Andrew's Trust

Chapter 17 - Who's This

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DO NOT EVER HURT A CHILD

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Andrews Trust 17 - Who's This

Andrew

I figure the boys can sleep after their frolicking in the pool as long as they want, but I'd better get some food out to barbecue for when they wake up. I know they ate earlier, but these boys are an endless pit.

Josh still hasn't returned, so I text Eric to see if they are tired of Josh and if he and his boys want to join us for swimming and a barbecue. He responds that Josh is still in the room with Tran, and he let them sleep in. He would get them and the other boys up and head over before lunch.

As I'm preparing things in the outdoor kitchen, Ryder walks up to me, holding his towel, and looking at his feet. I can tell something is bothering him. "Hi, Ryder, did you have fun with the boys?"

"Yes, Mr. Andrew, I did. Thank you." He mumbles.

"Stop calling me mister; just call me Andrew."

"I'm sorry; I won't do it again." Shit, I may have fucked up. The kid is now scared of me. I crouch down on my knees and hold my arms open for Ryder.

"Come here, son; I'm not mad at you; I want you to be at ease with us. I just don't want you to think you have to be so formal. You're probably going to be here for a while. I've talked to social services, and you're here with us under emergency foster care until we figure out what is safe for you." He comes to me, and I give him a gentle hug, being careful not to touch his bruises. "We need to take some pictures of your bruises, though. I'm sorry that it won't be much fun, but it's so we can keep you safe."

"I don't want to be in any more pictures. I can't do it. It hurts."

Now I realize the extent of this kid's abuse. I leave the items I was working on and lift the boy so I can carry him into the great room. "Ryder, this is important; you know you can trust me, right?"

"Yes."

"You need to answer me honestly for me to help. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

"First, can we take the pictures?"

"Do we have to?"

"Yes, cover up your boy bits with the towel and face me here." I snapped a couple of images for CPS. "Now turn around." I snapped some of his backsides. "Now, answer me truthfully: have you been sexually abused?"

"What do you mean?"

"Has anyone, especially an adult, tried to play with your private parts or your butt?"

"NO!" He screams. "They just hit me. They liked to tie me up and hit me." He starts sobbing and comes running to my open arms.

"I'm so sorry. That won't happen again. Did they photograph you? Is that why you said you didn't want to be in any more pictures?"

Between sobs, he says, "Yes," and I just gently hold him and let his tears flow. "They hit me and took pictures of it. They use belts and paddles." He's crying hysterically at this point.

As we are sitting on the sofa, Josh comes running through the doors, still naked, all excited until he sees the new boy. He skids to a stop so fast he almost falls over, and his eyes go wide. "Dad, who's this?"

"Josh, this is Ryder. Ryder, this is my son Josh." Ryder quickly tries to wipe his face with his towel and stop crying. He can't get the words out to say hi to Josh.

Josh runs over to us and stops as he gets close enough to realize that the marks on Ryder are bruises, and he carefully points his finger at the largest one, asking, "Ryder, does that hurt?"

Ryder sniffles, "Yes."

"Josh, it's not polite to ask questions like that. Ryder was hurt and will be staying with us for a bit while he heals. You know, when someone is hurt, we let them tell us when they are ready."

"I know, dad. Ryder, my dads will make sure nobody hurts you again, and my brothers and I will make sure too," Josh matter-of-factly assures Ryder.

As he says this, Peter, Eric, and his boys come through the door that Josh left wide open. "Josh, please introduce Ryder to the Murphys."

"Sure, Tran, Alejandro, and Joey, this is my new brother, Ryder." He says this as he points to each boy. It's sweet that he already considers Ryder his brother. I'm not sure how well that will work, but you never know around here.

"Hi everyone," Ryder says shyly. He and Josh are the only naked boys; well, let's make that Ryder, Josh, and Alejandro since that boy stripped off while we were introducing them. Ryder seems to recognize Joey, and I see his posture change. "Are you, no, you can't be; are you 'The Joey Murphy'?"

"Nah, I'm Just Joey." Joey jokes back. Yep, this is my family, and we are here visiting."

"I see your posters everywhere, and I think I've heard you sing, but I don't get much time to listen to music. My mom and dad don't let me, but at school, my friends let me listen, and they share their favorite music when we have recess and lunch."

