Written in Bangkok, Thailand on March 20, 2015

Knots 4

Chapter 22

Andy

Matt was right. I was thinking hard about visiting Randy and Derrick on the set of their next movie, or any movie for that matter. A big decision faced me: should I go, or not. This wasn’t much different from when Matt and I first talked about prostitution. So here I was again with a similar decision.

I’d made up my mind not to go when I ran into Randy at school on one of the rare days that he came. I suppose he’d been told to recruit me because he made sure he found me before school started that Tuesday, and he asked me to come and look. “Hey, it’s the movies. You’ll love to see how they do it. You don’t have to do anything but watch and get your rocks off. No harm in that.”

Writing that now makes it sound like the devil was talking to me. All day I tried to erase it from my mind without any luck. The gang was all there for lunch, and of course Matt was staring at me with a big question mark on his face. Finally, I said, “What?”

“You know. I don’t need to tell you.”

Of course everyone at the table wanted to know what we were talking about.

“Hey, no secrets at this table,” Emily said

Alan and Thomas nodded in agreement.

Ollie was at the table with his new girlfriend, Sonia, who was so new to our group that she and Colton, who still wasn’t quite confident enough yet, didn’t say much. Of course, Ollie wanted all the facts. “Come on, Andy. What’s up? After everything you and Matt have done, there isn’t much left.”

I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but decided that even though the girls probably had heard that saying many times, it just didn’t seem right. Yet, here I was thinking about going and watching Randy do porn. I was tempted to do it too. But then I’d be in the same shit I was in when Matt and I had to fess up to our parents about the prostitution, and I didn’t think I was ready for that again.

Matt nodded his head toward the exit to the cafeteria as he got up. I hesitated and then followed. The others all moaned. “Come on,” Ollie said. “We want to hear.”

Matt and I ignored him. I wasn’t happy with what Matt had to say.

Matt

I pulled Andy out of lunch to talk to him and he didn’t seem too happy. I laid it on the line for him. “I’m your best friend and I refuse to see you make another mistake. Don’t even think about going to watch Randy and Derrick make teen porn. It has nothing to do with our sexual relationship, but I just don’t want to see you doing something stupid again.”

He didn’t like that. “Fuck you, Matt. You’re not my parent. It’s none of your business what I do.”

“Maybe not, but I’m either going to tell my parents and have them talk to your parents, or I’m going directly to your parents. I’m not sure which.”

“Since when do friends tell on each other?” Andy asked in a voice loud enough to get a few stares from the people in the lunchroom.

“Since the same two friends already screwed up a couple of times, and one almost got himself killed once by his own hand, and once by some crazy man. And his best friend stuck by him through it all.”

Andy looked pissed and he started pacing. He acted like he wanted to punch me, cry, and stomp off all at once. Finally he said, “Fuck you, Matt. I’ll do what I want, and it’s none of your fucking business.”

“Fine, Andy. But this time the cops will be involved, because everything these guys are doing is illegal, and our parents aren’t going to put up with that shit.”

That stopped him. “You mean, you’d actually get the cops involved? What are you going to do if Noland and Derrick and the others tell them we were prostituting?”

“I’m willing to take that chance rather than have you get involved with those guys.”

“Go fuck yourself, Matt. Do whatever you have to do,” he said as he stomped off.

*****

I didn’t know what to do after that. The best option seemed to tell my parents and Andy’s parents before Andy had a chance to do something stupid. If I let him get involved or even be there, then he was going to be in deep shit. I immediately called my dad and told him about the porn Randy was involved in, and that Andy was thinking about either going and observing or participating. You’d have thought Andy was his kid because he sounded pissed and concerned. “Thanks, Matt. I’m going to contact his parents and Randy’s right now.”

“Why Randy’s?”

“I’d like to get him out of there before I call the police.” Then he asked me, “Do you have any idea where they’re doing the porn?” As if I knew.

“No. I don’t even think Andy does. Derrick knows.”

My dad already had Derrick’s number because of the prostitution. “I’ll take care of everything.”

I panicked. “What are you going to do?”

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t want you involved.”

“But I am. Andy’s my best friend. We’re not dealing with some kids here, but with some pretty powerful rich adults in the porn business.”

