Seth on the Road to Chaos - 25. Chapter 25

Craig and I were sleeping soundly when my cellphone rang. I wasn’t going to answer it, but Craig moaned, “Jesus, Seth. Answer your damn phone.” I looked at the caller ID. It was Ty.

Sleepily, I said, “Good morning. Ty.” I looked at the alarm clock, and it was 7:34. He wanted to know when we were going to see Blake. I rolled over and asked Craig if he was going to school or if he wanted to go visit Blake.

“Fuck school,” he spat. “I don’t care if I ever go back to that shithole again.” I knew we had already missed so many days that my grades were going to suffer. However, Blake was more important than a boring lecture in history class. All of us were good students with high GPAs, so we could easily catch up on any work missed.

I told Ty we wanted to visit Blake. He was thrilled. He said he hadn’t gotten any sleep because he was worried about him. He also said that he had come out to his parents last night. When they asked him about what happened, he said he broke down and cried uncontrollably. He said he couldn’t control his feelings for Blake. When they asked him if Blake was gay, he said he was. They then asked him if he was, and he said he confessed that he was.

He started to cry over the phone. “They told me they still love me. It doesn’t matter that I’m gay. Mom said she wants to meet Blake when he leaves the hospital.” Craig had been listening to our conversation, and he was smiling broadly. We talked a few more minutes, and I told Ty we would pick him up around ten. By then, Blake should be awake and ready for visitors.

Craig giggled and said, “It looks like you have competition.”

I gave him a puzzled look and asked, “What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” he laughed. He pulled the covers back and showed a huge erection. “What,” he asked as he tugged on it. “I wake up every morning like this.” He headed for the door. “I gotta take a shower.”

I laughed out, “Don’t make a mess on the shower wall.” He turned and flipped me off before leaving.

When we went downstairs, no one was home. Aunt Marie left a note on the counter telling us that they were meeting Mr. Ellis at his office. She said there was a box of doughnuts in the refrigerator. Craig hurried over, took out the box, and shoved a glazed doughnut into his mouth. When I shook my head, he asked, “What? I’m a growing boy.”

“You’re a pig,” I laughed as I took the box from him and began eating a doughnut. I poured us a glass of milk and removed a box of Fruit Loops from the cabinet. Twenty minutes later, the box containing the doughnuts was empty.

Craig called his mother and told her that he was going to the hospital to see Blake. He said she had been texting him all morning. They argued for several minutes because she thought he should go to school and then visit Blake later. She was also concerned that he was missing too much football practice. Finally, he was able to convince her to let him stay home and visit Blake.

When he hung up, I asked him, “What about football practice? You’ve missed so many the past few days.”

“Fuck football,” he spat. “I always hated playing. I only did it because my father forced me to play.”

“Won’t he be mad,” I asked worriedly. I’ve watched his father at games for several years. He’s usually the loudest person in the stands. Sometimes I felt sorry for Craig because I knew he had to be embarrassed by his father’s actions.

Craig responded, “I told him the other night I was quitting the team. He told me to give it some thought. I have. I’m not playing anymore. If he doesn’t like it, he’ll get over it. Besides, he can force Bryan to play.” Bryan is Craig’s ten-year-old brother. However, I once heard him tell Stacy that Bryan takes piano lessons after school. Craig’s dad may have a hard time convincing him to give up that to play football.

After eating, we went to the bedroom to get dressed. Craig kept trying to get me to have sex, but I told him I wanted to get to the hospital. He disappeared into the bathroom for ten minutes. When he returned, I looked at his hand and started laughing uproariously. “Shut up, Fucker,” he giggled as we headed out the door.

I called Ty and told him we were on the way. He was waiting anxiously on his porch. When I pulled up, he ran to the car and jumped into the back seat. On the way to hospital, we talked about how Blake would be. We still weren’t convinced that Blake would recover as fast as Mr. Ellis seemed to think. We vowed that no matter what condition he was in, we would love him. Ty started to cry as he talked about holding Blake in his arms until help arrived. Craig looked at me and smiled.

