Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 13:40:06 -0900
From: Enigma . <elmisteriocabritilla@hotmail.com>
Subject: Love at Last

Firstof all this is ALL FICTION!!  NOT TRUE!!  You know if you should be
here or not....Second of all.........ENJOY!!

Chapter 1: The Explanation

 I still remember it. Every moment, every word, every ounce of pain.
October 31, 2002 to the day, exactly one year ago when I got jumped. My
freshman year of college when I was walking home after leaving a
Halloween party thrown by one of the people at another dorm. My roommate
and best friend Jay had asked me if I wanted a ride, but I refused saying
I felt like walking, plus it was like a ten minute walk anyway, I could
use the air. That would be the last time I ever refused a ride from
anybody. Walking through the path that led to my dorm room I was just
minding my own business, humming a little tune, not a song just a tune.
It was about 70 degrees out, pretty hot especially being a boy from a
cold weather state. Anything over 70 is HOT for me. Then I heard
footsteps coming up behind me, I turned around and all I remember seeing
was an arm coming towards my face and a shiny bottle and CRACK, I heard
and felt the glass bottle break over my face. I stumbled backwards and
felt the person tackle me to the ground. As I was struggling to get this
person off of me I felt hands grab my arms and try to pin me down. What
the fuck? There was two of the assholes jumping me! I received a hard
punch to the stomach that sent the air rushing out of my lungs, then I
felt kicks and stomps everywhere. I didn't even know where I was anymore;
everything was such a blur. My face was covered with my blood, I was
being picked up and thrown around like a rag doll. I could barely breathe
because of the kicks and punches my body took. It got quiet all of a
sudden but I knew they were still there. I managed to pick myself up and
lean on all fours. Then a knee connected with my face and I crumpled
backwards on the pavement. Then I heard someone shouting in the distance,
and before they ran away they said, "Happy Halloween mother fucker!"

  I could only lie there in pain, feeling the blood flowing down my face,
feeling pain shoot through my body with every breath I took. I felt like
I was going to die, but I didn't. Someone rushed to my side and looked at
me then called the police. I have no idea who it was but they were
reassuring me the whole time to hold on, and not to touch my face, and
that help would be there soon. I don't know how long it took for the
ambulance to get to me, but I vaguely remember shouts and orders as I
slipped in and out of consciousness. "Stop... blood flow...shit he's in
bad shape ...loosing him...4CC'S...we might not make it in time."

  The next thing I remember is being aware. I didn't open my eyes, but I
knew I was up and awake. After like no more than one second of my moving
around I felt a hand rest on mine. I tried to open my eyes but was
blinded by a bright light, so I shut them again for a second. When I
opened them again I looked to my right where I felt the hand at, and I
saw my Uncle Jake sitting there smiling at me. Uncle Jake was just about
the only sane family I had left. My mom is Black and is a drug addict who
dropped me off one day when I was 12 and I haven't seen her since, and my
father is White and he's in jail for murder, I highly doubt I'll be
seeing him in the future. So it's been me and Uncle Jake for about eight
years now, and although I know he's not my biological father he's like my
father.

  When I realized I was gay in the ninth grade I was scared out of my
mind. I knew I was attracted to guys for a long time, but I didn't
understand what being gay actually entailed. I was really afraid to tell
my Uncle Jake about it because I thought he would throw me out and never
want anything to do with me. I took a chance my junior year of high
school and came out to him one day. He had been at work all day and I was
bouncing off the walls going crazy. When he got in I was pacing around
the room so he sat me down and told me to tell him whatever was bothering
him. So I just said it, flat out. I was gay. After a few seconds of
thought he talked to me and said that no matter how I feel, no matter
what my preferences were, he would always love me the same...like a son.
Then I grabbed him into a tight hug and he held me there while I let all
the emotions out. When I chose my college, I wanted it to be close so I
could see him if I needed to. So I'm going in another city, and the drive
isn't that bad.

  As I looked over to my left I saw Jay who has been my best friend since
we were little kids playing in the sandbox. Beside him was Briant who I
will get to later on. I came out to Jay after I came out to Uncle Jake.
He was a little uneasy about talking about certain things and saying
certain things, but I told him that nothing should change in what we talk
about or do. So it's been a good time and it has made us more solid. We
played football together all through high school and have been there
through everything together. His mom died our sophomore year of cancer
and he was a mess. He didn't want to do anything, he didn't want to talk
to anybody, and he totally shut out everyone for about two months. He
dabbled a little bit into drugs and alcohol, and he was on the wrong road
that was leading to jail. One night when he called me at 3am asking me to
pick him up from a party. I picked him up and I also gave him a piece of
my mind all the way home. After that night he got himself together.

