jkwsquirrel

Thanks Benji, I've always thought of Billy as one of those kids who is incredibly smart but then forgets how to tie his own shoes. He over-thinks things to the point of inaction. He thinks of all the "ifs." "If I do 'x', then 'y' will happen, and everyone will hate me." In this chapter, it was a crisis and his friend was dying. No time to think, just react. Sometimes that works well, other times, it goes nuclear. Dustin's revenge was that he tried to kill himself. It was an "I'll show you!" to his parents and the world. He stole the one thing in the world that his father actually loves and he drank it all, ironically saving his own life by getting so blasted that his body's processes slowed down enough for Billy to have time to find him. The nakedness was for literary reasons. It made him more vulnerable. But he is a sixteen year old kid who was blitzed out of his mind drunk, so at some point during that night I guess he shucked his clothes! And he did ruin a really nice carpet, but that was Billy's fault, not Dustin's! Seeing how fast Dr. Reilly got home after Brett called her, it seems that their night was destined to be ruined one way or another.

Thanks DQ, This was a case of Billy not over-thinking things and just doing what needed to be done. Sometimes that works well. Sometimes it leads to trouble.

Thanks Dahawk, That would certainly be a nuclear option!

Thanks Jay, The key is that he will wake up. He'll have the chance to face a new day. What could have been the end is now the end only of the worst chapter in his life, not the end of his story. The possibilities are endless.

Thanks Wesley, Don't worry, no actual bombs will be dropped, just verbal ones! That 911 call will be important soon. Brett may just have a reputation for prank phone calls that came back to bite him. As for what may have gone through Jen's head? "An orgy gone horribly wrong" sounds accurate!

Thanks, Moggy, I don't know what a Gibbs treatment is, but I'm assuming the technical term is a "cranial extraction from the rectal region." Enjoy the ride, my friend!

I'm going to break my rule about not commenting until things have settled down to say: Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes! You are not alone. There is help available! AND, don't be Billy. If you suspect someone you know is being abused, tell someone. Talk to someone who can help. Wishing things will get better on their own won't do anything.

“Oh my god, he’s dead,” I thought to myself. Dustin’s naked body lay there motionless on the ground in a dark pool of black gore. “Someone murdered him,” I thought. “His dad fucking killed him.” The beer cans were definitely the brand his dad liked to drink. “He fucking finished the job. He raped the poor kid and murdered him, and left him for dead for somebody like me to find.” I sat down on the stump in a state of shcok. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I’d

Thanks Lisa! I'm glad you're back! Brett is basically made of iron coated with that stuff that Wolverine has on his bones. He'll be okay. Sadly, Carol Smith is also doing exactly what a victim of abuse does. Of course she took him back. She doesn't know how to live a normal life. Her normal is the chaos, the insults, and the gaslighting.

Interesting discussion. I was like, "How did I end up with 40 comments?!?" lol! Ah, the joys of the second page of the comments, where anything can happen! In the story, the problems of religion stem from Pastor Carl's negligent care for his congregation. He is more interested in the accumulation of power and wealth than he is with the care of his people. He feeds the ego, not the soul. Billy, being the outsider, can see the corruption more clearly than those who are within the church. But he's not within the group, so he'll simply be ignored and ostracized. That will simply perpetuate the anger Billy feels. In the story, it's a case of a bad church led by bad people who do bad things. I don't intend Carl's church to represent all churches. It's obvious that this is a bad one. Its corrupting influence is poisoning the town and those within the congregation. Other people, like Billy's dad and Brett, deal with religion with more grace. They're not out to condemn or judge anybody, they just want to practice their faith. Billy actually has come to enjoy going to Brett's church. In the story, the church is both abusing its power and is being used by some to abuse others. It also represents the life which Paula rejected in her youth to be with George. Paula's family was a part of that power in the community, but they were a force for good, not evil. Lloyd and Helen Cunningham represented a time when the neighborhood was a place to be proud of. They served the community because they wanted to serve people. Their deaths, left a vacuum that was eagerly filled with a lesser quality of people, more interested in being served than service for others. Right now, Paula has blinders on. She wants to think that she can reclaim her parents' legacy, but she fails to see the corruption all around her, and her own partaking in that corruption which will drive a wedge between herself and her son.

I enjoy the game! Billy didn't dump Brett for the pot. He grew up with a smoker for a dad, so it's just not a big deal to him. I'll just say this, here on the second page of comments where no one will probably see: Do you think that George's arms and legs are the only things that have stopped working properly?

