Westpoint Tales
by Kiwi
Entangled Tales - 49 - Justin & Billy's Story
Friday and Saturday dragged on. All of Justin's friends came to see him at some stage, and all were rejected - quietly, firmly and stubbornly. He refused to talk and was barely civil to anyone.
Saturday afternoon, he had two more visitors. Butch and Stretch Carver were escorted up to his room by Kathleen.
"Justin, you have visitors, Lad."
"I don't want any more visitors."
"Well you've got them, whether you want them or not. In here, Gentlemen."
He looked up as Butch and Stretch came, shyly, into his bedroom.
"What do you want?"
"Hello Superboy. Ma wants to see you. She sent us to bring you around to her."
"What do I look like? A chess piece to be moved around as anyone pleases? Tell Ma thanks but no thanks. No offense, but I don't want to see her. Goodbye, Butch, Stretch."
"Justin, she said to bring you to her."
"I said no. Now go away before I throw you back down the stairs." They stood wide-eyed and unbelieving at his refusal. "I could do it you know. Goodbye Butch. Goodbye Stretch."
"I'm sure you could, Superboy. Okay, we'll tell her. Ma won't like it you know."
"I couldn't care less."
"Justin, this is not like you."
"It is now - this is me - Fuck off."
They left.
Less than an hour later, a momentous event in the history of Westpoint occurred. Ma Carver left her home, which was rare enough, and, accompanied by her daughter, came to the Adelphi Hotel - which was totally unheard of. It had been over forty years since she had last walked through the doors there - long before the Reynolds were in residence.
A pin-drop could have been heard as she walked, heavily, painfully, into the public bar. She went up to the bar and addressed the open-mouthed, staring man standing there.
"Hello Bob. I've come to see your grandson, Justin that is. Where is he?"
"Doris! Good Lord. Justin is up in his room, but he won't come down - not even for you."
"Then," she smiled sweetly, "I'll just have to go up to him, won't I? Which way is it?"
"Ma, you can't," said Cecily. "You can't go up all those stairs."
"Don't you tell me where I can or cannot go, my Girl. Where do we go, Bob?"
"Well, Doris, if you're sure, it's up this way. Can you manage?"
"I will and I'm sure. Lead on Mr. Reynolds."
Bob, her daughter Cecily and Kathleen all hovered around her as Ma Carver, slowly and with huge effort, made her way up the stairs to Justin's room.
Kathleen knocked on the door and put her head in. "Justin, you've got more visitors."
"I told you, Grandmother, I don't want visitors."
"Oh?" she grinned. "I'm pretty sure that you'll want to see these ones."
She opened the door wide and Ma puffed her way in to the room.
"Well Boy, got anywhere that an old lady can sit down?"
"Ma!" He cried in amazement. "Mrs. Mathieson. What are you doing here?"
He jumped up from the bed and waved back at it. "We haven't got a proper chair, but you can sit here for a minute and I'll go and get you one."
"No. Thank you, Justin. This will do fine, I don't need a chair." She sat, wearily, on the end of the bed.
"You can have the computer chair, Mrs. M. Or would you rather have a proper chair?"
"Thanks, Justin." Cecily sat down "This will do me, I'm not an old lady yet."
"Well," said Bob, ushering Kathleen out the door, "we'll leave you to it. Sing out if anyone wants us."
"Thank you, Bob, Kathy." Ma looked around the room. "So, this is the famous Superboy's bedroom. Fortress of Solitude, isn't it?"
"Not quite, Jonathan sleeps here too - when he's home. Ma, what are you doing here?"
"We came to see you, of course. If the mountain won't go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain. Though, in my case, I should be the mountain really."
"You are no mountain, Ma."
"Don't try and sweet-talk me Boy. I know who I am."
"Maybe you do, but you're no mountain. How did you get up all those stairs?"
"With great effort, but I did it. It was worth it too, because we had to see you. Why wouldn't you come when I sent Butch to get you?"
