This is a story that involves sex between males. if such a story is offensive, or illegal for you to read where you live, then do not continue,
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This is a work of fiction and in no way draws on the lives of any specific person or persons. If there is any similarity to any real persons or events it is entirely coincidental.
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My thanks to John and Nails who have read this through and made a number of corrections and suggestions. Any remaining errors , grammatical, spelling or historical or whatever are entirely my fault.
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Part 5 Monday to Friday 20th - 25th June 2005.
Kevin was the first to stir abroad that Monday morning. He drove his rented car to that spot off Beechlands Way where he could watch the comings and going at his home. He wondered if Katie was going to go to work that morning. He needed to be there, if he was to collect more of his belongings without meeting Katie face to face. Her car was kept in the garage, so unless he saw her drive it away he would not know whether the house was empty or not. The absence of his parents, and especially his in-laws car showed him that Katie must have been there alone that night.
He was prepared for a long wait. He had brought two books to read, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, and Alan Hollinghurst's The Call of Beauty. There were not many cars passing up and down that road, and he knew that if Katie left she would be bound to pass him. She would not recognise a rented car, which was the reason why he had rented it. His only danger would be if some neighbour thought the presence of a man in a car was suspicious and called the police. But he was not exactly outside a house, and often cars were parked in odd places while men sat in them working at papers, lap tops, or on their mobile phones. He saw various neighbours go off to work. Katie always left for work about 8.30am. He watched carefully, but her car did not pass. The school run brought a flurry of activity around that time. After nine o'clock the road was very quiet.
It was half past ten when Katie's car went in front of him. She did not look in his direction at all. He waited for a couple of minutes before driving up to the house. He backed into the short drive way that led to the garage. He got out of the car, walked round the car, and up to the front door. He had his keys in his hand. He tried to put the key in the lock.
It would not go. He tried again, and swore. She had changed the locks, or rather had got the locks changed. It was the sort of thing his father would have done easily. He stood in the porch for a moment, and then he remembered.
When they had moved into the house some six years before, there had been two keys to the back door. One they had kept in the kitchen. The other he had hidden under a tin of paint in the garage, `If we haven't got a key to get in, then there'll always be one in the garage.' He had the key to the garage. He undid the door, and opened it. He went over to where the paint tins were. Yes, there was the key, exactly where he had hidden it, all that long time before. He now feared that Katie too would have remembered,
and had the lock changed on the back door. He went up to the back door, inserted the key, turned the lock, and opened the door. He was in.
In the long hours in the motel Kevin had planned this part of the operation with great care. He reckoned he had thirty minutes at a minimum before Katie might return. First of all, he found two large cases. He opened them and placed them on the bed in the room where he and Katie had slept together, and in which the baby had been conceived. He opened the wardrobe, and started removing his suits, and sports jackets, and various trousers. He placed these tidily and quickly in one of the cases. He took it down stairs and put it in the boot [US trunk] of the car. He ran back upstairs and in the other case packed his shirts, socks, underwear and the rest of his clothes. That case was taken downstairs and placed in the car. He got three plastic bags and put his shoes into these. He looked at his watch, a quarter of an hour has passed since he had entered the house.
He went upstairs. In the small bedroom, the room where he and Bill had made love on Wednesday afternoon, there was also a small desk and his computer. He removed several files of papers. He knew exactly what he needed to take. He reached round the back of the computer and pulled out the Kingston flash memory drive, and placed it in his pocket. That contained all the information that he needed. He could use it with his lap top which he already had with him at the motel. He took the files down and placed them in the car. He looked at his watch. Twenty five minutes had gone.
He had a quick look round to see if there was anything else he wanted to take. His final look was at the bookcase downstairs. He removed from the shelves two of A.A.Milne's Winnie the Pooh books which he had had given to him when he was a small child. He reached up for J.R.R.Tolkein's trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. A copy of the complete works of Shakespeare which he had been awarded as a prize when he was at school was added to the pile. Then he removed the heftier volume of the Oxford Book of Quotations. Finally, he took the copy of the Bible that had been given to him as a present when he had been confirmed. He took the books out to the car. He came back, reached into his pocket and left an envelope marked, `Katie' on the dining room mantelpiece. He looked at his watch, he had been in the house thirty three minutes. He locked the back door, and returned the key to the garage. He took a final look at the house, and drove away.
