Preamble:
This is a story based on real people in a situation which they were never in (Though I wish that they had ;)). The names have been changed to protect the innocent and not so innocent. This is purely a fantasy of the author and is not meant to be taken as fact.
Also, please note that the sex that occurs in this and succeeding parts is unprotected sex, which while understandable in the early '80s before the scourge of AIDS was fully understood, was still dangerous because of the possibility of other sexually transmitted diseases. The characters in the story can only catch what I allow them to, even if it's a case of the pimples that are the bane of teenage life. Practice safe sex!
My thanks to those who have written me with words of encouragement and asking for more of the series. I have bounced ideas off of several of you and appreciate the help.
From Chapter 8:
"Did you tell the truth when you said that Kelly was here for moral support? Or was there another reason for him being here?"
I hesitated for a minute. Should I tell the truth about Kelly and get him in more trouble? Or should I continue to try and protect him? I decided to trust Mom and tell her the truth. "He was here for moral support, but he was here for ... ah ... another ... reason ... too."
"Is he your boyfriend, your lover?"
I bowed my head. I whispered my reply, "Yes."
"I thought that may have been the case. All right, John, here's what went on after you left the room." She then proceeded to tell me what had happened. Dad's phone call to the Langers, and the discussion that had followed between Mom and Dad.
I was shocked. I didn't expect Mom to disagree with Dad about this. I also wasn't sure I liked what may have been said between my Dad and Kelly's Dad. "Mom, what's going to happen when Kelly gets home? I mean that he doesn't have any idea about what Dad told his folks. He could be running into a buzz saw. What if both his parents react the way that Dad did? What will he do? Will they kick him out of the house? I've heard that that happens to gay boys. What if they try sending him to a mental hospital? Oh, God ..." I was getting worked up again.
"John, calm down. I'm sure that the situation isn't that bad. If it is, I'm sure that something can be worked out. Don't get your hopes up though. I doubt that he'll be able to come here to live. That would be asking a lot of your father at this point."
"I know that, Mom. I just want him to be safe, that's all."
"That's good. Let's just see what happens."
I thought about what she had told me, and had one more question. "Mom, ahm you seem to be somewhat accepting the situation. How long have you known about me?"
She smiled. " I've had my suspicions for a couple of years now. Really, John, you should keep it down to a mild roar when you're masturbating. You kept on screaming about Todd or Gary or Brian doing this or that."
I blushed a very deep red and grinned sheepishly. I should have known.
The Story:
When Mr. Wilkerson told me to get out of his house, I admit that I wasn't sure that I should leave John alone with his folks. But when John's Dad said that he was going to call my folks, I knew I had to go. I was terribly afraid of how my folks were going to react. I thought that Sam and Joey would be OK with the situation, but even there I had some worries.
I told John goodbye and walked out to my car. I got in, started it up, and backed out of the driveway. My mind wasn't really on driving. I had to concentrate hard. If I didn't, I felt that my mind would go in a dozen different directions at once. To tell the truth, I don't remember much about the drive home. One minute, I was pulling onto the street outside John's house; the next, I'm turning onto the street I lived on and pulling into the driveway.
As I pulled into the driveway, I started trying to anticipate the reaction that Mr. Wilkerson might have gotten when he had phoned my folks. My folks can be very defensive when it comes to what they would view as bad things happening to the family. It is often the fault of the other guy. If that was the case, I could be looking at a future whereby I'd be told to avoid John whenever possible. They might even tell me to either quit the basketball team as long as John was the manager, or to somehow get the coach to dismiss him.
I sat in the car for a couple of minutes after I shut off the ignition. I was scared, uncertain of what to expect. Finally, I realized that delay would only make things worse. I might as well get this over with.
I opened the door and saw Joey and my parents sitting in the living room. Joey was the first to see me, and the look on his face told me I was in trouble. Given how close we were, Joey was a good barometer of what my folks were thinking about whatever I happened to be doing at the time. The look was a sad one, and he looked like he was about to cry.
"Hi guys. What's up?" Wrong opening.
Dad turned towards me with a look of pure disgust on his face. "You know very well what's up. What was the meaning of that phone I just got from John Wilkerson's father? He claims that you seduced his son and turned him into a queer boy. I told him that he was probably getting the story mixed up. My son is not queer. It had to be his son that seduced my son. I mean teenage boys have to get their rocks off some how, especially if they're not getting any from the girls. Isn't that right, Kelly?"
