Gemini - 25. Offense is the Best Defence

Jacob

36 hours before

It was past midnight when we landed in Albany. We were out of the airport in almost no time and took a taxi from there. I was dead tired from the long day. I had already spent the last half an hour in zombie mode in the airplane. By now even beating myself up over forgetting my charging cable couldn’t keep me awake anymore.

Only the sound of a car door slamming shut woke me from my deep sleep. I looked around confusedly, rubbed my eyes and yawned loudly. When I got out of the car, I could see that Mr. Adams was already waiting for us at the front door of the house. I carried my backpack to the door down the short driveway, but when I wanted to enter the house, he blocked my way.

“Phone,” demanded Mr. Adams with a stony look and held his hand towards me with his palm up. I rummaged in my pocket until I found my phone and handed it to him. His gaze made me feel as though I was some worthless insect. He stepped to the side. “Go to your room. Pack enough things for a week. We’ll talk later.”

I strode through the entry and into the hall. At the foot of the stairs I turned around for a moment and saw how he greeted his wife and pulled her into the house while talking to her quietly. Instead of giving into temptation to eavesdrop, I tore myself away and trudged up the stairs. Once in Josh’s room, I put down my backpack and looked around. I immediately saw that the computer table and the chair were in a different place than where I had left them, but I didn’t spend any more thought on it. Instead I grabbed an empty suitcase and filled it with Josh’s expensive clothes.

What could have possibly happened that made Mr. Adams act in such a way? Whatever it was, it didn’t look good for me or Josh respectively. I stood still for a long moment torn between thoughts but then decided that in this situation it was better to be prepared for everything. So I cracked the door open and listened.

Mr. and Mrs. Adams were still talking downstairs, however, their voices had become a lot louder. I quickly closed the door and hurried to Josh’s hiding stash. I still remembered what he had told me when he had shown me his room. He had secretly saved up as much money as possible instead of spending it, and hid it there in case of emergencies. At that time, I thought he had exaggerated, but at that moment I suddenly changed my opinion.

I took several one-hundred-dollar notes and stuffed them in the pocket of one of the pants deep inside the suitcase. I did the same with a pocketknife that I found there, but made sure it was in a different pocket. Suddenly I could hear footsteps coming up the on the stairs. As quickly as possible, I stuffed the rest of the things in the suitcase and closed it.

I’d barely managed to sit down on the bed with a neutral expression on my face, before the door swung completely open.

Mr. Adams entered the room, closed the door behind him and crossed the space between us. There were several sheets of paper and a few photos in his hand.

“Can you explain this to me, please?” he demanded in a dangerously cold voice and held a photo before me. I saw Cody, Ethan, and Josh at what looked like a public swimming pool. Cody was wearing his ridiculous rainbow swimming shorts while Ethan and Josh were intertwined in an extremely weird embrace. It all seemed more than a little homoerotic. I absolutely couldn’t explain how this photo had come about, but I looked directly into Mr. Adams’ eyes and lied without batting an eye. “That was last weekend. I met a few people at the swimming pool and we played water polo.”

“Uh-huh,” he said. It was clear that he didn't believe a word.

He showed me a few other pictures in which Ethan and Josh were somehow touching. It was clear that someone was either very skilled in photography or very lucky to shoot photos that ripped a normal ball game in a swimming pool that far out of context. Or perhaps he had taken numerous pictures and selected the best.

Mr. Adams pulled a piece of paper from the pile and started to read out loud.

“Dear Mr. Adams,

As Josh’s concerned classmate, I feel obliged to inform you that Josh has deviated from the right path. I had always assumed that something wasn’t quite right with Josh, but now, that I had to watch his perverted life style with my own eyes, it became clear that I had to inform you about it. The attached pictures should speak for themselves. Please ensure that Josh can get cured from his disease…”

“That is from Parker. He is just making that up to get me into trouble because he hates me, that’s all,” I said angrily. The next time I saw that bastard...such a thing was unforgivable, particularly considering Josh’s parents’ attitudes. And yet the most terrible thing was that he was not exactly wrong with his absolutely stupid accusation. Josh probably wouldn’t have lost his composure like I did. He would have been much quieter, more desperate really, but I absolutely didn’t care right then.

