Foxwood-11
The Foxwood Chronicles
By FreeThinker
The following may contain scenes of sexual activity between males. If you feel you may be offended by reading this or that it may be illegal for you to read this in your jurisdiction, please proceed no further. The author neither condones nor advocates the violation of any laws. Because the story begins in 1982, the characters portrayed herein may engage in behavior which could be considered unsafe or unwise, if not illegal. The author neither condones nor advocates unsafe or unwise behavior. The author, however, cheerfully condones and advocates exercising your imagination and your ability to think critically and rationally. Please do not copy or post this without the author’s permission.
If you would like to read other stories I have written, you may go to the Prolific Authors link on the Nifty home page and choose “FreeThinker.”
You may write to me at fthinker @ gmail.com. If you’ve not written to me yet, please do so. I would love to hear from you!
Also, please visit my blog, ChrisThinker, for discussions of politics, culture, life, and all the things your mother told you not to discuss in polite society.
There are two very good articles in Wikipedia about Autism and Asperger's Syndrome. A special note: the descriptions of Adam’s sexual feelings are purely fictional and should not be taken as typical of people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Please remember that people with Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome are NOT retarded.
Be good. If you can’t be good, at least be interesting.
The Foxwood Chronicles
Chapter Eleven
“Dylan, will you help me set up my telescope? Evan is going to come over and we are going to look at Jupiter and Mars and the Moon. It will be fun. You can look, too.”
Dylan was playing Frisbee with Jeremy and Brandon in the back yard. He sighed as he caught a rather fast toss from Brandon, who sneered as Dylan shook the pain from his hand.
“Yeah, I guess,” he said with a lack of enthusiasm in his voice that he knew his brother would not recognize. Adam, however, had begun to understand certain things about voices. One of the therapists he had seen back in Columbus had helped him understand how the tone of the voice could betray the emotions of the person speaking. Adam realized that Dylan didn’t want to help him.
“You do not need to help me, Dylan. You do not want to. You want to play with your friends. I can set it up by myself.”
As he turned around to go back inside, he heard Brandon mutter, “What an asshole.”
Adam turned around to see if someone had exposed their rear-end. However, he saw only Dylan march up to Brandon and declare, “Take it back or I’ll knock your head off!”
Brandon angrily shoved Dylan and in a second, the two were struggling in the grass. Adam was horrified and wanted to help Dylan, but it was too much for him to take. He started shaking and his fists came up to his head. He began making incomprehensible sounds and, in his anguish, fell to his knees.
“Take it back!” Dylan ordered as he clamored on top of Brandon’s back and pinned his arms behind him. “Take it back!”
“Fuck you!” Brandon spat. “Aaaaaa!”
Dylan forced Brandon’s arms painfully upward.
“Take it back!”
“AAAAAAA! OK! OK! I take it back!”
Adam could see Dylan stand up and he seemed to be OK, but the trauma was too much for him. Jeremy looked over and yelled, “Dylan! Your brother!”
Dylan ran over to Adam and sat down beside him. He wrapped his arms around Adam and began to softly reassure him.
“It’s OK, Adam. Everything’s OK. Everything’s just fine. Brandon’s going home, aren’t you Brandon?”
Adam couldn’t see Brandon looking at the two with contempt.
“I don’t know why the fuck I’d want to come over to a retard house like this, anyway! You’re both a couple of retards! Come on, Jeremy.”
Adam moaned. Brandon was calling him a retard, but he wasn’t! He wasn’t! The professors this afternoon had told him he probably wasn’t even autistic. He had something called Asperger’s Syndrome, which was different, but that people only recently had realized wasn’t autism. Adam wasn’t a retard!
He tried to say something. He wanted to explain to Brandon what he had learned, but he just couldn’t speak. Instead, he simply leaned against Dylan and rocked back and forth.
“Come on, Jeremy!”
Dylan kissed Adam on the forehead and kept muttering, “It’s OK, Adam. Everything’s just fine.”
“No. I don’t think so,” said Jeremy to his friend.
“What? What the fuck did you say?”
Dylan yelled from the porch, “He said, ‘no,’ so get the heck outta here!”
Adam didn’t see the glare of fury Brandon shot at Jeremy, but a moment later, Jeremy was sitting on the other side of Adam from Dylan as Brandon disappeared around the corner of the house, muttering furiously to himself.
“I’m really sorry about Brandon, Adam. I don’t know why I keep hanging around him. I used to think he was my best friend, but I don’t know anymore. He’s been such a jerk lately.”