"I didn't want to." He blushed, bright-red. "I can't, Ma. I just can't come around to your house anymore."
"And why can't you?"
He sat on the window ledge, looking down at his feet.
"I just can't."
Cecily spoke up. "It's because of Billy, isn't it? Because you've broken up with him."
"Yes Ma'am. Ma you're his grandmother. Mrs. M., you're his mother. I can't come visiting when Billy doesn't want to see me anymore. Billy is your family; he has the right to be there anytime. I'm not and I don't. It's better if I just stay away."
"No, dammit! It's not better at all. I told you that you're welcome in my house anytime. I thought we were friends, Justin. Forget about Billy. Why do we have to lose you just because you're not seeing him?"
"Because it would be awkward for him. I don't want to look like I'm using his family."
Cecily said, "His family love you, Justin. Not just Ma - all of us."
"I love you all too. But you're his, not mine. That's just the way it is."
Ma said, "You really love that boy, don't you?"
"I do, Ma. But . . "
"But nothing. You just keep hanging on to that. Billy is my favourite grandson, always has been, but sometimes he can be so damm thick! He loves you, Justin. I knew that the first time that you walked into my house.Billy loves you. He's fighting it. Cecily has got a story to tell you about that. All I've got to say is one word - wait. Just wait and everything will work out. Now Cecily."
"Right then. This may take some time. Talk about awkward. You must have wondered why all of our family, from Ma down to his youngest brothers, are all so accepting of your relationship with Billy. I mean, you're a great kid, Justin. You're bright and smart and talented in so many ways, and just a damm nice person, but there's more to it than that. Billy needs you. He needs you in ways that you don't even begin to know."
"Billy doesn't think so. He's made his choice."
"He's being stupid, all right? He loves you. I know that, Ma knows that. Give him time to think about it and he'll know it too. I'm sure of that.
You've got to try to understand him. Billy has been in a relationship with a boy before, and it all went horribly wrong - about as wrong as it can be. He's just scared of commitment now, and scared of his own feelings."
"Are we talking about Jeremy here? Because if you are, I don't want to hear it."
"No, not Jeremy. Jeremy helped him, saved him. Jeremy picked up the pieces when he was broken and held him together. I believe that he loved him back to life."
"That's good. But, who then?"
"Dennis McGuyver. Look - at the start of last year, we sent Billy off to St. Michael's school in Christchurch. Do you know St. Michael's?"
"No Ma'am. I haven't had a lot to do with schools."
"Well, St. Michael's is a boarding school for rich boys - the sons of wealthy farming families and suchlike. It's one of the oldest in the country and supposed to be one of the best. Their facilities, sports-grounds, accommodation and everything are all first class and so are their teachers, supposedly, but their students include some of the worst people you'll find anywhere.
They're rich, spoiled, arrogant and just plain nasty. We didn't know that then, or we would never have sent him there."
"It must be expensive boarding there?"
"You've got no idea how expensive - thousands of dollars every term, and that's just the start."
"Excuse me Ma'am, but how did you afford it on a widow's pension?"
"She didn't," said Ma. "I did. I paid for Billy to go off there, stupid old woman that I am. I thought that we would get him a first-class education, make some social contacts, and drag the next generation of this family up a few steps.
Don't look at me like that, Boy. I could afford it. Appearances can be deceiving you know, I've got more money than a bull can shit - one of the wealthiest people in Westpoint, me."
"I knew you weren't exactly destitute, Ma. All that money you've been spending on your house."
"I've never been into appearances. I come from a poor white-trash family and that's where I'm comfortable, but the Carvers had money. Think about it - Carver's Beach, the nice seaside suburb with all the fancy houses. Not so long ago that whole area was known as Carver's Farm.
If you don't use them, investments tend to grow and I've made some very good investments over the years. But, this is not about me. Carry on with your story, Cecily."
