“I thought we’d covered this ground already,” Quentin said and Byron could sense that he was tense.
“I didn’t mean that in the way you thought.” Byron squatted looking down at him.
Quentin came out of the water, “What are you trying to say?” His voice had an edge to it.
“I meant no disrespect.”
Quentin was getting angrier, ”You have everything in life and a rich dad. You’re intelligent and handsome. You can have anything you want.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“At least make use of the Jacuzzi and all those things in your home.”
Byron could barely control his anger, “You’re sick if you think that all I think about is the Jacuzzi.”
“I’m sure those thoughts go through your mind sometimes.” Quentin sensed that he was contributing very poorly to these tense discussions. His words had touched a raw nerve. Byron felt that most boys went through sexual urges but that their values of respect triumphed over their desires. He felt that Quentin was unfair to imply that all he wanted was torrid sex in the Jacuzzi. These innuendos were too much for him to contain.
He punched Quentin in the mouth and followed up with one to his stomach and to his chest.
Quentin didn’t flinch from the blows. He stood his ground. Some blood trickled from the side of his lips.
The move was so fast that Byron did not see it coming. In one sweeping movement, he kicked Byron’s legs then thrust him to the ground with his elbow on his neck. Byron was no match for Quentin who was very strong and could have hurt him really badly. “I can break your legs or your arms if I want to.”
Byron struggled to breathe as Quentin continued to pin him down.”You like this don’t you?” he said angrily.
“I don’t like what I’m doing!”
“You’re holding me down and almost choking me.”
“Look at what you’ve done to me.” Some blood trickled from his nose and lips to Byron. “You hit me first. I held you down to stop you from hitting me and making me too angry to forget myself. Why do you dislike my being gay?”
“I don’t dislike that.”
“You punched me,” Quentin said with a pained look as he let go of him.
Byron dived for the reclining chair. He whirled around with the gun in his hand. He was shaking visibly.
“You think you can go around breaking bones whenever you feel like it,” Byron’s face was livid with anger.
“You hit me first and I lost my cool.”
“You over reacted to a harmless thing I said.”
“I thought you were my friend but you’re just like Russ.,” Quentin was getting very angry. “Before you shoot let me spell out one thing for you. I love you!” he said defiantly. “I wake up in the night dreaming of you. Now I’d like to get you out of my mind and get on with my life!”
It occurred to Byron that Quentin was so very much like him in temperament. It was as if he was looking at a clone of himself.
He was ashen faced when Quentin’s words sunk in. He suddenly realized that he was going through the same emotions. He dreamt of Quentin and even had wet dreams. Byron thought he was the most handsome guy he’d ever seen. He just didn’t know how to handle his feelings and tried to suppress it so as not to embarrass anyone. He had defended him twice because he truly cared for him. “Oh my God,” he gasped as he put away the gun. “I almost shot you,” he was mumbling to himself. He cradled his head. “I can’t believe this! Oh my God!” He was shaking uncontrollably and gasping for air as he rolled over.
Quentin ran towards him. He was hyperventilating. He held Byron tenderly, fanning him, his eyes moist.
Gradually Byron calmed down and breathed normally. He was pleasantly surprised to see Quentin hugging him. He liked the warmth. It felt so good. It was great being loved.
“If I’m cramping your style let me know,” Quentin said.
“No please,” Byron said rather quickly. “I love this.”
He reached over and wiped the small trickle of blood on Quentin’s lips. “Did I do that? I don’t know what came over me.” He smiled.”I’m letting go now.”
“You’re letting go?”
“Yes, I’ve always tried to deny that I’m gay. I liked you the first time I saw you but was too frightened to accept that fact. I kind of hated you for my falling in love with you. It sounds crazy.”
“It’s not crazy. It’s just normal for people to be confused at first.”
“I just want you to forgive me.”
“For what?”
“For any way I may have hurt you. I couldn’t accept my feelings. I’m okay now.”
Quentin was speechless. He thought of his selfish dad and was touched by Byron’s gesture.
“And Quent,” Byron hesitated. “I’m so terribly sorry back there. I can’t believe I was going to shoot you. I lost control.”
“Relax. I antagonized you. Sorry for pushing you down like that,” he paused. “I knew you were not going to shoot. You’d never shoot me,” he smiled.
“Let’s shake to it,” Byron said.
The dark shadows had gone as suddenly as it had descended.
+++++
Quentin swam under water and then it hit him. He suddenly had the revelation that forgiveness meant letting go of all the dark shadows of hate, phobias and bitterness lurking in people’s minds. He thought of his grandparents who were always there for him. Bradley said that he had a father in heaven who always cared for him, loved him and would never leave him. He suddenly realized the secret of forgiveness. One had to fill one’s body and soul with love. This love replaced the hate, bitterness and anger. One had to process this decision and then put it into action. He was doing that now. He felt a great weight coming out of his body and soul. He felt calm, relaxed and at peace with himself.
