Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 15:26:12 -0800 (PST)
From: Zane Green <ZaneG7@excite.com>
Subject: Jaded 2

 JADED By: Zane Hunter
Chapter Two (The Search)

The copyright of this story belongs to the author. This is a piece of
fiction not based on any real person. This story is for a mature audience as
it has adult material. Let me know what you think of it. Please send E-mails
to ZaneG7@Excite.com

(Ty)

As I waited for Anton to finish his tea I watched the street theater from
our window seat in the coffeehouse. I saw a few scantly dressed boys'
milling at the corner as nightfall covered their provocative stances with
flashes of neon lights.

"I thought daisy Mae's were out dated years ago?"  I mumbled after I looked
at the long legs of the streetwalkers I was watching. It was impossible to
tell what sex they really were, but it looked like they were boys dressed
like girls, still wanting to be perceived as boys.

"They wear whatever attracts Johns, listen I need you to make a list of
places to look for Jaden. Anton handed me the napkin, and a pen. "Okay then,
The meat market, The baths, ah The Pink Jock Strap."

"What kind of place is that?"

"A strip joint, what are you doing Ty?"

I had taken the pen, dipped it in my coffee without thinking and was drawing
circles on the table, although they were starting to look like the boy's
rear sitting at the counter.

"You're doodling, you haven't done that in several years. You told me it was
your form of thumb sucking. Are you nervous?"

"What do you think?  I was headed here you know, the day you picked me up
hitchhiking. These guys, could have been me too."

"Yea, when I reeled you in, I wasn't about to let you keep swimming down
here to Sharkwood.   I'm glad you're nervous, can you imagine what's
happening to Jaden. He's younger than you were.

I wish Anton hadn't dredged up the past. I was hitchhiking away from my life
back in Michigan where I had been such an under achiever that I dropped out
of school the day after I turned sixteen. But being bored with life wasn't
the real reason I left, in fact the last day I was fifteen had been. Since I
was twelve years old I had a crush on the kid next door, and the fact he was
several years older only made it more special when we got together. It was
my dumb luck that his father caught us. He had been home from College where
he was paying his own way so his family couldn't do anything to him. My
Mother however thought I would do something to harm my little half- sisters,
or my gayness would rub off on them or something. So when I picked up my
backpack to leave she didn't even tell me to call or write. I almost saw her
mouth "Good riddance"

 I had luck smiling at me when Anton stopped his beat-up Explorer, and
picked me up. I looked at him, and thought this guy isn't too bad in the
looks department, but he's so old! I remember how Anton had made a deal with
me. He wanted to tell me what I was running towards, and show me a few
things. Then if I still insisted in going to LA, he would drive me there the
following day. He lived in the only apartment complex in the small town. I
kind of expected that he was interested in some sex and then not too
surprised when he made us some sandwiches and microwaved some popcorn, and
put some porno in his VCR.

It was really raw stuff, young actors, teens I guess getting down and very
dirty with each other. I thought he was showing me this stuff to turn me on.
It looked like some of the stuff was pretty painful, and was made a number
of years ago as the boys had long hair, and no one was using rubbers.

"They're mostly all dead now" He said, "Of AIDS or drugs, both of which by
the grace of God I was able to avoid. It's almost impossible to get your
self-esteem back after you do that. This is the kind of stuff a boy does to
survive the streets of LA. When they get discovered it's for these kind of
movies."

"How do you know I asked?"

"You know the kid with the dark hair?"

"Yeah, he's cute, gets to be the top doesn't he? You knew him?"

"He's me."

"Oh, I was silent, didn't know whether to compliment Aston and tell him how
beautiful he was, or tell him how sorry I felt for him."

"It was a hellish life Ty. For a few years after I got out of it I stayed
behind to help run a home to get kids off the streets, but there were always
too many and not enough people who cared. A lot of these kids were abused as
badly at home, and had a deep set of emotional problems...but if I can help
just one more...and the one after that."

"So to you I'm a street kid."

"Not, at this moment, but you keep going west and you won't have much
choice. Well I know you said you are sixteen, and you can get a job busing
tables, but that kind of money goes nowhere there. You'll want more. You're
a good-looking kid, and to tell you the truth I almost don't believe you
when you say you're sixteen. You look fourteen to me."

Well somehow we ended up in his bed that night. He snuggled against me, and
listened and I remember talking a lot more than we made love. As he sucked
me I was telling him what my real dreams were about, which was carving wood
sculpture,  and I told him that I loved to fly-fish. He did too. He said it
was too bad I had planned to go to LA or we could hike back into the lakes
and do some real fine fishing.

Well I never did go to LA. I stayed and got my High School equalivancy. I
also started hunting bird feathers, or buying them from hunters, and making
some great flies. When we opened the store we had a circle of customers, and
I was as damn happy as anyone could hope to be. I had turned my love of
sculpture into what I called fly-Art, and I loved Anton who was both the
father and lover I never had. I owed much to Anton, and the least of it was
to find Jaden.

So I wondered where the boy could be? Maybe Anton was wrong, and he wasn't
on the streets. From his picture he looked too sweet. Maybe he already had a
sugar Daddy or Dutch Uncle as I once might have pictured Anton to be for
me...or maybe he was already long gone...from LA. Or this world...no, Anton felt
sure he was here...somewhere

We left the table and paid our bill. I had a chance to show the picture
around.

The cook came out to talk to us.

