The Boy With the Emerald Eyes By James
Disclaimer
This is a story which deals with sexual/romantic situations between teenaged males. Should you not be of the legal age to read such material, or if you're offended by such stories then please find something else to read. This story also will contain scenes of violence, instances of Hate Speech and at times possibly scenes dealing with or dialogue concerning rape. If those themes disturb anyone who reads this story, then I urge them to find something else to read as well.
Please remember to donate to Nifty, as your donations help to keep these stories and related information open, and free to the public.
Finally, if anyone would like to contact me regarding this story, I can be reached at jamesheady1985@gmail.com. I respond to all e-mails, but flames and other e-mails that are, or that I suspect are trolling or flaming in nature will be ignored.
The Boy With the Emerald Eyes
Chapter 22
Once in the church, the boy sat in one of the pews at the back of the room, and after a few minutes, he heard someone in a room that wasn't too far away from where he sat. He had his eyes closed, so he hadn't looked up yet to see if he could see who might be coming in to the main room.
Once he looked up, he saw a man walking towards where he was sitting. He sat there continuing to watch the man as he neared the boy's spot on the pew.
"I'm Tom, I'm the pastor here of this church," he explained. "Would you feel comfortable telling me your name?"
The boy hesitated for a long moment, and looked once more at Tom, then he spoke.
"It's Eric, Eric Franklin," the boy said in a soft and unsteady voice.
"You look tired," Tom said. "Will you be returning home soon?"
"Probably not," Eric said. "I'll find a place to sleep for the night though, don't worry about that."
"Where did you come from?" Tom asked.
"Just don't worry about me," Eric said beginning to stand. "I just needed to stop in here for a few minutes, but I'll be alright."
"I am worried," Tom responded sitting down beside him now.
Eric thought for a minute, and especially thought about how tired he was of running, being afraid and constantly feeling like he needed to be on alert. Totally drained of strength, Eric half-sat, half-fell back in to his seat.
"So can you tell me were you came from when you found your way to our church?" Tom asked Eric.
0000
Eric
I told Tom where I had escaped from, and he looked both angry and sad.
"What?" I asked.
"Who sent you there?" he asked.
"My dad," I responded. "I had been out of control, and he did what he thought was right."
I thought this was just so much Bullshit, but I didn't want to open my mind to even a small possibility that this man night have views different than that of mainstream society when it comes to kids being put in places such as the one from which I escaped. In short, I didn't want to get my hopes up that this man Tom might actually believe different than what I've heard throughout my life.
"Is there anything else you wanted to share with me?" Tom asked. "It's up to you, and you can talk with me about anything you want, or if you don't want to share anything further then you don't have to."
I began talking, and I told him everything, from when I first got in to my dad's fucked up belief system, and about how I wanted more and more as the last several months went by before I was sent to the place from which I had just escaped, to get free of my dad and his fucked up ways. Though I didn't know where to start exactly, I had an idea deep down that what I was a part of was Bullshit, and I didn't like the person that I was becoming, not that how I acted the year before was any better, but I felt totally in over my head, and I wanted someone to help me find a different way to live.
Most of all though, I was truly sorry for what I did to Dakota, I was sorry for it all. I felt remorse for all of the Anti-Gay things I had said to him, sorry for laughing and joining in with Adam when he would be telling a lot of gay jokes in front of Dakota, but most of all I was sorry for how I took Dakota's journal and read it. I was sorry for having given it to Adam, and I had felt responsible this whole time for what had happened to Dakota. It had been in the news, and I wished there was something I could have done to make up for my part in what had been done to Dakota. I also felt horrible for wanting to get close to Adam in the first place. I believed that I could be a good friend to him, at least good in so far as it was viewed as such given the psychotic beliefs in which I believed at that time.
Adam had been hurtful to me though when we did hang out one-on-one. He would tell sarcastic jokes, use certain fears I had against me as well as accuse me of being gay, and this would get us in several fist fights. I was coming to realize that I wasn't in control of our friendship at all, nor was Adam anymore of a friend to me than he had been to Dakota, then things came to a head with that situation, and I wondered if he would have done to me what he did to Dakota if things played out different, for I was feeling more and more attracted to boys in general and to Adam in particular. I hoped that he and I could at least do some things, and I justified it to myself by thinking that it was just two guys helping one another out when reluctant Bitches wouldn't give it up to us. In short, I had a lot of really fucked up views through which I had to work. I found myself telling all of this to this man who I didn't even know, but somehow I was telling everything to him, and holding back even one detail didn't occur to me even one time. I couldn't hold any of it back, and didn't want to!
"The first step is to find a new place for you to live," Tom began. "I have a room you can stay in in my wife's and my house. At least for a couple of days until we can find a foster family with whom you can go to live."
"You'd do that for me?" I asked hardly able to believe what I was hearing.
"We would," he answered. "I think I know of a couple of families I can talk with to see if one of them could take you in for the foreseeable future. I'll also be getting you assigned to a counselor who helps people out of groups like what you've been involved in, and we'll all require that you participate in these sessions so that you can get on the road to making better choices with your life."
"Okay," I answered. "I'll do anything all of you want me to do. I just don't want to continue living as I have been."
"If you trust me, I'll help you with what you're wanting to do," Tom said.
"I'll give it a chance, I promise," I replied.
"Good," Tom responded.
He then stood up, and motioned for me to follow him through a hallway that lead in to the house he shared with his wife, and they worked on getting the guest room made up for me which really consisted of them getting the bed made up for me, and once it was ready I got in after removing my shoes, socks and shirt. I said goodnight to Tom and his wife, and then was asleep within seconds.
