Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:22:50 +0100 From: budbundy_no@hotmail.com Subject: Jonas Loves Robbie. Part 13. Welcome back. Sorry for the delay, lots of outside distraction going on. Never get tired of your feedback so please give a shout out at budbundy_no@hotmail.com CHAPTER 13 Jonas father spun Robbie around, effectively changing places with him and grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt. "How dare you bring these perversions onto my son; into my family? I'd expect this sort of filthy behavior from your kind, but not my son. Ever come near him again and I'll send your entire nigger family, your fag behind in particular, straight to hell. You got it, boy?"' He kept shouting obscenities and racial slurs before giving Robbie a shove so that he fell back into the hallway, smashing into the front door of the people across the hall. Pain shot through the boy as his previously injured back hit the door handle. Jonas' father didn't care; he hauled the boy to his feet and hurled him down the hallway. Then he closed the door and turned to his son, towering over him. "What are you doing, Dad? How could you do that to him? He's hurt! My God, I have to go to him!" He tried to go around his father but the man grabbed his arm hard, pushing him up against the hall. "Let me go, dammit!" "Watch your mouth. I'm trying to help you from a life of sin and you'll show me the proper respect and listen." "Sin? I love him." Slap! The blow knocked Jonas down on the floor. "Love? Don't you ever fucking call the shit I just saw love; you hear me?" Jonas struggled to his feet. He only saw the anger his father showed, not the fury that bubbled underneath. "You can't keep us apart. I live with Mom; you can't stop us from being together." "Watch me," he said menacingly, his face just inches from his son's. "I'll take you away from her. What I saw tonight will be a great help with the right judge." He spoke in a softer tone. "Look, son, this is for your own good. You can be saved from this path. Your uncle knows this wonderful camp that helps wayward souls like...that boy...has turned you into." The soft tone and the sincerity behind the words scared Jonas to death. He'd read up on such places after James had died and the thought of being sent to such a place...it was all he could think of when he uttered his next words. "That won't happen after the judge asks my opinion. He'll never let you live with me. Beside, you're not even my real dad." Uh oh! The moment the words left his lips he wished he could pull them back. The look on the man's face at the revelation chilled Jonas to the bone. "What the fuck did you just say?" he yelled, actually grabbing the boy around his throat. "Please," Jonas managed to wheeze out. "I just meant you don't....feel...like a dad anymore." The words felt weak as he spoke them. "That's not what you said and you know it. You better explain," he said, loosening his grip but not letting go. Afraid to do anything else Jonas told him what James had revealed. Anything to just get him to leave. He had to get to Robbie. The man took it surprisingly well, even smiled. "It doesn't matter. You're still my son. Nothing can change that. This will make it much easier to get you away from your mom. Cheating wife, our connections in this town, your uncle's moral and solid marriage, your need to be saved; it's perfect. We'll have the perfect opportunity to cure you. No homo will bring this family down." Jonas couldn't believe what he was hearing. The man received a shocking revelation and all he could care about was how having a gay family member would look? This was the man he had loved his whole life, looked up to, often done anything to please? Now all he saw was a stranger. "Cure me?" he said incredulously. "I don't have some disease you can wipe away. I'm just gay, it's not my fault and I don't care. I have Robbie and that's all that matters. We'll grow old together, have children together...some way. You're not gonna take that away from me. You can't cure me because there is nothing to cure. I'm just a normal boy who happens to be gay, that's all. I have to go to him now." Let his father try his best. He lived with his mom. He didn't even have to see his father, if Jonas refused to. He was 14 for heaven's sake. But he underestimated the man's hatred as he once again tried to get past his father. He didn't even say anything, just pulled Jonas after him into the boy's bedroom. He yanked Jonas' pants down and pushed him down on the bed. Jonas looked over his shoulder to see his dad take off his belt, his face a mask of unrestrained fury. "Please don't..."Jonas tried