"Anyway, we already knew that Billy was gay, but we didn't think about the consequences. We sent him off at thirteen, a wide-eyed country boy, fresh-faced, naive and innocent. We sent him to an all male, traditional boarding school - like a lamb to the slaughter."
"I don't think I need to hear anymore."
"But you do, Justin. You need to hear the whole story so that you can understand him, and us. The school was run in the old English way. Third-formers, year 9's, were assigned to 'fag' for the senior boys."
"They what? How can they do that? That's illegal isn't it?"
"No. You're thinking of the modern, American, sense of the word; fag as in faggot, or homosexual. Fagging at St. Michael's is the English usage, nothing sexual about it. Fags are simply servants. Each junior boy as assigned to a senior and he acts as a servant to him - cleans his room, runs errands, that sort of thing.
In return the older boy is supposed to look after the younger, act as a mentor, a big brother, to guide and assist him. Unfortunately, boys being boys, it doesn't always work like that, and Billy fell into the hands of one of the worst of them.
Dennis McGuyver was the spoilt son of one of the district's leading families. His father is the third son of his family, he runs the family farm in North Canterbury and he is a millionaire, several times over. Ma thinks that she's well off; this guy could buy and sell her with his small change.
And, Dennis McGuyver was his spoilt and over-indulged youngest son. Sixteen years old, devastatingly handsome - tall, blond and manicured. He was the all-round sportsman, captain of the football team and of the cricket. He also swam and played tennis, very well.
He was rich, handsome, sophisticated and charming and Billy fell in love with this young god. He was everything that a young gay-boy from the country could dream of, and Billy was besotted, obsessed with him. Unfortunately, he was not the shining angel that he seemed, more like the devil himself. He was self-obsessed, arrogant, cruel and sadistic and just plain mean. He was the sort of boy who would set fire to kittens, and he has actually done that! In Billy, he found what every sadistic bully dreams of - a slave, someone who would do whatever he demanded of him.
He began by seducing him, which was not difficult. Billy was not totally inexperienced. He'd experimented with other boys his age - mostly his cousin Jeremy, and he was all too willing to leap into bed and do whatever his idol wanted.
Billy was in love, infatuated with this creep, but all he wanted was a sex-toy. He used him and abused him. He made him do things that he'd never heard of, things that I'd never heard of. He was always pushing the limits, trying to see how far he could make his slave go, and Billy took it all.
He made him drink; drink until he was paralytic and he fed him drugs. When he began to tire of him, he started sharing Billy with his friends, and watched while they abused him. Billy took it all and did everything he was told to please his idol.
Then he began to prostitute him, told him to have sex with other boys, and McGuyver kept the money. He must have thought he was on to a good thing, because he started to pimp him on the streets. He took him to hotel rooms and houses and ordered him to fuck complete strangers, and he kept the money. If Billy objected he was beaten until he complied, but he didn't usually, he was enslaved and out of it on drugs which he came to need to survive."
Justin was crying. "Mrs. Mathieson, I really don't want to hear this."
"Maybe not, but you need to. I've nearly finished anyway, I'll cut it short. A cousin of mine was in Christchurch, and being that way inclined, he rang a number and ordered a boy escort for the night. He was shocked to find that it was Billy who was delivered to his room.
Billy was ashamed and frightened and he told Harvey some of his story. Harvey kept him there and he rang Ma and told her. Ma sent Butch and some of her boys to go and rescue him.
They drove to Christchurch and picked him up, then they went a bit crazy. They went to the school and got McGuyver and they beat him within an inch of his life. They would have killed him, but Billy begged them not to. They took him home and dumped him on his family, then they set fire to their house. On their way back they stopped and set fire to one of the family's timber yards in Christchurch. There was never a court case, that's not the Carver's way.
When they brought him home, he was a broken shadow of the boy he used to be. Jeremy saved him. He picked him up and held him and loved him back to life. You know the rest. We lost Jeremy, and then you came along like a knight in shining armor.
