Two Against the Odds, Chapter 4
The ringing of the land-line phone woke the boys up early in the morning on Sunday. Beto answered it quickly, but not before they were wide awake.
"Oh, Tom, I'm sorry you're ill. I hope it's not Covid. I know you don't miss without a reason. We'll have to muddle through without you `til you're better. Thanks for giving me a head's up."
"Shit," Beto cussed, after he hung up the receiver. "We're already running on a skeleton crew and now we'll be even more shorthanded!"
Having heard Beto's end of the conversation, the boys came hurriedly out of their bedroom.
"Uncle Beto, could we help out today?" Rick asked. "I'm sure we could do something."
"We weren't planning to ask you to start until at least next week, but if you're willing to go in, it would bail us out."
The guys took a no-nonsense shower, dressed in jeans and T's, and made a hasty breakfast of cereal and toast. They would be welcome to snack at the restaurant in free moments later.
There weren't many of those moments for the first couple of hours. From the time they arrived, the teens were constantly busy. They did everything from cracking eggs for speeding up breakfast orders, to tending the deep-fat fryer and running the dishwasher, to bringing carryout orders to customers waiting in the parking lot. It was the latter duty which netted them some very good tips.
When they got home that night, everyone was tired but happy. The men heaped praise on the boys for their work and paid them well for doing it.
Although the restaurant was closed on Monday, it wasn't a complete day of rest. In the morning, the teens spent several hours at the local high school to see about enrolling. Beto had contacted the administrators ahead of time, so the counselor, Mr. Harms, was ready with a few placement tests for Bryant and had already obtained records from the boys' former schools.
It would be easy for Rick to continue his junior year because the classes he'd taken in Iowa dovetailed well with the offerings in Florida. The road wasn't as smooth for Bryant. He had lost half a year of schooling while in captivity, and he didn't have quite enough credits to be a senior.
Beto told the counselor that Bryant had been "off the grid" for almost a year due to circumstances beyond his control. He didn't give details, but he asked if any accommodations could be made in his case.
Mr. Harms explained that it would depend on how Bryant scored on the placement tests, and if the boy were willing to go to summer school. He felt that route would still be a better option than testing for a GED. While it would move his education along faster, it didn't always look good on one's record.
Bryant decided to take the exams to see how well he did before he made up his mind. The testing process would go on until after lunch, so Beto left the boys at school because he had some paperwork to attend to at the restaurant. Rick didn't want to be parted from Byant, and he could use the time to speak with some of his prospective instructors and get the lay of the land while Bryant was taking the tests.
The boys could also eat in the cafeteria which might give them a better perspective of the feeling-tone of school.
Beto returned at 2:30 to get the teens. They could have walked home, but they had other important errands to run.
At the department of public health, Bryant and Rick were tested for all known STDs. They were also given a lecture on safe sex and a supply of condoms. In addition, they were encouraged to get shots for HPV and hepatitis. They opted for both, along with Covid shots. It was Rick's second one and Bryant's first. His captor hadn't seen fit to provide any protection against the pandemic. He probably feared that someone looking for the teen might be able to trace him through public records.
On the way home, they stopped at the bank where Bryant opened both a checking and a savings account with the money he'd received from the Benford family. Over Rick's protest, he added the younger boy's name to the accounts.
"I didn't do anything to earn your reward!" Rick said.
"I want to share with you," Bryant insisted. "We're a team. You gave me hope when I needed it to keep going, and your uncles have given me a home. If anything should happen to me, I'd want you to have it without going through the hassle of inheriting it."
Rick reluctantly started school by himself on Tuesday. Bryant had intended to be there with him, but he had a reaction to the Covid vaccine and was running a temperature. Rick had had the same symptoms from his first inoculation, but he didn't this time. He hated to leave his boyfriend at home alone. However, Bryant insisted that he should go to school and get started.