to beg off, but the belt strap struck him across the thighs several times. Jonas panicked; he just knew the man wasn't going to settle for ten strokes this time. He tried to get up but the lashes made it impossible. Instead, he rolled off the bed away from the blows. He scampered off to a corner and held up his hands. "Stop, no more, just stop, please..." But his father had lost all control, hauling Jonas to his feet so his t-shirt ripped off of him. He found himself face down once again, more lashes raining down on him. Was he gonna die like this, beaten to death by a madman over something he couldn't control? The lashes came faster, over and over and over, belt buckle often cutting deep into his tender flesh. Jonas could do nothing but scream. The pain was unbearable. There was no end in sight when he heard his mother's voice. "Oh my God!" She grabbed her ex-husband, trying to get him away from her son. He turned to her. All he wanted to do was put his fist right through her face, he'd longed for it ever since the bitch left and humiliated him for the whole town to see. Instead he left the room. Jonas felt his mom pulling him up, cradling him in her arms. "We have to get out of here," she said. "I've never seen your father like this before." Jonas held on as she pulled him to his feet. His back and legs were on fire as he stood, just in time to face his father brandishing a gun. "I wondered where this had gone off to," the man said. "Get the boy dressed, we're going home. All of us. This time you'll be the proper wife and we'll prevent our little pervert from growing into a big one. Instead of the camp, we'll get a doctor to cure him right under our own roof. I know just the one, he did a wonderful job on his own boy." "What are you talking about, cure him?" "Our family don't breed fags." So he knew. She knew better than to push the subject. "Put the gun down. Please. Just go home before something happens that you'll regret." But he wouldn't listen, just asked if she condoned their son being gay. Once again she urged him to just leave. There was no way she could go with him. He'd carry out he's curing threat for sure. She was used to reasoning with him, but this was new territory even for her. God, she should have expected something this bad. "You approve don't you? Your son tells you he's a freak and you fucking approve?" He grabbed her by the hair and shoved her out of the room. "MOM! Let her go," Jonas called after them. He pulled his pants back up and stumbled after them. God, he hurt so bad. The door to his Mom's bedroom was locked and he heard her cry out. The key, where did she keep it? He looked in the kitchen where she kept all sorts of small objects in a plastic bowl. Yes! The key was there. He took it and ran for the bedroom. He found his father standing over her, fists raining down on his mom. The gun was on a stool over by the closet and he grabbed it. "Stop! Now!" he yelled. He didn't know much about weapons but he knew how to cock the hammer. The click made his father spin around. "Give me the gun, Son," he said, holding out his hand. Jonas' hand shook uncontrollably. His finger was on the trigger and his father was showing genuine fear. "Give me the gun, Son. I'm sorry I got so angry. Give me the gun and everything will be okay." "Not until you leave. I won't let you hurt Mom." Then she called her son's name from behind him, joining her ex in trying to get him to drop the gun. "Not until he leaves, Mom. He's gonna leave. I can't let him hurt you; I won't. We're better off without him. After the wedding he can't touch us." That's when Jonas found out his dad didn't know about his mom's engagement. "WHAT?" his father screamed, the thought of someone else taking his family was more than his ego could take. "That's it," he continued, "you are coming with me. No man is taking My family away from ME." He ordered Jonas to put the gun down. "I've had enough. Put the fucking gun down now before you hurt some one, then we'll all go home." The gun was starting to get really heavy in Jonas' hands from having it in the same position for so long. He lowered his elbows. Unfortunately, his father saw it as weakness. He grabbed the gun to pull it away from Jonas hands. But since Jonas wasn't intending to let it go, just ease the weight, his father only managed to pull the boy close, finger still on the trigger. His father didn't let go either, but tried to wrest it away. Jonas didn't mean to, but his finger clamped down on the trigger. The sound of the gun going off would reverberate through Jonas mind for years to come. His father sank to his knees, holding onto the boy, looking up at him with an expression of pure surprise. He fell down on his back. Jonas stared down on him. He'd had never seen blood so dark before, wasn't it supposed to be bright red? "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," he called out. The gun dropped from his hand and he knelt next to his dad. "Daddy, no. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Please, don't die." He tried to cover the wound, but even if it would have helped he couldn't find it, because of all the blood. Jonas hugged his father, whispering for him to wake up. But when he looked back into the man's face, there was no sign of life. Once again, he clutched onto the corpse as if he wanted to will him back to life. ******************************************************** Robbie had been sick with worry after he had been thrown out of the apartment. He had remained outside, even after he saw his boyfriend's mother enter the apartment, patiently waiting for Jonas' asshole father to exit the place. Instead he ended up hearing what sounded suspiciously like a gun shot. Robbie stormed inside. The sight that greeted him was the last thing he had ever expected. Jonas was clutching the body of his father with blood covering them both. His mother was trying to get him to pull back but Jonas resisted her every attempt. Robbie hunkered down next to them and tried to talk to Jonas, his heart beating a million miles a minute. "J-Jonas, listen to your mom, let him go." But Jonas refused. "Let him go, baby. Please! He's gone," Robbie said soothingly. It took an effort for both Robbie and Jonas' mom, but eventually Jonas let his father's corpse go. He looked up at Robbie with a completely dead expression in his eyes that broke Robbie's heart. "I killed him. I killed Daddy. Shoot me now, I deserve it." Jonas uttered the words in a monotonous tone, like all emotion had just been drained from his young body. "Don't say that, honey," his mother said. "Don't talk like that," Robbie said. "Why not. I'm a murderer. I don't deserve to live." Robbie went to take Jonas in his arms, but the other boy just shrugged him away. "Don't touch me. I don't wanna be loved right now, how can you possibly love someone like me?" Robbie took him in his arms again anyway. "I don't ever want to hear you say that. We both love you." Jonas pushed him away and staggered to his feet. "Don't touch me! Don't say you love me. Just leave me alone. If it weren't for us loving each other, Daddy wouldn't have been so upset. He'd still be alive and I wouldn't be a fucking killer," he screamed at them both, blood dripping down his bare torso. Robbie winced. Not so much at the sight of the blood and the ugly welts covering his boyfriend's body as the words that cut through him like a knife. Then Jonas was in Robbie's arms, as a drained Jonas passed out. Robbie caught him just in time and gently lowered him to the floor. Jonas' mother gave them a look and rushed to the phone to call an ambulance and the police. ******************************************************************* After he had left Jonas and Robbie, Colby wanted to be with Kris again so badly. He'd thought about asking his father to drive him to Kris' house on the off chance that he was still there. At the same time he wanted as much time with his father as he could while he was visiting. Eventually his hormones had won out. When he arrived at Kris', he was relived to find him home. At the sound of Kris' voice Colby started to feel sad. He tried not to let his blindness get him down, but he wished he could see with his own eyes what he looked like. Colby waved to his dad who asked his son to give him a call when he was ready to go. "Hope I didn't come at a bad time, Kris?" "Not at all. I was just watching a movie. Terminator." "One of my favorites. From when I could see them, I mean." An excited Kris led Colby into the living room. They sat down in the couch and Kris turned to his new friend. "Don't stop watching on my account," Colby told him. "That's okay; I can watch it later," Kris assured him. "Besides, I always start to question the time travel elements and drive myself crazy." "Yeah, I tried to have a discussion with Dad on the subject once. Gave me a headache just trying to come up with arguments to the things he said." "I'll bet every time you thought you had a valid argument another thought popped into your head, that turned your original thought to bullshit, "Kris finished, making Colby laugh. "When you go back in time to do bad things and someone tries to stop you, wouldn't you have until they can leave from the future to do damage, not just until they arrive in the past, unless they arrived