Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:08:07 -0500
From: ronyx <ronyx@woh.rr.com>
Subject: Brittle as a Bird  Chapter 11

The following is a work of fiction. Any similarities to anyone are purely
coincidental. The story is intended for a mature audience. It may contain
profanity and references to gay sex. If this offends you, please leave and
find something more suitable to read. The author maintains all rights to
the story. Do not copy or use without written permission. Write
ronyx@themustardjar.com with your comments. Ronyx is a Nifty prolific
writer.



Brittle as a Bird       Chapter 11



Mrs. Wendelmeier handed me the phone and I went into the living room to
answer it. My hands were shaking as I held the phone to my mouth. "Hello?"

"Joey," Star cried. "Can you get over here to Allen's place quickly?"

"What's wrong?" I could tell by the tone of her voice that something bad
had happened.

"He's fallen down the stairs," she said. "I can't get him up."

"You should call an ambulance." Images of Allen lying on the steps injured
were popping into my head. As fragile as he was, a serious fall like that
could do serious damage to him.

"He won't let me," she cried. "He says if I do, he'll refuse to go."

"I'll be there in ten minutes," I turned the phone off and hurried back
into the kitchen. Ticker gave me a puzzled look when he saw how worried I
appeared.

"Mr. Wendelmeier," I said hurriedly. "I need you to take me somewhere. I
wouldn't be asking if it wasn't an emergency." He didn't ask any
questions. He pushed his chair away from the table and walked over to the
counter and picked up his keys.

"You want me to come with you?" Ticker gave me a pleading look. He didn't
know about Allen, so he probably thought that something was wrong with
Star.

"Sure," I said. We hurried to the car. I gave Ticker's father directions to
Allen's apartment. We were there in about eight minutes. I asked him if
he'd wait for us. I thought that he could take us to the hospital in case
Allen was hurt seriously.

As soon as I opened the door leading to Allen's apartment, I saw his
crumbled body twisted on the stairs. Star was sitting beside him, holding
his head. He looked up and seemed to give a sigh of relief.

"How bad is he hurt?" Star got up and let me sit down beside him. He
gripped my hand and squeezed it tightly.

"I think I've broken my arm," he moaned. His left arm was curled behind his
back.

"Let's get him up." I looked over at Ticker. He made his way past Star, and
we carefully pulled Allen to his feet. He let out a loud scream when his
arm was free.

"Son of a Bitch!" He hollered.

"Let's get him to your car." Ticker and I held him up as we carefully led
him down the stairs. Star ran to the car and opened the back door. Allen
climbed in and I got in beside him. Ticker went around and got in on the
other side while Star got into the front seat.

He moaned all the way to the hospital. He had his head buried into my
shoulder and I could tell he was in immense pain. Ticker kept giving me a
questioning look. I knew he was wondering who Allen was, since neither Star
nor I had ever mentioned him before.

Mr. Wendelmeier pulled up in front of the emergency entrance, and then he
ran inside. Minutes later a nurse and two orderlies came rushing out to the
car. They carefully lifted Allen out of the backseat and whisked him
away. We went in and sat in the waiting room.

Ticker's father waited around about ten minutes before leaving. He told us
to call him when we wanted a ride home.

"Can someone tell me what is going on?" Ticker was looking back and forth
between Star and me.

Star explained to him that Allen had been her neighbor. She told him that
he had moved and that she still checked in on him occasionally. Tonight
when she went there, she had found him on the steps. She didn't go into any
detail about Allen's health, or how I had come to know Allen.

I know he had a thousand questions, but he could tell by our somber mood
that we didn't want to talk about it. He had also surmised that by the way
Allen had held on to me in the backseat of the car that we were more than
just acquaintances. In fact, if he had asked, I'm not sure how I would have
answered.

"Allen Foster Family?" A small woman dressed in a hospital uniform stepped
into the waiting room. We got up and approached her.

"Are you Allen's family?" Star, Ticker and I looked questioningly at each
other.