My mother was turning a shade of pink at my father's rough language. If she did that now, what shade of red would she turn when she heard about me? I felt a slow blush creeping up my cheeks as well.
"Yeah, Dad. Sure. Any port in the storm." This was embarrassing. I was on the point of throwing my boyfriend to the dogs.
"Right. Now here's what I want you to do. If anybody starts accusing you of being a faggot, just say that 'John Wilkerson's the fag. He's given me a couple of blow jobs.'"
I couldn't do that. That would really hurt John. Even if I was willing to throw him to the dogs, he didn't deserve what my father was suggesting.
"I couldn't do that, Dad."
Dad snapped, "And why not? It's either that or you will have this family and yourself dragged through the mud. Is that what you want?"
"No Dad, I don't want that. But I also don't want to hurt John either."
"Again, why not? His old man is certainly willing to do the same to you. I say deny it and turn it back on the bastards. You can be certain that this John is being told the same thing that I'm telling you. And you'd better believe that he's going to do anything to avoid being called what he actually is."
"No he isn't."
"What do you mean, 'no he isn't'?"
I replied, "I mean what I said. He's not going to be able to avoid the name-calling. And he's certainly not going to be able to deny it because that's what he is."
"Ah hah. What did I tell you Marge? The Wilkerson kid is as queer as a three-dollar bill. It happened just like I said, didn't it son?" I didn't answer right away. It hadn't happened that way and I was stuck trying to come up with a way to tell Dad that.
My Dad grew impatient with my silence. "Well? Aren't you going to say something, Kel? Or are you going to say that Wilkerson's Dad knows better than I do about my son? Answer me boy!"
"No sir, I'm not going to say that John's dad knows me better than you do because he doesn't."
Mom interrupted me. "Well that's better. Now we can get back to coming up with a way to protect you from his deviant son."
Oh God. This was going from bad to worse. The only way I was going to salvage anything like the truth from this was to tell the truth. God help me!
"Mom. Dad. I've got something to say."
"What is it, boy? You got a better idea about what to do about the queer?"
"No. I don't. Except to say this: whatever you plan on doing to him, you'd better be prepared to do to me." At my parents' shocked looks, I added, "Yes, that's right, I'm gay too."
"That's a bunch of bull shit!" Dad shouted. "You can't be queer. This is just a way of standing by your friend. Loyalty is great son, but don't lie to protect someone who doesn't deserve that loyalty."
"Dad! Listen to me! I'm not lying! I love John!"
"You don't know what you are saying! I forbid you to go on like this! GO TO YOUR ROOM NOW!!" Dad roared.
With tears beginning to form in my eyes, I ran up the stairs to my room. Throwing open the door, I threw myself onto my bed. I had expected a bad reaction from Mom and Dad, but nothing like this. Oh, God! What was I going to do now? I didn't know how I was going to survive without John. My world had been torn apart.
I don't know how much time had passed. All I know is that a short time later, I heard a knocking on my bedroom door. I rolled over on my bed, and found myself looking into the face of Joey, my younger brother.
Joey's look was one of concern. "Are you really queer?"
"Yes, I am Joey. And I do love John."
"But Kel, can't you just like girls. I mean can't you be normal? I'm confused."
"I've always liked guys, Joey. I'm sorry. I don't know any other way." I rolled away from him, as I felt tears begin to form again. A hand lightly touched my shoulder.
"It's okay, Kelly. I still love you as my brother. It's just going to take awhile for me to understand how you could like boys."
"Well, let me see if I can explain it. You get hard-ons, don't you?"
Joey turned a nice light shade of pink. "Ah.... yeh ... I guess so," he stammered.
"Let me guess. You get them when you see a good looking girl, or when you dream about them."
"Yeh, sure." Joey blushed an even deeper shade of pink.
"Well, it happens to me too. Only I get hard when I see a cute guy or think about one. That's the difference between gays and straights. Oh that, and the fact that I can't get another guy pregnant like you can a girl."
Joey chuckled at that. "OK, so you like guys. Fine. Just don't start wearing dresses and other girly shit."
I laughed. "Can you see me wearing a dress? I'd look ridiculous. Besides, would one of the better guy athletes in school wear a dress? No way."
Joey then showed me that he was still my loving brother by grabbing me in a big hug. "Does anybody else know?" he asked.
"Well, actually yes. I told Tim a while ago."
