Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2012 08:34:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: BR
Subject: Two Boys: A Love Story lost chapter 3

This is the third and final "lost chapter" of "Two Boys: A Love Story" It
takes place between chapters III and IV, and picks up immediately where III
ends. All of the usual disclaimers apply. This story is completely
fictional.


			 "Two Boys: A Love Story"
			  Supplemental chapter 3


I took a few deep breaths as I sat on the couch, and finally got my
composure back after a couple of minutes. All I could think about was Don's
hand on my leg and the beer on his breath and his implication that he will
hurt Mom if I say anything about what happened. I then thought about
Adam. What should I tell Adam, or SHOULD I tell him? Adam and I had pledged
to not keep secrets from one another, and we both told each other things
that we would never tell anyone else. This was his dad, though, and I was
scared at how he would react. Would he hate me? Would he hate his dad?  I
wanted to tell him right away, but I also didn't want to tell him. I had
never been this confused about anything before. And what about Mom? What
should I tell Mom? She told me in the hospital that she's in love with this
guy, or whatever. How would she react? If she confronts him about it, will
Adam find out? Will Don tell her about what Adam and Maddie and I do? Will
she tell me I'm lying, or that I misunderstood him? This was all too much
for me to think about. Eventually I got up and hobbled into my room, did my
homework, ate dinner, and went to bed early.

The next morning I woke up depressed and miserable. I had to use the bus
with my cast on for the first time, and all the kids on the bus giggled and
snickered while the stupid handicap platform was lowered for me. When I got
into class, I made sure to put on the bravest face on that I could. Adam
had a knack for knowing what I was thinking, so I had to make sure that I
kept on as brave a front as I could. I sat at my desk as the other kids
were filing in, and Mrs.Tronik put a chair next to my desk for me to prop
my leg up on. As she was doing that. I saw Adam come into the room. He had
on a white Disney World t-shirt and his blue soccer shorts, he looked so
sweet. I smiled at him as he sat in the desk next to me.

"Gooood Murnin' to ya!" He said in his fake Irish voice as he sat down with
a huge grin on his face.

"Whassup?" I said in what I tried to pass off as a funny voice. I saw his
smile dim just very slightly as he looked at me. "Oh no, he can tell
something is up." I thought.

Adam was by my side all day like glue, helping me with my crutches as best
as he could. At lunch we were mobbed by a bunch of other kids again, but
not as much so as yesterday. After lunch I hobbled outside with Adam next
to me. I didn't want to deal with the stairs that went down the hill to the
play areas, so Adam and I sat at the top of the steps instead of at our
usual spot.

"So why didn't you IM me last night?" Adam asked. Adam and I usually would
IM each other at least once in the evening if we were both home.

"My leg was hurting a little, so I went to bed early." I said.

"So is that what's wrong?" He asked. I turned and looked at him. He looked
so worried and I wanted to put my arm around him.

"Yeah. I guess I'm just mad about the cast and missing baseball this year."
I said, after hesitating for a second.

"You might be able to still play some after you heel." He said.

"It'll still be too late for All-Stars. I'll just wait until football." I
said.

We then both looked out at the kids playing on the field. After a minute or
so, Adam turned to me and I turned and we looked into each others eyes.

"So does your leg hurt a lot?" Adam asked with a sad look on his face.

"It does sometimes." I said. "My leg also feels all gross under the cast
and it itches."

"I'm sorry about that." He said as he turned away. "I wish I could do
something to make it feel better for you." Adam was seeming really glum,
like he was feeling all of my pain and then some.

"You make me feel better just by talking to me and being my friend. You
stayed with me in the hospital and you came to see me every day last
week. Nobody's ever done anything like that for me before." I said. Adam
turned back and looked at me, and we smiled as we stared into each others
eyes some more.

"Hey what's up, guys!" I heard behind us. It was that Roberto kid. He sat
down on the step in front of us.

"Hey, Roberto." We both said together.

"Hey, have you guys seen "Alien"?" Roberto asked.

"No." Said Adam.

"Yeah, I saw it once, that's an old movie." I said. I had watched that
movie with Dad a couple months before my parents split.

"Dude, that was so awesome when the alien popped out of that guys chest!"
Roberto exclaimed.

"It what?" Adam said.

"Yeah, it burst out of the guys stomach while they were eating dinner." I
said to Adam.

Adam gasped. "That's awful!" He said. Adam hated scary movies and blood.

