Sky’s the Limit
Book Two

 Chapter Four

Chip and Billy treated Jonah like a newfound gem, and equally as precious and fragile.  Reese continued his daily visits to stay with Jonah and even took him down to see the basement gym, which was impressive.  Various weight machines were scattered around among treadmills, a stair-climber, stationary bikes, elliptical trainers, and even one of those jet pools for swimming exercises. Jonah’s physical therapist had given Jonah several exercises to do at home, and Reese was more than willing to help.  There was also a sauna and steam room.  Jonah also noted an aerobics area in the corner that would be perfect for his karate exercises when he finally got out of the cast. 

That Sunday night Chip sat Jonah down for a ‘serious’ talk. “Jonah, we need to chat a bit.” 

“Okay.” 

“I’m now your legal guardian, and your education, safety, and well-being are now my responsibility.  I’m not your father, and I’m not going to pretend to be.  I’ve never had a kid of my own, unless you count Billy.” 

Billy just rolled his eyes, and chuckled. 

“We do have to have some rules, though.  When you’re back on your feet and start wanting to go out and do things, we are going to have a curfew: eleven p.m. if there is school the next day and midnight if there is not.  This city can be dangerous.  You never go out alone without one of us knowing where you are, whom you’re with and exactly when you’ll be back. If you’re going to be late, okay, I know sometimes that happens, but let us know. The cell phones make that easy.  These phones even have a walkie-talkie feature that works with my and Billy’s phones.  It’s always better to have someone with you all the time.  It’s about safety, Jonah, not that we don’t trust you, okay?” 

“Sure, I can understand that.  I’ve never lived in a city before. It’s a little scary.” 

“Lastly, Jonah, I want to be able to communicate openly with you.  I need you to tell me when something—anything—is wrong or bothering you.  I also ask that you always be honest with me.  No lies, no stories.  If you get in trouble, you have to tell me the truth.  I’m not here to judge or punish, I’m here to help and advise.  That doesn’t mean that if it’s something serious there won’t be consequences, there may be groundings, or loss of some privilege or other, but I’m pretty tolerant, and Billy’s here to talk to, also.  He knows me pretty well. My point is, though, if you lie, it will only make it worse.  We clear on that?” 

“Yes, sir.”  Jonah was a little taken aback by the seriousness of Chip’s tone, but knew Chip meant what he was saying and wasn’t about to push his luck.  He was just glad he had a place to live where he was wanted and accepted unconditionally. 

“That’s also the last time I want to hear that ‘sir’ business.  I feel old enough already.  You’re very polite, but it’s not necessary,” Chip said smiling at him now.

“Okay,” Jonah replied, smiling back at him.

* * * * *

The following week, Jonah started his “virtual” school.  The teacher and sometimes the class could see him on a monitor in the classroom, and he could see the teacher and the board. Of course, there was two-way audio, too. Jonah could even zoom and rotate the camera some by using the mouse.  Occasionally, some of his friends, usually Lori, would wave and mouth something to him when they could.  It was pretty cool.  He caught up on the work he had missed, and the tutor Chip had hired was really good and helped him catch up faster; she monitored any tests, too. The best part of it was that he could use the same system to chat with Dex.  It was like their very own videophone.  The electronic setup really was helping Dex cope with his injuries and Jonah with his new environment. The link to Dex was a link to the best part of his ‘old life’. 

Jonah also had a new cast and was starting to use the crutches more. In addition, he had started some pretty intensive physical therapy, but decided he still wasn’t quite ready to go with Reese to the meeting on Friday. Reese was a little disappointed, but Jonah promised him he would go the following Friday. 

That next week was the first time Jonah was scheduled to meet with Billy’s psychiatrist, and he really wasn’t looking forward to it. Tom was insistent.  He would also come by almost every evening to check on him.  No doubt about it, Jonah knew he was getting first-rate care. 

The day for the meeting with the psychiatrist inevitably came around.  Billy had arranged for her to come to their penthouse that evening.  When she showed up, Reese excused himself and went back to his apartment.  She walked over to Jonah on the couch and reached out her hand. “I’m Dr. Margaret Newsom. I’m happy to finally meet you, Jonah.” 

