by
Mark 'Ponyboy' Peters
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mum and I just looked at each other, both unsure as to what we should do or say next. In the end it was mum who came to her senses first and went to him, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around the man I knew she still loved.
'It's okay,' she said to him. 'It was a long time ago. You don't have to keep reliving it.'
'But don't you see. Every time the subject of someone being gay comes up, I find myself right back there in that dark, little stockroom behind the shop, with his hands . . .'
That comment hit me like a ton of bricks. Molested in a stockroom! Jesus, that hit close to home.
'But why haven't you ever spoken about it?' mum asked.
Dad looked up, his eyes flicking from one of us to the other, then he simply shook his head.
'I don't know. Shame, I guess.'
'W-what happened?' I ventured to ask.
'Gray, I don't think your father needs to relive it again,' mum gently said.
'No, it's okay,' dad interjected. 'Who knows, talking about it might even do me some good.'
He picked up his mug and downed the last of his coffee, then set the mug back down again, before taking a few deep breaths. We could see his hands were shaking and mum placed a hand on his and reassured him that we were here for him.
'It was closing time one night. It was late,' he said. 'After we had shut the place up and locked up, the owner and I were in the stockroom, which was just behind where the counters and cash registers were. We were packing away a delivery that had been made that afternoon. There was nothing unusual about that. We would often have things ready for the staff that worked the day shift.
'I noticed him move behind me as I was reaching up to put something on a high shelf and thought that he was just trying to get past me. There wasn't a lot of room. As he did so I felt one hand on my shoulder, then with the other hand he reached around and slid it straight into my pants.
'I just froze. I didn't know what to do. I've thought about it a good deal since then and I think that the simple fact I didn't respond, or lash out, or do anything at all, was enough for him to think it was okay to proceed . . . so he did.'
My throat was dry and my heart was beating fast as my imagination took over. We still didn't know yet exactly what had happened, but we knew enough. I heard my mum gasp and when I looked at her I could see a tear rolling down her cheek, before she then hugged dad. I pushed my chair back and got to my feet, then walked around to his side of the table and also dropped to my knees, hugging both of my parents.
It was into this scene that Olly arrived, still wearing just his jocks, his hair a total mess and rubbing sleep from his eyes.
'What's going on?' he innocently asked.
'Family hug,' dad said, as he held out an arm for Olly to join us. Olly gave us all an odd look, but then came and joined the party.
* * * * *
Following the events and revelations of the last twenty-four hours I wasn't sure whether I should go to work, but in the end I decided I would need to be there in case of any follow up being needed after my carpark incident. Dad decided that he would be better off staying at home today, and mum felt that she also needed to be with him, rather than be driving around dropping Olly to school, so that duty was left with me.
'You better take my car,' she said to me, seeing that mine was still parked in the carpark at work.
After having a shower and getting dressed, making sure I checked out my head to make sure there wasn't any damage visible from last night's events, I then took some more pain killers and called out to Olly, 'You ready yet, little man?'
'Who are you calling little?' he barked.
'Funny man!' I shot back at him. Seriously, that kid just cracked me up sometimes.
I headed for the kitchen, but before I got there I was stopped in my tracks.
'Richard, surely you realise that not all gays are rapists or child molesters?' I heard my mother ask.
'I know . . . I know . . . but I just can't help but think . . .'
'Stop it, Richard. You know better than that. What happened to you was shocking . . . I only wish I'd known earlier . . . we can get you some help now . . . whatever you need!'
'But what if he turns out like that guy I worked for, or worse?'
'You don't have to worry about Gray. That's not him. He's got a good head on his shoulders, he's not irresponsible or sneaky or evil . . . you know all that! And I think he already has a special friend. When he talks about him he just lights up. Gray's going to be okay. I'm absolutely sure of that.'
Just then I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Olly coming my way, wearing his school uniform of grey shorts and white shirt, his backpack slung over one shoulder and his black school shoes looking like they could do with a good polish. Quickly I wiped the tears from my eyes and held up a finger to my mouth to signal to him to stay quiet, then I stepped towards him and ushered him into my room.
'What's going on?' he whispered.
'Mum and dad are talking. Let's just give them a minute, hey?'
'Are they going to be okay?'
'Yeah, mate. They're going to be fine.'
'Why were you crying?'
'Just happy that mum and dad are sorting things out, mate. Come on, we better get you to school.'
We walked out into the kitchen and said goodbye to our parents, then headed for mum's car. Thankfully Olly's school wasn't too far out of my way and after dropping him outside the main gates I arrived at work only just in time, where I found Mrs Mack standing by the front service desk, just inside the front doors, talking to Claire Brady.
'Grayson! We didn't really expect to see you today. Are you okay after what happened yesterday?'
'I'm fine thanks, Mrs Mack. Just a bit of a sore head, that's all.'
'Claire has been filling me in. Apparently the police are going to talk to shopping centre management about trying to view the security camera footage, so hopefully they'll be able to get to the bottom of things quickly for you.'
