DISCLAIMER: The following story is FICTIONAL. It contains descriptions of sexual activities between men, teenage boys, and between men and teenage boys. If you are not over 18 years of age, or if you find this type of story offensive, or viewing this material is illegal where you are, then please DO NOT READ IT! If you choose to read it, then - I hope you enjoy it!
The Abandoned Boy
Chapter 33
For a split second, as Eric pointed the pistol at me, I was afraid he intended to shoot me. Over Eric's shoulder, I saw Tom leap out into the entrance of the hallway. He was about to run toward us. He looked terrified. Luckily, a cop reached out and snatched him, pulling him back to safety.
Eric sat pointing the pistol at me for a moment, looking into my eyes. Then slowly, he turned his hand over so that the gun was sitting in the palm of his open hand.
"Please help me!" he rasped, as he began crying even harder.
Quickly, I reached for Eric's hand and took the gun from him. Aiming it at the ceiling, I released the hammer and slowly lowered it against the bullet in the chamber, then I set the safety. I turned and sat down on the floor next to Eric then, and looked down at him. Through his tears, he was looking up at me with a mixture of emotions on his face. Mostly he looked miserable and terrified. I wrapped my arm around the boy, and he turned toward me and leaned against my chest and began sobbing pitifully. I wrapped my other arm around him and held him as he cried.
Suddenly, a number of policemen, and Tom all ran toward us. I held my hand out with the gun in it, pointing toward the ceiling. A cop grabbed the gun, and another tried to grab Eric.
"NO!" I said, tightening my grip on the boy. "He's not a threat any longer. He's a boy who's in trouble, emotionally. I told him I would help him, and I meant it."
The cop looked at me. He was the same one I'd locked horns with when we found Rob in the school that night before he came to live with us. He recognized me and smirked at me and as he said, "The kid had a gun in school. He's being arrested. NOW!"
I was about to protest, when Officer Hankel, the school's resource officer stepped in and said, "This school is MY jurisdiction! And I outrank you! You can report back to the station. I'll handle this situation now!"
The younger cop glared at Officer Hankel for a moment, but then stalked off.
"Thanks," I said.
"No problem. He was right though that the boy will have to be placed under arrest for bringing the gun into school. I think we can handle this a lot more calmly though. Let's go down to Tom's office and call his parents to start with." Officer Hankel said.
"Thanks. Can I stay with him?" I asked.
"Sure," he replied. "I think that'd be best right now."
Tom appeared next to me then. He looked scared yet.
"I'm fine," I said, looking at him. "I'll need a sub for my class though."
"No problem," Tom said. "I'll grab someone who's got a free period."
Eric was still wrapped in my arms, holding me tightly. I couldn't tell if he was crying yet or not, but thought he might be.
"We need to get up Eric. I'm not leaving you. We're just going to go down to the principal's office to talk," I said.
Eric squeezed me tighter.
"It'll be alright," I whispered, hugging him a little more tightly. "I'll be right there with you!"
Eric released me then, and got to his feet. He stood staring down at his shoes, crying. I got up off the floor, put my arm around his shoulders, and we set off for Tom's office.
- * * When we got down to the main office, Tom ushered Eric and I into the conference room. Officer Hankel and a couple of police officers stood outside the door, and Tom went to call Eric's parents. Eric and I didn't get a chance to be alone long though, as the school psychologist, and Eric's guidance counselor both showed up and insisted on speaking with him.
In the short time that I had alone with Eric, we never got to talk. He was still very distraught, and when I tried to talk to him, he just began crying again. Again, I took the boy in my arms, and held him while he wept. It seemed to be the most I could do for him at the moment.
When Dr. Freeland and Mrs. Honeycutt came in, I felt Eric's grip on me tighten. He buried his face against me, and continued crying. Tom and Officer Hankel came in a few minutes later, and everyone stood around waiting for Eric to calm down.
"Eric, nobody's going to hurt you. We're all here to help you," I said, rubbing his back, as he held onto me tightly yet, still weeping.
"Greg's right," Tom said, reaching over and giving Eric's shoulder a squeeze. "We just want to help."
Eric turned to look at everyone and through his tears he whined, "Y-you just want to send me off with the c-cops!"
Officer Hankel stepped over to us and looked down at Eric.
In a soft voice, he said, "I won't lie to you Eric. You are in some trouble for bringing a gun to school. You will have to come down to the police station with me in a while. But, I promise you that we aren't going to hurt you, and that we do want to help you."
Eric hugged me a little tighter and turned his face into my chest again.
Officer Hankel backed away, and Dr. Freeland stepped in to replace him. Just as she was about to say something, a couple who looked very shaken walked up to the door.
"Eric! Are you all right?" the woman cried, rushing toward us.
Eric's arms tightened around me, and he turned away from her. I could feel him shaking harder.
"What's happened here? What's this about Eric bringing a gun to school? And why's he so upset?" the man asked, sounding both scared and defensive at the same time.
Tom explained what had happened.
"WHY Eric?" his mother wailed, as she started crying.
"Do you recognize this gun Sir?" one of the police officers asked, showing Eric's father the gun Eric had used.