As Kevin was driving away, nearly two hundred miles to the south Simon and Patricia were drawing up outside the Pridham's home in the village of Whitgest. Malcolm had seen the car and opened the front door to welcome them.
Patricia went straight through to the kitchen where Janice was making the coffee. She went up and gave her a hug and a kiss. "How are you?"
"Not so bad, considering. I think there are going to be some difficult times ahead. There's the village to be faced. It must be round the whole place by now, our local tongues love the taste of some juicy gossip."
"I'm afraid it is. I heard a couple discussing it in the shop on Saturday morning."
"Then there's the rest of the family to be told."
"They don't know yet?"
"No. They are coming for the weekend. We thought we'd tell them both together then. Better than telling them individually over the phone, and saying the same thing twice. We can then all discuss it."
"How did the visit to York go? How's Katie?"
"It went better than we'd expected. Katie's parents were there too. We stayed in a B & B, which gave us time and space alone together."
"How were Katie's parents with you?"
"I can understand how they feel about Kevin. He's done the dirty on their daughter. I think Ralph was biting his tongue a number of times when Kev was mentioned. I'll take some coffee through to the men. I'll soon be back."
She put some biscuits on a plate, and went to find the men. Malcolm and Simon were in Malcolm's den where the computer was. She handed over the tray with the coffee and biscuits, and went back to the kitchen. Patricia was perched on one of the stools leaning on the table. Janice pulled out another stool and sat down facing Patricia.
"How do you feel about Kevin, Jan?"
Janice was silent for a moment before answering. "I think the answer to that is rather complicated. Deep down I still love him, every bit as much as ever. As you know we've had a message on the phone from him. We know he hasn't done anything silly; which I half feared. Knowing he's all right means that I can feel the disgust and hurt at knowing what he's done. I just cannot understand this homosexuality business. I like women, I've got women friends, but I haven't the slightest desire to want to get into bed with any of them and make love to them."
"I know. I cannot understand it too."
"What they do seems to me to be utterly repulsive."
"I know," replied Patricia with a shudder.
"There is one slight ray of brightness to the encircling gloom. You know Katie's pregnant?
Patricia nodded.
"It was not a joint decision."
"What do you mean?"
"Katie told us that she and Kev were not as close as they had been after his return from New Zealand. She thought a baby would bring them closer again, so she just stopped taking the pill."
"Without telling Kevin?"
Janice nodded.
"So in a sense, he does not bear a full responsibility for the baby?"
Janice nodded. "I think you can say that. It's a small consolation."
At the same time Malcolm and Simon were talking, and going over similar ground.
"How are you going to deal with Kevin?" asked Simon.
"The fact that he has contacted us means that he wants to remain in some sort of touch with us. I deliberately did not phone him. I would not know what to say to him, and he probably is not ready to speak to us yet. I think he'll respond with a text message to us. I don't think he'll risk phoning as we might well answer it."
"Do you think he knew that you were not in when he phoned?"
"I hadn't thought of that. I wonder!" Malcolm paused. "How would he know we weren't here? He would only know if he was down here and saw from the house we were not in."
"Or did he know you were in York?"
"How? He was not in contact with Katie."
"Your car?"
"I wonder. I wonder!" mused Malcolm. "Let's go and see what Janice says about that."
"Hold on a mo, Mal. What about you? You and me?"
Malcolm looked at Simon. "I still feel the same way about you." He reached down and adjusted his crotch. "We will have to be very, very careful."
Simon smiled. "I'm glad you still feel the same. I was afraid that what has happened would put you off it."
"No way."
"A visit to Fred then?"
"A visit to Fred! We can talk much more freely and at length there."
"As well as doing other things!"
Malcolm gave Simon a kiss, and a gentle squeeze of his slightly hard cock, and led the way back to the kitchen and their women folk.
