Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2015 16:14:47 -0400
From: Chris Johns <chris-johns@hotmail.com>
Subject: A Christmas Tale

A Christmas Tale

The snow crunched under my feet as I walked from my front door to the car
which I had parked in the drive earlier in the day. I guessed that the
earlier thaw had turned and everything was frozen again. Immediate warning
to my brain, 'drive carefully the roads are going to be like an ice rink.'
My situation wasn't going to be helped by my attire. Several pillows
strapped round me and covered with a large red suit with white fur trim. On
my feet were a large pair of boots borrowed from the local Amateur Dramatic
Society, they had been used in a production of 'Puss in Boots'. They were
about three sizes to large so even with three pairs of socks they were
still too big. My long white beard was a work of art I thought and the
whole was topped off with a rather fantastic wig and hooded cape.

No, I'm not some kind of weirdo, I was doing something I had to do for the
first time since my dad had died during the year. He always did a Christmas
Eve Santa at the local boy's home. I was only 25 so I guessed some of the
kids would pick up on the fact that I wasn't all wrinkled, but I drew the
line at elaborate makeup. In the boot of the car were three quite large
sacks of toys. My dad had always asked the home for details of age of all
the kids and one of his staff had been boned off to buy appropriate
presents for the detailed youngsters. I did the same, because I was a
bleeding heart just like dad had been. The presents were expensive ones,
tablets, games consuls, and iPhones. These were kids with nothing so these
presents would wow them.

The kids were mainly orphans, but an increasing number were kids that had
just been abandoned. Ages at this home ranged from ten to sixteen. The
younger ones were in another home where I understood things were better
because they were young enough to get adopted. My lot might get a foster
home, but if they did there wasn't likely to be much love and affection
there. Most would remain here until they could be found work and a warden
controlled one bedroom flat in some soulless block until they were able to
move on.

Safe passage and I walked in to the home. The warden sent three guys out to
carry in my sacks. They had placed a large armchair draped in a Christmassy
cloth over it for me to sit on. I had labelled all the presents with a tag,
showing age. I could tear that off as I gave it to the kid. The bigger boys
thought it was a hoot when I asked them if they would like to sit on my
knee. Some of them were nearly as big as me, but nearly all of them
did. Some of the comments they made, and the suggestions had me doing more,
ho, ho, hoing than intended. Outrageous little sods.

The last boy up was a little blond one. I guessed he was one of the
youngest, so when he told me he was 12, I wasn't surprised. He was escorted
by a bigger boy, one of the 16 year olds. The 12 year old also looked
terrified.

"Matt is a little shy around older men Santa so he likes me close."

I nodded and asked him why he would be shy around Santa. The bigger boy's
eyes blazed and in a vicious voice he told me.

"Because 3 years ago a nice Santa like you took him into a broom cupboard
and raped him."

I gasped. I couldn't even begin to think what he must have felt. He was
small now, 3 years ago it must have been absolutely traumatic.

"Well, Matt, this Santa isn't going to do anything nasty, I just want to
give you a present."

I picked the last one out of my sack, it was a games consul with a couple
of games. After I gave it to him he hopped off my lap and grabbed the hand
of the other boy.

"I guess you're his protector in the home, are you?"

"I'm his brother."

I nodded, turned my eyes to Matt and said to him.

"I hope you have a lovely Christmas," and I couldn't resist adding, "And I
hope the nasty man that hurt you rots in hell."

Matt's brother looked at me, a little shock showing on his face.

"He didn't even get prosecuted, the police said it was just Matt's word
against his, despite the fact that his bottom was bleeding from the
assault."

Then they turned and joined the other kids. I was shaken, but circulated
for a little while before taking my leave. I changed in the Warden's office
and then had a talk to him about Matt and his brother.

"Franklin, the information I am going to give you is not to leave this
room. Matthew and Luke Johnston came to us when Matt was released from
hospital after his rape. I was curious why it had all been hushed up and no
publicity or prosecution had taken place, until that is Luke told me the
name of the rapist. He is one of this town's most prominent citizens."

