Graduation Day © 2019
By David Lee
Graduation day couldn 't come soon enough for Zion. He 'd been anticipating it for several years. He 'd been through hell to get here, and now it was almost time. He daydreamed about how his life would be 24 hours from now. He hoped it would be as great as he pictured it.
In the evening, after the graduation ceremony was over, he would be giving an inspirational speech at the church in the small town where he 'd grown up. It hadn 't been his first choice of things to do, but the elders had pressured him into it. After his initial resistance, he 'd begun to see that it might be one of the most important things he 'd be doing thus far in his 20 years on earth. He would, at last, be free and he might bring hope to others like him!
He had reached his goal. Finals had been grueling, but they were over and he 'd aced them all. He had a dream job waiting for him 25 miles away. He hadn 't revealed that to his family. He wanted it to be a surprise. He planned to do what Jesus had instructed his disciples to do when a town wouldn 't listen to their message - shake the dust off his feet.
Fortunately, his degree was from a respected university because he 'd been able to attend it instead of the Bible College his parents had favored. On the basis of his high school grades and SAT scores, the university had awarded him scholarships which paid most of his tuition. His parents had kicked in on his board and room, and he had worked hard to make up the rest, leaving him with no loans to pay off, but he had paid his dues in other ways.
Though his family had expected him to go to a Fundamentalist school, he 'd eventually convinced them that a public school would not only be less expensive, but it would be a good experience for him to prove he could avoid the sinful temptations of the world. Many students would experiment with sex and drugs, and possibly binge-drink on a regular basis. His faith would be strengthened by his resistance to those pitfalls. That seemed to be the argument which won them over. They did warn him that if he failed to stay on the straight and narrow, he would be banished with no help in any form. It was a gamble he was willing to make. And, he did it without failing.
At the end of his junior year in high school, he 'd fallen head-over-heels in love with his boyhood friend, Mike. It was a mutual attraction, and one that couldn 't be completely hidden from their friends and families. They absolutely glowed in each other 's presence.
It wasn 't the lust-filled scenario one might find on an erotic story-site in which two kids expend lots of jizz, while sneaking out of class to a little-used bathroom during school to satisfy their desperate need. It was more of an amalgamation of two kindred spirits. The kind of affection which can last a lifetime, weathering all the roadblocks thrown in its path.
That idyllic relationship came to a sudden halt when Zion and Mike were caught kissing under a bridge on the bike trail. Their discovery hadn 't been made by accident. The youth leader from church had been spying on them because he suspected they were more than just good buds.
After recording their activities in a short video on his phone, he exposed them to their peers during a youth meeting at church on a Wednesday evening.
The head minister was summoned along with the parents of the two boys. Reverend Hoekstra made the pair kneel at the altar in front of the sanctuary while the elders and he joined hands in a circle around them. He was confident he could "pray the gay away. "
After an hour of this, Zion professed that he didn 't feel any different than he had before it all began. Hoekstra got red in the face and suggested that the kind of demons who possessed the boys needed physical punishment to be driven out. Mike 's parents immediately took their son and left.
Zion was slapped and yelled at, in the name of Jesus, for another hour before his father, John, put an end to the torture. He promised to send Zion to a bootcamp which had a money-back guarantee for curing gay boys. Zion was going to put up a fight about going there, but his parents made it clear that he would get no college-funding from them if he didn 't comply. On top of that, he would be homeless the minute he turned 18. He had only a few hours to decide what to do.
Sleep hadn 't come easily that night. Not only was his mind in a turmoil but the pain from the physical abuse he 'd sustained prevented him from drifting off until the wee hours.
After deciding he would make what he considered to be a deal with the devil, he eventually fell into a troubled sleep. In the morning, he agreed to attend the camp as soon as school was over for the year.
His mother called him in sick and kept him home from classes for several days because she didn 't want anyone to report them to child services over the bruises which would take a few days to disappear. By Monday, he looked good enough that no one would know he 'd been abused.
Zion was ordered to stay away from Mike, but it was impossible for his parents to monitor him at school, so the two did have a few minutes per day to communicate. They used those to express their love to each other. Mike promised to wait for Zion, even if it meant being apart for years, and that could become a reality.
Next fall, Zion would be sent to live with his grandparents to attend a Christian school in another town about 40 miles away. The boys wouldn 't even see one another at church during vacations because Mike 's father left Hoekstra 's congregation in anger after he heard what they had done to Zion. He wasn 't convinced that being gay was the "unforgivable " sin, and he didn 't want his son shunned by the narrow-minded people in the church.
Conversion therapy turned out to be a worse nightmare than Zion had foreseen. It involved food and sleep deprivation along with preaching and verbal harassment. Zion was strong, but he knew he couldn 't withstand some of the treatment which his tormentors threatened to use on him without losing his sanity.