About the same time Katie returned from her shopping expedition. She opened the front door, and took three plastic bags full of various sorts of groceries through to the kitchen. She put kettle on to make herself a coffee, and put away her shopping. She made the coffee, and sat on a chair in the kitchen to drink it. She glanced at the morning paper.
As it was a fine sunny morning she decided to open some of the downstairs windows and let some of the summer air blow through the house. She went first into the sitting room, which was at the front of the house. Kevin had taken nothing from there. Next she went through to the dining room. The first thing that caught her eye was the book case. It looked different.
She stood for a moment trying to work out what the difference was. The book case had never been completely full of books, and so the extra gaps did not make Kevin's removals more obvious. She shrugged and went over to open the window. It was when she turned back that she saw the envelope on the mantelpiece. For a moment she wondered what it was. She saw her name on the envelope, and reaching up, she took it and opened it. She pulled out the piece of paper inside.
Dear Kate, I am sorry for all the pain and hurt the last few days must have caused you.
I am sure that the revelations of Wednesday afternoon must have come as a complete shock to you. I have known ever since my visit to New Zealand that my true sexual orientation is more than predominantly homosexual. I now find my most fulfilling sexual expression is increasingly with another man. This is something of which I had very little inkling before we married; so please believe me, I did marry you in good faith, though you may at the moment find that hard to believe. I am sorry for the suffering this discovery is causing you. In particular I feel so terrible about our baby. I will, of course, provide for you both as much as I am able in the years that lie ahead. I have given up my job here in York. I will be in touch when things are more settled. If you need to contact me text me on my mobile. Kevin.
She went upstairs and looked in all the rooms. It was when she opened the wardrobe she realised that Kevin had taken all his things.
She went downstairs to the sitting room and sat down and cried, and then got angry.
Eventually she got herself some lunch. Then she phoned her parents and told them what had happened.
"I suppose you're going to tell Janice and Malcolm?" asked her father.
"I said I would tell them if there was any news of Kevin."
Her father's response was a very audible sniff. "Where did he get a key from?"
"I don't know, Dad. He didn't have a key to the front door, because we changed that lock. He must've had a key to the backdoor, which I didn't know about. I know he didn't break in."
There was another sniff. "Better get the lock on the back door changed as well. Don't want him prowling around when you're there.
She then phoned Whitgest. Janice answered the phone, and was told the news.
"How do you feel about it, Kate?"
"I'm just glad I wasn't around when he came. I wouldn't have known what to say to him."
"That's just what Mal and I feel. Mal sent him a text message, rather than phoning, and having to say something."
"I felt very unsettled by it. Knowing he's been here. I had a good cry."
"I'm sure. Carrying a baby is bad enough of an emotional time anyway, without having to face all this of a sudden. I'm glad he's promised to support you and the babe."
"Yes. I suppose that's something."
They chatted on for a short while. Janice then went and told Mal what had happened.
Kevin drove away from the house in Beechlands Avenue, and made his way back to the motel. He transferred the cases and other things he had taken from the house either into his own car, or into his motel room.
He then drove the rented car back to Budget, the car rental firm in Leeds. Then he made his way by public transport back to the motel. He got a taxi from the station out to the motel, as he knew rural buses were few and far between.
He made ready for an early start the following morning. For Kevin it had been a good day; he had achieved the most difficult part of his plan - getting his things out of the house without coming face to face with his wife.
Tuesday 21st June 2005
Kevin was again the first of the characters in this drama to stir. He was first into breakfast at the motel. He only had to pack his car and get away.
He had decided to go back south, and look for a job there. He had noticed that there many good jobs being advertised in the papers.
We need not follow in detail his itinerary, or the places he went to in search of the job. By the following weekend he had found himself a job in High Wycombe. The fact that he was able to start work on Monday made him a very attractive proposition to his potential employer. Also, he found a small apartment in a large old house, that had been the Rectory, in one of the small villages outside High Wycombe, called Potter's End.
On Friday afternoon he sent a text message to his father. Hi Mum & Dad. Got a new job, and somewhere to live. Am okay. Tell Kate, if she wants to know. Love Kev.
On Tuesday morning Janice had to get a few things from the village shop. She usually did her main shopping in Luton, where many items were cheaper; but invariably she needed a few extra things in the course of the week.
