Dad started in on his discussion of gay sex and how to be safe. He did it by telling us what topic he wanted to cover, then asking us questions and insisting that we answer, then getting into a discussion, then he had us ask questions and he answered them. This went on and on, topic after topic.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so embarrassed in my life. Looking at Nate his expression varied from totally shocked to trying to suppress laughter. I got pissed at him, just a bit, because he never looked embarrassed. He seemed interested in the discussion.

I have to admit I found out a lot about gay sex. There’s some of it I wouldn’t want to do, ever, at all, partially because of what Quin and Tom did to me. I already knew some things from hearing kids at school talk. Dad wanted to know if either of us browsed any gay porn sites on the ‘net. I said ‘no’ and Nate said ‘yes’ which surprised me.

We learned about the different kinds of condoms. We almost freaked when dad suggested that we try some on, but he saw our reaction and assured us that he meant that we should try them on either in private or together, whichever the two of us decided. Dad wanted Nate and me to agree that we would always use condoms when we’d have sex with other guys. That started a big… well, Dad called it a discussion but Nate and I called it an argument. We both said that we would never have sex with anyone else, but Dad said we shouldn’t be unrealistic and we needed to be prepared. I said that sounded like the Boy Scouts’ motto to ‘be prepared’ then Nate said the Boy Scouts were anti-gay. That got us sidetracked into a discussion about how to deal with homophobic people. That turned out to be the most useful of our discussions.

Finally, Dad said we were finished with our inquisition, and wanted to know if we had any other questions. Nate asked something that Dad hadn’t thought of, and neither had I.

“How do we tell our friends that we’re gay and boyfriends? Should we tell our friends that we’re gay and boyfriends?”

That led to another discussion, and it turned out that all three of us agreed that we shouldn’t tell anyone. We also talked about avoiding things like how Nate and I looked at each other or being together all the time to keep people from guessing about us. I couldn’t go to school until fall semester so that simplified things. But we realized that we’d have to be very careful when I did return to school.

Dad asked Nate about his folks.

“It would be very bad if they found out that I’m gay and much worse if they found out that Brian and I are boyfriends. They go to the same church as the Santoni’s and are friends with Mr. and Mrs. Santoni, and the preacher there always seems to have some anti-gay thing to say as part of his sermon. I’ve already told Brian that we’re going to have to cool it until I’ve finished high school.”

“Nate, what would your parents do if they found out that you’re gay?”

“They might try to send me to one of those ex-gay camps to be repaired, or whatever they call it, Mr. Anderson.”

“You said ‘might try’ to send you to an ex-gay camp. What do you mean by that?”

“I’d run away from home.”

I was shocked. “Where would you go?”

“I have an aunt and uncle in Portland, Oregon and I’d go there and stay with them. They are very cool. My cousin Gage is gay and they are totally okay with that.”

“How would you get there? You’d need money to pay your way,” I asked.

“I’ve got more than enough saved up. I mowed lawns and did gardening in middle school and I’ve been working at Renaissance Sports as a trainer during the summer in high school, and I’ve saved almost all of what I made. I could pay for a plane ticket, but I’d probably go by bus because it’s cheaper.”

“Wouldn’t your folks try to get you back?” Dad asked.

“I don’t think so. They’d probably disown me.”

That gave me an idea. “Once they disowned you then you could move back to Edmond and move in with us. That way you could finish high school at Deer Valley and play football.” I turned to Dad, “Right?”

“I don’t think that would be a very good idea, Brian. This area isn’t gay friendly the way Portland is. Nate would be better off staying there. Word would spread that he’s gay and it would be a problem for him. That’s not the best solution.”

“What is the best solution, Mr. Anderson?”

“Do not let your folks know that you’re gay and stay with them until you go to college. If you’re going to depend on your folks for your college expenses, you would have to keep your orientation to yourself until you have your degree.”

“But how do I handle the dating problem? I have no interest in dating girls.”

“Why not go out with a group that has both guys and girls? You and Brian wouldn’t have to actually date.”

“But Dad, where would we find girls who’d want to go out on a date like that?”

Nate interrupted, “You know, Brian, your dad’s idea is good. At my church there’s a teen group and some of those kids go out and do things as a group. We’d be going out with a group of our friends, guys and girls, doing something like miniature golf or Paint Ball Wars or to a movie. What’s wrong with that, Brian?”