"Well, we need to fix that. I mean, not to listen to me, but let's get you some music to listen to." Joey remembered that we have our automation system set up to play music everywhere, so he yells out, "Alexa, it's party time," and she responds, "It's about time. Let the fun begin!" and music began to stream throughout the property. Ryder was immediately dragged away by Alejandro and Joey on their quest to find the other boys, who I assume are still sleeping on the decking in the grotto. I see Joey stop near the door and drop his clothes, realizing he's the overdressed one here. I guess my talk with Ryder will have to wait.

"Boys, take some sunscreen and make sure everyone gets some."

Tran and Josh don't join them. Instead, they sit on the couch across from Eric and me. I look at Eric, and he just shrugs. Peter sees this and takes the opportunity to head into the kitchen to grab some sodas for our indoor gang. "Ba, can we talk?" Tran says this while holding Josh's hand.

"Sure, son," Eric replies. "You know you can always talk to me."

I'm about to get up and leave them when Tran continues. "Mr. Andrew, is it okay if we all talk?"

"Sure, and remember, I'm just Andrew to you, Tran."

"Sorry, Mr., um, Andrew."

Peter returns, hands out Fanta to everyone, and sits next to me.

"Go on, son," Eric says.

"Ba, you know I didn't want to come without Tyler, and then Tyler broke up with me, making things kinda tough. I've been feeling super down and sad, and I guess I haven't been handling it very well. I know I've been acting selfish, even though I don't want to be."

"It's like I'm stuck in this bubble of sadness, and all I can think about is myself and how hurt I am. Josh here helped me realize that Tyler was controlling me and all I am doing is making myself and everyone around me miserable. I'm always so moody and distant that nobody knows how to act around me anymore, in fact, they kind of avoid me. The only person that hasn't avoided me is Josh, and I'm thankful he made me realize how stupid I've been."

"Ba, you and Peter have tried to talk to me, but I just keep pushing you away, thinking you won't understand what I'm going through. I'm sorry."

"I'm glad you realized that, son," Eric says. "You know we will always support you, even if we don't understand all of the details."

"And Tyler, well, he's just a stupid jerk. He is off with another boy, and I didn't deserve to be treated like that, but I will stand up for myself and find the best boyfriend I can have. I know I'm just a kid, so when the family does things, I have to go too. Ba, without you and my brothers, I don't know where I would be. I fought cancer and won, and I know it was because you guys gave me hope and family. You are my Jiātíng. (家庭)"

"Tran, we love you no matter what, and it hurts when I see you hurting. We will figure everything out. You know how much we want you in our family, and we want you to be happy." Eric gets up and sits next to Tran as he speaks. "Maybe this trip was a good test for you. I know you won't see it that way now, but when you look back, I'm sure you will see that it saved you some heartache."

"I never would have met Josh. He's an amazing boy with some very special talent." I see Josh smiling with his little impish look. "He has a special gift and quickly got me to realize what's right and what's wrong."

I can tell that whatever happened between those boys was something that helped Tran pull out of his funk. I'm sure it wasn't just sexual, either. And before you ask, yes, I noticed how Josh was walking, and well, I'm sure he and Tran had a good workout.

"Tran, I think tonight we will have a family meeting to talk about going back home and a few other options. Why don't the two of you go out and join the others and have some fun? Don't forget the sunscreen." Eric encourages Tran to go out.

Eric continues, "Andrew, I hope you and your boys will join us for dinner tonight. You guys are now part of our family. I'd like to talk about our plans for the rest of our visit here, and then talk to my boys about returning home."

"That would be great. Is there anything we can bring?"

"Smore's--that seems to be a favorite." Eric laughs.

Eric's phone has been vibrating nonstop for the entire time we have been talking. I admire his ability to resist answering, but it must be important. When his phone stops, I hear Peter's phone vibrating, and he excuses himself to answer it. He's not gone long and comes in to say, "Mr. Murphy, we need to go. Andrew, we will see you for dinner tonight. Would you mind watching the boys until then?"

"Sure, no problem, see you in a bit. Anything I can help with?"

"Just something that Eric needs to handle. It's going to be fine." The look on Peter's face didn't give me much confidence in that.

As they are walking out, I see Eric pull his vibrating phone out and answer it. All I can eavesdrop on are short "uh-huh" and "are you sure" answers. I'm sure we will hear more at dinner. I'm not sure what to make of it, but I have to get back to work. I have a looming deadline.