"Dude, it was so awesome! There was blood and guts flying around and
everyone was screaming. It was awesome!" Roberto said. I couldn't stand
Roberto and I really wanted him to go away. I could also tell that he was
making Adam feel bad.

"It was just a stupid movie." I said.

"My mom's boyfriend said that they used pigs blood in the scene. It was so
cool!" Roberto said.

"That's so gross!" Adam said with his hands over his eyes.

"Shut up, Roberto." I said.

"So when are you getting your cast off, Welleham?" Roberto asked.

"I don't know, ten weeks I guess." I said while I looked straight ahead.

"Can I walk around on your crutches a little?" Roberto asked.

"No." I said.

"Why not?"

"Because my mom said for you not to."

"Oh come on, she really said I can't?"

"No, she said for nobody to." I said.

"That's bullshit." Roberto said as he got up and thankfully went down the
stairs to the athletic fields.

"I'm going to beat him up again someday." Adam said.

"He's not worth it." I replied. We sat and silently watched the kids
playing for a while.

"So are you really sure nothing else is bothering you but your leg?" Adam
said.

"Pretty much." I said.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" He said. Geez, I swear that
he's a mind reader sometimes.

I turned and looked at him. " Yeah, I know." I said. I felt really terrible
about keeping this from him.

After school I got home and did my homework in my room. Sometime after five
I heard the door open. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I heard
Mom and Don walk into the house, talking loudly and laughing about
something. I really wondered why Mom wanted to be with this guy. After a
few minutes Mom came into my room. I had finished my homework and was
playing Madden Football on my XBox.

"Hi honey. How is your leg feeling?" She asked in the doorway.

"Fine, I guess." I said.

Mom came over and hugged me. "Mom! You made me miss a tackle!" I said.

She gave me a big kiss on my cheek. " Byron, I'm going to the gym. Don is
going to be staying here while I'm gone." She said as she sat on my bed.

I paused the game and turned around in the swivel chair. "Don's going to be
here?" I said, a little more loudly than I meant to.

"Yes, is there a problem with that?"  She asked with a worried look.

Oh my God, I thought. This was my chance to tell her. If I don't tell her
now I might not ever be able to. On the other hand, Don is here now. If he
gets violent I might not be able to defend myself or run away because of my
cast, and what will happen to Mom? I just sat there with my mouth opening
and closing like a fish.

"Honey, are you allright? What's wrong? Is there something that I need to
know?" She asked. I looked behind her and I could see a silhouette in the
hallway by my door. Don was outside in the hallway listening.

'Uhhh...nothing, nothing. I'm fine. I guess my leg hurts a little bit,
that's all."

"Well here, take a couple of Advil then." She said as she reached for the
bottle that had been left in my room. She went and got a ginger ale out of
the refrigerator, brought it back, and I downed the pills with a hefty
slug. She then hugged me again, told me she was leaving , and gave me a big
kiss right before she walked out of my room. I sat there cursing myself
that I hadn't said anything. I heard her and Don saying their goodbyes as
she went out the door. After she left, I heard Don go into the kitchen and
open up a beer. Mom had left my bedroom door open, so I shifted around in
the chair and reached for my crutches that were lying on my bed so that I
could get up and close the door, and try to barricade it shut with the
laundry hamper like I did when Adam slept over. As I did that, Don suddenly
appeared in the doorway.

"Hey. I heard you tell your mother that your leg still hurts. I'm sorry to
hear that." He said.

"It's OK." I said as I froze in fear in my chair.

"I heard it broke in two places and that you had a compound fracture. It's
a shame that you had to go through that." He said as he took a gulp out of
his PBR bottle.

"It's not so bad." I said as I pretended to shift around some things on my
desk. My Droid had 911 on auto dial. I opened up my desk drawer and slipped
it on top of some papers. All I had to do was hit one button on it to dial
the police.

"I guess with an injury like that, it's understandable why you wanted to go
home so early yesterday." He said. He then came into my room and sat on the
bed. My hand hovered over the desk drawer with the Droid in it.

"Here, I got you something." He said as he put his beer bottle on my
nightstand. He then went into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small, blue
plastic case with gold lettering. He then handed it to me.

"What's this?" I asked suspiciously.

"It's a Hohner Blues Harp in key of C. I was thinking maybe that, maybe we
could play blues together. I'll teach you how during your guitar lessons."

I opened up the case, and it contained a shiny, silver colored harmonica. I
took it out and blew a couple of notes on it.

"Cool. Thanks, Don." I said as I put the instrument back into it's case.