"And he's okay with it?"
"Yes he is. In fact he said that that left more girls for him. Although," I whispered, "he may not be looking much longer."
"Oh, and why is that?" Joey whispered back.
"He's found himself a girlfriend, Sally Jackson."
"Oooohhh, she's hot. You know, maybe you should call him. Let him know what's going on."
"The problem is that there's only one phone in the house and neither Mom or Dad is going to let me use it." "Well, you'll just have to wait until they go to bed. Then call Tim and let him know."
"Sounds like a good idea, if I don't get caught."
Joey smiled at me. "Don't worry Kel. It'll be okay. See ya later bro'."
"See ya later, lil bro."
I waited in my room until all the others had gone to bed. Another fifteen minutes passed before I crept out of my room and down the stairs. I tiptoed over t the phone and quietly dialed Tim's number. I was fortunate that Tim's parents allowed him to have his own phone. He answered on the second ring.
"Hello," Tim said around a yawn.
"Tim, it's Kelly. I've got to talk to you."
"Can't it wait until morning?" Yawn.
"No, it can't. Tim, it's out."
"What's out?" Another yawn.
"Tim, Tony caught John and I making out in the locker room."
"HE WHAT!?" That definitely woke Tim up all the way. "What were you guys thinking?"
"Well, to tell the truth, we didn't think anyone was left in the locker room," I said as an apology. "Tim, he's gonna tell the whole school about us tomorrow. We couldn't talk him out of it."
"All right, we can come out with something to handle Tony. Now can I get back to sleep, please?"
"Tim, there's something else."
"Oh, God. I suppose you decided to come out to both your parents."
"Yes, we did."
"Let me guess, the reaction was not good."
"Well, John's folks asked me to leave and phoned mine."
Tim sighed. "Knowing your folks, they had a fit. OK, we didn't need this, but let's hope everyone calms down. Tomorrow, at lunch, we'll sit down and talk about it. Now, can I get back to sleep?"
"Sure, Tim. Go back to those dreams of Sally. I'm sure reality will one day match the dreams."
"Bastard. I suppose you don't dream about John at night."
"Why dream? I've got the real thing. Good night, Tim."
"Night, Kel. See ya in the morning."
I went back up stairs. I stripped down and got into bed, trying not to think about what might happen tomorrow. Instead, I tried to think about John and how he might be doing tonight
I woke up to the alarm in the morning. I rolled out of bed and went to shower up in my bathroom. I was still worried. Both about John, and about what would happen at school. My one hope for school was that Tony's story wouldn't be believed. Or at least, with the help of my friends, I could downplay it a little.
My folks were waiting when I went down for breakfast.
Dad didn't even wait for a "Good morning" from me before he laid down the rules he wanted me to follow. "Kelly, you are to avoid this John kid today. In fact, you are to tell your coach that you are not going to practice as long as John is there. If that means that you're off the team, so be it. I won't have my son exposed to that type of person."
I bowed my head and looked at the floor before I answered him. " I don't think you'll have to worry about that, Dad. John was talking about quitting if there was any complaints about his being manager."
"What did I tell you, Marge? This John is like all queers, he's a sissy."
"Yes, dear. So you said."
I bit my lip in order to keep from making the reply I wanted to make. I had to get out of there as quickly as possible. I think I set a speed record for eating Cherrios. I finished, put my plates in the sink, said "see ya later" to everyone, and got into my car. The drive over to Tim's house to pick him up was quiet, I didn't even turn the radio on.
Tim got into the car, threw his backpack into the rear seat and started talking about what we were going to do. I told him what Dad had said this morning. "That maybe a problem, Kelly. Especially after Tony starts spreading his tale. No matter what, people are going to take it out on both of you. At least those who aren't your friends to begin with."
As I pulled into the parking lot, I told Tim, "I've got to find someway to talk to John. To find out what happened after I left, if nothing else. Maybe his folks ended up talking it better than mine."
"I tell you what Kelly. Let me see if I can find John. Than I'll try and find a place that we can talk. All three of us."
"I'll wait for you in the library."
"In the library, then. See you later."
"Later, Tim." With that, I started towards the library while Tim went to see if he could find John. I hope that this day doesn't end up in the toilet.
Well, that's it for this part. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter of looking at things from Kelly's point-of-view. Comments, suggestions and constructive criticism is welcome at gentim@earthlink.net. Flames will be ignored.