Hadrian's Lover

by Patricia-Marie Budd

  Jeffreys: That sounds about right.

  Defense: Can you tell me how these young men are doing today?

  Jeffreys: I do not keep track of the whereabouts of wards once they leave the compound. My job is simply to assist Mr. Weller whenever required.

  Defense: So you really don’t know where any of these men are today?

  Jeffreys: No, ma’am, I do not.

  Defense: Would it shock you to learn that, like Todd Middleton, all five of these men are dead? That all five of these men committed suicide shortly after Mr. Weller administered the medicinal intercourse you were so fortunate to have been in the presence of?

  Jeffreys: I—ah—had no idea.

  Defense: Was Mr. Weller actually administering medicinal intercourse, or was he, in fact, raping these men?

  Prosecution: Objection!

  Judge: Objection denied. Answer the question, Mr. Jeffreys.

  Jeffreys: I—I honestly thought it was for medicinal purposes—that he was helping them. I swear on Hadrian’s lover I had no idea any of them died.

  Defense: Did any of these men, did Todd Middleton, agree to medicinal intercourse with Mr. Weller?

  Jeffreys: No. No, ma’am, they didn’t.

  Defense: Did Jason Warith accidently lock himself out of the room?

  Jeffreys: No, ma’am, he did not.

  Defense: How was it he was unable to reenter?

  Jeffreys: I was instructed to remove him from the room and then lock the door behind him so Mr. Weller could administer—while he—

  Defense: While he raped Todd Middleton.

  Prosecution: Objection. The Defense is putting words in the witness’s mouth.

  Judge: Objection noted.

  Defense: Mr. Jeffreys, in your opinion, did Mr. Weller rape Todd Middleton?

  Jeffreys: Yes, ma’am, he did.

  Defense: No more questions.

  Judge: Prosecution. Do you wish to cross-examine?

  Prosecution: No, M’Lady.

  Judge: This session is adjourned. We will reconvene tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. when I will execute judgment.

  * * * * *

  Transcripts: Hadrian vs. Hunterr

  An Unprecedented Sentence

  Clerk: Frank Hunter, please rise for your verdict.

  Judge: I must say this has been a most disturbing and unique case. Todd Middleton’s death was murder, and not, as the defense lawyer eloquently suggests, an act of assisted suicide.

  Although Hadrian law allows for euthanasia in cases of the terminally ill, these laws do not extend to the emotionally distressed. One can overcome a mental illness brought on by circumstance. Todd Middleton’s depression was not the result of an incurable chemical disorder of the brain. Thus, it is the decision of this court that, you, Frank Hunter, are guilty of murder.

  Under normal circumstances, the penalty for said crime is death and I would hang you. However, there are extenuating circumstances that require leniency. Nor will you be exiled to the outside world.

  I am fully aware that I will be setting precedent here today, but as your lawyer uncovered for us, Todd Middleton’s situation, his sexual preference compounded by his having been raped, did make life for the young man unbearable in Hadrian. I believe that you, and Todd Middleton, saw his death, your aiding him in his suicide, as an act of mercy.

  I recognize the need for reform within our reeducation system as well as a complete rethinking of our nation’s attitudes toward our heterosexual citizens. As a result, I have chosen to sentence you to a life of service within Hadrian’s military.

  Your rank upon entrance, until the day you die, will be that of ensign. There will be no opportunity for promotion. No opportunity for parole. You will spend the rest of your days serving your country by protecting Hadrian from the outside world. This court is now adjourned.

  * * * * *

  Salve!