We entered the hospital and hurried to the receptionist in the lobby. When we asked her Blake’s room number, she gave us a suspicious look and asked, “Why aren’t you boys in school?”

Craig became upset and told her, “Our friend almost died yesterday. Seeing him is more important than going to school. Are you going to tell us what room he’s in?”

Just then, Officer Grant, the security guard we had met last night approached. He asked us how our friend was doing. “We don’t know,” I replied angrily. “This lady won’t tell us what room he’s in.” She told him that she thought that we should be in school instead of visiting someone.

“Clara,” responded Officer Grant. “You have no idea what these boys went through yesterday. I feel that it is very important that they visit their friend.” He looked at the computer screen and said, “Follow me, Guys.” We followed him to the elevator. We stood nervously until we arrived on the third floor. Officer Grant pointed down a hallway. “Your friend is in room 3004.” We followed him to the room.

He entered Blake’s room first. He then motioned for us to come in. Blake was lying in bed with his eyes closed. When he heard us, he opened his eyes and burst out crying. “Guys!” he wailed as he held out his arms. We each took turns hugging and kissing him. Officer Grant quietly left the room and closed the door.

The next few minutes were emotional. All four of us continued to cry. Except for a bandage across his forehead and a bruise on his neck, he looked okay. I gagged when he pulled back his sheet and showed the bruises on his arms. He said he also had bruises on his back, but he was afraid to move and show them to us. He wanted to know what had happened to him. He said the last thing he could recall was climbing under the desk. He said he felt he was going to die.

We emotionally explained what had happened. Ty gripped Blake’s hand when we told him how Ty had held him until help arrived. Tears fell down Blake’s cheeks when he squeezed Ty’s hand and said, “You’re the angel I saw. I thought you had come to take me to heaven.” They continued to cry for several minutes.

Craig asked, “What did the doctors tell you?” Blake explained that they assured him that he didn’t have any permanent injuries. He said when he came in, they were concerned about the gash on his forehead where his father had rammed his head into the car window. He cried when they told him that if his friends hadn’t arrived when they did, he might have bled to death. We again hugged and kissed him. He also said that the doctors told him he had a slight concussion like Craig had.

We sat and talked about what had happened. Blake kept looking over at Ty and smiling. I think he still considered Ty his guardian angel. After about twenty minutes, Blake said he had to pee. He asked Ty if he could get him a urinal under the cabinet.

Craig looked at me and grinned. He rose, grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. “You don’t need three people watching you piss,” he laughed. “Seth and I are going to the café to get some sodas.”

As we walked to the elevator, Craig said excitedly. “Did you see that?”

I gave him a puzzled look and asked, “What?”

“Blake and Ty,” he replied. “They couldn’t keep their eyes off each other.”

“I noticed that,” I said. “You don’t think…”

Craig laughed and said, “He could have asked any of us to get him a bed pan. He asked Ty.” He elbowed me in my side. “Remember what happened when you got me mine?”

I laughed and replied, “I wondered why you asked me and not Stacy.” I elbowed him back. “Now, I know.”

He said, “You may have lost your boyfriend.”

I looked at him, smiled and said, “I still got you.” Just then, we approached a restroom. Craig pulled me inside, and we made out for several minutes. He wanted to give me a blowjob, but I told him it was too risky to do it in a hospital. I’m sure there were cameras monitoring the hallways. They would be suspicious of two teenage boys disappearing into a restroom for a long time.

The café was crowded when we entered. We had to wait several minutes to purchase three sodas and three Milky Way bars. On the way back to the room, I asked Craig if he remembered the name of the old woman who had comforted us last night. I had been worried about how she was. She was so nice to us, and I felt that we should thank her. Craig said he thought she said her name was something like Bowser, Brown or Bowen. I told him Ty might remember.