In his own affirming way Byron had shown Quentin the meaning of true love by letting go of his phobias and by standing up for him against bullies even if it meant putting himself in harm’s way. That took real courage to do without feeling bitter and angry. He had replaced his wounded feelings with real love.
Suddenly he was free. He was overwhelmed by this wonderful feeling of love.
Byron swam over looking quite alarmed because his eyes were red and tears glistened.
“I’ve done it! I’ve done it!” Quentin said excitedly. It was as if he was speaking to himself. “Oh my God, I’ve done it.” His eyes sparkled as if he had just found something of great beauty.
Byron looked quizzically at him. He was perceptive enough not to say anything but allowed him to process his issues.
“My dad. He said he hated me. That I was an accident, that I’d amount to nothing.” He spoke with a new revelation. “I’ve forgiven him.” He looked up into the sky and shouted, “I’m free!”
Byron hugged him and felt happy that he had found his freedom in her presence.
“I understand how you feel. My dad is hardly at home for me. It can be a terribly lonely feeling.”
“I used to cry myself to sleep.”
“I guess it’s healthy to cry,” Byron said the first thing that came to his mind.
Byron held him so tenderly as he cried. For some strange reason, Quentin’s tears made him horny. He hoped his erection wouldn’t be very noticeable in the pool. It embarrassed him that he was feeling this way when he should be more buttoned down!
“Can I make a confession to you?”
There was something about Quentin that he found refreshing. He was not trying to impress Byron but just being himself and being honest with his feelings. It was almost childlike in its innocence.
“I suspect it has something to do with me,” Byron said perceptively. “Can I punch you in the mouth if I don’t like the sound of it?” he asked gently.
“Yes, please. I’d love that very much,” he said liking his style instantly. “I fell in love the first time I saw you. It was on that day that your eyes were all red and it looked like you had bee
n crying all night. I knew something was up at your home. In spite of all you were going through, you put that aside to defend me.
So now we are even with our crying, Byron thought. He couldn’t help gasping when he looked down. Quentin also had a volcanic erection too and seemed quite proud of it. They couldn’t help laughing that in between the tears, their hormones raged on!
Byron touched his mouth. Quentin remained still as he kissed the part of his lips that he had punched. It sent shock waves through his body. He felt numb with the awesome feeling of falling in love.
“And Byron, if I do something that hurts or insults you, can you punch me in the mouth?”
The word “Sure” had barely left Byron’s mouth when he came over, held him tightly and started kissing him passionately. Their tongues explored each other desperately. They could feel their erections exploring each other in the warm water.
Quentin got out of the pool with the agility of an Olympic swimmer and pulled Byron out.
As they walked to the reclining easy chair, Byron said, “Quent will you be insulted if I do something now?”
“No.”
The move came so fast that Quentin was on his back on the ground. Byron kissed him and they could feel their hardness penetrating into each other.
They lay on the easy chair, their bodies seemingly welded together liked one piece of delicate art work.
“Byron, if I do anything that insults you can you punch?” Byron said playfully before they overwhelmed each other with their hardness.
Afterwards exhausted they lay peacefully by each other’s side.
“I’m free,” Quentin shouted again.
For the first time in his life he was overpowered by the feeling of forgiving his dad, of being loved by his grandparents and of understanding what it was like to love someone. His eyes became moist again when he thought of the awesome turn of events. It was just a great feeling to be alive.
Chapter 11: Final confrontation
Quentin looked at Byron in mock horror.
“Let me get this straight,” he began, “what you’re saying is that you’ve never cooked anything in your life. It’s all done by servants.”
“Well Juanita and the gang cook the meals. I’ll ask her to teach me some recipes after this,” Byron said weakly.
“You’re kind of like the Prince of Genovia,” Quentin laughed.
“Look I can learn,” he said lamely.
“You’ll have to come home for a sleepover so my grand dad and I can teach you.”
“You’ll have to come to my place too.”
“I’ll want room service and my own personal butler,” Quentin laughed.
“Oh you’ll kill me,” Byron said as he doubled over with laughter.
There was an innocuous beeping sound from Byron’s Galaxy. He became tense. He was familiar with surveillance devices as his home was routinely swept for bugs. It was due to his dad’s paranoia about snoopy reporters and his suspicion about rivals trying to undercut him by eavesdropping. Byron had learnt a few tricks from these experiences. Something did not seem right from the very subtle beeping in his phone. He had an intuition of trouble and felt he needed to check it. He opened it up and then gasped. “Oh my God!”
“What’s the matter?”
“There’s a tracking device here.”
“You mean Russ knows where we are?”
“Yes and he’s probably on his way here unless he’s arrived already and sneaking round now.”
“That means that Russ is probably not hurt,” Quentin said sounding disappointed.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Byron said.
Both their phones registered busy dial tones.
“I hate to say this guys but I think Russ has put up a jamming device so we can’t send or receive calls.”
