Disclaimer:
After a hiatus of sorts, I am back with another story! Yay! Anyway, due to personal problems, I've been unable/unwilling to write much of anything for a long time. Here is a new story from me to you. For those of you who know my style and enjoy it, you should really like this one. Like I said, though, I haven't written anything for a while, so I may be a bit rusty. For those who don't know my style, I tend to use a lot of build-up and "storyline". So, if you came on to find a story for a quick jack-off, then this probably ain't for you. However, if you want to take the time to read a beautiful tale of young love, then sit back, take a sip from your glass of wine, and enjoy!
And remember...Always stand up for what you think is right, don't listen to bullshit, no matter who is saying it, and always speak with your fists and swear a lot to be heard!
Part 24:
And if David thought that his situation had gotten as bad as it was going to get, his father came home the following evening with the fax of his web page.
It was the kind of situation that could actually cause nightmares and require therapy for years to come, in order to get over the memories. However, David's father and step-mother took those two hours before dinner to sit David down on the couch and read aloud certain passages of the page, while forcing David to look at him while he read. The stuff about how he hated Taylor was embarrassing, it was true, but it was nothing compared to when David's father flipped the page and actually read some selected paragraphs from "Why I Lust for Zac Hanson". In hindsight, David wasn't sure whether it was a bigger nightmare for the father, who had to read several hundred words about how his 16-year-old son actually longed to do very illegal things involving baby oil, rope, razors, vibrators, and various other interesting implements, to an 12-year-old boy, or to the son, who had to sit there and hear his father read those things out to him. David had been light-years beyond "crawl into a hole and die" embarrassment. In fact, he was "embarrassed", like God was "some spirit who did a few things."
By the end, when David thought that he was actually spared from this Hell, his father actually did something that was almost as bad as the reading had been. He sat down with David and questioned him about what had been read.
As far as David knew, there were three ways that this conversation could have gone. The way of anger, intrigue, or denial. David's father chose a mixture of the last two.
"I'm aware of what you've been going through," the 41-year-old police officer had said to his son, "but do you really want to..." and he took a moment to read the sentence on the piece of paper.
And David used to get embarrassed when his mother used the word "penis"
And then David's father found the sentence and continued, "...Do you really want to...tie Zac Hanson up to a bed, cover his body in baby oil, then shave off what little pubic hair he has?"
And it just went on like that.
David found the path of least resistance on the two adults' part, by answering either, "I guess so." or "I suppose not." to most of the questions. Any sure "yes" or "no" would be met by anger or frustration on their part.
It was a horrible ordeal that David never thought he'd ever forget. He didn't just eat crow; he had, in his opinion, the most disgusting, diseased, rotted, decomposing, pustule-covered crow carcass that ever existed in the most vile pits of Hell shoved down his throat. It was also the first time that he ever heard the word "pedophile" used in reference to himself. No words were expressed, as such, but he was totally sure that he lost a huge chunk of his father's respect on that day.
On a lighter note, and David supposed that there had have been a lighter note in this situation, David's father found that nothing that was written was illegal, per se, so it was possible to contend any attempts by the Hanson family to take him to court.
Taylor's main complaints had been: Defamation of character, fear of rape, and just general offense. The first one, as far as David's father could tell, was purely spite based on the other two. Considering that, during this time period, the Internet was littered with Hanson Hater pages, it was impossible for Taylor to claim that David was trying to destroy his character, when most of what David said about him was said in many forms on other pages. As for the fear of rape thing, it was somewhat justified, but also wasn't. After all, David's essay was filled with a lot of "I'd like to..."'s, but no "I'm going to..."'s, so considering it a premeditation for rape was somewhat over the top, but at the same time, the lawyer did point that "I'd like to have sex with him" and "I'd like to kill him" are similar in appearance if that's what the meaning was taken as.
Basically, it all came down to Taylor, a 14 year old who was, supposedly, mature for his age, resorting to the age-old lawsuit basis of "I want compensation for emotional stress that this caused on me and my whole family."
David was not the only one, this time at least, who felt that Taylor Hanson was a petty jerk who was trying to take advantage of his fame and access to good lawyers, in order to scare David into giving him what he asked for. David didn't have much respect for Taylor before, but his respect for him was now below zero.
David, however, had a slight advantage, in his father being part of the federal police force of Canada. All the money that Hanson was planning on throwing into this, would not be able to compete with having the Canadian government on David's side. As much respect as David thought that his father had lost for him, his father was still willing to put his career on the line to get David out of this. The facts were simple. If Hanson wanted a court case, then it would be under Canadian law, because the web site was Canadian and, so, if any laws were broken, they would be Canadian ones, not American ones. Based on what David's father believed, this whole thing would be a matter of convincing the judge that David had no intention of doing any harm to anybody. Once that was established, and it would be, then it would be Hanson who'd be on trial.