“But I don’t go to your church, and from what you’ve told me I don’t want to either. So how’s that going to work for me?”

“Most of the kids go to Deer Valley. I know them, and you probably know some of them. I’ll set up something and introduce you.”

“What do I say if they ask why I don’t go to your church?”

“If they do, say you’re a Christian and you don’t feel a need to belong to a church.”

“Oh, yeah, they’ll believe that. Not!” I responded.

“I think you need to give it a try. Leave it to me. I can get something organized.”

“Okay, say you’re right. What if after a while one of those girls wants to go out on a real date with me? Or with you?”

“We avoid that by saying we’re not ready to date one on one. What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong is that I wouldn’t be going out on any dates with you, just the two of us. You’re my boyfriend, Nate. We should be able to go out and do things together without a bunch of other people or a couple girls.”

“I’ll bet you two guys could figure out a some things you can do together,” Dad said. “You love hiking, Brian. Once you’re able to get outdoors you and Nate could go hiking. I don’t think most girls would be interested in hiking. You could go backpacking, and spend one night camping outdoors on a weekend. You’d be together and not a girl in sight.”

“Okay, okay, you’ve convinced me at least partly. We’ll have to see how it goes once I go back to school in the fall.”

“You know I’m in school now, Brian. My folks have asked a few questions about why I don’t have a girlfriend, and why I’m not going out on dates. I think I’ll have to start this group dating and outing thing that your dad suggested.”

“I’ll be jealous if the girls in these groups are beautiful. You’ll have to pick groups where all the girls are the plain ones. God knows there’s enough plain girls at Deer Valley.”

“Nope, I’m not going out with any plain girls. I’m a jock, I’ll be quarterback on the football team in the fall. I have a rep to maintain, so I will go out in the groups that have beautiful girls.”

“And what will you do when one of them wants to go out on a date just with you?”

“That would never happen. They wouldn’t want to ask me to go out on one on one dates.”

“Why wouldn’t they want to go out on a date with you, Nate?” Dad asked.

“Once they find out that I’m not interested in going out on one on one dates because of my religious beliefs the word will spread and the rest of the girls won’t be interested.”

“So you’re going to get together with one of these groups and try it out now?” I asked.

“Well, it sure won’t hurt to give it a try since I’m on my own and have to cover my ass… oh, sorry, Mr. Anderson.”

“Don’t worry about it, Nate. I’ve heard a lot worse from Brian.”

“When?” I demanded. “I don’t swear!”

“Brian, I’ve heard you use words like ‘shithead’ and ‘that sucks’ and ‘screw that’ around home.”

“Well, not often and not recently.”

“What did you call Quin and Tom the other day?”

“Assholes. Okay, I sometimes use swear words and a few of them might be worse than what Nate said,” I admitted, “but assholes is exactly what those guys are.”

Mom knocked on my open bedroom door and stepped inside.

“Nate, you told me that your mother wanted me to phone her this evening. It’s 5:15. I think that we should talk before I make that call.”

“I think we’re done here,” Dad said. “Do you two agree?”

Nate and I nodded.

“Alright, let’s go downstairs and have a talk so I know what to say when I phone your mother, Nate.”

We went downstairs and sat around the kitchen table.

“I have a suggestion, Mrs. Anderson,” Nate said. “Why don’t you invite my folks to come over after dinner tonight? That will be better, I think. It makes you and my folks real to each other. It also lets them see Brian’s injuries. He can tell them how Quin smashed him on the side of his head with a hammer and knocked him unconscious. How at the hospital they found out that Quin raped him by finding his DNA. And finally how Quin and Tom drove him to Texas and dumped him in a ditch and left him for dead. I told them all of this, but I think they’re having a hard time believing me.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Dad said.

“I’ll make the call now. Nate, may I have your home phone number, please? You can write it on this pad. And what’s your mother’s first name?”

“My mom’s name is Nancy,” Nate said as he wrote down his home phone number for Mom.

Mom dialed the number. Of course, we only heard her side of the conversation.

“Hello, this is this Phyllis Anderson. May I speak to Nancy Mead?”

 As we waited for Mom to continue the conversation, Nate whispered, “One of my brothers must have answered the call.”