Awseome, Trevin! Be sure to check out Shorty's Lunch on Chestnut St. You can eat where Billy ate! I try to upload every Friday. Sometimes it's Thursday evening, sometimes Friday morning.

Ever look at someone else's life and see all the things wrong about yourself that they are doing? That's basically the conversation between Billy and Miss Winston: “What? Am I supposed to thank you or something? Thanks for being a fucking coward and hiding for twenty-five years so you could live a lie. You could have made it easy for us! You could have stood up to these morons twenty years ago instead of making us fight your battles for you! My boyfriend got the hell beat out of him because he loves me! You expect me to say thank you? What the fuck do you want me to do?” I shouted. “I want you to be yourself, without hiding! I want you to realize that it's not the end of the world that you're gay. I want you to not hate yourself because of your feelings. I want you to be able to say it proudly without feeling like the world's worst monster.”

Yeah, sorry about the cliffhanger. I don't use them often, this is one of the only true cliffhanger chapters in the story actually. (Which I think made it a much more impactful moment.) Billy is kind of myopic. He's a teenager, so that kind of comes with the territory. He only sees how events are going to impact himself. He notices things, but he doesn't think things through. His response to his troubles is to lash out when things seem unjust. Many times that impulsive nature gets him into trouble. He feels powerless. He doesn't know how to fix what's wrong so he says nothing rather than "make things worse." I hope it's becoming clear that the town itself is becoming so corrupt that the cops are essentially powerless to do much of anything. The park that was home to such happy moments for Billy and his grandma has become a den of drug dealers and prostitution, even in broad daylight. The school has one good teacher standing up for the students, and she is losing hope. The man who can fix anything is falling apart. The church is feeding people's worst intentions, corrupting the town further rather than calling it to repentance. Much of the conflict Billy faces is the continuation of a generations-long conflict.

Thanks Benji! You're on the right path with these thoughts. (Mostly!)

Everything about the situation will become clear in the next chapter. Dustin's confession of love for Billy came because he felt like he no longer had anything to lose. He was 'going away' one way or another, thinking it would be the last time he ever saw Billy. Be aware of someone whose life is falling to pieces and has been very depressed who suddenly becomes very calm and accepting of things. It's actually a really bad sign. When one of my characters starts smoking, it's a bad sign. They're under a lot of stress. Brett thought he was going to get destroyed. Dustin was pondering some very bad things. You did call the driving test! Hopefully the next chapter's title will become clear when the time comes.

Yeah. Sorry about the cliffhanger!

Thanks glennish! Indeed! Much of Brett and Dustin's animosity stems from their desire to have the same thing, and only one can have it. How I wish I were just making up Dustin's mom taking her husband back after everything that happened. Unfortunately that kind of thing happening is all too real. People in abusive relationships do things that make you so frustrated. There's no reason to it. It's very sad.

Thanks for sharing this, DQ. Everyone handles like differently, don't they? There is help available for those who seek it. No one needs to do life alone.

Thanks Israfil! Thanks for your take on the issues with Billy at school. Funny how we relate to each other. Billy just wants to be left alone, so we know he'll get dragged into things eventually. Dustin is a good kid who has had some terrible things happen to him and then he's made some bad choices on top of those bad things that have made the bad things even worse. It's a rolling snowball becoming an avalanche. But I've always thought that Billy and Dustin together would be bad for both of them. So you were expecting something bad to happen when things were going so good? Now why would you expect that? Mwahahahahahaaaa!!!!!!!

Dustin is in no condition to tell anyone anything at the moment. We'll find out more very soon.

Thanks Dahawk! Things are changing, some for better, some for worse!

Sorry about the cliffhanger. Or am I? Mwahahahahaha!!!!!!!!11

I slept in the guest room overnight. Brett insisted it was only because he hurt so much, but I think he was kind of mad at me that I’d let Dustin into not only his house but also his life. After I’d helped him up the stairs, he gingerly stripped down and I drew a bath for him. He just soaked there for a long time, and I gently cleaned up his wounds. His shirt and shorts were ruined with blood stains, and boxers were soaked with piss. He was really embarrassed about pissing himself and begge

From Dustin's point of view, it doesn't matter how it's all happening, it just is and he's losing his grip on everything he holds dear, including his sanity.