"I need to go along to the shop for a few things this morning," announced Janice over the breakfast table.
"So?" responded Malcolm, whose head was buried as usual in the cricketing page of the Daily Telegraph.
"I wondered if you would come along with me."
"Why?" mumbled Mal, with his head still buried.
"I think I need some moral support. If the whole village knows, I`d like you with me."
There was the rustle of the newspaper being put down. "Think it's going to be that bad?"
"Don't know. It'll be the first time I've gone into the village since the barbecue. You know the shop is the centre for village gossip."
Malcolm grinned. "What time?"
"Quarter to ten, there won't be so many around about then."
"Fine." There was another rustle of the paper, and Malcolm disappeared behind it.
At the appointed time they set off into the village. They only had to go about five hundred yards, and as Janice was not wanting to buy anything heavy they walked. The outward part of the expedition was achieved without meeting a soul. In the shop they were the only customers, and were quickly served; but they had no sooner come out of the shop than they saw Reginald and Barbara Ironside. There were two people in the village Janice and Malcolm were not in a hurry to meet and one of them was Reginald Ironside.
"Good morning to you both," boomed Reginald, in his best army officer voice.
The usual formalities of greeting were passed.
"How are you both?" enquired Barbara. "We felt so much for you on Wednesday evening with the bombshell about Kevin."
"We're coping," answered Janice.
"Had you any idea your son was a flaming poofter?" asked Reginald to Malcolm.
"Not the slightest idea that he might be a homosexual," responded Malcolm, putting what he hoped was a correcting last word, to the abusive slang of the question.
"I was not unduly surprised. He was the smallest one of your litter."
"I don't think size has anything to do with it. He is no more effeminate than you or me. Played plenty of rugger, even at University, and as you know was, when he was living here, a key person in the village cricket eleven.
Reginald shrugged his shoulders. "Mind you, nowadays they seem to be every where. Cabinet ministers even. Maggie would never have stood for it."
"No, she just stood for adulterers and sleaze merchants."
Reginald glared at Malcolm at what he saw as a hostile reference to the greatest British person of the later half of the twentieth century, and a close runner up to the great Winston himself.
Malcolm responded with a disarming smile, so that Reginald did not know whether to take Malcolm's remark seriously or not. As Reginald was markedly lacking in the humour department, he inclined to take it seriously.
The women were having a conversation of their own.
"Are Kevin and Katie still living together?"
"No, Barbara. Katie asked him to leave, and he did."
"Quite right too. I would not want a man like that in the house with me. And I'd change the locks, so he couldn't get back in."
"We did, but Katie forgot he had a key to the back door." The moment she said this Janice wished she had not.
"So he came back and got in?"
"He came back to get his things?"
Janice nodded.
"Did they come face to face?"
"No, he came while she was out."
"Must've been keeping watch on the house. Have you heard from Kevin, do you know where he is?"
"We know he's all right. That's all we know."
"Doesn't deserve to be all right, making his wife pregnant, and then doing what he did, and walking out on her."
Janice decided to let it go at that. The truth was too complicated to go into on the pavement of the village street.
Reginald had overheard the last bit of the women's conversation. "Can't even send such men to prison as we used to."
"No. And I, for one, am glad that's no longer so," said Malcolm. "Jan, we've got to get back, we've both got a lot to do."
Farewells were said and both couples went on their way.
"Thanks for coming with me, Mal. I don't know how I would've coped with those two on my own."
"Reggie Ironside is a bigoted prat."
"Don't let him hear you referring to him as Reggie," said Janice, with a laugh.
The rest of Tuesday was uneventful for Malcolm and Janice. But the village grapevine was soon at work passing on the information Janice had let out. As with the party game of Chinese Whispers, it got distorted: some towards the end of the grapevine heard that Kevin had broken into the house, and there had been a violent confrontation with Katie.
It had been arranged that Malcolm and Simon were to visit Fred on Wednesday afternoon. They both had an early lunch, and Simon collected Malcolm to take him into Luton. The journey was not a long one. They parked near to the Greenhouse sauna and went in.