Faster than I could look, Mr. Adams’ hand made contact with my face. There was a sharp crack and my head was thrown to the side. “Don't. Lie. To. Me,” he bellowed furiously.

It took me a few seconds to recover from the shock. Slowly I lifted my head and defiantly met his eyes. My cheek burned like fire and I could feel tears forming in my eyes. Not really from the pain, but rather from the overwhelming unfairness of the situation, and the helplessness that resulted from it. ‘My parent’s would never do that,’ I thought and although it was me now who was in this situation, I felt really sorry for Josh.

I didn’t know whether the glistening of my tears were visible in my eyes. I wanted to blink them away, but that would have shown weakness. Instead I returned Mr. Adams’ look, motionlessly waiting for his next move.

He pulled out a few more sheets of paper. “I’m not stupid after all, of course I’ve checked for more proof.”

Horrified, I stared at the pages upon pages of printed out browser history. Had Josh forgotten to delete his history? Or did Mr. Adams know how to restore the deleted history?

“Hot teen boy jerking off,” he read, “straight teen lost bet to gay friend? Care to explain yourself?” by the last word he was shouting again.

I turned bright red with shame, although I was not even responsible for these search phrases. “Did gay boys really look for such things?” I wondered, but at the same time I realized that this was obviously the case, otherwise it wouldn’t be in Josh’s history, which made my face turn even redder. I lowered my eyes and apparently Mr. Adams interpreted that as a full confession.

He grabbed my hair and forced my head back up. “Look at me when I’m talking to you,” he hissed.

I remained as I was, unmoving, but this time I could definitely feel the tears. His firm grip on my hair hurt, and I tried to move as little as possible. ‘Would it help if I said I weren’t Josh?’ I wondered, but at the same time I hated myself for even considering it. ‘That would make things worse, he wouldn’t believe me anyway; and even if he did, then Josh would be the one who had to suffer through this,’ I decided, and braced myself for more blows to come.

“How dare you do such a thing in my house?” he hissed when I remained silent. His face showed how much he was losing his composure, and little by little I was getting scared. Then came the next blow. “We should have never adopted you.”

I stared at him horrified. Had he really just said that? How hurtful would that have been to Josh, if he were here now, if he hadn’t known me and Ethan? Would that have been the final blow to break him? Or was it my fault? Was the way I had dealt with Parker the reason this had happened in the first place?

“This makes me sick,” then he added. “You make me sick. There will be no more of this in my house, ever.”

I was incredibly angry at myself, at Parker, and most of all at Mr. Adams, whose brainless-extremist attitude was destroying Josh’s whole life. Instead of submitting to him, I tried to free my head from his grip. He hit me again, and this time he punched me in the nose. Blood started to drop on the floor and on my clothes. Tears blurred my sight, which in turn made me even more desperate and angry. Without thinking I turned my head and spat blood in Mr. Adam’s face.

Within seconds he completely lost control. His fist met my ribs, then my shoulder. I stepped back, and fell onto the bed behind me. He stepped forward and I barely managed to curl up to protect myself from the worst, before his fists pelted down on my side and legs. ‘I’ve gotta get away,’ shot through my head, before I heard Mrs. Adam’s scream, and he suddenly let me off.

I sank to the ground and leaned against the bed groaning. Josh’s mother stood between me and Mr. Adams yelling at him, but I didn’t comprehend any of her words.

Shortly afterwards, Mr. Adams took the suitcase and Mrs. Adams pulled me up by the arm, and led me down the stairs and into the car. She shoved a few handkerchiefs into my bloodied face before she slammed the door and sat on the front seat next to her husband. For a moment, I thought of running away or shouting for help, but then I realized that such a thing probably wouldn’t help. The streets were completely deserted.

Carefully I buckled up and slowly ran my hands over my body, trying to move all my fingers, toes and other parts. Luckily nothing seemed broken, though it felt as if every square inch of my body was bruised. By the time my nose finally stopped bleeding we had already left Albany behind us. I wondered where we were heading to, but I didn’t dare asking, which was probably a good decision.

Instead I tried to make myself as comfortable as possible in a situation like this. As soon as my head rested on the neck cushion, I pushed all my thoughts to the back of my mind, so I could get at least a little sleep and didn’t have to feel my pain any longer.

