Goon - 12. Chapter 12

John Jericho was a miracle worker.

Micah came to that conclusion when the man he’d always known as his distant, unloving father took him to the doctor’s office on Friday afternoon for a physical. Come Monday, Micah would be spending the afternoon trying out for the football team. The high school was just big enough to have a Varsity and a JV team, and the coach would be trying him out to see which team he would play for during the year.

Next Thursday, he had an appointment to take his driving test. Micah had still not worked out how he was going to swing the car he wanted, but he’d tackle that problem when it came up. Maybe John would have a few suggestions. Micah had yet to tell anyone what Mrs. Howard had given him before he left.

The woman had as much faith in him and Corey as Micah and Corey themselves.

“You’ll listen, won’t you?” Micah’s mother asked as she drove the Focus into the church parking lot. It was one of those big mega-churches that had once been a theater and was now a ‘worship theater’. A smattering of other cars was visible, parked near the far end of the set of buildings. His mother was pointing in that general direction.

“I’ll listen, and I’ll even think about what they have to say.” Micah said for the third time that night. Only John’s warning kept him from sounding exasperated.

“I want you to give this a chance.” She said. “You need to get the devil’s influence out of you.”

“I gave my word.” Micah reminded her with a bit of an edge in his voice. Her sharp look was enough of a warning and he apologized. He was even dressed in the plainest pair of dark slacks and a light blue dress shirt that had cost less than a hundred dollars. At least he hadn’t mentioned to her that the loafers he wore had cost more than his pants and shirt combined, and was made of genuine deer skin and hand-sewn.

“Make me proud, honey.” She said as she parked and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He just nodded, not trusting himself to speak and got out of the car. It was like unfolding himself from a packing box and very uncomfortable. “Give me a call when you are ready for me to pick you up.”

“I will.” Micah said before shutting the car door. John had even gotten his phone back, arguing that in this day and age there was no way conceivable to stop Micah from calling the Howards if he was determined to do that, and it was better for it be out in the open where they could monitor it instead of hidden. Then he’d added that it was a good way for them to be able to keep in touch with Micah and take away any excuses Micah might have for not calling them when he needed permission to do something.

Luckily there was a sign with the “All for Christ” meeting name and an arrow pointing to a side door. When Micah reached the door, it was unlocked and he took a deep breath before opening it and stepping inside. He had to blink in the bright fluorescent light and followed the murmur of voices down the hallway. After four doors he found an open doorway leading into a medium-sized room that had a circle of chairs, a long table with some kind of punch bowl and plastic cups in front of it, and about a half-dozen teenagers.

“Hi!” The nearest girl said to him as he walked inside. He could see four guys checking him out but gave the girl his attention. All of the girls wore dresses, and the guys wore slacks and dress shirts very similar to his. “I’m Sarah and you must be Micah.”

“Micah Jericho.” Micah said with a smile, standing straight and tall like he’d been taught at the Academy and taking her hand gently. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sarah.”

“We heard you were joining our little group.” She said pleasantly. “Let me introduce you to everyone!”

She was far too perky for his preferences, but he couldn’t complain as she swung her long brown hair over her shoulder and introduced him to a rather butch-looking teenager who called herself Greta. Then came the boys, Matt, Chance, Al, and Jake. Matt and Chance were both brown haired although Matt was broader and had a slight bulge in his stomach. Al looked like the nerdiest nerd the world had ever seen and Jake looked like your average boy-next-door with dirty blond hair and a fair build. Of them all, Jake was the only one who really struck Micah as having good looks. All the others had sallow skin, spots, bad teeth, or a combination of all that, and none of them but Jake would look him in the eyes.

“I see everyone is here.” The biggest queen Micah had seen since Perry Treat walked into the room and Micah almost did an eye roll. This was the man who was supposed to turn him straight? The man almost swished into the room. “You must be Micah! Welcome to our little gathering. I am Richard Beaumont, Micah. We are so glad to have you here. Now, I assume your mother shared with you that everything that goes on here is to be kept confidential?”

“Yes, sir.” Micah said, almost choking on the ‘sir’ part.

