Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 14:55:09 -0400 From: Jeff Wilson Subject: W.A.R. Part Four - Chapter 10 WARNING!!! This Chapter contains some of the most intense moments of the story to date and may not be suitable for all readers. There is some very heavy subject matter here. Reader discretion is strongly advised. W.A.R. Part Four - Rehabilitation Chapter Ten - The Horrible Truth About Dustin Smith by Jeff Wilson Things had settled down pretty well in the week after mom came home. She would go to work, I would have the house to myself or go over to Brett's. Or, she would go to work and then Brett would come to my house. Either way, Brett and I usually ended up naked and humping. In the evenings, mom would drive down to Morgantown to see dad. Sometimes I went along, sometimes I stayed home. I never saw Dustin all week. I really wanted to talk with him, but I was too scared to go to his house and work it out. After the last time I saw him, I was afraid of what he might do to me. On Saturday, we went down to Fairmont to stay with my Aunt June and Uncle Bob. I had fun swimming and playing with my cousins, Nate and Brian. We visited with dad Saturday evening. On Sunday, we went to church with the family. Their church was a lot easier than Brett's. It was a Methodist Church, so I didn't feel completely out of place. On Sunday afternoon, we visited my dad for a few hours. Then we went home. The next week, we did the same thing again. And there was still no sign of Dustin. I was beginning to give up hope of ever seeing him before volleyball began. When we visited my dad on Sunday, Uncle Bob, Aunt June, Nate, and Brian came along with us. Dad was able to walk with the help of a walker. His arm hadn't improved much, but he could move his fingers and wrist a little. It was weird though, because he said that he could move his arm, but he couldn't feel it. Dad called Brian "Brett" and I laughed. My mom took me out of the room and scolded me for making fun of dad's condition. "I wasn't making fun! It was just funny that he called him Brett, that's all." "Billy, I don't want to hear it. You don't hear us laughing at your broken arm do you? Just... Go take a walk." She said. "But I..." "Here. Here's fifty cents. Go get yourself a pop. Just go." She handed me two quarters and sent me on my way. I didn't know whether to be pissed off that I was being sent away or happy that I was getting a free pop. So I walked toward the cafeteria. Most of the people in the center were old people. Dad was one of the youngest patients there. As I was walking, I heard a voice that I hadn't heard in a long time. I almost didn't realize who it was at first. "Come on ma! I'm only twenty-four." "I know. But you're going to have to find somebody. I worry about you in that house all by yourself." "You're one to talk about living on your own!" "Now, Michael, don't you start on that again! I'm sixty-two, not eighty-two. I can take care of my self just fine." "Mike?" I said as I slowly walked into the doorway. The people in the room turned to look at me. It was Mike alright! I recognized him and his mom when I saw them. Mike was sitting in a chair and his mom was in a bed. Mike looked me over, trying to remember where he had seen me before. Suddenly, I could see that he recognized me. "Hmmm... Braces. Blond hair. Green eyes. You're Dustin's friend, Billy." "Yeah. What are you doing here?" I asked probably a bit rudely. "Well, about ten days ago ma decided that she was going to move one of the computers without calling me for help," Mike said. Mrs. Evans interrupted, "I called you, and you weren't home! I would have been just fine if that cat hadn't walked in front of me." "She fell down the steps." Mike said finishing the story. "So, Dustin told me about your dad and your arm. I'm sorry to hear about everything. He hadn't said anything about your dad since you two had that argument. Did he get moved down here?" "Yeah." I answered. "And that brings me back to what I was talking about!" Mrs. Evans said. "Michael, you need to watch yourself around that neighbor boy of yours. He's got trouble written all over him. That boy is always at your house. People are going to start talking if you keep it up. And if he'd ever get mad at you and decide to make something up and get you in trouble, you'd be ruined." "Oh for God's sake, don't start that again!" "You watch your language, young man," Mrs. Evans scolded. "I did not raise you to take the Lord's name in vain. And I didn't raise you to get arrested because some boy decides to get mad at you. A man your age shouldn't be talking with boys or letting boys visit his house on his own. All it would take is the accusation!" Mike spoke very sternly, "Mother, Dustin is a friend. He comes to my house because I am the only person in his life right now who is nice to him. He is not going to tell people things because there is nothing to say. I listen to him and let him play free computer games. There is nothing fishy going on and I resent the fact that my own mother seems to think there is." "I never said that! I would never even think it! But other people..." "Other people can think what they want quite frankly." "Umm... Excuse me. Mike... Can I talk to you for a few minutes? Alone?" I asked shyly. "Well... I don't know..." Mike said. I noticed that his mom looked very displeased with the idea of her son talking privately with yet another strange boy. "It's important," I said. Mike told his mom he'd be right back and followed me out of the room. We walked to the cafeteria. I decided to buy a Coke, but I didn't have enough money. So Mike bought it for me. I really needed a more private place, so we walked outside. It was a bright, sunny, early July day. There was an old abandoned hospital behind the rehab