DISCLAIMER: The following story is FICTIONAL. It contains descriptions of sexual activities between men, teenage boys, and between men and teenage boys. If you are not over 18 years of age, or if you find this type of story offensive, or viewing this material is illegal where you are, then please DO NOT READ IT! If you choose to read it, then - I hope you enjoy it!
The Abandoned Boy
Chapter 23
Just as the period was ending, a substitute came to the door. I finished my lecture, and told the kids what to do for homework, just before the bell rang.
As the kids all got up to leave, I told Simon to wait. I quickly went over my lesson plan with the substitute, then told Simon to come with me.
"What's wrong?" Simon asked, as we headed to Tom's office.
"I don't know, but it involves your friend Rob," I said. "Tom told me to bring you with me."
Simon suddenly looked worried.
When we got to Tom's office, the first thing Tom said was "Simon, when did you last see Rob Watkins?"
Simon looked a little scared then.
"Yesterday," He said. "Why? What's wrong?"
"He seems to be missing," Tom said. "His name came up on the absentee list today. His parents never called him in. So I called them to see what the problem was. I spoke with his mother. She seemed to be a little out of it, almost like she was on drugs or something. She told me though that Rob had left home a couple weeks ago. She was surprised, but happy to hear that he'd been coming to school like usual."
"He's a run-away?" I asked, looking back and forth between Tom and Simon.
"Well... I'm not sure that's entirely true," Tom said. "If that was so, he wouldn't have been coming to school regularly, and I expect his parents and/or the police would've called or come in here right away."
"Did you ask her why she didn't notify us?" I asked.
"I did," Tom said. "The best I was able to figure out was that she was upset Rob had left home, but that she didn't know why he'd left. She thought her husband knew more about it. The strange thing was that she said her husband had pretty much just stopped talking about Rob, as if he didn't exist anymore.
"Like you said yesterday, this keeps on getting weirder!" I said to Tom.
Tom looked at Simon and said, "I know you know more about this Simon. This is pretty serious. It's not a game anymore. Rob might be in danger. I know you'll want to help him! I need you to tell us everything you know."
Simon looked at Tom, then at me. I gave him a look so he understood that I expected him to talk.
Simon sighed, then said, "I promised Rob I wouldn't tell anyone any of this, but you seem to know most of what I know now, and if he's really in trouble, I guess I have no choice."
"You're doing the right thing Simon," Tom said, "and I promise we'll do whatever we can to help Rob."
"Rob didn't run away. His father threw him out," Simon said.
"What?" I interrupted, incredulously.
"You have to promise not to tell anyone this," Simon said.
"Unless, it's necessary to help him, we won't tell anyone," I said.
Tom nodded his agreement.
Simon sighed again and said, "His father found out he's gay, and threw him out."
Tom and I looked at each other.
"Where's he been living?" I asked.
"Rob's got a few friends he's been staying with. I guess I'm one now too, cause he's spent a couple nights with us too. I'm sorry I didn't ask you first Greg, but I was afraid you'd say 'no', and Rob didn't have anywhere else to go!" Simon said.
"You've been feeding him too, haven't you?" I said.
"Yeah, that's why the big lunches, and the 3 pot pies the other night, and a couple times, I gave him some money for food too," Simon said. "I'm sorry Greg. Are you mad at me."
"No Simon, I'm not mad at you. I'm a little disappointed, but not mad. You don't have to be sorry for helping a friend who needed help," I said. "You said I'd approve of what you were doing. I do approve Simon. I think it's a wonderful thing that you want to help someone who needs help. It's just your methods I have a problem with."
Simon looked quizzically at me.
"Giving Rob, food, and money, and a place to stay is fine. Very generous and noble in fact. But... you're not an adult yet Simon. You should've told me. Tom and I might have been able to help him in a better way." I said.
"I'm sorry Greg. I wanted to tell you, but Rob wouldn't let me, so I couldn't," Simon said.