precisely when you do?..." "...or before you do?" Kris finished. They stayed on the subject for a while until suddenly Kris' DVD player automatically turned itself off and the TV switched to a TV channel. Suddenly Colby bounced to his feet and started a weird dance. "Turn up the sound," he told Kris as he gyrated back and forth. That's when Kris saw Tom Jones singing 'It's Not Unusual' on the screen, just as Colby's moves became more manic. "Fresh Prince was my favorite show when I had my sight. Guess you can see who my favorite character was." That Kris could. He had to laugh. Colby looked so comical as he copied the dance from the show almost perfectly. "I look stupid I know. You should have seen me the time I tried to include Carlton's jump on the couch. Fell on my ass." Kris pictured the image in his head and burst out laughing. Colby turned to him. "Give me a break, I was blind," he said in mock anger, making Kris laugh harder. "I-I-I'm sorry. It would have made such an a-awesome funniest home video clip." Colby started giggling too. Having a friend who could actually laugh at something that included his blindness was a breath of fresh air. He pretended to stumble and fell on the couch next to Kris, bumping into his side. Slowly their giggles subsided and Kris put an arm around Colby's shoulders. "Sorry I laughed." "It's okay. I don't mind." "Colby?" "Yes." "You don't need the sunglasses around me; take them off." Colby took them off and looked at Kris with his foggy eyes. Kris was massively hard as he sat with an arm around his smaller friend. He wanted him so badly, more than he had ever wanted anything. Colby was confused. Was Kris just being friendly or was there more to it? He was beginning to suspect that maybe he was gay too. God, let it be true. Kris' arm felt so good around his shoulders. Nothing he had ever experienced could compare to this single touch. They both just sat there, not saying anything, lost in their own thoughts. That's when the phone rang. Kris stood, and went over and answered. "Hi... What? ...Why would...? Is he OK...What?... No, oh, no! Is HE all... Oh my God...I understand...Of course I wanna... Okay, We'll be right here...I understand...Bye." Colby had been listening to the one way conversation and found his way over to Kris. "What's wrong. You sounded terribly upset," he said, putting his hand on Kris' shoulder. "It's Jonas," Kris said with a slight sniffle. "His dad found out about him and Robbie and freaked. He beat Jonas really bad." Colby was shocked and asked if Jonas was gonna be okay. "There's more. He went after J-Jonas muh-muh-mother next, when she tried to protect him. He had a gun...Jonas go ahold of it and...and..." "Hey, come and sit down, Kris. Come on," said a concerned Colby. Kris led Colby back to the couch and sat down. Colby calmly helped Kris relax and urged him to continue. "Jonas shot his father. He's d-d-dead," Kris finished. Colby sat there in stunned disbelief! What a horrible thing. "How is Jonas?" Kris took a deep breath. "He's in the hospital. Your dad is coming over to take us with him when he goes there." Wiping the tears that had slid down his cheek, Kris looked at Colby. "I don't understand it. How can someone do something so horrible to his own son, especially someone as kind and wonderful as Jonas? Oh, God, what if something had happened to him, too? He could have died." Colby reached out to the boy in front of him. Kris let Colby pull him into a hug, hugging him tightly back. Colby let his hand slide up and down Kris' back. "Hey, now. Don't think like that. He's alive. He'll be okay." Kris untangled himself and stood. "Okay? He killed his own father. How is a 14 year old supposed to live with that?" Colby stood, too. "I'm sorry. I wish I knew what to say." "And what if the police won't believe it was an accident. They could send Jonas off to juvi or something. The older boys would eat him alive." "I'm sure it won't come to that. Sounds like self-defense to me. Jonas means a lot to you, doesn't he?" "Yeah, he's one of the greatest friends I've ever had...Actually...uhm...he, Robbie and I was kind of a threesome there for a while." So he is gay! Colby's heart skipped a beat at the news. "Wh-what happened," he asked Kris. "I...uh...wanted someone of my own. To love me like they love each other. No matter how much they tried I felt left out." Colby found Kris' hand and slipped his palm under Kris' fingers. "You know, Kris...I, uh...like you...I like you a lot." Kris looked down into Colby's lovely features. It was the words he had hoped so badly to hear. He cupped Colby's chin in his hand and lifted his chin up. "I like