Street Wise - 3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

My second day at school drifted by once again my thoughts were elsewhere mixed up with anticipation of going to see Dave’s friend John, Then I started wondering if mum was back home, and should I try and see her when I know dad wouldn’t be there. By the end of the school day I had decided I would walk past home and if dad’s car wasn’t there I would see if mom was home. It was another hot sunny day, so the walk was pleasant. When I arrived on our street I was relieved to see no sign of my dad’s car. It took me a few minutes to build up the courage to actually knock on the front door. All sorts of thoughts were racing through my mind. Would mom be home? Would she speak to me? Would she disown me like dad has?

More I thought about it the more anxious I was getting, I had to shake myself to get a grip, after all If the worst happened I didn’t need them, I have David now he will look after me.

I walked up to the door and knocked on the door and waited but no reply, so I knocked again and still no answer, I tried again but failed. It was obvious she wasn’t home, so I decided to use the nearest public phone to try and call her work place. When I did I was told she had left, to look after her frail mother. Things weren’t looking good, had she decided to move away or had dad forced her to leave work? As my mind went crazy I started to cry as I walked back to Dave’s flat. I managed to compose myself by the time I walked into the flat, but Dave took one look at my face and came and hugged me.

"Bad Day eh" he asked

"Yeah I went by my parents hoping to catch my mom while dad wasn’t there, but there was no answer, so I tried calling her at work, and was told she had left." I explained getting emotional once more.

"It’s ok Ads, let it out" said Dave hugging me tighter to his chest.

The rest of the evening went by uneventful we had dinner watched a little television and talked a little before bed.

Wednesday and Thursday I went by my parents on my way back to Dave’s from school but still no answer. Then on Friday morning I was hit by a bombshell, when bumped into my friend James, on the way to my maths class.

"Hey Adam, where have you been the last few days tried phoning your place and there was no answer, so I called by this morning and I see you are selling up." James said.

"What" I said in shock, selling up what did he mean. Then I realised the horrible truth, I also realised I’d better make up some sort of story, to stop James and anyone else finding out the truth.

"Oh yeah sorry been house hunting with mom and dad, they fancy moving into a bigger house, I don’t know why though, the one we have is big enough anyway" I replied trying to sound light hearted.

"Yeah parents eh" he replied.

"Hey James I’ll call you this weekend and we can catch up k!"

"Sure Adam, see yeh"

And we both walked to our next classes. God that was close I thought as I took my seat at the back of the class room. The school day went slow and as with the whole week my mind wasn’t there but I managed to bluff my way through unnoticed, at least I think I did.

I headed straight to Dave’s after school as we wanted to get on our way to Manchester as soon as possible; I did manage to talk him to go via my folks. And sure enough there was the for sale sign. Dad’s car wasn’t there so once more I tried knocking at the door for my Mom but got no answer.

The first part of the journey was mostly silent, I was buried in my own thoughts, and Dave seemed to sense I needed time to think, but would pat my leg or give me a slight smile once in a while, just letting me know he was there. With all the mantel stress I was under, I felt exhausted and slowly felt myself drifting off to sleep listening to the rhythm of the car engine.

"Ad’s wake up babes, we need to get something to eat" I heard a voice in the distant of my mind,

"Come on sleepy head" I heard recognising Dave’s voice and also noticing a gentle shaking of my shoulder as I slowly woke up.

"Oh where are we" I asked rubbing my eyes.

"About half way to Johns thought we better eat, you must be starving" he replied.

"Oh eh yeah sure am" I said flashing him a smile.

We got out of the car and walked across the car park to a rundown roadside café, it didn’t look to nice from the outside but looked modern and clean inside, which was a great surprise and relief, as I was expecting a greasy Joe’s type café, you know the sort where the food swims in buckets of fat.

Dave ordered our meals while I took a leak and freshened up in the men’s room. I asked Dave about john and also what to expect over the weekend, Dave told me not to worry about anything, that he would make sure I was ok, and just to relax go with the flow and enjoy myself. Which sort of made me feel even more apprehensive, what did go with the flow mean? I decided I was just being paranoid and new I could trust Dave. We ate our meals, and were soon back on the road.

We parked up outside a recently built apartment block just after 7pm, Dave had told me whilst we were travelling that John’s apartment was only 5 minutes walk from canal street and the heart of the gay scene. He had also told me not to worry about John’s hard man image, that he was a teddy really and just liked to play hard. As you can imagine I was starting to wonder what I had got myself into.

Sure enough this big guy came up to the car and greeted Dave and then introduced himself to me as John. We shook hands and I said I was Adam.

"My Davie, we have done well this time, where did you get this sweet piece of chicken?" John commented as he gave me the full body once over.

"Behave yourself John, Adam’s had a rough time lately and doesn’t need any teasing from you" Dave replied. I don’t know why but something inside just didn’t feel right as we walked the short distance from the car to the entrance of the apartment block. I took an instant dislike to John, he seemed seedy in someway.

John came across hard, very dominant in nature and had the body to match, he stood 6ft 3inches tall, large framed body and it was obvious that he did weights. His face looked rough and was partially covered with a goatee beard and a moustache. He wore short sleeve shirt with the top two buttons opened revealing a moderately hairy chest.

"k you guys get cleaned up and I will be in the living room" said John after showing us to our room, apparently John had only moved in a few months ago, so it was also Dave’s first visit to the apartment.

"Dave I don’t feel comfortable about all of this" I said as I started stripping to take a shower in the en-suite bathroom.

"You’ll be ok, look I have a little something you can take to relax you after you finish in the shower" He replied.

