Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2004 14:21:49 -0800
From: fritz@nehalemtel.net
Subject: I Love Corey, Chapter Thirty-two

	Here we go again.  Another of the hated warnings and disclaimers.
If you think you're tired of reading them, think about me.  I have to write
the stupid things.
	If you are not of legal age in the area you live in, I must ask you
to leave without reading this story.  Why?  Well, a bunch of people think
reading this story will corrupt you.  How they came to that conclusion,
without first reading this story, is beyond me.  I guess I'm just dumb.  I
will admit to having a lot of fun being corrupted when I was young.  I
think that is one of the joys of growing up.
	That also means that if you live in an area that prohibits reading
a story of this type by making it against the law, you must also leave.
Sounds like a case of a bunch of bigots managing to get a law passed that
indicates they think you are incapable of making your own decisions.  In
other words they think you are too stupid to think for yourself.  I don't
think that way and in fact think that you are probably the best judge of
what you should read.
	Since this story is a work of fiction, the characters and events
herein described never took place and are not based on anyone living or
dead.  Anyone who thinks or claims otherwise needs to get a grip on
reality.
	Sorry, you may not do anything with this story other than read it
for your own enjoyment.  You may not post it on another site without
receiving permission from me.  Quotes must be attributed to me and if you
have some harebrained idea of making money from it, contact me.  I would
really like to know how and why you might think you could.
	Once again Ernie has worked his magic.  I can't believe I can
overlook so many mistakes.  Not sure if I'm blind or just so dumb I don't
know any better.
	Last, feel free to email and vent your anger.  You can even offer
comments, suggestions, or ask questions.  I try to answer all such email
but unless you remember to put the story title in the subject line, you'll
probably be deleted.  Don't worry, I don't bite.  (Pun intended) Such
emails should be sent to fritz@nehalemtel.net I hope you enjoy the
following chapter.  Fritz
********************************************************************************

		I Love Corey, Chapter Thirty-two

	My God, it's Monday.  A blow to my alarm clock and I collapsed back
on the bed.  That hateful thing wasn't done with me and soon started again.
I managed to pull myself up enough to find the off button and push it.  A
few groans and I made it to my feet.  After blinking my eyes a few times I
could see the clock hadn't bothered Corey in the least.  I staggered off to
the bathroom to start the usual routine.  By the time I'd showered, shaved,
etc., I was almost awake.  After dressing I woke Corey and headed for the
kitchen to plug the coffee pot in.  Three steps towards the kitchen and I
remembered JJ and LT.  I didn't even bother to look in LT's bedroom.  I
just walked to the end of the hall and rapped on JJ's door.  No response.
A few more raps didn't do any better.  I opened the door, walked to the
bed, and shook them awake.  I finally made it to the kitchen and plugged
the perk in.  At least I didn't need the umbrella to get the paper.  In
fact, it looked like it might be a decent day.
	I drank my first cup of coffee while starting breakfast.  I was
soon joined by three zombies.  They brightened up considerably when I
served them breakfast.  I was still full from dinner last night and a
couple of slices of toast were enough but that wasn't enough for the boys.
A big bowl of Cream of Rice, several slices of toast, a large glass of
orange juice, and a couple of glasses of chocolate milk filled them up, I
think.  I'll grant you that there was some complaining about having to eat
a hot cereal but it was a healthy breakfast.  Corey had gotten used to it,
so would JJ and LT.  In his case most any breakfast would have been
acceptable.  At least there was less fat than bacon and eggs.
	Since there appeared no chance of looking at the paper, I dug out
the game plans I'd been working on last night.  Our opponent would probably
be our toughest match-up in our half of the draw.  They were bigger and
more physical than we were.  If it rained we'd probably be dead but you
never know.  I kept trying to come up with something that would improve our
chances but finally it was time to leave for school.
	Morning meeting went pretty well.  I did get kidded about my hair.
There was a place on the back of my head about the size of my palm that
Dr. Logan had shaved before he stitched me up.  It had still been hidden
with bandages on Saturday.  Oh well, it would grow out.
	There was lots of talk about the game and how well the team had
played.  That went on until Jerry got the meeting underway.  We went
through the usual stuff without any problems and when it came time for the
teachers to bring things up I started.  I asked how we were going to deal
with the various types of harassment we were going to encounter.  That
sparked all kinds of debate.  The end result was, if it was verbal we'd
start with a lecture for the first offense.  After that suspension,
starting with a day and going up depending of the gravity of the offense
and the attitude of the person committing it.  Any physical violence would
start at a week's suspension and, depending on if there was any injuries,
could result in expulsion.  Jerry said he'd bring the subject up at the
school board meeting and get it finalized.  District guidelines hadn't been
very specific.  Since the board meeting was tomorrow night, we should be
able to get by until then.  Hopefully nothing would happen that required
those guidelines.