“Good, good, now let’s take our seats everyone!” The man said, his hand going to Micah’s shoulder and guiding him to a chair at the end of the circle directly opposite where Richard Beaumont himself sat down. Micah couldn’t help the feeling that he needed to wipe his shirt off where the man’s hands had touched him.

“Now, let us begin with a prayer!” The man was so excited he practically squealed.

Micah didn’t bow his head like the others as the man began a long, rambling prayer full of exhortations for God to cast out the demons that were afflicting ‘these poor youth’ and to shine ‘his holy light’ down on them. Instead of bowing and closing his eyes, Micah looked around, checking to make sure there were no video recorders or other obvious recording devices. He was quite well aware of how embarrassing recordings could be at a later date.

The video of him as a kid stealing from that Catholic store came immediately to mind.

“Now, we have a new person among us, so I think it’s best if I go ahead and give him an idea of what we expect here.” Mr. Beaumont said cheerfully. “Here at All for Christ we are brothers and sisters in our struggle against same-sex attraction. We learn to fill our hearts with the love of Christ, not the love of our fellow man.”

“Or woman.” That came from Greta and earned a look of exasperation from Richard Beaumont.

“Sister Greta, you must give this a chance to work.” He said as if it was a warning.

“The only reason I’m here is because if I wasn’t, my parents would kick me out.” She retorted.

“Then sit and keep your satanic comments to yourself.” Beaumont said sarcastically and Micah resisted rolling his eyes. “You will poison the mind of our newest member as well as those who are doing their best to live in the light of Jesus.”

“Fine.” Greta said as she crossed her arms and slouched in her chair. Micah felt sorry for her, and he wondered how many of the others were here for similar reasons.

“Brother Micah, we are so glad to have you here.” Beaumont said, turning back to Micah with shining eyes. “We like to start by getting to know each other. When I was younger, like your age, I was mired deep in sin. Believe it or not, I actually put on women’s clothes, and in college I began to do drag shows as a female impersonator. The life I led was full of alcohol, drugs, and sin, sin, sin. It was an empty life, and then after I was arrested for drugs and spent time in jail, I found the Lord. Exodus gave me my life back, and I’m even married today! My wife and I have been together, happily for ten years. I am living proof that if you devote your life to Jesus, you can overcome these evil urges.”

“Praise the Lord!” Sarah and Matt said together while Greta rolled her eyes.

“Normally my wife joins us to lead the girls in a separate group, but once a month we all get together like tonight and share our week.” Beaumont continued. “Sarah, why don’t you start us off this week?”

“Thank you Mr. Beaumont!” The girl said in a cheerful, peppy voice. She turned to Micah with a wide smile. “I’ve been here for almost a year now, Micah! Would you believe my mother caught me kissing another girl? She was real nice to me and I thought she was my friend, but she was an agent of Satan sent to seduce me away from Christ! God sent my mother that night, and thanks to Brother Beaumont, I’ve been able to walk in the light of Jesus!”

“Sister Sarah is one of our best examples of the efficacy of our program.” Richard Beaumont said with a wide smile.

“Well, this week has been a good week for me.” Sarah said with a wide smile. “My boyfriend and I actually managed to kiss for two hours and I really wanted him. It made me feel almost as good as with Tina! I think we might be in a serious relationship!”

“I am so glad to hear that, Sarah.” Beaumont said with that fake cheer. Micah was watching him, but could see the eyes of the other boys, and Greta on him and kept a little smile on his face. “You see, Micah, learning to accept and enjoy appropriate opposite-sex reaction is as important as learning to interact properly with other boys. You must learn how to be friends with boys, and more than friends with girls. Now, why don’t you share with us why you are here and what you hope to get out of our program?”

“I’m here because my mother doesn’t like the fact that I have a boyfriend and she wants me to change.” Micah said.

“But Micah, don’t you want to change as well?” Richard Beaumont asked. “You have to want the change to make it happen.”

“I’m here because my mother insists I be here.” Micah said with a shrug. “I’m not even a Christian.”

