A Safe Place By James
Disclaimer
This is a story that deals with sexual as well as romantic situations between teenaged males. Should you not be of the legal age to read this type of material, or if you're offended by such material, then please find something else to read. Also remember to donate to Nifty so that these stories can remain free to the public.
Chapter 14
Continuing in 2015
Caleb
The week opening November was dark and rainy. I was happy for it, but a significant change was coming and it came with the slamming down of a phone among other things.
On a Thursday of that week, I came home and heard my mom yelling in to the phone, something she hardly ever did.
"I don't give a fuck what you think Margery!" she shouted. "He doesn't deserve this!"
"No you listen to me!" she screamed. "He's your son and I'm sick of seeing you hurt him this way! I love him as if he was my own son and I don't think of him as a burden, but that's the point! I'm pissed at how you keep dropping him off on others, because of the pain it's causing him! Fine, I'll pick him up tomorrow! This is fucking bullshit though!"
The phone slammed down and it was one of those old types that had a cord and the bells inside that made it ring and that gave a ringing sound when the handset was slammed down which was obviously what happened now. I closed the door and hung up my bag and coat.
"Mom?" I said hesitantly as I walked towards her.
"Hey Caleb," she said as we hugged.
"What happened?" I asked as we held on to one another. "What did Aunt Margie do this time?"
Although my mom and dad had virtually nothing to do with his or her parents, we had my mom's younger sister and that was her only sibling. My dad was an only child so it was just his parents who were the main problem. Anyway, my mom's sister had been drinking for years and she at the time had a son named Justin. He was my younger cousin and at the time, he was nine-going-on ten years old.
He would stay with us for a weekend once in a while when his mom would want to go and party. We tried to talk many times to social services, but they kept giving us the line that unless Margie got actively out of control, then there was nothing they could do. In other words, unless something bad actually happened to Justin, they weren't going to do anything.
Justin was born a couple of months prematurely and due to a medical mistake, he had to have his left leg amputated below the knee. He had a prosthetic leg ever since and it was about a month after he was born. They misread a couple of brain scans and based on these misreadings, they gave him a drug through an IV under the mistaken belief that they were treating seizure activity that wasn't even there once they did further testing.
One evening, a nurse replaced the I.V. in an artery instead of a vein then injected the medication. Gangrene set in a couple of days later and upon further investigation, they found that he never had seizure activity in his brain when they looked again at the misread brain scans. So they did the surgery to amputate his foot and he used a prosthetic ever since. It would cause friction when he would walk sometimes and it would rub the skin raw so that was always something he had to deal with. Adding insult to injury, his mom would yell at him when it would start hurting and always find some way to make it his fault whether it was something he neglected to do for it or not like if he forgot to use lotion to keep the skin from getting dry, but it never had been about his part of caring for it, as much as it was his mom blaming him for his own situation.
Little was and, is still unknown about Justin's father. The most we could find was that he was some guy that his mom met in a bar one night and once back at her place, they continued drinking throughout the night and eventually had sex and a few weeks later she found out from the doctor that she was pregnant with a son. It was rare that she wouldn't drink while she was pregnant with him and by the time she came to term and the doctors delivered him, it was hard to know at that point whether or not a missing leg would be the least of his problems. So far though, they've found that due to larger than normal amounts of oxygen given to him by the doctors, that the retinas of his eyes were damaged. He could still see, but he needed to see things up close and even then, it would be down the road when the doctors would know whether or not he'd lose his vision. He had what was called Retinopathy of Prematurity which is damage done to the retinas due to higher than normal amounts of oxygen given to premature babies in the hospital. One thing that R.O.P. could predispose children to, is Glaucoma and on the rare occasion that his mom got him to an eye doctor, they'd check his eye pressure and so far, it was normal.
Through it all though, Justin was a sweet boy and was always nice and kind when he was over at our house. We just hoped that his mom's crap wouldn't rub off on him in the way where he would start doing what she did. I just hoped that we could have some good influence over him in the end.
"Sorry you had to hear that," my mom said once we were at the table with glasses of chocolate milk in front of us. It had been my idea and she seemed to be enjoying it. "Yes, my little sister strikes again. Damn, I just wish this was Days of Our Lives I was watching and that it was Sami that I could be watching rather than this crap!"