"That's the reason I'm disappointed Simon," I said. "Instead of coming to me and telling me about this, you lied to me, and went behind my back. You didn't trust me enough to tell me what was happening."
"I'm sorry Greg. I never meant to lie to you. It was Rob. I didn't know what to do. I had made a promise to him, not to tell anyone his secret! I didn't know how to keep that promise without the lies and sneaking around. I know now it was wrong. Rob might be in real trouble. I'm sorry!" Simon said.
Simon looked guiltily down at his sneakers then. Tom gave me a 'give the kid a break' look.
"It's OK Simon," I said. "I understand, and I'm not mad. You were in a real difficult position, and you did try to do all the right things. You tried to help your friend, who really needed it. And you tried to keep your promise to him. And, in reality, now that you know he might be in trouble, you're being adult enough to do what you have to to try and help him, even if it does break your promise to him. So, you've done good. Just... in the future, if something like this comes up again, please don't hide the problem from me. I might've been able to help Rob. At the least, he could've just stayed with us, without having to sneak around. Anyway, enough about your hiding all this. Now, is there anything else you can tell us about the situation? Anything you know that might help us find Rob? Do you have any idea where he might be?"
"No, I don't," Simon said, sadly. "And thanks for understanding about me, and not being mad. I promise I won't keep things from you anymore.
"Thanks Simon," I said. "I'm glad to hear that. And in reality, you did a really great thing for Rob. You're right, I'm proud of you! Why don't you get back to your class now. If you think of anything else that might help us to find Rob, get a pass to come tell me or Tom right away."
"OK," Simon said, smiling a little, and taking a pass I handed to him, that I'd been writing as I spoke.
"Simon," Tom said. "Do you know the names of any of the kids Rob hangs out with?"
Simon told us the names of two or three students, but said they were the only ones he knew of, although there were probably more. He said he didn't really know Rob that well yet.
Simon left then and went to his class.
Tom and I discussed the situation, and we couldn't come up with any other ideas on how to find Rob, other than by talking to his friends. Tom called Rob's homeroom teacher and talked to her a minute. She gave Tom the names of some more kids Rob hung out with. Tom brought up all the kid's schedules on his computer, and printed them out. We split them up and each went to talk to a few of Rob's friends.
An hour later, we were sitting back in Tom's office again. None of the boys we talked to knew anything, except one, a boy named Curt. He didn't know where Rob was at the moment, but he expected to see him later that afternoon at his house. I told him to have Rob call me when he got to his house. He said he would.
"Guess all we can do is wait now," Tom said.
Agreeing, I went back to my class.
That afternoon, Ethan had to work. Tom came over though. We waited for Curt to call, but he never did. At suppertime, we called Curt. He said that Rob had showed up an hour earlier, but had left a few minutes later. Curt said Rob had asked if he could sleep there, but Curt's family had company from out of town, and there wasn't any room. I asked Curt if he knew where Rob was going when he left, but he said he didn't know. I asked him if he'd given Rob my message and phone number, and he said he had. I thanked Curt and asked him to call me if he ran into him again. He said he would.
While Tom and I fried up some cheeseburgers, I had Simon call all Rob's friends we knew of. He was nowhere to be found.
"Well, at least we know he was OK a couple hours ago," Tom said.
"Yeah, but where is he now? And where is he going to sleep? It's going to be frigid tonight!" I said.
We ate quickly, then went and drove around looking for Rob. We tried the mall, and the library, and the grocery stores. We checked any place that was warm and open to the public. Rob was nowhere. On the way back to the apartment, I saw Simon looking across the road at the ball fields, and the baseball dugouts.
"You don't think he'd be there? Do you?" I asked.
"I don't know," Simon said.
I turned into the ball field access road and drove over to the nearest field. We all jumped out, and ran over to the dugouts and checked. No Rob.
We got back in the car and headed back to the apartment.
As I was parking, Tom's cell phone rang. It was the police. Someone had broken into the school. All they could see on the remote monitor at the police station was that it was one person. It looked like an older boy with light hair they said. The police were there now, and wanted Tom to come over and unlock doors for them while they searched for the intruder.
