Disclaimer: The usual rules apply here. If you aren't legal in your area to be reading material(non erotic, mind you) about homosexuals and the activities they may or may not participate in, then please don't read. This story has been copyrighted and is not to be used elsewhere in any way without the express permission of the author (that would be me). For everyone else, enjoy!
Wayward People
Chapter Thirty-"(I Guess) This is It"
"Aren't you gonna eat something?" Troy asked.
Food?
He was asking me about food?!?
I looked at the food in front of me and sighed.
How could I think about eating anything at a time like this?
Troy had finally told me everything I'd thought I wanted to know about him.
I still wasn't sure how I felt about it all.
Troy had basically admitted that he'd done any and every illegal thing his father asked him to do.
Everything but kill people.
Kidnap innocent people and hold them hostage?
Check.
Set apartment buildings on fire to force its residents elsewhere?
Check.
Kill a guy?
Still on the list of things to do.
All of those things were just some of the elements that made up the guy I was holed up in a hotel somewhere with.
I wasn't completely sure, but that couldn't have been all that safe.
Right?
Troy stopped staring at me and walked over to the window, shutting the blinds and turning on the lights.
I rolled over from the bed I was laying on top of in order to face Troy, who passed me and walked over to the other bed, looking around, almost like he was checking something.
"When do we get to leave?" I asked.
Troy didn't look my way but he did acknowledge me.
"I don't know," he replied.
"What about my family?" I asked.
Troy stood up and passed me again.
"I told you, you can't call them for a little while," he replied.
Was this guy really that powerful?
Troy's dad, that is.
To see Troy acting the way he was acting now...so overly cautious.
Part of me found it amusing.
But the rest of me, the larger part of me, had to be worried.
Not just for myself, but for my entire family.
If Troy's dad had him this nervous, then I had to imagine that he was capable of some grisly things.
Troy'd pretty much already confirmed all of that.
I had so many things to think about.
Things that I didn't even want to think about.
And I shouldn't have had to be thinking about any of it.
It wasn't fair.
"I can't stay here forever Troy," I spoke.
Troy was peeking out the edge of the window.
"I'm gonna need to go out and refill the gas tank later," he started. "What's the legal gun buying age here?"
I almost couldn't believe that he'd asked me that, even considering what he had just told me about himself.
But then again, yes I could.
"Troy, how did this happen?" I asked.
I mean, I had to know.
Was it because he was afraid of his father and didn't want to let him down?
Or was it because of some other reason?
Something I didn't know about.
Troy sighed and turned around.
It almost looked like he'd been thinking about something.
I knew that I was on to something.
"Look, I told you, my dad isn't a nice person," he spoke, looking through a bag of things that he'd gotten.
"What about your mom?" I asked.
Troy stopped moving completely.
"What about her?" he asked.
And then I didn't really know what to ask.
I knew that Troy had told me that his mother had just taken off one day, but that was really all he had to say about her.
I wanted to know more.
And at this point, I don't think Troy was in a position to deny me information about his life.
"Troy-"
"What do you wanna know Mike?!" Troy shouted, turning around quick. "I told you-"
"That she left, yeah, I got that," I replied.
"Then leave her out of this," Troy replied.
I just stared at him.
I wasn't going to back off of this one.
Not this time.
"Troy, tell me about your mother," I started again, softly this time. "Please?"
"I don't understand....my World Economics teacher tried to kill you guys?" Sienna asked.
"Newsflash, he just tried to kill all of us, Sienna," Max replied.
"I don't get it though," Sienna spoke. "And where's Mike? Or Troy?"
"Mike's the one that called," Max replied.
"And now were in a hotel while....they're-"
"It's only temporary, Sienna," mom spoke. "Just until we know it's safe to go back home. And you don't have to worry. I've already spoken to your parents about you staying for a little while."
And no one really knew what amount of time a little while would be.
What they did know was that they'd just been shot at.
That was really all they needed to know to realize that something was up.
"So Mike called and warned you guys to get out?" Sienna started.
"Yeah, he told us not to even go home because something was going on," dad replied. "Of course, by then it was too late..."
Sienna frowned and looked over her salad.
"This sounds a little too weird for me," she sighed. "But I can't say that I mind spending time with you guys. A lot better than hanging with my own family."
There was a silence in the room after that, where no one really knew quite what to say.
And what would they say, given the situation they were all in?
"You think Mike is okay?" Sienna asked.
"He said that he was when he called," dad replied.
"But?"
Dad looked over at Sienna.
"I sensed a `but' in that statement," Sienna clarified.
"Well a man we thought was our son's teacher just tried to kill us after wanting us to stay in the house to wait for Troy's parents," dad replied.
"You think Troy has something to do with this?" Sienna asked.
Dad sighed and walked back towards the kitchen area.
"I think we should all not think about it until Mike calls us again," mom spoke up.
"What if he doesn't call, mom?" Max asked.
No one said anything.
Figures.
Just like Troy to STILL want to dodge bullets and not tell me things I obviously should have been informed about months ago.
Troy was a good guy, if not a secretive one, but I can't say that `Crime Boss Jr.' is something I would have found appealing in Troy upon his arrival in Wayward.
And now that we were in this mess, I was gonna make him tell me everything I wanted to know, or I'd call his dad and give him up myself!
Well, maybe not.
But still, I was that angry!
Troy sighed and looked over at me for the umpteenth time.
I was giving him his time to tell me about his mother, but he was taking up TOO much time.
"Troy-"
"She left right before I turned fifteen," Troy started. "My dad was never around much what with having to run his legal and not so legal business affairs and such."
He got up and started glancing at the cheap thrift store painting that was hanging on the wall, as if he were actually interested in it.
"My mom always used to say that it was us against the world. She was always good to me and she was the best person that I knew," he continued. "I knew about the fights she'd have with my father. She'd always argue that he never spent enough time with us, and he'd argue about how his job was to support us."
I could tell something else was going on with the situation though.
"I thought she loved me. She told me she did all the time. But when I got up one morning and she was just....gone...." Troy strayed. "It wasn't long after that before Veronica moved in and dad had me doing stuff for him. And I blamed `her' for that. I just knew that it was her fault that I hated myself every night I came home after doing yet another job for my father."
