This is a story about one gay community's response to a gay bashing gang. It is not a true story, it comes from the fantasy that is my mind L Because of the subject matter there is of course the allusion and description of violence. I have not written about violence for the sake of violence, it is more a reporting of violence that has happened, to direct the fundamental subject of the story.
The first two chapters set the stage for what is to come. So you may find it is rather slow going, you can judge for yourselves. I felt they were necessary to the story.
This is a story about gay sex. If this offends you read no further. If this subject matter is illegal for you to read or have in your political jurisdiction then please go no further.
My main purpose if for you to have some enjoyable reading.
I would appreciate any comments you might have
myonge@hotmail.com
Chapter 1:
It was late... well after midnight when Josh finally left the bar. He had said he wouldn't go but for a beer or two, but then he got to talking with some friends and before he realised it, it was midnight. His lover had told him not to be late, what with the muggings around the bar...
As he left he looked around, the three hoods usually on the corner at the end of the block weren't to be seen so he figured they must have gone home.
Josh crossed the street, now that he was out there alone he was more than a little nervous and even considered going back to the bar and calling a cab. But shit ... you don't call a cab to go a few blocks do you?
He came to a large parking lot that was pretty well lit and he felt a little safer crossing it, because of the lighting, it cut off a good portion of his walk home. However when he was just about across he heard something that made his blood run cold. He stopped dead and looked around, his heart pounding. Then as he looked into the shadows of an alleyway across the street that he was heading too, he saw three shapes step out.
"Hey fagboy!! Out a little late aren't you?"
For a split second Josh stood bolted to the ground and then he turned and started running as fast as he could back where he had come from. Terror coursed through his body.
"Get the little bastard!!!" he heard the sound of boots running on the pavement behind him, boots that were running a lot faster than he was.
"You're dead Faggot " another voice shouted.
Josh had never known such horrific fear, he knew he was running for his life. He could hear someone getting closer to him and just as he glanced back over his shoulder, he felt a solid punch in the middle of his back that sent him sprawling on the pavement. He felt his head hit the ground and his face scraping in the loose stones and grit on the asphalt.
The three men were on him before he could even try to get up. He managed to shout for help and curl up into a foetal position as the boots began to fly at him.
The pain was incredible enveloping his entire body. He was being kicked about the back and head. At one point someone took a handful of hair and pulled his head back. He received a boot in the mouth, feeling several teeth break and a searing pain shoot along his jaw to the back of his head and back again.
He didn't remember a lot else after that. He remembered the intense pain all over, he remembered at one point right after he was kicked in the mouth some one saying, "you're going to kill him, you've done enough" and another voice responding "It'll be enough when I say it's enough"
He could feel the thudding of boots against his body, but could no longer place any local pain... his body was just in the most intense pain throughout.
He seemed to drift in and out of consciousness. The next thing he knew he was waking up in the hospital, in incredible pain.
This was the fourth time this month. Joe made his way down the Hospital corridor to the room where another of his customers lay, having been severely beaten the night before, going home from "The Rainbow Connection"
Joe stayed just a few minutes, the boy, he was only 20. Yes he was only a boy. He had been a fairly regular customer. Now here he lay here, his face swollen and cut, several ribs broken where he had been kicked repeatedly. There was no telling yet what else might be wrong.
The boy's lover was with him, softly sobbing as he looked at his friend lying there so helpless. "If only I had gone out with him last night" he mumbled "but I had had such a hard day at work, I was so tired."
"No Sam" Joe said gently, putting his arm over the man's shoulder "It was not your fault. How could either of you have known what was going to happen?"
Joe expressed his sincere concern but what could he do?
The bar had been both a dream and a labour of love for Joe. He had spent several years as a bar tender in a bar across town, but he had always wanted to have his own establishment. So finally when this location came open, he took the plunge, got the loan to open "The Rainbow Connection" his very own place and the first gay bar in town. That was about six months ago.
Business had been brisk and there had been no real trouble from the community. Yes there was the odd cat call to the patrons as they came or left. Some of the local churches had tried to keep him from opening but it was a half hearted attempt and came to nothing.
