With Love We Can be Human By James
Disclaimer
This is a story which deals with sexual as well as romantic relationships between teenaged males. Should you not be of the legal age to read such material, or if you're offended by this type of story then please find something else to read.
I can be reached at jamesheady1985@gmail.com for those who would like to talk with me about the story or about anything, though flames and spam will be ignored. That's the new e-mail address from which this story will be originating for Nifty. So everyone can leave comments and other thoughts at that address now. I had some e-mail problems with my other account where I wasn't able to send e-mail so that's why you guys haven't seen any updates from me for almost a year until last week.
Finally, please remember to donate to Nifty, as it keeps these stories and related material free to the public.
Author's note
I know it's been almost a year since I gave you guys an update for the story. I went back to school and I began taking classes towards the end of August of 2016 here at Hocking College. I stay on campus and live in the dorms, so that's going well. I'm in the Addiction Studies Program and am working towards receiving my degree in addiction counseling.
I took Summer classes this summer and will be starting the second year of the program here in a few weeks. Eventually though, I would like to go back to get my Master's degree in either Mental Health Counseling or Social Work so I can help people who are in The GLBT Community who have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to being bullied as children, abused as children or who have PTSD due to various forms of anti-GLBT problems. First though, I'll be working as an addictions counselor for a few years before going for my Masters. It's going really well and so that's part of why no one has heard from me for almost a year.
The other reason I haven't sent anything in for anyone to read, was because for this past year, I've had problems with my e-mail account and so I've switched to Gmail and that's fixed it. So with time permitting, you guys should see more from me in the coming weeks.
James: 2017.
Chapter 8
Brandon
Ryan lived in a two-story house that was well-kept and had lots of woods in back of it from what I could see. In front of the house, there were two trees on either side of the house as well as a walkway leading up to the porch. On either side of the porch, there were two large flower pots one on each side. In the one on the right if one was sitting on the steps, there was a jade plant and on the left in the other flower pot was what looked like a furn.
"Nice plants," I said.
"Thanks," Ryan said as he walked beside me. "My mom planted those a couple of months ago."
"I like them," Dana said.
"So do I," I answered.
"You think any of that's true what they say?" Austin began.
"What's that?" Dana asked.
"You know," he continued. "About how music can help plants grow big and strong."
"I haven't been keeping myself up at night thinking about it," she replied smiling.
"Yeah, neither have I," I responded. "I mean, there's more important things I worry about, especially here lately."
I was thinking of Torey and Dana caught my look and looked down at the grass, but not before I saw the smirk, then actual warm smile on her face.
"I think I heard about that," Ryan said.
"See, at least he knows what I'm talking about," Austin said coming over to Ryan and placing an arm around his shoulders. "Yeah, it's only Ryan who gets me."
Austin said this last part attempting to inject a forlorn tone in his voice.
"Aww," I said. "You pore little thing. You're so misunderstood."
"Okay," he replied back. "I'll have to make you pay for laughing at my hurt feelings."
"I love laughing at your misery," I shot back.
Ryan was smiling as he watched us give one another shit.
"Brandon I think we need to get you to a therapist," Dana said as we neared the house and the door opened. "You seem to be showing antisocial attitudes."
"No, I'm just fine," I said pretending to be all innocents.
We all including Ryan, laughed as a woman came out and walked towards us.
"Hi," she began. "You must be Ryan's new friends."
I introduced myself, then Dana and Austin did the same.
"I'm glad to meet all of you," she answered.
"We replied in kind, then we went in the house. She asked if we wanted to stay for dinner and after checking with our parents and getting agreement from them, we let her know what they said. It wasn't ready yet, so we went to Ryan's room to hang with him for a bit.
He had a room with floor-to-ceiling windows as well as a bed that was up against the wall to my left. On the walls, he had posters of animals and forest scenes which were really pretty. I looked around and smiled.
"This is a really nice room," I said as I stepped further in to it.
"Thanks," Ryan replied. He said we could sit anywhere so we began selecting our seats.
I sat on the edge of his bed and Ryan came over to sit beside me to my right. Austin came over and sat to his right and Dana came and sat to my left. I watched Ryan for a moment who was looking at Austin. Austin was looking back and I saw that there was something there. I wondered where it might lead. I hoped it would be some place good.
"So did you want to continue that discussion about plants and music?" I asked smiling.