She took a drink then set her glass down on the table a little harder than usual.
"It's bad isn't it?" I asked.
"She called me a few minutes before you got home today," my mom began. "She wants to go to one of the casinos on the other side of Sangger and of course it's a place where they have alcohol and we know what that means. So she asked if I'd take Justin for the weekend and of course we have things, or I should say that she doesn't have the compassion to think that we might have things going on this weekend. Anyway, she asks if I can take him in a way that is more like she's assuming that I'll take him. I asked her if Justin had anything going on this weekend and she said that he's upset since she told him today when he got home from school, that she won't be taking him to get a Christmas tree like she said they would a couple of days ago. Apparently, a couple of friends asked her to go with them when they called her today and she just couldn't say no. Of course she told me to hold on a couple of times when I was on the phone with her so she could tell Justin to shut up, because he was crying in the background."
"This is really messed up," I said and wanted to say another word so badly.
"I know what you're wanting to say," she said and smiled for a moment. "I agree with you and so when I talk to your father tonight after he gets home from his surgery he has to do on his last patient, I'll ask him about what more we can do for Justin. I hate seeing what my sister is doing to him and I'm really worried that he'll start making bad choices later in life if we don't get help for him and unless we can get her to change just like that and we can't do that, then he's going to have to be put in a different living situation."
"I hope we can do something for him," I said. "I really do."
"So do I," she replied.
I went off to start my homework and to try to put this situation out of my mind for the moment.
0000
Justin sat on his bed trying to stop crying. This had been the second outing that his mom changed her mind on at the last minute. The first one was only a couple of days ago when he wanted to go trick-or-treating and because she went to the bar at a little after 5:00 in the evening that night and no one could take him, he had to stay at the house by himself until she got home and by the time she arrived home at midnight, she gave Justin a cheese burger from Burger King that she picked up on the way home, then she went to her room and passed out.
There were other times where she would cancel trips and it was finally getting to be too much for him. As he sat on his bed, his mom came in and slapped him across the face.
"You better fucking stop that shit, or I'll give you something to cry about!" she screamed. "I don't have all the time in the world to be holding your fucking hand all the time, you little spoiled Bastard!"
"I just wanted'''," Justin tried to say.
"Shut up!" she yelled and slapped him, this time bloodying his lip and splitting it open. "I'm going out for a couple of hours and I'll be back later. Your Aunt Maria will be here tomorrow when you get home from school to take you for the weekend and I don't want to fucking hear any more about it! I already called for a pizza so you'll have your fucking dinner for tonight!"
She turned and left the room, finished getting ready then left the house leaving Justin on his own like usual.
0000
Caleb
Once dinner was finished up, I went to my room to finish homework and that left my parents alone since Alicia was going to her own room to do homework. I figured they'd be talking about how to change things for Justin and I knew that they had deep concern for his welfare and I hoped that there was something, anything that they could do for him.
0000
Justin's mom came home that night drunk and raging. The guy at the bar she was with decided that he needed to leave early and he said that he didn't drink much the way she was doing. She couldn't believe that. She figured that if he didn't want to drink with her, she'd just go home and drink alone and if little Justin didn't like it, then fuck him.
She slammed the door and went to Justin's room. It was a little before 7:00 P.M. that night and Justin was sitting in his room watching TV. She had left to go to the bar a little before 5:00 P.M. that night and the guy who fucked her over left a little after 6:00 P.M. and she continued drinking after he left. At this point though, she couldn't keep it straight in her head now if it was morning or night and she was getting closer to thinking that it was morning.
"Get up Justin," she said. "It's time to get ready for school.
"No it's not," he said confused and afraid. "It's almost 8:00 in the evening."
"Get up now!" she screamed. "Don't fucking give me any of your bullshit!"
Hoping to keep her happy, he got dressed and walked with her to the front door. As they walked, she fell over the step on to the porch and he tried to help her up. She sat up on her knees and tried to keep her balance. While she was doing that, he left to go back to his room.