Although Rick tried to keep a low profile, he didn't manage to carry through his intentions in several classes because he couldn't help but participate in discussions when he knew the answers. That scored him points with his teachers and showed him to be someone the smarter kids might want to get acquainted with. When he carried his sack lunch into the cafeteria at noon, some of his new acquaintances invited him to sit with them. He remained guarded about how much personal info he shared, but he still made connections with them.
Mr. Harms, who was one of the lunchroom monitors that day, stopped to talk with him on his way out. He commended Rick on his choice of associates. None of his companions was a troublemaker.
On learning about the reason for Bryant's absence, Mr. Harms lent Rick his cell phone to make a short call to check up on his friend at home. Bryant was surprised and thrilled to hear from him.
By the next morning, Bryant's temperature was normal, and he felt well enough to go to school. However, Beto insisted on driving them because he didn't want Bryant to wear himself out. The teen's heart was warmed by the offer. He couldn't remember an adult caring that much about his welfare since his mother died.
At school, Bryant received good news about his test scores and his transcript. He had done so well in the English class, which he'd dropped out of when Simon held him prisoner, that his former school was going to give him credit for it. He would be placed in an upper-level senior class instead of having to repeat the junior-level one. He was thrilled! He'd scored high enough in the math test to be in a senior section as well. Things were looking up.
Bryant and Rick had barely gotten used to the idea of going to school again when they were off for a few days for Thanksgiving break. In a way, that was okay. Their lives had been on a roller coaster ride for quite a while before they'd even met. Having time off to relax couldn't hurt.
Beto and Geoff had opted not to have the restaurant open at all on Thursday or Friday. They felt that their staff needed the break to kick back and reconnect with family during the current stressful times. That was especially good for Tom who would have a few extra days to recover from his recent illness.
The boys helped the men prepare their traditional holiday feast. Beto normally avoided carb-laden foods but made the exception for Thanksgiving. He did skip making dressing for the turkey, but he whipped up a corn casserole with a cornbread mix in it. The result was excellent. There were also mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, as well as a Waldorf salad and fresh cranberry relish. Needless to say, everyone but the turkey was stuffed. They decided to partake of the pecan pie later.
In the evening, after snacking on leftovers, they played a game of Mexican train dominos. Having Latino ancestry, Beto joked that Rick and he should be able to win over their companions. Rick said that he should probably be offended by the very name of the game.
Bryant discussed the idea of purchasing an older model car so Rick and he would have transportation without having to depend on Beto and Geoff so much. Beto told him to do what he felt was best, but that the teens could use Geoff's and his bicycles in the meantime. Those had been hanging unused in the garage for at least a year and they could buy him some time so he could shop around for the best deal. The boys pumped up the tires and took the bikes out for a spin. The fresh air and physical exercise felt great.
For teens who had grown up in the Midwest, it didn't seem like Christmas season with no freezing weather or snow on the ground. Actually, it hadn't snowed in Minnesota or Iowa yet this season either. However, it was likely to before the end of December and the temperatures were decidedly lower than they were in Florida.
The boys helped out parttime at the restaurant right up to Christmas Eve. Geoff and Beto hadn't originally planned to be open at all on the 24th, but many of their faithful customers requested them to be there, and most ordered extra carryout to show their appreciation. The men made a tidy profit, and the boys got a lot of sizeable tips.
One of the benefits of having stayed open until 6:00 was that they had enough good leftovers so they could eat that night and the next couple of days without having to cook when they had time off.
Beto and Geoff had told the boys they weren't expected to purchase them any Christmas gifts, but the teens did buy a few things they knew the men would appreciate. That included dishtowels to match their kitchen colors and a new pair of "Ove" Gloves to replace the ones which were getting pretty ratty.
The men gave the boys gift certificates to use for clothes to augment their wardrobe options. They wanted the teens to have some new things in addition to the used ones they'd provided earlier. It meant a lot to the boys. They knew that the restaurant had lost money earlier in the pandemic, and that Beto and Geoff had dipped into their savings to pay their employees. These men were both generous and gracious.
