Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 13:02:25 -0800
From: arthur <rochopa@xtra.co.nz>
Subject: turning the tide part 1           adult/youth

				TURNING THE TIDE

				Part one

				By Arthur



Aurthors Note:
This story is total fiction and no animals were hurt during its telling,
All the usual restrictions and laws are in force so if you're under the
age of consent for your country don't read any further ( if you do then it's
on your shoulders if mom and dad catch you).

The copywrite remains the property of the author and no copies for sale
may be made without his express permission.

As always your views may be expressed and will be answered if you attach
your email address at, www.rochopa@xtra.co.nz, well here we go again so
I hope you will sit back and enjoy.


Moeaki (Moy-are-key) leaned against the tree as his knees gave out under
him, sending him into a slumped sitting position on the damp ground, the
misty rain still falling as he tried to stop the spinning in his head as
the beer got the better of him and the acrid smell of the dope drifted
toward him from the group of friends still bent on making a night of it
here in the park.

Voices raised in argument as the other five teenagers pushed and shoved
each other in drunken rivalry, quickly silenced as the police patrol drove
slowly past on their tour of duty, they took no notice of the group of
teens under the tree's for the moment, if it got to rowdy they would send
them home later, at least here they could find them when they wanted too.

Moeaki's stomach gave a small heave but he kept it down, the acid taste of
to much beer and greasey hamburger beginning to take effect on his sodden
mind, it was times like this he felt most alone, knowing what he was but
not being able to tell his mates, puting up a big front about his female
conquests without ever being seen in the act but he knew it was all just a
cover up for what he really wanted.

Some months earlier he'd made friends with an older man near where he lived
but was to afraid to tell him about himself, he knew that the guy was gay
but could not bring himself to talk about his feelings straight out, his
mates from the islands would probably kick the shit out of him if they
found out, his parents were gone over seas and his Aunt and Uncle didn't
care what he did so he spent most of his time boozing and smoking when they
had the money or fighting with the other groups around the area if they had
something that Moeaki and his mates wanted.

He was called just Moe (Moy) by his mates and he was usually the leader
when it came to setting up a breakins of a houses to get money or a bit of
five fingered discount when things were easy and the shop was busy, he'd
never been caught although some of the little gang had been hauled into the
cop shop for questioning but let go with a warning because of their age,
the courts could not prosecute them under eighteen except for family court
but that was just a slap on the wrist and didn't do much to stem the
trouble these kids could get into.

Moe felt again the dampness as it sank into him through his clothes but now
added to by the wet ground underneath him, his stomach heaved again and
this time he coudn't keep it down as it gushed from his mouth he leand to
the side but it was to late for some of the mess as it fell onto his new
jeans, the smell and taste of acid making him retch even further, moaning
to himself he heard his mates starting to laugh at him as they saw the
eruption spew forth.

Now what the hell was he going to do, he couldn't go back to his Aunties
place like this, not on a Saturday night she'd give him hell then want him
up early for church in the morning, it was better to find somewhere else to
stay the night than to have to face her in the morning, through the fog in
his head he heard voices filtering into the confusion of his mind.

"Hey Moe, can't hold your piss eh?"

Loud laughter followed from the others as he tried to pull himself back
into a sitting position.

"F*** you Stefi, leave me alone"

"F*** you Moe, you think you're to good for us eh, boy?"

"Piss off Stefi."

Moeaki felt the hammer blow on his ear as his best mate Stefi threw a wild
punch and as Moe rocked back from the contact another hit him in the gut,
he rolled onto the ground moaning as a boot caught him in the ribs taking
his breath away, he knew he was in trouble now, to drunk to defend himself
from all five at the same time he curled up into a ball trying to keep the
worst of it from doing to much damage, one on one he could beat any of them
but now out numbered and drunk he had no defense, as he began to drift into
unconciousness he heard the far off scream of a siren then blackness.

Something was happening, what was going on, he was shaking, his eyes
wouldn't open and the place he was sleeping was wet under him, his body
felt sore all over and he found it hard to breathe through his nose, the
smell of stale beer and vomit surrounded him, it was dark and cold, the
distant murmer of passing cars seeped into his brain as the nights antics
came back to him through the fog in his brain.

Even with his little gang he had been lonely and depressed swallowing more
and more beer to drown the emptiness of his life, sixteen years old and
alone even in a crowd he began to sob as it hit him that he was again
alone, his mates had left him here in the park, wet, cold,in a drunken
stupor, covered in the grime and stink of vomit, his ribs hurt and the
crusted blood on his face showing the effects of the beating they had given
him, now he knew that Stefi had wanted to take over the gang all along as
he'd assumed before, he was now an outcast and as the realisation took hold
of him he felt again like a little boy standing on the warf in Tonga as his
parents left him with relations to go overseas to find a better life,
promising to send for him as soon as they were settled, but they never did
and when his grandmother died her daughter offered to take Moeaki in New
Zealand to give him a chance, he was nine years old.