center on a hill. There was a long set of steps that went from the hospital to the parking lot of the rehab center. I decided to talk on the staircase under some trees. "Mike, can I ask you something?" I said, feeling very nervous. "Sure. Ask away." Mike said. "Ummm... So..." I didn't know what to say, so I just said the first thing that came to mind. "So how did your mom end up here?" "I don't think you brought me all the way up here to ask me about my mother. You want to know what's been going on with Dustin since you told him you never wanted to see him again. Right?" "Whoa! Wait a minute, I never said that! He's the one who told me that! What else did he say?" "Look, kid. All I know is that he came to my house a couple weeks ago after I encouraged him to talk to you and fix things about the hospital. He came to my house crying his eyes out. He said that you hated him and that you and the other kid made fun of his family and then you said you never wanted to see him again." "Why that no good dirty little liar!!" "Excuse me?" Mike asked. "Mike, I hate to tell you this, but I'm not the one who said that. Now, Brett did make fun of his family, but I got mad at him for it. I left and Dustin followed me home. Then he got mad at me and said that he never wanted to see me again and he even kicked my arm." "What?!? No! I don't believe that for one second! Why would he say that he hates you if it was your friend who was insulting him? That doesn't make sense." "Because he found out that... that I... know something about him," I said. I had almost told him about me and Brett without even realizing it. Mike examined me carefully through his glasses. I could tell he was thinking very carefully about what to say. Perhaps he was wondering just how dangerous I could be. "Well... What did you tell him?" He asked. "I told him that I knew... ummm... That I know about him and his sister beating him up." "Now you're the one who's lying. I know that you already knew about that. Dustin told me that you know all about his family. Why don't you tell the truth?" "Well... I... Ummm..." I stammered. "You told him that you and your boyfriend are "more than friends" didn't you? That's why he over-reacted." "Brett's not my boyfriend! And that's not what I said! Brett told him that we do stuff before I went to my house. Then I... Oh fuck..." I realized too late what I'd done. "It's true then, isn't it? You and the other boy." Mike said. "That's not... I never... We've never..." "It's okay. I'm not going to tell anybody. Kid, you're at the age when you do stuff with your friends. It doesn't mean you're gay. I'm sure it took Dustin by surprise when he found out." "That's not all." I said. "Oh?" Mike said, raising his eyebrows. "After Brett told Dustin about us, I got mad and went to my house. That much you know. But you need to know what happened at my house." I said. "Okay." Mike said softly. "He said that he was going to tell my mom and dad about me and Brett." "Dustin would never really do that, kid. I'm sure he was just..." "That's not it. I got scared and I told him about what I saw the day my dad had a stroke." I said. "What did you see kid?" Mike asked. "I saw something I shouldn't have seen that morning." "And what was that?" "Please don't make me say it." I said, feeling like I was almost going to throw up. I took a drink of Coke. "I need to know what you saw." Mike said sternly. "I saw you and him. In your house. I know what you did that morning. And I told him that if he told on me, that I was going to tell on you," I said rapidly. Mike didn't say anything. He just looked down at the parking lot. Actually, he may have been looking far beyond the parking lot. He took his glasses off and wiped his eyes. Then he put them back on. He seemed to be searching for something to say. "Billy... I guess we have a bit of a problem here." "Yeah." I said. "First of all, what you saw... It was the only time we ever did that. I never meant for it to even happen." "How could you do that to him?" I demanded. "Billy... Sometimes things happen, and there's nothing you can do about them. They're in the past. You make a mistake and..." "A mistake!?!? A mistake!! Oh great! I'm sure Dustin would be thrilled to find out that he was a mistake! If it was something more than just getting your jollies with him then maybe I could understand. But you're just using him! It would have been better if you actually cared about him." "I do care about him!" "Then why did you fuck him?!?! You know his life's been for shit! You know about everything! And you used him! His family may be assholes, but at least he wasn't being molested. Now he's got that to live with on top of everything else!" "Keep it down. Listen. Billy, maybe I should have just told you the truth. That wasn't the first time we made love and it wasn't the last. I didn't use him to 'get my jollies.'" "You mean you really do love him?" "More than anything. Billy, I was really hoping that what you saw that day was something else. I was really hoping that you could help me to help Dustin." "What do you mean?" "How well do you really know Dustin's dad?" "I know that he drinks a lot and he called Dustin stupid." "You ever notice that Dustin seems to know way more about sex than he should?" "What are you trying to say Mike?" I asked. "Billy, there's no way that a boy Dustin's age should know as much about sex as he does. He started everything. He had been coming to my house for a long time and things seemed off. I couldn't put my finger on it. He'd come over and play games and stuff, but he didn't really talk much about his family. But as time went by I learned more and more about what was happening there. He started to trust me like he trusts you. He opened up. He told me that he hated them all and he said he thought