When we entered the room, Ty was sitting close to the bed holding Blake’s hand. Craig laughed and asked, “How did the pissing go?” When Ty’s face turned a bright red, he laughed even harder.

Blake giggled and said, “If he shakes it more than three times, is he playing with it?”

Ty’s face turned a brighter red as he shouted out, “Blake! I didn’t shake it three times.” Craig and I laughed uproariously as Ty sunk down in his chair.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at a smiling Blake. The day before, I thought he was dead. Now, he appeared to be completely happy. He had told us earlier that he would be living with Aunt Marie and Uncle Steve. Mr. Ellis had visited him late last night and assured him that he would never have to see his mother and father again. Everything seemed to be moving in the right direction. However, he had to go through a lot for that to happen.

I asked Ty if he remembered the name of the older woman. “Edith Bowen,” he replied.

Craig asked, “How do you remember that?”

Ty shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I guess I have a photographic memory. I remember things.”

Craig giggled and asked, “How big is Blake’s weinie?”

Ty’s face reddened as he responded with a grin, “Six and a half inches.” Ty and Blake then got into a playful argument about the size of his cock. Blake insisted that he was at least seven inches. Craig jumped into the argument by saying that he thought that he was only six inches. My face reddened when Ty asked me to be the judge. We laughed when Blake looked quickly at the door, lifted his gown and showed his erection. Ty put his hand around it and said, “Yep. Six and a half inches.” We were laughing so hard a nurse walking down the hall stepped into the room and asked us to be quiet.

When we settled down, I told the others that we should see if Mrs. Bowen had been admitted. Blake asked who she was, and we explained how concerned she had been about us in the waiting room. He thought it was a good idea to thank her.

When a nurse came into the room to change Blake’s dressing and take his medication, we left and headed to the lobby downstairs. Fortunately, another woman was sitting at the desk. She politely told us that Mrs. Bowen was admitted the night before, and that she was in room 4608. We stopped by the gift shop, and Ty purchased a card and a small box of candy. After signing the card, we headed upstairs.

We cautiously entered the room. Mrs. Bowen was sitting in bed reading a book. She was surprised when she saw the three of us. She smiled and said, “Hello, Boys. It is so good to see you again. How is your friend?” We told her that Blake was doing well. We thanked her for being so nice to us in the waiting room. Tears filled her eyes when Ty handed her the card and candy.

“You boys are so sweet,” she responded. “I am so happy for you. I was very worried about you last night.” Ty asked her why she had been admitted. She explained that she had developed pneumonia a few weeks ago. She thought she was getting better, but last night she was at home and began having difficulty breathing. She drove herself to the hospital, expecting to return home. However, the doctors wanted to keep her for a day or two for tests and put her on antibiotics.

We were about to leave when she asked, “Could I impose on you boys to do an old woman a favor?”

“Sure,” I replied. “We’ll do anything for you.” She smiled as tears filled her eyes.

She explained, “I have four cats at home. When I left last night, I wasn’t planning on being admitted. I live alone, and there is no one there to feed them. If I give you the key to my home, do you think you can go there and give them food and water?” She told us that she had two sons and a daughter. However, one son lived in San Francisco, the other in Denver, and her daughter lived in San Antonio. “So, you see, I have no family close enough to do it for me. If you can’t do it, I have a very nice neighbor who can do it for me, but I hate to call him and ask him to come get the key. When you leave, you can give him the key if he is home. I’ll call him later and explain.”

We assured her that we would be happy to take care of her cats. She wrote her address on a piece of paper and handed Craig the key. I felt extremely proud that she trusted three boys with the key to her home. When I asked why she would trust us like that, she said that she had taught high school for thirty-seven years. She said she was a good judge of character, and that we had made a wonderful impression on her. Before leaving, we hugged her and told her that we would visit her afterwards to let her know that her cats were alright.

We returned to Blake’s room. He was asleep when we entered. He told us that the doctor had visited him, and that he would be going to be taken soon for some more x-rays. He said the doctor was concerned about the concussion, and he wanted to make sure that there was no swelling in his brain. We told him about our visit with Mrs. Bowen, and how she had asked us to take care of her cats. He said he wanted to meet her when he was dismissed from the hospital.