Mom heard him and nodded.

 … “Hello, Mrs. Mead. This is Phyllis Anderson, Brian’s mother.”

 … “Nancy, please call me Phyllis. I’m calling to invite you and your husband to come over after dinner tonight so we can talk about the help Nate is giving Brian. Even with tutors coming twice a week he wouldn’t be doing nearly as well with his schoolwork without Nate’s help. This will give you an opportunity to meet Brian.”

 … “Seven o’clock is fine. I have a chocolate cake that I baked this afternoon and I’ll serve that for dessert.”

 … “Certainly, bring them with you. We can talk in our living room while they watch TV in the family room.”

 … “Our address is 22810 Cedar Creek Road.”

 … “My husband’s name is Greg.”

 … “Nate and Brian are doing their homework at the kitchen table.”

 … “Yes, I’ll remind him that he needs to leave by six o’clock.”

 … “We’re looking forward to meeting you as well. We’ll see you at seven. Our porch light will be on.”

 … “Thank you too. Goodbye for now.”

Mom hung up the phone and Nate groaned and shook his head.

“She’s bringing my brothers.”

“Yes, is that a problem?”

“I wouldn’t want them to hear Brian’s story when he tells my folks, especially the rape part. I know that Dan and John are going to be very curious, and they’ll try to overhear what we’re talking about. Then they’ll have lots of questions that they’ll ask me instead of our folks because they know they’ll get in trouble and…”

“Nate, stop!” Mom commanded. “What if you join them in the family room while Brian is telling what happened to him?”

“I don’t know, Mom. I think that would be weird, sending Nate out of the living room. I’ll bet that will make his brothers even more curious. I have a better idea. Nate, do they like to play video games?”

Nate laughed. “You’ve gotta be kidding. Like to play video games? They’re addicted to video games. The C- and E-rated ones only, of course.”

“Okay, I have Kung Fu Panda for my Xbox. My grandma gave that to me for Christmas. I’m pretty sure it’s E-rated. If you can give me a hand, we’ll bring my Xbox downstairs and get it set up for your brothers.”

“Sounds like a perfect plan, Brian. Once they get into this game my brothers might not even want to stop to have chocolate cake… nah, forget that, they’ll definitely stop for chocolate cake.”

Nate and I set up my Xbox system and checked that it worked. I loaded Kung Fu Panda to make sure it played okay, and it did.

After announcing that we were ready for, as Nate put it, ‘the onslaught of the twins,’ Mom reminded him that he had to leave for home by six o’clock.

He looked at his watch. “I didn’t know it was so late. I’ll grab my backpack and see you guys later, at seven.”

I went upstairs to do the rest of the homework that I needed to have ready to turn in tomorrow. I’d been working on it for about fifteen minutes when Mom called me to come down for dinner. I decided that I’d have enough time after the Meads left to get it finished.

After dinner we watched the end of the TV news while waiting for Nate and his family. Dad answered the door when they arrived. I’m not sure what I expected Nate’s folks to look like, probably stern-looking people like that farmer and his wife in the famous painting. They weren’t that way at all. Nate’s dad was like a bigger, taller, heavier version of Nate. They even looked alike. Nate’s mom was one of those large, jolly looking women that would spend her time baking and taking care of the house. Nate’s twin brothers were killer cute, but didn’t say much and seemed to be shy.

We did the whole introduction thing and that took a few minutes. Then Nate’s mom did the ‘Oh, you have such a beautiful home!’ bit that always seems to happen with women. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it seems so typical with women and zilch with men, except the women drag the men along. Mom and Dad led Nate’s folks on a house tour, and that left us with Nate’s brothers. I brought them into the kitchen.

“You guys want Coke or root beer?”

They both looked at Nate to get his okay, which he gave by nodding.

John, who wore a blue T, spoke first, “May I have a Coke, please?” I nodded in response and pulled a Coke out of the fridge.

Dan, who wore an orange T, asked, “May I have a root beer, please?” so I handed him his drink.

“Either of you want your soda in a glass with ice?”

“No thank you,” they responded together, then they giggled.

“Your usual, Nate?”

“Yup.”

I pulled two more root beers out of the fridge and handed one to Nate. While I was there I pulled out a jar of salsa. Then I got a new bag of rippled potato chips out of the pantry and opened it, poured the salsa into a bowl to make it easier for dipping, and the four of us sat down at the table.