  As far as Briant goes, we've known each other since ninth grade, he
came out in eighth and he was the "resident gay kid at school". Everyone
knew, but nobody made a big deal about it. I was actually really
attracted to him in high school. He's Puerto Rican and very very good
looking. Girls and guys, gay and straight tell him that all the time. He
has turned down many opportunities to have sex with people, which is
cool. He has had his fair share of boyfriends though, maybe four; he
can't seem to settle with one. Back when we met like I said, I was
attracted to him big time. He seemed so at ease with his sexuality and
who he was, so I started talking to him in the classes we had together.
He was really cool and not to mention hot, and he picked up on me quick.
One day we were studying at his house after school and he just asked me
straight out if I was gay. I was shocked mostly and I thought about
denying it, but I needed to tell someone, and he was a good friend so I
told him. Briant is the one who really helped me come to terms with my
sexuality and my feelings, and he helped me get the courage to tell my
Uncle Jake and then Jay. The doctor came in a little while later and
filled me in on everything that happened. He said that I had three broken
ribs and one cracked rib, dislocated shoulder, and various scratches and
bruises, oh and my face should be fine, but I would most likely have a
scar on the side of my face where the bottle was cracked open.

  After I finally got out of the hospital I went through a hell of a lot
of physical therapy, five days a week and I rested the other two. It was
rough and down right painful but hey I was alive and I was thankful for
that. Now one year later the memory is still there but I'm back to my
normal self. Good old Sheldon.

  Forgive me, I tend to get caught up in telling my story. I'm Sheldon
Brooks, the guy telling the story. I'm now 20 years old and in my second
year of college. I'm 6'2" and I weigh about 175lbs give or take. Like I
said my mom is black and my dad is white so I'm sure you can figure that
out. I'm going to school trying to major in physical education/coaching
whatever you want to call it. I want to get out of college and become a
coach. That was the explanation, and that brings me to now...

  I was watching the clock for the past few minutes, it was now 3:31 and
class was supposed to be done at 3:30. Finally at 3:32 she let us go and
I rushed out of the class to meet Briant at the library so we could then
go to the History building to meet Jay, so we could then go out to eat.
When I saw Briant he was talking to a guy, a nice looking guy at that.
From my inventory he was probably about 5'10" or so, around 165 lbs.,
brown sort of curly hair, and I couldn't see his eyes yet but my bet was
that they were brown also. He looked like he worked out a little bit, and
when he smiled at Briant I just about pissed my pants. Briant saw me and
smiled from ear to ear which made me suspicious.

"Oh here he is, what's up Sheldon this is Nathan, Nathan this is my
friend Sheldon." The smile Briant had on his face was clear now. He was
trying to hook me up...again.  Try #3. I told him before that I didn't
want him trying to find guys for me, but this guy was cute, but then
again so were the other two assholes I met. I played it cool and shook
his hand.

"Nathan, nice to meet you." I said with a smile. Something about this guy
was gnawing at me, an innocence or nervousness. "So are we all meeting
Jay, sorry to be rude but I'm hungry as hell."

"No, his class is at the museum remember? He probably won't get done
anytime soon." said Briant.

"Shit that's right...well let's get something to eat anyway-"

"Actually, I have a study group about to start right now, you guys go
ahead." He said as he was walking away into the library. I just smiled
knowing he set the whole thing up. I wanted to get to know Nathan anyway
so we left and went to the cafe to get some coffee.

"So Nathan I'm just about 100% sure that Briant hooked this up so let's
talk a little bit."

"OK first of all please call me Nate.  Nathan sounds like I'm in
trouble.  I'm 23 and I'm studying to be a Fireman. It's been a dream of
mine since I was a kid."

"Fireman huh, cool.  So forgive me for being so blunt but, how do you
know Briant?" I asked a little straight to the point.

He cleared his throat and smiled a little bit. "Well actually I've only
known him since we met in class a couple weeks ago, after he recognized
me from a GLBT meeting we were both at. He said he knew a guy who would
just love to meet me hahaha."

