Preamble:
This is a story based on real people in a situation which they were never in (Though I wish that they had ;)). The names have been changed to protect the innocent and not so innocent. This is purely a fantasy of the author and is not meant to be taken as fact.
Also, please note that the sex that occurs in this and succeeding parts is unprotected sex, which while understandable in the early '80s before the scourge of AIDS was fully understood, was still dangerous because of the possibility of other sexually transmitted diseases. The characters in the story can only catch what I allow them to, even if it's a case of the pimples that are the bane of teenage life. Practice safe sex!
My thanks to those who have written me with words of encouragement and asking for more of the series. I have bounced ideas off of several of you and appreciate the help.
Kelly's Problem - Part 8
We stayed like that for several minutes. Finally, I wiped my tears away with my shirt sleeve. I balanced myself on Kelly as I got up and sat on the bench. "Well, now what do we do, Kel?"
"I think that we are going to have to start coming out on our own. First to our parents, and then to our friends. I just hope that they can accept us for what we are. If they don't, then we deal with it at that time. In the mean time, let me get dressed and we can finish up here, as usual."
"OK. I think that we should tell my folks first though. You'll come in with me to tell them?" I asked Kelly.
"Sure I will. We'll in this together John."
We completed what had become the standard operating procedure in the last two weeks. We tossed the practice stuff in the washer, and went out to Kelly's car. It was a silent ride to my house as each of us contemplated the future.
Kelly pulled into the driveway and parked the car. He turned to me and said, "Are you ready, John? If not, we'll sit here for a couple minutes until you are. This is a big step we have to take."
I kissed Kelly gently on the cheek and answered, "I'm ready. Let's get this over with."
I opened up my door and Kelly opened his. I grabbed my crutches and backpack and, with my lover and best friend at my side, took the first step towards the rest of my life.
I opened the door and stepped through, followed by Kelly. "Hey, Mom. Dad. I'm home."
"Hi, John. What's up?" Dad said, looking up from his chair. "Who's this?"
"Dad, Mom, this is Kelly Langer. I thought you'd like to meet him."
"Hi."
"Hello, Kelly," replied both parents.
"If you don't mind, Mom, Kelly's going to stay for dinner."
"Has he called his parents to let them know he's here?" Mom asked.
"I wanted to ask you first," I said. "He can call them and let them know."
"OK, John. If he doesn't mind Swedish meatballs, that is."
"I don't mind, Mrs. Wilkerson," Kelly interrupted.
"Call your folks then. John, help me set the table." After Kelly left the room to make his phone call, Mom glanced at me and continued. "John, dear, it's not that we mind, but why did you bring Kelly here? You've almost never brought any other of your friends home."
Damn. She was right, I almost never brought anyone else home, especially for supper. Not even any of the girls I had dated. What do I tell them? Fortunately, Kelly chose that moment to come back into the room and announce that his parents had given their permission to stay for supper, but that he was to hurry home afterwards, as it was a school night.
We sat down to supper a few minutes later. I managed to steer the conversation into what I regarded as safe topics. Unfortunately, it didn't last as long as I had hoped. As the dishes were put into the sink to soak, Dad turned to Kelly.
"You and John have become rather fast friends. I hope that you don't mind if I ask a few questions."
Kelly glanced at me before replying. "Well, Sir, I'll answer any questions that you might have."
"Fine. I know that you're a basketball player, but tell us about yourself."
Kelly replied that he was a sophomore in school. He had his own car, paid for with money from summer jobs. He had a younger brother who was a freshman and an older sister, who was in college. His parents both worked. His mother was a secretary in a law office in town; his father was a supervisor at a factory in nearby Janesville. He had been promoted from the JV in order to replace an injured player, as he was sure that I (John) had told them. He thanked them for having a son who was so helpful and understanding. "To tell the truth, John has been more help to me than he could possibly know. I was very nervous about joining the varsity mid-season, and then being made a starter on top of it. John has turned into a very good friend."
There it was. An opening that Kelly obviously hoped that I would use to tell my parents the news. I wasn't quite I could pull it off. My heart started racing as I considered what I should do. "Yeah, Kelly has turned into a very good friend, maybe my best friend."
My mother looked at me for a moment, and then turned to Kelly. "Do you have a girlfriend?"
"No. Not at the moment, I don't," was Kelly's reply. His look was a silent plea to me to say something, anything.
