Second Chance, Chapter 36
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This story contains descriptions of love and sexual fulfillment between people of the same gender. If possessing or reading this kind of material is illegal where you live, please leave this site at once.
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Chapter 36
Easter was another big event at church for everyone in the Brady/Larson household. They went to the early service in order to avoid the larger crowd that would be there at the second one. Again there was lots of special music that uplifted everyone's spirit, including Beethoven's "Hallelujah" from the "Mount of Olives".
Robbie seemed to enjoy the music, but got sleepy and missed Dr. Mann's sermon. It was inspiring to those who stayed awake. Blake was glad that he and Rob were now a part of this congregation. They were planning to have Robbie baptized in the next month or two after the services became less filled with "extras".
The family went to brunch at the country club; all but Blake who was working. Rob's mother had wanted them at her house, but knew better than to push the issue. She would try to invite Blake and him for a weekend dinner within the next couple of weeks.
One rather strange thing happened on Easter Sunday. Blake's parents, Walter and Ursula, came to the city unannounced. By the time they got to Blake's apartment, he had gone to work and no one was there to answer the door.
They went to the main house, but everyone had gone directly to brunch from church, so they got no response there either. Not knowing what to do, they sat in their car waiting for someone to return.
Eventually, Blake's housemate, Zac, came along with his girlfriend in tow. They had barely started to make out on the sofa when there was a knock on the door.
Zac wasn't sure how much information he should give Blake's parents. Since they said that he wasn't answering his cell phone, it was possible that he was avoiding them. Zac pretended that he didn't know the phone number of where Blake was working and suggested that the parents should find a place to have dinner and come back in the evening when Blake would be off of work.
As soon as they'd left, he called the country club to alert Blake.
"Dude, I know we're not close buds, but I hope you'd do the same for me. I'd want to have a heads-up if my `rents came in for a surprise visit! I hope I'm not overreacting."
"Thanks a lot Zac! I would do the same for you. I told them I had to work and couldn't come home. I don't know why they drove all the way down here. Since you warned me, I'll have time to figure out how to deal with them. I really appreciate this!"
Blake stayed an hour beyond what he was scheduled to work, helping to reset tables in the dining room after the last patrons had departed. He could use the extra money and the manager was really pleased to have his assistance since a couple of guys had begged off early. Eventually Blake would have to face his parents, but later was better than sooner.
He called Rob before leaving work to let him know what was transpiring. Rob said that he'd come over to the apartment if it would help, but that he'd stay away if that was best. Blake said he thought it would be better for Rob not to meet the parents at this point - or possibly ever!
It was with leaden feet that Blake climbed the stairs to the garage apartment. When he got in, he was greeted by a barrage of complaints and questions.
"Where have you been?" his father demanded.
"Hello, it's nice to see you too," Blake responded.
"Don't get smart with your father!" his mother demanded.
"Look, I don't know why you're here. I'm dead tired because I've been working most of the day and I just got off. I told you that I wasn't available this weekend. I can't understand why you drove over two hours down here knowing that."
"We want to know what's going on. Your friends say that you've quit going to church and that you're secretive and don't hang around with them anymore. You need good Christian fellowship or you're likely to go the way of the world!" his mother insisted.
"I'm going to church regularly. It just happens to be a different one than I used to go to. That place was so hypocritical that I couldn't stand it anymore. As for hanging out with friends, I have to work a lot to afford to stay in school. Along with studying, I don't have time for leisure activities."
"What church are you going to? I want to check on what it's like," his mother continued.
"It's called `Metropolitan Community Church' and there is a wonderful pastor there who preaches the love of God."
"That's one of those liberal places that allows queers and anyone in, I'll bet," his father interjected.
"If you mean that my new church is open to all of God's children, you're right. They care more about what's in a person's heart than what labels other people put on them."
"You'll either go back to `Open Bible' or I'm cutting off your funds!" his father shouted. "You need to stay away from fags and fag lovers! They'll make you like them. That's their agenda!"
Blake shook his head sadly. "Do what you feel you must," he said. "I'll make it somehow with or without your help. Now, I'm exhausted and I have a final project to work on tomorrow for one of my classes, so you'll have to leave. God grant you a safe journey."
