In the days that followed, I had after-school visits from both Raphael and Tommy. I asked Raphael what Mexico was like. At first, he said, “Hotter than here,” which made us both laugh. He told me what the land looked like where he had lived. He talked about friendly, nearby families, but he never mentioned his own. He talked about his school and then what it was like to leave home and fly to a strange country and his new caregivers.
I received a letter from Herb Warren, who introduced himself as an editor for the newspaper. He said that ordinarily, the paper would not get involved in the arrangements for the rally, but he felt this was important so he would personally see to doing what needed to be done. I learned later that he got the assembly permit, arranged for a couple of speakers and a sound system, and placed ads in the paper reminding people of the place and time.
Meanwhile, Molly and Tommy organized a group of students who put up posters around the town and handed out fliers. Billy even got some of the football players to participate.
October 18 dawned clear and bright, a beautiful fall day for the gathering. Mom and I arrived half an hour before it was to begin, and already there was a large crowd. I went to the gazebo, which was to be the focal point of the rally.
As I mounted the steps, I was greeted by a tall, balding man who introduced himself as Herb Warren, the editor who had posted my letter.
“Thank you for writing that letter,” he said. “It was a wakeup call that the whole town needed. Is Raphael coming?”
“No. He decided not to. He really doesn’t like the attention and he doesn’t feel safe,” I said.
Herb nodded. “I put you first on the agenda so you wouldn’t get too nervous,” he said, smiling.
“I already am.”
“You’ll do fine.”
“Thanks. I might as well get it over with.”
As I sat in the gazebo looking out over the crowd, my right knee jiggling up and down, I saw Molly and Tommy both waving to me. Billy was leading people, young and old, around the park carrying signs which said things like ‘No Prejudice’, or ‘Make Our Town Safe for Everyone’. I also saw three or four White Supremacy signs. The people who were carrying those were being hassled some by others, but there were police there keeping control.
After the bell in the town hall rang the hour, Mr. Warren stood up at the microphone. “Thank you all for coming,” he said, when the crowd quieted down. “I’m Herb Warren, the editor who published Hunter’s letter. It’s wonderful to see such a big response. Hunter Martin said he was already nervous. I’m going to yield the mic to him so he can speak and, as he said, ‘get it over with’. Here’s Hunter.”
There was shouting and applause as I stepped to the microphone. After thanking Mr. Warren and everyone for coming, I asked, “Are you willing to promise to help make ours a safe town for everyone?”
“Yes,” they roared, and there was more shouting and clapping.
I continued, “What we say here is important, but what we do when we leave here is much more important. We can all give lip service to the pledge, but for it to work, we have to follow through with our actions.”
There was more shouting and applause.
“I asked Raphael to come today, but he’s rather shy and right now he’s hesitant to be in public, for reasons you can guess. He’s a typical boy, just my age, and very friendly. He’s a positive addition to our town and our school. We all need to show him we mean what we say.”
I paused for a moment, and then a thought struck me. “I know there are people who disagree with us. In fact, I see some in the back holding signs which show their disagreement. Before we began today, I saw some other people giving them a hard time. I want to ask you not to do that. While I think they are totally wrong, we believe in freedom of speech, and they have every right to express their views. I’m hoping that we can open a dialogue with those who disagree with us. If we hassle people we don’t agree with, that’s continuing the violence we’re all against.”
I paused, then said, “Thank you all for coming.”
I was shaking when I sat down and didn’t even hear what Mr. Warren said. The principal of the high school spoke, and a minister spoke, and then another minister asked everyone to repeat the pledge after him.
That was the end of the rally, and people began to depart. I saw some people in the back talking with the supremacists. Later I learned that they invited them for coffee at a local shop and they accepted. I don’t know if any minds were changed, but at least people were talking.
As I left the gazebo, many people came to me and thanked me for what I’d done. I didn’t really think I’d done anything special, but that seemed to be a minority opinion.
As I was riding home with Mom, my phone rang. Answering, I heard Raphael ask if I could go to his home for lunch. Mom agreed to take me there and pick me up later, so I went.