"But....she was gone. And she was never coming back. It took me a while to get past that. But I accepted it, and eventually, I stopped caring about the things I was doing. It was like I couldn't care anymore. It all just blended together and I just saw it all as another job."
He turned around, glanced at me as if expecting some kind of reaction, then walked over to the other side of the wall.
"I never told you guys, but she called me," he started again. "I hadn't been staying with you guys long either. I didn't know what shocked me more, the fact that she'd suddenly called me out of the blue or the fact that she knew how to get in touch with me."
That was surprising.
What wasn't surprising was the fact that he hadn't told anyone about it.
Just another discrepancy in a long line of secrets.
"When she called, she just took me by surprise. I mean, she was acting almost like she'd never left me alone with my father and that they were still together. Trying to make it sound like my father cared that I was gone...."
"How did she know who to talk to in order to..."
I stopped as Troy turned around and looked down at the ground.
I didn't know why, but I suddenly didn't feel too good about the situation.
Not that I felt great about it before....
"Troy...how did she know you'd be here?" I asked.
"Because she probably got the number from the school," Troy replied, turning around. "Just like she found out from the guy who was really supposed to be here."
I don't know why, but I pieced that together easily.
"The picture...."
Troy looked up.
"What?"
"That's what Paul took when he broke into the house. You weren't supposed to be the one the school was exchanging were you?"
Troy didn't reply but I knew the answer.
It made perfect sense.
"Who is he?" I asked.
He sighed and looked down.
"Dylan's brother, Josh" he replied.
And why not?
Why not, right?
Troy realizes that a simple, uncomplicated way to get out of town would be to just replace himself with his friend/rival's brother, who was getting ready to come all the way to America as part of a high school exchange program.
Who'd ask questions when Dylan, the computer genius that he is and Josh's brother, would be able to fix everything according to however Troy wanted it.
And Dylan probably had a stake in not wanting his brother leaving for an entire year.
I'd probably do whatever I could to keep Max from going to another country for an entire school year.
"Troy, why did you go through all of that just to get away from your father?" I asked. "I mean, if you had money-"
"When I told you I wasn't rich, I meant it," Troy cut in. "My father cut me off a long time ago. Everything but my trust funds were sealed the day I left. I couldn't use my money to leave because cash is suspicious and credit cards are traceable."
This all sounded like something straight out of a cop drama.
Troy was like a criminal escaping the law, who in this case just so happened to be his father.
Considering the fact that it seemed like it would have been a heck of a lot simpler to just change his name and fade off the planet in some exotic location, part of me was wondering why that hadn't seemed more alluring to Troy.
Sure, he said it was about the money.
But the plan that he actually had came up with was elaborate enough to where you'd think he'd have been able to make something else work as well.
It wasn't everyday I got to hear about an exchange student switch.
"Josh and I are good friends," Troy said. "You say Paul stole a picture?"
It took me a moment but I finally rejoined reality.
"Yeah," I replied. "He uh, he broke in and...took something. That had to be it."
Troy seemed to be thinking about something for a moment before he took a seat on the edge of the bed next to me and just sat, staring at nothing in particular.
"It's a lot to digest, I know," he started, not looking over at me. "But you have to believe me when I tell you that I kept all of it from you for your own good. The last thing I wanted was for my father to find me and...."
He didn't need to finish.
I got the picture.
Things grew silent between us and I wanted to say something.
I wasn't sure what, but something.
Anything.
Anything to take the awkwardness of the situation away.
And I was about to before Troy's cell phone started ringing.
He looked over at it as it rang.
"Troy-"
He looked over at me before walking over to his phone and answering it.
"Hello?"
"What would you do if I told you that your father wasn't on his way and that you still had a chance to just come home with me before anything bad happens?"
I noticed Troy suddenly look highly annoyed and upset.
I didn't know who was on the phone, but I had a pretty good idea.
"How did you get my-"
"Enough with those stupid questions, Alex," Nick spoke. "It's my job to know this kind of stuff. You know your father."
"Troy, who is it?"
He looked over at me briefly but didn't reply.
"With your lover, that's not very smart," Nick replied. "I don't want to have to kill ANOTHER guy you've fell in love with."
Next thing I knew, Troy suddenly got really angry.
I could see it in his face.
Worse than the time where he'd pummeled Clark into a pulp.
"How do you know about-"
"I thought I told you not to bother with those questions of yours," Nick spoke. "Only one you need to worry about is the one I'm about to ask."
"No, you can tell my father-"
"I'm gonna say this one time and one time only Alex-"
"It's Troy-"
"Don't interrupt me-"
"Stupid bastard-"
"Watch your mouth-"
"I don't have to fucking obey you-"
"Be quiet Alex-"
"Tell my father-"
"BE QUIET!"
I wasn't sure, but I thought I'd just heard someone shout for Troy to be quiet over the phone.
"Now I'm gonna ask you one time and one time only," Nick started, calmly. "Where are you Alex?"
I wasn't sure what was going on.
It looked like Troy was thinking heavily, but he hadn't said anything to whoever he was talking to in quite a while.
I was worried.
Then again, I hadn't stopped worrying since all of this started.
"Alright then...have it your way."
"Wait...."
Troy pulled the phone away from his ear and threw it into the bed.
He started walking back and forward, breathing heavily, looking ready to thrash about.
I stood up and walked over to him but he pushed past me and started towards the door.
"We need weapons, we need to-"
"Troy..."
"I have to protect you. I can't let anything happen to you-"
"Troy, stop," I started, putting my arms around his shoulders.
He kept trying to get past me and I just tightened my grip on him.
Until he stopped and just stared into my eyes.
And I stared right back.
I could feel his breathing returning to normal, but slightly more shallow.
I could feel his heart beating faster and faster.
I knew of one thing I could do to calm him down.
So I went for it.
I leaned in and kissed him.
It wasn't a sexual kiss.
It wasn't a raw, nasty kiss.
It was light and gentle.
It only lasted a few seconds, before we pulled apart slowly.
Troy looked down.
"I'm sorry,' he spoke, so low, it was almost inaudible.
"It's not your fault Troy."