As soon as he saw his parents' car pull away from the curb, he sprinted over to the main house. Rob opened the back door before Blake reached the bell.
"You okay, Babe?"
"Yeah. They demanded to know about my church attendance and they didn't like the answer. They've cut off my funds. I knew they wouldn't give me anything once I came out this summer. I won't miss the money that much; I made more in tips today than what they send me every month anyway. I know they'll find out for sure that our church is gay friendly and then I'll be cut off forever, but that's okay as long as I have you and Robbie as my family. I could use a little cuddling..."
"Sleep with me tonight," Rob said gently. "We both have a day off of school tomorrow, so we can snuggle and talk as long as you want."
"I love you, Rob."
"I love you too. Let's take a quick shower and I'll hold you until you feel better.
When they got to Rob's room, they found that cuddling wasn't the only way to ease the tension in Blake's body. There wasn't much talking either!
On Tuesday, when school resumed, Aaron wasn't looking forward to returning. The swelling on his face had gone down and he felt pretty good, but he didn't know what kind of reception he might get from Jake's brother or his friends.
Jake would not have been allowed to go to classes even if he had come to school, but that was a moot point since he seemed to have disappeared in the past couple of days along with his closest buddy.
Aaron's friends made a special point of being around him all day. He was never out of sight of at least one of them. Sam bore the major responsibility of walking Aaron to his classes, knowing that he could use his martial arts abilities to thwart any attack as long as a gun wasn't involved. Even then, he'd risk getting hurt to protect Aaron.
Interestingly, Jake's usual cohorts were quite docile that day. No one seemed to want to cause any trouble. It was almost as if they were trying to disassociate themselves from anything that had to do with Jake. A couple of them even nodded a greeting to Aaron and his buds as they met in the hallways.
Tuesday morning, a mail carrier stood impatiently outside the door of the Hall residence. She was irritated that no one was answering her ring. Jena Hall had told her a couple of days ago that she was expecting an important package and that someone would be there at all times to sign for it.
The carrier went around to the back door to see if she could raise anyone there. After she rapped on the door, she thought she heard some muffled sounds. She knocked a second time and put her ear to the door. This time she heard what sounded like someone banging on the floor. She went around to the front again. There was mail piled up in the box in addition to what she had brought today. It seemed odd that someone who was expecting a delivery would not have collected the mail. Something didn't feel right.
She spied a stepladder against the side of the garage and decided to try to look through a window before making a call to the police. Perhaps she was worrying for nothing and would look like a fool for involving the authorities.
What she saw in the kitchen made her let out an involuntary gasp.
There were Jena, Henry, and Casey Hall lying on the floor bound and gagged.
She whipped out her cell phone and made the call.
Blake breathed a sigh of relief after his last class on Tuesday. All of his professors had been as cordial as usual, so he was sure that his parents hadn't called any of them to rat on him about his church. Even if they were to do that, it might not make an unfavorable impression on the teachers -- at least not enough to cause trouble. Blake was a model student and had kept very much in the closet around school. Still, he'd rest easier once his classes were finished for the year.
He didn't have a swimming class to teach that afternoon, so he decided to drop by the high school to pick Rob up and take him home. He'd managed to send a text message to that effect so Rob was waiting for him.
They went to a couple of used car lots on the way because Rob felt he needed his own vehicle by summer. Eric and Josh had been great about giving him rides and had even let him use Eric's Mitsubishi when their schedules didn't mesh. However, he felt that he was too dependent on everyone else. He had enough money from his settlement to afford something used.
There was an abundance of cars on the lots and the salesmen were hungry to move them out. Rob appreciated being helped, but he was still in the looking stage. Just as he was trying to extricate himself from the grasp of a pushy salesman, his cell phone rang. He sent up a silent prayer of thanksgiving for the interruption.
"Rob, was that you in the car lot I just passed? I thought I recognized Blake's car when I drove by," his mother said on the other end.
"Yeah, we're looking for a car for me. Do you know of any good deals?" he responded.
"How about a small black Beamer sedan with all the bells and whistles plus side airbags front and back to protect my son and his precious baby? I have the Mercedes and the Escalade. I drive the BMW once in a while just to give it some exercise. It's yours if you want it. Luc won't be able to drive for a few more months and he'll want something sportier anyway. That is if you don't mind driving a sedan. I thought with Robbie and all it might be more practical."
