Reaching Out

Chapter 18: New Faces

By Grant Bentley

Summer was gone much too quickly and everyone was soon gearing up for university and school. By the second week of September, they were already bringing work home. The normal after-school rush had changed, however. The university schedules were much different from high school. Some had their classes finished at 3:00, while others had classes until 5:00 or 6:00. That meant we had boys arriving home at all different hours. They still had time together after dinner, though. So, things were different but the same for a while.

I say ‘for a while’ because, soon after university started, Jason and John moved into the in-law’s suite above the garage. Since they were now a married couple, they wanted to be more independent and to get as close to having their own place as possible without actually moving away. They could have taken over the condo, but they still wanted to be close to Ian and me. They ate with us once in a while, especially if there were a bunch of the boys over. However, most of the time they prepared their own meals in their suite and left Ian and me to eat on our own. Of course, Trevor and Chase ate with us most of the time, although they did eat at Chase’s parents’ place quite often.

In some ways, it was good because it gave Ian and me privacy and time to be alone to bond even more closely. I’m sure it did the same for them. Even so, I know it seems weird as we were still living in the same house, but I missed them. There wasn’t the noise and laughter coming from upstairs or the basement every night. Trevor and Chase would still do much of their homework at the kitchen table, but then they would go up to Jason and John’s place to hang out with the rest of the guys. Maybe one night a week the group would gather in the basement to play pool or video games. I enjoyed those nights because there was the noise, laughter and normal bantering back and forth that I had come to love over the past months.

Most nights, however, it was just Ian and me and it was quiet. Even though the other boys came over regularly, it was usually to Jason and John’s suite, not to our part of house. They seldom came by without stopping in to see us, even if was only to say ‘hi’ and see how we were doing, but it still wasn’t the same.

About two months into the school year, I got a call from Scott Thiessen. He said that he had a situation that he thought we might be interested in. He explained that he had two freshman boys who needed help. They were gay and had been caught in a compromising situation by a parent. They had been given the choice of going to a “deprogramming centre”, as he called it, or leave home. The parents were sure they would choose the centre and were infuriated when they didn’t.

I looked at Ian and smiled at him as I hit the speaker button so he could hear what was going on.

We were told that the boys were in the care of social services and were presently in a group home, but their lives were being made hell by some of the other boys. He explained that both were exemplary students and very good kids. One was the son of the pastor of the Evangelical Church of God and the other was the son of one of the elders and the church’s music director. He said that he wanted to keep the boys together if possible.

I asked Ian in a whisper if I should ask Scott the question we both knew the answer to. He nodded.

“How would we be able to help?” I asked.

“Well,” he replied, “since Jason and John are in the apartment above the garage, I know you have a spare room again and was hoping…that maybe you needed some company.”

I gave Ian another questioning look and he smiled and said loud enough for Scott to hear, “I think you need to give us some time to talk it over. Can we get back to you?”

“Of course,” Scott replied, laughing. “I didn’t expect an answer immediately. I expected you would need to discuss it for at least ten or fifteen minutes.”

“Okay, fifteen minutes,” I replied, “but we will want to meet the boys and talk to them first.”

“Absolutely, I understand,” he said. “It’s not something you want to step into blindly. When would you like to meet them?”

“I’ll phone you back and let you know. Ian and I have to talk it over first. If we’re not fully in agreement then we won’t be able to do it,” I told him.

“Okay, thanks. I’ll wait for your call,” he said, then hung up.

I looked at Ian and asked, “Well?”

“If the boys are as great as Scott makes them out to be then I have no problem. Jason and John are more or less on their own now. We just have Trevor…and Chase, most of the time. Two more won’t hurt. What do you think?”

“I think we should talk to the boys, too. It’s going to affect them as well,” I said.

“You’re right,” he replied. “I’ll call Jason and John down and you can call Trevor and Chase in.”

We brought the boys together in the living room and explained the call we had just received from Scott. Chase said that he knew both of them and they were great guys. They were generally quiet and kept to themselves. He mentioned that he had wondered about their relationship as they were always together and seemed closer than just friends, but considering who they were and who their parents were, he had never approached them.

Trevor responded with, “Two more brothers would be awesome. Yes, lets do it.”

Jason and John said they felt the same way as Trevor; two more brothers would be great.

I looked at Ian and he just smiled.

I phoned Scott back and asked him when we could meet them.

“I knew I could count on you two,” he said. “How about tonight?”

“Okay, sure, tonight,” I responded.

“We’ll be there in twenty minutes,” he said.

Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang and Ian answered it. Standing there was Scott and two of the cutest little guys I had ever seen–besides Chase, that is. Both were about 5’3” tall. One was light skinned, very slim and blond with deep blue eyes; the other was very dark skinned, almost skinny with black hair and eyes so dark that they appeared almost black. We learned later he was from the Sudan and immigrated to Canada with his parents when he was six.

Scott introduced them. The blond had been blessed with the name Jeremiah Isaiah Johnson, and his boyfriend wasn’t much luckier with Joseph Ishmael Moses Aal. We invited them into the living room and they stuck to each other like glue. They relaxed noticeably when they saw that Chase was there with Trevor. Trevor offered them a drink and ran off to get them a Coke each. We sat down and chatted with them for a while. Everyone had been right: they were both a couple of sweethearts. We learned that the boys preferred to be call Jerry and Joey. They were both fifteen years old and would be graduating in three years.

After about half and hour, Scott pulled Ian and me off to one side, leaving the boys with Trevor and Chase. He asked us what we thought about the boys. We both acknowledged that they were obviously great kids and we saw no reason why we shouldn’t take them in.

Scott smiled and said, “I’ll just run out and grab their stuff, then. Oh, and their social worker will be over tomorrow with all the forms for you to sign.”

“Pretty sure of yourself weren’t you?” I asked.

“No,” he replied. “I was pretty sure of you two.”

Within a few minutes, he was back with two small suitcases that contained everything the boys owned. He said goodbye to the boys, thanked us and left. We offered the boys the grand tour of the house. They were impressed with how big the house was, and when they saw the family room in the basement, they couldn’t believe it. The pool table, foosball, 60 inch TV, stereo system and Xbox were things they had only dreamed of having before now.

That night also happened to be one of the nights when the boys were using the family room, so they got to meet Jason, John, Pete, Ross, Scott, Evan, Aaron and Theo. I don’t think they could believe they were in the same room as twelve other gay guys. Their jaws nearly hit the floor when we explained to them that Jason and John were married, as were Ian and I, and that the eight others, including Trevor and Chase, were also couples. It looked like they thought they had died and gone to gay heaven, their smiles were so big.

When the boys realized they would get to share a room with two double beds in it, their eyes lit up and their smiles couldn’t have been bigger. Apparently, they had never had the opportunity to actually spend the night together in the same room before. Needless to say, even though it was a Friday night and the other boys were going to be around until who-knows-when, Jerry and Joey were both ‘very tired’ after a hectic few days and decided to go to bed early.

Chapter 19