So, you see, Billy's scared. He's scarred on the inside and he's scared to commit himself to anyone, even you, and you're exactly what he needs. Call us selfish if you like, but this is our boy here, our damaged, broken boy, and he needs you to hold him together. No-one else can do it."
"Mrs. M., do you know who I am - where I came from?"
"Yes I do. Ma told me your story, in confidence."
"I'm sorry, Justin. I wouldn't tell anyone else, but I thought Cecily should know."
"That's okay, Ma. Saves me telling her myself. My story is not too different actually, except my mother was the pimp. My sickness saved me and my brother put me back together again."
"We know your history, Justin, some of it; you've been through hell on earth. You may not agree, but it hasn't hurt you at all. It didn't destroy you, it has made you who you are and you're bloody amazing!
Billy knows who you are and it scares him. He thinks he's not good enough and he's afraid of getting into another Dennis McGuyver situation."
"I wouldn’t do that to him. I would sooner die than hurt Billy."
"You would, wouldn't you? I know, I heard your songs, I heard the love. So did Billy, that's why he freaked out."
"I should not have done that. I shouldn't have sent him those songs."
"Oh yes you should have. You did exactly the right thing. Now you've just got to wait. Don't despair, Justin, don't give up. Just wait for him to get his head around what he's got in you."
Ma interrupted. "Can you do that, Superboy? Wait for him? Don't die for him, live for him. Billy needs you. He can't accept that, but he will - he must."
"I can do that. Thank you Mrs. M., Ma, you've given me something to hope for - something to live for. I was going to wait until the end of the year and then disappear into the bush, or the river."
"Justin! No. You can't. Don't even think about that."
"I won't, not now. I'll wait for as long as it takes. Forever if I have to. Thank you for coming, you've saved me. You are both pretty amazing ladies."
"We just want the best for our boy, and you're the best there is. So, are you going to come around to visit me now?"
"No, Ma. I can't. Not unless Billy is with me."
"We'll all just have to wait for him then. For now my main problem is getting back down those bloody stairs!"
Cecily grinned. "We could always roll you down, Ma."
Justin agreed. "Or, maybe a forklift through the window."
"Big help, the pair of you. I'll walk, thank you."
After they had, finally, gone, Justin went upstairs and then came back in his running shoes, shorts and a t-shirt. He went into the crowded, public bar-room, went behind the bar and hugged his astounded grandfather.
"I love you, Granddad."
He walked out leaving his extremely pleased and proud grandfather watching him go. Bob was so happy, he shouted free drinks all around, which was a rare thing indeed.
In the kitchen, Justin apologised for being a prat over the last few days. He hugged both his grandmother and Connors and told them that he loved them too.
On his way out he met Jonathan in the doorway and he hugged and kissed him.
"I love you, Jonathan. Thank you for being my brother. Now I've got to go and mend some of the fences that I've been kicking down."
He ran up the passage and out the front door to go and apologise to his friends who he'd been so abrupt with lately. Each one of them fell in love with him all over again.
Jonathan came into the kitchen. "Wow! What the hell happened to Justin?"
"Billy's mother and grandmother came to see him. I don't know what they did, but whatever it was, it worked."
"Ma Carver came here? To the Adelphi?"
"Yes she did, and she struggled up those stairs to his room. She's amazing that woman. Justin was right all along, they're good people. And they love our boy."
Authors deserve your feedback. It's the only payment they get. If you go to the top of the page you will find the author's name. Click that and you can email the author easily.* Please take a few moments, if you liked the story, to say so.
[For those who use webmail, or whose regular email client opens when they want to use webmail instead: Please right click the author's name. A menu will open in which you can copy the email address (it goes directly to your clipboard without having the courtesy of mentioning that to you) to paste into your webmail system (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo etc). Each browser is subtly different, each Webmail system is different, or we'd give fuller instructions here. We trust you to know how to use your own system. Note: If the email address pastes or arrives with %40 in the middle, replace that weird set of characters with an @ sign.]
* Some browsers may require a right click instead