Craig nudged me and nodded toward the door. We walked over and hugged Blake and left the room. I asked Craig, “What’s this all about?” He laughed and said he wanted to give Ty a little time to say goodbye to Blake without us in the room. A few minutes later, Ty came out of the room wiping his lips and very red-faced.

We stopped at McDonald’s to get something to eat for lunch. Ty again agreed to buy. I felt bad because I knew he was just being kind. He was probably saving his money for something else. When we stood in line, I whispered to Craig to not order a lot of food. He nodded his head like he understood.

We talked about Blake as we ate. We couldn’t believe the improvement in him since we last saw him in the warehouse. Then, we assumed that he was dying. Mr. Ellis was right when he said sometimes things look worse than they really are. Craig and I teased Ty about helping Blake with the urinal. “Did you hold it for him while he pissed?”

“What?” asked Ty. “The pee thing.”

Craig started laughing uncontrollably. “Is that what you call it? I call it a dick.”

Ty’s face turned fifty shades of red as he stammered, “I…didn’t…”

I interrupted him and said, “Don’t worry, Ty. Craig is just playing with you. He’s just jealous because you held his dick, and he didn’t.” Ty took a bite of his burger and looked away as he tried to ignore us.

I suggested that we should get over to Mrs. Bowen’s house so we could go back and visit Blake before he ate dinner. She had given me the address, and Ty entered it on his Google map app. She lived in a nice neighborhood south of town. It was in a development that had been built about ten years ago. Most of the residents were rather well-off. A lot of our students lived in the area, and they usually thought they were better than those from the inner city. The neighborhood where Craig, Ty and I lived was kind of in-between both.

Fifteen minutes later, we pulled up in front of a nice ranch house. However, the landscaping needed some attention. I guess Mrs. Bowen couldn’t take care of it because of her health. The grass needed mowing, and the bushes were overgrown and needed trimming. I pulled into the driveway and looked around.

“Nice house,” I said. “But the yard needs some work done.” Craig and Ty agreed.

I unlocked the door, and we entered. The home was furnished nicely, but like the yard, it needed some cleaning. The carpet was filled with cat hair. Ty left and started roaming around looking for the cats. A minute later, he came back and said they were in a bedroom.

We walked into the kitchen. There were dirty dishes in the sink, and there was a strong odor of cat urine. Ty walked over to the kitty litter box and shook his head. “This thing hasn’t been cleaned in a few days.” He looked in a pantry and found a bag of kitty litter. When I asked him if he knew what he was doing, he said he had two cats at home, and it was his job to feed and clean up after them. I turned when I heard a cat meowing behind me. Four cats were standing in the doorway staring at us. Ty got their water bowl and filled it. They walked over and began to drink.

“I bet they’re hungry,” he said as he looked in the pantry and pulled out a couple of cans of cat food. He removed the tops and filled their food dish. The cats began to hungrily eat.

Craig walked over and opened the garage door. “If she has a lawn mower, I’ll mow the lawn.” He disappeared for a minute and returned with a smile on her face. “Cool,” he said. “She has a Toro riding lawn mower.” He closed the door. A few minutes later, we heard the garage door open and then the sound of the mower. I went into the living room and watched as Craig began riding the mower around the front yard. He seemed to be having a good time.

I went back into the kitchen and watched as Ty began to clean the litter box. I then turned and noticed the dirty dishes. Since Craig and Ty were busy, I figured I might as well do something too. I turned on the hot water and began washing the dishes. Ty finished taking care of the cats, so he came over and helped me with the dishes.

We worked quietly together for about five minutes before Ty spoke. “Seth?” he asked. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Ty,” I replied. “What?” He paused for a minute. I could tell he wasn’t sure what to say. “What’s wrong Ty?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” he said. “I just don’t know how to ask you this.”

