Reaching Out

Chapter 8: The Aftermath of Tragedy—Love, Friends and More

By Grant Bentley

We arrived at the restaurant in about ten minutes. It was a quaint and obviously authentic little Italian restaurant. As soon as we entered, we were greeted by the owner, who introduced himself with a fairly strong Italian accent as Deangelo. He said he had seen us on the evening news and explained how sorry he was for Ian and John’s loss. He told them if they needed anything, anything at all, to let him know. I thought it was curious that he would be so concerned–most people wouldn’t have even mentioned it–but when he said that his son, Peter, was a friend of Jason and John and had been at the fire, his concern made more sense.

He led us to a table near the back of the restaurant. After we sat down, he gave us each a menu and asked what we would like to drink. The boys asked for Coke and Ian and I asked for coffee; no surprises there. A few minutes later, he was back with our drinks to take our orders. The boys ordered beef carpaccio, I ordered lazagna and Ian ordered brasato in bianco. When our orders arrived, they looked at least double the normal size. I wasn’t sure I could eat all of mine, and by the look on his face, Ian didn't think he could eat his either. The boys, of course, just said, “Oh, wow,” and dug in. We ate slowly and in about an hour we were done. The food was absolutely amazing and we asked Deangelo to give our complements to the chef.

He took our empty plates and handed us each a dessert menu. When we all said we couldn’t eat another bite, he said, ”So, you take it home with you for later.”

I looked at Ian and he just shrugged. The boys were already deciding what they wanted. We ordered our desserts and Deangelo brought them out in takeout boxes.

When Ian asked for the bill, he smiled and said, “What bill?”

Ian was about to argue when he said, “You treat my son with respect, you have him to your home, and feed him. What bill?”

We knew we weren’t going to win the argument, so we thanked him for everything, told him he was far too generous, and left the restaurant.

The boys came with me, as I was heading home, and Ian went to see his insurance agent and to run his errands. As soon as we were home, the boys headed for their room to relax. I put the desserts in the fridge and then went to my room to lie down for a while.

About three hours later, Ian arrived home. The boys and I came out to greet him. He said the insurance company was being very good. They had already hired a company to demolish the old house and had a building contractor lined up to rebuild it. All Ian had to do was talk to the contractor and choose a house plan that he liked, although it had to fall within a set price range, based on the retail value of the old house.

It was almost 7:00 now, so I asked if anyone was hungry. Nobody said they were. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one still full from the restaurant. We were all feeling pretty tired, so we just plopped ourselves down in the living room and Jason turned on the TV. The first thing we saw was his stepfather being led from a court room. The newscaster was explaining the charges he was facing and announced that, if convicted, he could be facing between fifteen and twenty five years in prison. Due to the seriousness of his offences and the fact that they were considered hate crimes, he would probably have to serve the sentences consecutively and not concurrently.

“Finally, he’s going to get what he deserves,” John said as he leaned in and gave Jason a kiss on the cheek.

Just then, the intercom buzzed. Jason jumped up and answered it. It was Pete and Ross. He let them in and waited at the door. When the boys came in, there were hugs all around. Ross told us that everyone at school knew what happened and that they, along with Scott and Evan, had decided to take up a collection to help John. They had asked Mr. Thiessen for permission and four boxes were set up in the cafeteria. Pete said the boxes would be left for the rest of the week, because a lot of kids said they didn’t have money today.

"Even so," he said, "we already have nine hundred and seventy four dollars."

John just burst into tears and was immediately enveloped in a group hug by the three boys. "I can't believe that many people care," he said.

Within minutes, the four of them had disappeared into the boys’ room. I glanced over and smiled at Ian as I noticed that John wasn’t the only one who had tears in his eyes.

By the noise coming from the bedroom, it was obvious they had the Xbox out. It was good to hear them laughing and carrying on again. We had had enough trouble, tragedy and tears to do us for a while. It was time for some laughter. Of course, four boys playing Xbox wasn’t enough. The intercom buzzed to announce the arrival of Scott and Evan, and I had just ushered them down the hall when it buzzed again. This time, it was Cary and Theo. It seemed like life was beginning to get back to normal again.