"You have to go back to your family-"
"Tomorrow," I spoke.
"No, no-"
"Tomorrow, Troy," I spoke, pulling him into a slow hug. "Tomorrow."
It was all I could do to calm him.
I'd since learned that I could either be the one that really angered Troy or be the only person able to calm him down.
Just like he had the same effect on me, I had the same effect on him.
Right now, I just knew that for the time being, Troy needed me.
I could feel that he needed me.
And I liked that feeling.
I was going to do what ever I could to make it last as long as possible.
I don't know why I was nervous going back to school the following day, but I was.
Troy and I went out and got some new clothes for me to wear to school and things, as he didn't want to chance going back home.
I felt so much like an outlaw, it was funny.
But scary at the same time.
Because I knew that I had a lot of things to face.
Starting with my friends and family.
I wasn't quite sure what I was going to tell Max about what was going on.
I knew that I couldn't lie to him.
But where the hell was I supposed to start?
I noticed him standing at his locker chatting about something with Sienna.
They both looked like they were in on something, hiding it from everyone.
That actually scared me a little bit.
But I knew that I had to talk to them anyway.
"Hey guys," I started, putting a friendly smile on my face.
I was going to try and be as natural and possible.
"Mike!" Max exclaimed, throwing his arms around me. "You're okay!"
I was a bit confused.
I mean, I was only gone a day.
But I guess for someone who'd experienced his older brother having run away before, me being gone again for even a day might have been too much to handle.
"Um....yeah," I replied as he let go of me. "I'm alright."
"Where's Troy? Is he okay too?" Sienna asked.
"Yeah Troy's fine," I replied.
And then I realized that I needed to explain why he wasn't here at school.
"Guys, there's something I need to talk to you about."
"They didn't shoot at you too did they?" Sienna asked.
I stopped and suddenly forget what the hell I was even about to say.
Did she just mention something about somebody getting shot at?
"Uh, Sienna..."
"I can't believe your teacher is some kind of criminal," Max spoke.
Okay...I thought that Troy and I were the only two people that knew about that.
How did they know?
"How-"
"But I get to stay with you guys in a hotel, so I guess it's a little better," Sienna replied.
How in the world do you go from talking about getting shot at to things being `better' because you're in a...oh nevermind.
"Guys, how did you know any of that?" I asked.
Max and Sienna exchanged glances.
"You mean, you don't know?" Sienna asked.
I was still trying to figure out how THEY knew.
"Wait a minute...I thought that's why you and Troy didn't come home last night....I mean...."
Obviously something was going on here.
"Okay, now I'm worried again" Sienna mumbled turning sideways as she put a hand to her head.
"Mike, what's going on?" Max asked, looking worried.
"How about you guys tell me what happened to you first," I started.
I figured that would at least give me a better place to start in trying to piece this all together.
Max sighed and shuffled a bit before pulling me aside a little before starting.
"All I know is that your World Studies teacher was trying to get a hold of Troy's parents before he held a gun to our heads and wouldn't let us leave," he started.
What the...
I almost couldn't believe it.
Then I remembered that Nick had held a gun to my head as well.
"And then when we did get out, he shot at us!" Sienna added.
I looked down.
That was definitely alarming information.
Nick really was getting Troy's parents.
Which meant more trouble for all of us.
"What happened to you guys?" Max asked.
It was then that I realized that I had to make a choice.
I decided that I'd leave out the bad parts in my own little drama in an effort to try and think more preemptively.
After all, we did all have a bona fide problem on our hands.
"Look, Troy told me some interesting things about himself," I started. "But the only part we need to worry about is making sure his parents don't find him."
"His parents? Why-"
"Look, Sienna just trust me okay," I cut her off. "Troy's dad can't know where he is. And we have to act like we don't know anything and pretend like none of it happened."
And it really did seem like the most logical thing to do to me.
Of course, I was only a 17 year kid.
What the hell did I really know?
Still, that was the plan and I was going with it.
Both Troy and Sienna looked like they were really confused with my behavior, but they didn't know what I knew.
We just had to make this work.
"I do trust you, Mike," Sienna replied.
"Yeah, me too," Max replied. "I'll do it then."
Sienna nodded in agreement.
"Okay so we all agree," I stated. "None of us can talk about Troy or his parents while were here."
"What about Troy's parents?" Evan asked, shyly joining our group.
All of us looked over at him, Sienna and Max looking annoyed instantly.
"I thought you were supposed to be staying AWAY from my brother," Max said.
"I know...I.."
Evan looked briefly over at me before looking down and shuffling a bit.
It was almost like he was a completely different person.
He seemed so much more like the way I used to be.
I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that.
But I did know that regardless of how I felt about Evan, my friends' feelings towards him were very evident.
And I had to respect them.
There was a moment where none of us did anything at all.
It was like none of us were even sure what to do for more than one reason.
But I figured I'd try to shake us out of the awkward moment.
"Uh, maybe you should go Evan," I started.
"Yeah, maybe you should," Max growled.
Evan stared at Max with a bit of sadness in his eyes before turning a bit and straightening up his backpack.
"You're right," he spoke, putting on a forced grin. "I don't know what I was thinking."
Max and Sienna waited until Evan was gone before looking over at me expectantly.
"What?" I asked.
"Maybe he should leave? Maybe?" Max spoke.
"Max-"
"Mike, you keep forgetting that you're the one Evan was an asshole to," Max cut me off.
I let out a sigh and looked down before looking back up.
"I haven't...forgotten...about that Max."
Really.
I hadn't.
I was just trying not to look at the past.
I was trying to move forward.
Besides, I really had more important things to focus on lately.
Like keeping Troy and my family and friends here long enough to see tomorrow.
"I don't get it then Mike," Max sighed. "I really don't."
And truthfully, he wasn't supposed to get it.
It was me that all that happened to.
As in my life.
And lately I was starting to see that I depended on my brother way too much.
I was just starting to take charge of my own life.
Because now, I actually had one.
"It's better that he doesn't know anyway, right?" Sienna spoke. "I mean he might make things worse for Troy."
"Yeah, maybe..." I sighed.
Maybe not.
This was still confusing to me too.
"Come on, let's go to class before we're late," I spoke, trying my best to sound like I'd perked up.
Like that was gonna take my mind off of anything that was going on.
Surprising absolutely no one was the fact that Nick wasn't around to teach anymore.
And of course.
I mean, he wasn't really a teacher.
Just a mob bosses henchmen.
Or whatever the hell Troy's dad really was.
No one seemed to find it odd that with only one week left of school, he had vanished.
I had to wonder where the hell he was and what he was up to.
I knew that eventually, he was going to get Troy's dad down here and he was going to try and find him.
That would be kinda hard to do considering I was the only person that knew where he was.
Not even my brother, parents or Sienna knew where Troy was.
It wasn't that I didn't trust them.
It was just that I didn't want to risk putting them in any more danger by knowing where Troy was.
No, I was just going to have to once again save the burden for myself.
"What are you doing?"
I had to ask.
Troy barely looked up at me but didn't stop.
"I can't just sit back and wait for what's coming," he replied.
I crossed my arms and let out a sigh.
"And what's coming Troy?"
I mean, really, what exactly was he worried about?
I kinda got the feeling that Troy was leaving things about his father out.
Things I should know.
Troy didn't stop what he was doing.
In fact, he only went faster, stuffing things I couldn't see around in a bag.
I guess him speeding up was what led to him accidentally dropping some of what he was packing on the ground.
He bent down to start trying to pick them up in a hurry but I rushed over to him and grabbed one out of his hands before he could do anything about it.
"Guns Troy?!"
Troy stood up and tried to take it from my hands without looking at me.
He looked annoyed.
"When did you get these?"
"Just give it to me Mike," he spoke, even sounding annoyed.
"Troy-"
"Mike, it's not a good idea for you to know. I probably shouldn't have told you anything in the first place."
Shouldn't have told me anything?
Troy walked past me and went back to his guns.
He'd pissed me off.
So I stormed over to him and punched him in the face.
He obviously wasn't expecting it because he fell to the ground.
I watched as he touched the side of his face that my fist had just slammed into and looked up at me.
"My family was almost killed by the guy your father sent to come after you!" I shouted down at him. "I'm just as much a part of all of this as you are."
Troy sighed and stood up, wiping his mouth of a little blood trickling out from the side of his mouth.
He still looked a little annoyed, but now he looked concerned as well.
I was so upset I turned around and went to go sit on the edge of the hotel bed farthest away from Troy.
"I'm...sorry that I dragged all of you guys into this," Troy spoke. "That's exactly what I didn't want to happen."
"And now that it has, you want all of us to pretend like it hasn't, right?"
"Mike-"
"And all this time...I knew....I knew there had to be something, but I didn't want to believe it because of my attraction to you."
Troy didn't say anything.
"And now look where we are."
I didn't like where we were and I didn't even know if it was really all happening.
I thought Troy was gonna try to make me feel better by trying to explain some more things to me, but instead he let out an annoyed sigh and walked back over to his bed on the other side of the room and went back to his packing.
He was doing a lot of that lately.
Acting like he was just so bothered by all of this.
Like he already had everything figured out and me finding out a single detail about anything just made him pissed off.
And that was pissing me off.
Troy was pissing me off.
I felt like I wanted to be done with him.
"I can't tell you what's gonna happen you know," Troy spoke, not bothering to look up at me.
That much I already knew.
"I mean, if I knew for sure that my father wasn't going to come looking for me now, I'd already be gone."
So he was just gonna leave us to deal with the psychotic assassin moonlighting as a substitute World Studies teacher while he went off to play `brooding mystery boy' in some other non existent town?
Then again, that shouldn't have surprised me at all.
"But I don't want anything to happen-"
"Because you don't want to feel responsible when you know you are right?"
Troy looked over at me, almost shocked to have heard something like that come out of my mouth.
But then he just went back to his packing, looking even more annoyed.
"Maybe you should go check on them," he forced himself to say. "Your family, I mean."
It sounded a lot better than hanging around here with Troy like this.
And if I had the slightest hope that things were gonna get a little better between us before, it was totally gone now.
"Yeah, I probably should then," I replied, sounding as annoyed as possible before standing up and heading towards the door.
If he didn't want me, then I didn't want him.
I don't know why, but for some reason, I felt oddly displaced from my own family.
I hadn't been aware that I'd been spending as much time with Troy as I had, but now I almost felt like I'd be going into an old building, rather than my house.
I knew that eventually, I was going to have to tell them about everything that was going on.
And that was truthfully something I just didn't want to do.
Not because I knew that I couldn't right now.
But just because I knew what it would mean.
Either way, this was all going to be resolved soon.
I just wasn't sure I wanted to face the reality of what that could possibly mean for all of us.
I had just hit the corner of my own street which would have led me to my house when I noticed a car pulling up beside me.
I didn't stop because it was weird and creepy but that wasn't stopping the person in the car, which slowed as the window on the passenger side rolled down.
"Mike,"
I looked over and noticed that it was Evan.
I guess with my thoughts being more important than what kind of car Evan had, I had completely forgotten that I knew what kind of car he drove.
I wasn't sure how I felt about him being here driving beside me like a creepy person, but I decided to humor him anyway and respond, even if I didn't stop.
"What Evan?" I asked, a twinge of annoyance in my voice.
"Get in," he said.
After everything we'd been through, I had to wonder if he really thought I might actually get into the car with him.
"What? No!" I replied, quickening my steps.
Evan started driving just a bit faster as well.
"Mike, please...you gotta trust me man, get in the car," he replied.
I stopped and studied the expression his face for a moment.
Well, I could always jump out of the car if he tried anything.
Without giving it some more, probably needed, thought, I opened the door to the passenger side and hoped in.
Evan didn't say anything until he turned the corner near the church and parked the car.
"Evan, what-"
"There's a guy watching your house," Evan started, looking into his rearview mirror.
I looked to where he was looking and turned around in my seat to see what he was talking about.
"What? I-"
"I wanted to show you this," he started, pulling out the picture that I'd seen Nick take from my house just a few days earlier. "I found it in class. I don't know why he'd have it unless....unless you were right about being suspicious of him and he was up to something."