	I did mention that I knew of a couple of boys we might need to
watch and gave them the names JJ and LT had given me.  That brought out
several others that different teachers had overheard.  At the end of the
meeting there were nine names on the list of those some of us thought ought
to be watched.
	I know I was a little spooked after last week.  I kept my eyes
open, trying to make sure nothing happened to anyone.  It turned out to be
unnecessary.  The day went pretty well.  The student body was all abuzz
with the team's performance and a little noisier than usual but nothing bad
happened.  I got kidded some more about my `kewl' haircut.  I wonder why
those making the comments about how much they liked it turned down my offer
to get them one like it.  There was a bunch of whining and groaning when I
told my classes we'd gotten behind and they were going to have to work hard
to make it up.  Nothing new there.  They whined and groaned about a lot of
things.
	When practice finally started I was surprised to see JJ and LT
along the sidelines.  I'd thought they'd go home on the bus but I think
they stayed, trying to put off making up their missed assignments.  Most of
the team paid no attention to them but I did see a couple of them glare at
JJ and LT.  One was already on the list from this morning and I'd have to
add the other.  Hopefully it would all blow over soon.
	Practice went pretty well.  The few changes I wanted for our next
game were mostly on defense so the offense just had their usual plays to
practice, along with a couple of plays we hadn't used much.  The
linebackers seemed to understand why I changed their assignments.  We
needed to be ready for a more up the middle running game than any team we'd
played this year.  Our opponent wasn't that fast but they were bigger and
probably stronger.  If we could manage to slow their running game down, we
might have a pretty good chance.  By changing the assignments of the two
middle linebackers it would make it almost like a six man front but still
have some of the good points of our normal defense.  There'd be more
responsibility on our safeties against the pass, but I didn't look for that
unless we managed to get a big lead.  If that happened, we could go back to
our normal defense.  Based on our strengths, it looked like the best we
could do.
	After practice JJ and LT wandered into the locker room.  A couple
of the players looked kind of uncomfortable so I sent the boys out to the
Gator.  JJ looked tired anyway and I figured he wouldn't mind having a
comfortable place to sit.  As soon as they left things got back to normal
and soon all had showered and left.  I asked the two players to stop in and
talk to me tomorrow.  Hopefully I could defuse the situation before
anything happened.
	Corey'd started the laundry before practice got under way, trying
to catch up because of the Saturday game.  We managed to get about half of
the game uniforms washed along with the normal ones and decided to leave.
We needed to stop for more groceries.  I'd thought I had enough food for
several days but the addition of JJ and LT changed that.  Food seemed to
disappear around them.
	We made it to the produce section before Mrs. Downie caught up with
us.  Some introductions and ten minutes of conversation followed.  When she
had her fix of the happenings at school I finally had time to look in the
cart.  Well, I didn't have to look in.  It was now piled so high I had to
look up.  Corey wasn't bad but JJ and LT had been sneaking a few things in
while Mrs. Downie and I visited.  I didn't have my abacas with me so I
didn't try to count the number of items they'd put in.  I was a math
teacher and I knew I couldn't count that high without help.  We got a bunch
of the cookies and chips and other junk food returned to the shelves and a
little guidance on my part slowed their foraging down.  The cart still
looked like a mushroom when we headed for checkout.  How they had managed
to stack that many items on without having them fall off was beyond me.  I
got even when we got home.  I made them pack the groceries in and put them
away.  That was a gamble on my part but since most of it required cooking I
thought it was safe to do so.  They only made off with a bag of chips and
about half the bananas.
	You'd be surprised at how much help was offered when I started
cooking.  Even my assurances that I could handle it myself didn't stop such
offers.  They finally gave up and started their homework.  When I told them
that until the homework was done there would be no television, they got to
work.  I'd already explained to JJ and LT that they only had to do the make
up assignments for one day, tonight.  If they kept to a schedule of one
day's make up assignment per school day that meant that they would be able
to catch up this week.  Corey had one day to make up so he wasn't any
better off tonight than the others.  I did record the Monday Night Football
game.  They should be able to blip the commercials and other junk and get
the game watched before bedtime.
	I was right.  They watched the last quarter live.  The only problem
was it was a poor game between teams none of us really cared about.  It was
decided by halftime and the rest of the game was just more of the same.
That did give me a chance to find out how things had gone at school.  Two
more names to add to the list.  I hoped things wouldn't get out of control
and most, if not all, of the students would soon start to accept the boys.
	The game was so bad that Corey went to his room and worked on his
art lessons.  That left me with JJ and LT.  I decided it was a good time to
explore how they felt about each other but couldn't come up with a good way
to start.  After mulling it around some I tried a somewhat indirect
approach.
	"Do you think I should just move all your stuff into one bedroom or
do you both want to keep separate bedroom.  You know, you're each supposed
to have one and really should sleep in your own."