'I hope so,' I replied.
'Well, you just let us know if you feel like you need to head home. We don't want you passing out on us or anything.'
'I will. Thank you,' I said, before setting off towards the offices at the back of the store so I could sign on for the day. I was stopped quite a few times as I walked down the centre aisle of the store, with people asking how I was doing and wishing me well, which I actually found to be quite overwhelming. It felt like I had more friends here than I had ever thought I had.
As I went I was keeping an eye out for Raffa, as we hadn't spoken since we had left work yesterday, and with everything that had happened last night I'd forgotten to text him, so I wasn't sure if he knew about what had occurred. I had seen his bike in the carpark when I had arrived, so I knew he was here. For some reason I couldn't really explain, I knew that I just had to see him.
I swiped my card and signed on, then headed for the toilets, first entering the locker room before then pushing open the door to the toilets, just as I heard someone flush the urinals. Looking that way as I entered I came face to face with Raffa, and before I could utter a word I was swept up in an embrace as he wrapped his arms tightly around me and buried his face into the crook of my neck.
'Oh my God,' he sobbed, as I wrapped my arms around him also. 'I just found out. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?'
'I'm fine,' I answered. 'Got a bump on the head but no lasting damage.'
'Thank Christ for that!' he exclaimed as he pulled back and studied me. Immediately I knew there was something different about him, but it took a second for it to click. He'd gone and had a haircut. The long hair was gone and he was now sporting a new, short and stylish cut that made him look even sexier, just as I had predicted.
'What the fuck have you done?' I said to him. 'Is that what you had to leave for yesterday afternoon?'
'You like it? It was your idea!'
'Told you you'd look dead sexy with shorter hair,' I replied, just as we heard the outer door open. Raffa quickly stepped over to the hand basin to wash, while I stepped up to the urinals. We were waiting for whoever it was to come in and join us, but then we heard the outer door open once more as they left the locker room.
I made Raffa spin around so I could check out his new look. He hooked his thumbs into his belt, on either side of the buckle, then did a little boot-scoot shimmy as he spun around in a full circle. The change in his looks was dramatic, and it was all I could do to resist grabbing him and forcing him into one of the cubicles to have my wicked way with him.
'So? What do you think?'
'I can't really tell you what I want to do to you right now!' I said.
'Maybe later?' he suggested.
'Absolutely!'
A minute later we were outside and heading off to our respective departments.
'Lunch?' he asked me, just before he left me.
'You bet. I have a lot to fill you in on!'
'Great. I'll meet you at the front doors.'
* * * * *
When I found Mike he said he was surprised to see me, after having heard what had happened last night from Mr Webster just as soon as he had arrived for work this morning. I assured him I was okay, but I quickly sensed that he was anxious about what might come out of it, especially after his saying that he had been told the police were looking into the events leading up to last night's bashing in order to try and identify possible suspects.
'What did you say to the cops?' he asked.
'I couldn't give them much last night . . . only the basics about getting bullied after being outed,' I said to him. 'Apparently they're going to try to check for security footage from the carpark though, and I guess they'll want to talk to me again.'
He nodded, but I could see that he was still deep in thought.
'What about how you got outed? Anything about what you were doing that led to it.'
'I've kept your name out of it, even when the subject of Animal had come up,' I quietly assured him. 'I'll do my best to make sure that's how things remain.'
'I appreciate that.'
Mike's relief was obvious, but I knew that keeping my promise was going to be easier said than done.
The rest of the morning passed by as expected, with work to be done, gossip freely flowing and Nosey Parkers trying to find out whatever they could from me in passing. For the most part I found it to be quite annoying, but there was a part of me that was actually amused by the fact that someone like me, who up until a couple of weeks ago was a total nobody in this world, was now the centre of attention. I said as much to Raffa and Hoppy during the morning when I would bump into them and they agreed, but they also reminded me that somebody else would become the flavour of the month just as soon as they slipped up and shone the bright lights upon themselves.
As lunch time approached I hadn't heard anything about the police visiting the shopping centre management as yet and to be honest I was starting to grow anxious about whether anything was going to show up on the security footage. The more I thought about it the more certain I was that whoever it was who had jumped me might want to have another go at it. Maybe that was just paranoia, but the notion was firmly implanted in my mind and didn't seem to want to budge.
While I waited for Raffa at the front doors I contemplated asking him what he thought about my fears when I met up with him, but in the end I knew I would keep my mouth shut, knowing I would possibly sound like I was losing the plot if I did so. I was really just getting to know him and the last thing I wanted to do was have him think I was a nut job, so silence was definitely the best policy.
When I spotted him coming towards me a few moments later all dubious thoughts and fears were quickly forgotten, however. He was smiling broadly, walking tall and had a spring in his step. My boy looked happy, and right at this moment I couldn't ask for anything more.
To be continued . . .
Authors Note:
Hi there. It has been a while since I have posted anything new on Nifty. I guess life gets in the way sometimes.
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