"If you're not family members," she insisted, "then I'm sorry I can't share
any information with you."

"I'm his neighbor," shouted Star. "I've known Allen all my life."


The woman looked sympathetically at Star and said, "I'm sorry, Dear. It's
hospital policy." She then turned and walked back through the doors leading
to the emergency rooms.

"Dammit," said Star. "I should have told her I was his sister."

She walked back to the lobby and sat down. Ticker sat down on her right,
and I took the seat to her left. It surprised me when Ticker took her hand
and held it.

After about five minutes, Star reached into her pocket and pulled out her
cell phone. She dialed a number and waited. "Mrs. Albright?" She got up
from the chair and walked to the other side of the room. I wasn't able to
hear any more of her conversation.

While Star was gone, Ticker took the opportunity to quiz me. "What is going
on here, Joey? You and this Allen guy seem pretty close."

I looked over and gave him a puzzled look. "What makes you say that?"

"He held on to you the whole way here," he said. "And the looks Star kept
giving you two." I turned my head and didn't respond. What was there to
say?

"You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend." Ticker sounded hurt, like I had
been keeping a big secret from him.

"He's not my boyfriend," I insisted. "He's just someone I met a few days
ago."

"Whatever you say," he replied snidely.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He was beginning to upset me. I could tell
by the way he was looking at me that he didn't believe me when I said Allen
was only a friend. I had never kept secrets from Ticker; and if Allen was a
boyfriend, I would have told him.

Star came back into the room and sat between us. She could sense that we
had been arguing. "What's wrong with you two?"

Ticker looked at me and made a huffing sound. "Joey didn't tell me that he
had a boyfriend." He sounded like a little spoiled brat. I looked at him
and rolled my eyes.

"You have a boyfriend?" Star gave me a puzzled look.


"He thinks Allen is my boyfriend."

"Oh." She smiled slightly.

"The other day he thought you were my girlfriend." She started giggling
when Ticker's face turned red from embarrassment.

"So who is this Allen guy?" Star looked over at me and gave me a
questioning look. I wasn't quite sure how to answer the question. Finally,
I sighed and turned to him.

"I met him a couple of weeks ago." I stated. "He's kind of been there for
me, you know?"

Ticker nodded, but I could tell he didn't understand. He knew what I'd been
through the past couple of weeks, and he probably figured Allen was someone
I'd met on the streets.

"Let's go see if we can find a coffee machine," suggested Star. I smiled,
knowing she was trying to draw Ticker's attention away from me.

We wandered around the hall for several minutes before we finally found a
vending machine. I poured the coffee out as soon as I took a drink. There
is nothing worse than coffee or chocolate milk from a vending machine. I
don't even know how they are even able to claim that they are such.

When we returned to the waiting room, a middle-aged woman rose from a chair
and walked over and hugged Star. She appeared to be about fifty years
old. She was well-dressed and her hair was cut in a short, stylish fashion.

"Was he hurt bad?" She asked after pulling away.

"He may have a broken arm," replied Star.

"Oh, Dear." Her eyes left Star and she looked suspiciously at Ticker and
me.

"Mrs. Albright," Star said immediately, "I want you to me Joey and
Ticker. They helped bring Allen to the hospital." She eyed me carefully. I
started to feel uncomfortable.

"So you are Joey?" She continued to stare intently at me. "Allen's spoken
of you."

Sensing that I was uncomfortable, Star grabbed Mrs. Albright's arm and led
her to a sofa. Ticker and I sat in chairs across the room. Occasionally,
Allen's mother would stare at me. She and Star talked quietly for a few
minutes before she got up and walked over to the receptionist. She seemed
to become upset when they wouldn't give her any information. She returned
to her seat very upset.

"Why don't you call your dad and have him come get you." I suggested to
Ticker. I could tell that he was very bored and didn't like sitting around
waiting on information about someone he didn't know.

