I don't think Pat understood why people had turned on him, but I did. When word first got around that he was gay, people didn't know what to do about him so they looked to the popular kids to take the lead. With Drew and John, the two kings of Clairmont, sticking in his corner, people let it slide. Now that he had turned Drew gay, he was probably the most hated guy in school. Some of the same people who smiled in his face, day after day were the same people who harassed Nick for being gay, even though he wasn't. Laurie was one of the worst. That was why I never liked her. If she had been a guy, I would have kicked her ass years ago, but my mother raised me to never hit a girl, even if she was a bitch and did deserve it, so Laurie was safe from my wrath.
I looked over at Pat. I was so angry with him. I wanted to reach over and hit him, but he was driving and I thought that would be a bad idea. We were on our way to Drew's house to check on him. I needed Pat to be there for me, and he was running off to be with Drew. I thought he was being insensitive because he could have waited to go see Drew, but he was rushing there as if to let me know that Drew being outed was much more important to him than me being outed. Truthfully, I passed being angry at the second stop sign and I was sitting there seething, waiting for Pat to say something stupid so I could go off on him. He must have sensed my mood because he was quiet after I told him not to defend Drew.
We reached Drew's house and Pat practically jumped out of the car. I was surprised when Drew's mother asked us to come back the next day, but Pat barged in anyway. Drew's mother threatened to call the cops, but Pat didn't care. I was scared. If the cops came, they could arrest both of us for forced entry and probably attach trespassing and then dig up something else to charge us with, too. Pat had money, he could buy his way out of jail, but I was not that fortunate. I would rot in there. I walked silently behind Pat as we went up the stairs. I had visions of me pushing him and making him fall on the stairs and yelling at him, `What the fuck are we doing here?' But they were just visions. I kept my hands to myself.
Pat didn't knock or anything, he just opened the door to Drew's room and walked in. Drew was crying on his bed. Aw, poor Drew. Now the whole world knows his secret,' I thought, knowing I was being sarcastic. I started to say it out loud, but I heard Drew scream when Pat touched his shoulder and that grabbed my attention away from my own thoughts. I watched as Pat lifted Drew's shirt and revealed bruise after bruise on Drew's back. All the anger I had felt towards Drew for everything he had done was momentarily wiped out because it seemed so unimportant. I remember thinking, Oh my God,' but I don't know if I just thought it, or if I said it out loud. Whatever the case, something alerted Drew to my presence and he turned to look at me. I have never been able to get that image of him out of my head. He had a cut on his forehead, one of his eyes was dark red and swollen shut, his nose was red, his cheeks were both rosier than I ever remembered them being, and his bottom lip was busted. His pillow was a mess of red and pink, and there were two places on his pillow that were deep red. I assumed the spots were from his forehead and his lip. Seeing him like that shook me to my core. I felt sick. How could anyone do that to another person, let alone their child?
Drew didn't say anything he just turned his head and put it back down on the pillow. Pat said something to me, but I missed it the first time because my mind wasn't able to process the words. I saw his lips moving and I knew he was talking to me, but I couldn't hear him. I shook my head and blinked a few times.
"Huh? What did you say?" I asked him.
"Call John."
"Okay." I followed his instructions without thinking. I took out my phone and called John. He answered and I didn't know what to say.
"Kyle, say something. I hear you breathing," he said.
"How'd you know it was me?" I asked, caught off guard.
"Your number is in my phone, I always know it's you. Are you okay?"
"No."
"Well, what's wrong? Did the two of you have a fight?"
"We're at Drew's house. Pat told me to call you."
"What happened?"
"I'm not sure."
"Well is Drew okay? Is he hurt?"
"Yes."
"Yes what! Is he okay?" he screamed through the phone.
"I, he, well, um, fine, he's fine, no, not fine, um, hurt, but okay, um, I think, yeah, he's okay." I was too flustered to put my thoughts in to sentences.
"Huh?" asked John.
I didn't have time to gather myself and respond because Pat took the phone away from me. "Hey John, it's Pat. Sorry, of course you know who I am, um, Drew needs you." John must have asked how Drew was because Pat said, "He's fine. We're taking him to my place, so you should meet us there." Pat paused and listened to John say something else. "Oh, I didn't realize you were still on your date. That must have been a really long movie. Uh, yeah, when she comes out of the bathroom, you know, just um, drop her off and uh, meet us at my house. Don't tell her where you're going though." John must have asked him why not. "Just trust me, don't tell her." I assumed John agreed, because Pat told him bye and hung up the phone. He handed me my phone. "We've got to get him out of here," he said.
"Okay."
Pat turned to Drew. "Do you think you can walk?" he asked him.
Drew turned his head to the side and mumbled, "Yes."
Pat and I watched as Drew tried to sit up on the bed. I moved to help him, but Pat grabbed me. "Let him do it himself," he whispered, "he doesn't like to be helped." We stood there and watched Drew slowly maneuver his body on his bed. Finally, he pushed up with his arms and he was sitting on the side of the bed. His shirt fell down, covering his bruises once again.
He looked up at Pat. "I hurt like hell, this time. I know it's bad."
"It's okay Drew, I'm here now and John is on the way."
Drew grimaced in pain. He reached for his left side. "I think something's broken. I can feel it."
"Where?" asked Pat.
"On the inside."
"We need to get you to the hospital," said Pat as he walked towards him.
"No. You know me, I'll be fine. Now let's go." Drew slipped his feet in some flip-flops by his bed and stood up fast. He proceeded to start falling forward.
Pat caught him. "I got you big guy," he told him as he helped him get his balance. Drew grimaced again, probably from the pain of Pat making contact with his sore spots, but he didn't say anything.
Drew lightly pushed him away. "I don't need your help. I can make it."
Pat said, "Of course you don't need my help. I know how strong you are. I'm just going to walk next to you and if you feel the need to lean on me, not for support, but as a friend, I'll be there."
I wondered if Drew would fall for it and sure enough, as soon as they walked out of Drew's room, he was leaning on Pat. As I walked behind them, I couldn't help but speculate that the same scene had been played out many times before. His mother was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. She didn't look up at them as they walked by. "See you tomorrow, baby. Have fun with your friends," she said in a low voice. They didn't acknowledge her, but I found myself staring at her, wondering what was going on in that head of hers. She must have felt my stare because she looked up at me and our eyes met. Her eyes communicated her sadness mixed with fear in a way that I'm sure she never could. I didn't stop though I walked right past her and broke our eye contact as I reached the door. I knew something had brought her to this place in her life, and I also knew that I would never know what it was. I turned around to look at her after I stepped off the final step. I saw her just as she was closing the door. It was funny, but for a second, it didn't look like she was closing the door, it looked like the house was swallowing her whole. `That poor woman,' I thought as I turned around and walked towards the car.
"Shit!" exclaimed Pat as he slammed his hands down on the top of his car.
"What the fuck happened?" asked Drew, leaning against the car for the support that Pat had suddenly taken away from him.
"I'll tell you later," said Pat.
"What's wrong?" I asked as I walked up beside him.
"There's glass all over the fucking backseat!"
The incident that had led us to come to Drew's house that night, seemed so far away, almost like an afterthought, and not a real memory, but there was the glass, reminding us that the event was real. It was all real.
I watched as Pat kicked his car. "You fucking piece of shit!" he yelled. I knew he wasn't really mad at the car, and I also knew that he was starting to lose it. I did what anybody would do when they saw someone they sort of cared about on the edge of flipping out. I pulled him in to a hug.
"Calm down," I whispered in his ear. "It's okay. We'll figure this out." I rubbed my hands up and down his back, trying to relax him. I kissed his neck and he pushed me.
"That's not helping," he told me as he backed away.
"Sorry."
"I need to sit down," Drew announced as he sat down on the grass.
"We could get a suitcase and I could sit on top of it," I suggested.
"We're not going back in that house," Pat informed me in a surprisingly calm voice. We fell silent as we tried to think of something to do. I started to wonder why we weren't in a rush to leave. "Drew could sit in your lap," Pat finally said.
Drew laughed a little. "Don't make me laugh, it hurts too much," he told Pat as he grabbed his side again.
"I'm serious," said Pat.
"I don't think that will work. He's in too much pain for me to hold him." I didn't want to hold Drew, even in his current condition. Knowing the thoughts that were running around in my mind, made me feel like a bad person. `What's wrong with me,' I thought. After a few minutes, I turned to Pat and asked, "Do you have a spare tire?"
"Huh?"
"I could sit on it in the backseat."
Pat walked to me and put his hands on my face. He leaned in and planted a quick peck on my lips. "You're brilliant," he told me as he flashed me a smile.
I felt good again, like I had redeemed myself a little. Pat pushed a button on his keychain and unlocked the trunk. He took out the spare tire and unlocked the doors. He handed me the tire and I put it on the backseat, while he helped Drew get in the passenger seat. Drew couldn't wear the seatbelt because it hurt too much.
We didn't talk as we rode to Pat's house. I don't think anyone knew what to say. We pulled in Pat's driveway and John and Chris were standing at the door, waiting for us. They both rushed to the car when the car stopped. Chris ran to Pat's side, and John ran to Drew.