Evan handed me the picture and I looked it over before looking back in the rearview mirror.
"I've been here twenty minutes," he replied. "That car showed up five minutes after I did and hasn't left."
I didn't understand why there would be anyone watching our house.
I mean, everyone was holed up in a hotel.
No one was there.
Or maybe that wasn't the point.
Maybe someone was waiting for everyone to come back.
Maybe someone was waiting for Troy to come back.
"What's going on Mike?" Evan asked, sounding sincerely concerned.
I let out a sigh.
With all that was going on, keeping secrets, even from someone like Evan, was the last thing I needed to be doing.
"Evan I'm gonna tell you something," I started. "But you have to keep it between us. I'm serious about that."
"Okay, yeah, no problem," Evan agreed.
Too late to think about it, I already started.
"Troy....Troy's in some trouble," I decided to start.
I wanted to assure Evan that it wasn't legal trouble, but in a way, he kinda was in that kind of trouble,
But that wasn't the point of this conversation.
"His dad is a...a really bad guy and Troy came here to get away from him," I continued. "And now he knows that he's here and is probably on his way here to bring him back or worse as we speak."
Evan seemed to be taking all of it in and I let him because it was a lot to swallow.
"So....his dad sent someone to your house to kill him?" Evan asked.
"I don't know," I replied, looking back in the rearview mirror. "But we're not staying there. Paul or Nick as he told us his name was already tried to kill Max and my parents. And I think Sienna too."
"Sienna?" Evan spoke, sounding like a concerned boyfriend.
Only he wasn't her boyfriend.
Anymore.
At least I could tell that the concern was there.
He actually looked upset.
I just hoped that he wasn't upset with Troy.
Yes this was his fault for not telling us about him in the first place and letting this all drag out for like 30 months.
And it was my fault too somewhat.
I mean, I had Dylan's number in my phone all that time.
Anyone else would have used what they had.
I was stupid and didn't.
But now wasn't the time to be pointing the finger at anyone.
Now was the time to worry about how and the world we were all supposed to get past everything that was happening to us.
It took a little while, but Evan finally stopped looking like he was upset and turned to face me.
"So...what now?" he asked.
"Um...."
Yeah.
I hadn't figured that out yet.
And the stuff that I had figured out might not have even been what I thought it was.
But that was okay because now that enough people, more or less the right people, knew, SOMEBODY could figure out how we were gonna get through this.
"I know one thing though," I started. "We definitely should be get the hell out of here."
Evan had complied and was about to start the car when I stopped him.
"Wait," I said.
In the rearview mirror I could see Reverend Thomas approaching my house.
"What's Reverend Thomas doing here?" Evan asked.
I wanted to know the answer to that as well and was going to jump out of the car when I noticed the man that was watching my house getting out of his car and approaching Reverend Thomas.
But Evan held me back.
"Mike...wait!"
Why was he doing this?
I had to warn Reverend Thomas before something I didn't even want to think about happened.
But Evan was forcing me to watch as the man tried smooth talking Reverend Thomas.
I couldn't tell what they were talking about but when Reverend Thomas started to take out a cell phone, it looked like the guy was getting agitated and looked around before he pulled out a gun.
There was no way you'd be able to tell that he pulled out a gun, but I knew that's what it was just because of what situation we were in.
I didn't know what happened when I saw Reverend Thomas stumble a bit. Then the guy hit him in the back of the head and forced him into the back of his car.
"Evan!"
"No!" Evan shouted.
I felt like crying because I knew what all that meant.
Reverend Thomas was dead when he didn't have to be.
None of this had to be.
But it was happening and it was serious.
"Come on," Evan spoke, starting up his car. "We have to get out of here."
I guess the need to cry was stronger than I thought at first, because I felt the tears coming down my face fast.
"Don't worry," Evan tried to reassure me. "We'll get through this. Somehow."
But how many people would have to die before that happened, I wondered.
This was already serious enough.
I wasn't so much concerned with my own life as I was everyone else's.
The last thing I wanted was for any one of them to die.
And I had no idea what I was gonna do.
"Troy," I found myself blurting out. "We have to go back to him."
"Where-"
"I'll tell you how to get there," I replied.
Troy needed to know just how serious this was getting.
If anyone needed to know that it was him.
When Evan and I arrived at the hotel room, I was surprised even though I knew I shouldn't have been, to find Troy packing things like he was about to take off without telling anyone, again.
I rushed over to him, knowing it wasn't exactly a smart move, and got into his face.
"Hitting the road?"
Troy just kept packing, not even bothering to look over at me.
"Troy, just because you leave us alone doesn't mean Nick and your father will," I started. "Don't you think they'll realize we know what's going on?"
"Yeah well maybe I'm not the only one who needs to disappear then huh?" he asked, again without even bothering to look my way.
I just stopped and stared at him.
I was beyond frustrated with him.
He knew better than anyone how serious this all was, yet he was just gonna leave us to handle the rest, as if we were better equipped than he was at doing so.
I didn't really know what else to say or do so I just watched him pack.
He kept doing so for a few moments before he looked up for a brief moment finally noticing that Evan was standing at the open hotel door.
"What the hell is hell is he doing here?" he asked, stopping his packing.
Funny how he gets upset over a guy who wasn't going to kill us being here, but didn't have a reaction at all to the host family he'd being staying with in peril.
Evan looked like he wanted to say something even as Troy was glaring at him but I wasn't really paying attention to any of that.
"Where did you plan on running off to anyway Troy?" I asked.
It took a moment for Troy to stop glaring at Evan before he looked down and went back to packing.
"Look, you have to understand that there's not a lot any of us can do anymore," Troy tried to explain, moving past me to grab something off a nearby end table.
"Well there was never gonna be a lot any of us could do without you," I stated. "But by all means, just leave. Probably should have a long time ago anyway."
"What?" Troy asked, stopping mid step. "What did you say to me?"
I turned away from his scowl and crossed my arms.
"You know, there's a reason why I didn't want to tell anybody about this," Troy started.
"Yeah well your dad's twenty six year old assassin extraordinaire's been here all of about five months anyway, so I don't think that ever mattered!"