"You don't think it's Rob do you?" Simon asked.
"I hope it is!" Tom said.
"Simon, you should stay here," I said. "In case it isn't Rob, and he shows up here looking for help."
"OK," Simon said, and he climbed out of the car and ran into the building.
I backed around and headed to the school, completely ignoring the speed limits.
When we got there, we found the police scattered around the outside of the building. Tom and I went up to the front door. Tom unlocked it and we went inside, with several of the officers. Some stayed outside, in case whoever it was tried to leave. First thing Tom did was unlock the office and turn on the lights throughout the building. Then he went to the bank of security camera monitors.
Almost immediately, we saw a tall thin boy with spiked blond hair walk past one of the cameras on the second floor.
"It's Rob!" I said.
"Tell your officers not to be rough with him," Tom told the policeman in charge. "We know him, and he's not here to cause trouble."
The officer looked at Tom questioningly, but Tom had already picked up the PA system's microphone, and turned it on.
"Rob!" Tom said into the microphone, and his voice came through the PA System's speakers up in the ceiling.
On one of the cameras, we saw Rob freeze and look up at the ceiling.
"It's Mr. McGrath, Rob," Tom said into the microphone. "Simon's dad, Mr. Winslow's here too. We can see you on the security camera. It's OK Rob. You're not in any trouble, so you can come out. Please come down to the office, so we can talk."
Not knowing what to do, Rob bolted and ran into the nearest boy's room.
"Let me go up and try to talk to him," I said.
"No, he could be armed," the cop said.
"He's not armed!" Tom said. "Please! Let us handle this!"
Before anyone else could say anything, I ran out of the office and down the hall to the nearest stairwell. I took the stairs two at a time. In less than a minute I'd made it from the office downstairs to the boys' room upstairs. Breathing a little heavily, I walked into the boys' room,
It appeared to be empty. The doors to the stalls were all closed though. I didn't see any feet sticking down from behind any of the. I stood still and held my breath and listened for a minute. I heard what sounded like a slight sniff.
"Rob! It's Mr. Winslow," I said. "You know. Simon Banning's foster father. The guy who walked in on you naked in the kitchen the other morning. I know you're in here. Nobody wants to hurt you. You're not in any trouble. Mr. McGrath and I just want to help you. So, why don't you come on out."
A couple seconds went by, then I saw a pair of sneakered feet touch down on the floor in the last stall down at the end. A moment later, the stall door opened, and Rob Watkins stepped out. He looked scared and embarrassed.
I smiled and said, "I'm glad we found you. We've been worrying about you all day. I promise you, everything will be alright."
Just then, Tom and a couple policemen walked into the bathroom. Rob suddenly looked scared.
"Guys, it's OK. He's one of our students, and he's OK," I said. "Can you back off and give us some space please?"
The cops looked at Tom, who nodded his assent. They left then. Rob still looked a little scared.
Tom looked back and forth between us a couple times, then he said, "It's OK Rob, you're not in any trouble. I'll fix things with the cops. Meanwhile, Why don't you talk with Greg a few minutes."
Tom looked at me a moment, then left.
"Did he mean it? I'm not in trouble for being here?" Rob asked.
"If he said you're not in trouble, you're not!" I said.
"Simon ratted on me, didn't he?" Rob asked.
"Not really," I said. "He didn't tell us anything. Only in the end, after we already knew what was going on, he did finally confirm that we were right. He kept his promise to you right up until we all started getting worried about you! He only broke his promise to try and help you, so please don't be mad at him."
"Fine," Rob said, "but if he didn't tell, who did?"
"Your mother," I said.
Rob looked at me unbelievingly.
"When you didn't show up at school today, Mr. McGrath called your mother to see where you were. She told him then." I said.
"Oh," Rob said.
"C'mon," I said, "School's no place to spend the night."
"Where are you taking me?" Rob asked, uneasily.