  An End to an Era

  HNN—Melissa Eagleton Reporting

  As all my viewers are aware, Salve! is the voice of Hadrian—that of the government and of the people. When the tune of those voices changes, so must its mouthpiece. I am not retiring as the host of Salve! but I have been forced to face some very ugly truths about much of what I have been saying to you over the years. I still believe, as I am sure do many of you, that Hadrian is the future hope for humanity, but that future cannot be forged by the blood of our youth. I do not refer to those who die defending our wall. The threat of the outside world remains as prevalent as ever. I refer, rather, to those who have suffered and died at the hands of Gideon Weller—six young men over the past twenty years. Are those numbers too small for Hadrian to take notice? No. Every single boy’s death is a slap in the face of our good country Hadrian. The charges laid against Gideon Weller based on the evidence that surfaced in the wake of Frank Hunter’s murder trial and the reeducation camp’s ex-warden’s subsequent sentence of exile has shattered citizens’ faith in Hadrian’s reeducation system. As Judge Julia Reznikoff said in her final address at Weller’s trial: “Gideon Weller is a man who became judge, jury, and executioner of these young men. He determined them to be pure heterosexuals with no hope of reformation and acted believing their end justified. Unfortunately,” Judge Reznikoff added, “as we condemn this man, we must also condemn ourselves, for his warped attitude was born of our country’s prevailing prejudice.” As Mother Stuttgart succinctly reminded us when she spoke at her great-grandson’s trial: “Humanity’s greatest flaw is in our lack of balance.” We swing from one extreme to another, and today, I say Hadrian has taken the pendulum of man’s folly from one form of abuse into another. Gideon Weller acted based on our country’s lack of balance—our country’s prevailing prejudice against heterosexuals. The six youth Gideon Weller raped all committed suicide. That these young men all chose death as their only escape proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have allowed our hopes for the future to act as a steamroller over the fringes of our youth. These six young men were our children. Our fear of the outside world, our warped perception of heterosexuals—especially viewing heterosexual men as aggressive, violent, and abusive—has twisted the way we view some of our youth.

  Todd Middleton proved how we do not truly understand our heterosexual youth. His potential, his gifts, much like those of his father, whom we learned during Frank Hunter’s trial was also a strai—I’m sorry, heterosexual, are lost to our society. As we know, Will Middleton is revered in Hadrian for his genetically altering the soya bean, an ingenious genetic alteration which helped Hadrian enter into the self-sustaining age we now appreciate. An act brought into existence by a straight man—a het’ro. Had we known of his sexual preference when he was still in high school, our country would have been denied all of his talents. Just as we are now denied all the potential talents his son, Todd Middleton, had. Todd Middleton had hoped to follow in his father’s footsteps. His dream was to alter the DNA of rice so we could grow that life-saving crop in our northern climate. Because rice is the last remaining crop Hadrian imports, Todd’s dream would have offered us complete anonymity and self-reliance. We will never know if he, like his father, could have been successful.

  Why is it we only ever stop to think about our actions when the one who dies, or the person who speaks out, is deemed a member of our elite? Stop and think, we have, finally. Recently elected President Stiles vows to look into the state of reeducation camps and has appointed Jason Warith to work in conjunction with the Minister of Education. As you know, Jason Warith was the man who helped expose Gideon Weller’s abusive methods of reeducation. Mr. Warith states that his first act as assistant to the Minister of Education is to ban the use of corporal punishment. Only one paddle will remain—Gideon Weller’s—a paddle stained with the blood of his victims. This instrument of torture used against our children for far too many years will now hang in the Government Hall as a bloody reminder of his ruthless rule forged by our fear of the outside world and unreasonable prejudice against heterosexuals.

  And alth
ough positive changes are being made, needless to say, many are out there who actually approve of Gideon Weller’s methods. Hadrian’s transition back to a state of tolerance and understanding will not be easy, but suffice to say, the spark that lights the way for that transition is burning brightly, and women and men like Faial Raboud and Jason Warith are more than willing to carry that torch in the hopes of creating a better future for our children.

  Vale!

  Love Recovers

  Four years have passed since Frank’s trial. Dramatic changes have occurred in the Hunter family as a result. Dean moved out, taking up residence in his grandmother Destiny Stuttgart’s abode. She purchased a home in the New Augustus City, rebuilt closer to the Canadian border and growing after that dirty nuclear assault. When he left, Dean had insisted on a separation. Time was needed, he said, for him to come to grips with what had happened: Todd’s death, Frank’s confession, the legalization of heterosexuality, and now, the lengthy court battles he and countless other victims of the Northeast Reeducation Camp have filed. Most important for Dean is the reemergence of Destiny Stuttgart, his Mimi, in his life. As both an elder and family member, Mimi does not cause Dean to suffer the negative effects of the shock treatment that successfully conditioned his body against feminine influence. Mimi, knowing this brutal effect on her grandson, determined the last important goal of her life would be to help Dean overcome this psychological prison.

