Halloween Happenstance

by Robert Symes

Chapter 4

This story is set in an unidentified English town, mostly now. The cultural references are English so I hope that references to cars, TV shows or music won't spoil the story for those who don't know them. Follow the links provided for more information or just ignore them. (And yes, I know you can use a search engine just as well as I can. The links are for convenience, not to insult anyone.)

The sci-fi/supernatural elements and the criminality are there to make the story work (I hope!) and don't necessarily reflect my own opinions or experience. There is, so far as I can discover, no such place as Appleyard.

It is this author's policy to have no opinions about anything, or at least not to state them. Any opinions you see on these pages are those of the characters or the site owner respectively and I neither endorse nor oppose them.

A New Understanding

"My Matthew was called Adam" Tom began, then a pained look crossed his face and he took a deep drag on his cigarette. "Sorry. What hurts is not so much that he rejected me but that he rejected himself."

"That's okay" said Carl. "Take your time. Only tell me what you want to." He was tempted to point out that Tom seemed to be destined to share his sister's fate. He thought better of it. The guy wasn't stupid; he could work it out on his own.

"Well, I had this friend in school, Adam Knight. I haven't got a picture but he was 'tall, dark and handsome' as they say. I say friend but he kept looking at me like he wanted more than that. But I never did anything about it. I wasn't 100% sure and getting it wrong would be catastrophic; you wouldn't survive if it was known at school. One Saturday morning we went to the snooker hall for a game. I lost and he said 'aww, look at your little face' and then without thinking 'I could kiss you.' Then he realised what he'd said out loud and looked terrified.

"Then I knew, so I said 'Do it then, but not here. People will talk.' We'd finished our game anyway so we left and went round the side of the building where no-one could see and he said 'You sure?' and started kissing me like he'd wanted to for a long time. I said 'Let's go to my place. My parents are in town and my sister's gone off with her friends.'

"We were walking down this quiet road from the snooker club and Adam looked around to make sure there's no-one about and then put his arm around me. Not a good idea but I thought it won't hurt for a minute while we're alone. But we weren't alone. I heard a shout from behind me 'Look at them two queer boys!'

"We'd just walked past the back entrance of the White Horse. You know it? The main entrance is on Buckley Street but there's a back gate onto Minton Lane. Turns out there's a National Front meeting just finishing in the back bar and some of the animals went out the back way. I looked at them, turned to Adam and just said 'Run.' You know what those bastards are like."

"No, I don't" confessed Carl."I think I heard of the National Front somewhere but I don't know anything about it. They wouldn't attack you in the street would they?"

"I don't know about now but this was 1974. Skinheads in drainpipe jeans and bovver boots; they'd attack anybody just for the crack. Those yobs would beat up their own mother if she went to a Paki shop."

"Oh my God, you can't say that!"

"Why not? It's true and they can't hear me."

"No, you can't say that P word. It's really offensive and you can even be arrested. Say 'Asian' if you have to mention it at all. What is this National Front anyway?"

"Mostly a bunch of football hooligans pretending to be a political party. They don't like Black people, Asian people, Jews, career women, gays, anybody not like them really. They want to send all the blacks back to Africa but most of them was born here so where you gonna send 'em? It's obvious but they won't say it. They wouldn't think twice about putting a couple of gay boys in hospital so we ran for it.

"We managed to lose them thank God and came back here. We were sat on my bed just kissing and maybe groping a bit when the door opened and my old man's there looking like the wrath of God. 'So it's true then' he says. 'I met Bert Porter in town and he said you'd been seen holding hands with some bleedin' nancy boy' and I remembered I'd seen Bert with the skinheads, he must be NF as well.

"Like I told you yesterday he took Adam home and told his parents then came back here and laid into me. He said after that he lost his temper but ain't it funny how they lose control and don't leave a mark on your face? Then he said 'Next time I swear I'll put you in the fucking ground. We brought you up to be a man not a fairy. Your mother's dying of shame. And don't you dare say a word to Susan, she don't need to know about that kind of thing.'"

"What a charmer he must have been" said Carl, appalled.

"Well, you don't choose your family. And he was my dad and your great granddad. And he was mostly a good man. But he didn't like perverts, as he called them. And you have to remember it was a crime until I was about nine or ten and still is if you're under twenty one. He was probably trying to straighten me out for my own good."

"Sixteen now" said Carl. "But I see what you mean. What happened to Adam?"