"Mine and Simon's apartment," I said, smiling. "I expect you're hungry, and probably tired too. You can stay with us tonight, and together, we're going to figure out a way to help you."
Rob looked at me uncertainly for a minute, but then walked toward me, and followed me out the bathroom door.
By the time I'd gotten Rob down to the office, all but a couple of the police officers had left.
Rob looked a little scared when they looked up at him.
"It's OK Rob," Tom said. "Like I said, you're not in trouble. The police officers do want to speak to you for a moment though. They just want to talk, that's all!"
The two cops stepped over to us.
"May we have a minute alone with the boy?" one of them asked.
Rob's eyes got bigger.
"Meaning no disrespect," I said, "but I don't see why that's necessary. You can speak to him in front of me."
The cop looked annoyed, but I thought Rob's shoulders seemed to relax ever so slightly.
The annoyed cop looked at Rob and told him that he wasn't in trouble, only because Tom was refusing to press charges. They told him that if Tom had pressed charges, he'd have been arrested for breaking and entering and burglary at the least, and if convicted, he'd end up in a youth detention center! They warned him about ever doing anything illegal, saying they had his name now, and if he did screw up, they'd throw the book at him.
"Nothing like reminding a kid that the police are there to help him if he needs it," I remarked.
"I have your name too!" The officer said, glaring at me.
"That works both ways Officer... Hunt!" I said, reading the name off his tag.
"What don't you understand?" Officer Hunt said to me. "This boy broke into the school and was wandering around in it alone, with God knows what on his mind!"
"I didn't break in!" Rob said suddenly. "One of the doors into the gym was unlocked!"
"Guys! Please!" Tom said. "Greg, Officer Hunt's just trying to do his job. Why don't you take Rob into the office now. And, Officer Hunt, you're not aware of the entire situation here. We are, and we're handling it. Rob's a good kid. He really doesn't need reminders from you. A lot of the kids that attend school here could use them I guess, but not this boy. Thank you though for all of your efforts."
The officers nodded to Tom and turned and walked out of the building.
Once the police were all gone, Tom asked Rob to show him the unlocked door he'd come in through, and we locked it up. Then Tom shut off the lights through the building, and we left.
"I'm sorry about all the trouble I'm causing you," Rob said, as we got into my car.
"It's OK Rob, it's not your fault," I said.
We rode silently back to the apartment then.
Simon grinned when we walked in with Rob. Rob smiled slightly.
"Hungry?" I asked.
Rob looked at me uncertainly.
"It's OK to say 'yes'," I said, smiling.
Rob smiled slightly and nodded at me.
"You like cheeseburgers?" I asked.
"Yes," Rob said.
"How many would you like?" I asked.
"One will be fine, thank you," he said.
"He'd prefer two," Simon piped up.
"That's what I figured," I said, grinning.
"House rule Rob. If I we offer you something, it's OK to accept it, and it's OK to tell us if there's something you want or need too!" I said, smiling at him.
"OK, Thank you Mr. Winslow," Rob said, blushing a little.
"You're welcome, and please - outside school, call me Greg!" I said.
"OK," Rob said, smiling finally.
Tom and I left the boys in the living room and went out to the kitchen to cook Rob's supper for him.
"So are you OK?" Simon asked Rob.
"Been better," Rob replied.
"It'll be OK. Greg and Tom will help you," Simon said.
"But how? I can't go home anymore. I'll probably end up in a foster home," Rob said.
"Well, they're not all that bad. Look at me!" Simon said.
"No foster home's as nice as this!" Rob said. "You musta really stepped into a lucky pile of shit to end up here!"
"Well, why don't you wait and see. At least now, you don't have to worry about where you're gonna stay. Greg'll let you stay with us till something's worked out," Simon said.
"I guess," Rob said, dubiously.
"Get washed up Rob! Your burgers are almost ready," I called from the kitchen.
Rob smiled slightly, and got up and went to the bathroom.
While Rob ate his supper, the three of us sat with him and had some dessert. It was a relatively quiet meal.