It was two days after Christmas when Detective Reynolds came into the restaurant in the afternoon during a slow time. Knowing what he liked, Bryant brought him a cup of coffee with a small pitcher of heavy cream without being asked.
"Thanks, Ryan smiled. This isn't my breaktime or a social visit, but I love the coffee here. I have news about Beto's brother."
"Um, that would be Rick's Dad, right?"
"Yup."
"They're in the kitchen. If you'd like to go into the little private dining room, I'll send them out. Is it bad news?"
"Yes."
"Crap! I wish I weren't waiting tables so I could be there for Rick."
"Why don't you stand at the door and listen in. You can still keep an eye on the main room if you need to be available to customers."
"Thanks."
"Please sit down," Ryan said to Beto and Rick when they entered the room. "The Linn County Sheriff's Office in Iowa called our department to contact you. Your brother's wife gave them your name as next of kin. I'm not sure why she didn't contact you herself."
"That means Dad is dead, doesn't it?" Rick exclaimed, on the verge of tears.
"Yes. I'm sorry to have to confirm your assumption. I hate being the bearer of bad news."
"How and when did he die?" Rick asked, in a trembling voice.
"They're assuming he's been dead for about three years, give or take. The preliminary assessment points to the cause as blunt-force trauma, but they can't be certain until after the autopsy."
"I'll bet that piece of shit, John Frederick, killed him. He started hanging around Mom as soon as Dad disappeared."
"I'll forward that bit of information to the sheriff. He mentioned that name as a person of interest. Do you know anything else that might shed light on the case?"
"Not really. It's only a feeling. John would never look me in the eye, and he wanted her to send me off her to live with Uncle Beto before he moved in with her. Obviously, I'm biased, or couldn't you tell?"
Beto put an arm around Rick to comfort him. Bryant wanted to hold Rick close, but he had to run to the register at that moment for a customer who was in a hurry to pay his bill. As soon as he returned, Rick clung to him for a few minutes.
Detective Reynolds went on to say that there would probably be more news available on the local Iowa stations now that everyone had been notified. After he shook hands with Beto and the teens, he slipped a 5-dollar bill under his cup and left.
Bryant held his boyfriend tenderly that night as they discussed the sad tidings of the day. They had used Beto's laptop to check the stories on channels 2, 7, and 9 which covered Linn County. There wasn't much available in those updates beyond what Detective Reynolds had told them.
"I hate it that he's dead," Rick said, "but at least I know now that he didn't leave because of me."
"What gave you that idea?"
"Mom said he left because was pissed that I'm gay. He didn't act that way when I came out, but she said he always hid his emotions well. She said he couldn't face his friends in town because he was ashamed."
"After the way she treated you, I wouldn't take her word about anything!"
"Yeah, I've learned that the hard way. But at the time, she was all I had. When you have only one parent, you tend to overlook a lot of crap."
"Tell me about it. I put up with beatings far too long. Mom had died, and so I figured I didn't have a lot of options. Looking back on it, I should have talked to a school counselor or someone to get me out of the situation instead of running away and getting enslaved in the process. Of course, if I had done the smart thing, our paths wouldn't have crossed. Maybe it's all for the best."
"I'm glad we met and made it here together. I wish it could have been without the suffering you went through. You were certainly my knight in shining armor! I'm not sure I could have made it without you. Someone, like that guy in the Atlanta bus station, might have sweet-talked me into going with him. I owe you."
"And I owe you in return."
"What did I do for you?"
"You gave me the strength to go on. The evening we met in that church basement; I was about ready to give up. When `Phil' picked me up earlier, I'd been standing on the bridge wondering if I could work up the balls to jump in and get it over with. All he was interested in was my body, just like everyone else I'd been around in recent months. He told me about the free dinners at the church. I figured I could have one last hot meal and then walk down to the roller dam and, um...."