Eric's father turned white as a sheet.
Quietly he said "yes, it's mine."
"Do you have a permit for it Sir?" the policeman asked.
"Of course," Eric's father said, beginning to sound annoyed.
"Do you know how your son came to have it in his possession?" the officer asked.
"No! I do not! I keep it locked up!" Eric's father said.
Before the policeman could ask him anymore questions, Eric's father turned to us and grabbed his son by the shoulder and yanked him violently, pulling him away from me.
"What's the meaning of this? How did you get my gun? How dare you do something like this!" he yelled at Eric.
Eric, shrank backward toward me. I put my arm around him, and he quickly turned back to me and wrapped his arms around me sobbing again.
"Nice going!" I said, my eyes smoldering. "I guess we know one of the causes of your son's problems! Do you even give a shit that he was going to kill himself with your gun?"
Dr. Freeland stepped in then and said "Right now, the most important thing is to figure out what we can do to help Eric. Accusations and arguing isn't going to help!"
"That's all I WAS trying to do!" Eric's father said.
"With all due respect Mr. Braden, you were verbally attacking the boy, and that's not the best way to handle someone who's suicidal!" Dr. Freeland said.
"I was dealing with him, as I always do," Mr. Braden said. "He needs authority. He needs someone to be strong, because he can't be himself!"
"Mr. Braden, your son doesn't need you to come down on him like that right now. He's an emotional basketcase. He needs to be treated gently and kindly right now!" Dr. Freeland said.
"Eric, Honey," Mrs. Braden said, sniffling and stepping closer to us. "Please try to calm down. Your father will too. We need to talk though about what happened."
"Martha!" Mr. Braden said.
"Shut up Daniel!" Mrs. Braden snapped. "I tried it your way. I was hard on him. Look what happened! We almost lost him!"
Mrs. Braden reached for her son, and rubbed his shoulder.
"It's OK Honey, I'm not angry with you. Everything will be alright. You have to let us help you though. I love you Eric. Please let me help you!" Mrs. Braden said, still rubbing his shoulder.
Eric looked at her for a moment, as silent tears ran down her cheeks. Suddenly he released me and turned to her, throwing his arms around her, collapsing into her arms sobbing. Mrs. Braden wrapped her arms around her son and held him, gently rocking him as his body convulsed with wracking sobs.
"Everything will be alright now," She cooed, softly, running her hand up and down his back, rocking gently back and forth.
Dr. Freeland motioned to me, Mrs. Honeycutt, Tom, and the police officers, to leave. Quietly we all filed out of the conference room, leaving the Bradens and Dr. Freeland alone together. We all went into Tom's office next door to wait.
About a half hour later, Dr. Freeland came into the office.
"OK, all three of them are as calm as they're going to get. They know Eric has to go to the police station. Dan, will you go with them, and see to it that nobody gets rough with them?" Dr. Freeland asked Officer Hankel.
"Sure," Officer Hankel said.
He got up and left with Dr. Freeland. Mrs. Honeycutt left then too.
A few minutes later, Eric and his parents walked out of the conference room with Officer Hankel. Eric was in handcuffs. He wasn't crying, but he looked terrified.
"Did you have to cuff him?" I heard Tom whisper to Officer Hankel, as I walked over to Eric.
"Don't be scared Eric," I said. "Officer Hankel is a nice man, and he'll be with you at the police station as much as he can be. And he only put the handcuffs on you because he has to. I meant it when I said that I want to be your friend, and help you. I promise I'll come see you soon. We can talk then. And anytime you need to talk to me, you can call me. You can leave a message for me here at school, or call me at home. I'll write the numbers down for you."
I grabbed a sheet of paper from the secretary's desk and scrawled my name and phone numbers on it. I added my e-mail address and AIM screen name as well. When I was finished, I folded up the sheet of paper, then turned and handed the paper to Eric. Awkwardly he took it and stuffed it into his pocket.
I smiled and said, "I put my e-mail address and AIM screen name down too. If you lose the paper - just call the school and leave me a message with a way to get hold of you. OK?"
"Thanks," Eric said, looking at me with big eyes.
"No problem. It'll be OK Eric. Really!" I said.
Eric's eyes looked like they were watering up again. I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a hug.
"It's gonna be OK. Just dow what they say, be calm, and try not to be scared," I said, releasing him. "OK?"
Eric looked at me through tear-filled eyes, and nodded.
Officer Hankel said, "We should be going then, before classes let out."
"Be gentle," I whispered to him, as I stepped by him.
He smiled slightly and nodded.
He and the Bradens left then, accompanied by two other policemen. Officer Hankel got in the backseat of the police cruiser with Eric. The two other policemen sat up front. The Bradens got in their car, and followed the police car out of the school's driveway, and off-campus.
"Holy fuck! What an afternoon!" I exclaimed, when Tom and I were finally alone in his office.
Tom got up and walked around his desk and closed the door to his office. When he turned around, I saw he had tears in his eyes.
"When I saw him point the gun at you, I almost died!" Tom said, barely audibly, as his eyes brimmed with tears, and his lower lip began to quiver.