As soon as Pat opened the door, Chris asked, "Did Laurie's friends do that to your window? I heard they lost it, but damn! That's taking it too far!"
"How'd you know?" asked Pat.
"You think those chicks didn't call Jessica? We were trying to have a romantic dinner and they called her talking all this trash about me and you and Drew and John and telling her that we were all faggots. She went off on them, but they told her you had already gotten yours. I can't believe this shit is happening."
"Neither can I," he said.
By this time, John had helped Drew out of the car and was helping him in the house. I got out the car and started walking in, giving Pat and Chris some time to talk. I felt out of place, but I couldn't leave. I followed John and Drew upstairs. They went in Pat's bedroom, and I stopped in his sitting room to give them some privacy. I turned on the television to some video channel, but I wasn't watching the videos. My eyes were looking at the television, but my mind was bouncing around to random events. I started feeling lonely, so I took out my phone and called Nick.
He picked up the phone, "Oh my God, Kyle, Matt's on the other line. He was telling me what happened tonight. Where are you?"
"I'm at Pat's."
"I'm on my way," he said.
"Thanks." He hung up and I hung up. I sat there and waited.
I glanced at my watch and zoned out again. It seemed like minutes later, when Chris and Pat walked in the sitting room, but I looked at my watch and saw that thirty minutes had passed. Pat motioned for me to follow them. I didn't want to go in that room, because I was the odd man out, but I would follow Pat over a cliff if he asked, so I stood up and walked in the room.
John and Drew were on the bed. Drew had a pillow propping him up and he was clinging to John. The scene before me seemed all wrong, if one of them was clinging to the other, it seemed like it should be John clinging to Drew. John always seemed like the weak one to me, but I guess I didn't know Drew that well. It was my fault because I never wanted to know more about him, so our conversations had been limited.
"So how are you feeling?" asked Chris.
"Sore," said Drew.
"You know Laurie has been blabbing her mouth, don't you?"
Drew looked at Chris. "I assumed she would. She told me she's going to make sure the whole school knows by Monday."
"Well she's doing a good job," said John. "I think half the school already knows and it's only been a few hours."
"Really?" I asked.
"Word is spreading like wildfire. Britney came back from the bathroom and asked me if I was gay. She said everyone was talking about us. She told me that she was in the bathroom and some girl walked up to her and gave her a hug, saying, `You're a good person. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I would just die if I found out my boyfriend was gay.' Britney asked her what happened and the girl relayed the story. Britney pulled out her phone and she had about ten messages from girls telling her what happened and warning her about me. She walked out the bathroom and went off on me about it. I told her I wasn't gay, but she didn't believe me. She had one of her friends take her home, so I came straight here. I can't believe Laurie would do something like this!"
"I can," I said. "She's a bitch! She always has been." Drew looked over at me, but I looked away. "How did word get around so fast?" I asked.
"It's Friday night, half the school is out partying, so it's not hard to spread the word when you have big groups everywhere. The only people who probably don't know are the losers who stayed at home, and I'm sure even some of them have gotten a phone call from a friend telling them the latest gossip."
"Oh," I said, as I watched John run his fingers through Drew's hair. My brain started churning out thoughts again. "Does this happen a lot?" I asked.
"What?"
"His father," I said, knowing John would understand.
"Not too often," said Drew. "Why would you ask something like that? What do you think my father gets drunk and beats on me?" Drew sounded angry.
"No, but Pat seemed to know what would happen to you, and John and Chris don't seem surprised. I don't know, it just, I mean, I just, I can tell it's happened before, that's all. I wasn't trying to insinuate anything."
"He only hits me when I give him a reason," replied Drew as if that made it okay.
"But I don't understand! You're bigger than him! Why would you let him do this to you?" The words flew out of my lips almost as quickly as the thoughts formed in my head. I knew I shouldn't have said it the second it was out, but it was too late.
"You couldn't understand," said John. The way he said it, told me that he did.
The way they were all looking at me made me feel about two feet tall. "Um, I'm going to go and uh, give you guys some privacy. Um, yeah." I shook my head and walked out of the room. I didn't notice Pat following me.
I was in the sitting room when I felt his hand on my shoulder. "Wait," he said.
"Why? I shouldn't be here. I don't even know what to say to him."
"Then don't stay for him, stay for me."
"You've got Chris," I told him.
"And you've got me," he said.
"And me, too," came a voice from the left. I turned to see Nick standing there. All of us were closer to Pat than him, yet he was the one who used the spare key the most.
Copyright Lustyville 2006 Please send comments to lustyville@yahoo.com and check out my yahoo group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lustyville.