No words could describe my horror at that news because my mind immediately
went to the idea that Matt might have been one of many. I determined then
to take action on two fronts. The first was that I would pay a top
psychiatrist to see Matt and do what he could for him. The second thing I
was going to do was put a private detective on the case to find out if
there were any more cases, and if there were, who was the police officer
squashing them. I also started volunteering my time to the home for as long
as I could spare each week. I had taken over dad's businesses so time was
pretty valuable, but it did give me a lot of money which I was now going to
use to the benefit of these kids.

I befriended Luke and Matthew, as far as they would let me that is. Luke
was wary of my motives and Matt was just plain scared of me. I was getting
the psychiatrists reports but they weren't very encouraging. Matt wanted a
lot of loving, and he would need that if he was to grow up normal, instead
of being a frightened little rabbit. I did notice that Luke was genuinely
incredibly protective of him and I came to love the boy for his goodness. I
encouraged both of them to work hard at school and I brought them little
presents as rewards if they showed me school assignments where they had
picked up As.

Of course Luke picked up on the special treatment.

"Why are you being so nice to Matt and me, Mr. Goodman?"

"Luke, I was devastated by what you told me on Christmas Eve. I can't even
begin to imagine how Matt must feel, the horror will probably never leave
him, but I am hoping that the psychiatrist will be able to help him. I am
doing everything I can for the pair of you. Not that it's much while you
are in here, that wouldn't be fair to the other boys."

"So you are the one paying for the shrink?"

I nodded and got a very odd look from Luke.

The next blow to my efforts was a very worried Luke and a very tearful
Matt, on a visit later in the month. Spring was just around the corner and
I was thinking of ways that I could make life better for my two boys as I
thought of them.

"What's the matter Luke?"

"I have to leave the home for a warden controlled flat. They have found me
a job and I'm 16, so I have to leave here."

I could see how that was going to affect both of these boys so I went to
the warden.

"Is there any reason why I can't take Luke to live with me, and continue
his education?"

The warden was surprised.

"Franklin, the boy is sixteen, he can do virtually what he likes, except
stay here. I don't want to sound negative, but have you thought this
through?"

I nodded.

"Yes, he is a good kid, he deserves a chance. I'd take Matt as well if I
could, and somehow I am going to make sure that the two stay close outside
of school hours."

"Well, you'll have my support, but I don't know that you can do much for
Matt, the powers that be will never give you any kind of custody of him."

I guessed that, but I had a plan. Clear it with Luke first.

I sat the two boys down for a talk.

"Luke, you can go anywhere you like when you leave here can't you?"

"Yeah, but with no money and a job that pays peanuts, anywhere is the
council flat."

"Supposing I said you could stay with me, go to school to finish doing your
GCSEs and go on to do your A Levels. We will arrange for you to spend as
much time as you like here with Matt. Would you do it?"

Suspicious look.

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Because I think you two boys deserve a break and I can afford to give you
that break."

"I don't care, as long as I can still look after Mattie."

My next step was to check with the headmaster of the school I was going to
send Luke to, to see if he would take Matt as well. No problem, it was no
problem with the warden either. The problem was that Matt would have to go
by car and that meant a strange man. It would terrify him. Luke supplied
the solution.

"The car could pick me up first and then Mattie, reverse on the way home,
but I could stop off with him. Do my assignments here and just come to you
to sleep?"

In essence that was how it panned out, but I started to worry about Luke
and friends. He actually didn't make any because his free time was spent
with Matt. He began to feel it after his exams when everyone else was
partying. He looked pretty down one evening when he came in and I went to
give him a hug. He went rigid on me and then pulled away, looking
frightened.

"Luke, you have become a special part of my life since I saw you at
Christmas. Looking as lost as you did when you walked in today, for me it
was natural to give you a hug. I want to give you lots of hugs to show you
how happy I am to have you here."

"I don't like people touching me."

Bells ringing.

"I think you had better come and sit down."