	If it hadn't been for the television in the background there would
have been utter silence in the room.  I gave them lots of time but all I
got was two boys looking at the floor.  They wouldn't look at me or at each
other.  I finally tried again.
	"Can you tell me why you like to sleep together?"
	Finally LT took a deep breath.  "Uh, well like, uh you and Corey
uh, you and Corey sleep together."
	Of course he was right.  Corey and I did sleep together and that
was one of the reasons I'd let it slide.  It's kind of hard to tell someone
not to do something that you're doing.  I'd been kicking this around in my
mind and trying to figure out how to handle it.  So far I had no answers
but thought maybe if we talked about it they would least become comfortable
with it and quit trying to sneak in after dark.  That really didn't do much
good when they were still together in the morning.  Plus there was a lot
more of `the talk' we needed to cover.
	"That's an observation but it still doesn't tell me why you two
like to sleep together."  I could see they were getting upset.  I went over
to the sofa they were on and plunked myself between them.  This was one
time I wished the sofa wasn't as big as it was but with a little
encouragement I got them against me and kind of under my arms.  Time to see
if I could get this to go a little further.
	"Come on guys, I just want to know."  When they didn't answer I
decided to press the issue.
	"LT, you're the one that never sleeps in your own room.  Why?"  He
tried to pull away but I just kept my hand cupped around his bony shoulder,
making that difficult.  I wasn't holding him tight enough so that he
couldn't leave, just enough to make it a little more difficult.
	Finally in a voice so soft I almost couldn't hear it, "I guess I
just feel safer."
	"Why do you feel safer?"
	There was another long pause before he said anything.  I could feel
the tension in both their bodies and wondered if I was crowding them too
soon but I thought this was something we needed to get out in the open and
discuss.  Maybe I could help them understand themselves.
	"Well, uh, maybe, uh..."  He took another breath.  "I guess I, uh,
well..."  There was an even longer pause before he tried again.  "Well, he,
uh, understands me."
	His shoulders started to shake.  He was crying.  I pulled him
tighter against me and just held him, letting him cry.  I hated doing this
but I just knew it was something that would have to be talked about before
there was any chance they would be comfortable with themselves.  About five
minutes later he slowed and stopped.
	"What do you mean he understands you?  Is it because he knows
you're gay?"
	I felt his head nod on my shoulder.  The game was now over so I
carefully leaned forward and punched the off button on the remote.  That
also gave me a few seconds to think of how I wanted to respond.
	Once we got started talking about it I wasn't surprised to learn
that the rejection his parents had shown, along with the sermons served up
at his church had about destroyed his self-esteem.  As I gently pointed out
that not all people hated or disliked him because of his sexuality he
slowly relaxed and started participating in the discussion a little more.
JJ started joining in and soon we were covering all sorts of things about
growing up and being gay.  I pointed out some of the famous people who'd
been or were gay such as Elton John, J. Edgar Hoover, Barney Frank, etc.
Some of the ones I mentioned they'd heard of like Alexander the Great,
Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Elton John but others such as J. Edgar
Hoover, Rock Hudson, Walt Whitman, and Cole Porter were unknown to them.
In fact, most of the ones I mentioned they'd never heard of.  However they
were surprised that there were so many famous gay people.  I did about as
good as I could in trying to point out that Jesus had never mentioned
homosexuality but instead tried to teach us to love one another.  Corey
came in, after working on his art lessons, and ended up joining the
conversation.  I tried to make sure they realized it was possible to be
successful and admired even it you were gay.  It helped that San Francisco
was not that far away and had some well known people who were gay.  Somehow
the evening just kept going.  I never did find out why LT felt safer but
when I finally noticed how late it was and chased them off to bed, we'd at
least started trying to solve the problem.  I'd have to first convince them
that being gay wasn't a bad thing and then we could work on why there were
some people who couldn't accept others.  Tonight was a small first step.
Hopefully there would be many more.  Maybe LT would someday forgive his
parents and maybe his parents would even realize their mistake.
	Tuesday went pretty well, at least until the school board meeting.
There were no problems in school and practice was both focused and
productive.  The defense was still getting used to their new assignments
but they seemed to soak the idea of it up with amazing understanding.  If
they could get to the point to where they reacted automatically we'd be in
good shape.
	While dinner was cooking and the boys worked on their homework I
looked up some famous gay people.* I made three lists, one for each of the
boys, containing four names.  I tried to pick names which would be easy to
find on the net.  While I was at the school board meeting the boys would be
assigned to find out about each of the ones on his list.  That should keep
them busy and they wouldn't have to listen to the boring meeting.  In fact,
most of the time those meetings bored me to tears.
	After dinner I gave them their lists, assigning each to a computer.
Corey would use his own while LT got my laptop and JJ the desktop.  I told
them they didn't have to write a formal report, just a few notes so they
could tell me a little about each of the people on their lists.  I got a
bunch of groans and some expressions that could only be described as `up
yours' type expressions but I didn't act like I even noticed.  As I walked
out the door I could feel their glares boring into my back.  It's a good
thing such looks can't kill, I'd have been dead years ago.