One night, after a particularly stressful session, he figured out that he would have to fake a miraculous epiphany if he wanted to survive with his mind intact. The following day, he repented of his sinful ways, literally tearing his shirt and crying at the top of his lungs. His performance was Oscar-worthy. Who could doubt that an evil spirit had been driven from his body? In another week, he was declared totally cured. That marked the beginning of his "acting " career.
The downside of his "cure " was that he had to write a letter to Mike telling him they could never see each other again. He knew it would break Mike 's heart, but he wasn 't able to send an email to his friend until after he got home and found an excuse to be in the public library alone. There, he hastily signed onto a computer and told his soulmate how things at the camp had gone down. It would be almost a week later before he had the chance to check his secret account again. When he did, he found a note from Mike telling him that he understood, and all was okay between them. It would be a long time to wait, but he was prepared to survive if it meant he could have Zion at the end of it.
Being enrolled at the university gave Zion a bit more freedom, though he would still feel like he was in an emotional prison at times. The youth pastor from his church was enrolled in a graduate course at the same school, so it felt to Zion as if he were being watched his entire freshman year.
Though he felt paranoid, he was able to exchange messages with Mike on a fairly regular basis. That was his lifeline. They didn 't dare to meet somewhere because Zion was convinced that he was being watched. Besides, Mike had his own course of study at another college 25 mile away.
The holidays were especially sad for the teens. They would be in the same hometown for Christmas break but wouldn 't dare make contact. Zion was rarely left alone for more than a few minutes during his waking hours. If he went to the mall, he had to take along a younger sibling who had been sworn to report any suspicious activity to their parents.
Once, when his sister, Rachel, had gone with him, he saw Mike across the main corridor. Mike gestured toward the restrooms with his head, and soon Zion told his sister he needed to make a pitstop. Rachel had to go too, so it was okay with her. Obviously, she couldn 't follow him into the bathroom.
No one was in the men 's room, but the door to the handicapped stall was ajar. When Zion approached it, Mike whisked him quickly inside and the two held each other and kissed. They knew there would be only a few precious minutes of opportunity. Both teared up.
"I 've been out here every day hoping to see you, " Mike whispered. "My parents are okay with us getting together. They 've read a lot on the web about what it means to be gay, and they 've accepted me. I wish we could go away somewhere, but I know you can 't. I 'm not trying to make things more difficult, honest! "
"I know. I 've heard about kids who come out and find someone who 'll pay for their education, but I can 't chance it. We have to hang on. They 'll let their guard down someday. "
"I love you, Zion. I 'm gonna stay true to you. You 'd better go before Rachel gets suspicious. I 'll stay here long enough for you to get out of sight so she won 't see me. "
That brief encounter buoyed Zion 's spirits for the rest of the vacation. He vowed to find a way to have more contacts.
An opportunity presented itself in the middle of the second semester. Mike 's spring break took place a week before Zion 's. Thus, for part of that week, Mike came to the town where Zion 's school was located. He rented the cheapest room he could at the Motel 6. Zion found a roundabout way to get there using the university bus system to go to the mall and then walking the few blocks to the motel, after making sure he wasn 't being followed.
When he rapped on the door to Mike 's room, it was quickly opened and he was wrapped in his boyfriend 's arms post haste. Mike was dressed only in a pair of boxers which were sensuously protruding in front. Zion was soon relieved of his clothing and pulled into bed.
It was like heaven! Up to that point, their relationship hadn 't been consummated in any way. That was about to change. The term "frottage " was soon to become their favorite new vocabulary addition. They kissed and squirmed until both erupted, baptizing them in their bodily fluids.
After their mutual orgasms, they remained clinging together, kissing, nuzzling, and licking. Eventually, they got up and ran to the bathroom to keep from saturating the sheets.
In the shower, they continued to explore one another 's body, delighting in the sight and taste. Drying off, they went back to bed to cuddle and talk.
"It won 't be long before our first year 's over and then there 'll be only three more to go until we can do this without worry about being discovered, " Mike smiled.
"How about only two more? " Zion asked.
"What are you saying? How can that be? "
"I 've taken a heavier than normal load this year and I 'm going to summer school as well. I 've convinced my parents that it 'll save money in the long run. I 'll graduate in three years plus three summers. "
"Man, that 's gonna stress you out! "
"Yeah, I 'm already stressed out, but most of it is because I can 't be who I am and I can 't have you. So, I figured that if I 'm running on adrenalin it might as well be for a good reason. "
"But it will still take me four years. "
"In your senior year, we can be together. I 'm gonna make this work. "
The following day, Zion took the bus in a different direction and hastily got into the back seat of Mike 's car in a parking lot. He remained hunkered down until Mike assured him that they weren 't being followed. That day, in the motel room, they worked on math facts instead of vocabulary. Sixty-nine would become their new favorite number.