Then about two months ago there were rumours that something was coming down . Joe got several threatening phone calls both at the bar and at home. He reported them to the police and had his phone traced for a while. Nothing came of it, the calls continued but when traced, they were from various phone booths around town and nothing could be done.
Some of his customers reported being threatened, but again, that was all ... threats only. The police certainly came when called but it seemed they were not really into the investigation, and again nothing came of the complaints.
About a month ago Joe got a call at home early one morning telling him that whoever it was, was going to start picking off his customers one at a time until he had none left. The call ended with "Get out of town faggot, or we will get you out, and it will be in a body bag"
Joe now called the police and demanded protection for himself, his business and his patrons. The police suggested that he close up shop for a while until this blew over. They said they could not, and therefore would not, provide him with protection. They would however step up patrol in the evenings around his place.
Nothing happened for about three nights. Then one evening one of the older gentlemen that frequented his bar was accosted by a group of young men on his way home. A passer-by heard him groaning and found the man about an hour after he had left the bar in an alley. He was very badly beaten and shaken up.
He had been taken by surprise and it all happened so quickly, he didn't see a thing. One moment he was walking along the next he was on the ground being kicked in the face and stomach and back. He spent two weeks in the hospital and was still very ill. He was now terrified to leave his apartment.
Two nights later two of the younger men were chased and run down and beaten, in the same area. They were however able to give the police a better description of their attackers. Though nothing was done by the authorities, because of "lack of proof" and "circumstantial evidence", the gay community now had a good idea who their attackers were.
Last night's attack was the fourth, and from the description given it was the same gang.
Joe had finally gone to the Mayor's office to demand that something be done but he could tell behind all the assurances and show of concern that nothing was going to happen. They were not going to get any help. He would have to come up with something himself. He was loosing business. People were afraid to come to his bar. He knew that the town would be happy if he closed down. But that was not the solution. Why should they, the gay community, not have a place they could get together without fear? Why should they not have the protection other citizens have?
A number of his customers were talking about vigilantism. Others were talking about carrying guns. That frightened Joe. He knew that it could only turn on them if they returned violence for violence. So what could they do?
Then Joe thought about an incident when he was in public school. There was a bully in the school, in his grade five class. Everyone including the teachers were afraid of him. In grade five he was already about fifteen years of age, he was tough and often was beating up on someone.
Giving him a detention was laughable. He got the strap on a regular basis but he would just laugh. He loved it. He would come back into the class and show off his hands to every one, bragging how no one could hurt him. Laugh, that is until his grade five teacher. Mrs. M. was a short fat little lady, who had had polio and so walked with a brace on her leg. However no one, but no one crossed her. One day early in the year Jack decided to try her out. She was a "crip" what could she do?
Sure enough "Jack out in the hall!!!"
Mrs M. took the strap out of her desk and followed Jack out, and closed the door. For a couple minutes all the kids in the class could hear was some soft talking as Mrs. M. talked to Jack. Normally teachers yelled at him but today it was soft talk, and the kids couldn't make anything out. There was silence and then they heard several resounding slaps of the leather strap on skin as Mrs. M laid it on Jack.
A moment later Jack followed by Mrs. M came back into the class. Jack was beet red with his head down. He walked to his seat and sat down, no showing of hands, no bravado. Mrs. M. never had any trouble from Jack that year. He was always polite and attentive in her class. Jack learned more that year than he had ever done and ever would in years to come.
What was the change? Mrs. M. had pulled his pants down and strapped his ass. She and only she had defeated him.
(Author's note: This is a true incident that happened in the public school I attended, exactly as related. Only the names were changed. "Jack" never did cross Mrs. M. again.)
As Joe thought about this, a plan began to form. They had to neutralise these guys. What could they do that would end this reign of terror, without these bullies going to the police and getting Joe or anyone else in trouble?
Joe announced that the bar would be closed for the next few days.
He then called together several men to form a "war cabinet". The next several nights they were at the bar planning their attack.