Mom and Mrs. Mead came into the kitchen to get drinks for the adults. Mrs. Mead looked at us and shook her head. “I just don’t understand how these boys can eat so much and so often. We just finished dinner, a little over a half hour ago, and here my boys and your son are polishing off sodas and chips. Where do they put it?”

“They get a lot more exercise than we do, Nancy,” Mom answered.

They got glasses, a bottle of white wine and two beers, and took it all into the living room.

Nate and I talked about homework.

I began itemizing what I had to finish this week. “I have to finish that reading response for English and the Algebra problems so they’ll be ready to post in the morning. I have a bunch of projects that are due this week. There’s a story due for Creative Writing, I have to design a two-page newsletter for Desktop Publishing, and I have to get going on my web design projects and start reading the textbook. Then there are the Physics experiments that you have to help me with. There’s a new chapter in European History and we have a quiz on Friday, plus reading ahead in Physics and English. My tutors will be here on Thursday and Friday, and I have to be prepared for them.”

“I have the same as you,” Nate said, “except I have Spanish and Sports Medicine instead of your Creative Writing, Desktop Publishing, and Web Design. In Sports Medicine we’re studying musculature, so there’s reading and memorizing but I have that pretty much nailed. We’re doing vocabulary in Spanish 2. Maybe you can help me with that, Brian.”

“Sure, no problema.” Nate laughed at my use of the proper Spanish gender for the word ‘problem,’ then I asked, “Are you feeling better about Spanish now?”

“Yeah, I think so. Verb conjugations are still tough for me.”

“Have you done what I suggested about tuning into the Spanish TV stations and listening to the Spanish language soaps?”

“I have, and I’m starting to understand what’s going on. Only problem is they talk so fast. It’s hard to catch everything some of the actors say.”

We finished up and I put the almost empty bag of chips away. There wasn’t any salsa left, so nothing to put away except the empty bowl into the dishwasher.

Nate’s brothers hadn’t said much until Nate and I took them into our family room and they saw my Xbox system set up and ready to go. Then, all of a sudden, they were typical, excited, animated twelve-year-old kids, chatting us up and talking a mile a minute. Nate and I thought we’d have to show them how to use the Xbox controllers since they had a PS3 and PSP game systems at home, but they said that they were familiar with the Xbox because some of their friends have that game system. I set the sound on the family room TV higher than we’d normally have it to keep them from overhearing anything we said in the living room. Nate and I told Dan and John to have fun and we went to the living room for what I expected to be another inquisition, with me being the target this time.

First I talked about how Nate was helping me with my homework.

“We have the same core classes, Algebra 2, English 2, Physics, and AP European History. We even have the same teachers except for Algebra 2, but the problems we have to do and the tests are pretty much the same. We study together for tests, but we each do our own homework then go back and check our answers against each other to make sure we understand the material. We also quiz each other so we’re sure we understand the new material.

“I help Nate with his Spanish 2. I took two years of Spanish in middle school and Spanish 3 last year, so I still remember my Spanish so I’m able to coach Nate on vocabulary and conjugation of verbs and declension of nouns and adjectives.”

“I’m doing a lot better in Spanish since Brian started tutoring me.”

“Yes,” Mr. Mead agreed, “Nate has shown us his test and homework scores and there’s a remarkable improvement. I think Brian has been a considerable help for Nate.”

“Nate’s helping me with Physics. With my broken arm,” I pulled my left arm in its cast and sling up off my chest, “I can’t do the experiments. They all seem to require two hands. So Nate is my hands. I tell him what to do and he does it. Even when I’ve got it wrong and he knows it, he still does it the way I told him. Then the experiment doesn’t work or doesn’t work correctly, and I can see that, then I try to figure out what I did wrong.”

“Since I’m taking the same Physics class as Brian, I try to figure out if he’s doing the experiments correctly and if not, why not,” Nate added. “And I’m getting credit for helping Brian. It’s like the tutoring I’d be doing during period zero, I get college credit for it and I can use it for one of the community service projects I need to get into med school. So I’m getting as much as, or maybe even more than, Brian is getting out of studying together and helping him with his homework.”

“You’re certain that you’re actually doing your homework or helping Brian with his homework when you’re over here?” Mrs. Mead asked.

