mayday

It is very easy to judge characters from our readers' distance. Kitt's indoctrination cannot disappear simply because he is not at home anymore. He still considers his father's reaction normal and expects Matt to face the same when he confesses his feelings for Kitt. We know he won't but Kitt does not. Kitt needs to learn to be himself and to accept his feelings. But let's not forget that he first had to ensure his basic needs were met: shelter, food, safety. He has done so now, but his situation is still precarious, very much so. And he is still dependent on Javier, Tom and Mateo. He is not a free agent.

Finally, Kitt has a chance to see Matt as he is. The one he loves. Too deeply to hurt him. But Matt was hurt anyway. Will Stephen ever realise what he has done? How dictatorial and oppressive he has been? I cannot believe so. Yes, this story moves painfully slowly. But now I feel that is exactly as it should be. Kitt's loneliness will feel the same, long, no real chance of ending, of changing into something better, something he dares not hope for. After all he does not want to drag his friend into it. Kitt still lives in the confines his father has set up for him. And to me it seems now that Stephen has only ever seen that cage but never the person within. Tom gives him something he has never had: the freedom to find out for himself what he wants. And he gives him time to do so. No pressure. Most of us take that for granted. Kitt has hardly an idea what freedom is.

What a contrast to the last chapter! Beautiful ending to a heart wrenching and great story. Thank you for sharing such superb writing.

Camille has put her son first. We all know that she should have done it 16 years earlier, but hindsight does not mean she knew then. I am impressedby her selflessness. All three of them will have to adjust and learn.

It is easy to see what to do about a bad situation looking from afar. Being part of a situation is a completely different matter.

Great story! Thanks for sharing. Has it always been the same? The chosen versus the rest. Superstituon and faith versus knowledge and science. Self-righteousness versus logic and wisdom.

Great chapter. A lot of things happening. Like everyone I could not get over the shock of Ty's proposal. But now he makes more sense to me. Laying everything out there like that is daring. But he opened himself up to Lonnie, first explaining, then trying very carefully to gain his trust and affection. Leo - to me - seems real enough in the sense that people we love are still with and within us once they have gone forever. It takes time for their presence to fade. To Lonnie Leo is real. So what?

No, Matt has not given up. He has started to build a future for Kitt to share.

I did not expect Stephen's pastor to counsel him towards love. Stephen must be a loner, an isolated entity with his own brand of faith, to expect validation from his pastor. Has he never listened to a sermon by his pastor or is Pastor Greene insincere? Doubt the latter very much. I do not condone Susan's passivity. But I understand it to a degree. She must have been raised to submit to her husband in everything. She stays at home - we never see any of them outside, at work, at church meetings. She seems without friends. Isolated. I know I am filling gaps the author left on purpose unfilled. But to me it seems that Susan's refusal to acknowledge her husband's role as the head of the family as to the dynamics between the three is her only way of dealing. Banning him from their bed, denying him any affection or acknowledgement may not seem much to someone who has always been self-sufficient and autonomous in one's decisions. I wish she had gone to get Matt's help. Anyone's help. Earlier. But it is not my decision.

I did not expect Stephen's pastor to counsel him towards love. Stephen must be a loner, an isolated entity with his own brand of faith, to expect validation from his pastor. Has he never listened to a sermon by his pastor or is Pastor Greene insincere? Doubt the latter very much. I do not condone Susan's passivity. But I understand it to a degree. She must have been raised to submit to her husband in everything. She stays at home - we never see any of them outside, at work, at church meetings. She seems without friends. Isolated. I know I am filling gaps the author left on purpose unfilled. But to me it seems that Susan's refusal to acknowledge her husband's role as the head of the family as to the dynamics between the three is her only way of dealing. Banning him from their bed, denying him any affection or acknowledgement may not seem much to someone who has always been self-sufficient and autonomous in one's decisions. I wish she had gone to get Matt's help. Anyone's help.

To me, that came out of the blue. I do not know Ty well enough to judge his proposing this way. Without preamble. In their first ever private talk. But maybe ambush-like tactic is the only way Lonnie would accept anything at all, being just friends, moving forward - whatever without retteating back into his shell of memory, grieving and dealing with it. I do not know what to think, nor what to wish for....

Can't say it better than Cane 23. Beautifully rendered.

This chapter is harrowing. Tough to read. If only Kitt let Tom help him...

I agree that Susan is strong. But only Matt may remember Riverbend as a place where to look for Kitt.

You have let us feel Lonnie's grief so poignantly. Hard to read but so real. Getting productive is certainly better than remaining passive. It also shows us that he is not alone and meeting with the managers, Maisie and Jim more often might be good for him. His parents will also be there for him. A very engaging beginning. Thank you for sharing! By the way - your style here is completely different from yours in "Sold into freedom". Your range is impressive!

Kitt was so lucky to meet Mateo ...

Kitt wanted to save Matt from being thrown away as he himself was by his father. He is slowly learning about a world he was sheltered from. I hope Howard and the professor will be a lifeline. Matt's desperation is devastating. If only he confided in his parents....

Yes, he did. After being ignored and overlooked by many who might have helped, probably half of them good and upstanding Christians.

Brutal, yes. And probably only too real. The Wellingtons - how will they cope? When will Kitt's father understand what he has done, if ever? How will his wife react when she realizes that her family has been destroyed by cruelty and ambition dressed in rightfulness and beliefs that have denied reality? How will Matt cope? How is it that most of us refuse to see what is directly before us? That somebody is freezing? Needs help? A busboy, a kitchen help the only ones who do? I guess if anyone can find and help Kitt it will be Matt. Only he knows to look in Riverbend. He is the only one to see him, to know that that place may hold good memories for his friend. And Kitt's mother has no idea, because her husband has set boundaries that have strangled the life out of their only child. And he has no idea what his son is like. Kitt has never been allowed to be himself, only what his father believes what he has to be like. Will she have the courage to even approach Matt? Will she even think of going against her husband, of being herself? The kindness of strangers has given Kitt a chance. To me it looked like touch and go. If Mateo and Xavier had not been could Kitt take any more?

Great story telling. Hank's understanding of Jesse is amazing. Jesse's suffering as a child and teenager have traumatised him badly. Deeply moving. Thank you for sharing!

I have been waiting for this. And dreaded it. Matt's pleas have gone unheard, he is standing alone waiting for his best friend. How will Kitt survive in the night? In the cold. If Matt does not rescue him from his fears ... This chapter makes me fear the temptation of the lake. But Kitt has packed his backpack. So maybe not all hope is lost.

And he calles him baby in public...

Quiet before the storm. Baby. Your boy. Obviously.

I cannot remember a story which progresses in such tiny steps towards breaking point. Kitt's father seems to be afraid of life, of choices, of anything different, other. Do not acknowledge something and it won't become real. I ache for both boys. For everyone involved. Dreading the next chapters.