“Excuse me for not getting up; it’s a little tough,” he said, taking her hand and shaking it. 

“I wouldn’t expect you to, but that’s very polite of you,” she said sitting down in a chair that she pulled over next to him. 

Margaret Newsom was attractive.  Jonah guessed she was probably in her forties.  She had a pretty, pleasant face, with short, curly, red hair.  She was quite tall, but carried it well—regally, in fact.   

“Is it okay if we talk here, or would you be more comfortable somewhere else?” she asked. 

“No, this is fine.” 

“Good. Jonah, I’m starting with a clean slate here, and you can call me Margie if you like.  I’ve talked some with Chip and Billy. Tom has filled me in on your meds and some of your medical history.  But I only know the basics.  Why don’t you tell me about yourself, Jonah, and anything that’s bothering you in particular.  I know you’ve been in a bad accident.  Do you want to start there or go a little further back?”  

 “I guess I need to go further back.  What do you mean when you said you only know the basics?” 

“I know that Billy just gushes when he talks about you.  I know that you are a talented musician, enjoy karate, and are an ‘A’ student.  He really brags about you. By the way, I suppose you know the resemblance is incredible.” 

Jonah chuckled and nodded. 

“I also know that you’ve had a traumatic separation of some sort from your dad, step-mom, and friends and are in a strange, new environment. I don’t know what caused that.  I wanted you, not Billy or Chip, to tell me that.  Maybe, that’s the place to start.” 

“Yeah, I guess that’s the easy part. I’m not living at home because I’m gay. My new stepbrother caught me in bed with my boyfriend.  I haven’t seen or heard from him—my boyfriend, that is—since this happened.  My stepmother is pregnant and a homophobe.  She doesn’t want me near her kids. My dad’s caught in the middle. I really hated him and was really angry with him at first—still am, I guess—but I think he’s trying to cope.  As for this leg, well, I got in a fight at school.  This guy, I guess you’d call him a homophobe bully, started with name-calling—faggot and queer—and one thing led to another.  Anyway, I finished the fight, but he followed us and ran us off the road.  One of my friends was killed, and my best friend Dexter is still in the hospital with a spinal cord injury. He may never walk again.” 

She just sat, shaking her head. 

“Jonah, I see we have a lot to discuss.  That’s a pretty incredible story.  I’m amazed you can discuss it as calmly as you have.  I know you’re on anti-depressants, but you’re carrying quite a load.  Billy mentioned that you use your music to cope.  He was quite impressed.  I’ve done some research on music therapy.  I’d like to talk about that some, too.  If it helps you, maybe we can explore that outlet for you, also.” 

“Okay.” 

They talked for almost an hour.  Jonah found that she really was easy to talk to, and by the end of the session, he was actually enjoying the session.  She had a manner that was very calming.  She wanted to know about his mom and how he dealt with her sickness and death. They talked about his dad’s remarriage, and about Jessie. They talked some about his being gay and how he figured that out. She seemed so understanding and not judgmental at all. Then they talked about Sky.  That was when Jonah broke down.  It seemed so hopeless, and he did love Sky so much that it hurt to talk about it.  She waited for Jonah to get himself back together before she decided they had covered enough for a first session.  They agreed that she would continue to come to the apartment till Jonah was more mobile.  Chip came home just as she was leaving, and she and Chip went into another room to talk.    

The next Friday, Jonah was excited about going to the meeting with Reese.  He was getting around pretty well on crutches and was really ready to get out of that apartment.  Before Billy left for the club that day, he stopped by Jonah’s room where Jonah was finishing up some homework. “Jonah, you sure you feel up to going to the meeting with Reese tonight?” 

“Yeah, he promised to get me back by ten. That way I don’t think I’ll overdo it.” 

“Good.  Have a good time, but call Chip or me if you have a problem, okay?” 

“Okay, I’m sure I’ll be fine.” 

Reese showed up a few minutes later, and Jonah went to the door and let him in.  “You know, I need to tell Chip that I don’t need you to baby-sit me anymore.  I can get around pretty well, and I can use the bathroom all by myself, like a big boy.” 

Reese started laughing hysterically.  “Hello to you too, you bum.” 