	I didn't expect the turnout there was at the board meeting.  While
it was smaller than the one when the Scouts were in the agenda, it was
still large.  As I looked around I could see some of the same people that
had attended that meeting.  I wondered if this meeting would end up as a
repeat of that one.  I hoped not.
	Once again we ended up in the auditorium.  There were too many
people for any of the other meeting rooms.  Mr. Downie got the meeting
going and the usual business was conducted.  Finally we got to the matter
of guidelines for punishment of violators of the no discrimination policies
of the district.  Tonight's crowd was a little more civil.  They didn't try
to drown each other out.  Still there was a bunch of people that didn't
seem to think that anything done to gays was something that should be
considered a crime.  Well, they weren't advocating violence but anything
else seemed to be fine with them.  The word about this had apparently
gotten back to some of the board because there were a couple of the local
lawyers there to explain about the law and how it affected the school
district.  That seemed to take the wind out of most of them but there were
some who couldn't seem to accept that.  I tried to stay out of it but of
course failed.  I got called on a couple of times, once to tell about JJ's
treatment by his parents, and once to try to point out that homosexual were
just people.  On the second one I pointed out that scientists were pretty
much in agreement that you were born that way and it was not a choice.
Some of the people seemed to listen when I asked why anyone would choose
that lifestyle considering all the problems with discrimination that
accompanied it.  Since they had no answer to that rhetorical question, that
seemed effective.  The meeting finally ended with about the same guidelines
that had been hashed out during our meeting on Monday.  There were
questions from the teachers of all the schools in the district, the
administrators, and the citizens.  Finally everyone seemed satisfied that
they understood what would be considered discrimination or harassment and
what the penalties would be for being guilty of it.  We did discuss and lay
out a procedure for appealing any such charges and punishments.  All in
all, it was a much more civilized meeting than the one regarding the
Scouts.
	I suppose that was what caused me to be so startled when after the
meeting the high school football coach, Terrance Blackman, came walking up
and asked me if I was some kind of fag supporter.  As I was standing there
stunned, trying to think of an answer, William (Bill) Marten, the high
school principal and Mr. Downie walked up.
	"Don't answer that Sam," Mr. Marten said.  Turning to Terry he
continued.
	"I'll see you in the morning.  That gives you all night to think of
a good explanation.  If you don't think of a good one or can explain why
you asked that, you're going to be the first person charged under this
policy."
	Terry didn't really get white as a ghost.  He did get kind of a
gray cast to his normally chocolate colored skin.
	One of the reasons I was so stunned was that we'd worked together a
lot because of our respective teams.  We both tried to help each other in
any way we could and his son, Jimmy, was on my team.  He and his wife had
both been to dinner several times at my house and I'd been to theirs.  I
considered him a friend.  This was a side of him I'd never seen.
	On the way home my mind just kept trying to understand why Terry
had acted the way he had.  I'd never seen any indication of any prejudice
in him before.  He'd always seemed like a tolerant and easy going person
and I liked him.  How could that side of him have slipped past me?  I tried
to remember if there had ever been a word or action that would have given
me a clue but could remember none.  By the time I got home all I could
think about on the subject was that I hoped he would come up with an
explanation that would get him out of trouble.  While his remark, or more
correctly question, still disturbed me, my opinion of him had been formed
over the years since I started working here and somehow I just couldn't
overlook all the help and support he had given me.  Until tonight I would
have said he was one of the best people I knew.  I just couldn't bring
myself to change my mind that quickly and on one action.
	The boys were busy when I walked in.  JJ and LT had done well with
my assignment for them but Corey had information on only one of the names
I'd given him.  I should have known he'd get hung up on Da Vinci.  He was
about as excited as I'd ever seen him over something like this.  Finding a
great artist that was gay had made a real impact.  In the time I'd been
gone he'd come up with enough information on Da Vinci to make a long report
and wasn't ready to quit yet.  He just kept bubbling over with all the
stuff he'd found out.  It was clear that he now had a hero even if that
hero had been dead around five hundred years.
	All of the boys seemed happy to discover that there were people who
shared or had shared their sexuality and were considered great people.  An
assignment they'd been very unhappy with had turned into something that
they not only enjoyed but made them feel better about themselves.  It had
worked better than I'd hoped.  As far as I was concerned it was the first
step in what I hoped would be a successful journey to discovering
themselves and becoming happy with who and what they were.
	In the meantime there was school tomorrow so I chased them off to
shower and go to bed.  I needed to catch up on class planning and maybe
figure out a few more things they ought to learn about.  All suffered from
low self-esteem and as successful as tonight had been, I wanted it to
continue.
