This story is a continuation of Matt Smith's (matterotica@hotmail.co.uk) fantastic story, 'Jack Hamilton Is Not A Nice Person'. I had often wondered what transpired directly after Jack storms away in the park. This was initially going to be a one-off, but while writing, I have decided to continue the tale that was left untold between Chapter 19, and the '6 Months Later' epiloge we see in Chapter 20. So, for those of you who have wondered what happened in the 6 months after Jack cut his puppet strings...here it is!
I would like to thank Matt Smith for creating the characters in the first place; and for his invaluable advice, input and suggestions which made this sequel possible. Espeically discussing his characters' motivations and psychology with me. Please read his story first if you haven't already! https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/jack-hamilton/
An additional special thanks goes out to Jasper Cooper (jax.cooper@yahoo.com) for his input, especially having to do with the kinkier stuff. (It'll come, I promise!) You can read his amazing story 'The Downfall of Nate Ramsey', the inspirtation for Jack Hamilton!, here: https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/downfall-of-nate-ramsey/
Please consider donating to Nifty!
CHAPTER 9.5
It was 6am on November 1st, the day after Halloween. As Elliott cried in his sleep in a cage in Tyler's basement, as Ben frantically was putting makeup over his bruised eye before his parents knocked on his door to wake him for school, Bryce's own parents were gingerly walking Bryce back into their house. It was four weeks. Four weeks to the day that Bryce was set up, presumably by Jack, to get raped and abused in Twin Oaks Park. During that time, he spent the first night in the hospital, the second night in a holding cell at the Holmepoint Police Department, the next three nights back in the hospital's 72-hour Crisis Watch Unit due to something stupid he told the police about wanting to hurt himself, and the remaining twenty three days at his aunts house in Quiet Knoll so that he could recuperate from his ordeal, both body and mind. The following morning, when the police notified his parents that they had their son in custody, they quickly raced to the police station to see him. His mother had to physically be carried out by two detectives and her husband, due to the hysterical shock of seeing her only son behind bars. She calmed down somewhat when the lead detective assured her that the county prosecutor was seriously considering not filing charges for indecent exposure, based on Bryce's explanation that he told the police. Still, they had to hold him until they got the paperwork that made it all official. Next, his parents drove to Twin Oaks Park to pick up Bryce's car that was still parked there, and notified the school that he was attacked in Cliffwood Beach, and would most likely not be able to attend for some time. Bryce spared them the sexual aspects of his assault, but couldn't convincingly explain what he was doing stark naked walking home from a park after midnight, complete with a broken wrist. They prodded and poked, begged and even threatened the entire month of October, but Bryce kept insisting that he didn't want to talk about it, and just wanted to try and forget the entire traumatic experience.
"Alright, son. you have an hour before you have to get to school. Just lay down on the couch and rest up. Are you sure you're okay to go back today? Doctor Shepherd said that...."
"I WANNA go back, dad!" Bryce insisted. "I told you and mom that what happened to me was planned by someone I know! Other's could be at risk and I GOTTA talk to my friends!"
"That's another thing, Bryce!" His dad said, as Bryce kicked off his shoes and plopped down on the couch. "The cops visited you three times at Aunt Irene's house! Why are you refusing to cooperate with them!? If you know who was behind it, then TELL THEM! HELL, WHY WON'T YOU TELL US FOR GOD'S SAKE!?"
"Calm down, please! We went through this already!"
"What is it Bryce!? Don't you DARE be thinking you're going to take the law into your own hands with that fucker who hurt you! So help me God, if you're going to school today to do something foolish..."
"Listen to me, dad! I want to move on from it! I was an asshole to this person. He got me back. That's all I'm going to say about it! I'm not gonna do anything to get myself in any more trouble, okay!? You always trusted my word before, why can't you trust it now?"
Bryce's father looked pensive. They were Corsetti's. Corsetti men ALWAYS kept their word. It was something he could always trust Bryce on, as his son has proven time and time again over the years. The boy was only a few short months away from seventeen years old, and was ever closer to becoming a man in his own right. While he was understandably scared for Bryce, and secretly ashamed that his only son got in trouble with the law - even if it may not have been entirely his fault - he had to let him make his own judgements and trust that he knew how to do the right thing. To do otherwise would make him a hypocrite as a father. Finally, he sighed.