Afterward, I asked Simon to go to his room, while Rob, Tom and I went and sat in the living room. Simon seemed mildly annoyed, but resignedly walked off down the hallway.
"I know things don't seem good for you right now Rob," I said, after we were sitting together in the living room. "I promise though, that you won't have to worry about having food, or a place to stay anymore. No matter what happens, Tom and I will make sure you're taken care of."
"Thank you," Rob said quietly, looking a little embarrassed.
Tom smiled and said, "We want to help you Rob, but in order to do that, we're going to need to know everything that's been going on, that lead you to leave home."
Rob looked cautiously at us. We both looked back at him as warmly and benevolently as we could.
"We know most of the story already Rob. How about you tell it all to us though, so any holes in what we know, get filled in," I said, smiling slightly.
Rob looked at me a moment, then finally, his shoulders sagged, and looking down at the floor, he began his tale.
"To begin with, I don't know if you know it or not, but I'm adopted. My birth mother was only 14 when she had me. She and my birth father, who was a couple years older than her, were druggies. They were always high. The doctors don't know why I didn't end up with problems because of it, but I didn't. Anyway, My birth mother's father and mother made her give me up for adoption. I was only a few days old when I was adopted by my parents." Rob said.
"Things weren't really bad," Rob continued. "My mother loved me and she was a good mother. But she isn't really a strong person. I wouldn't say she's a druggie, but whenever something stressful happens, she always has to take valium or something for it. A doctor prescribes it for her, so it's not illegal!"
Rob looked at us worriedly, like he expected us to call the police on his mother.
"That's OK, Rob," Tom said. "Sometimes people need to take medicine."
"Yeah," Rob said. "My father and I have never really been close. If it wasn't for the fact that my mother wanted a baby, but couldn't have one for whatever reason, I don't think they'd have adopted me. I don't think he ever really wanted kids. He never treated me badly though. But, he never really spent any time with me either. There's only been three times I can remember my father taking an interest in me. When I was 5 or 6 and all the other kids started playing "T" Ball in Little League, my father signed me up, and took me to the practices and games. I sucked though, and I hated it. I know he was disappointed. He loves baseball. I think he had plans for me to get into Pop Warner Football too, but, seeing how I sucked at baseball, he let that drop."
"He didn't do much with me for a couple years then," Rob continued, "not until it was time for Cub Scouts. Soon as he could, he signed me up for that too. He was even an assistant den father. That wasn't too bad really, but he seemed to spend most of his time working with the other boys. One night my mother asked me how I liked scouting, and I told her it was OK. She asked how I liked having Dad as a den father. I told her then that I thought the other kids liked having him there a lot, because they seemed to be having a good time with him. Later I heard Mom hollering at him about spending time with the other kids, and not me. That's when I heard him say 'Maybe the other kids appreciate me more than he does. I've tried to do things with him. He never seems interested. The other boys are!' They had a big fight then. It ended with my father yelling 'well you can be sure things would've been different if he'd been born of my sperm!'"
"Oh man! I'm sorry about all that Rob!" I said.
"You get used to it after a while," Rob said. "Well, I managed to finish out the year in Cub Scouts. We went on the father/son campout in May, and that was the end of my scouting career. The weather sucked, the food sucked, everything sucked. I hated it, and was miserable. I guess my mood rubbed off on my father. He'd been happy about the trip, but as it went on, he became just as miserable as I was. Then, the day we went on the hike up the mountain, I slid on a wet rock, fell, and rolled down the hill a few yards. It was a good thing there was a pine tree in the way, or I might have fallen a good distance and really gotten hurt bad. As it was, I'd broken my arm. That was the end of our camping trip. Dad packed us up and drove us home. We stopped on the way, at the hospital, and they casted me. Neither of us ever went back to the scouts after that."
"It's too bad all those bad things happened," Tom said. "Sometimes a camping trip like that can bring a father and son closer together."