I have a workspace set up in a room right off of the great room that I call my studio. It's a great space where I can organize it to fit whatever project I have at the moment. You should have seen it when we had the animatronic animals set up for a jungle project. The boys know when I'm in there that I'm working, but they are free to quietly interrupt if they need me. One of my clients in Vegas is working on something to compete with the Exosphere as far as the outdoor experience goes. We are working on the light show, the water show, and an adult venue to host some incredible festival-type events at. I need to button up a few things. While my client doesn't have a 580,000-square-foot led ball to deal with, we have two wings of a hotel, landscaping, and multiple festival stages to deal with. The crew that was here working on the concert at the fair is one of the teams that I've been working with on the technical side. I was thrilled when Grayson went over and started talking with them. I never want to push my boys, but the kid may be a natural for this. I'm bringing up my workstation when the gate buzzer goes off.

I picked up the phone. "We have a delivery for Mr. A. Thomas," the voice says. "Come on up to the main house, and there is a door on the left side. I'll meet you there."

I open the door from my studio to the side yard as the truck pulls up. It's a nondescript white box truck with a four-door cab, like they use for Hollywood productions. They pull up past the door, and four men get out and head to the back. One climbs up and pulls the chains from the lift, and with a loud bang, it folds down. The hydraulics squeak as the lift drops about halfway and one of the others folds out the ramp part of the deck. The ramp makes such a loud bang again that I see the boys all peering over the rocks to see what's up. The other three workers jump on the ramp while one of them unlatches the door and rolls it up.

Within minutes, a dozen or so road cases are unloaded and wheeled into my studio. I can't wait to get the gear all set up. It feels like Christmas, although I never had much of a Christmas, even after Ethan came into my life. We had each other, and that's what mattered. I know he was doing everything he could to keep us fed and happy. Mark would bring us things, but I quickly gave them away to kids at the shelter.

I read the labels on the cases and rolled them to where they should be set. I can tell the large, thin ones are either LED panels or monitors, so I look for the cases with the stands. I quickly popped the top of the box to pull out the pieces of the stands. I'm afraid this looks like an IKEA furniture project trying to fit tab A into hole B to make a furnkenflitten, or whatever the stupid IKEA name would be.

As I'm laying out parts, Ryder comes in and timidly asks if we can talk. He looks like he's seen a ghost.

"Sure, son." I pull up a chair for him so we can both sit. I sit down on mine, and he comes and climbs into my lap.

"Can I call you dad?" He asks, melting my heart because I know deep down we probably can't take in another boy, but how can I say no?

"Sure, if you like. Just remember that things may change, but you're always welcome here, and you can call me whatever you like. What seems to be bothering you?" I'm holding this boy, who is trembling a bit. He's nice and warm, and his skin is so soft. It has my mind going places it shouldn't be considering this boy came to me for help.

"When I went out with the other boys, we put on the lotion. We rubbed it on each other, and Max rubbed it on me, and he put some on my, on my."

"It's okay, you can say anything to me."

"On my wiener. It got hard, and he stroked it a bit to put the lotion on. He asked me if that was okay, and I said yes. I saw some of the other boys doing it too but didn't think anything of it until Tran and Josh came out."

"What happened then?"

"Well, Tran lifted Josh up onto the rock bench in the grotto thing and leaned in and was sucking on Josh's weenie."

"Did that bother you?"

"No, but I was curious, why did he do that? Am I supposed to do that?"

"Oh, no, Ryder, sweetheart, you don't have to do things like that at all unless you want to. These boys all love each other. Max and Grayson are boyfriends, but the others are just best friends. They all seem to enjoy playing with each other's boy bits. They should have asked if it bothered you, but I bet they figured since everyone else is already used to seeing it, they didn't need your permission. I'll talk to them."

"I just didn't know what to do."

"I'm sorry they did that. But, if you want to know the truth, it feels really good when someone else plays with your weenie, but it's your body, and only you can allow someone to touch it. Don't let them pressure you into something, and it's okay to say stop if you want them to."

"I did like when Max did it, but if I do that, does it make me, um, gay?" He looks down.

No, son, you don't have to label it. There's nothing wrong with wanting someone to touch you and play with you, or you with them. As long as you want it. It doesn't make you gay."

"I think I understand."

"If you don't want to see it or participate, you don't have to. Speak up, okay?"

"Okay. I like girls, but when Max touched me, I got hard, and it felt good. I might let him do it again."

"Go tell the boys that we need to get lunch going. Then you can play until we go have dinner with the Murphys."