"I'm always afraid that someone I know well will see me in this place." said Malcolm. "I know too many people around here."
"It's not so bad if you meet someone you know in there, but going in or coming away is the dangerous time."
They were handed keys and made their way to the locker room.
"I can understand the reason why they give us consecutive numbers, but it does mean that we are on top of each other when it comes to using our lockers," said Simon.
Malcolm laughed, "I thought we'd come here to get on top of each other."
Simon gave Malcolm's bum a playful pinch.
They wrapped their towels round their midriffs and made their way further into the building. They began by having a shower, and then went to the Jacuzzi. There were not many others in the place that Wednesday afternoon. They had the Jacuzzi to themselves. They sat close together, and the water bubbled around them.
"Have you heard any more from Kevin?" asked Simon.
"No. Just that the one text message. But he'll send another one when he's got something to tell us, I'm sure."
"If you see him will you tell him you're gay?"
"I don't know. That is a difficult one. Maybe I'm a coward, but for Jan to discover that both her husband as well as her youngest son were gay would be absolutely devastating. I love her Mal, I just don't like sex with her,
I like sex with a man."
"I know, I feel much the same with Patricia. Sometimes I feel such a hypocrite, known as a respectable married man, regarded as one of the heterosexual majority, and really I'm not at all. I am really one of that despised, and by some in our beloved village hated, homosexual minority." Simon's hand reached over, and feeling Malcolm's thigh, moved up and found a limp cock. It was not soft for long.
"That's feels good."
"So I see, or rather feel."
Malcolm's hand came across and began to do the same to Simon.
"It's made harder for us, I feel, Mal, by the fact that some of our gay brethren rather despise us for not coming out of the closet."
"There seem to be so many gay men of our generation who have been or are married."
"I've heard these places are relatively empty on Saturdays before Christmas,
because all the married gay men are out shopping with their wives!"
Malcolm laughed.
They were joined in the Jacuzzi by another couple of men.
"Let's go to where we can be alone," said Malcolm. He stood up, and one very erect penis came into view just above the level of the water. Simon, in the same state, followed.
They went up into one of the so called `rest' rooms, and put their towels down on the bench. There was room for them to lie side by side. This meant they could talk softly to each other, and with their hands do the things that they both enjoyed.
"How do you think Michael and Stephen will react when you tell them?"
"I haven't a clue. They could go either way."
"I shall be thinking of you on Saturday evening when you tell them."
"Will you pray for us?" asked Malcolm semi-seriously
"I reckon you might need it."
"But I know what I need right now."
"Same here."
Very few words now needed to be said. These two men, now well into their sixties, knew each other's needs. Their bodies were no longer what they had been, and many younger gay men would look at them both and think they were past it. But sexual attraction, sexual desire, and sexual satisfaction can be there in sixty year olds, and seventy year olds, and is not unknown in eighty year olds. Young gay men are like the rest of the human race, they too get older, much though many resist and want to deny the fact.
It was an hour and a half later when Malcolm and Simon emerged from the rest room. They had done little in the way of resting. They enjoyed much kissing and cuddling. They sucked almost to climax. But they both knew that the ultimate destination was a load of spunk delivered deep within. They may not have produced as much as they had done in their earlier years, but the enjoyment and fulfilment were still there.
Back in the Pridham home, Janice did not have such a good afternoon. Soon after Malcolm and Simon had left there was a ring at the door, and there stood the other inhabitant of the village she did not want to see - the vicar.
"Hello, Bruce, do come in."
Bruce Perkins had had a career in the forces before being ordained. He had been a captain in the army. The village gossip was that when he realised he would never get higher than major, he had changed career, and sought ordination. Whether the rumour was true or not is irrelevant to this story; but what was true, was that he still retained a military bearing and a number of mannerisms acquired from his service days.
Janice showed him into the sitting room. "I was just going to make myself a cup of tea. Would you like one?"
"Yes, please."
Janice went through to the kitchen to make the tea. She gave a sigh, why was it that the first time she and Malcolm had been apart since the Kevin bombshell a week before Bruce Perkins came round. Malcolm would've known what to say and what not to say, and she could have done with his moral support. She took a tray with the tea pot, milk jug, and two cups and two saucers into the sitting room.