“What?” The shriek from Richard Beaumont was even higher than that of Sarah. He could see the looks of suppressed mirth on the face of Greta as well as Chance and Jake. Al and Matt looked quite taken aback, although Al had a confused expression on his face.

“How can you not believe in Jesus?” Al asked in a little boy’s voice. “Even secular history books admit he existed!”

“So did Julius Cesar.” Micah said with a shrug. “Just because someone existed doesn’t mean they are a child of god.”

“I fear we are going to have a lot of work to do with you, young man.” Richard Beaumont said as he stood up. Micah got a bad feeling about the situation as the man approached him with both hands held out. When those hands touched on his forehead and the rest of the group stood up and laid their hands on him, Micah had to resist the urge to get up and start snapping necks. “Lord God in heaven, we beg thee to come down and bring your light into this heathen soul! Show him your Glory, bring him to Your Service and Let Your Light Shine in Him!”

That was just the beginning and it continued for almost forty minutes with Brother Beaumont exhorting God for all number of things in that time. Micah noticed that Chance’s hands on his right arm were squeezing his muscles and he managed to twist his head enough to see the guy’s eyes. Chance was definitely getting off on the contact, as was Matt, although Matt was trying to hide his enjoyment. Jake’s hands were on the back of his neck, and his fingers were curling around Micah’s neck in what was obviously something more than what Beaumont intended.

“I fear our time is up now.” Beaumont said with sadness after leading them in a final round of prayer. He stepped back from Micah. “How do you feel, young man?”

“Touched.” Micah said after a moment of thought. The smirk on Chance’s face showed he got the reference, but Beaumont took it as a good sign.

“The glory of God is powerful.” Beaumont said with a wise nod. “We will see all of you next week. Go with God!”

“Amen!” Sarah said enthusiastically while Matt’s was a little more restrained. Micah was the first out the door, his phone coming out of his pocket and cycling on. He couldn’t wait for his mother to come pick him up.

“I can give you a ride home.” Matt was the last person he expected to make the offer and Micah gave him a hard glance. He looked timid, almost afraid. “I live near you. Mike’s my cousin. We live on the same street as him.”

“Okay.” Micah said. “Let me tell my mother I’m getting a ride home.”

“That’s my car over there.” Matt said, pointing to a beat up old Volkswagen Rabbit.

“Be right there.” Micah said as he pulled up his mother’s number and dialed. His mother wasn’t exactly happy, but didn’t seem to mind too much.

“Are you okay after all that in there?” Matt asked as Micah got into his car.

“I’m fine.” Micah said with a little laugh. “I’ve been through worse.”

“You need to be careful of Chance.” Matt spat out in a rush. “I saw how he was grabbing your arm and stuff. He’s only there because he’ll get kicked out if he doesn’t go.”

“I wish I’d get kicked out if I didn’t go.” Micah said and then felt guilty when he saw the depressed look on Matt’s face.

“I really don’t want to be gay.” Matt said in a small voice. “I don’t like it, it’s not natural.”

“If it wasn’t natural, you wouldn’t feel that way.” Micah said with a shrug.

“It’s my mom’s fault.” Matt said sadly. “She’s too overbearing, too controlling. At least that’s what my counselor says, and Brother Beaumont agrees.”

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being gay.” Micah said.

“You wouldn’t.” Matt snorted. “You don’t have to worry about getting beaten up if people knew you were queer.”

“True.” Micah agreed.

“Why are you gay?” Matt asked him.

“Why is the sky blue?” Micah asked and Matt shook his head.

“It’s not quite like that.” Matt said. “The bible says…”

“The bible says whatever who is reading it wants it to say.” Micah interrupted him and he almost enjoyed the look of outrage on the guy’s face.

“How can you say that?” Matt asked in a horrified voice.

“Why are there so many different types of churches?” Micah asked him and waited for Matt to answer.

“They all believe in God and Jesus.” Matt said defensively.

“Don’t they all have different interpretations of the bible?” Micah asked. “You’ve got the Catholics who believe Mary intercedes between the faithful and God, but I bet your church’s pastor wouldn’t say that the Virgin Mary intercedes like that.”