you, too, Colby. More than I ever have anyone." Being a head taller, Kris bent his head down and planted a feathery light kiss onto Colby's red lips. It wasn't a hard kiss, a passionate kiss. Kris just wanted to taste the feel of his lips. He did it carefully, like it was a delicate flower. Colby felt himself go weak in the knees. He went up on his tippy toes and pushed his lips forward, increasing the strength of the kiss. They stood there for a minute, not moving, not even their lips. Colby sank back down onto his heels and put his head on Kris' chest, holding him tightly around the waist. "Don't worry too much, Kris. It'll take time, but eventually Jonas will be alright." "I hope you're right," Kris said, pushing his face into Colby's dark hair, drawing in the faint scent of conditioner. They stood there holding onto each other until Colby's father came and picked them up. "I wish we had more time to talk, Kris." "We will, Colby. We will." Kris very reluctantly withdrew from the embrace and went to open the door. ************************************************************************ As their feet padded down the linoleum floors of the hospital, smelling the sterile smells, they saw Jonas' mother outside the door to room 414. "How is he?" Kristian asked her. She patted his arm reassuringly. "He's gonna be okay. He has many nasty cuts and bruises, some of them deep, from the beltbuckle, but they've treated them and bandaged him. It will take sometime, but he won't have any permanent markings." Kris let out a relieved sigh. "And the other thing...." Her composure fell at the question. "Well, Jonas is very angry; he blames himself. And he's very sad. Despite it all, he loved his father. Just try to be there for him. Be patient, he needs all the friendship he can get right now." He asked if he could go in and see him now. She told them they could both go in. Robbie was already there. Kris took Colby by the hand, just like he had when they left the car, and opened the door. Robbie turned around and managed a weak smile before turning back to his boyfriend. "I'm not gonna leave, Jonas, " he said stubbornly. "Can't you see that I just want to be left alone? I don't want you, I don't want anyone. I just wanna lie here alone and suffer, like I deserve," Jonas was saying. "Please, baby. Stop talking like that. It wasn't your fault. It was an accident." Jonas got an even angrier and self-loathing look on his face. "You stop saying that. If I had never taken the gun, put it down when he told me to, he'd be alive." "You were trying to save your mother. And yourself. It was self-defense. Even the cops who were here agreed on that." "Hopefully they'll come to their senses. Lock me up like I deserve. Now, would you please leave? If you care about me as much as you say, leave. I don't wanna hear it's not my fault, don't you understand? I have the right to feel the way I do. If I wanna feel sorry for myself, then that's what I'll do." Kris stepped up next to Robbie. "Hey, pal," he said to Jonas. "How do you feel?" "I feel like shit. The more people try to make me feel better, the worse I feel." He looked down at Kris' hand, who still had Colby's in a grip. "I see you two finally got a clue," he said coldly. "Jonas! That's not nice," Robbie told him. Jonas apologised. "You don't deserve that, No matter how much I deserve to suffer I shouldn't take it out on you." "What makes you think you deserve to suffer?" Colby said. "You're gonna start in on me too? I just deserve it, that's all." "You should talk to Data. He felt the same way after he blinded me," Colby told him. That silenced the boy in the bed. Not being able to come up with something to say, he turned his back to them. "Leave me alone." Robbie rubbed Jonas' shoulder. "Please don't push me away again. I almost lost you once, I couldn't stand that again." Jonas shook him off. "You've been with Kris before. Maybe he'll oblige again. With Colby you can have a whole new threesome." The three other boys looked at each other in shock, at both the harsh tone and the words. Kris suggested they'd leave and try again tomorrow. Robbie reluctantly agreed, but nothing was gonna stop him from coming back. He'd fought for his boyfriend before and he'd do it again. They stepped back out into the hallway. "Did you manage to cheer him up," Jonas mother asked hopefully. "No, Mom, we didn't," Robbie told her. "He's so stubborn; keeps insisting it's all his fault." She had been afraid of that. She had never seen her son so depressed. Since visiting hours were just about over anyway, she suggested they let her son rest and come back tomorrow. She prayed a good night's sleep