"Too bad," Dad said. "I was hoping that you could hook John up with one of your girlfriend's friends. It's been quite a while since he's been out on a date with a girl. If I didn't know that he's been on dates before, I'd swear that he was one of those sissy men."
I swallowed hard and cleared my throat. "Dad, I ..."
Dad stared at me. "You aren't queer, are you son?" The look that Dad was giving me was not good.
I figured that I couldn't avoid the issue any longer. I broke eye contact with Dad and concentrated on a spot on the table. "Well ... ah, ... yes, Dad, I am." There I said it! It was out. That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.
Actually, it was harder. Harder because Dad had reached across the table and slapped me on the face. And not softly. For a second, I thought I saw stars. I heard what sounded like Mom screeching and Kelly gasp. Dad snapped, "You are NOT queer. No son of mine could be. You are confused. You just have not been able to get dates because you're handicapped and you don't get out enough. You think that girls don't want to date you and when they do, you are too shy to take advantage of the opportunities that you have."
Shaking my head in an attempt to clear it, I replied, "Dad, I'm not confused. I know what I want. What I need. I know you and Mom want grandchildren, but it just isn't going to happen. I'm sorry, Mom, Dad. I really am."
Dad's face was full of anger as he turned to Kelly. "And I suppose that you're queer too." Before Kelly could respond, Dad continued his rant. "Not only queer, but you probably turned him queer, too," he said, pointing to me.
"Well, no longer. John, you are going to go to your room. Than we'll see about getting you some help. As for you, faggot, I want you out of this house NOW! You are to stay away from my son! If you ever come near him again, I swear that I'll call the cops. Now get the hell out! And don't think that I'm not going to discuss this with your parents! They should know what they have in their home!"
Kelly looked at me with tears in his eyes. He nodded once, rose from the chair he was seated on, and said, "Goodbye, John." He walked out the door. Seconds later, I heard him start up his car and pull out of the driveway.
I felt something then that I don't believe that I'd ever felt before: an intense hatred for someone. I thought that it may have occurred when Linda had tried to push herself on me, but this was different. Tears began to fall from my eyes as I looked at my father. "How could you?! How could you treat one of the nicest, kindest people that I know like that? Did you ever think that he may have been here just for moral support? Did you? You don't even know what you're talking about. As for getting me help, that's a bunch of baloney. How can you get help for me when I've always felt this way? I've always liked boys.
"You want me to go to my room? Fine, I'll go. Just don't expect me to bow to you over this." I grabbed my crutches, got up on them and stomped away to my room. When I reached it, I slammed the door and collapsed, crying, on my bed.
Downstairs, in the kitchen, my parents were discussing the situation.
Dad looked at Mom and said, "Well that's a fine mess that we're in. A faggot in the family. Jesus, what will people think?"
Mom's reply was unexpected, at least it was, when I found out about it. She said, "Jason, calm down, will you? John hasn't changed. He's still the same good kid that we've loved for seventeen years."
"No he isn't, Barb. He's queer. And that Langer kid is responsible for it. I'm going to call his parents and tell them about his 'recruiting' activities."
"Jason, no! You don't know that the boy is gay. If he isn't, then just think about the damage you're doing to him. Maybe John is right, Kelly was just here because John felt he needed some support." But it was too late. Dad had already picked up the phone and dialed Kelly's number.
It was answered quickly.
"Hello? Is this Mr. Langer?"
Pause.
"This is Jason Wilkerson."
Pause.
"Yes, that's right, John Wilkerson's father. I just wanted to talk to you about your son, Kelly."
Pause.
"No he's not here right now. In fact, I asked him to leave."
Pause.
"You ask why I told him to leave?" Dad's voice began to get louder. "I asked him to leave because he's a faggot and he's seduced my son into believing that he is too."
Pause.
"What do you mean that my son seduced your son? If it wasn't for that sick bastard son of yours, my son would be normal!"
Pause.
"Well, so long to you too." Dad slammed the phone down hard enough that I heard it in my room. He turned to Mom and said, "Well, do you believe the nerve of that SOB?? He said that not only was his son not queer, but any seduction was done by John, not Kelly. Idiot! He probably wouldn't know that his son was queer if the kid started making out with another man right in front of him."