	When all the showers had ceased and there had been enough time for
them to dry themselves and get in bed I decided to tuck them in.  JJ and LT
still seemed a little embarrassed when I knocked and entered JJ's bedroom
but a quick check to see that everything was alright followed by a quick
kiss on the forehead and they seemed to relax.  While the kiss seemed to
embarrass them, they didn't pull away and acted like they almost enjoyed
it.  Hopefully they would soon stop fearing I might get mad and become
abusive but that would take time.  For now the fact that they would at
least allow me to see them together would have to do.  Sometimes their
personalities bubbled through but too often there was a look of fear and
desperation on their faces.  It was like they could sometimes forget for a
few minutes what had happened to them and, when they remembered, it almost
crushed them.  As I walked out the door I snickered and told them not to do
anything I wouldn't do and didn't give them time to ask what that might be.
Besides, I wasn't sure what an answer to that might be.
	It was pretty obvious that Corey wanted me to come to bed.  I told
him I had a little more work and to go ahead and go to sleep, I'd soon be
with him.  He was still bubbling over what he'd learned about Da Vinci and
wanted to learn more.  He agreed to go to sleep when I reminded him he
could continue his investigation tomorrow evening.
	What none of them had figured out yet was that in pointing out some
of the famous and successful people, I also was going to make a point of
the fact that most of those people had worked and studied hard to
accomplish what they had.  It seemed like a good chance to encourage them
to do their best in school and in everything they did.  Perhaps I am
sneaky; at least some people have accused me of it.
	It only took about forty-five minutes to finish what I needed to.
A last quick check on JJ and LT and I slipped into bed.  Corey soon assumed
his usual position and shortly thereafter I joined him in sleep.
	The stupid clock wouldn't stop when I hit the snooze button.  It
took a few seconds for my sleep clogged mind to figure out it was the phone
and not the clock.  Groaning, I fumbled for it, all the while trying to get
my mind going enough to try to understand why anyone would call at this
time of night.  It was just after two, if my bleary eyes could be trusted.
I finally managed to get hold of the phone and mumbled something at it once
it was somewhere close to my face.
	There was some woman talking.  She sounded upset and I wasn't awake
enough to make much sense out of what she was saying.  Once my mind had
managed to spin partway up to speed, I recognized the voice of Dianne
Blackman, Terry's wife.  It took a few more seconds for me to start to
understand what she was talking about.
	Do you have any idea of how hard it is to try to calm a hysterical
woman enough to make sense of her problem when you're half asleep?  My mind
wasn't working well enough yet to figure things out on its own, and she
wasn't making it any easier.  It seemed like it took forever but probably
was less than half a minute before I was awake enough to make sense of what
she was saying.
	She was crying and begging me to figure out some way for her
husband to save his job.  Of course my mind wasn't even working well enough
to remember why he might be losing his job.  All of a sudden the memories
of the board meeting surfaced and I was wide awake.  The only thing was,
that didn't help.  I'd been so surprised over his words and actions that I
hadn't given a thought to what might happen to him because of them.
	Corey mumbled something and I realized the conversation was
disturbing his sleep.  I took the phone and grabbed my robe and headed for
the kitchen.  It sounded like this might take a while and there was still a
cup of coffee in the thermos.
	With the aid of some mumbling, when it seemed appropriate, I got
the story of what had happened when he got home.  The microwave had my
coffee hot by the time I found out he'd come home and started drinking.
She knew he was upset but he hadn't said anything until he was very drunk.
When she thought she had the entire story she couldn't think of anything
else to do so she called me.  The only problem was that I had no idea of
how to help with the situation either.  I couldn't think of anything to say
that might help so I told her to turn the porch light on and I'd be over in
a few minutes.  That really wouldn't help but at least it would give me a
few minutes to try to think.
	I grabbed a sheet of paper and scrawled a note to Corey, telling
him where I was going, and put on some clothes.
	I was awake but far from my best when I got there.  The porch light
was on and before I could ring the doorbell the door opened and she grabbed
me and led me toward the kitchen.  Her eyes were puffy and I could see that
she'd been crying.
	Terry was sitting at the table, staring at a bottle of bourbon.  It
was about two-thirds empty and he looked like he was more than two-thirds
gone.  He mumbled something and tried to get up with no success.  He then
reached for a glass that had about two swallows left and knocked it over.
What a mess.  Tears were running down Dianne's face and Terry was drunk and
I had no idea of where to start or what to do.  The glass rolled off the
table and fell on the floor, breaking.  Terry tried to lean over and pick
the pieces up and the chair fell over.  He grabbed at the table and pulled
it over on top of himself.  The whole thing made a bunch of noise and by
the time we had Terry sitting upright and the table once again on its legs,
Jimmy, their son and the tailback on my team, came out of his bedroom to
see what the noise was.  That didn't help.  He was soon just as upset as
his mother.  The whole situation was going downhill and I still hadn't
thought of any way to help.  Then it got worse.  Terry's stomach rebelled.
