The following is part of a novel in progress. There is some sex but not highly explicit. It is a fantasy set in the not so distant/possible future. Please let me know what you think. E-mail me at: rwig@hotmail.com
Legal stuff: The story is mine so don't steal it or I'll be pissed.
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RClayton
NINE
Ricky stood outside his stepfather's home office listening as the man spoke on his private phone line. He had neglected to close the door completely when he had heard the phone ringing and had entered the room in a hurry to answer it.
"What is it," asked Phillip.
"The lover was attacked in his hospital room. The assailant was caught before anything permanent was completed." The speaker replied.
"Who ordered an attack?" Phillip demanded. He didn't want Jerrison new friend dead, that was just lead him to ask more questions, not less. He needed the man distracted, It was looking more and more like his decision to keep his former business partner alive was a mistake after all.
"It wasn't me. I'm trying to get the guy out of jail and back with his lover boy."
"Find out who ordered the hit and eliminate them. I don't need any more mistakes. If this gets any more complicated I'm going to have to have Jerrison taken out for good."
Ricky took in a deep breath. He caught himself as he bumped into the table behind him but he wasn't quick enough to catch the lamp before it fell off the table, smashing to the floor.
"Who's out there," Phillip yelled. He slammed the phone on the desk and ran for the door. He reached the hall as Ricky took the corner and was out of sight. He caught a leg and a shoe but it was enough to know who had been listening in on his conversation. "Son of a bitch!" He went back into his office and slammed the door before returning to the desk. He picked the receiver back up again.
"Are you still there?"
"Yeah, what happened?"
"The kid was in the hall. I don't know how much he heard but I'll find out. You take care of the problems on your end; I'll take care of things on my end." Phillip hung up the phone and sat contemplating his problem or rather, problems as they seemed to be mounting. He knew Gloria was getting to inquisitive and now Ricky was sticking his nose into things. At least he didn't have to worry about the girl too, she at least showed no interest in anything involving her supposedly dead father.
Phillip picked up the phone and made another call, asked a number of questions about teenagers and the law regarding homosexuality and hung up after thanking the police officer he had on his payroll. If worse came to worse the kid could be sent away like his father, or there could always be another accident, a truly fatal one this time, with an actual body to bury.
Ricky made it to his room and locked the door before collapsing on his bed in tears. His father was alive! He had known it all along. Now he just had to convince his mother and sister, then the police. He needed evidence against Phillip but how was he supposed to get it? He could break into the home office when his step father was away at work but that would require taking his mother into his confidence, but would she believe him without proof?
There was a knock on the door.
"Go away!" Ricky yelled.
"Ricky, dear I need to speak with you." Gloria said. She had been upset when Phillip told her about the lamp but not that he had broken it. She just wanted to know what had upset him enough for him to be running through the house. That wasn't something that he did.
"Just a minute, mom, please." Ricky said. He wiped his eyes with a tissue from the box on his bedside table. He got his breath before standing and crossing the room to open the door.
"Are okay, dear?" Gloria touched the side of his face with her right hand. She could see that he had been crying again.
"Sure, mom, I'm okay." He walked to his bed and sat down. He lowered his head, looking at his shoes. He wanted to tell her what he heard but he wasn't sure if he was ready, wasn't sure if he could convince her he was telling the truth yet.
"Honey, I know something is going on in your life that you're afraid to tell me about. I've known for months and I think it's time we talked about it." Gloria was surprised by her own words. She had been planning this conversation in her mind but hadn't decided when to broach the subject with her son.
"What do you mean," Ricky asked, scared.
"Ricky, I believe you have feelings that you don't understand, feeling for other boys."
Ricky looked into his mother's eyes and wanted to die. How had she found out? He had never told a soul, never let on to anyone, never written a word, not even in his computer journal. "Mom..."
"Honey, its okay with me, I know it's not legal by society's rules and I'll never tell anyone but we have to be discreet. There is something else I should tell you; it's about your father. He had the same feeling when he was your age. In fact he was... involved with another boy from the time he was thirteen until he was nineteen and would have remained with that boy if the young man hadn't been killed in a car accident."
"Dad was gay?" Ricky asked, shocked.
"He had those feelings, yes. I guess he was bisexual because he and I carried on a normal married relationship for our entire marriage or most of it anyway. We had you and your sister, didn't we?"
"Yeah, that's true." Ricky said. "Why did he marry you if he was that way?"
"The law had something to do with it I think. It wasn't illegal yet but it was heading in that direction quickly. That, and he was hurt after his lover died. He was very much in love with Chad. That was one thing in our relationship that caused a bit of strain, mostly because I didn't deal well with it. Over the years I learned to accept it as just a part of his life that I couldn't be a part of. A few days every December he would go away and be alone, when he would come home nothing would be said and life would go on as usual."
"I always thought those were business trips." Ricky said.
"That's what we told you and your sister." Gloria said.
"Mom, what can I do? How will I ever have a life with anyone?" Ricky asked.
"I don't know, Honey. I'm not sure that you ever can. Obviously never out in the open. There is an island near Australia called Homony, I read about it once. I suppose when you're older you could volunteer to go there. People who go there of their own free will have the best jobs opportunities and the best housing availabilities."
"I've read about it on the internet," Ricky said. "I don't know if I would ever get to see you again."
"I guess you have to decide what you want for your self and your future. If you are ever caught, you could be sent there anyway, if you can afford it, and obviously we can."
"It says on the website you have to be sixteen minimum, with a GED or eighteen with high school diploma." Ricky said.
"See, you know more about it than I do. The article I read wasn't very detailed. It gave basics, mostly in regard to how people were sent there and what happened to those who couldn't afford to go."
"I read about that too, it's scary."
"We'll deal with things as they happen. Just promise not to do anything without talking to me first. I'll help you with anything I can."
"Ok, mom, thanks. I love you."
"I love you too, baby." Gloria took Ricky into her arms and kissed his head.
Ricky didn't know how to bring up what he had heard just yet so he kept quiet. He didn't plan to keep it to himself for long though.
Phillip flipped the intercom switch off. So, the kid was queer, which was good news. Now all he had to do was find the right bait and set a trap. In a matter of days he could be rid of one trouble maker before he could cause any damage. He wondered why the kid didn't tell his mother what he had heard. Could he have actually not heard anything at all? Not likely, not the way he hit that table and took off. He heard something and reacted.
Phillip began eliminating anything remotely like evidence from his home office. If the kid or his wife went through the room he didn't want them finding so much as a word that would lead them anywhere near that island or the hidden bank accounts where he was hiding away the company and family money. As soon as every dollar was gone he would be too and there would be nothing they could do about it. What money he set Jerrison up with would suddenly disappear about the same time that the rest of the family fortune did. Every trace would point to a dead man that would suddenly not be as dead as anybody thought. Let Jerrison answer for all that missing money from his cozy love nest on Fag Island.
Cynthia watched from the doorway as Gloria held Ricky. She had heard the better part of the conversation and wasn't all that surprised about any of it. Well, maybe about her father being a butt ranger, which was a bit of a shock. Now she had to decide how to use the information for her best advantage.
There were many directions she could go from here. She could simply report her brother but without his being caught in the act all they would do would put him in a treatment facility, big deal. She wanted him gone for good. He needed to be caught with another guy having sex, but where could she find another guy dumb enough to let himself get caught? That would be a problem she would have to work on for a while.
She walked down the hall to her room and closed the door softly so as not to be noticed. She didn't want her mother or brother to know she had heard them, at least not yet.