"Jason, would you please calm down a little bit. You make it sound like it's a disease or worse yet, that John chose to be gay. Why would he chose that? Nobody would make that choice voluntarily. Look at your reaction. That's the type of reaction he's going to run into most of the time. And who would want to be treated like that? Think about it logically."
"Are you saying that I should just accept that my son is a sissy boy? Barb, I just can't do that."
"All I'm saying is that you should consider the possibility that John can't help the way he feels, and that any attempt to change that could hurt him more than help him. I recently heard of research that homosexuality maybe hereditary."
Dad looked shocked. "Are you saying that he's queer because he got it from one of us? That's insane. That would mean that someone else in the family is queer too."
Mom responded calmly, "Not necessarily. Remember what the doctors told us about John's bone disease? Just the right combination of genes could cause his handicap. Maybe, it's the same with this. In fact, from what I've read, it just might be."
Dad was puzzled. "From what you've read? Barb, how long have you known about this?"
"I've suspected it for a couple of years now. There have been occasions when I've walked past his room and heard him yelling that some boy should, how did he put it: 'eat my load' or 'fuck my ass harder.'"
"How do you know he was fantasizing about a boy?"
"How many girls do you know are named Todd, Gary, or Brian?"
"Oh. OK."
Mom continued, "I tell you what. Let me go to John's room and talk to him. Think about what I've told you. I'll be right back."
She got up and walked to my room. She knocked on the door. "May I come in, honey?"
I really hadn't stopped crying since I had gotten back to my room, so my response was a tearful "If you want. I can't stop you."
Mom opened the door and saw me on the bed crying. She walked over, sat on the bed and gathered me up into a hug. "It's OK, John. Everything's going to be alright. Just settle down. Shhhh."
After repeated assurances that every thing was going to be OK, I stopped the tears. "Why does Dad have to be so mean? It's not like I can do anything about how I feel."
"John, you had to have known that your father would have a hard time with this. Your being gay has thrown him for a loop. Give him time and he might eventually come around."
I was puzzled. "Mom, how do you feel about my being gay?"
Mom responded with "Well, I'm not exactly thrilled with it. But if you are gay, who am I to deny you a chance to be happy? Just answer a question for me, will you?"
"Sure, Mom. What is it?"
"Did you tell the truth when you said that Kelly was here for moral support? Or was there another reason for him being here?"
I hesitated for a minute. Should I tell the truth about Kelly and get him in more trouble? Or should I continue to try and protect him? I decided to trust Mom and tell her the truth. "He was here for moral support, but he was here for ... ah ... another ... reason ... too."
"Is he your boyfriend, your lover?"
I bowed my head. I whispered my reply, "Yes."
"I thought that may have been the case. All right, John, here's what went on after you left the room." She then proceeded to tell me what had happened. Dad's phone call to the Langers, and the discussion that had followed between Mom and Dad.
I was shocked. I didn't expect Mom to disagree with Dad about this. I also wasn't sure I liked what may have been said between my Dad and Kelly's Dad. "Mom, what's going to happen when Kelly gets home? I mean that he doesn't have any idea about what Dad told his folks. He could be running into a buzz saw. What if both his parents react the way that Dad did? What will he do? Will they kick him out of the house? I've heard that that happens to gay boys. What if they try sending him to a mental hospital? Oh, God ..." I was getting worked up again.
"John, calm down. I'm sure that the situation isn't that bad. If it is, I'm sure that something can be worked out. Don't get your hopes up though. I doubt that he'll be able to come here to live. That would be asking a lot of your father at this point."
"I know that, Mom. I just want him to be safe, that's all."
"That's good. Let's just see what happens."
I thought about what she had told me, and had one more question. "Mom, ahm you seem to be somewhat accepting the situation. How long have you known about me?"
She smiled. " I've had my suspicions for a couple of years now. Really, John, you should keep it down to a mild roar when you're masturbating. You kept on screaming about Todd or Gary or Brian doing this or that."
I blushed a very deep red and grinned sheepishly. I should have known.
That's it for Chapter 8. I know that it's been an awfully long time, almost two years, since I've posted anything. Life can be a bitch sometimes. Hopefully, there won't be such a wait between Chapter 8 and Chapter 9. ;)
Comments, suggestions and constructive criticism are welcomed. Any flames will be deleted. My email has changed. It is now gentim@earthlink.net. See ya, later.
Tim