"Oh, I was just bringing it up," Austin began. "Because if Beth wants, I can put a couple of those speakers up in front of the plants a few feet away from them and play some music."
Ryan laughed and smiled. Austin put his arm around his shoulders and Ryan moved closer to him.
"What kind of music?" Ryan asked him.
"Knowing him, probably some sort of Metal," Dana said. "I figured that that's where you're going with that."
"Yeah, exactly," Austin replied. "I hear plants grow really big and strong when listening to Black Metal."
"Remind me," I said smiling. "How did you come in to my life again?"
"Don't like the idea of nature growing thanks to Metal?" Austin asked laughing.
"One second or even a minute of Mayhem would probably make their leaves shrivel up and die within seconds," Dana said laughing herself now.
Ryan laughed then asked what Black Metal was. I explained and left out the burning of churches, Dead's suicide in Mayhem and Varg Vikernes's killing of Oystein Aarsith, the guitarist of Mayhem back in the early 1990s. He looked apprehensive.
"It sounds like a scary type of music," he said.
"Don't worry," I said. "We won't make you listen to it. We also enjoy other types of music and other types of Metal as well."
We continued talking until Beth let us know that it was time to eat. We had roasted chicken, baked potatoes and corn. It was all really good and afterwards, we visited with Ryan a little more, then by 8:00 P.M. we all went back to our respective houses. It had been a really good evening.
Austin
I walked home and as I did, I thought of Ryan,. Before I left his house, I got permission from both his mom and my parents to spend Saturday with him and the next day we would talk a little more to see if I would be spending the night. I couldn't stop thinking of him. He had really soft hands and his eyes were the most beautiful and the most gentle. I knew I was falling for him hard.
That thought made me happy and nervous at the same time. I wondered if I really would be able to be out and be comfortable with that as well as have a boyfriend at the same time should that be where it might be going between Ryan and I eventually/. I figured I'd talk with my parents about all this, but also with Brandon's dad who was like a second father to me.
Torey
Later that Thursday night, I got in to bed and pulled up the covers. Michael and I talked for a little while and the day after next would be my visit to Brandon's house for the weekend. I was excited about that and I got even more excited both emotionally and in other ways when Brandon said that he was allowed to let me sleep where ever we chose and he asked in a shy voice if I had thought about sleeping in his room with him. I told him that I'd really enjoy that and I was excited and also nervous. We both knew we were talking about sharing his bed. I was sure of that.
I lay on my back thinking about Brandon, but also beginning to drift off. I turned on my stomach, then was asleep shortly after.
0000
Misho Andonov
That Thursday night was dark with no moon in the sky. It was supposed to rain and storm badly from what the weather said earlier that evening. I was happy about that. I loved hearing the rain and the storming outside while snuggled safely in bed. It always made me feel safe, at least it did since coming to Michael and Josh's place. I had been there for almost two years and was really enjoying my life there.
I was brought out of my thoughts when I felt movement beside me in the bed. I smiled and turned on my side. The love of my life was shifting in his sleep. His arm was still around me, but he turned so that he was almost draped over me at least partially. His warmth felt good against me and I felt more love for him at that moment than ever before. I looked at him in the dimness of the nightlight in our room. I took in his black hair, and though his eyes were closed in sleep, I knew their beautiful emerald color which brought joy to me when they looked at me or in to my eyes. I put my arm around him and began feeling his soft back and shoulders. His skin was silky and warm to the touch, but power and strength lye underneath that lovely soft skin.
I rested my arm across his back and continued thinking. My life had been an interesting one for me only being 14. You're probably wondering about my name. My actual name is Dimeder Andonov. I'm originally from Bulgaria and came here to The States when I was 4 years old when my family got citizenship for us all when they decided to move here for better opportunities for work. They left behind an impoverished country, but they didn't leave behind their homophobia, abusive attitudes and their dislike for me. I couldn't ever do anything right for them and I did try. I always did well in school, went out for sports though I deeply hated it and tried my hand at The Boy Scouts which went badly when I was 12 and that caused more of the problems that lead to me being placed here with Michael and Josh. More on that later though.