"I don't know. I found him at school on the Monday and asked how he was and he just said 'Leave me alone please. I'm not like you. Saturday was a mistake. I should never have listened to you. Just keep away from me' and he never spoke to me again. We left school a couple of months later and I haven't seen him since.

"Like I said he rejected me but he was really rejecting himself. I wonder if he kept away from me for fear of lapsing again. Maybe his family wouldn't accept it. Maybe he blamed me to get himself out of trouble and felt bad about it. Or maybe I was wrong but it certainly didn't seem like it at the time. If not he'll either come to terms with it or marry some girl and probably make both of them miserable. But that's his problem I suppose. Maybe your Matthew will do the same."

Carl laughed. "You haven't met him. There's no chance of that. He came to terms with it years ago and he'll hopefully stick it out where he is for now and then get into university in Brighton, which is like the gayest place in Britain just now. He might get married but not to a woman."

"Well, who else?" asked Tom, puzzled. "It's not like he can marry a bloke is it?" he added sarcastically.

"Actually, yes he can. It's been legal for years now. You've got so much to learn I don't even know where to start. But we'll worry about that tomorrow. I'll tidy up while we finish our drinks and then it's bedtime. And then I think I owe you a blow-job don't I? I may not reach your standard but Matt didn't complain."

"You'll reach my standard with a bit of teaching. I've had a lot of practice remember. It's fast, easy money and you can easily do it in a car. Not that I'm suggesting that for you of course. And not for me now either. Sue's right, I need to keep my head down and not attract attention. But I'll keep your 'debt' in the bank for now if that's okay. Like I said I'm tired and stressed so let's just have sex, shower and sleep."

Carl tried to keep his feelings off his face. Imagine having to suck some random stranger's dick. Without protection. He preferred not to. Aloud he said "I'm glad you're giving it up. I don't think I want to kiss a mouth that's been doing that. If you change your mind at least make them bag it up. I've heard some will pay extra not to but the money won't help when you're dying from AIDS. Well, I'll just tidy up and check the locks and then we'll go up."

In the bedroom Tom looked around. "I was going to try a different position but there's nothing in here the right height for it. So it looks like a repeat of last night then."

"Not quite" Carl smiled. "I want to try something else. Lie face down on the bed."

"No, I told you I want to see your face."

"And you will. Just humour me; you don't know what I'm going to do yet but I think you'll like it." As Tom lay down Carl put lube and a condom ready on the bedside table. Then he scooted up behind him, pulled his cheeks apart and applied his tongue to the anus, licking, probing, stimulating.

Tom almost screamed. " FUCK ME ! Where did you learn that ?"

Off the internet, then practice on Mattie was the correct answer but Carl wasn't inclined to explain it. "I'm a man of talents" he said. "I bet you don't get that from your 'punters' do you? And I intend to fuck you but not yet. You'll just have to be patient."

He returned to what he had been doing, then introduced a lubed up finger, then a second, getting everything loose, wet and ready. "Turn over" he instructed as he ripped the condom packet open. Tom turned over and spread his legs. Carl lay on top and again Tom's fingers guided him home.

It was just as good as last night, better if anything. Carl had already had one orgasm today so was less urgent, more able to concentrate on what he was doing and feeling, and Tom's reactions. But after a while the feeling took over and he finished, filling the condom. He glanced down and saw the white slime all over Tom's chest and stomach; again he had come first, without even touching himself. "Wow, that was just what the doctor ordered. And you're right, I don't get it from punters. They only care about themselves. Can I shower first again?"

In the morning they dressed and had breakfast. There was a reduced Sunday bus service so they caught the 10:38 to Appleyard, reaching the hospice a bit after 10:50. Sue and Mark were already in the covered area and Carl swapped Sue's almost empty cigarette packet for a full one.

Mark looked Tom in the eye. "It seems I owe you an apology. You're not what I thought you were. Mum has 'set me straight' and my ears are still ringing. I hope I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong and I hope you'll accept a sincere apology and understand I was just looking out for my Mum, at least I thought I was."

"It's fine Mark" said Tom. "Carl set me straight on a few things as well and I can see how it must have looked to you. I don't need money and we all care about Sue so I hope we can get along. But you have to accept that I'm staying with Carl as long as he wants me whether you like it or not. He says you don't like gays."

Mark looked taken aback. "I never said that. I never said anything about that. I said I don't like chancers on the make and I already apologised for that."

Carl said "Uncle Mark, what you said is 'you never told me and you don't act like it so how was I to know? And it doesn't matter if I like it, you're not doing it to me.' You've told me your opinion, just not directly."