“Come on, Adam,” Dylan said with a quiet voice. “Let’s go inside. Why don’t you play some music for Jeremy.”
Adam was finally able to croak, “No. I must set up the telescope. Evan is coming to look at the moon and the planets.”
“Well, that won’t be for awhile.”
“No, I must set up the telescope for Evan.”
Dylan hugged him tighter and Adam was feeling so much calmer.
“Brandon is mean,” Adam said weakly. “But, his brother is nice.”
“Yeah,” said Jeremy. “Ryan is really cool. He’s my brother’s best friend. I wish Brandon would be more like Ryan.”
Dylan gave Adam a kiss on the cheek, than glanced nervously at Jeremy, who smiled.
“Come on, Adam. We’ll set up your telescope,” Dylan said softly as he stood. Unsteadily, Adam rose, too, and, averting his eyes downward, followed Dylan into the house.
Soon, the three were in the front yard, Jeremy carefully holding the telescope as Dylan connected the motorized mount to the tripod. When the telescope was connected, Adam nodded.
“This is good. This will work now. Soon, it will be dark and Evan will be here.”
“Can we look at the moon now?” Jeremy asked with interest.
“Yes. It is there,” Adam replied, pointing to the eastern sky. “But, it is so light that you will not see a lot.”
Adam adjusted the reflector until it pointed to the moon and then stood aside as Jeremy peaked into the eye-piece.
“Wow,” he muttered with wonder as he looked. “That is way cool.”
Dylan smiled at Adam, who nodded.
“Yes, it is cool. I love the moon. It is beautiful. It makes me hard.”
Jeremy glanced up from the eye-piece with a look as if he wasn’t quite certain he had heard correctly.
“What?”
“Hey,” Dylan declared, stepping between Jeremy and Adam. “Why don’t we come back when it’s dark and it will be a lot better. Come on, Jeremy, I’ll show you my model collection.”
The blonde boy obediently followed Dylan up the porch and into the house, all the while giving Adam a strange look. Left alone, Adam sat down on the edge of the porch and patiently waited for Evan.
After a few minutes alone, Adam closed his eyes.
“Hi, Adam.”
“Hi, Johnny.”
“What are you doing?”
“I am waiting for Evan. We will look through the telescope. It will be fun.”
“I know. Evan is your new friend”
“Yes, he is.”
“You do not talk to me as much as you used to. You like Evan better.”
“No. I do not. You do not talk to me as much as you did before Evan became my friend.”
“Evan is cute.”
“Yes, he is. He is nice. He loves me.”
“Do you love Evan?”
“Yes. He understands me.”
“How do you know?”
“He told me with his eyes.”
“Does he love you more than I do?”
Adam paused and thought.
“He loves me in a different way.”
“OK. That is good. But, you do not love my dick at night anymore. You love Evan’s dick.”
“I am sorry. But, I do not really do it with his dick. I just think about it.”
“I know. Do you want to do it with his dick?”
“Yes. I love Evan. I want to make him feel good. I think he will let me. Evan loves me.”
Suddenly, Adam heard the front screen slap shut. He opened his eyes.
“Who are you talking to, son?” his father asked as he sat down beside Adam.
“Johnny.”
“Ah,” his father replied with an understanding nod. “How is he?”
“He misses me. I think I hurt his feelings when I am with Evan instead of him.”
Pastor Stuart smiled and nodded.
“I can see why he might feel that way. But, maybe it’s good you still have Johnny for a friend. Just for those times when Evan isn’t around.”
“Yes. That is true. Johnny is a good friend.”
His father looked at the few clouds in the western sky that were turning a bright salmon color in the setting sunlight.
“The Lord is giving us a beautiful sunset, tonight.”
“Yes, the sunset is beautiful.”
Adam gazed at it and his father watched to see what he might see in the boy’s face. He knew that Adam felt things profoundly; yet, it was so difficult for him to see those feelings reflected in his son’s face. He tried desperately to understand Adam’s emotions. Yet, so often, he seemed inscrutable to him. It was one of the great pains of his life.
“The cloud is turning pink now,” said Adam after a moment. “In a minute, it will turn purple.”
His father nodded. Adam sighed.
“I wish Evan could see this. Evan sees things the way I do. Evan understands me. He loves me.”
Pastor Stuart was silent for a moment.
“Has Evan ever told you he loves you?” he softly asked.
“Yes. Yesterday. We were sitting on the bed and he looked into my eyes. His eyes told me. Then his eyes told me again when we were standing.”
His father looked at him.