  The separation is hardest on Geoffrey and Roger. The pain of losing his lover spirals Geoffrey into a state of depression that twists him into a severe workaholic. He is now indispensable to Hadrian National Fisheries (HNF) and is the top CEO of the entire corporation. Roger is torn between two fathers. As much as he longs for the loving arms of his papa, Roger is too afraid to leave Geoffrey alone even for a day. Thus, his only visits with Dean are through visual voc. Whenever Dean suggests he come to live with him, or even just enjoy a short visit, Roger refuses. Roger knows he is his father’s only link to life outside the work world. Roger is the only reason Geoffrey leaves the office to come home for dinner. More times than not, though, Geoffrey’s mind stays at the office, and then after eating, he either disappears into his study or returns to work. Roger is more often alone than not. And he misses Frank dearly.

  Frank feels none of this. His sentence to life in the military has him living at the southwest wall. He has cut off all communication with family and friends, greeting them cordially when they insist on making a visit, which he is allowed once a month with a maximum of three people. Only two ever show up: Geoffrey and Roger. This monthly vigil is a daytrip on which Geoffrey brings his work. Roger brings homework and reading material since his father is uncommunicative. Roger makes this visit regardless of Frank’s now formal aloofness. He refuses to believe his brother no longer feels any love. He knows that deep inside, locked away by fear and self-loathing, is the fun-loving tenderhearted brother he grew up with. And even if the old Frank never again emerges, Roger continues his monthly visits and determines to do so until the day he dies.

  With the legalization of heterosexuality, and the uni of New Augustus suffering economically due to fear resulting from the name association (Augustus now being synonymous with nuclear strike and cancer), Dean gained reluctant acceptance into the campus. Of course, Mimi’s influence was critical. Very few people are willing to refuse a founding mother. Thus, Dean is now working toward building a life in the field of medicine. He has chosen nursing for his vocation because he will be able to graduate and begin work in the field before the age of fifty. Mimi and Geoffrey share the cost of his tuition and living expenses. At first, Dean felt it wrong to have Geoffrey help pay for his education since he was the one who filed for separation and had left, but both grandmother and partner had insisted Geoffrey be allowed to help. Dean, having reclaimed his last name at Mimi’s insistence, registered as Dean Stuttgart. Once precedence was set, Dean advocated for other heterosexuals to be allowed uni entrance, and coupled with Mimi’s powerful influence and the university’s crippled financial status, the New Augustus Campus became a beacon of hope for heterosexuals throughout Hadrian. By the end of his second year of schooling, Dean had established the first straight/gay alliance on campus, the first of its kind in the history of Hadrian. Dean, of course, is its president and his vice-president is Cantara Raboud, Faial Raboud’s daughter. Thanks to her mother’s efforts, Cantara is now free to come out and express her sexuality. Dean and she are not lovers. Dean is restrained in three ways: 1) age appropriate heterosexual attraction—Cantara is only twenty-three to Dean’s forty-four years, 2) electric shock conditioning—although he has managed to overcome most of it, Dean still has a long way to go before he can ever hope to hold a woman in his arms, and 3) Geoffrey—Dean loves Geoffrey and every time he thinks of trying to be with a woman, the thought of hurting his former lover acts as more of an abatement than his previous conditioning. During their separation, Dean often found himself not only thinking about his partner, but longing for him. In many ways, Dean has come to conclude, one’s sexual preference has as much to do with love as it has with physical yearnings—perhaps even more so. Having confessed this revelation to Mimi, Dean is continuously encouraged by her to invite Geoffrey down for a visit. Now that the school year is nearing its end, Dean agrees and vocs his old lover.

  Geoffrey is overwhelmed with conflicting emotions: relief, love, and desire, muddy when mixed with anger, resentment, and pain. It takes time to win Geoffrey’s trust back, but soon the two men are voc’ing on a daily basis. Within six months, Geoffrey makes his first visit to New Augustus.

  Mimi’s home consists of two levels, a ground floor and a level below ground. The car park is also below ground. One drives down a small hill inside the compound. Mimi, being a founding mother, is wealthy and her home consists of four bedrooms and a family room on the ground level, with the living room, kitchen, and a fifth (guest) bedroom below ground. When Mimi opens the door to her underground vehicle park, she greets Geoffrey, inviting him in. Turning to face the stairs, she calls up to Dean, who is working in one of the rooms he has converted into his study. “Your room,” she instructs Geoffrey as they await Dean’s arrival, “is the first door on the right.” She points to the room just past the stairs. To their left is the living room, and down the hall, past the guest room on the right, is the kitchen.