"I don’t want to take no drugs" I snapped, getting annoyed at the way Dave was being towards me, he had never taken or mentioned drugs of any kind to me, so this was all coming as a shock.

"Look Adam, everyone out there tonight will have taken something, this here is nothing, it will just relax you a little, help you enjoy the night and have fun" replied Dave in a more caring tone.

I headed to the shower not taking the conversation any further, but as I showered I felt more and more anxious and really didn’t want to be there. There wasn’t really much I could do about things so decided to just go along with things, though I politely declined the Ecstasy tablet that Dave offered me, saying I was ok now.

An hour after arriving we were heading towards Canal Street, both Dave and John had taken something and was starting to get high. We went into Via Fossa, john went to the bar and bought us all a pint of beer, which I drank rather quickly considering my parents never let me drink at home. So of course it went straight to my head. Dave bought the next round of drinks before we moved onto the next bar which I can’t remember the name of, in fact I can’t remember much more about that night. I remember by the time we got to Cruz 101 nightclub I was pretty wasted, Then John gave me a bottled drink and after that everything was blank until the next morning.

I heard voices from another room but couldn’t make out who it was. Then I opened my eyes to find myself in an unfamiliar room. The room was very basic, plain green walls, the bed I was laid on, oh my god I was tied to the bed. Shit what was happening, why the fuck was I tied to the bed by my wrists and ankles. I heard footsteps coming towards the door, and then the door opened. A man walked into the room carrying my clothes.

"Now kid I’m going to untie you and I want no shit, you will get cleaned up and dressed. By the time I get back you will be ready to go." He said in a deep authoritive voice.

"Where I am and why the fuck was I tied up" I shouted at the stranger after he untied me.

"Shut the fuck up and be ready by the time I return kid or else" the stranger replied slapping me across the face hard and left locking the door as he went. Oh fuck what is happening I thought to myself, where, was Dave and John, was I even still in Manchester. None of this made any sense to me, but I slowly stood up realising my bum hole was sore, oh my god they must have fucked me, I noticed welts on my arse as I struggled to look in the full length mirror. I then realised my chest and face was covered in dried spunk. What the fuck had happened after I blacked out.

The stranger soon returned to the room that I had been locked in. I don’t know how but I managed to bolt past him as he opened the bedroom door, I mean he was a well built guy like John was. Anyway he lost his balance for a couple of seconds but he was soon on my tail as I tried to unlock the front door of the apartment. He grabbed me by the leg causing me to lose my footing, but I managed to wiggle past him, I grabbed the phone which was sat on a small table, I threw the phone at his head, it was a hit and he slowly fell to the ground. Shit what had, I done, I gingerly crept up to him thinking he could be faking, but there was no movement, other than his chest was still moving up and down, thank god I thought, I haven’t killed him, then I noticed he was bleeding from the head. I felt in his pockets for his keys, once I found them I unlocked the door, then just as I was about to leave, My conscious got the better of me, I thought what if I leave him bleeding and he dies. So I checked the phone still worked which luckily it did, I dialled 999 and asked for an ambulance, then hung up and bolted out of the door.

I ran and ran until I could run no more, I didn’t know where I was running to but just had to get as far away from that place as possible. I sat on a park bench to catch my breath. Watching people go about their daily business, made all that was happening to me seem so unrealistic, was it just an awful dream. I suddenly felt very depressed As I realised I was now in a strange city, I had no idea what had happened to me, or even where Johns apartment was, Did I even want to see John and David after all they were supposed to be looking after me. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were involved in last nights activities. Thoughts came and went, and then a dread came over me, what if that man died, that would make me a murderer right? I started to tier up. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up to see this guy around my age looking at me.

"Hi I’m Simon, your new round here aren’t you" the guy who tapped my shoulder asked.

"Hi" I replied.

"I was just here with friends for the weekend, but its all gone wrong and I just don’t know what to do, I wish I was dead" I blubbered out.

"Hey there, calm down, what’s your name?" Simon asked.

""Oh eh Adam" I mumbled

""Adam, your gay right?"

""Why" I asked

"Hey stop being so defensive, I’m gay myself and besides I want to try and help you a little if I can" Simon said trying to reassure me.

"I don’t think you or anyone can help me after what I have just done."

"Try me" he prompted me.

"I have to confess to the police its no use, I can’t cope" I cried.

"Hey now don’t be so hasty, look let me tell you a little about me, then you may feel a little happier about talking to me ok"

"I guess" I replied giving in, after all what did I have to lose, and this guy seemed genuinely wanted to help me.

"Well fist of all you may not have realised but you are in the middle of one of Manchester’s top spots for rent boys. If you want to sell your body this is the place to do it" explained Simon.

"And yes I am a rent boy" he added smiling as he said what I was thinking and about to ask him.

"I’m no rent boy" I replied defensive.

"No one is saying you are, look Adam, it seems to me that you have yourself in a spot of bother, I want to help. Why well because I got into some trouble a couple of years ago and a guy helped me through it." Said Simon and went on to explain his situation and how a guy a couple of years older then us, had taken him under his wing down in London.

I then went on to explain everything from my father kicking me out, and not being able to get in contact with my mom. Through to the night before the uneasy feeling I had before we hit the bars, and then waking up in a strange room, and throwing the phone at the stranger and knocking him out.

"Shit you have had it bad the last few weeks. Do you think you killed the guy?" asked Simon.

"I don’t know, but he was bleeding quite badly when I left" I replied.

"I have a small flat just a few blocks from here, lets go there, get you cleaned up and something to eat, then we will work out what to do next" Replied Simon.