"Not us!" Rob said. "Anyway, my father spent less and less time with me after that. I've been a huge disappointment to him. We're nothing alike, and neither of us likes anything the other does. He's into sports, camping, and stuff like that. I like music, computer games, and things like that. There's only one thing that my father and I have in common. We both like cars."
"Well, there's something for you to do together," I said.
"Yeah, and it was actually starting to work too," Rob said. "When I was 14, my father bought a 'project car' - you know - a beat up car that needs a lot of work, but has the potential to be a good car again, that you can keep or sell?"
"Never really heard it called that, but I know what you mean," Tom said.
"Well," Rob continued. "Dad bought this Mercury Cougar. He got it really cheap, because it needed a lot of work. I guess I surprised both him and Mom when I went out to the garage and started watching what he was doing. A little while later, Mom came out and said 'Howie, why don't you let Rob help you?' My father looked curiously at me, but said 'You wanta help?' He looked shocked when I said 'Sure!' Mom was smiling then when I got up and went over and he started showing me how to change the spark plugs. Dad let me help him with everything, and after a few weeks, we had the car done. It looked great! I couldn't believe it when while we were out driving around in it, my father pulled into an empty parking lot, and told me to change places with him. I was confused, but I got out of the car. 'Go on - get behind the wheel' he'd said. Completely shocked, I got in the driver's seat. 'You helped fix her up. You should get to drive her too before we sell her' he'd said. 'But I'm only 14!' I'd said. He laughed and said he was 14 when his father taught him to drive. Then he told me to listen to what he said. Then, he taught me how to drive, and had me driving around in the empty parking lot. That was the absolute best half hour I ever experienced with my father!"
Rob had tears in his eyes, as he stopped a moment and took a swallow of soda.
"That sounds like it was a lot of fun Rob. That's the way it should always be for a father and son," I said.
"I know," Rob said. "Except for when we're working on cars, it's not that way for us though. My father sold that car. I wish he'd kept it. It was my favorite. Anyway, winter was coming, so he didn't get another one. We were back to our usual lives. In the spring, he got another project car though. He let me help him fix that one up too. It wasn't as much fun as the Cougar had been. It was more work. And, when we went out to test drive it, he let me drive again, but I hit a pot hole really hard and blew a tire. He got pissed at me. He fixed the tire and sold the car soon after that."
"We did another car later that summer," Rob went on. "Then this past summer, we did one in June and July. Since I turned 16, Dad also taught me to drive on the road. In September, I got my driver's license. We also got another car to work on. I asked Dad if I could buy it, and if it could be mine after we fixed it up, but he said that no son of his would be driving a shit box like that. He said that the next project car we got, he'd help me find a good one and let me buy it. Then we'd fix it up to be my car. We were still working on the 'shit box' yet, when everything went to hell."
Rob rubbed his eyes and took another drink of soda.
"Can you tell us what happened, Rob?" I asked.
"Well..." Rob said, looking at the two of us a minute, trying to size up what our reaction would be, before he continued. "I don't know if Simon told you this or not, but I'm gay."
Tom and I exchanged glances, and I said, "I see. Well, that's OK with us. Do your parents know?"
Rob looked at us curiously, then said, "I don't know if my mother does or not. I expect that by now, my father's told her. He does know. That's the reason I'm not living at home."
"I take it your father doesn't approve?" I asked.
Rob smiled and snorted, "That's putting it mildly!"
"Can you tell us what happened?" Tom asked, quietly.
Rob looked at us a minute, then launched into the next part of his story. "Well, I figured out a couple years ago already, that I was gay. I mean, I've never had sex with anyone. Not with a guy or a girl. I know though that I'm not interested in girls, but that I can't take my eyes off of a good looking guy. Well, I knew my parents didn't like gays. Especially my father. He's always making fun of them. So I kept my orientation a secret. I was pretty good at hiding my true feelings too. Neither of them wondered much about why I never had a girlfriend, because I am usually rather shy. And, whenever I was around my father, I made sure to notice any good looking girls that went by. He never figured it out. Not until a couple weeks ago at least."