Too much bourbon in too short of time.  Just when I thought it couldn't get
worse Cindy, their daughter, came out to investigate all the noise too.  I
now had three people who were crying and one drunk, who was sick, to deal
with and no idea of how to solve anything.  At least I was now fully awake.
	Like Mr. Franklin had taught me years ago, I started trying to do
something about those things that I could.  Maybe if I got part of the
problems solved, an answer would appear for the rest.
	I chased Dianne and her children into their living room and started
cleaning up the mess.  I figured she could try to calm her children down
and that gave me some time to think.  It took me about twenty minutes to
get the floor and everything else cleaned up and by then their coffee maker
had completed its cycle.  Terry needed something to start to sober him up
and I still needed some coffee.  While I prefer my coffee made in a
percolator, I'd take it anyway I could get it tonight.
	It took a couple of hours to start to sober Terry up.  The first
cup of coffee didn't stay down but at least I'd gotten a pail for him to
use.  After that I made him take a walk, trying to get his system to burn
up some of the alcohol.  That seemed to help.  He finally was able to talk
a little and make some sense.  By now Dianne had the kids back in bed and
was somewhat calmed down herself.  I was now faced with the fact that I
still had no idea of how to help or where to start trying to find a way to
help.  I was still wondering why she'd called me.  Ah well, maybe I could
at least find out why he was so upset with the fact that I had a couple of
gay boys staying with me.
	It's probably a good thing he was still pretty drunk.  Otherwise I
doubt that he'd have opened up enough to finally tell Dianne and me what
the real problem was.  The only thing was now that I knew, I still didn't
know how to solve things.  I mean, how do you help someone that was
molested as a child.  A neighbor, in fact a married neighbor had raped him.
That left me trying to explain that rape was not a crime of sexual desire
but rather a crime of power.  In most cases rape is about power and
control, not sex.  I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere while he was still
drunk so finally Dianne and I put him to bed.  I told her to call in for
him and tell them he was sick.  I'd also talk to Mr. Marten and see if I
could get him to at least wait a few days.  My last suggestion was that
Terry needed some counseling to help him understand what had happened to
him and why.  I told her that I'd try to tell Mr. Marten that Terry had
some problems and needed some help and that he wasn't a bigot or bad
person.
	There was one last thing we needed to decide before I could go home
and that was if I could tell Mr. Marten the reason Terry had reacted the
way he had.  I mean this was some pretty personal stuff and I wasn't sure I
wanted to take responsibility for telling any one about it without
permission.  In fact, a few seconds of thought and I was sure it wasn't my
place to tell anyone.  That was something Terry would have to decide.
Dianne and I decided I would just ask for a little time for him.  That
would give us a chance to let Terry make up his mind about whether or not
he was willing to talk about what had happened to him.  He was in no shape
to make such a decision right now.
	By the time I got home it was fifteen minutes before my alarm
clock's normal setting.  While the bed looked real comfortable, I decided
that there wasn't much point in getting in it.  The worst part was that
Corey looked so attractive to me.  He was sleeping peacefully and I just
wanted to cuddle up to him.  I could almost smell his hair as he lay there.
Instead I took my morning shower.  I still felt like shit when it was done.
I was tired and my eyes burned.  Somewhat under two hours sleep just wasn't
enough.
	Well, I made it through the day.  It wasn't great but I survived.
I had to skip part of our normal morning meeting to go and talk with
Principal Marten at the high school.  I finally convinced him to give Terry
a few days before he had to explain his actions.  Since I didn't feel I
could tell him the real reason Terry had acted the way he did, I was left
with trying to make a case that Terry had some issues he was dealing with
and was going to seek professional help in dealing with them.  As Dianne
had agreed that Terry needed to see a counselor, that seemed like a pretty
safe bet.  I was still left with the question in my mind of why he blamed
gays for the actions of someone who appeared to be heterosexual.
	It was hard to act enthusiastic throughout the day when I felt so
drained.  I probably didn't carry it off too well but no one seemed to
care.  The students were still excited about the team and I think I just
faded into the background.  I'm not sure the team was even paying much
attention to me.  They were busy trying to remember and understand changes
I'd outlined on Monday.  Oh well, they'd have it a little better tomorrow
and then I could really get through to them.  It always seemed to take
several days for things to sink in.  Until it did, all I could do was make
sure they weren't doing it wrong.  Then I could cover the fine points.
	Dinner would be take-out.  The boys decided on Chinese and I didn't
object.  I just needed to get home and collapse.  Of course it didn't go
quite like I'd hoped.
	We picked dinner up on the way home.  We'd just started when the
phone rang and Terry and Dianne wanted to talk to me.  The end result was
they would come over in about a half hour.  At least that gave me time to
eat and finish filling the boys in on what was going on.