When he opened the door, Raphael gave me a big hug and invited me in. He told me that the rally had been televised, which I hadn’t known, and he thanked me for what I said. Tommy was there, and he too gave me a hug. Raphael introduced me to his uncle, Tio Marcus, and Tia Betty invited us to the table. The food was tasty and a bit spicy, and the conversation flowed freely. Tio Marcus said he was glad I was not suffering any aftereffects of my beating, and I thanked Raphael and Tommy for their quick action and for visiting me in the hospital.
After lunch, we three boys sat out on the front porch and talked about the rally, wondering if it would do any good. I found that I still grew tired easily, and it had been a stressful morning, so I soon called Mom to pick me up.
When she arrived, I hugged Raphael and Tommy before I got into the car. On the way home, I thought, ‘Raphael’s hugs seem to have something a little special about them. Hmm.’
That night, Grandma and Grandpa called. They had watched the rally on TV and said they were very proud of me.
* * * * * * * *
After having stayed out of school as the doctor ordered, I returned on Monday and received many warm greetings and occasional hugs. It took me a while to get back into the swing of things. The doctor had told me not to do any physical activity until he saw me again, which would be on the following Friday. Instead of PE, I had a study hall and managed to get caught up some on my classes.
I noticed that Raphael was getting a lot of positive attention, and he seemed to have relaxed a lot. I realized I was crushing on him, but I was crushing on others as well. I guess I was an equal opportunity crusher. I still had no way of finding out whether any of my crushees were gay.
By Thursday, I was completely caught up with my work, and everything was back to normal.
Friday afternoon I returned to the hospital and saw the doctor. He ordered one more brain scan just to be sure I was okay. Then he approved my return to PE.
The class was still practicing soccer drills in PE, and I knew I was terrible at them. It was as though my feet wouldn’t do what I told them to. So, one day, Raphael said, “I’m sure you can do better than that. Why don’t we go to the park and let me give you some lessons?”
At first I was reluctant. I was embarrassed by how badly I played. But as he coached me, I began to get better. I knew I’d never make it onto a soccer team, but at least I wasn’t embarrassing myself so much in PE.
There were often pick-up soccer games in the park on Saturdays, and Raphael, Tommy, and I began to join in. With Raphael’s further encouragement I managed to hold my own.
The only sport I was any good at besides swimming was tennis. I had begun to play that when I was very young because Mom thought I needed some sort of physical activity. She got me lessons through the YMCA.
When Raphael learned I could play tennis he asked to play with me. He was hoping to make the high school team. At first we just volleyed, but then he wanted to play a game. We were actually pretty well matched. When we finished, Raphael told me I should try out for the team too. I had no real interest in that. I just wasn’t competitive, but I was pleased with how I’d played.
The result of all this coaching was that Raphael and I spent a lot of time together. Tommy always joined us for the soccer on Saturdays and the three of us were still good friends, but I felt myself growing closer and closer to Raphael. Like me, he was a hugger, and I enjoyed the physical contact.
One day as we hugged at the end of a tennis match, he held me longer than usual, and I felt myself growing hard. I pulled back and instinctively looked down. I could see that he too was hard. We laughed nervously but said nothing.
After that, we both often grew hard while hugging. One day he looked down, looked back at me, and asked, “You too?”
“Yeah, I’m gay. Are you?”
He nodded. “I’ve never done anything with anyone. Have you?”
“Just with one older boy, but that ended a long time ago. Do you want to?”
“Yeah, I’m dying to.”
We bicycled back to his house because his aunt and uncle were out shopping.
When we went into his bedroom, Raphael locked the door and turned to me. Slowly, he pulled my sweaty T-shirt up and over my head and I removed his. In no time we were naked and standing, just looking at each other. We had both been sweating, and the scent he gave off was sexy.
Our cocks were standing at attention. I knew he was uncut, and I wondered what that felt like. We each reached out and took hold of the other’s boner.
“Be gentle with the foreskin,” he said. “Just move it back softly.” He’d never touched another boy’s penis, and at first we simply enjoyed the sensations. Then, simultaneously, we both began to move our hands forward and back. Almost at once, I felt the first stirrings in my groin, and I could tell that he felt them too. Soon we both came, shooting wads of cum on each other’s stomachs and hands.
“Oh, wow,” he said.
“Yeah. Isn’t that a hell of a lot better than doing it to yourself?”
“Uh-huh. I think I need to sit down.”
We both sat, side by side, on his bed.
After a few moments, he said, “I’m gonna lie down.”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine, but doing it standing up seemed to take a lot out of me.”