I barely realized my arrival at the Christian military school. I was way too tired and just rising from a deep sleep. I could only roughly remember a conversation between Mr. Adams and a uniformed employee, and then I was accommodated in a room. I asked myself how Mr. Adams could arrange everything so quickly, but I reasoned with myself that he had probably once made a large donation here or something similar.

The first thing I felt when waking up was a dull pain which seemed to stretch all over my body. I carefully sat up and looked around. The room was small and barely furnished. There was only a nightstand beside my bed and a cupboard next to which I found my suitcase. On the other side of the room I found exactly the same setup. The walls were white and bare.

I turned my head towards the window and saw a row of buildings and what seemed like a drill ground next to a football field. Behind that was the edge of a forest. There was a match going on the pitch and there were a lot of people bustling around on the rest of the grounds.

I assumed I was somewhere in the north of New York state. Apart from everything, the trip had been so short. Just then, the sound of a lowering door handle pulled me out of my thoughts.

I quickly tried to lie down again and pretend to be asleep, but I was unsuccessful. “Hey, awake at last?” The entering boy greeted me, and closed the door behind him. He had only wrapped a towel around the lower parts of his body, and quickly turned to the cupboard to dig up some clothes. I let my eyes glide over his upper body. He was muscular and his skin was adorned by a row of scars.

“Hey, this is not a zoo,” he warned me harshly as he took his boxer briefs out of the cupboard. “You can ogle elsewhere,” and with that the towel fell to the ground. I lowered my eyes immediately, and sighed inwardly. What a great start.

“You recovered faster than I thought,” he stated when I sat up again. “It’s a miracle they let you sleep in peace. You are lucky that they are currently understaffed, and besides today is a visiting day. Otherwise you would be running laps outside around the place while being yelled at.”

I shrugged uncertain what to reply.

“By the way, I’m Drew,” he introduced himself. “And you?”

“Josh.”

“And why are you here?” he wanted to know. “What have you done?”

I cleared my throat stalling for time. Should I answer honestly? What would actually be an honest answer? “My parents think that I’m gay,” I eventually said extremely simplifying the situation.

“Gay?” Drew pulled a face and considered me sympathetically. “Good luck then. I wouldn’t say I like gay people or anything, but you have my sympathies. You won’t have it easy here. Better be prepared to man up. It’s no place for sissies. And you’d better do whatever they say right away without arguing. Ignore the bullshit that they tell you and the whole praying thing. The thoughts are free; you can imagine guy’s asses anytime you want. But at least try to pretend the whole program is helping you to get onto ‘the right path’.” he imitated quotation marks with his finger saying the last part and grimaced at it. “The faster you adjust; the sooner they’ll leave you in peace.”

I stared at him in shock, not sure if I really wanted to picture what awaited for someone like Josh here. “But…. I’m not gay. My parents just think so.”

He considered me for a moment and shrugged. “If you say so.” I had the feeling that he didn’t really believe me.

“Where are we exactly?” I asked him.

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you already planning to run away?”

I gave a fake laugh, and pain flared up in my ribs making it end more like a cough. “As if I could walk, let alone run.”

“So that’s a yes,” he stated without batting an eyelash. “We are approximately 12 miles west of Plattsburgh. Not that this would help you. They’ll catch you anyway and even if you manage your way home, your parents will send you here again.”

I turned on my back and pulled up the blanket. I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t end up here again, and I had to run away. But what would that mean for Josh? I stopped that thought. Although I’d have liked to play the martyr for him, it was likely that Josh would soon worry and do something stupid if he didn’t hear from me. I also knew I had to find a solution to get him away from the Adams, but for that I had to go to Albany. Either way, I had to get away from here if only to spite Mr. Adams.

“What should I do if I want to get away?” I asked him.

He looked at me surprised, but when I met his stare, he finally nodded acknowledgingly. “You are crazier than I thought, but why not? To be honest your best chance is to wear some ordinary clothes, simply leave the house, and then walk to the woods as if there was nothing unusual about that. They would usually pay attention to something like that, but today a lot is going on and hardly any members of the staff know what you look like.”

“Hmm.” I stood up and looked out of the window again. “How long do I have till the families are gone?”