As for what I look like, I have thick-black hair like my friend, deep-brown eyes and I'm around 103 LBs and am only 5-0 feet tall. My friend is Todor and he's also from Bulgaria and came here to The States when he was 2 years old. He came here to live though about six months ago and it had been a long process of him getting used to being here. It was about three months ago when he really began opening up to some of the other kids. He talked a little with Torey at first, probably because Torey was still a bit reserved as he was, but at least he was able to reach Todor. When I would attempt conversations with him especially in the beginning, he would give me quick answers, then go off to do other things. Michael explained in one of our sessions a couple of days later that though he couldn't talk about the specifics of Todor's case, he wanted me to know that Todor's attitude wasn't anything to do with me personally. It would just take some time for him to warm up to me. He did slowly and within the last month, he was hardly away from me unless we had one or two classes separate from one another.
Finally, I began to feel my eyelids grow heavy and soon I was asleep, safe in Todor's arms and with his wonderful sent in my nose as I drifted off. I felt more safe in that moment than I could say in words. As the last of my consciousness faded, I heard the rain falling and hard.
0000
Todor Valchev
I awoke to the sounds of thunder and I looked around. I felt the sleeping body in my arms and smiled. Misho was sleeping peacefully in my arms, though my arm that had been across him was moved since I was sliding back the covers. I felt the need to urinate badly and I didn't want to wake my sweet love when I got out of bed. I gently moved him on to his side and went and did my business. Our room which had originally been mine starting out had its own private bathroom and so it was only a few steps away from our bed. I came back after doing what I needed to do and took Misho in my arms again. He spread out then almost across me with his head lying on my chest as I pulled the covers up over both of us again. I put my arms around him again and loved the feel of his silky skin against mine. I felt his hardness pressing against the part of my abdomen that met my upper thigh and I smiled and felt the attraction to him again. I was attracted to him almost from the beginning, but worried and was even scared that he would never go for someone like me.
He was handsome, actually beautiful was the word. I knew that from the looks he'd sneak of my body as I would undress and put on my robe to get in to the shower if he was in my room sometimes, that he thought I was attractive and I figured that I was. Unlike me though, Misho's body, all of his body that is, actually worked. My body is fully functional, all except for one part. I'm unable to speak.
I'm what the medical profession refers to as "a Mute". It's their way of saying that I can't talk vocally. I have vocal cords, I can make noises like grunts, groans and some other sounds and I can use some of them to communicate my emotions to a point. I was born with brain damage that caused the neuro centers of my brain that deal with speech to not form properly. This left me with an inability to form, annunciate and speak words verbally. Although no one knows how it happened, that didn't stop my parents from disliking and I would even say hating me. My family came here when I was two years old and although my father worked in construction, he was still a drunk and an abusive Bastard, especially when he was hammered. I grew strong enough to fight back when I was between 10 and 11, but it didn't stop the verbal abuse from my mother. My father would beat me when he was trashed and when he was sober, I would usually get beaten across my butt or slapped across the face. My mother would tell me that I should have learned to speak properly and it was worse at school.
It all came to a head for me when the nurse at school finally reported a large bruise on my cheek to the authorities. Michael and his husband became involved and when I saw the place a few months ago when they offered to show it to me, I came to see it. At that point I was in a foster home with a family who was little better than my biological family. I looked around when I got here for the first time and was signed in that night.
I'll probably never know the roots of my family's hatred of me, but I think it wasn't helped by the frustration they might have felt at having a child who couldn't speak as well as when they found out that I was gay last year after My dad saw me looking too long at a boy in front of me when we were in line at a restaurant. When we got home after bringing back the food, he slapped me hard across the face and demanded to know if I was a fag. I wrote on a piece of paper that I wasn't in an attempt to save whatever face I had left, both figurative and literally. He didn't believe me and the outcome was that he beat the shit out of me. I wrote another note saying that I was and that's when the abuse both physical and verbal got worse.
I cleared those thoughts from my mind and wrapped my arms around Misho and he turned towards me in my embrace. I felt his skin warm and silky against mine. I smiled and relaxed. I was asleep in minutes.
0000
Brandon
Saturday came in the form of a clear and sunny day. The sky was blue as I had ever seen it before and I sat on the steps waiting for Torey. I had gotten all my house work done earlier that morning and so I was glad to have that out of the way.
I was excited since the day was here. I was glad that he'd be spending that night and Sunday with me. It was agreed that Michael would come back for him Monday morning since he didn't have to do anything at the center until 11:00 A.M. that morning. We all agreed and Torey agreed immediately. So I sat on the steps thinking of him, then it seemed as if no sooner had I began my thoughts when the car was pulling up in the driveway.
