Oh boy! It's disclaimer time!! Aren't you as excited as me??? Okay, this is my first attempt at writing this type of story, so when you e-mail me please be kind. Comments will be greatly appreciated.
This story is protected by copyright laws (bet you didn't know that, huh?), please do not copy for distribution or post to other sites without the author's permission.
I hope this story is completely fictional. Any similarities to any persons or events in the past, present, or future are purely coincidental. If there are any similarities to any persons or events in the future, I am in the wrong line of work. This story may depict sexual situations between young males. (I promise I'll get there someday.) If this type of story offends you then you must have been looking for www.friendsofpatandjerry.com.
At least I'm getting better at writing these disclaimers, huh? Also the pat&jerry link above is a dead link. (Wow! My first research of the story.) I would like to take the time to thank all of you who have e-mailed me so far, it makes me so glad I started this project. Now, on with the show.
Allen - by tim Part 3
"Okay" said Mike, "start explaining."
"Here goes." said Ben. "Me and Judith knew Allen had something very important to say, but when he just blurted out to Calvin that he wanted him to be his boyfriend we were both shocked. Then, when Calvin started beating Allen we were stunned. It seemed like before I even knew what was going on, Allen was already out cold. We did finally stop Calvin and threw him out, but when I realized what had happened to Allen I felt so sick that I had to get out of there. I guess Judith felt the same way, she's probably at her sisters house right now."
"But why didn't you at least call an ambulance for Allen?" asked Mike.
"I don't know!" wailed Ben. "I thought maybe he wasn't hurt that bad. I guess I wasn't thinking too clearly."
"I don't understand this at all." said Mike. "You're going to have to do better than that Ben."
"There's a lot of things you don't know about us before we moved here Mike." said Ben. "I'll try to tell you the story, if I can get through it."
Ben took several deep breaths and closed his eyes, then started: "Before me and Judith moved here to this house and Judith gave birth to Allen, I had a brother. His name was Allen too, as a matter of fact we named Allen after him. Me and my brother loved each other, there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for me and vice-versa. When I met Judith, he got along great with her too. He was always telling me what a lucky man I was to find her. Me and Judith both knew he was gay and we never thought anything of it. I had known he was gay since we were teens. He was even the best man at my wedding. Four months after the wedding though, he went out to a party that was set up by one of his gay friends, and that was the last time we ever saw him alive."
Ben took a few moments to dry his eyes then continued: "From what we learned at the trial later on it seems one of the guests wasn't on the guest list. He picked out his target early in the evening then followed Allen around all evening, trying to get close to Allen. He even flirted with my brother until it got to the point that Allen just couldn't resist his persistence. They left the party together, the other guy saying he wanted to get to know Allen better. He said he would drive my brother back later on to pick up his car. The man started heading toward a remote area outside of town and my brother started getting suspicious. When Allen told the man to turn around and take him back to his car, it was already too late. By the time the car stopped they had been joined by three of the man's friends. All four of the men took turns raping Allen over and over, then they beat him savagely and left him for dead. That's how he was found the next day, the medical examiner said he never stood a chance to survive the beating he took."
After taking a moment to compose himself Ben finished the story: "After the trial I found myself hating the lifestyle I thought had taken my brother from me. Judith finally got through to me though and reminded me that Allen's being gay was what made him who he was, and told me Allen wouldn't approve of the feelings I found myself sinking into, even though she was barely holding on to that idea herself. I did get help with my grief and realized that Judith was absolutely right. Ever since then me and Judith have done everything we could to give something back to the gay community in honor of my brother. We never did tell Allen much about his uncle though, we wanted to wait until we thought it would be the best time to do so. I guess we really fucked that up, huh? We didn't want that to be an influence on Allen though, we wanted him to have a chance to do so much better than a life full of danger and ridicule. I guess we didn't stop to think he was going to end up being the person he was meant to be, in spite of any influence on his life."
By the time Ben had finished the story he was crying profusely. Even Mike had a few tears running down his cheeks. The next few minutes were spent in silence with the exception of Ben's crying.
After the crying had subsided, Mike said "Ben, I don't even know what to say to someone who has been through what you have. In my official capacity though, I've got to make sure we do what is best for Allen, so please hear me out. For now I'm going to ask my supervisor to continue temporary custody of Allen in mine and Emily's care. In that time I want you and Judith to start some family counseling. I'm going to get Allen back to you as soon as possible, but I have to make sure he is going to be safe when he comes back to you."
"You don't think I would do anything to intentionally hurt my son, do you Mike?" asked Ben.
"No, I don't Ben." said Mike. "If I let my supervisor handle this though, he will make Allen a ward of the state and place him in foster care."
"I understand," said Ben, "and thanks for helping with this."
The next morning all Rusty could think about was getting back to the hospital to his friend. He hadn't slept much last night and was hyper all morning. All the way to the hospital he was pushing his mother to drive faster, in spite of her constant objections.
"I'm driving as fast as I need to drive." Emily would say. "Me getting a speeding ticket is not going to help anyone today."
Finally, Rusty gave in to his mom. To change subjects he asked, "Why didn't dad come to the hospital with us today?"
"He had a few things he had to take care of honey." replied Emily. She hoped the subject would drop with that, as she was unsure how Rusty would respond to what his dad was doing today. Fortunately Rusty did not push the subject further.