He did, showing the tension by perching just on the edge of the chair.

"I'm not a shrink, but I'm astute enough to realise that you have probably
been through what your brother went through, correct?"

He looked terrified. I wanted to die.

"Luke, I'm never going to hurt you. I'm never going to do anything to you
that you don't want me to. I would however like to hug you when I think you
need it and when we sit talking or watching the TV, it would be nice to
snuggle up close to you. Touching people you like is a very warming
feeling."

I hadn't convinced him so I got up, stood over him and spoke again.

"I've come to love you and Matt, I want to do everything I can to make your
adulthood a good thing."

Then I left him and went to sort out dinner.

I knew that conversation now was going to be difficult and I had already
anticipated the first question.

"What did you mean, you love me?"

"Do you love Matt?"

"Yes, of course, he's my brother."

"Well, I don't have a brother, but I'm guessing that my love for you two is
that kind of love. I want to protect you, and look after you."

I don't think it would have mattered what I said, the tension wasn't going
to ease. I was a direct acting kind of guy so I did something so extreme
you will probably think I'm mad. I spiked Luke's drink with a drug when we
sat down to eat the next night. It was a knockout drug that would only have
a brief effect on him. While he was out I stripped him to his boxers and
then tied his arms and legs to the four corners of the bed. When he
recovered consciousness he looked round, pulled at his bonds, realised he
couldn't move and then looked at me. I was sat in an armchair by the side
of his bed.  I got up, walked over to him and sat by the side of him on the
bed. I stroked his torso before speaking. He beat me to it.

"Please Mister, don't hurt me."

He started to cry. The big hard exterior that he showed all the time
because he felt he needed to as Matt's protector, crumbled. The frightened
little boy emerged. The boy who had been raped sometime in his past. He had
been carrying that fear around with him for I don't know how long. Now he
looked terrified.

I wiped his eyes but that was a waste of time he just kept flooding the bed
with his tears. I touched his cheek and then held his face so that he was
looking at me.

"I don't have the slightest intention of hurting you. I wanted to show you
that if I wanted to it would be so easy. You are completely under my
control here so I can rape you if I want to. That's what happened before,
Luke, isn't it?"

He nodded. I undid all of his restraints and gave him his bathrobe to put
on. Curled up on his bed now with me in the armchair again, I spoke.

"I did that for two reasons Luke. Firstly to show you that I am never going
to hurt you or abuse you even though it would be easy for me to do so.
Secondly, I had the feeling that Matt's problem was yours as well. You are
both such good looking boys, paedophiles are bound to gravitate towards
you. We can start trying to mend you now that I know where you are broken.
I'll do everything I can, but I would like you to start seeing the same
doctor that Matt goes to. Will you do that for me?"

He still looked frightened, but he nodded.

"Will you do something else for me? Will you let me give you another hug?"

I could almost hear his brain working on that one. I guess he eventually
realised I could have had much more than a hug if that was my intention,
and secondly, the human touch had felt good. He moved off the bed and stood
in front of me. He was still very tense and frightened, but he let me hug
him for a minute, progress.

A combination of the shrink and myself worked well. Within a month Luke
would sit with me on a sofa while we watched TV and he would sit close
enough for me to have an arm over his shoulder.

School was out for the summer and I asked the warden if he would employ
Luke for the summer and I would pay his wages. I also got permission for
Matt to spend weekends with his brother that meant, with me. Matt picked up
on the fact that Luke allowed quite a lot of bodily contact between the two
of us. The first time I tried a hug with him he almost screamed. He looked
even more terrified than Luke had. I sat the two of them down and made Luke
tell him what I had done to prove that I wouldn't hurt him. Matt's eyes got
wider as the tale unfolded and he looked at me in wonder.

"You're a very good looking boy, Matt, just like Luke, and just like Luke,
it would be easy for me to do anything I wanted to with you. All I want to
do is help you, be your friend and try to make your life better."

Nearly thirteen and not stupid, he thought about it, looked at Luke who
gave him the nod and for the first time since I had touched him he relaxed.