Drew looked at his watch. “Perhaps one or two hours at most, they’ll know you’re missing by dinner.”

I got up with a grunt. The pain in my legs was bearable but my upper body seemed to be covered with blue and purple spots. It was a miracle that nothing was broken. “Thanks Drew. You are the best.”

He shrugged. “‘No biggie. If they catch you and bring you back here, remember that you owe me.”

“I won’t come back,” I assured him while looking for the cash and knife in my suitcase. It seemed they had overlooked both or maybe they hadn’t searched my suitcase at all. I was still stuck in the same clothes as Saturday morning, so I took something new, I turned my back to Drew and changed quickly. Sniffing at my armpit, I felt the urge to take a shower, but I didn’t have the luxury of time. I had to disappear quickly, and every minute counted.

I stuffed the money and pocket knife into my new pants, and in that exact moment noticed that Drew was watching me.

“Not bad,” he said. “If your parents delivered the packed suitcase, no one would think of searching through it,” His look gave me the feeling that the money made him a bit greedy.

“Here,” I said, thrusting two one-hundred-dollar bills into his hand. “Thanks again for your help.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, surprised by the large amount, although it was obvious that he wanted it.

I snorted, “Look at it like this: if I get caught at least we still have 200 dollars instead of nothing. So that’s good.”

He nodded approvingly and grinned. “Thanks.”

“No Problem,” I said, and I felt around my suitcase one more time, deep inside I found my silver necklace which I had hidden there the previous evening. At the moment it seemed to be the most important thing to me, although it had the least practical use. Carefully I put it around my neck, and closed the suitcase.

I was ready to go but Drew stopped me. “Here, take this,” he said and held out a jacket which seemed to be part of some uniform. “It might be cold tonight. Good luck.”

“Thanks,” I said as enthusiastically as I could. “But won’t you get in trouble for helping me?”

He just laughed, “Nah! If they ask I’m just gonna say you stole it.” But then he winked at me and I just knew he would try to hide my escape for as long as he could.

I left the room, walked down the hallway and then down the stairs. The exit was hard to miss, but I saw several people standing there. A few of them seemed to be parents, however, one was obviously a staff member. I took a deep breath and forced myself to walk normally in spite of the pain, hoping that he wouldn’t recognize me.

He eyed me for a moment, but then it seemed that he pegged me as a student’s family member. Only when I finally passed the group and left the building, I realized that I had been holding my breath. My heart was pounding as if I’d just run a mile. I forced myself to slow down so that I was walking at a casual speed and slightly lifted up my head and straightened my back to look as self-confident as possible.

I quickly found the street going westward of the small cluster of buildings. I was already a hundred meters away from the building and had almost reached the forest when I heard someone calling from behind, “Hey you! Wait up!”

I stopped and pulled a face before turning around nonchalantly. “How can I help you?” I asked the uniformed man.

“What are you doing here, and why aren’t you wearing your uniform?”

“My uniform?” I asked him, looking confused. Then I looked down at myself. “Oh, this is my brother’s Jacket,” I explained with an air of innocence. “I just had an argument with my parents and I needed some time to think and calm down. A short walk and some fresh air always help me deal with things.”

For a long moment he stared at me suspiciously, but he finally nodded. “Be careful not to go too far. The visiting time will be over soon.”

I forced myself to laugh, “OK, I’ll go back soon. Just a few minutes and everything will be alright again.”

It seemed he was satisfied with that because he nodded again and walked away.

Now I walked a bit faster. As soon as I was out of sight, I left the path and switched to running; just in case I was unlucky and the man wondered why I didn’t return soon. Then I’d obviously be followed much sooner than I’d feared.

Almost half an hour later I was out of breath. Also, the pain which had been dulled by the adrenaline was back again. I slowed down my pace and leaned against a tree for a short break. My ribs hurt even more than before, and although I tried to ignore the big blue spot on my right thigh, it was causing a slight but very annoying limp.

I glanced through the trees towards the street. Until now I had always tried to keep within sight of the forest road, on the other hand I was far enough away that I could duck or hide if I heard a vehicle. Luckily no one had found out about my absent until now.