"Have I ever told you how much I love the blues, Byron?" Don asked. Adam
and I had gone through Don's CD's when I had stayed over there , and it was
a bunch of old black guys and groups I had never heard of.

"No." I replied. Don had never really told me anything about himself. Adam
didn't even seem to know too much about him.

"I've loved the blues since high school. I just always thought it was the
greatest music ever. Such feeling. Nothing else is like it."

"I don't really know much about it." I said.

"Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Koko Taylor, Robert Johnson,
there just isn't anything else like the blues. None of the music today does
what that music did. It's just raw, pure emotion. Unfettered. Flowing out
of the soul. You don't see that anywhere anymore." He grabbed the beer
bottle off the nightstand, drained it, and stared at it as he rolled it in
his hands.

"I'm only eleven. Kids my age don't listen to that stuff." I said.

"And that's too bad," Don said. "I feel sorry for you young people. You
have so many things that we didn't have, but you're also missing out on so
many things. You have to deal with AIDS and terrorism and the whole country
is going broke. You kids have your computers and your Smartphones and your
video games and your Blu-rays. You have plenty of THINGS, but you don't
have anything that actually enriches your souls. None of you know about
playing a guitar on a raft while you float down a river, about putting
music to a sunset, about just being a human being on Earth and being a part
of nature, about feeling that... you are a part of a greater, higher
consciousness, and that your thoughts and experiences tie in with the Earth
and the cosmos. You guys just don't have that. It's all
things. Stuff. Acquisitions. Material objects. All of that is fleeting, but
the cosmos stretch on forever..."

I looked at Don. He had his head down as he rolled his empty PBR bottle in
his hands. "I'm just a kid, I don't really know about those kinds of
things." I finally said.

"Maddie and Adam are the same way, and I think that's a shame. Hopefully,
some day, maybe when all of you are older, I can teach you. Maybe...maybe
then... you'll see that I'm not such a bad guy. Maybe then... everybody
will see that." He then got up and shambled towards the door. "Let me know
whenever you're ready and I'll show you some tricks on that harmonica and
we can start playing some music." He said.

"Sure Don. Thanks." I said.

Don nodded and turned to head back to the kitchen. I immediately grabbed
the crutches, hoisted myself up, hobbled over to the door and closed it
shut. I pulled the hamper in front of the door to block it, almost falling
over in the process. Don spent the rest of the time before Mom came back
drinking beers and playing his guitar in the living room. When she came
back, I could hear him talking loudly and slurring his words. Right before
I went to bed that evening, I threw the harmonica into the trash.

The next morning, as I left for school, I was appalled to see Don's car
still in the driveway, he had spent the night with Mom. I knew that it had
just become far more difficult to tell her what had happened. At school, I
felt worried, depressed, and distracted. I would glance over at Adam and
see him staring at me with a worried look. During a social studies lesson,
I passed Adam a note.

"Please come over after school." I wrote. I really needed him today.

Adam passed me a note back. "You bet. I was going to ask you if I could." I
turned to Adam and smiled and he smiled back at me. During recess we sat at
the top of the stairs and watched the other kids playing without exchanging
a single word.

After we school we rode the bus to my house. Adam would slowly walk with me
as I hobbled along, with his right arm slightly extended like he was going
to catch me if I fell over. We reached my house,and Adam steadied my
crutches while I got out my key and opened the door.  Once we were in, we
took off our backpacks and sat on the couch in the living room. Adam was
sitting on the end of the couch on my left. I propped my cast up on the
couch, and leaned backwards onto Adam's shoulder. He shifted and wrapped
his arms around my chest as I lay the back of my head onto his right
shoulder. I ran my hands up and down the sides of his legs and I could feel
his warm breath blowing through my hair.

"Let's just stay like this forever." I said smiling with my eyes closed.

"Your Mom will make us move." Adam said.

"We'll just ignore her." I said as I wrapped my arms over his.

"What if she stopped feeding us, or giving us water?" Adam smiled.

"Then we'll starve and go thirsty." I said.

"What do you mean WE?" Adam laughed and I laughed at that too.

"Hey, Adam ." I said after a few seconds. "I was kind of thinking, do you
want my bike?"

"You're giving me your bike?" He asked.

"Yeah. I've been kind of thinking that I'm probably not going to be using
it anymore." I said.

"Because of the accident?"

"Kind of, but also because I want you to have it. That ten speed you ride
isn't really meant for the Swamp Trails. I think you're lucky you haven't
wrecked back there like I did."

