jkwsquirrel

Brett's pretty tough. He did bounce off a Cadillac like a champ, after all. You are on the ball about Dustin's behavior. All he knows is violence and abuse. That he was able to maintain the facade of normality for so long is a testament to his willpower. But now that he's losing the last pieces of what he sees as his normal life; Mike, sports, the park, his parents, Billy, he's lashing out in the only way he knows. It's how he's been taught all his life. He's becoming everything he hates. And yes, he is taking out all of his frustration and anger on someone who is physically weaker. He's been taught that all his life too. Thankfully, Dustin's beating the crap out of Brett is not the end of their story, but a turning point.

Well, his life is falling apart and he feels out of control. The park and his family, for all the evil that they do to him, were part of his normal. What will happen now that they have been taken from him?

I'll never tell!

I kind of like that sex has just become part of the routine for the boys. It's become just part of who they are and what they do together. Now yeah, it's still really hot, but they've come a long way from where they started to where they are now. It's not a surprise to them anymore that they're getting laid, it's just part of who they are.

Thanks Onim! See my commentary up above concerning Billy's cowardly behavior, and trust that someone as perceptive as Brett will eventually call him on it.

Remember my promise. Even if it looks bleak, Dustin will live.

Thanks Benji! I think Dustin's story is a part of that script you described. Of course he was going to end up no good, right? His parents were trash, so he has to be trash too. Joey's dad said it best, Billy is discovering that people his parents age had lives before he was born, and it seems that the children are destined to keep living the script of the generations that preceded them. Part of Billy's journey is his awakening to what's going on in the world around him, and that he doesn't need to live the life that society seems to have laid out for him. For as cowardly as Billy can sometimes be, he does have a talent for challenging authority. His sense of justice won't allow him let things continue as they have always been.

Thanks Dahawk! It''s always darkest before the dawn. Dustin is at a crossroads. He doesn't know what normal looks like. He'll need some help. He may find that help from some unlikely places.

We come up with all manor of terms to talk about things we don't particularly want to talk about don't we? As far as concussions go, if someone is suddenly very tired after hitting their head, they should go get their head checked out. It could be a sign. However, sleep helps in the healing process of a concussion. Brett will be okay. He just needed to rest after getting throttled. He'll be good as new in no time.

Hi everyone! Thanks for all of the wonderful responses to this chapter. Not much time today, but I would like to comment on something that has been brought up by several folks, that is, Billy's just standing there doing nothing while Brett gets beat up. First, I will say that it was the intention all along that Brett vs. Dustin ended this way; with Dustin beating the tar out of Brett. It had to happen at this point in the story too. The fight went the way it did for all the reasons folks have listed. Even in his weakened condition, Dustin is still bigger and stronger than Brett. But also, Brett didn't once fight back. He wanted to avoid the fight altogether, but when it came down he tried to run away. In their war of words in Rehabilitation, Brett was the aggressor until Dustin struck back and Brett retaliated with the only thing he could to hurt Dustin as bad as possible, that Billy had chosen him over Dustin. That pretty much broke Dustin, but it hurt Billy in the process. Could Brett have fought back against Dustin in this fight? Sure. But at what cost? So Brett took one for the team, so to speak. A one-sided curb-stomp fight with a wounded animal. In the last book, when a lot of folks were upset with Brett for the way he used Billy to go after Dustin, I said Brett would pay for it, but when it happened you may not like it. This is that moment, when Brett is finally beginning to mature into a fine young man, getting his issues under control, taking his medication, growing into the boyfriend we all knew he could be... Now here comes his past to get him for all the rotten things he did to Dustin. I loved his response when he saw Dustin had come for him, not defiance, not anger, just resignation. "Oh shit..." As for Billy just standing there, two things. One, Billy is a coward. Billy has a big mouth, but he can't back it up physically. Remember when Billy would wrestle with Brett who always ended up on his back? Or in the one real fight he got into with Joey, Billy ended up on his back and would have gotten pummeled like Brett did in this chapter if not for Bobby saving him. So Billy uses his brain and his mouth to win his battles. He's not the physical type and he sucks at every sport he tries, baseball, bowling, basketball, driving... Billy just standing there is shock wondering what to do as Brett gets destroyed is in character for him, and when he does get involved physically he uses his head and clobbers Dustin with a weapon. But here's the second more behind-the-scenes thing; sometimes writing in the first-person sucks. Billy had to be there to witness the fight. The fight had to happen, Billy had to be there to see it, and he had to not get involved until the end. I think it's called "writing myself into a corner." Sometimes I struggle to have Billy believably be in places to witness things he needs to see. It's always my hope as a writer that you don't notice, of course, so that you're not taken out of the story to notice the duct tape, chewing gum, and wires holding the stage together. But yeah, even as I was writing this scene I was thinking, "for god's sake, Billy, do something!"

I called Brett the morning after my conversation with my dad and told him about dad being cool with us being together. Brett wasn’t surprised and reminded me that he had always thought my dad knew. He agreed with me though, that it wasn’t quite time for our mothers to know. “My mom won’t care. But your mom would probably freak out,” he said. “No, my mom would definitely freak out. She still thinks I’m in love with Emily.” “Yeah.” “Of course, Em

Thanks Dahawk! I appreciate it!

Thanks Onim! Ol' George pulled through for his son! But I don't think Paula will be as easy.

Something tells me we haven't heard the last of Frank.

When I read you lived across the street from President Obama as a child, I naturally assumed you grew up in Kenya. lol

Thanks! I don't think we'll see much change in George, since he's known all along anyway. Maybe we'll see a change in Billy? (or maybe not, he is a stubborn young man)

Thanks Benji! Yes, getting through this encounter with his dad was an important step for Billy. Have you noticed that Billy never really comes out to anyone, and yet everybody seems to know? He only thinks he's hiding. As for me, 50 years ago today I didn't exist!

Thanks glennish! I'm glad you liked it. You caught it, George stopped calling Billy "boy" after the boiler room incident for exactly the reasons you described. This chapter was Billy at his best.

Well, Billy's kind of dense when it comes to people.

Thanks Wesley! I'm glad you liked it!

Well, 2 o'clock, but close enough.

Fairly quickly, word spread around town that Dustin was in the hospital and that his parents had split up. There were rumors, of course. There always are in a little town like Donora. It wasn’t hard to see that Frank Smith was an asshole and a drunk, and that Carol Smith was a bitch. So the most expressed feeling about their split was one of surprise that they had stayed together so long more than anything else. Dustin’s hospitalization was rumored to be everything from an accident on his b

No need to feel like a jerk for disliking a character like Joey. He is still a jerk, but he's more complex than he may first appear. I think you've described his situation well.

Brett is very persuasive. He doesn't need blackmail, but he does know about Mike's relationship with Dustin since Billy told him about it.

But then you will miss the feeling of sweet anticipation! I remember waiting for Comicality to update chapters of "New Kid in School" back in the Stone Ages, and those gaps went from a few days, to a few weeks, to a few months...