When my breathing was back to normal, I pushed myself away from the tree and continued on my way. As eager as I was to put a distance between myself and the school, I couldn’t run all the time. Besides the forest ground was uneven and I barely avoided stumbling and falling several times. A broken foot would have ended my escape sooner than I’d have liked.

By the time the night broke, I had already put a considerable distance behind me. I could hardly guess how far I had gone. Time and time again I had to duck and wait until the cars on the street drove past me. I could only continue slowly on the forest ground and my pain hadn’t gotten any better. Nevertheless, I had already been on the way for six hours and I should have managed to cover a large distance.

As it got darker, it became more difficult to move on without risking an accident, and I also needed a break. The only thing that kept me on my feet was my almost monotonous, thoughtless tread that hadn’t changed for hours. I wondered whether I should stop for the night.

Weren’t there wolves in these woods? I shook my head, and tried to get rid of the thought. The chance of meeting a wild animal was pretty much the same, whether I moved or not. Luckily, the only things that had disturbed me so far were insects. My hand felt the knife in my pocket. There wasn’t much I could do even with that if I actually ran into something big; yet I felt better knowing I had it within reach.

Suddenly my right foot hit a big stone. I stumbled and tried to avoid falling in the last seconds, only to slip into the mud with the other foot. My leg twisted and the tendons of my foot were strained for a long painful second before I hit the ground with a thud.

The pain in my back doubled, and there was a dull throb in my foot. I cursed. How could I be so dumb to run around in absolute darkness lost in thoughts without an idea where I stepped. I needed a moment to recover before I clenched my teeth and raised myself off the wet ground.

Carefully I stood on my injured foot, only to immediately shift my weight to the other. It didn’t feel broken but definitely sprained. “Lucky, considering the circumstances,” Ethan would have said with his positive attitude, but that didn’t really help me either. I carefully limped back to the stone I had tripped over, and checked the surface. Dry and smooth. I sat down on the hard surface, wiped my dirty hands on my pants and hoped that the pain would go away.

Soon I realized how cold it had gotten since I stopped moving. I zipped up Drew’s Jacket and wrapped my arms around my body to protect myself from the cold breeze. After sitting there for a while the hard surface under me became uncomfortable. Neither going on nor staying seemed like a good choice to me. I could only see little; on the other hand, I could hardly spend the night here. For one I had nowhere quite comfortable to sit or lie on, for another I really wanted to be at least awake if some wild animal found me.

Perhaps the light on the street was a bit better? It was risky but if a car really came, I would be able to hear it early enough to hide myself. My head jerked up. I’d been able to hear some sort of strange noise from afar for a while, but only now I realized what it meant. Was I already near the highway? I had to grin. How could I have missed that?

Groaning I rose from the stone. Although everything hurt so much and I was so tired, I didn’t want to give up. My eyes slid over the dark outlines of the forest soil. The moonlight sparsely broke through the treetops, but it was enough to find some longer branches. I chose the most stable and fitting ones and cut them with my pocket knife until I had two improvised crutches.

Cautiously I tried them out. I was clearly slower than before. I probably looked completely ridiculous and the odd posture strained my arms, but at least I could move around somewhat decently. I reached the street after a few minutes and continued my way in the direction of the distant noise.

While hobbling with difficulty, I thought about what I would do in Plattsburgh. Should I try to find a public phone and call someone? I quickly rejected the thought. The only number I actually knew was my own house number. That call wouldn’t help me much. The only thing accomplished would be causing my parents to worry unnecessarily, and also keeping them awake all night. Besides I wanted to get out of this mess on my own.

It was probably extremely stubborn and stupid of me, but after everything that I’d gone through, I wanted to manage the rest of the way alone. Also I had more than enough money to take a bus to Albany.

It must have had taken more than an hour till the street met the highway. Meanwhile the forest had become meager and I’d been mostly passing fields. From the lights in the north I could see that I wasn’t far from the city. Up to now only two cars had passed the street behind me, both times I could hide without any problems. I didn’t know whether the police had already received my missing report or the military school preferred to settle things itself at first. Perhaps they hoped that in my condition I hadn’t gone too far and wanted to start searching in the morning.

With a sigh I continued my way on the street. At this time there were very few cars, but enough that I had to keep my distance from the road. I had no need to find out who would stop to pick a lonely young boy at this hour. But it quickly turned out pretty difficult. It was far from easy to walk on the ground off the highway and my foot complicated the whole thing even more.