I gave him a puzzled look. “Ask me what?”

He turned and looked me in the eyes and asked, “Are we a couple?”

“A couple? What do you mean?”

He turned and started putting dishes in the cabinet. “I mean, what do I mean to you?”

“You’re my best friend,” I said.

“I know that,” he replied, “But am I anything more than a best friend?”

Suddenly, I realized where this was heading. I had been watching Ty and Blake growing closer all morning. Ty kept holding his hand, and they couldn’t stop looking at each other. Ty was falling in love with Blake.

I smiled and said, “This is about Blake, isn’t it?”

Tears welled up in Ty’s eyes. “But I don’t want to hurt you, Seth.”

I reached over and hugged Ty tightly. He rested his head on my shoulder and sighed. “I love you, Ty. But what we did together doesn’t lock us into a relationship. If you like Blake, then I say go for it.” I hugged him again. “Blake is a lucky guy.”

Ty looked into my face and smiled. “Thanks, Seth. I love you too.”

“I know,” I said as I gave him a kiss on the cheek.

We spent the next hour cleaning Mrs. Bowen’s house. I found a vacuum cleaner in a closet, and Ty began dusting cat hair off the furniture. Ty called me over to a bookcase filled with framed pictures. They appeared to be Mrs. Bowen with her husband and children. A few of the pictures appeared to be newer because all her children were grown. One was a picture with a frame that was engraved with the words, Mother’s Loving Daughter. It was a woman who appeared to be about thirty years old. She was with her husband and three children, a boy and two girls.

Another picture was engraved, Loving Son. It was a man who appeared to be in his forties. He was with his wife and two older sons. It looked like it was taken at a graduation party.

The third picture was engraved, A Special Son. In it were two men standing cheek to cheek. “She has a gay son,” remarked Ty as he picked up the picture and looked at it. The men were handsome and appeared to be in their late twenties.

I took it from him and looked at it. “They’re cute,” I remarked as I put the picture back on the shelf. “No wonder she was so nice to us.” We then began to finish our cleaning. Ty and I made a good team. Soon, the house was spotless. I wanted to see the look on Mrs. Bowen’s face when she saw what we had done.

We were resting on the living room couch when Craig entered. He had removed his shirt, and his chiseled body glistened with sweat. I looked over and noticed Ty staring at him. I giggled, leaned over and whispered, “Down, Boy.” He looked away as his face reddened.

Craig disappeared into the bathroom and returned a few minutes later drying his body with a towel. “It’s hot out there,” he grumbled. I looked at the clock and asked him if he had finished. “Almost,” he replied. “I’m helping Jim trim the shrubs.”

I asked, “Who’s Jim?”

Craig pointed outside and said, “He’s Mrs. Bowen’s next-door neighbor. When he saw me mowing, he came over with his trimmer. I’m going to help him clean up.”

“I’ll help,” I said as I rose from the sofa. It was getting late, and I wanted to get back to the hospital to spend more time with Blake. I didn’t think we would be at Mrs. Bowen’s house for almost three hours.

Ty and I followed Craig outside. There was a man trimming a bush who looked to be about forty. He was rather handsome with a nicely trimmed beard. He stopped when we approached and held out his hand.

“I’m Jim,” he said with a smile. He pointed to the house next door. “I’m Edith’s neighbor. It’s nice what you boys are doing.” He looked at Ty and asked him his name. He then turned to me.

“Seth, Sir,” I replied.

He started laughing and said, “You can call me Jim. Sir makes me sound like I’m an old man.” He studied me for a minute and said, “Seth, huh? I have a son named Seth. He should be about your age.”

Tears filled my eyes. I hadn’t seen him since I was six, but I still vaguely remembered what he looked like. I started to cry and mumbled, “Dad?”

“Oh, my god!” he cried out. “Seth?” He approached and embraced me tightly in his arms as we continued to cry. “Oh, Son!” he said as he rocked me in his arms and kissed me on my forehead.