Once back in his room, he got undressed and in to bed. While he watched TV, he heard his mom a few minutes later screaming at someone on the phone. He figured that it was some guy she met in a bar. It seemed like she was always meeting guys in bars and some would stay with her for only a week, then leave. He didn't like any of them and he especially didn't like how they would always give him looks like he didn't belong there.
Eventually, Justin fell asleep while his mom continued to scream in to the phone. He hoped that things would eventually get better.
0000
At a little after 3:00 in the morning, the phone at Caleb's house rang. Maria was the first to pick it up. They had an extension in the bedroom and she was able to know even while barely awake if it was her cell phone or the house phone. No one ever called at 3:00 in the morning unless it was her cell and especially if it was an emergency. With mounting fear, especially given her conversation with Margie the afternoon before, she suspected that it would be something bad.
"Hello?" she said now even more awake.
"Maria?" a severely drunken voice at the other end of the phone said. "It's your sister."
"What is it Margie?" Maria said trying not to be angry. "Is it Justin? Is he alright?"
"Fuck him!" Margie screamed in to the phone. "Fuck that Bastard. I just called you to say how much of a fuck up my life has been! I hate our fucking parents, I hate my life and most of all, I hate you, you prissy stuck up little Bitch!"
"Margie, just get some sleep," Maria said trying to calm down the situation.
"Just tell that husband of yours as well as those fagot kids of yours that I said goodbye!" Margie shouted.
"Margie!" Maria said now getting scared. "Margie! Answer me! Are you there!"
Maria was yelling in to a dead phone which she slammed down for the second time. Bill was sitting up in bed and watching her and he looked worried.
"Bill," she said turning to him. "We need to get over to Margie's house! The last thing she said was to tell you and the kids that she said goodbye. Bill, I think she's trying to kill herself!"
"Oh my god!" he said and got out of bed at the same time she did. "Fuck, what else can that crazy Bitch do! I hope Justin isn't harmed!"
0000
After waking the kids, Bill and Maria told them what might be going on and made sure that they'd keep an eye on things and wait for them to come home. Alicia said she'd stay up while Kevin and Caleb slept. Once she agreed to this, they said goodbye and left. Once in the driveway of Margie's house, they got out and went up to the door.
Locating the extra key under the welcome mat, Maria unlocked the door and they both went inside. Once the lights were on, they looked in the kitchen and living room. Once finding that Margie wasn't there, they went and found her in her bedroom. Bill looked down at her and he saw that her face was turning blue.
"Maria!" he said as he ran to the bed. "Go and find Justin while I help your sister! I don't think she's breathing!"
Maria ran to Justin's room where he was asleep and she knew at that moment that his life would never be the same.
Justin felt himself being shaken and he wanted to stay asleep. He moved away from the hand that was gently, but firmly shaking him.
"No," he moaned. "Go away mom. Let me sleep."
"Justin," Maria said a little louder. "I need to get you up. You really need to wake up."
Something in the voice alerted him and he was waking up faster and he turned on his side to face whoever it was. He opened his eyes and saw his Aunt Maria standing over him.
"Aunt Maria?" he asked. "Why are you here?"
"Justin your mom is sick and we're getting an ambulance here for her now," his Aunt Maria said. "I need you to come with me. Your Uncle Bill is with me and he's helping your mom. Let's go to the car and I'll keep you warm. Okay?"
"Can I see my mom?" he asked.
"Not right now," she said as she walked with him to the kitchen and out the door. "She really is sick and it's best you don't see her right now."
Once in the car, they heard the ambulance speeding down the street and stopping at the beginning of the driveway. As the paramedics got out and ran up to the door, Maria held Justin in her arms in such a way so that he could rest against her, but so that his head was placed on her chest in such a way as to keep him from seeing them bring out his mother's body.
Once the ambulance left, Bill got in the car and they sped away and drove faster than he usually did down the road and through the cold and dark night.
Once back at the house, it was nearing 5:00 in the morning and Justin woke up as the car stopped. They got him out and in to the house and in to a bed in one of the guest rooms. When they saw that he was asleep, they left and Maria called the hospital to let them know that she wouldn't be in to work that day given what just happened.