The next two years seemed like an eternity in some ways, but in others, it sped by. Both guys kept busy with their studies and work. They continued to see one another surreptitiously whenever opportunities presented themselves.
During his last year of study, Zion secured an internship which turned into a job offer with the company. There was a branch in the town where Mike was going to school, so he had reason to be in that city overnight, occasionally. Each time he was there, it was like a honeymoon.
While playing the part of a straight boy during those years, Zion posted pictures on his Face Book account from time to time in the company of girls. He never dated anyone but hung out with a compatible group of both sexes when attending various activities. At times when a female friend, who wasn 't dating, needed an escort, Zion offered to accompany her.
He even took a few dance lessons which, of course, required having a girl in his arms. His parents weren 't in favor of ballroom dancing, but they turned a blind eye since it appeared that he was interested in females. They were pleased that the expensive therapy they 'd provided for him had made the difference.
Graduation in the summer was a shorter, less elaborate function than in the spring. That was fine with Zion because his main interest was having his diploma in hand before he made the break with his family. It would always be kind of a blur in his mind. He had another more important event in the evening.
The small church was packed on that Saturday night in July. Although there were many members in attendance, there was an almost equal number of strangers. The regulars were uneasy at being invaded and were having second thoughts about the wisdom of publicizing this event so widely. It was a point of pride for them to exhibit someone who had benefitted from conversion therapy, and they had hoped for press coverage. However, besides the presence of a few from local media, there were young people in the crowd who were obviously not believers and were probably gay. Some wore sunglasses and hooded shirts which partially obscured their features. Perhaps the church should have asked for police protection. Who could predict what might happen with these hooligans there?
The Reverend Hoekstra took the pulpit and opened with a long prayer. He asked God to touch the hearts of any evildoers who might be in their midst. (Naturally, to his mind, that included most everyone who wasn 't a member.) Then, he proceeded to expound on the evils of homosexuality as he quoted a passage from the book of Leviticus. It was his intention to save the lost souls who had invaded his sanctuary. Eventually, he yielded the spot to Zion.
"Good evening, I 'm Zion Armstrong, and I guess I 'm supposed to be the poster boy for conversion therapy. I 'll try to keep my remarks short because I know some here, including me, graduated today and probably want to celebrate instead of hearing someone rattle on.
"The theory behind the kind of program I went through is that being gay is sinful and it 's a choice, one which can be changed depending on how badly you want it to happen. How many of you consider yourself to be straight? "
More than half the people in attendance put their hands up.
"Raise your hand if you can pinpoint the day you made that choice. "
No hands went up, but there was a general murmur in the background.
"Okay, so maybe your orientation wasn 't a choice.
"I never made a conscious decision that I wanted to be gay. What kid wants to be different from most of his peers? At 17, I fell in love with my best friend and he fell in love with me. The people of this congregation, my parents among them, were outraged! I was given the option of being disowned by my family or submitting to conversion therapy. It was either that, or I would be banished from my family and receive no help from them for my education. I took the coward 's way out and agreed to it. At the camp, I was deprived of sleep and food. I was yelled at for hours. I was threatened with a bull-prod. They did their best to break me. "
"Stop this right now! This isn 't what you were invited to say! " Hoekstra yelled at the top of his lungs. "You 're supposed to tell everyone how you 've changed! "
"I was invited, no, coerced, into making this speech, " Zion continued, not raising his voice. "I was asked to speak from my heart about how this experience affected me, and that is what I 'm doing. If that isn 't what you wanted to hear, you shouldn 't have insisted that I come. I 'm here to testify to the fact that this so called `therapy ' doesn 't work. It 's bullshit!
"Fortunately, I have a strong spirit. They didn 't break me. I faked a conversion and I 've been putting on an act for over four years. Now, I 'm finally free to be who I am. As soon as I 'm out of here, I 'm going away to live with my lover. I have a job awaiting me where he goes to school, so we plan to get married and be together from here on.
"I 'm going to attempt to forgive my parents for putting me through this because I think they meant well. They were deceived by you and your narrow-minded view. But that doesn 't mean I want to see them or anyone from this church again! "
The members of the congregation gasped; the visitors rose to their feet and applauded.
One young man removed his sunglasses, pulled the hood off his head, and walked up on the dais. It was Mike, of course. The two hugged and shared a short kiss. The visitors went wild!
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Author 's notes: Thanks to David (Boxerdude) for editing.
If you liked this tale, please let me know at: dlee169@hotmail.com .