would, at least in part, make her son feel better. "Can I take Kris and Colby home with me? I know it's getting late in the day, but it is Friday and I could really use the company right now," Robbie asked. "That would be fine. I'll drop you off, I have to go home to Data, he's all by himself," Colby's father said, adding he'd pick his son up at eleven, giving them three hours. *******************************************************************' When they arrived at Robbie's house, his parents had heard the news. "You alright son?" his stepfather asked him. Robbie told them he'd be fine, that he and his friends would go to his room. He turned to his mother. "I just need the company, Mom. They'll stay until eleven." "OK, honey. Call if you need us." When they got upstairs, Robbie sat down on his bed, hunched his shoulders and sighed heavily. He looked up at his friends with tears in his eyes, choking back sobs. "I'm sorry, you guys. I've been trying to be strong all day for Jonas and I guess it..." That was all he managed to get out before he couldn't hold it in any longer. His shoulders started shaking and fresh tears streamed down his cheek. "Damn that son of a bitch. Why did he have to react like that? Jonas and I just wanna love each other. How could he do it? His own son. God, Jonas could have died. And now he's pushing me away..." Colby sat down next to him and found his shoulders, wrapping his arm around them. "But he didn't die. And he'll be alright. I went through this whole thing with my brother after the accident and as hard as he took it, it passed with time. As for Jonas pushing you away, just don't allow it. No matter how much he tries, just be there for him." Robbie looked at him gratefully, wiping his tears. He nodded. "This is a great guy you've found for yourself," he told Kris, who smiled at how right he was. "I know. Why don't you lie down Robbie, try to sleep. We'll stay here until you do." "Thanks. I don't wanna be alone." Colby scooted over and pulled on Robbie shoulders, so the black boy's head ended up in his lap. Kris took Robbie's legs in his own lap. Robbie snuggled in between them and closed his eyes. With one boy rubbing his feet and another stroking his hair, an exhausted Robbie fell asleep almost right away. Kris just wanted to reach out and pull Colby into his arms. Their hands met in front of Robbie's tummy and their fingers intertwined. "They'll be okay," Colby reassured him. "Trust me." "I wish you weren't leaving. We just have one whole day together." Kris said sadly. Colby found the thought of them separating depressing too. They had the next day together, but would have no time alone with everything going on. "We'll have the wedding. And maybe I'll even come to see Dad before then." Kris sure hoped so. With only a weekend here and there, he wanted to be with Colby as much as he could. "I sure wish I knew what you look like," Colby said. Kris asked Colby if the boy had ever seen the show he had starred in as a kid and was delighted when the boy had, at least a few times. Colby could hardly believe it when he found out Kris used to be an actor. Colby remembered the boy he had played. Though he had only been a young kid, Colby could easily imagine what a beauty Kris must be now and said as much. Kris blushed, unable to come up with an answer. He always got tongue-tied when people started in on his looks. "Am I embarrassing you?" Colby asked. "A little. I know I'm....blessed I guess, with nice looks, but I think people exaggerate how much." "You ever thought about going back into acting?" Colby asked. If there was one thing Kris had thought about it was that, he admitted. He missed the job a lot sometimes. Pretending to be someone else, pouring his heart into the role. "Hey, maybe you'll get a role in New York someday," Colby said in a joking tone. Now wouldn't that be wonderful, Kris thought to himself. The more he thought about it the better the idea seemed. For the next two hours the two boys talked and talked. About their loves, their dreams, how they felt about the other one. "You two should get a room," Robbie suddenly said at a quarter to ten. "How long have you been listening," Kris asked Robbie as the boy winked at him. "Hehe, long enough." Kris asked again, digging fingers into Robbie' ribs. Colby asked too, letting his own fingers join the attack. Soon they had Robbie howling with laughter as they unmercifully went at every inch of him they could reach. Five minutes later it was time for the two boys to go. Robbie gave them both a tight hug on their way out of his room. "Thanks, I needed that." He went back to bed, at least temporarily feeling better.