	The dishes were almost picked up when Terry and Dianne arrived.  I
sent the boys off to do their homework and finished cleaning up the kitchen
while we started our discussion.
	Dianne looked about like I felt.  I found out she'd gone to work as
soon as she'd called in for Terry.  He didn't look too bad but said he
still had somewhat of a hang-over.
	When the coffee was done and served, we got down to business.  I
explained what I'd told Principal Marten this morning.  That was fine with
Dianne but Terry wasn't happy.  He wasn't interested in going to counseling
and nothing either of us said seemed to make any difference.  He didn't
seem to think he had a problem so why would he need any help.  As the
conversation continued, Terry became more aggressive in his statements that
he didn't need any help and instead it was anyone who was willing to
tolerate being around gays that needed help.  I was tired and had a nagging
headache and he wasn't exactly making it easy for me to either understand
or like his position.
	"Look Terry, you may not think you've got a problem but I do, your
boss does, and the chairman of the school board does.  I managed to get you
a few days by telling Bill Marten you were going to seek counseling.
Dianne and I talked it over last night after we got you in bed and agreed
that you needed some counseling to get over your hatred of gays.  Now if
you want my help in saving your job, you're going to have to do something
that convinces me you're trying to do something that will help you overcome
that hatred."
	"Why do you care what happens to some fags?" he almost shouted at
me.
	"My God Terry, listen to yourself.  You, of all people, should
understand about discrimination," I answered.
	"Discrimination?  Why would I think its discrimination?  God says
it's an abomination!" he shouted.
	By now I was getting angry.  "Oh, so you're going to go by the
Bible.  Well, let's see if you really like it.  In the Bible there is an
acceptance of slavery.  Do you want to go back to that?  I didn't think
blacks liked slavery.  How about genocide?  It not only accepts genocide
but glorifies it.  How about we start a holy war against blacks?  How about
polygamy?  How many wives do you want?  Then there's the prohibition
against pork.  As I recall it goes like this.  Thou shalt not eat of the
cloven hoof.  You sure seemed to enjoy those spareribs I fixed last summer.
Let's see, you'll need some ritual sacrifices.  Have you done any of those
recently?  Do I need to go on?  There are a lot more things that the Bible
teaches that aren't acceptable today.  Besides, there are lots more I
haven't mentioned like nakedness, you can't marry a non Jew, yet you accept
prostitution and sex with slaves.  Women are property.  Is that the way you
want it to be?"
	"That isn't what the Bible says!" he shouted.
	"Sorry Terry, that's exactly what the Bible says.  Why don't you
read it some time?  In fact, make it easy on yourself.  Just get online and
go to Google and run a search for homosexual + Bible.  A little reading and
you'll soon learn something about the book you profess to believe.  You
might be surprised at what the Bible says and what passages certain bigoted
people have twisted to make a case against homosexuals.  The worst part of
it is that the passages they quote most likely aren't accurate
translations."
	"But queers run around molesting people!"
	"No more so than heterosexuals according to a study at the
University of California at Davis.** You can check that out online too."
	By now his face had taken on a reddish hue instead of its normal
chocolate color and you could see the blood vessels throbbing in his neck.
I could hear Dianne somewhere in the background saying something about calm
down but neither of us was listening to her.
	"You'll burn in Hell for what you said about the Bible!"
	Every once in a while something will strike a person as being funny
just when you least expect it.  The thoughts of burning in Hell because I
told the truth just struck me that way.  I couldn't help it and started
laughing.
	"I love it.  Going to Hell for telling the truth," I managed to get
out between bursts of laughter.  "I always heard you were supposed to go
there for telling lies."
	I was laughing too hard.  I never saw it coming.  When I got my
eyes to focus I was on my back and my cheekbone hurt.  About that time I
was surrounded by three boys who were trying to help me up.  I struggled to
my feet and looked at Terry.
	"I think you better leave now before I call the police and have you
arrested for assault," I told Terry.
	He grabbed LT's shoulder and shoved him out of the way, knocking
him down.  That's when I lost my temper.
	What Terry didn't know was that I'd wrestled all through high
school.  While it had been years since I'd done any of it, I'd been pretty
good.  I'd won a bunch of league trophies and awards in my weight class.
I'd probably have continued in college but I didn't care for the coach.
His style of coaching was abrasive, rather than encouraging.
	It wasn't hard.  Even though he outweighed me by about sixty
pounds, I had him on the floor and his arm behind his back with his wrist
in the middle of his shoulder blades before he knew what hit him.
	"If you ever lay a hand on one of these boys again I'll tear this
arm off," I told him while applying a little more upward pressure.  "Do you
understand me?"
	Squeak is the only way I can describe his answer.  It was high
pitched and sounded like it had been squeezed out from between tightly
clenched teeth.  Since it sounded something like a yes I let up on the
upward pressure I was putting on his wrist.