I got up and stood there watching as Michael, then Torey exited the car. We greeted one another and after Michael and I shook hands and he checked with Torey for a moment to make sure he was doing well and had what he needed, he got back in the car and drove off.
Once in my room and Torey's bag was stored by the bed, but out of the way, we sat down beside one another and hugged for a moment.
"I'm so glad to see you," I said as I rested my cheek against his.
"I'm glad to see you too Brandon," he replied smiling.
We separated, and I looked at him for a moment.
"So what did you want to start out doing today?" I asked. "It's still early afternoon so we have a lot of time before mom and dad get home. Zack is at his friend's house for the evening, unless he decides to come back. He and his friend had this over-night visit planned for a few weeks otherwise he'd be here for tonight to hang with us."
"I hope they have a nice time," Torey said warmly. "Did you want lunch yet?"
I had been rather hungry and realized that I was more than a little hungry at that point.
"I'd love that," I said smiling. "Did you want something from here, or did you want to go out?"
"I think I'm in the mood for some of those clam strips from that one seafood place that's near the beach we went to a few weeks ago," he replied.
"That sounds good," I said.
The restaurant he was talking about was a small one, but they had the best in seafood and I like him, enjoyed their clam strips. We got up and after I made sure I had money and so did he, and once I locked up the house, we left and began walking.
Once at the restaurant and with our food, we sat and enjoyed what we had for a few minutes.
"I thought that today wouldn't ever get here," he said after swallowing his mouth-full of food.
"I know," I replied. "I felt the same way."
After we got close to being almost done, we decided to take the rest of the food with us and since it was just the clam strips and our drinks the former of which were in one large bucket, we began just walking and eating while talking.
"So how's everything at the center?" I asked.
I was interested to know a little more about it. Torey told me a little more about it and how some of the kids lived there at least until they became of age, but others were there until they were reunited with their families in so far as their families tried to work on themselves, or if they needed to be adopted by another family who could do a better job of loving and caring for them.
"Fucking families these days," I said frustrated. "I don't understand it. Maybe I sound too much like one of those fucking anti-abortion types, but I have to say, why can't these fucking people get a clue and take care of their kids. Also, they wonder why some of the kids among us have so many problems today."
"Oh yeah," Torey responded. "Did ya hear the one about how schools, especially public schools are complete shit? Oh and guess what? It's because we don't give a shit about learning. That's my personal favorite, it's "The Kids Don't Give a Fuck about Education" song."
I began laughing.
"That's probably going to be a top-40 hit on the radio," I said after I got my breath back. "Who's going to perform it I wonder? Perhaps Taylor "I can't decide what genre of music I want a song in today" Swift? Maybe it'll be Justin Bieber. I think he's due for another above-ground trip to slaughter our ear drums again."
"No," Torey said laughing himself now. "I think it's going to be Two Chains. I mean, he'll probably have like 666 different wrappers on the song with him like some of those guys do. I mean, God forbid they write, record or produce their own fucking music themselves. No, wouldn't want those snowflakes straining even one microscopic thread of their muscles on that one."
I had to tighten my grip on our food and my drink since I was laughing so hard.
"Yeah," I responded as I regained my breath. "I think they should just get Nicki Minaj to do the song. I mean, if she's not busy wrapping any longer about stupid hoes, chanting the word "Ass" over and over again or wrapping about a pocket eating cheese cake."
"Wait what?" Torey said as he began laughing again.
He almost dropped his drink, but tightened his grip at almost the last second.
I explained about Nicki Minaj and a few other wrappers doing a song called "Monster" in which she delivered the above-mentioned line.
We cracked up again, and by this time we were close to the park. We sat down for a few minutes while we got ourselves under control.
"Okay," I said smiling. "Now that we completely derailed this conversation."
We laughed again, then got back to the original conversation that began our crack-up fest in the first place.
"I'm glad you're happy there," I said.
"So am I," he replied. "I've been able to connect with a few of the other kids there. Some of them are ones who keep to themselves, but a few have opened up to me."
"I'm glad to hear that," I said.
"Two of them that I've become good friends with are two boys who were originally from Bulgaria," Torey continued. "They're almost like twins, since they're together all the time. I hardly see the one without the other. Todor is the large one, and Misho his friend is the smaller one."