We started doing much more together, and I would sometimes use my people
carrier and with the warden's permission we would collect several of the
boys for an outing. It was as easy to take eight of them as it was two. The
only two constants were Luke and Matt, for the rest we rotated them.

Nearly eight months after my private detective had been taken on he dumped
a dossier on my desk and sat with a wide grin on his face as I scanned it
quickly.

"Take your time and read it thoroughly, then take a look at my invoice and
pay it if you think I have done a proper job. At the bottom of the report
are the names of two firms of solicitors that will take the case if you
want to take out a private prosecution. You will notice the rank of the
police officer that has been squashing the prosecution. Also, the names of
other men involved in the paedophile ring."

I did read it thoroughly and was more shocked than I had ever been in my
life. The list of names of men that had abused the kids read like something
out of Burke's Peerage, almost. I thought that the dossier contained enough
information that if it could be proved would put these bastards away for a
long time. So, I had two copies made, put the original in my safe and went
to see Messrs Tindal, Walsh and Zavros.

Jeremy Walsh was about the same age as my dad I guessed, late forties.
There was an immediate link as soon as we shook hands. I liked him. He took
the dossier and listened to my quick summary of its contents.

"The police threw out the case against Sir Keith Loftus without properly
investigating it. Several of the other cases were the same and the
remainder, I gather weren't even reported. All of the boys were in boys
homes. In some cases there is evidence of collusion with the wardens and
staff of the homes. The whole thing is a can of worms and looks like it
could run to about 20 to 25 separate cases unless you can find some way of
lumping some of the men together in one prosecution."

Jeremy looked at me hard for a few minutes.

"Franklin, to privately prosecute all of these people will accrue legal
fees in excess of ?1,000,000 I would guess, unless we can lump some
together. I will need to study the dossier before making a final decision."

"The cost is acceptable, I just want these animals put away. Especially the
police chief who has covered it all up."

That was the official side of the meeting over with. Jeremy quizzed me a
little on my background before inviting me to dinner that night. I told him
about Luke and he amazed me.

"Bring the boy along as well. He will be an interesting person to talk to
in the relaxed atmosphere of my home. My own son is only a year older than
Luke and I'll make sure he is in for dinner tonight."

It was a good move as it turned out. Luke and Jeremy's son got on so well
they arranged to meet up again. The boy, Mark was mobile so he could come
to Luke.

I watched over the next few months as I had more to do with Jeremy, and
Luke had more to do with Mark. I watched the real boy emerge. He was more
relaxed and the relationship I had wanted began to form. He became more
touchy feely and I loved it. Matt took this all in and decided I must be ok
because he started to allow more touching. The problem for me, having got
what I was trying to achieve, took me to the next level. I wanted to make
love to Luke. He was nearly 17 and I had seen him almost naked. He was
gorgeous and I loved his floppy blonde hair, his soft blue eyes and the
body. I also loved his gentle nature but that shielded a steel interior
when it became necessary. I was sure that the security he felt living with
me was a strong contributor to his blossoming personality. The strong
friendship he was developing with Mark was another contributor. The third
individual in our set up was Matt, and he was thirteen now. He was a
smaller version of Luke and I loved him as well. It took nearly a year but
the shrink and I between us had managed to allay most of his fears about
men. Through Luke I did get the message across that he should avoid being
by himself anywhere, not to frighten him, but to emphasise the need to keep
him safe.

We had another Christmas at the boy's home and because of Matt and Luke
they all knew that I was Santa Claus. The suggestions I got from the older
boys were more outrageous because they knew I was young and they had seen
my body when I had been playing sports with them. The paedophiles would
have loved to be me. Hell I loved to be me. The kids were keeping me
young. They were fun, but I never touched any of them inappropriately.