"Guy's, can we please not-"
"Fuck out of this Evan," Troy mumbled.
"Did you know he was dead? Reverend Thomas?" I started.
Troy looked over at me shocked.
"What? How..."
"My church preacher....killed, I'd like to look for someone to blame for that but he's trying to run away-"
"This isn't my fault Mike!" Troy shouted.
Evan walked over to the door and shut it.
"Guys, look...maybe we should keep it down-"
"Talking to me-"
"Not gonna bring him back-
"I know that Mike!"
Troy was about to add to that shouted statement but stopped short when he realized that his cell phone was ringing.
Lately, his cell phone ringing hadn't been good news.
It probably wasn't anything great this time either.
We had to become used to hearing bad news after this past week.
Troy was breathing heavily and still looked upset but knew better than to not answer his cell phone, even if it was bad news.
"What?"
"Is that any way to greet your dear old dad?"
I couldn't hear what was going on on the other end of the phone, but Troy all of a sudden looked frozen in time.
Like I'd never seen him before.
And whatever bad news I'm sure it was, it suddenly seemed a lot worse.
"What you don't speak now? Or wait, do the Americans have you thinking you're better than us retarded Canadians?"
"I..."
"You were never any good with words were you Troy?"
"Troy? Who is it?" I asked.
Troy glanced over at me, mouth wide open before looking away, turning his attention back to his phone.
"So what local boy have you managed to fall in love with this time?"
This was one of those times I wish I had Superman hearing.
"Well, I have good news and I have bad news and me being the great father that I am, I think I'll start with the good news."
I looked over at Evan who didn't seem to have any kind of look on his face that indicated how he was feeling right now.
"The good news is, we don't have to go through the process of meeting the parents and the awkward dinner situation, because I have them with me right now. Say hello Evelyn."
"Mike....is that you..?"
"Mrs. Carson?"
"Mom?"
Okay, now Troy needed to start talking.
"Troy what the hell is going on? Who's on the phone?" I asked.
"That must be Michael in the background. Sounds just as wimpy and pathetic as that other little kid-"
"Dad if your hurt Mike's family I swear-"
"You'll what? Run away like last time?"
"Troy," I walked over towards him trying to take the phone from him but he pushed me away.
"I'll tell you what, you can explain to me all about how you planned to run away, a stupid plan if I must say so, in person. Or else....well, you know my track record. I'm not exactly a patient man."
"Dad....hello? Hello? Shit!"
"Troy, what-"
"Where's your family staying?" Troy asked, sounding just as serious as ever.
"Uh......-"
"Where Mike?"
"Um......why?"
Troy stared me in the eyes for a few seconds before releasing me from the death-grip he had me in and walking back over to all his stuff.
"My dad....he's here," he said.
"What?"
"He's with your parents Mike," Troy started. "I.....have to go...I have to try to see if I can-"
"You have to go? Troy, this is my family were talking about. You're not going anywhere without me!"
Troy pushed past me and grabbed one of the dozens of guns he had in one of his bags and checked it for ammo.
"He's not gonna be happy I tried to run in the first place," he said. "And if I don't come back with him, he's probably gonna try and have me killed."
I had to wonder what kind of man would actually kill his own son.
The same man who'd have a priest murdered, I suppose.
Suddenly, this all seemed to be just a little bit more than I could comprehend.
One way or another, this was all going to be resolved.
But how it was resolved and who was the most hurt in the end had yet to be determined.
"Troy, if your dad is gonna kill you then...you can't go," I said.
As much as I felt I was at odds with him at the moment, the truth was, I didn't want anyone else to have to die behind this.
One death was enough for me, and even that had yet to fully set in with me.
"What am I supposed to do Mike? Let my dad kill your family?" Troy asked.
I didn't have a clue what we were supposed to do but I knew that I didn't want to think about what would happened if Troy showed up and pissed his father off even more than he probably already had.
"We have to come up with something," I started.
I knew what my limit was.
I knew I wasn't exactly the best at coming up with impromptu schemes.
But I was a writer.
That had to count for something.
"What?" Troy asked.
I didn't know.
I just knew that I didn't want Troy going into any situations gun blazing without some kind of plan.
"Um....I have an idea," Evan spoke up.
Troy and I looked over at him.
And I think this was actually the first time in months Troy hadn't looked like he wanted to beat the shit out of Evan.
"Do you even know how to use that thing?" Evan asked. As he and I walked down the hotel corridor.
"How hard can it be?" I asked.
Although, thinking about it now, it probably would have been a good idea to get Troy to show me how to use it. Even though he said he'd never killed anyone before, I still had a feeling he knew how to use one.
I mean, why would he have bought so many if he didn't?
"You think we probably should have stopped to get like....bullet proof vests or something??" Evan asked, looking around just as shifty as he could possible be.
"What?" I asked.
I was trying to act like I was calm and even went so far as to try and look the part but it didn't change the fact that I was terrified on the inside.
I had no idea what was supposed to be happening and I certainly didn't want to think about the worst possible scenario.
The two of us continued down the hotel corridor, and as we got closer and closer to the room my family was staying in, I couldn't help but to wonder what I'd find behind the door.
"Alright, this is it," I said.
I was partially aware that I sounded somewhere else just then. And it probably was because for the most part, I was somewhere else.
I don't know what I was thinking and I'd be hard pressed to try and put it into words.
Evan looked over at me, probably just as nervous as I was.
"Alright man," was all he said before I raised a hand to knock on the door.
Part of me was hoping that my family wasn't here, which would mean that Troy's father had been bluffing and they were safe.
But I think I knew better than that.
The first thing that happened when the hotel door opened was the emergence of two, built guys dressed in all black attire, pulling us inside quickly.
Then they body searched us like the two of us posed some kind of threat to them, as big as they were.
And sure Evan and I had a couple of handguns, which were quickly confiscated, taking away any protection we might have had in this dangerous situation, but it wasn't like we knew how to use them.
But...looking around, I didn't see a single one of my family members.
Something strange was going on.
"Great," Evan mumbled quietly. "Now what?"
"Oh don't worry," a sharply dressed man who looked about ten years older than the two bodyguards said as he approached us. "You won't be needing those."