“I understand that. Let me contact Derrick and the other parents and we’ll go from there. I promise I won’t go to the police right away. Just keep Andy away from this Noland character.”

*****

Andy wasn’t in the lunchroom or in class after lunch. I cut my next class, but didn’t know what to do. I started to leave school to see if I could find him when he came running toward me and tackled me to the ground. He started swinging at my face and landed one blow that got my nose bleeding. I tried to protect myself by covering my face, but I finally fought back and hit him on the cheek. We both got up and squared off. He took a couple swings and missed. “You’re an asshole, Matt. My parents just called and told me to get my ass home. The shit hit the fan. Derrick and Randy called me, and now everyone’s in a panic. You’ll be lucky if you’re still alive by the end of the day.”

Looking back on it now, everything that happened were unintended consequences, but at the time, I’m not sure what I expected to happen. All these guys were in deep shit, including any other underage teens caught up in the underage porn ring. A lot of people were going to be pissed and all I could hope for was that the adults would get jail time. But who in the hell knew for sure what was going to happen

Andy

I couldn’t think of the last time I was so pissed at Matt. He refused to make a commitment to me in a relationship, yet he thought he had the right to control my life. I was furious.

The shit really hit the fan. My parents called me as soon as they got the call from Matt’s dad. Randy got a call from his parents. Derrick called and was going to leave a message because he thought I was in school, so he was surprised when I answered. He had no idea about what was going down because he was trying to get me to come over to Noland’s after school. I was just about to tell him what was up when he told me he had another call. You guessed it. It was Matt’s dad. Derrick immediately blamed me and I was ready to blame Matt, when something inside told me to just keep my mouth shut.

“How did Matt’s dad find out about the porn?” Derrick asked.

“Hell if I know. Matt’s not involved. He doesn’t even know about it. Did you talk to him?”

“Fuck no!” Derrick insisted. “I thought of it, but Noland and I figured if we got you, we’d get him.”

“Thanks for the confidence, but you didn’t have me. I was going to tell you to fuck off.” I figured I just as well distance myself from the whole thing. I had nothing to lose in this case. But that sure didn’t mean I wasn’t still pissed at Matt. “If I were you Derrick, I’d get my ass out of town as fast as you can, because there’s a good chance the police might be called in this time.”

I wanted to tell him to warn the other teens, but I didn’t want Derrick to think I knew anything about it.

He said, “Gotta go. Bye, asshole.”

That was the last I heard from him. Randy called me and said he was at Noland’s when he got a call from his parents. He was afraid to tell Noland, so he told him he felt sick and had to go. He tried to get Cole and Ashton to leave, but they were getting ready to get fucked by two older guys in the last scene of the day and obviously had no idea what was up.

The police arrived and caught the older guys fucking Cole and Ashton while Noland watched on the monitor. They were all arrested, including Ashton and Cole. In the end, they knew better than to mention Randy and add one more minor to their list. I later heard that the police were looking for Derrick, but had no idea where he’d gone. At least they stopped the child porn ring, if you want to call 15-year-olds children. But for all we knew, Derrick had moved to another city and started out on his own. There must have been other adults involved besides Noland and the director, but he didn’t tell on anyone. Derrick knew some of his contacts, so we figured maybe he would turn up again, trying to recruit us, but it never happened.

Matt and I had a lot to work out between us after that. We were both suspended for fighting, and he missed the last game of the season because of it. He was going to start that game, but never got the chance. Our friendship was really being put to the test. Fortunately, we were both scheduled to meet with Dr. Walker at the same time that Saturday and the timing couldn’t have been better.

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Chapter Quotes

Thailand is predominantly Buddhist and for that reason I chose three quotes from Buddha.

Hatreds never cease by hatreds in this world. By love alone they cease. This is an ancient law. - Buddha

A fool who thinks that he is a fool is for that very reason a wise man. The fool who thinks that he is wise is called a fool indeed. – Buddha

Though he should conquer a thousand men on the battlefield a thousand times, yet he, indeed, who would conquer himself is the noblest victor. - Buddha

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I’d like to thank Lisa for taking the time to edit Knots 1, 2, 3, & 4. As the author, I take final responsibility for all parts of the story, including any errors.

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales, is purely coincidental and no slanderous intent is implied.