Bryant choked up at that point and couldn't continue until after Rick kissed his tears away.
"So, you see, you gave me a purpose to keep going. You became my little brother."
"Will you always think of me that way, or could I be your husband someday when I grow up?"
"Are you proposing?"
"Yes!"
"Okay..."
"Okay what?"
"Okay, my answer is yes. I'd marry you in the blink of an eye."
While Florida didn't suffer the snow and sub-zero temperatures of the Midwest, it did have its share of storms, including a couple of isolated tornados. However, none of the damage was near where they were, and their school was never closed or delayed.
Back in the old grind, the teens found themselves very busy and doing well. Beto had arranged with a friend who was in social work to give the teens some counseling. He thought it would benefit his nephew, but especially his nephew's boyfriend.
The boys attended sessions together once a week. Mr. Maxwell was easy to talk with and they found themselves sharing bits and pieces of their lives which they'd kept buried. Not only was it cathartic for them, but it drew them closer in the sharing of their secrets with each other.
As the months progressed, both became more relaxed and happier with life. Bryant's bad dreams subsided. Part of that was from the counseling, but a lot of it had to do with Rick's presence in his bed. Whenever he felt a nightmare coming on, he roused enough to snuggle up to his soulmate and anything bad disappeared.
The evening after their last session with Mr. Maxwell, Bryant seemed more restless than he had in several weeks. He asked Rick if they could retire a bit earlier than usual because he had a confession to make. Rick said he was fine with whatever Bryant wanted.
"Okay, I know our counselor thinks we've told him all of our secrets, but I've held something back. I need to share it with you, and I need you to promise not to tell anyone else."
"Um, I guess I can do that," Rick gulped. "You didn't kill someone or get them killed or something like that, did you?"
"No. I suppose I'm guilty of withholding information from the cops back home. When you hear the whole story, I think you would have done the same thing. There was this twenty-something guy who rented me occasionally. He wasn't part of the group. I'm not sure why. Anyway, he was the one person who treated me nice. He never forced me to do anything I didn't want to do. In fact, I lost my virginity to him."
"I thought someone pretending to be a modeling agent did that," Rick said.
"Yeah, he took my anal virginity, but I'm talking about the act of, um being on top, like I was with the truck driver."
"Oh. So, he let you fuck him?"
"It sounds nasty when you phrase it like that. It was more like making love. He wanted me to feel good too."
"Did you love him?"
"I had a crush, I guess. I cared about him because he seemed to care about my feelings. Please don't think that it was anything like what you and I have for each other. That's why I need to tell you about it. I don't want you to find out about it someday and feel like I was cheating on you."
"Hey, I messed around with another dude before I met you. I guess I had the hots for him at the time, but it was nowhere in the ballpark like how I feel about you. That's in the past; BWM. So, I guess I can understand. If you were making love with him now, I'd feel like you were cheating!"
"BWM?"
"Yeah, before we met, you know, like BCE before the common era."
"Okay, so anyway, when I was searching for cash in Simon's desk, I saw a file with Jason's name on it and I took it with me. I think Simon might have intended to blackmail him with it. So, I destroyed it. Also, when Jason's picture came up in the photo lineup of possible customers, I didn't identify him. I know that I probably should have because he was paying for my services and was guilty of being involved in prostitution. But he was so decent that I didn't want to screw up his life. I firmly believe that if he had known I was being held captive, he would have figured out a way for me to escape, even if it meant he'd have been found out.
"So, what do you think of me now?"
"I think you're sweet and loving. I think you did the right thing, and I won't tell another soul."
"Thanks!"
"Is there anything else?"
"No, I swear that's all of it."
"Okay, may I show you how much I appreciate you, or are you too tired?"
"I'm up for whatever you have in mind."
There was one little blip in their relationship during spring term, but it wasn't anything that messed them up. It came about because a kid needed a schedule change. He'd been transferred into their gym class and had chosen a locker next to Rick's.