	"Are you willing to leave peacefully or do I still need to call the
police?"
	This time the answer was more of a sob.  It was also a little
easier to understand.  Since it too was affirmative, I released his wrist
and stepped back.  When I looked around JJ and Corey were checking on LT
and Dianne was just standing there, her mouth hanging open.  I took a
couple of deep breaths, trying to get myself under control.
	"I think you'd better get him out of here Dianne.  I'm sorry it
turned out this way."  With that I turned to check on LT.
	By the time I'd helped LT to his feet and checked him over, Terry
and Dianne were gone.  LT was fine outside of being upset although he
wasn't alone in that.  So were the rest of the boys.  Come to think of it,
so was I.  This whole mess had everyone upset.  The worst of it was I
couldn't start to explain what his problem was because I truly didn't know.
All that he'd told me about his molester led me to believe that person was
heterosexual.  Why he'd decided to blame it on homosexuals I had no idea.
I could feel sorry for him for what had happened to him but could also be
angry because he was trying to blame a segment of society that had no
responsibility for what had happened to him.  Plus, I was really angry that
he had shoved LT.  That behavior was inexcusable.
	After I got the boys somewhat calmed down I checked my face.  My
left eye was about half swollen shut and I was going to have a beautiful
shiner.  I rigged an ice pack, got a cup of coffee and just collapsed in my
recliner.  The day had really sucked.  There was really no other way to
describe it.
	Of course the boys wanted to talk about what had happened.  A sore
face, a headache from lack of sleep, and the lack of knowledge as to why
Terry had acted the way he had made for a somewhat less than satisfying
conversation.  In other words I didn't have a clue what to say about most
of their questions.  I just wanted to crash in bed but they were upset and
wanted answers that I couldn't supply.  They were about talked out and I
was thinking I might make it to bed when the doorbell chimed.  As I headed
to answer it the thought went through my mind, `Oh God, what now.'
	Dianne was standing there and she looked like she'd been roughed up
a little, no, make that a lot.  She was developing a black eye, had a cut
lip, and just generally looked disheveled.
	"Sam, I want to apologize for what happened.  I'm sorry I dragged
you into it."  That was her opening line and once she'd said it she seemed
to be ready to leave.
	"Not your fault Dianne, not your fault.  Come on it and we can talk
about it."
	"I can't.  I've got to get a motel and get the kids in bed."
	That one line told me more than I wanted to know.  Coupled with her
appearance I now had a pretty good idea of what had happened after she and
Terry had left.
	"Why don't you get your kids out of the car?  You can stay here if
you don't mind doubling up on the beds."
	She didn't seem to want to partake of my hospitality.  It took some
talking to convince her that there was enough room and we probably needed
to talk and see if we could think of a way to get Terry some help.  When
she finally accepted it was like all the fight went out of her.  Her
shoulders slumped and her head dropped and she just looked like her world
had ended.  I led her over to a chair and told the boys to invite Jimmy and
Cindy in and bring their luggage in too.  I had the coffee poured when her
kids came in and one look a Jimmy told me the problem was worse than I'd
thought.  His nose still had some toilet paper sticking out of it and it
was obvious she wasn't the only one who'd been roughed up.  Christ, what a
mess.
	I decided that Cindy and Dianne would share the downstairs bedroom.
They would have the bathroom right across from it for their use.  Jimmy
could use Corey's room and share the main bathroom and that left Corey and
me with mine.  I tried to lighten the mood by telling the boys no running
around naked in the morning but nobody was in the mood for humor.
	It was apparent the Dianne was dragging and so was I.  After a
little conversation during which nothing was really said, she headed for
the downstairs bedroom (what used to be the sex room) and I told the kids
to raid the fridge for any snacks they might want.  I wanted a shower and
after that I was going to bed.  I beat Corey into to bed and that's the
last thing I remember.

	To be continued...

* If you're interested in some of the famous gay people in history and our
contemporary society, you might want to check the following site.
http://www.lambda.org/famous.htm It is by no means all inclusive, but is a
good place to start.

**  An excellent site to refute the belief that homosexuals are more
inclined to pedophilia and hebephilia.  (Pedophilia is a term relating to
adults who have sexual relations with children who are prepubescent,
hebephilia is a term about sexual relations between and adult and children
undergoing, or just past puberty.)
http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_molestation.html
There is a wealth of information on this site.  Be sure to check out some
of the sections found on the bottom of the page.  Both of these sites
should help anyone who feels depressed because he or she thinks that being
a homosexual makes one a lesser person.  If you know of anyone whom you
suspect feels that way about himself, tell him about these sites.  There is
no reason to be ashamed of one's sexuality.  Don't ever fall into the trap
of letting other people define how you feel about yourself.  You and only
you should make that judgment and it should not be based on what some
bigots think.  Hold your head up and try to be a good person and you will
be.  In fact, you'll be a better person than those who are bigoted.