Did I say normal? A couple of weeks ago, normal was sitting home alone, banging away on my laptop. Now, normal was eight boys raising hell in what used to be an empty spare room. I have to say that, despite everything that had happened recently, it felt good.

Within about an hour, Jason appeared and asked Ian and I if we were ready for our desserts from the restaurant. I looked at Ian and we both admitted we really weren't hungry yet. We told him that he should just go ahead and split it up among the boys that were there. Immediately, there were eight boys in the kitchen grabbing bowls and spoons and dishing up dessert.

At about 11:00, the boys came streaming out of the room to head home. Once they had left, Jason and John announced that they wanted to return to school tomorrow. They didn’t see the need to stay home an extra day. Again, I thought about what a difference a couple of weeks had made. These two boys, who had once been afraid to befriend anyone for fear of being ‘found out’, now had more friends than they knew what to do with. Despite Ian and John’s loss, our lives, on the whole, did seem to be improving.

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By the time they were done, the boys had collected twelve hundred and forty dollars at school. However, the school wasn’t the only place that collections were being taken. Collections had been taken by several people at local businesses, including Pete’s dad at the restaurant, Scott’s dad at his hardware store, Cary and Theo's mom at her hair salon–the list could go on and on. When they were all put together, more that eight thousand dollars had been collected.

As if that wasn't enough, Riley, one of Pete’s close friends and a member of the GSA, played in a rock band. He got permission to hold a benefit dance at the local community centre. In fact, the chairman of board suggested that, since the ice was still covered after a recent concert, they could use the hockey arena instead of the hall as it would hold more people. The board gave it to them rent-free. Several of the police officers and fire fighters who had been at the fire and a number of parents volunteered to chaperone. I think most of the high school kids were there, as well as kids from the two neighbouring high schools. Also, there were almost as many other parents and adults at the dance as there were high school kids. Many had brought their whole family, so there were middle school and junior high school kids as well. At the end of the night, it had raised another three thousand dollars. The final count was just over twelve thousand dollars in cash. John and Ian were overwhelmed. It wasn’t just the money collected, either; people were regularly bringing food to our door, and by food I mean fully-prepared meals. I don't think any of us had eaten so well in years.

One couple came by to let Ian know that they owned a landscaping company, and made it clear that their company would landscape the yard free of charge in the spring, after Ian and John’s new house was built. As we talked with them, they told us that their motives weren’t purely based on sympathy for Ian and John’s loss. They were also based on appreciation for what they claimed John, or John and Jason, had done for their son.

They told us that when their son, Aaron, heard that a group was going to organize a GSA in the school, he searched them out. The first person he talked to was John, and after having lunch with John and Jason, he became one of the organizing members. They said that it was the first time he realized he wasn’t alone; there were other kids facing the same realizations, and they were just as scared as he was. He also knew that he had the support of other kids just like him.

He had come home after the first meeting he attended bursting with energy and bouncing off the walls. Their sullen, moody recluse who had shut out most of his friends and seldom left his room over the past several months had suddenly changed back into the hyper, carefree, outgoing boy he had been a year ago.

It had been at dinner that evening that he announced to them that he was gay. They had already figured it out, and had talked to each other about it at length. In fact, they had been so concerned about his frame of mind that they were going to sit him down and talk about it within the next few days anyway; but they didn’t tell him that. What they told him was that he was their son and they loved him unconditionally. Being gay or straight didn’t make any difference to them. His Mom said that they felt it may very well have saved his life.

John and Ian didn’t know what to make of things. The loss of their home was no doubt a major tragedy, but the outpouring of love and concern from the community was so heart-warming that, in many ways, it almost compensated for their loss. I’m sure the fact that it was arson, a hate crime and on the news for several days in a row had something to do with it, but even so, when tragedy strikes, good people are always there to help.

Chapter 9