Reaching Out

Chapter 2: A Change of Address

By Grant Bentley

I gradually began to wake up. I rolled around for a few minutes before opening my eyes. It was still dark. ‘Damn,’ I thought. ‘I know I slept more than a couple of hours.’ When I was finally awake enough, I looked at the clock. It was 5:30. No bloody way. I couldn’t have slept for only half an hour. Then I noticed the PM after the 5:30 on the clock. I had slept all day. It was 5:30 in the evening.

I was just about to start bitching to myself because now I was going to be awake half the night and my whole sleep pattern would be screwed up, when I remembered Jason. I quickly got up, got dressed and headed out to the kitchen, but there was no sign of him. I looked across the room and saw that all his clothes were still there on the living room floor. I immediately relaxed. He was still there. Good.

I grabbed the coffee, started the coffee maker and sat down to contemplate where we were going from here. From what he had told me, it seemed obvious he couldn’t go back home. Even though I hadn’t spent a lot of time with him, I sensed that he was a genuinely nice kid. I knew I wanted to help him and as soon as he was up, I was going to let him know that. I had the distinct impression my life was about to change dramatically. I smiled.

As I was pouring my first cup of coffee, I heard the bathroom door close. Jason was awake. About five minutes later, he came shuffling into the kitchen. He certainly looked a lot better than he did the night before. His colour was back and he looked good.

“Morning,” he said.

“Evening,” I replied. “How are you feeling?”

“Evening?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s almost 6:00. You want a coffee and something to eat?” I responded.

“Yeah, please,” he replied. “I slept all day?”

“Don’t feel bad, so did I,” I said as I poured him a coffee. “I just woke up about a half hour ago.”

I asked him if an omelette and hash browns sounded good; he nodded and I went to work fixing breakfast or dinner or whatever it was. As I was working, I again asked him how he was feeling, since he hadn’t answered the first time.

“I feel great,” he replied. He looked at me for a moment or two as he sipped his coffee. “I don’t know how to thank you enough for last night,” he said. “I would have died out there if you hadn’t helped me. You saved my life.”

“You’re welcome,” I replied, “but I just did what anyone else would have done. I couldn’t leave you there.”

“No. I think a lot of people would have pretended they didn’t see me and kept walking. They might have phoned the police and told them where I was. You stopped. You took me in, warmed me up, fed me and gave me a place to spend the night. Not many people would have done that,” he said.

“Maybe,” I replied.

I finished the omelettes, dished up the hash browns and set a plate down for each of us as we settled in to eat. We were both quiet as we ate and just glanced at each other occasionally. Once we were finished eating, Jason picked up the plates and took them to the sink.

“Want another coffee?” he asked.

“Yeah, please,” I said. “Then let’s go sit in the living room where it’s more comfortable.”

We fixed up our coffees and moved into the living room. I sat back in my favourite chair and Jason leaned back on the sofa. We were quiet for a few minutes before Jason started talking.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked.

“Of course,” I replied.

“Please don’t get mad,” he asked timidly, “but there are some magazines in the bathroom.”

“Oh, shit!” I exclaimed, which got me a very scared look from Jason.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I didn’t mean to be rude.” He looked like he was about ready to run.

“Hey, don’t look so worried, and you’re not being rude,” I said quickly. “I don’t mind you asking. If I saw them I’d be curious, too,” I told him, smiling.

The magazines in question were The Advocate, OUT Magazine, and Genre.

“I can only guess,” I said with a laugh, “but I assume that, after seeing them, you’re kinda wondering.”

“Yeah, kinda,” he replied very nervously.

“It would be hard to lie my way out of this, with the evidence as it is,” I said, grinning. “So, yes, I’m gay. Does that bother you?” I asked.

“No, God no,” he replied.

“Good,” I responded, “because I would hate to make you nervous or uncomfortable.”

“Actually,” he said, smiling, “it’s just the opposite.”

“Oh, yeah?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he replied. “About why my stepfather kicked me out last night. He caught me kissing someone.”

I gave him a little smile as I asked, “And that someone was another guy?”

“Yeah, it was,” he replied with a smile and looking noticeably more relaxed.

“So, do you want to talk about it?” I asked. Apparently he did, because for the next twenty minutes he talked non-stop.

“You have no idea how scared I was,” he said before pausing for a several seconds. “When my stepfather walked into my room and saw John and me on my bed, kissing, I thought he was going to kill us both right then. He started yelling at us, calling us ‘fuckin’ faggots,’ and he grabbed my chair and threw it across the room. He grabbed John and threw him out my bedroom door and yelled at him to get the hell out of the house while he still could. As soon as he could get up off the floor, John just ran out of the house. I don’t even know if he took his coat.