"What happened then?" I asked.
Rob started talking again. "I was at school one day. When I came home, I realized someone had been in my room, looking at my stuff. Certain things weren't the way I'd left them. In particular, an old back pack I kept under the bed was lying on top of the bed. It was open. I knew I was in deep trouble then. I kept a couple of gay porn magazines, a tube of KY, and a dildo in that back pack."
Rob had turned red in the face, and looked at his feet when he mentioned the dildo.
"Go on," Tom said, gently.
Rob looked up at us a minute, then went on. "Everything was still in the back pack, but obviously someone had seen what was in it. I'd left it closed, under my bed. I looked out the window, and realized I was up shit creek. My mother's car was gone, but my father's was home. I walked through the house, looking for him. Eventually I found him out in the garage. He was working on the car. He didn't say anthing to me. He didn't answer me when I said Hello. I didn't say anything else. I walked over and picked up some sand paper to work on the fender I'd been working on the previous night. Before I could start sanding, my father straightened up and looked at me. He asked me if I'd been up to my room. I was practically shitting my pants suddenly. I told him I had. He said he'd been up there a little while earlier, looking for a gapping tool he couldn't find. He thought maybe I'd put it in my jean's pocket and forgotten about it. He said he saw my jeans on the floor and walked over and picked them up to look in the pocket. The belt loop was caught on something under the bed. When he'd given it a tug, the jeans had slid out, pulling a knapsack with it. The knapsack had been open. Then he said 'I want an explanation for that THING that fell out of it!' 'What thing?' I'd asked, terrified now. 'That woman's sex toy!' he'd hollered. I stood there, unable to speak. I could feel my face burning. 'And don't lie to me! I saw the faggot porn too!' he bellowed after a minute."
Rob was nearly in tears now, as he told us about his encounter with his father.
"It's OK Rob," Tom said.
"Take a break. Have a hit of soda," I said, smiling ryely at him.
Rob smiled ruefully, rubbed his eyes, and took a big swallow of soda. After a minute he picked up his tale.
"What else could I do?" Rob said. "I told him I was sorry he'd had to find out that way, but that the things he saw were mine, and I had them because I was gay. He just stood staring at me. After a minute he started yelling at me, ranting and raving, telling me I wasn't old enough to know what I wanted. I told him I was, and I did. We got into a big fight then. I really don't want to go back over all that. The upshot was that he threw a wrench at me. He missed. But, I hit him in the face with an oil filter I picked up off the bench. He started swearing and chasing me around, trying to hit me, and screaming at me, calling me a faggot, and telling me I wasn't his son, and to get the hell out of his house, and never to come back! It was NOT a pretty scene! So I did the only thing I could think of. I ran away from him. Just like that, I ran away from him, and my home."
Tears were trickling down Rob's cheeks then. I got up and moved over to the other couch and sat down next to him. I put my arm around him.
"I'm so sorry Rob," I said, hugging him gently.
Sniffling, Rob looked up at me. As I smiled sadly at him, he turned into me and pressed his face against my chest and began crying. I squeezed him gently and held him as he wept, telling him every so often that it was OK, that he would be OK.
Eventually, Rob stopped crying and sat up again.
"I'm sorry," He said.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," I said, smiling a little.
"I'm a freak, and nobody wants me!" Rob said, miserably, looking at me.
"No you're not, and that's not true!" I said.
Rob was inconsolable though.
Hoping to take his mind off his idea that nobody wanted him, we eventually got Rob to tell us where he'd been and what he'd done since the day he and his father had had their fight. He'd gone to his friend Curt's house, and had spent the night with him. The next morning, he snuck into the house and packed up some of his things. As he was sneaking back down the back stairway, he heard his parents fighting about him. His father was telling his mother that he, Rob, was no good, and that he'd left for good, and they should forget he ever existed! He could tell from his mother's responses, that she had already been taking her valium. Although she was crying, her responses were slurred a bit. Rob left then, and hadn't gone back since. Until tonight, he'd been lucky enough to have friends offer to put him up for the night. Tonight though, nobody'd been able to help him. So, he figured the heat was on at the school, and he knew usually at least one door was left unlocked, so that's why he'd gone back to the school. He didn't realize the security cameras were hooked into the police department, and that there were silent alarms on the doors, that went off at the police department as well.
