "What happened, dad? What's the matter with Dusty?" "The doctors think that it's a drug overdose. They're running tests and talking to other people to try to determine what happened." "But he never used drugs. If he did, I'd know. If he started now, then I drove him to it. It's all my fault. I did this to him." "You did no such thing. Dustin's a big boy and he is capable of making his own decisions. He knows the danger of drugs and, if that's what this is about, he accepted full responsibility for what he was doing." "But I drove him to it, dad. He thought that I didn't love him any more." "Did you stop loving him?" "No!" "Well, then, you didn't do anything to cause this. Dustin saw what he wanted to see and we all tried to convince him that he was wrong. You didn't do this to Dustin. Dustin did this to Dustin. You can feel bad about what has happened and worry about his chances of recovering, but you can't blame yourself for his actions. You did nothing to cause this. His problems were all in his mind but he wouldn't admit that. I love Dustin too, Kevin, and I want him to be all right but we can't beat ourselves up over what he chose to do. Other teachers and I made sure that he understood the seriousness and dangers of using drugs. If he chose to ignore that information, then we can't blame ourselves. We'll all make mistakes and, hopefully, we learn from them. I hope that he has the chance to learn from this mistake and become a better person for it." We continued to sit by his side, hold his hand, and stroke his hair. We both spoke to him softly and lovingly. We told him that we wanted him to get better and that we were there for him. Some time later the doctor came to get me and I told Kevin that I'd been leaving him so I could try to learn more about Dustin's condition. He nodded and I left the room. I saw him bend over and kiss Dustin's forehead as I walked out the door. "Mr. Currie, this is Detective Mark Foreman. He is the person responsible for investigating what happened to your son." We exchanged greetings and Detective Foreman proceeded to tell us what he had learned. "I interviewed several boys who were with your son this evening. I don't have all of the specifics because the boys are scared of what might happen as a result of this, but I think that I've got the basics. They got their hands on a drug called ecstasy. The group decided to give it a try. They said that your son was acting depressed and he decided to go along with them. They said that they were surprised at his decision because he had turned down similar chances at other times. I'm sorry, sir, but do you know what he was depressed about?" "Let's just say that it was a lover's quarrel." "That explains a big piece of the missing part of the puzzle. Anyway, the boys all tried the ecstasy but none of them noticed that something was wrong with Dustin until they started to come down from their high. They said it looked like he had some kind of reaction to it, I suspect maybe an allergic reaction to the drug. One of the boys had a cell phone and he called 911. You probably already know the rest of the story." "I appreciate the information, Detective, and I'm sure that it will help the doctors treat him, but I need to get back to my boy. I just want to thank both of you, and I hope we can work on this problem of drugs together, when Dustin's better." I went back to the room where Kevin was waiting, and we sat beside Dustin's bed until early morning. The doctor came in and told us that they were transferring him from intensive care and into a private room. He told us at this point it was just a waiting game to see how his body would react to the treatment. He suggested that we go home and get some rest. He halted our protests before they even began by telling us that it would be some time before we'd be allowed to be in with him again. They have to move him, set his equipment up, and clean him off before we would be allowed to enter. We reluctantly gave in and went to catch a couple of hours sleep. * * * * * * * * If you have enjoyed reading this story, you will find other stories by me at http://www.teenboyauthors.org/thewolf, in the 'Other Stories' section. E-mails may be sent to: bwstories44@hotmail.com.