***********************************

Jeremy got the civil prosecution case together and took it to the Director
of Public Prosecutions. The DPS was embarrassed that one senior police
officer had managed to keep the lid on something this big. The Crown
Prosecution Service were willing to take on the case, but Jeremy would only
relinquish it on the understanding that if the CPS didn't prosecute it
fully he would file the civil action and make it quite clear that the CPS
had failed in their duty. That action saved me about ? of a million.

Luke had finished university before all the cases had been tried, but my
P.I. and Jeremy's people had been so thorough that no amount of wriggle
could get any of them off. The police chief got 25 years and several others
got similar long term sentences. Matt was 18 when the last case was
tried. The man that had raped him had also done the same to more than a
dozen other kids. He got 25 years as well. Matt was living with me now as
well and that night he came and cuddled up to me.

*****************************************

"He deserved it didn't he Franklin?"

"Yes Baby. He robbed you of your innocence. He'll rot in hell, if there is
such a place, when he dies."

"His conviction has allowed me to admit something to myself that I was
terrified to do before. I know you love Luke and I have seen the longing in
your eyes. Do you think you could love me the same way?"

I was shocked.

"What do you mean?"

"You always looked after us, and encouraged us to be ourselves. When Luke
and Mark became lovers you had encouraged Luke and made it possible for him
to realise that love, despite the fact that you wanted that love for
yourself. Well, I don't have a Mark, but I would love a Franklin."

"You mean you're gay as well?"

"Yeah, your expensive shrink eventually got through to the real me. I knew
I was gay even before the rape, but being raped kind of fucked me up for a
few years, the same as it did with Luke."

"But I'm thirteen years older than you."

"That's only a number Franklin. Age doesn't make the decision about who you
love. You have been so special in my life for six years. Look what you have
done for Luke as well. You are so unselfish and caring. If you were 60
years old I'd still love you and because I'm gay I want to show you in a
physical way as well."

I was totally blown away. How could I not have seen this? Was I really so
hung up on Luke that I was blind to everyone else around me? The answer was
no, actually, but I hadn't thought of Matt's love being sexual as well
because of the age difference. I knew he loved me and we cuddled
frequently, but I hadn't clicked on the desire. I sat back and thought
about Matt's idea concerning our age difference. I decided he was right,
you didn't choose who to love, it was something that happened and we had
very little control over it.

I smiled at Matt, hugged him a little closer and then spoke.

"In that case, would you like to come to bed with this old man tonight to
see if I can love you in the same way?"

He grinned at me, leant in and kissed me on the lips. I thought my heart
would stop beating. This boy wasn't going to be a substitute for the boy I
really wanted. He was going to be the boy I really wanted. That one kiss
convinced me of that.

We got naked at bedtime and fell into bed together. His body took my breath
away. He was, in my opinion simply perfect.

Loving him, and making love to him, was the most exciting thing to happen
to me ever. When he went off to university I wasn't lonely because Luke was
still living at home. I talked to Matt most evenings and he talked to Luke
as well, usually with me listening so I got all the gory details of Luke's
love life. That was just an excuse for loads of laughter.

"Well you just make sure you keep all that sex for Mark and leave my man
alone."

"You mean you don't want me to keep him in practice for you?"

Matt and I nearly died laughing at that one.

"If you dare, I'll cut your balls off when I come home."

So that was it. For three years I had a slightly older version of my lover,
but limited to hugs. Mark got the same actually and the wedding present
that Jeremy and I gave the two boys was a substantial deposit on their
first home. We also bought the boys a brand new car each, of their choice
of course.

Matt came to work for me after graduation and we both used a lot of our
free time and money at and on the boy's home.

Christmas Eve every year I dressed up as Santa and the big difference was
that Santa's Elf was with me, Matt. Of course none of the boys still
believed in Santa Claus but they did believe that Franklin and Matt were
the good guys and during the year gave back more than they cost me in the
way they treated us. We had so much fun and even in my fifties I still felt
like a teenager.

Oh, by the way, Matt never wanted to try anyone else during my life time to
date.

"I can't see any point, Franklin, I know I've got the best, why would I
want to screw it up by trying second best."

Good enough for me.

The End

***************************************************