“Then my stepfather grabbed me and threw me against the wall. ‘I oughta kill you right where you stand,’ he yelled at me. ‘But you aren’t worth it.’ Then he threw me through my door and against the hallway wall. He was screaming. ‘Get out of my house, you fuckin’ freak. Get out of my house. No faggot is gonna live under my roof. Get out!’ He grabbed me again and threw me down the hallway towards the front door, grabbed a coat off the hook by the door, opened the door, pushed me out and threw the coat at me. ‘You ever come back here again and I’ll make you wish you were dead,’ he snarled, and slammed the door.”

At some point during his explanation, Jason had stared to cry quietly, so I moved over and put my arm around him. We just sat there for a few minutes as Jason leaned into me.

“I just lay there in the snow for a long time,” he said. “I eventually got up, put my jacket on and started walking. I didn’t know where to go or what to do, so I just walked.”

“I can’t imagine what that would have been like, I’m so sorry,” I said and hugged him a little tighter.

“Thanks,” he replied, and he started his story again. “After I walked for a while, I realised I was almost at John’s house. I guess I just headed for his house automatically. Since I was nearly there and I didn’t know where else to go, anyway, I figured I would go to John’s. At least I would be safe there and maybe spend the night. Then John and I could figure out what I should do.

“My stepfather must have phoned John’s dad, though, ‘cause, when I got to the front door, I could hear John and his dad yelling at each other. I couldn’t hear all of what they were saying, but I heard my name and the word faggot, so I turned around and left. I waited across the street for a while in case John’s dad kicked him out too, but after about half an hour I saw the light come on in his room, so I figured he was okay. I just started walking again. Now I really had no place to go. John is not just my boyfriend, he’s my only friend.”

I interrupted him and asked if he wanted another coffee. I thought maybe he could use a break at that point; I felt like I could.

“Yeah, please,” he replied.

We got up and wandered into the kitchen to make a new pot of coffee. As we were waiting, he stepped over to me, put his arm around me and pulled me into a hug. “Thanks,” he whispered into my ear. I just smiled, slipped my arm around him and gave him a squeeze.

Once we had our coffees, we went back to the living room and sat down on the sofa.

“Want to hear the rest now?” he asked.

“Sure,” I replied, as it seemed like he needed to get it all out.

“Okay,” he said. ‘So, like I said, I left John’s. You know what I was wearing, so you can figure I was already getting cold, but I had no idea where I was going to go. I thought maybe I could find a coffee shop or something that was open all night and I could at least stay warm. I went to a Tim Horton’s, but at 11:00 they said they were closing so I had to leave. I tried a bunch of office buildings, but everything was locked up. I was getting scared now. I thought maybe I could stay in the entry way of one of the apartment buildings and started walking again.

“That’s when the wind started to blow and it started snowing. I kept walking, but it got so bad I couldn’t even see where I was going any more. I was so cold. I didn’t know what to do; I saw the fence and got behind it. That stopped the wind and it was a little better, but it didn’t stop the cold. Once I was there, I was scared to step out from behind the fence again. I figured if I did, I would freeze to death before I could find a place to get out of the cold. I got into the corner and just huddled down.”

“So, you were in that corner for close to two hours, then?” I asked.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he replied.

“I can’t believe you didn’t freeze to death in that time,” I said.

“Yeah, I don’t know either. I know I had decided I was going to die. I prayed for help, but I never expected any. I was so cold I actually hurt all over, and after a while, I prayed that I would die just to stop hurting. I don’t really remember anything else until I saw you sitting on edge of the tub asking me if I wanted to get out.”

He laughed and then said, “It was so, I don’t know, surreal or something. I mean, one minute I’m outside and so cold that I’m praying to die, and the next minute I’m sitting in my underwear in a bathtub full of water, with a total stranger asking me if I want to get out of the tub. I don’t think my brain was working yet, because it should have totally freaked me out; but it didn’t.

“After you left, it took a few minutes before everything began to come back to me and I remembered how my night had gone. I still had no idea where I was or who you were, but I remembered enough to know that you must have saved me.”

“I’m just so glad you’re okay. I don’t know if I could have survived everything you went through last night,” I told him. “But you’re safe now.”

“I know,” he said as his eyes began to tear up. “Thanks.”

We sat quietly for a while. Eventually he looked at me and asked, “What happens now?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“What am I going to do now?” he asked.

“Well, as far as I’m concerned, you keep doing whatever you were doing before. Except now you have a new address,” I replied, and I immediately got enveloped in a huge hug.

“Are you serious? he asked. “You’d let me stay here?”

“Of course,” I replied. “I would love to have you stay here.”

“Why would you do that? You don’t know anything about me,” he said.

“I know enough,” I said, “I’m a very good judge of character. I can spot an arsehole from a hundred yards.” Jason giggled at that and I gave him smack on the arm. “Get your mind out of the gutter,” I laughed. “And you are definitely not an arsehole. Besides, it will be nice to have some company. It gets lonely living on your own, after a while,” I told him.

“I don’t know what to say,” he responded. “My life has been shit for the last few years. The only good thing in my life has been John. Oh my God, John!” he suddenly exclaimed. “He doesn’t know where I am or what’s happened to me. He’s got to be going crazy.”

Chapter 3