about killing them. Billy, no fourteen year old gets that way without being pushed. Just when I was starting to get the pieces put together, he came to my house one day in tears. He was still in his baseball uniform. He said that everybody hated him and that everyone was going to make fun of him. I put my arm around him to comfort him. I told him that I loved him and that I'd never make fun of him. Then he started unbuckling my pants. He said he was going to show me how much he loved me and then he blew me." "So you just sat there and let him do it? Mike, I've had my dick sucked, it's not like you can't make the guy stop whenever you want." "I made a mistake Billy. A big one. I know that better than anyone. I should have stopped him. I wanted to stop him. What really made me feel horrible was the fact that I was never going to be able to help him if he was being molested. Because I was doing something just as illegal." "Why do you think he's being molested? I mean, his dad's a jerk, sure. But to do something like that with his own son?" "Son? You ever stop to think about why Amanda is as fucked up as she is?" "You... Oh my god. No fucking way." I said as I realized where he was going. "I think I'm going to be sick." "Me too. This is real life, kid. Real sick life. When Carol started working the second job, the night job, I think Frank started abusing Amanda. Dustin says that she started beating him up after his mom got the new job, years ago. Almost as long as he's been in school. I think Amanda was being abused first, and then she started taking out her anger on Dustin. That's when Amanda gained weight. I think subconsciously, she did it to make herself unattractive, and it worked. Unfortunately, Dustin turned out to be pretty cute himself. Unfortunately, sex feels good no matter what hole you're fucking. I think at some point Frank switched from Amanda to Dustin. Did Dustin ever talk with you about sex or seem preoccupied with sex or being naked? Did he ever start to seem different? Like his mood changed for no good reason?" "We played cards for clothes and slept naked the night before you moved in. But I liked it as much as him and my dad's never touched me. Now that I think about it, I don't remember ever seeing him cry until that night. Well, except for the time Brett punched him. And he told me that he wanted them all to die, too. He'd never been that way before. Do you think it was because of what you said?" "Billy, everything I've said is just speculation. It's just what I've pieced together. If it's true, there's really no evidence. If it went to trial, it would destroy their family and humiliate Dustin. I thought about going to Carol, but then Dustin and I ended up having sex and my credibility got destroyed. I realized that it could just as easily end up all on my head." "It's all my fault. If I hadn't have been so pissed off and made fun of Dustin at that ballgame he never would have gone to you that day and ended up sucking your thing. Then you could have gone to Mrs. Smith and she could have gotten away from Mr. Smith." "Kid, don't go blaming any of this on yourself. You're completely innocent here. The guilty ones are me and Dustin's dad. You're going to start volleyball tomorrow, right?" "Yeah." I replied. "Well listen to me. Don't say anything to Dustin about this." "That won't be a problem, he still hates me." "Well, make him un-hate you. I'm going to get him out of that house and you're going to help me. Is that your mom down there?" I looked toward the center. There was a person looking up at us standing outside. But it wasn't my mom. "No, that's not my mom, that's my aunt. They must be looking for me. We better go back." We started walking toward the center. "Okay, listen kid. I don't know what we're going to do, but we're not going to just sit around and let Dustin get raped every night. We may not have a lot of time. If we don't do something soon, Dustin may do something he'll regret forever. He needs his best friend if he's going to get through this. He needs all the real love he can get." "Do you think you can talk to him?" "He'll probably come over when I get home. But I don't think he should know that we've talked. Not yet. I'll see what I can do anyway. Are we cool?" "Yeah. I'm not going to tell anyone about you. You can trust me." "Cool. You can trust me, too. You and your buddy are safe with me. Keep in touch with me. Here's my number." He handed me one of his business cards and then he headed back to his mom while I headed back to my mom. She was not pleased that I had left to get a Coke and disappeared for forty minutes. I apologized and smoothed things over nicely. It was too important for me to stay out of trouble if I was going to help Mike and Dustin. I had a lot to think about on my way home. If Mike was right, we were going to have a war on our hands. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I'm sorry if the subject matter of this chapter was objectionable. Child abuse is repugnant, but what may be happening to Dustin... I wouldn't even go into covering it in any detail if it were true. But like Mike said, at this point it's all speculation. But if it is true, then Dustin is in worse shape than we had even thought before. I would like to remind you, dear reader, that the characters in this story are not thrown into situations haphazardly. There is a purpose for everything you read. Many of you have written to me, wondering why Dustin was behaving so strangely. You are quite perceptive. You knew that the life he's led has not been easy. We are beginning to find out just how hard his life truly is. As always, I appreciate your thoughts. You can email me anytime: vicioussquirrel@hotmail.com Let me know what you thought about this chapter, and where you think we'll end up.