He showed me a picture on his phone of the three of them that Michael had taken outside the residence. I was amazed. Todor, the larger boy seemed like he might be powerful, physically. I looked at the smaller boy who Torey identified as Misho. He was delicate-looking and as I looked at both of them, I felt myself awakening down there slightly, but it was the area of the picture where Torey was where he was standing in between the two of them that filled me with not only a need for him sexually, but I also felt deep love for him as well. I handed Torey's phone back to him and he took it and looked a little closer at the screen as he returned the phone back to sleep mode. He seemed like he was paying extra attention to this task and I smiled. He was as turned on by the two boys as I was. He turned back to me and we began walking again.
"I'm glad things are going well for you and for everyone else as well," I said once we started walking again.
"So am I," Torey replied.
We finished our food and threw away the trash once exiting the park. It was getting a little warmer out now and the sun was shining down on us. I was feeling the air as it circulated around us and I put an arm around Torey's shoulders as we walked.
0000
Torey
I walked with Brandon and the feel of his arm around me as we continued on made me feel safe. I can't put in to words the excitement and joy I felt that morning when I awoke and saw that our day was finally here. Now I was with my best friend and the boy I loved and it didn't seem like it could get any better than it was at that moment.
0000
Brandon
We walked for a little while longer just talking, then we decided to return home.
Once back at the house, we listened to music for a little while, then I lay down on my bed once putting on some music that was a little softer than what we had been listening to before. I motioned that Torey could lay down beside me if he wanted. He smiled and did so. I watched him as he lay on his back. His body seemed so small and though he was thin, he almost seemed painfully thin, but I was soon to learn as I continued to get to know him that he had physical strength that I didn't think possible. I reached out and he saw my hand moving towards him. He moved closer to me.
"I've wanted to be with you like this since we did this the last time," he said turning on his side to face me.
"Me too," I said as I wrapped my arms around him.
We lay like that and quietly talked about whatever came to mind. Soon though, I heard my parents get home at almost the same time.
My dad had some things to do at the church that day and my mom had patients to see at the hospital that day. Now they were home and we got up to go in and greet them.
My mom and dad hugged us both, but they made sure it was alright with Torey before they hugged him. After we exchanged hugs, we sat in the living room and talked about one another's day and how it went. Torey asked my dad a little about the church he ran and seemed interested in attending services with us the next day. I was glad to hear that. Given some of what he had told me about the insanity posing as religion in which he was trapped with his original family, I wondered how he'd deal with religion or even the idea of us as a family being religiously-oriented. So I was glad to see that he seemed happy with going with us the next morning and that seemed to be another step for us on our journey in one another's lives.
After my parents got settled in, my dad went to his office to read for a bit while my mom went to lay down. Torey and I went back in my room again and spent the rest of the afternoon watching a few videos on Youtube of different groups we liked. Soon though, it was time for dinner.
Once at the table, I was glad to see steak, corn and wild rice as well as ice-tea.
"This looks really good," Torey said as I got situated.
"It definitely does," I added.
"Thank you," my mom said.
"You're welcome," Torey and I both said together then we laughed for a moment at our simultaneous response.
As we ate, Torey talked about how things were going. My dad asked him what he enjoyed with the classes they taught at the center, since it functioned as a sort of private school as well.
"I really enjoy the class we're taking right now that deals with morality, ethics and other ideas of human existence," he said after my father asked him about the classes.
"That sounds like that might be an interesting class," my mom replied. "What are you guys discussing in the class currently?"
"We're on the subject of the idea of today's thought of religion possibly being a dangerous threat to our existence, the words of our lesson plans, not mine," he said. "One of the hand-outs Michael gave us to read over at the beginning of the class specifically asks if religion is a danger to humanity or not."
"What do you think?" my father asked.
"When I was with my biological family, I hated religion, at least the one they practiced," he replied. "There wasn't any talk of love, especially the love they said they had for other people. Then When I got to Michael's center and got my health back, I began reading different books. For a couple of months and after reading the books by Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris about how religion was dangerous, not just the belief in God being dangerous, but all the beliefs that went with it, I thought I agreed with them. I talked to Michael about this and he had me read the passages in Harris's book about torture and the one about how we should probably do a nuclear first strike against the Middle East before they get a chance to do it to us."
"What did you think after reading those passages again?" my dad asked him.
"It reminded me of the place I had been that my parents had sent me to for what they thought was out-of-control behavior of mine," he replied. "These people used justifications when doing what they did to me and the other kids there that sounded a little like something out of Harris's book. Once I read those passages in his book again, then a third time, I came to believe that he as well as Hitchens and Dawkins are as unaccepting as those they dislike."