"I've been thinking, and praying for you and Malcolm, and for Kevin and his wife too, since last Wednesday. Had you any inkling that Kevin might be gay?"
"No, none at all. It was a complete bolt out of the blue, as you could tell from my reaction to Katie's phone call."
"What has happened with them both?"
Janice updated him with the basic facts.
"Have you heard from Kevin."
"We had one of those text message things at the weekend. Just saying he was all right."
"Any sign of repentance?"
"He says sorry for the shock and upset he has caused us."
"That's not real repentance. It is like the terrible Episcopal Church in the States over the consecration of that gay man Gene Robinson as a bishop. They are sorry for the upset caused, but not sorry for having done it."
Janice only knew vaguely of the controversy afflicting the Anglican Communion, but not enough to discuss it with Bruce, so she remained silent.
"Do you think there is any chance of the marriage surviving?"
"No. At the moment Katie is feeling that she does not want to see him again."
"Understandable, but if he really repents, and solemnly promises not to go with a man again, she ought to be prepared to take him back."
"At the moment some of the physical implications of what has happened just revolt her."
Bruce nodded. "Have you answered Kevin's text message?"
"Yes, we thanked him for letting us know he was all right. I had begun to fear that he might have done something to himself."
Bruce looked sharply at Janice. "Do you really think he might?"
"If you'd asked me week ago I would've answered `No way'. The shock of Wednesday made us realise that we just did not know our son."
"If he did then he would remove all possibility of repentance. Did you say anything else to him?"
"We assured him of our love, and offered help."
"Umm. Love should be conditional. Conditional on repentance."
Janice was unhappy with the way the conversation was going, but felt unable to express her unease to Bruce, who knew so much more about the Bible and the ways of God than she did. "Bruce, do you know much about homosexuality. Neither Malcolm or myself seem to know much about it. It is all very much outside our experience."
"There's a lot of discussion as to whether it is in the genes, or acquired."
"The nature - nurture thing?"
"Exactly. I think the Bible teaches that it is the latter. For example, in Romans Chapter One the Apostle uses words like professing themselves to be wise they became fools and changed the glory' and so on. I think the use of the word changed' shows a deliberate wilful act. These homosexuals decide what they are, and decide what they do. It is wilful disobedience.
Paul says our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and these homosexuals use their bodies in dirty, foul ways, contaminating what is meant to be the dwelling place of the Spirit of God Himself." [See footnote]
"Yes, Bruce, you know your Bible much better than me. The trouble for me at the moment is that I see myself in some way to blame. If it is nature, then for some reason the combination of Mal's and my genes made Kevin the man he is. If it is nurture, then it is the way we brought Kevin up."
"Some say that it is due to the man having a domineering mother."
"Thank you, Bruce, for that comforting remark. But why aren't Michael and Stephen also gay? They had the same upbringing - and incidentally also the same genes. Malcolm says there was an article in the Guardian earlier this year saying that if it was, as you suggest, a domineering mother, then Margaret Thatcher's son Mark ought to be the most flamboyantly gay man around, but he gives every evidence of being straight."
Bruce gave a bleak momentary smile. "There is indeed, a lot of debate over this. The real question for us at the moment is, what are we going to do about Kevin?"
"Yes."
"We must seek to bring him to repentance, to bring him back into the ways of the Lord. His eternal destiny is at stake over this. You and Malcolm must be careful that in your love for him, in your desire, understandable desire, to help him that you do not confirm him in the error of his ways."
"Mal and I are as horrified as anyone over this; and ashamed too."
"The forgiving loving arms of God are open to welcome him. But he must come back. He is like the prodigal son in the parable, only instead of spending his life with harlots, Kevin has been with other depraved homosexual men." Bruce gave another bleak smile, such a remark was the closest he got to humour. "The son in the parable had to come back to his father, and say sorry. Kevin has to come back and say sorry to God, to his wife, and yes, to you too."
The conversation went on, while Mal was naked in the arms of Simon.
Bruce left after saying a lengthy prayer for Kevin, Melanie, and all the families involved.