Moeaki struggled onto his hands and knees as the dampness caused his body
to shake and shiver with the first signs of exposure making themselves
felt, what to do, where can I go, who would want me, where can I get help,
these thoughts ran through his mind as he reached for the tree trunk to try
to pull himself upright, knee's shaking, head spinning, his body feeling
the bruises and cuts of his dismissal from the small gang, what now?, the
sobs of pain and loneliness started again as he stood upright clasping the
tree for balance, what's the time, hell it's still dark and raining, got to
get out of here, where to go, he began to stumble forward not knowing which
way he was going, just keep moving, find somewhere dry, anywhere, doesn't
matter.

Bleary eyes trying to focus on the path as he made his way out of the park
staggering from tree to tree and then he felt the brick wall near the
entrance of the park and forced his legs to move as he bumped into the wall
and felt the sharp pain in his ribs, got to get help before the cops see me
but where, as the idea hit him he saw the concrete path rushing up at him,
throwing out his hands to break the fall he felt the bight of the concrete
taking the skin off his palms then the scraping of skin on his forehead,
again reaching for the nearby shop front to lever himself back to standing
he made his unsteady way along the shopping mall, looking, searching for
anywhere safe to lay down and forget about his useless and unending hunt
for that one thing he needed more than anything else.

Moeaki caught a reflection of himself in a shop window as he wavered
unsteadily on his feet, the person looking back at him he hadn't seen
before, this couldn't be him, it looked like him but he'd never been in
this bad a condition before, hell they did a job on him alright, his normal
smooth good looks covered with a golden skin topped off with short curly
black hair and his clothes always neat and tidy, the best fashions and
names (bought or stolen) now looked like a beaten dog, his face pale with
fresh blood dripping from the wound on his forehead, his left eye bruised
and cut, the smart clothes now no more than dirty stained and torn rags,
vomit splashed down the legs of his low hung jeans, mud and grass stains
making them look like cast offs from the Sallies shop, his feet hurt and as
he looked down he saw that his new Nike's were missing, his sock covered
feet now also wet and muddy, he stumbled on, going anywhere, just keep
moving.

A dark street, raining again, where am I, why here, damn I don't care just
keep moving.

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

A pounding on the door brought me to full alertness from my comfortable
sleep in a warm bed, glancing at the bedside clock I saw it was 3.30 in the
morning, who the hell knocks on my door at 3.30 am, if I go back to sleep
they'll go away, I turned over to go back to sleep, the pounding continued.

"Damn,damn,damn, OK, I'M COMING, CUT IT OUT."

The banging continued as I pulled myself from the comfort of the warm bed,
whoever the hell it was, was going to get told where to go, I dont have
many friends and certainly none that would come calling at this hour,
probably some drunken hoon from a party somewhere, lost and being a pain in
the ass for ordinary people trying to get some sleep, I reached for my
equaliser as I made my way to the front door, it pays to be prepared in
this city in the middle of the night,my equaliser was a tyre tester kept
over from my days as a trucky, shaped like a miniture baseball bat and made
of solid alloy about two feet long, very effective for close work and
devastating in its ability to stop anyone cold in case of trouble.

I switched on the outside light as I opened the door taking a step backward
incase the bastard lunged forward, to old for their tricks, I've been
through this before, the sight before me was horific, the boy looked
familiar but he was a mess from head to foot, the smell of stale beer and
vomit almost making me choke as it hit me.

"Who the F*** are you, what you want?"

A pitifull tear stained face looked up at me, smears of blood and other
unnamed grime on his features.

"Pleashsh John, pleashsh helpsh me, pleashsh?"

The figure made to move forward and then with an audible sigh collapsed
onto the hallway floor with a loud thump as his head hit the linoleum, then
it hit me, it was young Moeaki, he'd been coming around looking for part
time work now and again but I suspected it was more than that but he never
took the step to talk about what was on his mind, he would just sometimes
sit and look at me, always polite, never asking for anything except if
there was any work he could do, although my gaydar would beep I never took
the step, it was up to him as far as I was concerned, his Tongan background
and the macho image they liked to project stopping him from saying what I
was pretty sure would be an admission of being different to his mates.

I must admit that to me, Moeaki was quite a cutey as far as an Islander
went and to me that was quite far as I liked the so called 'exotics' and
had done so for many years after my time living in the islands of the
Pacific, the only whites that I was attracted to were to young for me to
even consider, eye candy only, but the 'exotics' were another story, not
only their looks but their openess in most things, although like Tonga some
were underground, but once even they decide what they wanted then their
attitude changed.

This was not going to be easy, getting him into the house and through to
the bathroom to clean him up, we were both about the same height (5' 9")
but he was a little slimmer, I think he was bout 16 or 17, still growing
yet, but now he would be a dead weight, I thought I could do it but it
wasn't going to be easy, I pulled his limp form into the hallway and closed
the door then reached down to roll him over where I could get him into a
firemans lift over my shoulder and take him in to be cleaned up, he groaned
as I lifted him and began to stagger toward the bathroom.

Bugger, here I go again, hotel for lost sheep, oh well it makes a change
from being alone for a bit.


To Be Continued: