This is a fictional story dealing with love and consensual sexual activities between males. If you are not of legal age, reside in an area where viewing such material is illegal, or are offended by homosexuality and/or homosexual themes, leave this site now.
The author retains all rights to this story. No reproductions or links to other sites are allowed without the permission of the author.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I want to thank every one who has emailed about the story. I have appreciated your comments, and I've gained some real friends in the process of exchanging messages. Some of you said that you related to characters in the story because of your personal experiences. A few of you shared some of those experiences with me which often caused tears to form. Thank you.
WHEN LOVE COMES - PART 19
Although Mark missed Jamal when he was out of town during the week, he seemed to accept the reality of the situation, and he knuckled down to his studies. Of course our house was pretty quiet in the evenings since Matt was usually trying to get ready for the next days classes at the high school and I was always working on lab notebooks or exams or getting lectures ready for my courses. When Jamal returned from his recruiting trips on Thursday or Friday night, Mark moved back into the apartment in town. The situation worked well for Matt and me also because while Mark and Jamal were bouncing around on the bed in Jamal's apartment, Matt and I could do whatever we wanted at our place.
Jamal talked Head Coach Schroeder into getting cell phones for all the recruiters. He told the coach that it would make it easier for the recruiters to stay in touch with each other and with prospects by using the cell phones. They all got a very generous package for free minutes with the understanding that if they went over their allotted number of minutes they would reimburse the athletic department for any personal calls. Naturally Jamal and Mark made good use of the phone and talked with each other every night for a good forty-five minutes or more.
Easter was early that year so the high school's Easter vacation corresponded with the university's spring break. The four of us loaded up the 4Runner and tooled all the way down to Key West for the week. We stayed in one of the gay guest houses, swam, went snorkeling out on the reef, ate lots of sea food, and spent the evenings going from bar to bar along the strip. Jamal got sunburned on the first day which sort of tickled the rest of us, but really pissed Jamal off. We made certain the he was liberally covered in sunscreen the rest of the week. All in all we had a great time!
When we got back from spring break, Mark and Jamal started spring football practice. The peak of the recruiting season was over so Jamal was in town most of the time. Mark more or less moved back into Jamal's apartment in town, but he still came out and stayed with us during those times when Jamal was out of town.
Matt and I didn't say much about it, but we realized that Mark just didn't want to be alone. The trauma of their mother's murder by their father was still pretty fresh in both their minds, but especially for Mark who'd almost been killed by the drunken bastard himself. The counseling had helped, and Mark was getting to the point that he didn't cringe at the sight of every old beat up pickup truck that looked like the one their father had escaped in.
Final exams rolled around for Mark and me during the second week of May. Matt's job at the high school would continue for another couple of weeks. On Wednesday of Exam Week both Mark and I were almost done. I had one more exam to give and correct on Thursday, and Mark's last exam was Thursday afternoon during the last exam period.
Jamal was gone on another recruiting trip. He wasn't scheduled to get back into town until Friday afternoon, but he called Mark from the cell phone around eleven that night to say that the potential recruit had decided to go to another college so he was going to head back home. He thought he would get back into town about two in the morning.
Mark told Jamal that he would go back into town to Jamal's apartment and wait for him there, but Jamal insisted that Mark stay out with us so that he would finish studying for his exam. Mark was supposed to go over to the apartment when he was finished with his last exam.
Matt and I went to bed shortly after Jamal's phone call. Both of us were pretty tired so I just curled up into Matt's naked body. He put his arm over my shoulder and side, kissed my neck and snuggled up to go to sleep. It was a warm night so we'd left the windows open. Matt dropped off to sleep almost immediately. I heard and felt his breathing change as he drifted away.
I heard Mark moving around in the kitchen preparing a late night snack to take out to the living room. He had said he planned on studying for another hour or so. Gradually I drifted off to sleep listening to the night sounds of late spring and thinking how lucky I was to have Matt in my life.
I came out of a deep sleep. At first I wasn't sure what had awakened me, but then I heard some noise from the living room. I figured it was just Mark getting ready to go to bed. Then I heard voices. I looked at the clock beside the bed. Three o'clock! What was going on?
I was starting to disentangle myself from Matt who was still sleeping soundly when the door to our room burst open and Mark came tumbling into the room.
Someone was standing behind Mark and pushed him toward the center of the room. Even in the dark of the room I could see the terrified look on Mark's face.
The other man reached over and found the light switch near the door. As the lights went on in the room, I realized who the man was. He had lost some weight and had grown a beard, but there was no mistaking the mean eyes and nasty sneer.
It was Matt and Mark's father! And he had a gun!
Matt woke up when the lights went on, and I felt his body stiffen when he recognized the intruder. "Daddy!"
"Well look what we got here!. I come back to town 'cause I miss my boys, and my old buddy tells me that they've both gone queer. I tol' that sumbitch he was wrong and beat him to a bloody pulp for calling my boys fairies.
But now I see he was right."
He pointed the gun at Matt. "You are a worthless piece of shit! You blew your chances at a pro career. You could've made us all rich. Look at you now! A goddamned pansy! I should have killed you instead of your bitch momma."
He raised the gun at Matt's head.
"You've got two queer sons, you worthless prick!" Mark found his voice, and took a step toward his father.