“Are you sure that is what his eyes said to you?”
Adam nodded.
“Yes. That is what they said. They said that Evan loves me.”
Pastor Stuart bit his lip and looked away. His eyes roamed up the street in the direction from which he expected Evan to come. He was silent for several minutes and then turned back to Adam.
“Son, what if Evan doesn’t really love you? What if he just wants to be your friend? Would that be OK?”
“Evan loves me. He is my best friend. He is my super best friend. I love Evan.”
Pastor Stuart nodded and took a deep breath.
“What time is he supposed to be here?” he asked watching the cloud in the west turn to purple as Adam had predicted.
“He will come when he is finished playing tennis. We will look through the telescope. It will be fun.”
His father affectionately messed up the unruly waves and curls of Adam’s dark blond hair and smiled as Adam flinched. He went back inside the house and left his eldest son alone on the porch.
As the dusk settled over the neighborhood and the fireflies began their nightly mating rituals of darting about the yard, Adam stared at his telescope. He didn’t notice Ryan and Jesse approach until he heard the dark-haired boy say from the edge of the steps, “Hey, Adam. How’s it going today?”
“It is going well.”
“You got your telescope up. That’s a pretty big looking telescope. That must have cost a lot of money.”
“It was my grampa’s.”
“I’ll bet you can see a lot with it.”
“Yes. It is strong.”
Ryan nodded and paused. Jesse grinned and tried his hand.
“So, Adam. You seen our little brothers around?”
“Yes.”
After another pause, during which Ryan stifled a good-natured chuckle, Jesse asked, “Well, where are they?”
“Jeremy is in Dylan’s room. They are looking at Dylan’s model cars.”
“Where’s Brandon?” Ryan asked. Immediately, the fingers on Adam’s right hand began their nervous dance and Ryan saw the boy’s entire body seem to stiffen.
“I do not know.”
Ryan paused and then sat down on the porch.
“Adam, did Brandon do something bad?”
Adam’s head began to tremble slightly.
“Brandon is mean.”
Ryan looked down at the concrete walkway.
“Yeah,” he said softly. “He getting that way. I don’t know what’s up with him.”
He looked up at Jesse and asked, “Has Jeremy said anything to you?”
Jesse shrugged and shook his head.
“I’ll go in and get Jeremy.”
Ryan nodded and smiled at Adam.
“Adam, I’m sorry if Brandon hurt you. You tell me if he’s ever mean to you again. OK?”
“OK.”
The two sat for a long moment, both gazing at the telescope.
“So, why aren’t you looking at something through your telescope?” Ryan finally asked.
“I am waiting for Evan. He will come after he is through playing tennis. We will look then. It will be fun.”
Ryan raised an eyebrow.
“He’s playing tennis? Who with?”
“I do not know.”
Ryan nodded and his mouth pursed in a knowing smirk
“So, you and Evan are pretty good friends, I guess.”
Adam nodded.
“Yes. Evan loves me.”
Ryan took a double take.
“He…loves…you?”
“Yes. And, I love Evan.”
Adam clearly didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong or embarrassing about admitting something like that. Ryan was about to pursue the issue further, since Adam seemed not to have a problem discussing it; but, he heard Dylan and Jeremy talking in the living room as they approached the front. The screen burst open and the two twelve year-olds emerged onto the porch with Jesse following.
“See ya later, Adam,” Jeremy said as he jumped off the porch.
“Good bye, Jeremy,” Adam replied.
Ryan looked at Adam and started to say something. Adam waited, but since Jesse and Jeremy were already halfway across the yard, Ryan sighed and turned around. He caught up with them and the three left Adam on the porch with his brother.
“What time is Evan coming over?”
“When he is finished playing tennis.”
Dylan bit his lip.
“Well, it’s getting late.”
“Yes.”
Dylan paused and then said, “Well, OK. If you need help taking the telescope down, let me know.”
“OK.”
And, Dylan returned inside, leaving Adam on the porch. The boy sat for quite awhile, patiently waiting, his arms resting on his knees. He watched the moon and the three bright stars to the west. Slowly, they moved west as the dusk turned to darkness. The corner street light came on, casting a lonely bluish-silver pallor over the intersection. The cicadas ended their nightly mating songs and were replaced in their cacophony by crickets and frogs. A rabbit hopped across the grass, pausing to watch Adam suspiciously. Determining the boy wasn’t a threat, he scampered on across the grass toward the church and disappeared behind a crepe myrtle beside the building.
“Adam?”
The boy turned toward his father standing behind the screen door.