"I actually did a sermon that mentioned those guys," my dad said. "I was talking about what some people call The Troubled Teen Industry and how it seems to believe in utopian ideas of the perfect child. When I read about it in preparation for the talk, I mentioned Harris and the other writers related to him to compare this business to them."
"The place I was at was basically a part of that industry," Torey said. "They did what they believed was teaching us, but it wasn't a typical school lesson in some residential school with a couple of spanks or verbal warnings when we got in trouble, not that spanking is acceptable. I wished that was all they had done to us."
By this time, a change came over him. He was more quiet as he talked and he had a far-away look in his eyes and his speech was beginning to grow flat in tone. His stutter was complete now and I could tell from the way he swallowed, that his mouth and throat had gone dry. With a hand that shook badly, he reached for his drink and lifted it. After a few moments of him wetting his mouth and calming down, he placed his glass back down above his plate.
"I'm sorry if I've taken you in to areas that make you feel uncomfortable," my dad said. "I want you to be able to feel safe here with us."
"You didn't do anything," Torey said. "It can be hard to talk about sometimes, but I'm better now."
"I'm glad," my mom said.
We continued talking, but about Torey's other classes, then our dinner was finished. Torey and I helped clean up, then after the dishes and the table were cleaned, we sat in the living room for a little while and continued to talk.
After we sat talking in the living room, it was almost 9:00 P.M. by this time and my dad said that he was going off to get settled in for the night. My mom did the same. They said goodnight to us both, then Torey and I went back to my room.
We talked about if we wanted to stay up a little longer, but Torey said that he was beginning to get tired and I was as well. We had to be up at 7:00 A.M. the next morning for the 9:00 A.M. services. So I was on track with a good sleep schedule. It seemed that Torey was as well. I asked him if he wanted to get a shower first or if he wanted me to go first. He was fine with me going first.
I removed my shirt and then my shorts and socks, then placed them in the clothes hamper. Torey was looking at me out of the corner of his eye and I looked over at him, then went over to him. He looked directly at me and we smiled a little shyly at one another, then he stood and stepped closer to me. I helped him off with his shirt and he took care of his shorts and socks which he placed in a laundry bag he brought with him. We then stood there feeling one another's naked shoulders and backs, then I gently pulled him to me and he melted right in to my arms. We held one another like that for a few long minutes. He felt so warm and amazing against me and my cock was hard as iron; so was his. Soon though, I felt him move in my arms and I knew that the moment was over.
"Well, I guess I should get that shower now," I said and I could feel the flush in my cheeks and in my ears.
"I'll be here when you get out," he said softly, then went to lay on my bed after pulling down the covers and sheet. Once full-length, he moved from his back and on to his stomach, but not before I saw the slight hardness in his boxers and a generous wet spot on the front of them.
After I showered, Torey got his, then once he put on a new pair of boxers, he got in to bed. I got the lights turned out and once back in bed, I pulled the covers up over both of us.
We lay there for a few minutes, then Torey turned on his side to face me. I was lying on my left side and he turned so he could see me.
"Thanks for letting me spend the weekend with you," he said smiling.
"You're welcome," I replied. "Thanks for agreeing to come."
"No problem at all," he said. "Good night Brandon."
"Good night Torey," I replied.
After a moment, I felt his toes rest against mine, then his legs. I allowed him to stay like that and I moved to put an arm around him. He quickly snuggled in to my embrace and as I held him, he was asleep in minutes. I followed soon after and slept wonderfully with the love of my life safe in my arms.
Author's Notes
I know that it's been a long time and a few weeks since the last posting. School is going well and I've been in my second year of the program here at the college for about a month now. I'm really enjoying it and am soon to start my practicum once I get placed at one of the treatment centers. I'm looking forward to that.
Anyway, I hope you guys continue to enjoy the continuing of Brandon and Torey's friendship. I also hope you guys like what I end up doing with Ryan and Austin. I have plans for them as well.