Stevenson turned the gun away from Matt and toward Mark. "Don't you come any closer! What do you mean two?"
Tears were streaming down Mark's face, but he stood his ground in the face of the gun pointed at his chest.
"I'm gay too, daddy. And what makes it even better is that I'm fucking or being fucked by a big Black man every chance I get. You sure raised us right, daddy. They say being gay is genetic, and I bet Matt and I inherited it from YOU!"
Stevenson's face turned dark with rage, and he moved toward Mark. I knew he was going to shoot.
I launched myself out of the bed toward Stevenson. He caught the movement and spun toward me. Just then the screen on the sliding door out to the deck came flying into the room propelled by Jamal's bulk. Stevenson began to turn toward Jamal's advancing form, but the gun was still pointed at me, and it fired!
I felt a hammer blow to my head, and I dropped to the floor.
I wondered what it would be like being dead.
I opened my eyes. Matt was holding me to his chest. His chest was covered in blood. MY blood.
"Hold on Gary! Hold on! Don't leave me!"
But I had to leave...
Lights. Bright lights!
Voices. Different voices...and then Matt's voice. "I'm coming with you, Gary!"
Don't come. Both of us don't need to die.
More lights. Oh God, if I'm dead, then why does my head hurt so bad! I opened the eye on the side that didn't hurt as much. Matt was there smiling at me. I thought he was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen. Actually he looked like shit. His hair was all messed up. His eyes were red from crying. He had an old torn tee shirt on with blood stains on the front from cradling my head in the ambulance. But at that moment, he was beautiful!
"Welcome back. You scared the crap out of us."
"What about me? I'm the one that got shot."
Matt leaned over and kissed me on the lips. "Yeah, and if you ever pull a stunt like that again, Dr. Griffith, I'll kill you myself."
"Promise that you'll do it by fucking me to death."
"I love you, Gary."
"I love you too, Matt."
I had been very lucky. The bullet had glanced off the left side of my skull tearing out a hunk of my scalp along the way. It gave me one helluva concussion but didn't penetrate or fracture the skull. Matt told me it was further proof that I had the hardest head in the world.
Jamal had gotten back to his apartment, but he was so anxious to see Mark that he decided to drive out to the house and sleep on the couch in the living room so that he would be there as soon as Mark woke up in the morning. When he pulled into my driveway he recognized Matt's father's truck parked in the drive just off the road. He called 911 on his cell phone and then snuck up to the house. He heard our voices and crawled up onto the deck. When it looked like Stevenson was going to shoot Mark, Jamal made his move by running through the screen door at the same time as I tried my failed superhero move. Jamal's entrance through the screen distracted Stevenson and undoubtedly saved my life by deflecting his aim.
Jamal, Mark, and Matt quickly subdued Stevenson. They weren't too gentle in the process. Stevenson's injuries included a concussion, a broken jaw, two broken ribs, and both his shoulders were dislocated when Jamal tied his hands behind his back just before the sheriff's deputies came storming into the house.
Because of all the blood from my head wound and the chunk of missing scalp, every one thought that the bullet was inside my head and that I was dying. It was an easy mistake to make. I'd thought the same thing!
Somehow Jamal and Mark got Matt to pull on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt while the ambulance guys were working on me. The paramedics tried to prevent him from riding in the ambulance, but they relented when it became clear they would have to fight off not only Matt but Mark and Jamal as well.
Stevenson was tried and convicted of second degree murder in the death of Matt and Mark's mom (no premeditation they said), convicted of criminal battery for the beating of Mark, and convicted of attempted murder for shooting me. During the trial Stevenson's lawyer (the sleaze) made a big deal out of Matt and my relationship as well as Mark and Jamal's. I don't think it made much of an impression on the jury or the judge. Stevenson won't be eligible for parole until he's at least 150 years old!
Since the four of us we "outed" so publically at the trial, we knew there would be some problems.
It turned out that there were a lot fewer problems than we thought there would be. Yes, we got some stares in the grocery store and in town, but most folks treated us the same as before.
I was unanimously recommended for tenure in the department. Now, ten years after the trial, I'm the chair of the department.
Matt lost his job at the high school. The superintendent of schools suggested to him that a gay man could not be a good role model for the young men on the football team. Matt told the man to get screwed and walked out.
When John Schroeder, the head coach at the university, heard about the incident, he drove out to the house and offered Matt a job as one of the assistant coaches. He first looked at the two of us sitting next to each other at the kitchen table, then he looked right at Matt and said, "You were one of the best players I've ever coached. You'll be a great coach yourself. In addition I know that some of our players are gay. Having an openly gay coach on the staff will help the gay ones and help teach some tolerance to the others." Coach Schroeder retired two years ago. Matt's now the head coach.
Jamal stayed at the university as a recruiter/assistant coach until Mark graduated and went to law school at Duke. Jamal moved to Durham with Mark and opened a sporting goods store while Mark was in law school. Today Jamal owns a chain of six stores.
Mark is a public defender in Durham. He and Jamal have a great place out in the country with a huge hot tub.
Matt and I are still together and very much in love. I know we've beaten all the odds for gay relationships. I don't know if our love will last the rest of our lives. I hope and pray it does. I just know that you have to be ready to take a chance when love comes.
The end