We talked a little while yet, and Rob understood that he wasn't in any trouble, that we weren't upset with him, and in fact didn't care that he was gay, and that we wanted to help him. He seemed a little more relaxed then, but not a lot. He was still extremely worried about what was going to happen to him.
"What's going to happen now?" he asked, finally, looking worriedly at us.
"Well," I said, looking at Tom, "it's getting late, so for tonight, you're gonna stay with me and Simon. Tomorrow, we'll think about it some more and together, I'm sure we'll come up with a solution. Leastwise we're gonna make sure you're taken care of until we come up with one."
"Sorry to interrupt," Simon said, as he walked from the hallway toward the kitchen.
"It's OK, come join us," I said.
Simon surveyed us all, then sat down next to Tom.
"Rob's gonna stay with us tonight. Maybe longer. We're going to see what we can do to help him out." I said.
Simon smiled and said, "Cool! He can bunk with me."
"I-I can sleep on the couch if you'd rather," Rob said, looking back and forth between Simon and I.
Simon grinned and said, "I have a big bed. Besides, you might feel better if you have some company. C'mon, it's late. I'm going to bed. You should too. You look exhausted."
Rob looked at me questioningly. I smiled and said, "Go on, unless YOU would prefer the couch. We'll talk more tomorrow."
He smiled slightly, then thanked Tom and I for everything, before following Simon down the hallway.
"Wow! What a tale!" Tom said.
"Sad, isn't it?" I said.
"Ultra-sad!" Tom said. "You know, legally we're supposed to call in Social Services."
"I know. Thanks for letting it go at this point," I said.
"Do you have a plan?" Tom asked.
"Only thing I can think of is going to see the parents. In particular the father," I said.
"You think that'll help?" Tom asked.
"Can't hurt to try," I said.
"Want me to come?" Tom asked.
I grinned and said, "I'd like that."
"OK, Tomorrow we'll go see them. Right now, since you have a house guest, I guess I'll go back to my place," Tom said.
"Sorry," I said.
"I'll live. Tonight at least," Tom said. "Um... what about Ethan?"
"I know. He's due over tomorrow night, and somehow, I doubt Rob will be gone by then," I said.
"He deserves to know. Especially since Rob's sharing Simon's bed," Tom said.
"I know. I doubt the two are getting sexual though." I said.
"No, but still," Tom said.
"I know. We'll deal with that tomorrow too!" I said.
"OK then," Tom said, getting up.
We said good-night to each other, then I went and got ready for bed.
I thought I'd lay awake all night, worrying about what to do for Rob, but I was so exhausted, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Meanwhile, down the hallway, in Simon's room, Simon and Rob were laying in bed next to each other, both staring up at the shadows on the ceiling. Rob told Simon everything he'd told Tom and I. By the time he was finished, Simon heard him sniffling again.
"c'm'ere," Simon said, drowsily.
"huh?" Rob asked.
"C'mon. Roll over and snuggle up to me," Simon said.
"But we're both naked," Rob said.
"It's OK, this won't be sexual," Simon said.
Rob was surprised, but he felt so alone, that he turned and rolled over, so he was laying on his stomach, half on, half off, Simon's left side. He was straddling Simon's left leg, and his cock and balls were plastered up against Simon's left thigh, and he could feel Simon's genitals rubbing the outside of his left hip. Simon adjusted his position a little, then wrapped his arm around Rob and hugged him. Rob was so overcome by Simon's simple gesture, that he began crying.
The two boys lay together, as Rob wept quietly, and Simon gently stroked his shoulder blades. Eventually, Rob fell asleep. It took a while longer, but Simon eventually fell asleep too...
The next chapter in this series will be published shortly.