The new boy, Dashawn Williams, had dark skin, a trim body, and a big cock. He was a walking wet dream, and he seemed to have no boundaries when it came to respecting another guy's space. As Rick was bending down to tie his shoes, he was in danger of getting poked in the eye by Dashawn's best asset.
Poor Bryant looked on in distress. He wasn't sure if he should intervene or if Rick was enjoying the attention. While he felt threatened by this new kid, he felt he didn't have the right to be.
On the way home, his fears were allayed.
"Damn! I wish Dashawn weren't in our gym class. I'm not interested in flirting with him. Did you hear him invite me to his house after school? I'm glad we're working the dinner hour, so I had a ready excuse without having to make one up."
"So, you're not getting tired of white meat?"
"Huh?"
"I thought maybe you'd be interested in something darker. I'm so mayonnaise."
"You're talking over my head again."
"I'm rather bland, and he's like a Nubian prince. He's beautiful and I'll bet his cock is eight inches when it's hard."
"I agree that he's a looker, but I'm in love with you! I don't care how big his dick is! Maybe I should say something to him after math class tomorrow. He's in the same one with me now. I guess that's why he had to change gym classes."
"Okay. Do what you think you should. I'll be okay if you have to out me in order to back him off. I meant it when I said I'd marry you."
"Dashawn, I have to level with you. I think you're a good-looking stud, but I'm not looking for a boyfriend."
"Um, what gave you the idea I was, um going after you?"
"Man, you were hitting on me in the locker room. I'm not that naïve. You kept waving your dick in my face. It's a nice one, but I'm not interested!"
"I'm sorry. I thought you might be like me."
"I probably am, but I'm unavailable."
"I'll bet you're with that Bryant dude. You seem to hang with him a lot."
"We live together at my uncles' place."
"Wow! I really am sorry. Can we still be friends?"
"Sure."
"Cool!"
Four and a half years after Bryant and Rick had come to live with Beto and Geoff, they both finished college with business degrees. They were able to secure good-paying jobs at the same company and were living in a small apartment in Fort Lauderdale until they could find a condo with more room.
The settlement Bryant had received from Simon's estate wasn't huge because of the number of people who had made claims against it. It was, however, large enough to give them a sizeable down payment with cash to spare.
Rick also had some money to share. It seemed that the man he'd suspected of killing his father had been found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Rick's mother had participated in the crime and was serving a similar sentence. Rick was awarded the property his parent's had owned and had sold it to a business man who wanted to build a car dealership on the edge of town.
Given the transitory nature of teen romances, and the childhood traumas they'd faced along the way, most professional gamblers wouldn't have considered Bryant's and Rick's chances of staying together good enough to make book on. However, despite everything, they were not only surviving but thriving.
With college out of the way, they had a simple wedding ceremony on the beach near the cottage Uncle Beto and Uncle Geoff owned. The promises they'd made as teens came to fruition.
The restaurant business had picked up well after the pandemic ended. It was good enough for the owners to replenish their savings and have the money to give the guys a honeymoon cruise.
It looked like this was going to be a happily-ever-after affair.
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Author's notes:
Thanks for reading this story. If you enjoyed it, please feel free to contact me a dlee169@hotmail.com and let me know. Your emails are the only reward I receive for writing. If you put the title of this tale in the subject-line, I'll be able to find it if it ends up in the spam box.
Thanks to David S for editing. He finds the typos and missing words! He also makes valuable suggestions.
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I've heard from the following readers since last posting: Charles M, Frank K, Tony C, Norm R, Andy R, Steve C (1), Walter S, John L, Pete S, Ken McC, Geoff S, Geoff (2), Tim T, Mendy D, Joe W (2), Jeremy R, Dale P, David C, Frank K, Paul R, and Bill T. Thanks everyone. I appreciate the encouragement.
David