As for the two boys Misho and Todor that I added to the story. That's not random. Last year when I had some down time, I saw a film on Youtube called "Bulgaria's Abandoned Children" which was shot by a reporter from England. She went to Bulgaria for nine months to film off and on at a place called The Mogilino Social Home for Children with Disabilities. In the film, the reporter follows several children all of whom have some degree of physical disability and while it seems like they have inherent learning difficulties and retardation hard-wired in to their disabilities, it soon becomes clear that they're only suffering from the social deficits one has to endure when being neglected socially, psychologically, physically and in other ways. For example, one of the girls who was there had blindness and Cerebral Palsy in her legs. She was healthy and happy at the beginning of the film, but towards the end, she was found by the reporter in a bed with what was clearly a break in one of her legs. In the seen that shows the neglect of this girl at its worsed, the nurses rub cream on her feet which are inflamed. The scene goes on for several minutes and it's a scene of the nurses speaking rapidly in their native language with the girl crying from the pain, then letting out several loud screams. Though unable to see the film and that scene in particular, I didn't need vision to experience the horror of it and the moral depravity of those who would allow the girl, or anyone to live like that.
By the end of the film, the girl was for all intents and purposes dying. This was how bad the physical, medical and emotional neglect had progressed. The workers in this group home would feed the kids, then shower them, but that was about it. All the kids had time to do was sit in the TV room in the day time day after day and just rock back and forth from lack of stimulation.
There were two boys though who were functioning enough to help out in the laundry facilities at the home. Milen and Misho were their names and they had been at the home since they were little kids. At one point in the film, the reporter follows the two boys on several trips to the laundry and on one of the last trips, she sees that they're both acting nervous around the man who was in charge of them. They were both nonverbal, but no one seemed to know the cause of their verbal disabilities.
The reporter was able to ascertain that the man walking with them to the laundry all those times had been beating them when he figured that no one was watching. Clearly he figured that since Milen and Misho were nonverbal, that his secret wouldn't be uncovered. The reporter confronted him and though she didn't speak their language, she was able to communicate to this man that she knew what he had been doing. When she went to the director of the center, the director told her that since she knew about the abuse, they would fire the man which they did. The director went on to say that she had known that this man had had a history of violence going back for a while.
Another boy Stoyan who was 11 years old and blind was also nonverbal, a deficit that the reporter contributes to the severe neglect he endured with all the other kids there. She said several times through the film that it was horrible that these children were made to live this way.
After watching the documentary, it left a lasting impression on me to say the least. This film is one that I believe shows the dangers of a society that believes that people can exist in a vacuum. The neglect of these kids and the social, psychological and other problems they had weren't the inherent outcome of them being in too crowded of a residence, nor was it the inevitable outcome due to workers who were over-worked. This was in fact the inevitable outcome of what happens when children are neglected and not given love, care, compassion, medical care and a proper education. Though some of these children probably functioned at a younger intellectual level due to possible neurological problems, this didn't mean that their lives had no value.
As for how this ultimately relates to the story, I wanted to dedicate some of this story to the memories of these kids though the ones who were profiled in the film aren't dead. I still felt like in even naming a couple of the characters after a couple of the children in the film, that this would at least show that they're not forgotten as well as to serve as another way to talk about the neglect of the disabled. Finally, when watching that film, I thought of Dostoyevsky and his words in "The Brothers Karamazov" where the elder tells humankind to love children and to take care of them. This commandment wasn't followed in this film, not in the least.
So I included two characters in the story as a tribute to the children neglected by the careless bastards who ran that toilet of a group home to show that their lives aren't for nothing.
There was an updated version of this film released put up on Youtube a few months ago which follows the lives of Milen, Misho and a couple of the girls one of whom was the one who was left basically for dead towards the end of the original film I wrote about above. They were all moved to new homes with care workers who cared about them and treated them the way these kids deserved to be cared for and treated in the first place. The original film was shot back in 2008 and it caused an international outcry with some people actually going to Bulgaria to donate money and other goods to help these kids. The reporter who shot the film also made the updated film and she visits the children I wrote about above. It was clear that she made a deep connection with Milen and Misho who by this time were in a small group home with other people with disabilities and workers who ran the home and cared deeply for the two boys and the other individuals who live there. I was glad that this story had a happy ending of sorts. Once these kids got out of the home profiled in the original film and were relocated to new homes, education efforts were began and they all began improving to the point that they were living lives of meaning and purpose now.
Back to the story though, Todor and Misho, my new characters will get to know Brandon and his original group of friends since they already no Torey. I'll also be dealing more with the original issue for which I began writing this story as the chapters progress, I wanted to just take a little time to let the characters relax and get to know one another a little more. So I hope everyone has a good night and I'll see everyone in Chapter Nine.