Caleb
Once I got up that Friday morning and got dressed after showering, I went in to the kitchen where my mom was sitting and placing food on the table. I walked up and hugged and kissed her.
"How did it go?" I asked.
"It's really bad Caleb," she said close to tears. "Please don't say anything to Justin when you see him, because he doesn't actually know what happened yet. I had to tell him just that she was very sick."
"Mom?" I asked. "What is it?"
"She wasn't breathing when we found her," she said and now she was crying. "Your dad had to give her C.P.R. and even then she couldn't breathe on her own. We don't even know how long she was without oxygen. Your dad thinks though that since he saw her face starting to turn blue, maybe that she wasn't without oxygen for long, but it's really hard to say. The paramedics had to use a bag and mask on her, but Justin didn't see any of that while we waited in the car since I held him against me and his head was down in the direction of the floor so that's all he could see. They kept ventilating her while they carried her out of the house and to the ambulance."
"You think she won't make it don't you?" I asked beginning to cry myself.
"I don't know," she said as she held me. "Bill did say that there was vomit beside her head when we found her, and it looked like she threw up whatever she took."
"Whatever she took?" I asked as I dried my eyes.
"When she called me this morning, she said that I needed to tell your dad and you guys that she said goodbye," she said. "We think she tried to kill herself."
"Oh man," I said feeling sick. "So Justin slept through it all?"
"It looks that way," she said. "I'm staying here with him today and we're going to have to decide what to do. Assuming that they can save her and she doesn't have any brain damage, she'll have to get help. Unless she does that, nothing will change, but whatever happens in the long run, Justin won't be going back home this Sunday. We might be keeping him here with us for a long time. It's just hard to say. I want him to have his mom in his life, but not like this. I can't keep watching her do this crap to him."
"I agree," I said as I finished my food. "If you want me to stay here with you to help out, I can do that," I suggested. "I won't tell Nathan the whole story, but just enough so that he understands."
"I'm sure it'll be alright if you go over to Nathan's this weekend," she responded. "There's not much you can do and what needs to be done is for your dad and I to do."
"Okay," I said. "Just let me know what I can do if there's anything that I can do."
"I will," she said and hugged me.
Once at school that day, I told Nathan just enough, but left out the parts about Aunt Margie trying to kill herself. I just said that because of her getting out of control the night before, my parents had to come and get Justin from her house this morning. He said that he hoped that something could be done for him and we continued on with our classes for the day.
Kevin
Once I finished the class before lunch that day, I put my books in my locker and as I closed it I saw Sarah walking towards me. Over the past couple of days, she kept asking more and more about me dating her. I knew that she wouldn't stop and I was worried that I'd have to out myself to her just so she'd stop. I didn't want my outing myself to her to cause problems for Cody, but I wasn't completely sure what to do at that point. She stopped walking once she got up to where I was standing and smiled.
"You look good this morning," she said.
"Thanks," I said as I turned to face her.
"So have you thought any more about dating me?" she asked.
"Look," I said trying to keep my cool. "I'm not looking for anyone right now. Unlike some of the sexed-up guys around here, I'm actually trying to use this experience of being here at school to hopefully learn something that'll help me with what I want to do when I become an adult."
"Well, I guess you've shown me what you think of me!" she yelled. "Oh, and I see the way you and that blond boy look at one another."
"She had met Cody a couple of times and she didn't act very nice to him. She'd say hi to him when he was with me, but she'd mostly ignore him and focus on me.
"What does that even mean!" I said as I began to lose my cool.
"I mean," she began and stepped closer to me. "That you and him look at one another like a couple does who are in love. Is that what it is? Are you two, just a couple of fags!"
I then looked to see Andrew her boyfriend walk up beside her. He was a jock and he always enjoyed bullying other kids regardless of age and size.
"How about it pretty boy," he said to me. "You a fag and is Cody your fuck doll?"
"You both can go to Hell," I said and turned. I felt the hand settle on my shoulder and it pressed down hard. I turned and grabbed Andrew's wrist and squeezed hard. He gave a yell of pain and I flung his hand away.