"I don't know. You might want to ask your mom first. She might want to sell
it instead."

"Maybe Gerald can buy it!" I laughed.

"Gerald doesn't even want me to ride a bike at all." He said.

"No," I said. "It's mine and I want you to have it. You helped me up the
bank and stayed with me in the hospital. No one but you should have it." I
said.

"I did all that because it was you." Adam said right before he kissed my
head. Adam then began rubbing his closed mouth through my hair. I could
feel his nose and his lips and his breath caressing the top of my head. I
ran my hands up and down his tanned arms, feeling his soft skin.

"Byron, I'm hot. Can we move just a little?" I realized that Adam was kind
of scrunched between the couch and me, so I lifted myself up , shifted
over, and propped my cast up on the coffee table. I looked over at him and
smiled. He looked all tussled up and sweet.

"Do you want to watch TV or something?" I asked.

"No, I want to do this." He said. He then leaned over, put his arms around
me, and kissed me on the mouth. I put my arms around him and began kissing
him back, our tongues dancing together in our mouths. As we embraced and
kissed I heard a car crunching into the driveway.

"Shit! Mom's home!" I said. We seperated and I turned the TV on. When Mom
walked in a minute later, she saw us sitting on opposite ends of the couch
watching an "All That" rerun on Nickelodeon.

"Hello." She sang as she came in. "Oh...! Hi Adam! I didn't see you!"

"Hi, Miss Grace!" Adam chirped.

"Hey, Mom. You're home way early." I said, feeling a little put off that
she interupted Adam and I while we were in heaven.

"Yeah, you have your doctor's appointment at five today, remember?" She
said. Oh that's right! I completely forgot. Today is the visit to get the
x-ray analysis results and find out exactly how long I have to wear this
stupid cast.

"Oh my God, I forgot all about that! I'm sorry, Madman." I said.

"That's OK." Adam said.

"Can Adam go with us?" I asked.

"I don't see why not, if Adam wants to go." Mom said.

"I'm sorry, Buyer. I can't." Adam said sadly. "I have to go to Maddie's
chorus thing tonight. It starts at seven. I was actually kind of going to
ask if I could get a ride home." He said with a sheepish look.

"Mom, the appointment is at five. We can take him to the high school right
after it's over!" I said.

"It's actually at the civic center, Buyer. I'm sorry, I wish I could go."
Adam said.

"Oh come on Adam, please...?"

"Byron! He said he can't go!" Mom said to me in a half whisper.

I sighed loudly and then looked up quickly at Mom.

"Mom! Can we go to Maddie's thing after the appointment? We can sit
with...!"

"No Byron! We're going home after your appointment and you'll eat dinner
and do your homework! " Mom interrupted crossly. "Adam, I'll give you a
ride home on the way. Both of you, get ready!"

"Sorry, Buyer..." Adam whispered to me .

We left a few minutes later. Mom drove Adam home first, and then we went on
to the hospital. Mom said that it was OK if I gave Adam my bike, although
she didn't seem too happy about it. Adam thanked me, and we agreed that he
could take it home with him during the weekend when he stayed over at my
house. I had decided that there was no way I could possibly tell Adam about
what happened with his dad, I just couldn't do it. I would have to keep it
a secret from him, which I hated to do, but the alternative was no
better. Mom, however, needed to know about what went on with Don, As we
pulled out of Adam's neighborhood and onto the main road, I took a deep
breath.

"Hey Mom, there's something that I kind of have to tell you."

"About what?"

"Well, it's...sort of about Don."

"What about Don?"

I froze up. I was ready to tell her, but the words all got caught up in my
throat. It was as if some force was trying to keep me from saying what I
had to say.

"Is this about him staying over the other night?"

I panicked and just sat there, staying straight ahead. Finally, I slowly
nodded.

"You have to understand this, Byron. I was married for sixteen years. I get
very lonely sometimes. Don makes me really happy. He really likes you too,
you know."

"Yeah, I know..." I muttered.

"Don and I both know that he can't replace your father, and he's not
expecting to. I think he really loves me, Byron. I really want to have your
blessing on this." She said, almost pleading. I didn't say anything right
away. When we stopped at a red light, I finally turned to her and nodded.

"Oh thank you, thank you!" Mom said as she gave me a quick hug right before
the light changed. I silently cursed myself for blowing another chance to
let Mom know about what sort of man this guy that she has taken up with
really is.