“No, he says Catholics aren’t really Christians.” Matt replied. “They don’t follow the bible.”

“See?” Micah said and Matt frowned.

“The bible’s the word of God, his literal truth.” Matt said defensively.

“That’s what you believe.” Micah said flatly. “Not me.”

“Why are you even going to the meetings?” Matt said. “You’re not ashamed of being homosexual, are you?”

“No, I’m not ashamed.” Micah said honestly. “My mom’s forcing me to go by denying me things I want if I don’t. If I go, I get what I want, so I go. Doesn’t mean I’m going to magically become straight.”

“It’s not magic.” Matt said.

“Are you any straighter than you were before you started?” Micah asked him. “How long have you been going?”

“A year, more or less.” Matt answered. “I don’t masturbate anymore, most of the time, and I’m not thinking about guys as much.”

“Even straight boys masturbate.” Micah said. “For the last two years I went to a military boarding school. Sometimes on night patrol you’d hear half the guys jacking off and most of them are straight.”

“It’s a sin to abuse yourself that way.” Matt said stiffly. Yes, a quick glance showed that ‘stiffly’ was the correct word. Micah grinned a little. So maybe Matt wasn’t as much of a good boy as he wanted others to believe.

“If that’s what you believe.” Micah said. “Not me though. Without my boyfriend around, it’s all I got to keep sane.”

“You’re going to go to hell for that.” Matt said in a warning tone.

“I’ll go to hell for other things first.” Micah said.

“Aren’t you afraid of hell?” Matt asked with a worried tone.

“The nice thing about not being a Christian is I don’t have to believe in hell.” Micah said calmly. “Hell is what they use to scare you. At least the Muslims are a little nicer. They try to bribe you with heaven and leave hell for the infidels and those that side with the infidels.”

“Are you a Muslim?” Matt asked.

“Nope.” Micah answered.

“What are you?” Matt asked him with a frown. “If you’re not a Christian and you’re not a Muslim, are you a Jew?”

“I’m an American.” Micah answered.

“That’s not a religion.” Matt countered as he parked in front of Micah’s house. It was kind of weird how he knew where to go even without directions.

“I don’t have any religion.” Micah said.

“So you’re an Atheist.” Matt said with a satisfied tone at finally having categorized Micah.

“I’m not an Atheist.” Micah said calmly as they sat in the car.

“Then what are you?” Matt asked in frustration and Micah smiled.

“I’m an American.” Micah said as he opened the door. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll say ‘hi’ to you at school.”

“You don’t have to.” Matt said sourly as Micah got out.

“See you.” Micah said as he shut the door. His mother was waiting just inside the door as he went inside, a frown on her face.

“Well?” She asked him as she tapped her foot.

“You didn’t expect me to magically change after one meeting, did you?” Micah asked with surprise, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

“I got a call from Mr. Beaumont.” She stated in a staccato pattern. “He says you said you weren’t a Christian.”

“I’m not.” Micah said with a shrug.

“Get out of my house.” She growled at him. “I’m not having a non-believer in my home.”

“Tiffany.” John’s voice came from the stairs and she jumped while Micah started to turn for the door. He wasn’t about to give her a chance to change her mind. “Micah, go to your room.”

“But…” Micah protested but John had come down the stairs and was giving him a very stern look that killed the protest in the man’s throat.

“I know you would be very, very happy to be kicked out of this house, but that is not going to happen.” John said. “Like it or not, we are a family and we need to work out our problems instead of just ignoring them like we have for the past sixteen years.”

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, John, but he broke his word.” Micah’s mother protested in a voice that rose several octaves. “He’s always been mean, with that awful temper. Now he’s an avowed homosexual who doesn’t even believe in God. We can’t have him here in this house endangering our children.”

“He’s our child too, Tiffany.” John said firmly.

“He’s not even yours.” She spat back at him.

“I’m the only father he’s ever known, and it doesn’t matter if we are not related by blood, we are related by sixteen years of being a family, even if I haven’t been the best of fathers.” John said and Micah felt guilty. He released the door handle and turned around. Whatever had happened in the past, John was trying now and in fairness Micah had to give him a chance.