“Yes, Mom,” Nate replied. “Homework and helping each other study for tests and learn new material. That’s another biggie for me.”

Mr. Mead turned to Mom and then Dad. “When do you think Brian will be able to go back to school? I’m thinking that with Nate being the quarterback in the fall, he isn’t going to have time to do this helping out.”

“Of course it’s up to Brian’s doctors, but we think he will go back in the fall,” Dad replied.

“Well, then that sounds reasonable to me. Do you agree, Nancy?”

“Yes, now that we’ve met Brian and understand better how Nate is helping Brian and how Brian is helping Nate I can see how this is beneficial for both of our boys. Phyllis, I think it would have been useful if we’d met you and your son right when this got started, and I wouldn’t have had any worries about what this was about.

“Now, there’s one other thing that’s been bothering me. The Santonis go to our church, and we’ve known them for years and watched Quinten grow from a small boy to a young man. He always went to church on Sundays, and always seemed to be a nice boy, a good Christian boy. We read the stories in the newspaper and saw them on TV about how Quinten was supposed to have attacked Brian. It seems to me that this whole thing was sensationalized and turned around to make it into something that it wasn’t. What I’m trying to do is sort out all of the information so I can understand what really happened.

“Now, I’m just repeating what we’ve been told by our pastor, Reverend Crandall. He said in a sermon that he did his own investigation and found that what we’ve been told is not accurate.”

I just stared at her.

“Some of the boys at the high school decided that Brian appeared to be a homosexual and they decided to teach him a lesson. Instead of coming to Reverend Crandall, Quinten was coerced into going along with them, not knowing what they planned to do to Brian. Peer pressure is something all teens are faced with, and quickly the situation escalated and Quinten couldn’t stop what was done to Brian.

“In his sermon Reverend Crandall asked us to remember that the Quinten Santoni we know is a nice boy, a good Christian boy who couldn't have done those things .”

I got upset. I could tell that she didn’t believe what happened to me and what I told them. Mr. Mead looked uncomfortable, and he kept looking at me and occasionally shaking his head just a little, as if he tried to tell me that he didn’t believe that bullshit. Nate looked like he could explode any second now. Mom and Dad looked furious. I decided to counter what Mrs. Mead said.

I leaned forward in my chair and spoke softly so Nate’s brothers wouldn’t be able to listen to what I was about to say. Mr. and Mrs. Mead had to lean forward to hear me.

“Would any nice boy, any good Christian boy, grab me off the sidewalk as I walked home from school, pull me into his car, beat me up, steal my wallet and backpack, break my arm, and smash in my skull with a hammer and knock me unconscious and into a coma?” I pointed to my bandage. “Would a nice boy, a good Christian boy, rape me anally, load me into the trunk of his car, drive me across the state line to Weatherford Texas, dump me in a ditch by the side of the road at night and leave me for dead, then drive back to Edmond and act like nothing happened? I don’t think so.

“All of these things are what Quinten Santoni and Tom Calloway did to me, on purpose, and of their own volition. Luckily, a farmer saw them dump me in that ditch alongside his property. He found me and called 9-1-1 for an ambulance and the police. I was in a coma for a week. I almost died because of what these nice, good Christian boys did to me. The police found my fingerprints in Quinten Santoni’s car and in the Santoni’s chicken coop. They found my blood on the hammer in the Santoni’s chicken coop that Quinten Santoni used to bash in my skull, and more of my blood in the trunk of Quinten Santoni’s car when they drove me to Texas and dumped me in a ditch to die. They found Quinten Santoni's DNA in the semen they extracted from my rectum using a rape kit. They matched the tires on Quinten Santoni’s car to the tread impressions in the mud where Quinten Santoni and Tom Calloway stopped and dumped my body in a ditch.

“I believe that God brought me back from death’s door so I could make sure that these supposedly nice boys, these supposedly good Christian boys, could be arrested and convicted for the terrible things that they did to me.

“Ask Pastor Crandall that if he had done the investigation that he claims he did then why didn’t he discover that Quinten Santoni and Tom Calloway both confessed, that they admitted that they did all of the things I’ve just told you they did. Then ask Pastor Crandall if he still believes that Quinten Santoni is a nice boy, a good Christian boy.”