"I would tell you to copy his picture and I'd put it in the window for you,
but he's too damn pretty. Others might start looking for him. You know what
I mean but give me your phone number, I'll ask around. That's an unusual
name the boys got. Well good luck. I hope you find him.

We showed the photo to a few of the "boys" as we walked back to the car. No
one saw him, and they said if they had they'd remember him.

We drove around until it was dawn. We saw lots of kids on the street, a few
cops, and pimps. I finally drove Aston to Orange County Airport. Now I was
on my own, but first I had to get some sleep. I was able to pay for a Motel
on the strip; I took a quick shower and fell asleep. I wasn't used to
keeping callboy hours.

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
(Jaden)

This was the second day he was left alone. His Mother went out Friday night
with her new boyfriend. It was now Sunday morning. He hoped that she had
just forgotten to call, and not gotten so drunk that she forgot about him.
He was used to taking care of himself.
 . She was good most of the time but once or twice a year she binged, and
got plastered. It would be hard for him; he would have to take care of both
of them when she was withdrawing yet again.

After he relieved himself, he would go outside and wait for her. Even when
she was drunk or sick she always took him to church. Each week, no matter
where they lived it would always be a different one as his mother carefully
helped herself to a few dollars in the collection basket when it was passed
around. She told him a long time ago that they were the poor that the church
was trying to help.

  He was sitting on the john in a vulnerable position when the door barged
open. He had his pajamas past his knees and be blushed in shame as three
adults stared at him. He covered his genitals, with his hand as he
recognized that one of the adults was his landlord. He didn't know whom the
others were a man and a woman.

The Landlord said, "Well this is her kid."

The man added. "Good thing for him that his mother didn't take him with her
in the car."

The woman clicked her teeth, as the man apologized to Jaden, and told him
that they would go outside and wait for him. He was mortified as he pulled
up his bottoms and washed his hands after they left the bathroom.

Soon after they grilled him on who he knew, if he had any family. No, it was
just he and his mom and they were renting a room from the old man. They had
moved here from Reno three months ago, but he knew they had lived in LA once
before. He wondered if his mother had been arrested for public drunkenness
with her new boyfriend. Only then did they tell him that she had died.

The gas tank in the car exploded so they weren't sure how many had been in
the car. They said they weren't sure if the woman had a family, as it took
awhile to identify the license of the car. They finally were able to get
this address from his school, where his mother had registered him. They had
a few copies of his school picture, which his mother had been too poor to
buy. They had looked through the apartment, and the bathroom had been the
only place they hadn't checked.

 The man was looking at Jaden kind of funny, but the boy assumed it was with
pity. He stood there wearing just the bottoms of his pajamas. He was over
due for a haircut, so blonde strands kept getting into his eyes, and he
couldn't stop crying. The lady was kind enough to look in her purse and hand
him a handkerchief.

The rest was a burr. He was driven to a large center where there were dozens
of boys of all ages. He had to speak to several counselors. They told him
that they were searching for any relatives he might have In the meantime he
would live there and follow the schedule of the other boys. The pecking
order asserted its face the second he was left by himself on the playground.
He was in no mood to be social, he would have preferred if they had just
left him alone in the dormitory room so he could grieve for his mother, but
they insisted that he go outside where they were supposed to be supervised.
The grounds were large, and he walked to the end of the yard. He barely
noticed that two of the older boys were stalking him.

Before they could get to him whom they planned to intimidate and even
feel-up, a small boy who they had bullied, had a soccer ball that he had
been given by a family who was hoping to adopt him. The small boy had gone
off to the far grounds in hope that his prized ball wouldn't be snatched
from him by one of the older kids.

There was a ditch leading to the canal, a wire fence had been cut into so a
few kids could go down to smoke some stolen cigarettes. The older boys
grabbed the soccer ball, and threw it from the little boy, but it landed in
the canal which was fuller than usual from a storm up North. The boys
laughed, as the tiny boy started to cry.

Jaden stopped to see what was going on.

This called for a different game. "Hey fag, get the kids ball, or we'll tell
that you took it from him." One of the boys said. "Mostly to see what the
pretty boy's response would be."

Jaden didn't say a word. He walked over to the fence spotting the opening
and climbed in. He found a stick and picked it up to bring the ball back
towards the ledge. The ball was spinning around against some trash that had
washed upstream. Jaden had no idea how deep, or deceptive the water was.
Neither did the boys, they thought it would be fun to push him in, then with
his clothes soaking wet they could get him to strip in return for getting
him dry clothes.

One second Jaden almost had the ball, the next he was in the freezing water.
He clung to the ball as he was swept down stream, going through a tunnel,
and down the canal. He was too surprised to yell out. The last thing he
heard was one of the boys saying. "If you say anything about this we'll kill
you."

The three boys were scared about what happened to the new boy. The older
boys had tried to reach for him before he was swept away from them. Chuck,
the oldest knew that if he had one more infraction he would be sent to Juvy
Hall. He hoped if Jaden came back he would agree to say it was an accident
and he had been all alone when he fell in the canal. The little kid would be
afraid to talk. So it was Jaden's word against theirs. If he didn't come
back...Well life around here was awful anyway...

As the boys returned to line up for lunch no one said anything about the new
boy. Since no one knew him very well the fact that he was missing wasn't
noticed until bedtime. A search was made for him outside, but he was long
gone. The Center wrote him down as a runaway.

Next: (Jaden's trial)