“What are you saying, John?” Micah’s mother demanded.

“Did you get yourself kicked out of this group thing?” John asked Micah directly.

“No.” Micah said. “Mr. Beaumont said he’d see us next week, unless he told mom I can’t go back.”

“He didn’t say that.” Micah’s mother grumbled. “He wouldn’t. Brother Beaumont is a kind soul and wouldn’t turn anyone away. All he said was that Micah revealed he didn’t believe in God.”

“I thought the meetings were supposed to be confidential.” Micah noted.

“Parents are informed of what goes on if Brother Beaumont feels it is necessary.” She said with a toss of her hair. “As your parents, we have a right to know everything about your life.”

“Micah, did you participate in the group meeting?” John asked him and Micah nodded.

“Yes, I answered the questions honestly.” Micah said. “Should I have lied?”

“No.” His mother spat. “But you need to believe in God!”

“It’s his choice.” John said in a comforting tone. “I believe the deal was that he go to these meeting and that he give them a chance. He’s participating and he’s being honest in the meetings.”

“But he’s an unbeliever!” She complained.

“Do you see me going to your church?” John asked her and she frowned.

“Don’t tell me you don’t believe in God either?” She said with tears forming in her eyes.

“What I believe has nothing to do with it.” John said flatly. “I don’t go to your church because I don’t like the people there.”

“How can you not like them?” She asked. “They’ve been good to us.”

“They’ve been good to you.” John said. “I’ve never liked them. That’s beside the point. As long as Micah is going to these meetings and participating honestly, he’s keeping his side of the bargain.”

“Fine, have it your way.” She snapped. Then she pointed her finger at Micah. “You better not disrupt their meetings anymore! Brother Beaumont said he spent the entire time praying for your soul!”

“It was his choice.” Micah said and then shrugged. “I’ll do my best not to be disruptive.”

“Thank you, Micah.” John said. “Now, why don’t you go to your room? The kids are asleep already.”

“Don’t forget you have church tomorrow!” His mother said to Micah who opened his mouth to protest. He’d already had enough of church to last him a lifetime, but a warning glance from John aborted his protest.

“Yes, ma’am.” Micah said with a frown. He went up to his room, closed the door and changed out of the dress clothes. The hamper she’d gotten him was full, and he wondered if it’d be possible to drop his clothes off at the dry cleaner’s before school. Maybe he could get Matt to help him. The guy had a car.

When he was down to the skin-tight brown boxer-briefs, he pulled out his laptop and booted it up. He laid on his side on top of the bed as it cycled through and then he connected to the internet. As the computer connected, he put a set of ear buds on. Within minutes he was looking at Corey’s face.

Like him Corey was wearing just underwear, and lying on his side on the bed although Micah could just see his red curly hair, and his bare shoulders along with a bit of his chest. Micah let out a hefty sigh and smiled. It was just after midnight back there, and he was glad that Corey was still up.

“You look tired.” Corey said with a sympathetic voice. It was good to hear his voice.

“She kicked me out after I told the Christian group I wasn’t a Christian.” Micah said with a sigh and Corey got an excited look on his face.

“How long until you get back here?” Corey asked excitedly. “Why aren’t you happy? It worked!”

“John decided to get all parental and overruled her.” Micah said with a frown.

“Damn.” Corey cussed. “Of all the times for him to get that way. Was there at least anyone cute there?”

“Two of them were doable, but none anywhere near as hot as you.” Micah said. “When are you heading out?”

“In the morning.” Corey griped. “Mom’s coming in the car with me this time. She said she wants to see the school.”

“Do you know if they assigned you a roommate yet?” Micah asked.

“I’m by myself.” Corey told him. “So, maybe we’ll be able to see each other like this then.”

“I hope so.” Micah replied. “Hey, what color underwear are you wearing tonight?”

“It’s our brown day, right?” Corey said as he tilted the camera downwards. Micah smiled as he saw something growing in those boxers. There was something growing in his own underwear and he also tilted his camera down. It wasn’t as good as being there with Corey, but it was something at least.