"Aw, Don't," I said, getting up and turning toward him.
Tom couldn't help himself though. Tears began to trickle down his cheeks, and his lower lip started trembling even more.
"I could've lost you!" he whined, quietly. "I don't know what I'd have done if that happened!"
Since the door was closed I took Tom in my arms and he wrapped his around me, and laid his head on my shoulder. His body trembled for a minute or so, as he cried quietly as I held him in my arms.
"Everything worked out fine," I said, rubbing his back. "And you're not going to lose me!"
Tom couldn't talk just then. He squeezed me in response instead. I squeezed him back. A minute or two later, he'd finally pulled himself together and pulled away from me, rubbing his eyes, and snuffling.
"Here, you boob!" I said, grabbing some Kleenexes out of the box on his desk, and handing them to him.
"Thanks," he said, smiling slightly, taking the Kleenexes and drying his face and eyes.
Tom blew his nose, then stepped over to look in the wall mirror.
"Don't bother. You're beautiful," I said, grinning.
Tom turned to me and smiled then.
"I love you Greg!" he said.
"I love you to Tom!" I said.
Smiling at me, Tom walked over to his door and opened it. The office appeared empty, except for Tom's secretary, who was at her desk outside his door.
"You, all alone?" Tom asked.
"No. There are three rather anxious young men sitting around the corner waiting to see the two of you!" Mrs. Pelham said.
Just then, Simon, Ethan, and Rob, all popped around the corner. They all looked very relieved to see us.
"Are you alright?" Simon asked, rushing over to us.
He quickly threw his arms around me and gave me a long, firm hug. I hugged him back.
"Rob told us what happened. Are you OK?" Ethan asked, worriedly.
Rob trailed them, looking at me with haunted eyes.
"I'm fine!" I said, smiling and releasing Simon from our hug.
Looking at my watch, I realized that it was after school hours already.
"How about I pick up my things and we all go back to the apartment for supper?" I said.
The boys all smiled and said that sounded good.
"You coming?" I asked Tom.
"Sure," Tom said. "I'll meet you there. I just have to finish up a couple things here first."
"OK," I said, "How about pasta?"
Everyone thought that sounded good. Tom offered to pick up some loaves of Italian bread on his way over. The boys and I left then, and Tom set about finishing up his day's work.
The boys accompanied me back to my classroom. As we neared it, we saw a policeman standing on a chair, digging at the ceiling with a screwdriver. We stopped for a moment and watched him.
"Got it!" he said, after a minute.
When he looked down and saw us, he opened his palm and in it lay the slug that Eric had fired from the gun. He must've pointed it at the ceiling when he fired it. The boys all looked upset then.
"If he'd missed, someone could've been hurt, or killed!" Rob said.
"But that's not what happened," I said. "C'mon, let's not think about that anymore. We have to get going now anyway."
I cleaned up my desk and gathered up my things, and we left. Ethan and the boys followed me home then in Ethan's car. Tom arrived 20 minutes after we got home, bringing three loaves of crusty Italian bread with him. Together we made a pasta dinner, which we all hungrily devoured. Tom and I decided to open a bottle of Lambrusco to go with it. All three boys looked hopefully at us, as I poured the wine into our glasses.
"You're not driving anywhere tonight Ethan?" I asked.
"Nope. I'm in for the night," he said, smiling slightly.
"OK, get yourselves some glasses," I said, smiling.
I poured each of the boys a glass of wine then too. I figured it would help relieve any remaining stress they were feeling due to the afternoon's events. We ended up draining two bottles of wine between the five of us. Everyone felt more relaxed, and much happier once dinner was over.
Talk of course revolved at first around the incident at school, but eventually, it turned to Rob's possible reunion with his birth mother. He filled Tom and the guys in about the situation, and we all talked about it together then. Rob was very excited about the possibility of meeting his birth mother, and maybe learning about his birth father as well, but he was also very nervous about meeting her, and about his parents' reaction. We decided that later in the evening, since I had to take Rob home anyway, he and I would speak with his parents about the situation.
For dessert we made sundaes out of some brownies that were leftover from the previous day, and ice cream from the freezer, as well as hot fudge sauce and butterscotch sauce, walnuts, and finally gobs of whipped cream from those spray cans.
The boys were all in playful moods, the wine having relaxed them, and a minor sparring match erupted with the cans of whipped cream. Eventually all three of them, and Buddy, who'd managed to get in the middle of things, were all wearing globs, dots, and streaks of it. Tom and I stayed out of it, opting to sit in a corner, watching and laughing. Afterward, it took them a while, and several wet paper towels to clean up their mess. Buddy of course pitched in and helped by licking up as much of it as possible.
After we'd finally eaten our dessert the boys cleaned up the table, while Tom and I loaded the dishwasher. Then we all sat back down around the kitchen table together and played a little penny-ante poker for a bit.
After a while, I could see that Rob was getting antsy. Finally, he asked me if I was ready to go with him to talk to his parents about the details of his birth and adoption. I grinned and said I was. So, we left Tom, Simon, and Ethan playing poker yet, and the two of us took off for Rob's house...
The next chapter in this series will be published shortly.