Joe told the guys about Mrs. M. and Jack. " We have to put these guys in a position that they can't do anything. We have to defeat them, but I want to do it without putting them in the hospital." Joe said
"We need to get one or all or each of them in a position that they cannot tell anyone nor can they continue in what they are doing."
Pete a large man with a weight lifters body spoke up " I know what you are trying to say but what can we do man? These guys are pickin' us off one at a time, if we don't do something quick you might as well shutdown, because no one is gonna want to come here"
Jason sitting across from him nodded in agreement. "You got that right bud, I'd just like to get one of those guys alone, you'll notice they never bother Pete and I"
"That's because your both built like a brick shithouse" laughed Joe.
They all laughed
Then Joe thinking about what had just been took on a serious look. "I think you guys have hit on it you know?"
"Pete you said they're pickin' us off one at a time, Jase you said you'd like to get one of them alone. Well that's it... we got to pick them off one at a time and spend some time alone with them... only I'm thinking alone in a way they're not bankin' on"
"Well how do we do that? " asked Austin who had been sitting quiet till now. He was the third guy to get beat up just a couple weeks earlier. His bruised face was just starting to clear up. "they always stick together"
"Well they gotta go home sometime, we need to follow them and find out where they live. That's gonna be our job for the next couple days, stay out of sight and follow them around. I want to know where they live and if they work, where they work, where they hang out, and with whom. I want to know everything about them, if they fart I want to know about it."
"Austin you're an internet Whizz, we need to get phone numbers and addresses, we need to find out about their families. Find out whatever you can about these guys on the net."
"When we get everything together, then we will attack... they won't know what hit them"
They all agreed that that was where they would start. With a couple other men they started a surveillance of their predators. They soon had just about everyone in the gay community watching the gang members. They took note every time they saw them anywhere in town or out. By the end of a week they had a pretty good map of where these hoodlums went, worked, lived, ate and shit. One of the gang was careless enough to discard a credit card slip which was quickly picked up and given to Austin to trace on the net
Austin with some software he downloaded, had far more information than he cared to see on these guys. But they would use it, they were going to get these guys and get them good.
The Bar opened up again but people came and went in groups of three or more often with Pete or Jason acting as escorts. They often saw the gang hanging on the corner down from the bar. They often shouted their threats and abuse at anyone who went in or came out of the bar, but with Pete and Jason around they held back... for now. Joe knew it couldn't last for long. He also knew he was not going to get any help from the police. They were often seen on the corner talking to the gang and seemed to be on rather friendly terms with them.
They did get some support such as it was from a totally unexpected source halfway through the week when Joe was in visiting the last victim, Josh, in the hospital. As he walked into the room he saw a smallish elderly lady sitting beside him talking softly to him. Joe excused himself, but the lady stood up and called him back and with a heavy Eastern European accent said. "I'm just leaving.. I was just visiting a friend down the hall and saw this young man lying here all alone so I just dropped in to say hi."
Joe kinda looked... Josh shrugged and looked equally confused. "I can't do much anymore" she continued "so I come to the hospital to visit with people."
"Oh" volunteered Joe and smiled at her "that's nice"
"Well the bible tells us to visit the sick and if that's someway I can serve my Lord then I can do that"
She turned to leave... then stopped and looked thoughtfully at both Joe and Josh. "You know what those people did to you is terrible, I don't have to agree with what you live like, but this is wrong!"
"Have the police found the men that did this to this young man? She asked Joe.
Joe laughed bitterly "The police don't care lady! And as far as I'm concerned neither does your God"
She looked at him without anger "Then it is about time that the police do care, and my boy... whatever you think, God does care" With that she waved at Josh and walked out of the room.
Joe grinned at Josh and sat down and visited with him for a while. Josh was to be released from the hospital in a few more days but he would be ill for a long time. "We're gonna fix these bastards Josh, you wait, we'll fix them"
"Just don't get hurt Joe" was all Josh said.
That evening as Joe was opening the Bar a man he hadn't seen before strode up and asked if they could talk. Joe invited him in and they went into the bar. The man turned down an offer of a beer but accepted a coffee instead.
"I'm Pastor Ron from the Emmanuel Baptist Church" He started. He raised his hand to stop Joe who was about to tell him to leave.