“Seriously, you have better things to do than sit here with me.” 

“Maybe I like sitting here with you. Actually, I told Chip to stop paying me for this last week.  I’m just here ‘cause I want to be.” 

“What?” 

“Seriously, Jonah.  You’re fun to be around, and I really don’t have much better to do.  It’s not as if this neighborhood is full of kids, you know.  You don’t want the company?” 

“No, I really like it.  It keeps my mind off other stuff I guess.  It would be pretty depressing just sitting here by myself.  I’d probably become a soap-opera addict.” 

“Heaven forbid,” Reese chuckled.  “You still goin’ tonight?” 

“I can’t wait,” Jonah replied.  “Except for going to the doctor and the physical therapy sessions, I haven’t really been out of this apartment.” 

“Heh, if you go with me tonight, you’ll be getting out in more ways than one,” Reese chuckled. 

Jonah realized at that moment that Reese was becoming a good friend that he could talk to.   The two of them spent the rest of that afternoon listening to music on the sound system and playing a few video games.   Soon it was nearly time to go—his first real outing since he got here, and he was getting very excited and anxious. 

Reese ran downstairs, changed and came back.  “You ready?” he asked as Jonah opened the door. 

“Yeah, let’s roll.” 

Jonah spoke to Sam for a minute while Reese went to get his car in the garage across the street.  It was an older red convertible, but looked as if it had just been driven out of a showroom.  Reese got out and opened the passenger-side door for him.  

“I told you this wasn’t a date,” Jonah said with a smirk. 

Reese rolled his eyes: “You’re still on those crutches, dumbass, and I didn’t want to have to pick you up off the sidewalk.”

“Good point,” Jonah said as he grabbed onto the car door and slowly lowered himself inside, as Reese took the crutches from him.  “Nice car,” Jonah commented as he fastened the seatbelt. 

“It was Dad’s pride and joy. It’s a ’67 goat.  All I have left of him.” 

“Goat?” 

“Pontiac GTO.  It’s a real classic.  Chip thinks it needs to be in a museum, but I enjoy the looks it gets when I drive it.”   

“What makes you think they’re looking at the car?” Jonah asked smiling. 

Reese just chuckled. 

Before long they were turning into a church parking lot.  “A church?  I thought we were going to a gay youth group meeting.” Jonah asked. 

“We are.” 

“But this is a church.” 

“It’s a very tolerant church that donated us some space in the basement of one of their buildings.” 

“Wow, I never knew that there were churches that…. I mean I never heard of a gay-friendly church.” 

“Welcome to the big city.  There’s a bit more diversity here.” 

“I’ll say.  If anyone had told me about something like this back home, I’d’ve told ’em they were friggin nuts.” 

Reese just laughed. 

They got out and went inside. Jonah was having trouble with the steps, and Reese stopped and carried him downstairs on his back.  When they got down to the basement, there were several kids standing around in small groups or sitting on the several couches, bean bags, and chairs that were scattered around the room.  There were also a couple of ping-pong tables, a large TV, some game tables, what looked like a small party/dance area, and a small kitchen area.  As soon as they walked in, a heavyset boy said, “Hi, Reese.  Who’s the cutie?” 

“Sammy, this is Jonah.  Jonah, this is Sammy and he’s probably the biggest flirt here.  Jonah just moved to town a couple of weeks ago.  He lives in my building.” 

“Cool, nicetameetya.” Sammy said, offering Jonah his hand.  

After meeting Sammy, Reese led him to a couch where two girls and one guy were sitting.  The guy stood up when he saw Jonah.  “Here man, take my seat.  I was on crutches a few months ago.  Man, what a bitch, too. I’m Stacy; this is Kat and Nora.  Don’t sit between them, though; you’ll likely end up with another injury.”

“I’m Jonah, I’m new in town.  I’m Reese’s guest tonight.” 

“Ah, one of Reese’s pieces,” the girl introduced as Kat hissed through a grin.  She was definitely different.  She was very pale and had short, spiky, black hair; dark, almost black, eyes; tons of mascara; black eyeliner; black lipstick; black fingernails; and all-black clothes. 

“No, it’s not like that,” Jonah said as he tried to sit. “We’re just friends. I mean we’re not dating.  We just live in the same building.”  

