Date: Mon, 18 May 2009 22:40:49 -0700
From: cori Midori <corimidori@gmail.com>
Subject: Boys on the Bus

Introduction: This story is entirely fiction. Comments are welcomed at
corimidori@gmail.com

It had rained hard all day long. The busses were practically empty except
those who worked very late into the night or started very early in the
morning. Making a stop on it's last round at a local shopping plaza a bus
picked up one such closing clerk; a guy named Simon.

He was tall. He work dark, baggy clothing, studded bracelets, and had his
left ear and eye brow pierced. His labret was pierced as well. His hair was
black, cut short, and tidy. He wore hipster glasses over his deep brown
eyes. Slinging his backpack back over his shoulder he took his seat on the
bus, excited to finally be going home. He dug his headphones out of his
backpack and plugged a bud into each ear. Closing his eyes he relaxed a bit,
spreading his legs wide, and anticipating what he would do when he got home.
It had been inventory night which kept him there several hours after the
store closed.

The ride from the plaza, where he worked at a vinyl store, to his studio
apartment usually took about 35 minutes. With all the rain he figured it
would likely take longer. The bus was empty and that's how he liked it. He
had time to think about things and make plans. He was a solitary sort of
person and the fact was written all over his face. Though attractive he
wasn't what one would think of as `approachable.'

About 10 minutes into the ride the bus slowed down to pick up another
passenger. Simon didn't even open his eyes. He felt the bus shift gears and
take off again. The bus continued on, not stopping, for quite a while.
Finally the bus hit a red light and came to a halt rather suddenly. Simon
opened his eyes and looked down into the center isle of the bus.

A little boy had fallen flat on his face when the bus stopped. Apparently he
had been standing up. Simon took off his headphones and asked if they boy
was alright. The boy stood up and grabbed onto a pole. He was soaked with
rain water and now dirty from the floor of the bus. This kid had seen better
days.

"I'm okay," the boy said impishly. Simon nodded, put his headphones on
again, and returned to his original position. The bus lumbered on for a
while without stopping for passengers or red lights for a while. Simon's
thoughts drifted from work to his friends to his bills to his future when,
seemingly out of nowhere came the thought "What is a little kid doing alone
on a bus at this time of night? It's dangerous..."

That thought rattled around in his head for a while. Just as he was about to
open his eyes and look at the boy for more clues as to what he might be
doing he felt a very weak tug on his hoodie.

Simon opened his eyes and looked to his left. The little boy was sitting
right next to him looking directly at him. He was sitting cross-legged.
Simon pulled out his headphones and raised his eye brows in a sort of `what
do you want' gesture but didn't say anything.

This expression made the boy wonder if he'd done the right thing by
bothering this stranger and it showed in his face. He was nervous and
obviously unsettled.

"W-what's up," Simon asked trying to reassure the kid he was all good.

The boy, with water dripping from his eye lashes, looked directly into
Simon's eyes. Simon was taken aback with the glimmering nature of the little
boys jade colored eyes and the intensity with which they were locking onto
him. His voice was thin like paper as he spoke.

"Do... you know how to make her go here?" The little boy reached into the
backpack on his lap and pulled out a piece of paper. He handed it to Simon.
The boy watched intently as Simon looked over the paper. It was a map of the
Middle East. A country was circled over and over again in red crayon. Simon
thought for a moment and then it dawned on him. This little boy was trying
to find someone who was at war and didn't understand... "Oh man...," he thought
to himself.

Simon wasn't good with people in general. He wasn't especially empathetic
and this was way outside his field of expertise. He knew music, cheap beer,
parties, and the monotony of life. So when he spoke to this kid who couldn't
be more than 13 he spoke with as much levity as he was able.

"Why do you want to go there little guy?"

The boy, whose named turned out to be Aiden, explained that he was home
schooled. He was 13 almost 14 and had a friend on the internet he had talked
to every day since he was 10. Aiden's friend had been deployed to Iraq after
he joined the military. Aiden was going to go help him and make sure that he
was safe. He lived in the suburbs outside the city with his grandmother who
had been very ill for the past few months. His parents had abandoned him
with her when he was a baby. Aiden explained to Simon that his friend meant
the entire world to him and that he had to get to him to help him "fight the
war."

Simon was shocked and heart broken at the same time. Apparently Aiden had
been traveling via cabs, bus rides, and his feet for days. In his mind $100
was enough for Aiden to get to Iraq from Chicago. To his credit he had
traveled over a hundred miles from home in less than a week. He only had
about thirty bucks left though and this bus wasn't even headed for the
airport. It was headed for the south side where a 13 year old from the burbs
had no business being at 1am in the morning.

"I can't just...leave him here." Simon sighed deeply. He didn't have a plan
but he couldn't just leave some starry eyed kid for the predators of south
Chicago.

"Well Aiden... this bus isn't going to get you to Iraq."

"Oh...," the despair in his voice was matched only with pained expression on
his face.


The bus came to an abrupt stop two blocks from where Simon would be getting
off. This caused Aiden to slide forward from his seated position into Simon.
Simon held out his arms to brace the kid and keep him from falling. This
resulted in them hugging. Aiden yelled out when this happened.