Finally, I gave up and simply let myself sink to the ground. I was way too exhausted to go on. Little by little I found my own little escaping plan rather stupid. Why had I run away? Hadn’t there been any other solution? I suppressed that thought immediately. That would have meant surrendering. Nevertheless, I regretted my decision a little bit.

Stubbornly I rose again and in spite of the pain and exhaustion I tried to limp forward only to give up again. I realized that I wouldn’t be able to reach the Greyhound bus station without taking an extended break. Besides, I didn’t even know where to find it. If it was at the other end of the city, I’d really have a problem. Perhaps I should try my luck with a passing car?

I continued my way closer to the street on the much more walkable shoulder. A few minutes later the decision was taken away from me. I was caught in a headlight. The vehicle passed me, the driver braked and stopped a few meter before me with hazard lights on. If I hadn’t been so tired and hurt, I would have laughed: It was a taxi.

Indecisively I stopped for a moment, before I limping towards the car. The window on the passenger’s side was down and when I looked in, an older man looked back at me. “Can you take me to the Greyhound bus station?” I asked, as if the whole situation was perfectly normal.

He studied me thoughtfully. His stare was somehow weird and for a long moment I wanted to turn around and run away. Finally, he nodded and gestured for me to get in. In spite of my growing fear, I opened the door. Was I really going to get into some random car on the highway at night? I had to be crazy. If this guy had less than honest intentions, well… he could rob me and leave me on the street, if I was lucky. If I was unlucky... But it was too late for such a thought. I swallowed and got into the car.

Another long and very peculiar look followed, but then he closed the window and drove off. I leaned back on my seat, and for the first time in that night, I could peacefully look at the moonlit landscape and listen to some rock song on the radio.

I tried to stay awake but gradually my eyes got heavy. The driver hadn’t spoken a single word and I wondered whether I may have dreamed the whole thing. Had I tripped over in the forest and was already in a coma? Somehow the situation seemed unreal to me.

With a jerk, I opened my eyes. Had I slept? Was it only a few seconds or longer? I looked out of the window and saw houses and street lamps.

“We’re almost there,” came a rough voice on my left.

I jumped. The seatbelt stopped my sudden movement with a jolt and it took me a moment to breathe normally again. From the corner of my eye I could see the taxi driver chuckling. Then the car turned around a corner and I could see the bus station from the distance. “How much do I owe you?” I asked and nervously licked my lips.

He looked at me sympathetically. “It’s ok. I would have gone in this direction anyway.”

I hadn’t counted on that at all. Perhaps the events in the last few hours and days had made me a bit paranoid? I shook my head vehemently and fished for a twenty-dollar bill in my pocket. “Here,” I pushed the money to his hand when we stopped by the roadside. “Thanks for taking me here.”

Before he could say anything, I left the car and went quickly to the bus station. Luckily there was an empty waiting room with several benches. A look at the schedule revealed that the next bus left around 7:00 am and it would take about six hours to get to Albany. I went to the machine and bought a ticket. According to the clock on the display it was a quarter after four. My escape had taken longer than I thought.

Relieved I let myself sink down on a bench and closed my eyes. The wood beneath me was hard and uncomfortable but I was too tired to care. At least I had managed to get there. Unless the police knew about me missing, the chances were good to be in Albany soon. Everything else I would decide after arrival.

The quiet conversation between other waiting passengers woke me up from my sleep. There were two older ladies who were ogling me quite snidely, however they soon turned their heads away again. I must have looked horrible. The sun was already in the sky and other people were arriving at the station. I yawned, stretched and wiped off the drool from the corner of my mouth.

The few stares casted at my small corner made me nervous and doubled the feeling of dirt and sweat on my skin and the bad taste in my mouth. I got up and went to the public restrooms to clean up, but it was with little success.

The bus arrived shortly after. I looked for a place in the back of the bus to sit and make myself comfortable. Drew’s jacket served as a great cushion. Had he tried to keep my disappearance secret as long as possible? Would he get into trouble for that? Perhaps I should write him a letter after everything was over. Finally my exhaustion overcame me and I fell asleep.