0000
Devin
I stood over the stove along-side Richard, Tyler's father. Tyler was in his room finishing up homework, and I stood there helping Richard with cooking the wings we were going to be having that night. He and I hadn't had much time to spend one-on-one until now, and I knew that there were at least two things that needed to be dealt with between us, both on my side and on his.
I figured from the way Richard was acting around me that he knew that there might be something going on between Tyler and I. Richard wasn't acting mad or anything like that, but he seemed thoughtful the last couple of times I had seen him when over at his and Tyler's house.
Then I wanted to talk with him about my hopes that he would keep being there for Tyler. I looked back in the direction of Tyler's room, and saw that the door was still closed, and I turned to Richard.
"Thanks for letting me stay here for the weekend," I said.
It was Saturday, hours after a boy named Eric Franklin who was the boy who helped to bully Dakota Langley was getting on the path to come back in to Dakota's and by extension all of our lives, though none of us knew that at the moment.
"You're welcome," Richard said watching me.
"I think you and I should talk though," I went on. "I'm glad that you've been doing much better with being there more for Tyler, and I have noticed that. I hope that continues from here on out."
"It will Devin," Richard said. "I understand that I could have lost my son, and I've come to understand the pain he had been in, and I don't want to do anything that would cause him to go back in to that place ever again."
"I'm glad to hear you say that," I began,. "The thing I really wanted to say to you is how I wasn't happy about how you by your own lack of being there for Tyler, caused it all to fall on our shoulders as his friends. We didn't deserve that, but most of all Tyler didn't deserve any of that."
"I know he didn't," Richard said putting a hand on my shoulder. "You, Caleb and Dakota didn't deserve being put in the middle of the situation either, and I'm sorry for handling things the way I did."
"Thanks Richard," I said as we shared a hug. "You're a really good father, and I am glad that you've been working on being there more for Tyler as I said. I'm glad to be getting to know you more as well."
"I'm glad to be getting to know you a little more as well also," Richard replied. "I also wanted to bring something up to you, and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."
"What is it?" I asked though I thought I knew.
"I know that you and Tyler are close," Richard began. "I also know that Tyler is gay, and I accept him as being as such. I had always heard about how you're in to girls, but I've been noticing you and my son lately, and I was wondering if there's something more going on between the two of you than just friendship, or being best friends?"
I stood there watching Richard for a moment, then I spoke.
"I discovered recently that I like guys, and I've had feelings for Tyler as more than a friend for a long time now," I said all of that, and waited for Richard's reaction.
"If you and him are having sex, I hope you're both going slow with it, and respecting one another's comfort levels," he said.
"Yeah, we've been careful with one another," I answered. "Also, we have been doing sexual stuff with each other, and we've also been stopping when one of us says no about something, or if one of us isn't comfortable with whatever is going on. I wouldn't ever want to do anything to hurt Tyler, and I want to be with him for as long as we can be together."
"I'm glad to hear you say all of that," Richard said as we hugged.
Tyler came out a moment later seeing us ending our hug, and he figured that we had been having an intense conversation. We talked to him about what we had been discussing, and he told his dad about how he felt about me as well. Richard hugged his son, and told him that he was glad that we're both together, and that he would support us no matter what.
I was glad that the three of us had had this conversation, and my parents, Tyler and I had had basically this same conversation a couple of weekends ago when he had stayed over at my house, and it had gone really good.
After the wings were finished cooking, we got the rest of the stuff ready, and finally it was time to eat. It was a really nice dinner, and it was good to have the three of us on the same page about everything!
0000
Dakota
Sunday was a dark and rainy day for Caleb and I as we got ready for church. By now it was the middle of November, and really cold. I loved the cold weather, and Caleb seemed to enjoy it as well.
Once we arrived, we took our seats, and we listened to the sermon which was one about loving all of God's creations, as well as being there for those who had less than us. It ended with Tom talking about us working to be there sometimes even for people who most in society would say might not deserve it. I thought about that long after the service ended, and even while we sat eating a couple of snacks before we would return home for Sunday Supper.
I had thought about Adam when Tom had talked about us needing to be there for those who society didn't think deserved it. Tom did provide a few examples, including criminals as well as those who did other various bad things. I wondered if I could ever find compassion like that for Adam, but had to shut down that line of thought quickly. I was glad that Tom included a few words while closing the sermon regarding that people have to get to that point in their own time, and that sometimes some just can't get there, at least not for a long time.
I was one of those for whom it would take a long time to find any compassion for Adam, and I was glad that Tom had compassion for those like me as well. Once I finished with my snack, I went back in the church to throw away my trash. As I wheeled over to the trashcan, I dumped in the plate and cup, then wheeled around as someone set down a couple of boxes beside a door that stood open, and within the room stood several boxes to which these next two were probably going to be added.
I wheeled up to the person standing there typing something in to a smart phone, and then once the note was typed, the person put the phone away.
"I can help with one of those boxes if you would like," I said.
The person clearly was a guy from the large shoulders, and the short hair which was black and curly. He turned around, and I felt the ground drop from beneath me! It wasn't possible! It couldn't be possible!
"Dakota?" he said in a half-whisper clearly as in shock as I was!
"Eric?" I said hardly able to breath!
What the Hell was this!
Author's Notes
I figured that this would be a good place to end things for this chapter. I can imagine how anxious you all are to see what happens between Eric and Dakota. You're probably wondering if they'll work through their issues, or if Dakota will hate Eric, and possibly take out his rage at Adam on him, as well as any pent up rage he might still have at some of the bullying through which Eric subjected him back then. That will all be revealed in the next chapter, and I hope you guys like how I work out things between Eric and Dakota, as well as how Eric gets along with Caleb, Devin and Tyler.
All that being said, I hope everyone is staying safe, having a good evening and I'll see everyone in Chapter 23.