"Well, okay, maybe I have, sort of. But I didn't mean it like that. Look, I'll be honest since you bring it up. I don't like gay sex stuff, okay? The things you do are... Well, I don't want to think about it, no straight man does, it's revolting. But that doesn't mean I hate gay people , whatever some of them seem to think."

"They think it because too many still do" Carl told him. "I'm glad you're not one of them. But what does 'act like it' mean?"

"It means... well you know act gay . I switched the telly on late Friday night and there's all these fairies... sorry, blokes in drag, mincing and prancing about like Julian Clary on laughing gas or something. Turned out to be something called Ru Paul's Drag Race . That's what I meant. You seen it?"

"Love it!" said Carl. "But I watched it Thursday on BBC3. Just as well, I was a bit busy on Friday. It's funny and sometimes a bit sad, but that's not me. I've never done drag, never wanted to."

"Right. Fair enough. But that's what I meant by you don't act like it. It won't change anything between you and me. Just don't tell me about it, which I'm sure you wouldn't anyway, and be careful what you say to my girls. I won't cause you any problems now or later. Mum would probably come back and haunt me."

"Bloody right she would" agreed Sue. "You be nice to these boys they're going to need each other, especially after... Well, you know."

Tom pulled out cigarettes for himself and Sue. He looked upset and anxious to change the subject. "Where are Julia and the girls anyway?" he asked. "They seemed very nice and I thought they'd be here."

"They will be" said Mark. "But seeing their grandmother like this upsets them. It upsets all of us, I'm sure, but they're very young so we limit it to one short visit each day. They'll be here this afternoon to say goodbye before we head home."

"Then perhaps it's better if we're not" suggested Carl. "Not avoiding you, Uncle Mark, just thinking of numbers. And the buses are difficult on Sundays. Which reminds me. Gran, this is just an idea, not a request." He looked pointedly at Mark. "And Tom didn't put me up to it. He doesn't even know. But Tom has a driving licence and it's bad for the car to just leave it standing so I wondered if you might like to let him use it. Either sign it over to him or put him on the insurance as a second driver. It would make getting here easier and maybe we could even take you out in it. What do you think?"

"I think that's a great idea" Sue smiled. "They look after me really well here but I'd love to get out once in a while if they'll let me. And it will help you boys as well. I'll sign it over and that's one less thing to sort out later. Knowing you, if you're asking me you've got the papers with you, haven't you?"

If Mark had any objections he wisely kept them to himself, the papers were signed and they chatted of this and that until the end of visiting time. Mark offered a lift back to the house and Carl promised to bring Tom the next afternoon "but not in the car, it will take a day or two to sort out insurance."

Back at the house Tom grinned at Carl. "Ha! Got you to myself for the rest of the day. Time for some fun."

"Easy tiger, not so fast" he replied. "I'd love it but we've got work to do. Lots of work. In six days you start as a delivery driver and customers will talk to you. I suppose I could say you're deaf and do all the talking but it's better if you know enough to get by.

"So we have lunch now and then I show you how to use the laptop. And then while I'm at college this week you'll have lots of reading to do, TV to watch, music to listen to. It's going to be a lot. Fun will have to wait until night time."

And here we leave the boys to get on with their life together. And a busy life it is, working for Jack at the weekend, studying in the week, Carl at college, Tom on the internet learning 50 years of history, culture and music so he won't ask weird questions like "What is Duran Duran?" or "Who is Tony Blair?" or whatever. In the evenings they visit Gran/Sue while they still can, then Carl teaches Tom technology and Tom teaches Carl how to drive in his newly acquired Micra (after Carl taught him about automatic chokes and unleaded petrol that is).

And Mr J is more than happy with Tom's reliability and discretion and is giving him enough illicit driving jobs to pay his debt while earning enough cash to pay for most of their spending. They spend just enough through the bank to not arouse suspicion and save most of their wages to buy Mark out at the first opportunity.

The End

At least, the end for now. I'm currently working on a spin-off which you may read here in the fullness of time if the boss thinks it's good enough. If not, look out for it on Nifty.

I woke up one day with this story 'in my head' and didn't know where it came from but I knew I wanted to write it. It wasn't until later that I realised it was probably inspired by a short film called Closets that I'd seen a few weeks before. In a strange coincidence I also saw an interview with writer and director Lloyd Eyre-Morgan in which he said that he too just woke up with it and didn't know why. I don't suppose Mr Eyre-Morgan will ever see this but thought I should acknowledge it anyway.

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