“Trust a devious mind to think up everything.”
The first shot shattered the window in the kitchen. They dived for cover and then crawled out to one of the bedroom upstairs.
From this vantage point Byron saw Bugsy leaning against the car. He had on a snapback that was barely sitting on top of his head. Byron took carefully aim. The snapback flew out of his head and Bugsy squealed in fear. He also took aim at the front car lights.
Russ’s team shouted as they moved out of his vision.
More shots were fired at them and they could hear feet running. The front door was smashed open.
In the background they could hear the police siren sounding furiously. There was the faint sound of a helicopter in the distance.
Byron realized his mistake.
They should have dispersed in different directions. At least that way one of them could have escaped. But there was still time left for a deceptive move. They could still try this maneuver even though it was very dangerous.
He had revealed his position by firing. His only chance of evading them was to double back around them so that when they came into the house he would be behind them. It was so reckless and foolhardy that he didn’t expect Russ to believe he would do it.
He now realized that they had come in earlier and had he not had his sense of intuition they would have been taken by surprise in the kitchen.
The police siren was sounding closer.
“You can come out now,” Russ ordered. “We know you’re inside.”
“I’m coming out,” Quentin shouted.
“You thought you could run away from me,” he gloated.
“Don’t do anything unreasonable,” Quentin pleaded.
“I’ll have my little fun with you first,” Russ said.
“Don’t you dare touch me,” he said.
“Oh so you do have a voice.”
“Speak for yourself.”
Russ’s hand shook visibly as his death like stare penetrated Quentin. It suddenly occurred to him that Russ was not acting normally. He seemed to be high on some drugs and was acting rather strangely.
The Police siren came much close now. A helicopter hovered above the mansion.
It happened all of a sudden. Russ and his three goons had not seen Byron come in quietly from a side door positioned behind Russ.
“Drop it Russ,” he said in a determined voice. “Don’t you dare touch Quent.” Russ’s jaw dropped.
“If you don’t drop it I swear to God I’ll shoot. I don’t care if your gang takes me down. At least I would have gotten rid of a scum like you.”
Russ hesitated.
“I’m going to count to 5 and shoot you if you don’t put down your guns.”
Russ put down his gun and signaled to the rest to do likewise.
They could hear the sound of footsteps coming much closer. Armed police officers burst in.
Byron’s hand was shaking with all the pent up frustration and anger building up inside him.
“It’s okay. Everything should be okay now,” Quentin said gently.
“Put down the gun, son,” one of the officers commanded Byron.
He put down his gun slowly. There was a look of relief on his face.
Chapter 12: Finale
Their statements were taken at the Police Station. Quentin and Byron filed additional reports of the incident where they were terrorized and attacked in the wooded park area.
Byron’s dad sounded very concerned on the phone. He was in New York and he was flying over. He was sending Warren, the family lawyer.
“It’s okay dad. I can manage until you come back,” Byron said pleasantly.
His dad was intrigued at his enlightened attitude. Something positive must have happened although he couldn’t figure it out at that time. He said he had some good news. He was flying out in the weekend to Texas to meet his mum. They were making another attempt at reconciliation. Byron was very happy to hear this.
Bradley and Mathias came quickly. They were in their mid fifties and appeared well adjusted. They acted like any other normal guardians and seemed genuinely concerned not only for Quentin but for Byron too. They had a discussion with the Office
r in Charge.
Quentin introduced them and told them that Byron would come for a sleep over in the weekend. “I know you don’t like hugs so I won’t embarrass you in front of them.”
“I love hugs.” Byron was slowly appreciating him. He was the friend he never had. There was some dried blood around his nose and lips. He felt a pang of guilt at his violent nature which he didn’t realize he had coiled up inside him.
“Everything should be okay,” he said sensing Byron’s concern. “I’m used to the hard knocks. Used to learn kick boxing and wrestling in Indiana.”
Byron looked surprised.
“It was a hobby to help me deal with my tensions. I couldn’t use it on you. So I allowed you to punch me up.”
“After all the awful things I said to you, you’re the real hero,” he said with conviction. “You’ll have to teach me some boxing and driving lessons.”
“Oh that’ll be great. I’ll have my chance to punch you up,” Quentin joked.
“That’s fine,” Byron couldn’t help wincing, “so long as you don’t punch too hard!”
It was Quentin’s turn to be pleasantly surprised when Byron hugged him.
Bradley noticed the change in him. This pleased him greatly. “I’ve had a very long chat with your dad. A heart to heart talk,” he told Quentin, looking very pleased. “He understands that he’s treated you shabbily. He’s going to call you.”
“I told Byron that I’d forgiven dad and it was as if a great weight had come away from me. I felt so great.”
Bradley and Mathias were happy that Quentin had found a friend so soon after coming to Tracey High.
Everything had worked out well for them in the end.
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Trouble (YA Gay Coming of Age / Romance Series) Page 4