"Defamation of character?" The judge would scoff, "Are you that insecure about yourselves, that you'd consider a small website that generates less than 300 hits a month to be a threat to your fame? And who the hell do you think you are, paying all this money for high-class lawyers and then trying to get financial compensation out of this poor family, when they have a mortgage, car payments, credit debts...These people aren't hurting anybody, nor is the website, so why don't you stop spending money on your counsel and get off your damn pedestals?!"
Hanson would be burnt at the stake, for being a group of celebrities who like to pick on lower-middle-class families. They'd be shown as petty, childish and greedy. Heck, a few hours into the trial, and their reputation would be destroyed.
Or maybe not, but the end result didn't come down to a trial. Somehow, David's father managed to work out a compromise that seemed to make everybody happy. Hanson would be in Vancouver the following week, so David would go down with his father, and meet Taylor and Zac, with their lawyer, and apologize.
Of course, the site would be destroyed and removed from the Internet, which was just what happened the next morning. David's father watched, as David deleted each file and removed his page, months of work, from the Internet forever.
The next week, David's father drove him down to the GM Place in Vancouver, where David would spend no more than ten seconds apologizing to Taylor and Zac. It hardly seemed worth it, but it was this or a trial and, while David's idea seemed fun, it probably wouldn't happen that perfectly.
On the other hand, David was getting a free meeting with Hanson. Everything else, including the situation, aside, this was pretty cool. Maybe he'd lunge at Taylor and need to be restrained by security or something. While it seemed like a bad time to ask for an autograph, David wished he brought a camera for his photo album.
The arena was, of course, surrounded by a bunch of screaming, teenage girls, who David had begun to affectionately refer to as "panty-wetters", and, so, security escorted David and his father through the mob and unlocked the doors, letting them in.
He led them up to the office level on one of the top floors and asked them to sit down for a few minutes.
"Now, do you know what you're going to say?" asked David's father, once the guard had left.
"I think so." David replied, "I'm just going to say that I'm sorry about the things that I said and I hope that it didn't hurt them too much and they can forgive me, even just a little bit."
"That sounds okay." David's father said, sounding somewhat unconvinced.
David loathed having to do this, though. He now hated Taylor with some severe loathing, and having to basically beg for forgiveness from a kid who was younger than him seemed like something totally stupid. Was David sorry for what he said? Hell no! Did he really mean what he said? Of course! Did he really feel that way about Zac? Well, not as insane as that, but he did find the 12-year-old to be really sexy and, yeah, he'd love to go to bed with him.
A very short, annoying twit of a guy exited one of the offices. David's father stood up and shook his hand.
"I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Levine." He said to David's father, "The boys are inside and will see David now."
David's stomach filled with butterflies, as he stood up and followed his dad through the open door.
His heart filled his throat, as he entered to see Taylor and Zachary Hanson seated, talking. Taylor's long, blond hair fell around the shoulders of his white T-shirt, and he wore blue jeans. Zac's hair was tied back in a ponytail and he wore a camouflage T-shirt and khaki pants. They both looked up as the three of them entered.
In a very patronizing tone, the lawyer guy said to David, "David, I believe you have something you'd like to say to Taylor and Zac?"
David was suddenly back in kindergarten and had pinched JoJo Savard, over a bunch of blocks. He took a deep breath and couldn't help but the note the slight smile on Zac's face. It wasn't a smile of pride or malice. It was, if David was correct, a smile of humour. With the knowledge that the person who was the reason why he was here, might find this situation as stupid as he did, he was filled with slightly more confidence, as he said, "Taylor and Zac, I want to apologize for what I wrote about you two. It was stupid and disgusting and I feel really embarrassed about it. I know how much it must have hurt you. I hope you can forgive my actions."
As he spoke, David tried to avoid Taylor's gaze. It was one of true malice. He could see that this apology idea was not Taylor's and Taylor did not agree with it at all. He looked uncomfortable to be around David and maybe even hated him.
When he was through, Zac looked at Taylor for a few seconds, then looked right at David and shrugged, then said, "It's cool."
"Okay." Taylor replied, not looking at David, then turned back to Zac and continued talking.
David was deeply offended by Taylor's feigned ignorance of his apology. It was like he was saying, "Very well, now be off with you."
"Thank you very much, David." The lawyer said, standing up and escorting David and his father out of the room.
The drive home was one of silence. David felt almost violated for saying what he did.
His father and step-mother ignored him for a good portion of the rest of the week. David supposed that they were discussing what was to be done with him now.
On Friday afternoon, the phone rang and David's father was downstairs, so David got it.
"Hello?"
"Oh, hello David." The voice, who David quickly recognized as the Hanson lawyer, said, "I wanted to speak with your father, but I guess it's not that important. I did want to tell you, though, that Taylor and Zac were very convinced by your apology and have opted to drop the charges against you."
"That's great." David said, "Oh...umm...There's one thing that I forgot to say."
"Oh? I'd be willing to deliver any other word of apology to them, if you want."
"Okay." David said, then calmly continued, "I want you to tell Taylor that just because he's ashamed that he's gay, it doesn't give him the right to take it out on me."
Then David slammed down the phone and went back to eating lunch.