When Malcolm returned from Luton Janice gave him a lengthy report on Bruce's visit. "I just wish you had been here. You're never around when I really need you!"
Friday was a busy day for Malcolm and Janice, mostly spent getting ready for the visit of Michael and Stephen with their families for the weekend. Michael and his family were keen caravaners, and as they did not live far away they brought their caravan over to Whitgest for weekends such as these.
That was how Malcolm and Janice were able to accommodate the whole family.
Though that would be much easier this time as Kevin and Katie would not be there.
Malcolm and Janice were busy making the beds, and Janice only too conscious of some cooking she had to do, when there was a ring at the door.
"Oh no," said Janice. "That's just what we don't want - a visitor. Go and see who it is, while I finish making this bed."
Malcolm went downstairs and opened the door only to see Bill and Margaret Hurst, who had been guests at the barbecue nine days before.
"We were just passing, and could not just walk by without popping in to see how you both were," said Margaret.
`And to catch up on the news so you can gossip it round the village,' thought Malcolm, as he showed them in. "Jan is upstairs making a bed. We've got the family coming for the weekend."
"Are Kevin and Katie coming down from York?" asked Margaret.
"No they'll not be with us, I'm afraid."
"What a terrible thing to happen. Such a shock last Wednesday evening. We could see that it was a total surprise by the expression on your faces."
"You can say that again!"
Janice came into the room. "Hello, you two. Cup of tea?"
"That would be lovely," said Margaret.
"I'll make it," volunteered Malcolm, so earning a dirty look from Janice, who had hoped to leave Malcolm to deal with the visitors.
"My dear, how are you, after the shock of last week?" asked Margaret.
"Still rather fraught, I must admit."
"I bet you are," said Bill Hurst. "How's Kevin's wife? Katie? That her name?"
"Yes, Katie. Absolutely devastated. Emotionally it's all made worse by the fact she pregnant."
"Poor dear," said Margaret. "How will she cope?"
"Kevin has said he will stand by her financially." Janice thought she had to say something in support of Kevin.
"So you've been in contact with him then? Have you seen him?" asked Margaret.
"No, we haven't seen him. Just a text message."
"Oh, one of those things. Do you know where he is?"
"No."
"This homosexuality seems to be getting everywhere. I remember when we were in Australia actually seeing men in the centre of Sydney walking hand in hand, and giving each other a kiss," added Margaret.
"I found the sight of it quite revolting," added Bill.
Malcolm came into the room carrying a tray with the tea things on it, and a plate of biscuits. "What did you find revolting, Bill?"
"Men in Sydney, being affectionate with each other."
"Oh!" Malcolm wondered what Bill would have thought it he had known that the day before at this time he was being more than merely affectionate, he was being positively indecently intimate with Simon.
"I think it has all gone too far, something has got to be done to stop the rot. Tony Blair has even repealed Clause 28, so that anything now goes in our schools. The young can be corrupted openly and freely."
"I don't think it is quite like that, Bill," said Malcolm. "It means the issue can be discussed. Like any other subject, adoption, divorce, death, abortion or euthanasia. I don't think it should be a no go area. There may be gay or lesbian kids who need some help and advice from their teachers."
"Help and advice! Much more likely to be corrupted by them, if you ask me. It's all these left wing teachers we've got in our schools."
"Now, now, Bill, don't get on your hobby horse," remonstrated Margaret. "I don't think Mrs Chamberlain, the head teacher of the local primary school, churchwarden, and highly committed supporter of Bruce Perkins the vicar, is left wing in any degree."
"I'm not saying it's true of every schoolteacher, Mags. It is more true of those who teach teenagers in our town and city schools. That's where the real corruption of our youth takes place."
"Do you think youngsters can be corrupted in that way? Ninety nine per cent of our youngsters seem to be attracted to the opposite sex quite easily and safely. Most would give you a black eye if you called them gay or homosexual."
"Did you know your Kevin was a homosexual before Wednesday evening?" asked Bill.
"No. I bet he was corrupted when he was at that school in Hitchin. I've seen one or two of the staff there. They looked long-haired lefties to me.
"Bill, we must be going and leave these good folk to get ready for the weekend."