"Okay, Bryce. I won't pretend to know what kind of hijinx you and your.....friends.....are up to, but you've always kept your word. It's one of the many reasons I'm always so proud of you." Bryce's father lovingly rubbed Bryce's head, which caused a few tears to leak out of the boy's puffy eyes. "You have never disappointed me before. You're such a good kid, and you always have been. We all make mistakes in life, and I can no doubt see that you made a whale of one....and that it's eating you up. You always know how to do the right thing in the end, though. So, let's just drop this. For your mother's sake, as well."
"Thanks dad. I really appreciate that." Bryce said, trying not to sob.
"Just rest a bit and I'll wake you up when it's time to leave for school, okay?"
"I'll try. And dad? I love you."
"I love you too son."
............
Upstairs, Bryce's mother was cleaning her son's room. The past month was absolute Hell for the Corsetti family, and whenever she wasn't at St. Anne's Church praying for her son - which was almost every single day since October 5th - she cleaned. She always cleaned. It was the way she always dealt with stress, and was very cathartic for her in times like these. Today was a happy day, however. Bryce was finally back home after spending weeks at her sister Irene's house in Quiet Knoll. That was her idea. She had thought that what her son needed was a quiet place in the country to unwind and rehabilitate, and it seemed to have worked. She was now determined to make Bryce's room spotless for him by the time he got back from school. She and her husband talked the night before, and it was determined that what Bryce needed when he got home was a loving, stress-free environment.
As she lifted up the mattress to yank the sheet off Bryce's bed, a piece of notebook paper fluttered out from underneath it and landed on her feet.
"What in Heaven's name is this?" Bryce's mom said out loud, as she bent down to pick it up. She knew she shouldn't pry and probably had no right to read it, and under normal circumstances, she wouldn't dream of it. Given what happened, however...
After a brief sting of guilt for invading her son's privacy, she began to read Bryce's letter to Jack:
'I really don't even know where to begin, honestly. This is going to sound a bit harsh at first, but it's not meant to. I am just trying to let my feelings out on everything, so bare with me, okay? When I got home from Rosewater Park lastnight, I saw that you unfriended me and blocked me on Facebook. I tried texting you, but either you blocked my number as well, or just won't speak to me. I thought everything was square between us and we were all friends on equal footing. We had such a great day yesterday until that fucking Truth or Dare game! I was hoping you'd at least hear us out in the school lobby, but you never showed up. That's why we decided to do this here in front of your house. I'm not trying to sound like a dick and I'm not blaming you for what I just said. You're our victim after all. You have a right not to see us, or be our friend, or even acknowledge we exist. It still hurts, though, if that even matters to you. After you attacked Elliott and choked him lastnight, I must tell you something. You scare me. I tried to text you this. The look in your eyes lastnight was one of a wild animal, and I actually thought for a moment that you were going to kill Elliott. We thought you improved these past ten days, but maybe all we did was make you worse. I guess that is something we have to live with. I am not saying this because I am concerned about my own welfare exactly. It's more that I don't want to see you get yourself into trouble that you cannot get out of. So that being said, I beg you: please do not hurt us. If you feel the need to seek retribution, than do it legally through the police and the courts. Before it comes to that, however, I ask that you let us make it up to you on our own. And I thank you that you have NOT involved the authorities yet!
Before I get into that, though, I do need to tell you how sorry I am personally. I cannot stand here and face you and begin to understand how you feel about us. More specifically, how you feel about me. I never wanted this for you. I swear I didn't. It's easy to say now, but I genuinely thought that our...help....was fun for you as well. I went to sleep each night during those ten days telling myself, "Well...if he doesn't LIKE what we're doing, he would just refuse what we tell him to do." I told myself that you didn't actually believe our stupid threats, and that all of this was just a game. That's why I went to your house early on. I wanted to see if you would want it with no pressure. I HAD TO SEE! I HAD TO KNOW! If you refused me, I would have absolutely switched sides and told you that the rest of the guys were just scamming you. Since you DID want it, I figured it was just kinky games for you, and the icing on the cake being that we were helping you. I guess I was wrong on both counts.