  Within seconds, Dean has leaped down the stairs like a young mountain goat. As soon as his eyes meet Geoffrey’s, he lunges forward, pulling him into his arms. Mimi discreetly backs away into the living room to give the two men their privacy. While kissing and awkwardly banging against walls, Dean and Geoffrey make their way into the guest bedroom where they remain for three days with Dean periodically emerging to prepare a meal in the kitchen.

  By the end of Dean’s final year, Geoffrey and he are planning their re-registration ceremony. The decision came quite suddenly and at Dean’s suggestion. After a bout of unabashed lovemaking, while Geoffrey is lying with his head cradled into Dean’s shoulder, he shudders a soft sigh. “I thought I had lost you forever.”

  Dean closes his eyes. “Do you remember the first time we made love?”

  “It was at The Cattle Ranch.” The memory provokes a smile.

  “Did you know that I had the chance to be with a woman while we were there?”

  Sitting up in surprise, Geoffrey battles with his emotions. He is appalled that the ranch was a front for heterosexual behavior while at the same time trying to remind himself he has no right to judge. “Did you?” Fear imbues his being as he worries that Dean may well have been with another partner.

  “No.” Pausing briefly, knowing his next words will be painful, Dean confesses, “I wanted to, but I couldn’t. The conditioning was too strong.” With a slight harrumph, he admits, “I still have trouble being in the same room with a woman for too long.” Smiling, he concludes, “Mimi’s helping me with that, though.”

  “So,” Geoffrey gulps back the truth, “if you could have, you wo
uld have then?”

  “Yes.” Dean is not purposely trying to hurt Geoffrey. He is simply trying to share with him the complete truth. “Back then, but not today.” He looks his lover in the eye and emphasizes, “The only person I ever want to be with now is you.” Geoffrey begins to sob and Dean envelops him in his arms. “I am so sorry I hurt you. Please understand. I needed this time to decide who I wanted to be.” Wiping the tears from Geoffrey’s eyes, he adds, “This time, Geoffrey, I can honestly say I choose to be with you. No one else is deciding for me. Not fear, not Weller, not society…” With a little smirk, he concludes, “not even you.” Now, with the eyes and smile of honesty, he says, “I love you, Geoffrey Hunter, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  After the two men decide to reestablish their bond, Geoffrey steps down as the conglomerate head, resuming his former position as President of Hunter Fisheries. Roger is thrilled, not just to have his family back, but to have his father restored to his former, more jovial self. Geoffrey asks Roger to stand up for him at the ceremony and Dean also makes a request. He needs Geoffrey and Roger to speak to Frank on his behalf. It is time to heal the rift between papa and son. It is time to make their family whole again.

  * * * * *

  Hadrian’s Wall

  At the wall, Frank Hunter stands at the ready, watchful of any movement on the outside. Before him lies a wasteland scarred by bombings, blackened shards of rock, shrapnel, and the decimated skeletal remains of enemy vehicles. Beyond Hadrian’s firing range are the scattered and stunted beginnings of black pine, the heartiest of all northern trees, no doubt attempting to resurrect the Lazarus of old Canada’s once abundant boreal forest. Frank watches the horizon of the wastelands for any sign of heterosexual barbarians. He doesn’t call them that. He doesn’t even think of them as the enemy. But it is the military term for the enemy; anyone outside the wall, in fact, is a heterosexual barbarian; it is the term he uses when addressing a senior officer about a kill, and he always writes, “Shot and killed one (or more) heterosexual barbarian” in every report. Frank has a sharp eye and exceptional aim. He kills, on average, five heterosexuals a month. Frank doesn’t think of this act as shooting the enemy. He doesn’t see it as necessary for his nation’s security. There is not a single patriotic bone left in Frank Hunter’s body. He doesn’t even consider himself a citizen of Hadrian anymore. Frank Hunter is a mercy killer. Every kill is, for Frank, and very likely for his every victim, an act of euthanasia. After every kill, he whispers, “I did it for you, Todd.”