"Keep your fucking hands off me," I said. "You already have Andrew, so that should be enough."
The slap came without warning and I put my face in my hands and held it there for a moment, then looked up at Sarah. I stepped closer to her and put my face inches from hers.
"Keep your fucking hands off me as well, Bitch!" I said and stepped away and turned, then ran towards the exit. Suddenly, I saw Cody coming up to where we were. I grabbed his hand and told him to walk with me quickly.
Once out in the rain, we ran to the restaurant and quickly ran in and sat down.
"What happened back there?" he asked breathlessly.
He had caught the last part of our argument and I told him as we ran that I'd let him know once we got to the restaurant. So I told him what transpired.
"Do you think they'll try to hurt us?" he asked and took my hand and held it tightly.
"I hope not," I replied. "I'm not taking any chances though."
I had him take a picture of the marks on my face from where Sarah slapped me a few minutes before. I hoped that it would serve as evidence.
Once we finished lunch, we went back to school and for the rest of the day, no one bothered me and they also left Cody alone as well.
Caleb
After school that day, I decided to make a stop at home before Nathan and I got together at his house that afternoon. We talked about it while we had lunch and he agreed that he'd go to his house and I'd stop at mine, then go from there over to his house. So I walked through the door to my house and closed, then locked the door. I heard my mom and Justin at the kitchen table. She was helping him with the last of his homework and it seemed like it was a Math assignment.
"Okay, so 9+9 =," my mom said and waited for the answer, but me being the smart ass I could be cut in.
"9,999," I yelled out as I came up to the table.
"Caleb," she said looking up at me. "Don't confuse him."
She was laughing and I smiled.
"Yeah," Justin said. "That answer will work."
"I don't think so," she said smiling and turning back to him as she laughed.
He gave her the correct answer, then they packed up his books and put them back in his bookbag.
"So to try this again," I said walking over to where Justin was sitting. "It's good to see you."
I held out my arms and we shared a hug. He was small and a bit chubby, but luckily he wasn't out of shape which was what we worried about, given all the fast food and other fried garbage his mom would give him.
He sat back down and finished his snack which was a cookie and some milk before going to his room.
Once in his room, I sat with my mom for a moment.
"How did it go here today?" I asked.
She explained that she got him to school on time and she let the teacher know where he'd be for the weekend and probably longer. She then got reports from the doctors about Margie and they said that she was able to be saved, but she was in a coma right now. They thought it would be reversible, but it was mainly because of the fact of her brain needing to rest.
"Does he still not know that she tried to kill herself?" I asked softly so that Justin couldn't accidently over-hear.
"I just told him that she got really sick from all the drinking she's been doing and that she had to go to the hospital to get better," my mom replied. "I also let him know that he'd be staying here for the weekend and for a couple of days after that so she could go to a place where they could help her get off drinking all together."
"But it's more serious than that isn't it?" I asked.
"Definitely," my mom answered. "It's true that physically, she's sick from all the drinking. The doctor told me that her liver is thick in some areas with scar tissue. He also thinks that she might have some brain damage based on some of the brain scans they took. My point is, that even if she didn't actually try to kill herself, that she's not going to be able to keep this up much longer."
"This is horrible," I said and reached out. We hugged and held it for what seemed like forever, then we separated and I went to check on Justin before leaving for Nathan's house.
I knocked on the door to Justin's new room and he said to come in. I opened the door and he let me know that he was lying on the bed just resting. I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and reached out and found his hand. I then reached down for a hug. We held on for a long time, then he let go. I sat back up and he turned to face me.
"You guys have a nice house," he said. "I always have liked it here."
"I'm glad you feel that way," I answered.
"So you're going over to your friend's house tonight?" he asked.
"Actually for the whole weekend," I replied. "I'll be back on Sunday probably in the late afternoon."
"Well, I hope you have a nice time there," he responded.
"Thanks," I answered. "I'm sure I will."
We hugged once more, then I left to go to Nathan's house.
Author's Notes
I know that that was a deep and dark chapter, but this goes on and it's high time our society began to deal with it and to deal with it honestly.
So everyone have a good evening, and I'll see everyone in Chapter 15