"I'd love it, Mother, but you may want to sell it after the divorce. I'm not sure I can afford to pay what it's worth."
"Your father is going to have to give me plenty of alimony and child support. I'm not going to be poor. My lawyer has already discovered assets that he tried to hide, so the judge won't be letting him off easy. I want you to have it."
"Mom, I don't know what to say."
"A `Thank-you' is appropriate and sufficient. We'll go to the licensing bureau tomorrow after school and make the arrangements. I'll pick you up at your place so we can take Robbie with us if you don't mind."
"We can do that and thank you!"
Much as she wanted to break in and untie the people in the kitchen, the mail carrier waited for the police to come and do it. They were there almost as soon as she got off the phone. They used the ladder to enter through a window that wasn't locked and thus avoided doing damage to the house.
The Hall family members were hungry and dehydrated. They were thoroughly embarrassed that they'd wet themselves because of not being able to get to the bathroom.
Casey, the fifteen year old, had nearly worn through the ropes on his wrists by working them in quick succession against the inside edge of the drawer of the electric range. It had been an arduous task and he'd lost heart more than once. There was dried blood on his hands from the scratches he'd received when he'd slipped, but he had kept on trying -- feeling it might be their only hope. Had the surface been sharper, he could have cut through the cords the day before.
The officers used a digital camera to record details and asked many questions, using a recorder so as not to miss anything. All this was done as they gave the family water and allowed them to eat.
The story was not a pleasant one. Jake had come home on Thursday in a foul mood because of his run in with another boy (Aaron). He had come home ahead of the rest of the family and had evidently disconnected the phone line. On Saturday, when his mother had tried to call out, the line was dead. She was going to call the phone company when Jake volunteered to try to fix it to avoid a service call. After half an hour, he said he'd figured out the problem -- a loose connection at the box on the side of the house.
On Monday his friend, Dalton, had come over and the two had spent the afternoon in the basement. Henry Hall had caught them doing drugs down there and threatened to call the police. That's when things got really ugly.
Dalton had a gun which he held against Casey's head threatening to kill him if his parents didn't cooperate. They had no choice but to allow Jake to bind and gag them. Then Jake did the same to Casey and the boys left in the family's newest car, a 2007 Camry.
The policeman in charge of the investigation said that he wanted the family to be checked at the hospital just to make sure they were okay.
"I know that you all suffered a lot of trauma and you're dehydrated. They can see if you need additional care or just food and rest."
"Please let us shower first," Jena begged. "I know we smell of urine."
"Yeah," Casey agreed. "I know I peed my pants when Dalton had that gun against my head. I knew that my brother wouldn't kill me, but I wasn't sure about Dalton. He was really fuc -- uh, messed up from whatever they were smoking! No one has to find out that I couldn't control my bladder, do they?"
"Son," the police lieutenant said, "I'd have done the same thing in your shoes. And no, no one in this group will tell that detail. Go get freshened up and then Sergeant Ramsey will take you all to the emergency room. I'll call ahead so that you won't have to wait long."
Fortunately, no one in the Hall family suffered any major medical problems. The doctors were confident that food and rest would restore them rapidly.
The police suggested that they have the locks changed on their house as quickly as possible to be safe in the event that Dalton and Jake were still in town.
Casey had overheard his brother talking about going to Mexico, so a description of the car and its license number were quickly sent to highway patrol headquarters in the states they were most likely to go through.
Before bedtime, the Halls had learned their Camry had been found in a ditch on a back road in Missouri. Knowing that the two delinquent boys were most likely more than a thousand miles away lowered their anxiety level considerably, but didn't bring them peace. Henry and Jena lay awake for hours wondering how their son had gotten that way. They'd always given him everything that he wanted. They'd defended him against his teachers' and coaches' unreasonable demands. How could he have turned out like this? How could he have turned on them?
Author's note: Thanks to the following who wrote since last posting: Mel K, Louis, Jim We, Burch, Paul R, John McD, Jim C, Karserus, DN, Baruch, Jamie H, Mark H, Polar, Carroll, and Richie W (about Always and Forever).
You all help keep my going.
David