"Well did he also tell you that the last two guys he tried to match me up
with were both assholes? I'm sure he didn't tell you about that." After a
serious tone and after seeing his smile fade, I let a smile creep to my
face, and then I started to chuckle a little bit. "But it never hurts to
try again right?"

"No it doesn't." Nate said with a huge smile. Then we talked for a good
hour about our lives about our families, the usual stuff. He asked about
the scar that ran from the bottom of my left eye to the middle of my
cheek. So I told him about how I was attacked the year before. He said I
was lucky to even be alive, and I told him that I figured that out when I
woke up. After that moment was over we just chatted about people walking
by in various states of dress. It was about 5:00pm and it was time for
him to get to his Fire class. We exchanged numbers and said we would call
the other and we left. As I was getting my stuff Briant came walking out
of the library.

"Damn you know that's really convenient that you walked out of your study
group as soon as we got done." I said.

"Yeah well I remembered about tonight and I was ready to go anyway, I
swear one of these days I'm going to snap on those people, they make me
sick."

"You let anybody and any little thing get to you Briant, you need to
learn to let stuff pass over your head. Tonight that's right." I said.

"Yeah big boy that's right...party time!" Then he did a shake of his hips
with his hands raised above his head, damn he's sexy and he knows it.

"Hey Briant..uh you better stop with the gyrations or I might forget that
you're such a good friend you know."

"Oh yeah?  Am I fuckable to you?" He said.

"If you look up "fuckable" in the dictionary your picture would be there
Briant."

"Well, anytime you want to have a go, we do live in the same room you
know."

"Dream on babe let's go." I chuckled.

Then we were out the door and headed back to the dorm in his car.

"So how did you like Nate?" he asked looking over at me.

"He's nice." I said knowing he wanted more than that.

"Nice! That's all? What else?"

"He's nice, and cute, and funny, and seems like a really nice guy. But
then again that's how the last two guys you set me up with were at
first."

"Well, I have talked to him a lot since we met and I assure you he's a
great guy."

I thought a minute.  "Yeah, I hope so, he seemed pretty honest with me.
He's fine man, why didn't you go for him?"

"At first I was going to, but I do have a heart and was looking out for
you.  We got to talking and I got to thinking that you should meet him.
So I told him that I knew someone who would love to meet him.  Voila."

"Thanks." I said.

It took us about five minutes to get to our building and get inside. As
we were getting dressed Briant suddenly stopped and looked at me.

"Today is Halloween."

"Halloween Oooooo." I said in a ghostly wail.

"You got jumped last year man, are you sure you want to go out tonight."

"Oh my god!" I threw my costume down on the bed and shouted. "Just
because I got beat up last year doesn't mean I have to be a pussy about
it."

He just looked at me.

"What!"

"Alright sorry man I was just wondering how you were doing.  You're not a
little bit worried or nervous?" He replied quietly.

"Have I been ticking or foaming at the mouth at all today, then I'm cool
man. Yeah it's weird and I'll admit I'm a little nervous, but come on
I'll be fine." I said as I was grabbing my shirt.

"OK so let's finished getting dressed and get out to this party." Then he
jumped up and slapped me on the shoulder then stopped. "Whoa Robin Hood
you better not lift that top up or someone is definitely gonna see where
you've been hiding Lil' John."

I laughed. "There is nothing little about this guy here... and by the
way who are you supposed to be, Harley Davidson's Mr. October cover model
or what? You look the part."

"Hahaha, I'm a sexy biker!" Then his finger raised up slowly and he
flipped me off, gosh he was such a chump.

"Only in your dreams B. come on let's go." I said as we walked out the
door headed to the party.

I'm not really a party person but if I know at least one or two people
then I'll most likely go. In this case I would know a lot of people so I
was happy to go and have a good time. To tell the truth I was really
looking forward to getting out and having some fun...I really needed it.
The first round of midterms was finally over with and the relaxation was
much needed. As we rounded the corner and walked to the door of Ron
Wilson's dorm/apartment we heard the sound of music and voices outside,
and Briant looked over at me with a smile on his face.

"Ready to party?"

"Of course." Then we opened the door and stepped inside to a mad house...

That's all she wrote for #1...how was it?  There wasn't much to it but
Part 2 will be better...much better.  Anyway, hit me up with thoughts and
or questions, comments and suggestions
at: elmisteriocabritilla@hotmail.com

Chapter 2: A Definite Possibility