The guy had to be Troy's father.
Appearance wise he didn't look very threatening at all.
He looked like your average middle aged father figure, albeit an expensive suit wearing father figure with this calm demeanor that you automatically wanted to be at ease around.
If it weren't for the bodyguards with their own guns as well as ours, I might be inclined not to believe Troy's stories about his father.
"Let me guess, you're Mike and you're...Evan, right?"
"How..."
I started, but then I noticed someone coming from another room somewhere.
This was obviously one of those hotels that had conjoined rooms and Nick had been the one to come from the other room, answering my own question for me.
He walked out with this confident little smirk on his face that for some reason I wanted to get rid of but knew would be foolish to even try.
So I just stood, not knowing what to do or say, feeling completely hopeless and trapped.
What had I gotten myself into?
"Well we haven't formally met so let me take this time to introduce myself. I'm Vincent Hamilton, Alex's...oh wait....he calls himself Troy here right? Either way, I'm his father."
And I had to wonder what he wanted out of me just then?
Did he want me to be all chummy and act like I was happy to meet him?
This whole situation just wasn't right.
It wasn't right at all.
Troy's father did a slight turn, asking us to come into the room some more.
Evan and I exchanged looks, neither of us bothering to oblige before Troy's father turned around and `insisted' we do as he asked, with the smallest little fake smile n his face.
That was about when the two bodyguards behind us basically pushed us as hard as possible into the center of the completely made up room.
"So, I take it my son decided he'd choose now of all times to run off again," Troy's father started. "He always was an impractical decision maker."
Again, I wasn't sure what he wanted me to say to him.
He had to realize that this just wasn't normal. Not any one part of it.
"So, why don't you tell me about yourself Mike?" Troy's father started, taking at seat in one of the chairs around a table in the corner. "I already know my son's in love with you, although not as in love with you as he thought he was if he ran off again."
"Where's my family?" I asked.
I had to be crazy, but I didn't care.
I wanted to know they were safe first.
Troy's father looked briefly over at Nick before turning his attention back to us.
"They're fine," he replied.
"I wanna see them," I said.
He could tell me they were fine all he wanted but I wanted to see for myself that they hadn't been tortured or anything.
He stared at me for a long time before nodding over at Nick who put a hand on my shoulder and led me to the door he'd just come from.
"Mike!" my mom shouted, rushing over to me.
I'd have to say this was the first time in my life that I was actually happy to see her.
My dad and brother were here as well along with Sienna, and none of them looked the least bit harmed, which completely relieved me.
My mom finally released me from my hug and looked over at Evan briefly before turning her attention back to me.
"Where's Troy?" she asked.
"Mike," Max spoke, walking over to me. "You have to tell them where Troy is. They just want to take him back with-"
I pushed away from my brother.
Even he couldn't be that naïve. He couldn't seriously think it was all that simple.
But then, I had to remember that he was my younger brother, no matter how many times I seemed to forget that.
This was one of those times where he was actually acting his age.
"Michael, what's wrong?" my mom asked.
"You know, you're all a bunch of fine people," Troy's father spoke. "Taking care of my son as well as you have, despite being too misguided enough to not make it a point to find out all you could about the person that was staying with you."
"You know why Troy couldn't talk about you," I started. "You know why so don't even make this about us."
"Why not?" Troy's dad asked. "I mean, you're all here while he's not. What does that tell you about him?"
I knew all I need to know about Troy, and while I had mixed feelings about him at the moment, I knew that he was a good guy, if not a bit misguided.
Out of my eye I noticed Nick looking out the window at something.
We were several floors up, so I wasn't sure what he could see or what he was even trying to see when it was more than dark out by now.
While no one had given me an outright reason to be nervous, I still felt like there was something about this entire situation that was just....off.
"Well, I suppose you know where Troy is, right?" his dad asked.
He was looking over at me like he was trying to get me to believe that he was the good guy here when I figured that he wasn't.
In fact, everyone was looking over at me waiting for me to tell them where Troy was when I couldn't do that for obvious reasons.
"Why....do you wanna know?" I asked.
Troy's dad chuckled before walking over to me and putting his arm around me and leading me out into the other room.
"Hey wait a sec, where are you going with my son?"
"Have a seat Mr. Carson," Nick spoke.
I looked back at everyone, trying to assure them things would be okay even though I wasn't sure they would be.
The body guards had moved past me into the room and shut the door almost all the way while Troy's dad led me completely past the door at the front.
"Look, I know Troy's probably told you all kinds of things about me," he started. "And I'd be lying if I said it wasn't true, depending on whatever spin he put on the story."
Suddenly I felt like I was in a lot of trouble.
"So you understand that I don't have quite enough patience to search for you to play around the subject of where my son is, right?" he asked me.
I looked down at where his hand was still sitting on my shoulder before looking back at him.
"I....I don't....."
"Really? Do you really want to choose now to play around with me?"
Maybe I should have told him.
Maybe I shouldn't.
But already I knew that there were things that I wanted to know.
"So did you really kill the guy Troy loved?" I asked.
Bold of me, yes.
But if I was already in trouble, this wasn't going to hurt much more.
He seemed to be studying my face for a little while before he played with the ring on one of his fingers and looking down.
"You know, my son always was an interesting child...." He started. "Never seemed to like me much, was always doing stuff with his mother. I guess that might be why he.....well......I guess maybe if I had been around more maybe he wouldn't have turned out...."
Great, so this was about him, like I already knew that it was.
What else is new?
"I figured if I had him work for me, it'd give him the chance to man up, you know?" he asked, as if I would know. "But then he went and fell in love with a guy anyway....I mean, every father wants the best for his son."
"So you killed the person he loved?" I asked. "What kind of father does that make you?"
He chuckled at me before shrugging the question off.
"I plan on having Alex take over my company and affairs one of these days," he replied. "And if it's gonna be father like son, then I want to make sure that it's all father like son."
Wait so...he didn't want Troy to be gay?
As if he even had some kind of choice in the matter.
"He's not coming, you know," I spoke up, realizing I could very well have been dooming myself. "He knows what kind of person you are."
"Really? And what kind of person is that?"
"The kind that doesn't have a conscience."
I was shocked to hear Troy being the one to say that, as he had showed up behind me, surprising his own father in the process.
"Alex-"
"Don't, dad," Troy spoke. "I didn't come here for you. I came for him. For all of them."
"You thought I was gonna hurt them. Didn't you?"
Troy didn't respond.
I wasn't sure what kind of answer that was.
"Come back with me, son. We can forget this whole mess ever happened and-"
"What dad? You can have me go back to being a criminal for you? You're the one that ran mom away!"
For a moment, it actually looked like his father was upset enough to kill him on the spot.
But then he straightened up and the look faded.
"What goes through your mothers head is anyone's guess," he said. "Why she'd leave the comforts of-"
"Comforts? You call the kind of life we have comfortable? You're the reason I can't come home dad. You!"
His dad didn't respond.
"Just come back with-"
"NO!" Troy shouted. "God, I don't wanna see your face ever again. I'm not doing your dirty work for you anymore."
His dad looked the slightest bit hurt by that but then all of a sudden, there was a change in his look.
Before, I'd only felt slightly at ease, despite the situation I was in.
Now, I felt something completely sinister wash over the room.
Almost like everything had changed in that moment.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," Troy's dad spoke.
I looked over at Troy, who for some reason looked like he all of a sudden knew something I didn't.
"Troy, what..."
"Dad, don't," Troy spoke.
"It's not up to you anymore Troy," his dad spoke. "You had your chance. Too late now."
His dad started towards the door where my family was being held.
Troy jumped past me to block his dad who slapped him out of the way, causing him to fall to the ground.
"Troy!" I shouted.
I wasn't sure whether to run over and check on him or to try and stop what I was sure was coming.
But then I realized that I'd caught a break and didn't have to.
"What the hell happened here?" Troy's dad shouted.
Troy jumped up and followed me into the room to see the two large bodyguards sprawled out on the ground and my entire family gone.
"Come on-"
"Not so fast, Alex," Troy's father spoke. "What happened here? What did you do?"
"Dad, there's something I always wanted to say to you," Troy started.
His dad actually looked hopeful for a second.
That was before Troy did something that I didn't see coming.
He pulled back and punched his father square in the face, before grabbing my hand and rushing me out the door.
"Troy what's-"
"We have to go-"
"My parents! Max!"
"They're okay," Troy replied, bypassing the elevator and heading straight for the stairs.
And even though he was rushing me down the several flights of stairs by hand and even though I could hear his fathers cronies coming for us I felt safe with Troy, because I knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to me.
He genuinely cared about not just me but my family too.
I don't know why I ever doubted that.
He continued to lead us out of the building before he ran towards the back over to the car we'd come in and started it up.
"Hold on," he spoke, before speeding off in the blink of an eye.
He waited until we were well off before speaking.
"I'm gonna have to leave now," he spoke, without looking over at me. "You know that right?"
I looked over at him.
I didn't want to admit, but I just saw for myself why I knew that he was right.
I let out a sigh as I looked out the window next to me.
"I know."
"And you know I can't ever see you again right?"
I looked over at him.
"Troy-"
"My dad....he's not gonna hurt anyone in your family," Troy replied. "He doesn't work like that. But as long as I'm here, he might."
"So just stay out of sight for a while....wait until the coast is clear-"
"Mike, don't make this harder for me.....I already have to live with Reverend Thomas's death being on my hands. I don't want to feel guilty about something else."
But he was going to.
We were all going to.
Troy had taken this boring little town and turned it upside down.
He changed things.
He changed people.
He changed me.
And now.....now he was leaving and I didn't know how to feel.
What was I supposed to do when he was gone?
What was I supposed to do without him?
"It's not...it's not that bad Mike-"
I guess he saw what I just realized; that I was crying.
I never realized I was when it happened but I was.
"Troy-"
"Mike-"
"You don't have to go."
That was about when he stopped the car abruptly and got out.
We'd stopped on a near abandoned road next to a long fence post that was a bit beat up.
He was leaning over the fencing with his head down, thinking I guess.
I got out of the car and started behind him slowly.
"You think this is easy on me?" Troy asked, his back to me. "Someone's dead Mike. People die because of me. I just can't be around."
I just walked over to him and placed a hand on his back.
I could tell for some reason that we were thinking the same thing.
And that he was crying too.
"I didn't ask for any of this," he spoke.
I walked over and stood beside him, looking out over the empty field in front of us.
It had started to rain, and normally I didn't like the rain, but I just let it fall on me.
"Yeah," I replied. "None of us did."
"That's why I have to go," Troy replied. "I just want you to understand why."
"I do understand," I replied.
I think I already did.
I was just being selfish before wanting him to stay when I knew there was no possible way that he could.
It wouldn't be safe for any of us.
"Where are you gonna go?" I asked.
"I don't know," he replied. "I have no fucking clue."
He grinned at me, trying to `man up' and not let me see him crying as he turned to face me.
"Well," I started. "The least you could do is pick a new name. Troy's officially a property of Wayward, Nevada."
"I'll remember that," Troy laughed.
We both turned and just stood there glowing in the strange peacefulness of everything.
This year had been so strange for me.
I'd gone from being a guy no one knew about, to a guy who everyone knew about, for more than one reason.
I got a boyfriend.
I lost a boyfriend.
I made peace with enemies.
I realized where my comfort zone was.
And for all that was good that had come out of that, I guess that I had Troy to thank for all of it.
I was a different person.
Probably a better person.
But now.....
Now he was going away and I knew why he had to go away.
I was just left wondering.....
Was this it?
There seemed to be so many things left hanging in the air.
Things I wanted to see resolved.
Things I knew I'd probably never get answers to.
Was this how my whole year with Troy Hamilton was going to end?
After all the lies and all the secrets, I finally felt like I understood him.
And even though I knew that this whole situation was never going to go away, at least I had a good story to write about now.
It wasn't exactly the ending I was hoping for, but it was an ending to one huge year and one huge story.
And at the end of the day, everyone loves a good story.
YahooGroup (w/ advanced chapters of the story): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JoJoPresents-GayFiction/
Personal email: crossingboi2004@yahoo.com
Copyright 2006