Bill and Margaret Hurst got to their feet, and after the appropriate farewells left to continue their walk.
"That's all of them now," said Malcolm. "The Ironsides on Tuesday morning, Vicar Bruce yesterday afternoon, and now the Hursts. They're like vultures circling around over a juicy corpse."
"You took Bill on? What made you do it?"
"His bigoted attitude was just getting my goat."
"You must be careful, my love, Bill will be accusing you of being a homosexual if you're not careful!" Janice laughed.
Malcolm's response was just a smile, and a resolve to be more careful in future and not to rise to the opinions of people like those of Bill Hurst.
It was early Friday evening when Malcolm checked his mobile phone, and discovered the text message from Kevin. He read "Hi Mum & Dad Got a new job and somewhere to live Am okay Tell Kate if she wants to know Love Kev"
"Jan, there's another message from Kev," he called as he walked through to the kitchen where Janice was putting the finishing touches to their evening meal. He handed her his mobile.
"I need my glasses to read that!" She found her glasses, put them on, and read the message. "Though he doesn't say so, I sense that he's moved well away from York. Otherwise he wouldn't have needed to find a new job."
Malcolm nodded. "He is seeking a new start, somewhere he is not known. I wonder where."
"What are we going to do? Reply?"
"Oh yes. I know Bruce would like us to treat him as an outcast; but he is our son. I would like to hear his story, but it may be some time before he is ready to talk, and to meet us."
"Let's work out our reply over the meal. How do you propose telling Michael and Stephen?"
"I shall tell them what happened, starting from the telephone call from Katie.
They sat down and discussed their reply as they ate.
After they had eaten Malcolm sent the following text message. "Dear Kevin. Thanks for message. Can you tell us more. Would like to talk and see you. Offer of help still stands. Love Mum and Dad."
Later that night Malcolm phoned Simon on his mobile. Simon was already in bed, and awaiting a call.
Mal:- Hi Simon. You in bed?
Si:- Yea. And wishing you were here with me.
Malcolm laughed.
Si:- Any news.
Mal:- Guess who called in yesterday. Bill and Margaret Hurst.
Si:- To get an update on your news?
Mal:- Jan and I reckon so.
Si:- I suppose you have to tell them, as they were in at the start so to speak.
Mal:- Exactly! Janice thinks all of them are like vultures circling round a juicy corpse.
Si:- What was their attitude?
Mal:- Definitely anti gay. They brought up what they had seen in Australia again.
Si:- Men holding hands and kissing in public?
Mal:- We've had another text message from Kevin.
Si:- Good. What did he say?
Mal:- He's got another job and somewhere to live. We feel he's moved well away from York.
Si:- But no idea where?
Mal:- None.
Si:- Shall be thinking of you tomorrow, when you tell Michael and Stephen.
Mal:- I'll try to let you know how it went; but it may be difficult with the house full of family.
Si:- I understand.
Mal:- In any case see you Monday.
Si:- Why don't you and Jan come round here for coffee. Pat was only saying, a couple of hours ago, how concerned she was about how it goes when you tell the others.
Mal:- Jan commented on how the two of you were the only non-judging friends we seem to have in the village, and you are the ones we've known the shortest time.
Si:- That's the way it sometimes goes.
Mal:- Must go. Jan's in bed, and I am supposedly to be doing some clearing up before the invasion tomorrow.
Si:- Good night then.
Mal:- Goodnight.
Footnote:- Bruce, like many anti gays, would probably mispronounce the word homosexual'. The two o's at the beginning of the word should be pronounced like the o in not, not like the o in hose. This error of pronunciation is due to a misunderstanding of the derivation of the first part of the word - homo. It does not come from the Latin homo' = man, as in homo sapiens etc.; but from the Greek word homo' = same or like. Hence Lesbians are homosexuals because their attraction is to people of the same sex. In conversation I sometimes deliberately mispronounce the word when speaking about or quoting those who are homophobic. A small matter - just a bee in my bonnet!
There will be eleven chapters. If you want to comment on the story then do contact me on Jeffyrks@hotmail.com. I aim to reply to all messages.