"What's wrong????" Simon asked in a semi panick, letting Aiden go.

"I scrapped my back when I jumped over a fence trying to get away from some
dogs..."

"I-I-I'm sorry..." Simon was wet from their embrace as the boys clothes hadn't
dried much at all in the half hour they'd been on the bus.

"Aiden, if you want, you can sleep at my house tonight. We'll figure out
what to do in the morning. I have the day off so I can help you."

The boy smiled and nodded his head. He was hungry, tired, and soaking wet.
The idea of a warm safe place to stay sounded good to him. Getting to Iraq
was going to be harder than he thought. Simon signaled the driver to stop at
the next block and the two of them got off the bus. It was raining even
harder than it had been so Simon wanted to hurry to his apartment. He
grabbed Aiden's hand and pulled him along half a block until they arrived at
the awning outside his building where he let go. Simon got out his keys,
unlocked the door, and started to walk inside.

Aiden grabbed Simon's hand again. Simon looked down, smiled in a bemused
way, and led the boy to the 5th floor where he lived. He unlocked the door
and felt the wall for the light switch. The place illuminated they both
walked inside. It was a bachelor pad to be sure but it was clean and neat.
Music posters were on every wall. Stacks of Vinyl were arranged in crates on
the left and right of the T.V. atop which an Xbox sat. There was a guitar in
the corner, a few notebooks on a desk by the window, and a twin bed in the
corner of the room.

Simon slung his backpack against the wall by the door and gestured for Aiden
to do the same if he wanted. Simon realized Aiden was still soaking wet at
the sound of his sneakers squishing on the hardwood floor.

"Do you have any... extra clothes?" Aiden shook his head. The laundry area
wouldn't be unlocked until morning so Simon decided he'd have to lend Aiden
something to sleep in. This was the first time he sized the kid up. He was
little. Aiden was aybe 110 pounds (soaking wet), 5'4, with curly blonde hair
and the lithe frame of a kid his age. Simon, on the other hand, was 6'0, 170
pounds. He chuckled at this.

He rummaged around in a drawer full of clothes and finally found a pair of
boxers and an Invader Zim tee shirt from when he was younger. "These'll have
to do... the laundry room won't open until tomorrow."

Simon looked at Aiden. He was standing froze, clutching on to his backpack,
looking directly back at Simon.

"It's okay little guy, don't worry; we'll figure all this out." Simon smiled
and went over to him. "Let's...," as he knelt down in front of Aiden a feeling
came over him he wasn't entirely comfortable with. "Let's get you changed."
 Simon pulled off Aiden's soaked tee shirt and watched Aiden wince. He then
remembered the scrape on his back.

"Oh dude, I'm sorry! I've got some aloe... that ought to help a little." Simon
dashed off to the bathroom and grabbed his aloe lotion. He came back and
asked Aiden to turn around. He did so. "This'll feel good after a few
minutes I promise. When I used to skate I got cuts like this all the time."

Simon began to massage the lotion into the wound which was longer than it
was deep. At first Aiden pulled away but as it went on he started pushing
his back into Simon's hands. Simon applied the first blot of lotion, then a
second, and on the third he started to apply it outside the cut. He massaged
it into his shoulders, his lower back, and then around his hips. With the
fourth blot of lotion he ignored the cut altogether and started going around
Aiden's torso, to the top of his jeans bellow his stomach, then up his
stomach, and then across his chest. Realizing what he was doing he stopped
immediately and tried to speak.

"How does that feel?" Simon asked in a dry and raspy voice.

"Good..." Aiden responded in a dreamy tone.


Simon gave him the tee shirt and boxers and told him where the bathroom was
so he could go change clothes. Aiden nodded and trotted off to change. Simon
grabbed the extra pillow and blanket he kept in the closet and put them on
the couch. He changed into a flannel pair of pajama pants and waited for
Aiden to come back.

The door opened and Aiden stood there. The tee shirt hung off one shoulder
and he was holding the boxers up with one hand. "He looks so cu...," Simon
stopped his own thought.

"I made up this place for you on the couch. There's food and stuff in the
fridge if you get hungry or anything."

Aiden looked at the couch and then at Simon. He'd never seen anybody with
the muscular definition Simon had in his chest. He felt his face flush so he
looked back at the couch.

"Anything wrong" Simon asked.

"I don't... I mean thank you I just..."

"What's up dude?"

"Can I please sleep with you?"

Simon was taken aback. He'd just brought a 13 year old into his apartment
and basically felt him up. Was sleeping in the same bed with him really such
a good idea? Just as he was about to say that he didn't think the bed was
big enough he looked into Aiden's eyes which were watering up with tears.
"Oh good Christ," he thought to himself.

"Hey, yeah, no problem man. I'm sure we'll both fit." Simon smiled and
waived Aiden over. Simon got in first. He was against the wall. Aiden got in
after. Simon hit the lights and pulled the blanket over the top of the two
of them. Simon laid on his back while Aiden started out with his back to
Simon. Almost immediately Aiden turned over. Aiden threw one leg over one of
Simon's and started to fall asleep. Simon on the other hand immediately got
an erection.

To be continued...