(Uh....it occurs to me that I'm going to be reading this out loud. I'm sorry guys. Elliott, Ben, Lincoln...It's the truth. I was fully ready to help Jack escape all of us. It would have been the right thing to do.)
Now listen. All of the things I just mentioned, was how I justified it AT THE TIME. I didn't know what it REALLY was that we were doing to you. I didn't know how trapped you felt about it all. I was SO FUCKING STUPID! I understand now that self-delusion is a very powerful thing. I interpreted this entire mess all wrong. Also, just because you may have enjoyed it at the time, doesn't make it right or excuses it. It was still WRONG. It was the worst thing I ever did in my life. You got to believe me, THAT IS NOT ME. Me and the guys have been talking all day about ways we can possibly make it up to you, and all I ask is you allow us to try. To make you proud of us. I'm sure you saw it by now, but we're pooling our money together and we will leave it for you in your locker. Not just for the beer, but....shit, I dunno man. For everything. That's just the beginning. We were talking about each of us giving you fifty percent of our paychecks each week once we start working. I know that sounds like we're trying to buy your forgiveness, but that's not it at all. We wanna atone. That is also just the beginning, we decided we would let you fuck us as hard as you want, lube or no, every day after school. Finally, as Elliott mentioned just now in HIS letter, we will undo every bit of damage we caused to your reputation from the fallout of what we did. I plan on gathering some of the guys, and giving the coach an ultimatum that if you're not made captain again, we will all quit the team. Even he couldn't risk that, because if he doesn't listen, Holmepoint's 2016-2017 season would be nonexistent, and he'll be out of a job. What I'm trying to say here is, LET US. Even if you cannot forgive us yet. We don't ask that you hang out with us. We don't ask that you talk to us, or sit with us at lunch. Aside from this final request of letting us do all this for you, none of us would even feel comfortable ASKING you for anything anymore, let alone TELLING you to do something.
I guess that's all I wanted to say. Once again, I am very sorry about what I did to you. I would erase the past ten days from your mind if it were humanly possible, but sadly that's one thing I can't do for you. So let us do the next best thing.'
Once Bryce's mom was done reading the last sentence, her quivering hands tore the letter up until it was nothing more than confetti in her palms. She raced down the hall to the upstairs bathroom and flushed the little pieces of trash down the toilet where it belongs. She would say nothing of this to Bryce or her husband. Bryce did something horrible. She didn't know exactly what it was, but from what she could tell, he got in with a bad crowd and did things that she was pretty sure he would have otherwise thought unthinkable. Whatever happened to him in Cliffwood Beach last month was some kind of payback for what he did. She was sure of that. She also prayed to God - literally - that it was over. That whatever cycle of revenge and payback that Bryce was involved in was over once and for all.
After crying her eyes out for twenty minutes, Mrs. Corsetti went to her room to attempt to apply her makeup with fingers that were still shaking and quivering. She practiced her smile in her mirror several times before she thought she'd pass off as convincingly happy. It was time to go downstairs to fix Bryce his breakfast before he left for school.
Only one other person was made aware of her discovery that morning. Father Callahan in the confessional at Saint Anne's.
[Author's Note: IMPORTANT: For those of you who would like to recieve exclusive backround information on this story; including Easter Eggs, real-life inspirtations, and even a video-walking tour of me the REAL LIFE Rose Hill Cemetery (Raven Hill's real-life counterpart, where I did indeed have sex in and party with my goth friends) then all you have to do is send me an email and give me your thoughts on 'Jack Hamilton' so far! I will also pick three people whose names I will use in the story in future chapters! Also, stay tuned for Chapter 10, which will prove to be huge! There's so much going on for our boys the day after Halloween. We will see Jack and Felix reconnect, Elliott's continued ordeal with Tyler, and we will finally find out what happened to Bryce at the police station. Plus...what happened to Ben's eye!? We're talking major kink for Ch 10!]
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or opinions, please email me at riveracheron101@gmail.com for exclusive content!!