Hope you guys all like this story. It is a bit more gritty than Lance Meets an Angel, and I hope it goes over well. Please write me and let me know if I should continue it.
Disclaimer: You know the drill...to young leave...don't like male/male relationships leave...I don't know Jeff although I wish I did...me saying he is gay here has no effect in real life.
Have fun and a note on terminology: I used some real Roma words to add authenticity. Kumpania is a term for a close circle of friends, and Marhime is the term for unclean.
Jeff Timmons rushed across the street, holding a now thoroughly wet newspaper over his head in a vain attempt to keep the torrential downpour off of him. He kind of laughed to himself upon reaching the other side. What a great way to end the glorious European tour for 98 Degrees new CD Revelations than to be stranded in Timisoara. It was a beautiful city in Romania, there was no denying it, but he wished it hadn't been storming for the past 72 hours. The other guys had already left the city to return to the states. They were going to have three weeks off before meeting up again, and he had decided he wanted to visit Beijing. He had worked in a Chinese restaurant, and had a couple of Chinese characters tattooed on his chest, but he had never actually been to China. What the hell, he figured he was already more than halfway there, why not just go now. His flight was supposed to have left two days ago, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to happen when the storm rolled in.
He had tried to make the best of it though, seeing the sites of the city. It really was beautiful. He loved the Banat Metropolitan Cathedral. He visited a couple of times since becoming "stranded". He loved the way the massive church looked in the heavy downpour, like a giant fortress against the storm. He had regretted leaving the bench he had been looking at it from tonight, but it had just gotten to cold and he needed to return to his hotel near the airport.
Coron lay sprawled on the pavement. He couldn't remember when he had fallen there, and he couldn't remember how he had made it that far. Even through the haze of drugs he knew he was hurt bad. Not because he really felt the pain, but he could see something...it was thick, red, and he knew it was hot. He thought it might be blood, but the heavy rain was quickly washing it away. The guy had SEEMED NICE.
Coron looked at the man in the car. The guy looked nice enough, not really the serial killer type. In fact, he was kind of cute, and besides, he really needed the money the guy was offering, and when the man spoke his voice was soft and warm.
"Come on get in. You'll have a great time. TRUST me"
Trust.... how long had it been since he had known trust? His friends, no more than that.... his Kumpania had deserted him. Sabina, his own sister had yelled at him.
"Coron, we must return to mother and father. Our people wait outside the city for us. Timisoara is not for us. We are Roma; it is in our blood to wander. I miss the children and the dogs. This city hurts my soul. It is Marhime. I feel unclean just being here. Look what it has done to you. It has made you Marhime; you SELL YOURSELF ON THE STREET, to men and to women."
So Coron decided to get in the car. The man took him to a hotel that was in the middle of the city; he could see the airport as he got out of the car. He couldn't tell whether the guy was from Romania or not. He was never really good at telling those things. His thoughts were interrupted as the man spoke.
"That is some interesting jewelry you have on."
"What...oh, yeah my mom made this necklace for me."
Coron absently fingered the beads around his neck. The necklace had been a gift from his mother on his 18th birthday earlier this year. How long ago had it been? Six months...nine?
"You look like you have been SLEEPING IN THE STREETS the last couple of nights."
"We are leaving Coron. Gemile, Luciano, Keja, Vedel, all of us. We are going back to the others. We are tired of sleeping in the streets and being afraid."
Sabina said it with tears in her eyes. She had looked at him pleading. But he couldn't take it. He couldn't face his parents. He couldn't face the rest of the caravan. Not being unclean. He didn't think he would ever be clean again.
"GO DAMMIT, JUST GO! I AM NOT GOING WITH YOU!"
Coron waited patiently as the man opened the hotel room. He squinted his eyes a bit, attempting to see in the darkness. He took off his coat and shook it out.
"Yeah, it's been hard since my Kumpania left."
"Your Kumpania? What the hell is a Kumpania?"
"Huh, oh it's a term we Roma use to describe our close friends."
"Oh you're a gypsy huh?"
By that time Coron had become aggravated. He tossed his coat down on a chair. The guy was paying him to have sex, not to talk about life. Coron hated that. He just wanted to get it over and done with.
"Hey you look pretty tense...um..."
"Coron"
"...Yeah Coron, here why don't you take some of this to relax a little?"
"What is it?"
"Just a hydro-codeine, a muscle relaxer. It will help you loosen up, plus it will make what's coming up a little easier for ya."
"I have been through this before you know... but hey whatever."
Coron took the pill and the man handed him a glass of what appeared to be water. Coron stuck the pill in his mouth and downed the contents of the glass.
"Okay.... now what?"
"Now the fun starts."
The guy said it with a vicious tone in his voice, and somewhere in the back of Coron's rapidly fading consciousness, a small voice told him to run, to get away from this guy. He squinted his eyes trying to bring everything back into focus.
"Fu...fun?"
Coron asked brokenly, but his only response was a backhand from the other guy. Pain exploded briefly in his head as he lost balance and fell. He was aware that he had hit his head on the table near the bed, and that he was bleeding, but only barely. Like he was watching what was happening to someone else. He started to lose even that tenuous awareness as the guy began to tear his clothes off....
He heard himself groan, he knew that the guy had raped him, he was pretty sure of it anyway. Somewhere his mind noted that he was only half clothed, his pants were on but unbuttoned, the rest of his clothes were nowhere he could see. The guy had probably robbed him too. He was cold, and he felt like he had been beaten within an inch of his life, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything. He was lying in the middle of the sidewalk, and rain was pouring down all around him. Was this how it was all going to end? Was he going to lie there and bleed to death? Would it matter? Would anyone even know or care?
Suddenly someone came into his vision, at any other time he probably would have jumped at the appearance of a stranger, but he didn't have the strength of body or will to even wince. The guy started to ask him questions; Coron couldn't make them out through the haze of drugs and pain though. Absently he noted that the guy was kind of attractive. His hair was the same shade of black as his own, but the other had dark brown eyes, a stark contrast to his nearly amethyst ones. He tried to answer, to say that he was all right, but all that really came out was a noise somewhere between a groan and a whimper.
As Jeff arrived on the other side of the street, he saw something big lying on the sidewalk in front of his hotel. He was to far off to be sure, but he though it might be a body. Thinking that someone had fallen in the rain he ran toward the person, abandoning the newspaper when he got close. He saw that indeed it was a person, one that looked like he had gotten into a fight. The guy, probably around eighteen or nineteen years old was lying there without a shirt or coat or shoes, and his pants looked like they were hastily thrown on, and weren't even buttoned. His thoughts were cut off as the guy let out a soft whimper; Jeff rushed over and knelt down beside him.
"Hey man, are you all right?"
The guy opened his eyes, a blue so dark they nearly seemed purple, and looked straight at him. Jeff noticed that the guy's black hair was matted with blood, and that there was a decent amount of blood on the pavement around him. He was covered with bruises, a few small cuts, and even appeared to have one cigarette burn on his left arm. The guy tried to answer him but didn't really do anything more than groan.
Jeff made a decision; he couldn't leave the guy on the street. He carefully picked him up, and slung him over his shoulder. He took a few experimental steps to make sure he could carry his new burden, and found that the guy wasn't that heavy. He began to walk carefully down the street, making sure not to slip or fall in the downpour. He had seen a hospital or clinic a block over, and was fairly confident he could make it...he just hoped that the guy on his shoulder could too... *************************************************************************
Thxs everyone who has supported my writing. If you like you can check out my website for more http://www.geocities.com/uninspired_teen or if you have any feedback (which I would love to hear from everyone) write me at uninspired_teen@hotmail.com