"I understand that one of my parishioners was in to visit the young man that was beaten up recently, dear Mrs. Zudeki. I came here to tell you for what you may think it is worth not only are we praying for that young man and the others that have been hurt but Mrs. Zudeki and I were in to visit the Mayor today. We told him that it is intolerable that the police are not making more of an effort to solve these crimes. I just want you to know that even though we may seem to be at opposite ends on the issue of homosexuality, when crime goes unanswered we all suffer. We will be after the police department to get to work on this. That's all I wanted to tell you."
Joe just stared at the man in front of him. "errr.. thank you" he said softly "Mrs. Zudeki seems like a nice lady."
"She's a sweetheart" agreed Pastor Ron. "Well I had better go"
"Thank you for coming here sir" said Joe, offering the man his hand. They shook hands and Joe walked with him to the door. "The gang won't be here yet so you should be safe to leave" continued Joe "Just be careful, they don't care who you are and they sure wouldn't expect you to be coming out of this place"
"Thank you I will be careful.. you be careful too, Thank you for listening to me" The pastor walked out the door and away. Leaving Joe in a daze, wondering what that was all about.
There was a marked increase in police presence for the next couple weeks, and there was some movement on the investigations . After a couple weeks though the police were scaled down again and the gang members returned to their usual spot. Their favourite nights were Thursdays and Fridays, Joe's busiest. There was no word or sign of any charges having been laid.
Three weeks after the "visit" another young man was brutally beaten. Joe and the "War Committee" knew they had to move into action. Joe got a phone call the next day from the Pastor asking if there was anything he could do. Joe bit his tongue for his rage, and just said there was nothing. The gay community would have to take care of it themselves.
They now had the names and addresses of each of the gang members, where they worked, who their friends were. They even had some photo's of the guys. With out getting too far beyond the law, Austin with his software had been able to find out some personal information about the guys as well. In following those leads some pertinent information on each of the men was obtained, including names and address of family members. Something that might coming in handy at some point
The bastard that seemed to be leader of the group was a young man Marcel, about 25. He was big, about 6' 210lbs black leather jacket, the works. He lived in an apartment block not too far from the bar, and worked in an office downtown, suit and tie job. Real weird... one of those weekend hoodlum wannabes.
They knew his movements throughout the day. He lived in an apartment block with underground parking. He left for work everyday about 7:45 and returned at 4:30. The parking had to be checked out because that was where they would have to take him. They just needed to get into the building, which was only semi-secure, so that was not a major problem.
There was another big moose of a man Paul, who looked like a biker all the time. He was big, strong and didn't seem to be afraid of anything. Must weigh about 250 lbs. and bushy black beard always sporting a dirty red bandanna on his head. He worked at a bike shop at the other end of town. And lived about ten blocks from the bar in a run down old rooming house. He always parked his bike at the rear of the house. It would be a little harder to pick him off but it was doable.
Steve was the third man. He was just a young man about 22. He stood about 6' and 180 lbs., trim, well built, nice looking dude. No one could figure how he had gotten involved with the other two. Currently he was working downtown as a stock boy in one of the office towers. He was renting a house not far from where he worked and usually walked to work. He would be easy to pick up, part of his route in the morning always lead him down a long alley to the back of the office building he worked in.
Steve was an interesting kid, there was some reason to believe that he didn't have his whole heart in the gay bashing he was doing. Someone thought they had seen him leaving alone from the scene of the last attack. When they talked to Gary who had been beaten, about what happened, he vaguely remembered someone checking him as he lay in the parking lot, and then softly telling him that an ambulance was on the way. The man that was seen running from the scene fit Steve's description.
While "Joe's boys" were following these guys around, they were heard to be arguing in a bar one evening. Steve was saying that he didn't want to be involved anymore. It was wrong. Paul had grabbed him and threatened to beat the shit out of him if he didn't stay with them... and that was the end of that argument.
On Thursday evening of that week all the people places and plans were ready. "Tomorrow these boys are not going to make it to work, they're going to take a day of, and have a weekend they will never forget" chuckled Pete with a glint in his eye.