“Don’t let Katarina here get to you,” the girl introduced as Nora said.  She has absolutely no manners. Besides she’s a Russian import. We’ve been together for months, but I’m still trying to teach her some American manners— southern style, of course.   

Kat just sort of glared at her, then smiled and laughed a really weird kind of laugh, almost a cackle.  “I’m sorry, Jonah; I didn’t mean to embarrass you. Are you straight, then?” she asked with a somewhat thicker accent than before. 

“No, I’m gay, but I have a boyfriend.  He lives down in Mississippi. Near Jackson.”  

“Oh, well.  You’ll have to bring him to a meeting and show him off.  We always love new blood.”  The way she emphasized blood and the way she was dressed made Jonah nervous.  It was kind of creepy. 

Reese and two other guys came over to where Jonah was sitting, and Reese introduced them as Mike and Benjie. They pulled over a couple of beanbags and sat in front of the couch. Jonah noticed they were holding hands. Reese sat on the floor in front of Jonah.  They all talked until a few minutes later, when a woman came in to say it was time to start the program for tonight.  Reese leaned over and said to Jonah, “That’s Karen.  Officially, she’s an adult sponsor. Unofficially, she’s like a den mother.  She always brings brownies and other treats.  We’ll have some later.”  

Karen announced: “Tonight we’re just having open discussion, no guest speaker. The topic is being out at school.  I know all of you go to different schools around the city, and we also have a couple of guests with us tonight who may be interested in the subject. Reese, introduce your guest first.” 

Reese introduced Jonah; then a tiny brunette girl named Sally introduced her guest, a rather tall blonde friend of hers from school named René.  Everyone started sharing experiences they had at school after they were out or had friends who were out.  There were several who were not out at school yet.  Different schools seemed to have different attitudes toward the kids who were out.  Karen asked Jonah if he was willing to share his experience.  He didn’t want to, but Reese insisted.  Jonah did fine until he got to the part about Zach and what happened at the memorial.  When he started tearing up, Reese took his hand and squeezed.  He was a little surprised, but strangely, didn’t mind.  It helped him regain his composure and finish the story.  Afterward, everyone remained silent for a while.   

Karen said, “Well, I see we have a wide variety of experiences.  Let’s stop here and continue this next week.  Jonah, will you come back?” 

“I’d love to.” 

She extended the same invitation to the other guest, Rene’.  Everyone broke into smaller groups and had some refreshments.  By that time, it was getting close to ten o’clock, which is when Jonah told Chip he would be home.  Jonah and Reese said their goodbyes.  As they started to leave, Reese insisted on carrying Jonah back up the stairs. When they got to the top, Jonah said. “You really didn’t have to do that. I could have made it.” 

“And if you fell and broke your other leg or worse, I woulda felt like shit. So, I did have to, and that’s the end of it.”  

On the drive back home they chatted about some of the kids Jonah had met.  Not gossip really, more like background.  It was pretty interesting stuff.  Reese had actually dated both Mike and Benji for a while before they eventually wound up as a couple. 

When they got back to the apartment, Reese dropped Jonah in front and went to park the car. Jonah waited for him in the lobby, chatting with Sam.  When Reese returned, Jonah invited him up to have a coke.  When they walked in, Chip was sitting on the sofa reading some papers. “Hey guys, how was the meeting?” 

“It was great.  I never had any clue there were clubs like that.  I loved it,” Jonah replied. 

“Good. I’m glad you had a good time.  Jonah, there was something delivered to you today by Fed Ex to my office.  On the off chance it was bad news, I decided to wait up in here till you guys got back.  It’s from your dad.” 

Jonah opened the cardboard envelope and looked inside.  There was single letter-sized envelope addressed to him, and it had been opened. “Whatever it is, Dad read it,” he said sarcastically. 

Opening the envelope, he saw immediately that it was from Sky... Jonah began to read, his smile freezing, then fading as all the color left his cheeks. Jonah’s quivering hands held onto the cursed paper as he read further, his eyes flying wide as he screamed ‘No!, Oh no, Sky, noooo...’ before folding in upon himself, collapsing in a heap on the cold, hard floor…