After what seemed to Rusty to be forever, even though it was actually about twenty minutes, Emily pulled into the hospital parking lot. As soon as the car was stopped the seat next to Emily suddenly emptied and she could have sworn she could see a trail of smoke between the car and the hospital. She chuckled to herself as she hurried along to try to keep up with the blur she assumed was her son. When she entered the hospital all she heard was a nurse screaming about running in the hospital to an already empty hallway that you could hear faint screetching sounds from around a far turn. "Boys" she thought to herself as she now chuckled somewhat aloud. Before going to speak with the doctors she peeked into Allen's room and sure enough, there sat Rusty at the side of Allen's bed looking intently at the boy. She thought to herself, at least if Allen needs a watchdog we'll know where to turn.
"It's nice to see you this afternoon Mrs. Cooper." said the doctor, who Emily had found at the nurses station. "All of our tests have been completed. First of all, the concussion did cause a very slight amount of swelling of the fluid around the brain, but we're sure we can alleviate that with medication. He is still unconcsious right now, but he he could wake up at any time. Also our tests this morning don't show any signs of internal bleeding from the broken ribs. When we do discharge him though, we want you to keep an eye on him for a few weeks to make sure he doesn't begin to show symptoms of internal bleeding."
"That's very good news." said Emily. " I know one young man who will be glad to hear that."
"Oh" exclaimed the doctor, "you must mean the boy the nurses are referring to this morning as Speed Racer!" The doctor and Emily both laughed out loud at the new nickname for Rusty.
Meanwhile back in Allen's room Rusty is speaking sofly to his best friend. "Please Allen," said Rusty, "please wake up. I promise I'll do a better job of watching out for you from now on." Suddenly Rusty hears a soft knock on the door. "Come in." Rusty called out.
Mike came through the door holding it slightly open and said, "Hey son. I have a few people here who would like to be with Allen for a few minutes, if that's okay."
"Who is it dad?" asked Rusty.
Rusty's expression became upset as through the door stepped Ben and Judith Martin.
"What are THEY doing here dad!?" exclaimed a visibly upset Rusty.
"Now Russell, remember our deal." said Mike.
Rusty didn't care if his dad had used his proper name, he was getting mad. "Do you really think they did a good enough job of taking care of Allen to be here?" Rusty spat out.
"Russell Cooper! They are Allen's parents." Mike reprimanded.
Rusty was so upset at this point that he was near tears as he said, "That don't matter right now! I was mad at myself because I thought I had let Allen down until they walked in!"
"Rusty!" said Mike in a stern voice. "That's about enough of that!"
"No Mike, he's right." said Ben as he choked back his emotions. "You are absolutely right Rusty. Me and Judith were so wrapped up in our own feelings that we couldn't see things about Allen that we should have seen. This whole thing should never have come to this point, and there's nothing we could do or say to make this up to you two. That why we're going to see someone to help us get back control over our feelings and lives. Also until we can provide Allen the type of home he deserves, he will be staying with you and your parents. I just hope someday you boys can forgive us."
Actually the last thing Rusty heard was: he will be staying with you and your parents. At that point a big goofy grin spread across Rusty's face, and the only thing he could hear in his head was: OH goody, goody, goody! He's coming to stay with us! I can't believe he's coming to stay with us! This is going to sooo cool having him stay with us! Just imagine the fun we'll have while he's staying with us! The first thing I want to do is...............
"Rusty?" said Mike, while shaking Rusty's shoulder.
"Uh, huh, what? What is it dad?" stammered a slightly red faced Rusty.
"Why don't we give them a few minutes with their son? What do ya say, sport?" asked Mike.
"Oh yeah, that." said a recovering Rusty. "Sure, I guess so."
With that, Mike led Rusty from the room, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Martin alone with their son. They both took turns apologizing over and over to their sweet, angelic boy even if he couldn't hear them. They knew somehow he just had to be able to hear them. They kept taking turns talking to him, while his mother lightly stroked the side of his face and his father held his hand with more love than anyone could have displayed. After about fifteen minutes of this they knew they were about to be overcome with emotion, so they both said their goodbyes by kissing him once on each cheek and on the forehead. As they were leaving the room Ben turned to his son and said "Take care of yourself my special boy, until you come back to us."
A few minutes later Rusty had retaken his place beside Allen's bed, telling him about all the things they were going to do while Allen was staying with him. They were going to have so much fun going places and doing things. Rusty was going on and on and on and didn't even notice his parents watching through a slightly open door.
Then Rusty turned serious and said to Allen "Please Allen, you're my best bud ever. Please come back so we can do all those things I talked about together."
Suddenly Rusty thought he saw Allen's arm move slightly. He rubbed his eyes thinking he might be seeing things. Then he thought he saw Allen's eye blink. No, he knew Allen's eye blinked because now both his eyes were opening.
"Allen!" Rusty almost screamed excitedly. "You're back! You're back!"
"Hey bud," said Allen weakly. "How ya doin?"
At that point Rusty stood up, leaned over, and gave his best friend a light kiss on the forehead. Rusty's parents smiled at each other and decided to give the two boys their privacy.
Well folks, that's part three. What do ya think so far? Please keep in mind I do intend to lighten things up a little bit now that some of the emotional scenes are out of the way. Besides, this one was a tough one to write for a few reasons. Lets think back for a moment to Ben's brother. Those things do happen. When you think back to what people like Matthew Sheppard went through it makes you want to cry. I should know, I've been a victim of rape and gay bashing myself (two separate events though). I'm one of the lucky ones but I can tell you it's one of the most terrible things you can go through. There are things you can do though. If you're ever in unfamiliar surroundings always, always be aware of what's going on around you. I would hate to think of one of you guys having to go through that. Sorry, enough of the soapbox for now.
The rest of the story should come at a slower pace now. I will try to post at least one if not two chapters per week, but please don't be dissappointed if it's only one. Thanks for reading.