I lay beside him, enjoying the feel of his skin touching mine. We rested for a while and then I realized we were both getting hard again.
Without speaking, we turned towards each other and again took hold of each other’s cocks. It took longer for us to cum that time, but that was fine with us because we could enjoy the feelings longer.
When we finished but were still facing each other, Raphael reached over, pulled my head to his, and kissed me on the lips. Immediately, I responded, and soon we were rolling on the bed, first one of us on top and then the other.
At last, totally weary, we lay back and stared at the ceiling. “Wow!” I said.
He grinned and said, “I think we’d better get cleaned off before Tia and Tio come back.” I told him he could go first, but he insisted that we go together. We climbed into the tub and turned on the shower. Once we were wet and had soaped our fronts, we did each other’s backs—a first for both of us. He produced towels and we dried off. By the time Tia and Tio got home, we were sitting in the living room watching soccer on TV and holding hands. Of course, as soon as we heard them arrive, we let go the hands.
Later, on the way home, I went through it all again in my head. I didn’t know whether we loved each other, but I certainly loved what we did.
In bed that night, I wondered if I’d be able to get it up again. I did, as I thought of what we had done and how it felt. It was my third time that day, so I didn’t shoot a lot, but it was certainly pleasurable.
* * * * * * * *
In the days and weeks that followed, we were certainly horny, and we brought each other off as often as we could be alone. Meanwhile, our friendship grew even closer, and kids in school began to notice the way we looked at each other and that we were always together.
Pulling me aside one day at the end of lunch, Molly asked quietly, “Is there anything we should know about you and Raphael?”
“No,” I replied, “we’ve just become good friends.”
“Forgive me, but I don’t believe you. I can see the looks in your eyes when you see each other, and I think there’s something more going on. Mind you, I’m just nosy, but if Raphael is gay, I just want you to know that you have a friend here who can listen and support you anytime.”
“Thanks,” I replied, “I’ll remember that.”
When Raphael and I were bicycling home after school, I said, “Molly thinks you’re gay. She already knows about me.”
“She told you she thought I was gay?”
“Yeah, but she also said she was our friend who could listen and support us anytime.”
“Do you trust her?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Should we talk to her?”
“Maybe. I’ll arrange it.”
“Okay,” Raphael said, and we continued to my house, where we satisfied each other before getting down to homework.
The next day, I asked Molly if there was some place the three of us could meet. She suggested her house, which was midway between my home and Raphael’s. So, after school, Raphael and I rode home with her.
Inside, Molly introduced Raphael to her mother and added that we’d be in the den for a while. The furniture was comfortable, and Raphael and I were soon relaxed and making small talk.
Finally, Molly said, “This is fun, but I don’t think it’s the reason you asked to meet. Tell me why we’re here.”
I looked at Raphael and he pointed to me, so I was stuck. “You’re right. We’re gay, and we’ve been growing closer and closer since we made the connection.”
“I won’t ask what you’ve been doing. That’s your business. But does anyone else know?”
We both shook our heads.
“Your families don’t know?”
Again, we shook our heads.
“When are you going to tell them?”
Raphael and I looked at each other. “That’s too scary,” he said.
“Do you think it will get any easier?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head. “I keep trying to get up the courage to tell Mom, but I can’t.”
She nodded and then asked, “What do you think will happen when she finds out?”
“I’ve no idea. I know she loves me, but I’m afraid if she knows what I am I might lose that love.”
“If you do,” she said quietly, “then your mom doesn’t really love you. To love you means that the love is unconditional, that nothing you do or say can change it.”
Changing direction a little, she said, “I can tell you that kids in school are beginning to wonder. Of course, it’s none of their business, but you know how gossip is in school. Kids believe what they hear and what they want to believe. Pretty soon the adults will hear it. I’m not sure you can afford to wait much longer. Tommy says that boys in the locker room are talking, and it won’t take long before comments are made. Word will get around quickly and eventually your families will hear about it. Is that the way you want your families to find out?”
Raphael sighed. “No, of course not.” He turned to me and said, “I guess it’s time.”
“Yeah,” I said, “but for now let’s just tell them we’re gay. We don’t have to get into the other stuff.”
And so it was agreed. Raphael and I went home. He was determined to tell Tio and Tia, and I had vowed to tell Mom.