"Maybe I will." He pulled out his cell phone and I heard him talking to his
father. He put his hand over the mouth piece and whispered. "He wants to
know if you're coming too?"

"No," I replied. "I'm going to stay here." Again he gave me a puzzled look
and then continued talking to his father. When he hung up, he stood and
looked down at me.

"He'll be here in a few minutes. I'm going to wait outside." I nodded. "Dad
said to call him when you're ready."

"I will, thanks." He walked over to Star. She got up and they walked
together from the waiting room. I looked over at Mrs. Albright as she
continued to stare at me. Thankfully, a few minutes later Star returned and
they began to talk once again.

"Mrs. Albright?" The same woman who had come out into the waiting room
earlier stepped from behind the swinging doors and called out. Allen's
mother and Star stood up and walked over. Star waved her hand and indicated
for me to join them. Reluctantly, I got up and walked over.

"Only family members may go back," I heard her say as I
approached. Mrs. Albright grabbed Star's hand, and then turned and reached
for mine.

"These are his cousins, my sister's children," she stated. The nurse
appeared stunned.

"They told me that they.." Mrs. Albright quickly interrupted her.

"Are you questioning me?" She stood defiantly before the woman.

"No, Ma'am, I'm not," stammered the nurse.

"Very well," said Mrs. Albright. "Where can we find my son?" She gripped
our hands and followed the nurse down a long corridor.

She led us to a small cubicle and pulled back the thin green sheet. I
peered into the room and saw Allen lying on a hospital bed. He looked so
small and frail. His eyes were closed, but he opened them when he realized
that someone had entered.

"Momma." He held out his right hand and she took it. She stepped up and
kissed him gently on the forehead. He noticed Star and extended his hand to
her. She too stepped forward and kissed him. When she moved away, he saw me
standing about four feet away.

"Hey," he said timidly. He held out his hand to me. His mother looked over
quickly at me. I stepped forward and took his hand in mine. I then bent
down and kissed him gently on his forehead. When I stepped back and looked
at Star, tears were in her eyes.

His mother cleared her throat and then asked Allen how he felt. He said he
was in quite a bit of pain, but that the medication they were giving him
intravenously was helping a little.

Just then a doctor entered the room. She appeared to be of Asian
descent. She smiled when she saw the three of us standing by the bedside.

She turned to Mrs. Albright. "Are you his mother?" She nodded.

"I am Doctor Yu." She reached out and took Allen's hand.

"He's had a rather nasty fall. We took x-rays of his left arm, and he has a
compound fracture." I winced when I heard this. His mother also seemed
visibly shaken.

"We're going to have to do surgery." She said. "This isn't the kind of
injury we can just set in a cast and send him home." Allen turned his head
to the side and let out a deep sigh. His mother walked over and put her
hand on his forehead and rubbed it gently.

"It's going to be alright, Allen." She tried to sound reassuring, but you
could hear the nervousness in her voice. "When do you plan to do the
surgery?"

"In about an hour," Dr. Yu said. "We'll be prepping him shortly."

I looked at his frail body lying in the bed. Tears welled up in my eyes. As
tragic as my life had been, it seemed that his was even more so. I guess
his life was that of one step forward and four steps back.

"How long will he be in the hospital?" His mother inquired.

"Normally, he'd be going home tomorrow, but his family physician,
Dr. Warner, and I have consulted and we think he should remain a little
longer."

"Why?"

"It's related to his health problems," she said. "You are aware of them,
correct?"

Mrs. Albright looked at Star and then at me. She looked at Star again and
gave her a questioning look. Star looked at me and then nodded her head.

"Yes," his mother said. "We're aware." I looked down at Allen and he had
his head still turned to the side with his eyes closed. I felt like going
over and taking him in my arms and telling him everything would be alright,
but I couldn't.

"There's really no reason for him to be so malnourished." She looked down
at Allen. "His T-cell count is good. We know he just got out of the
hospital with pneumonia, but he still should weigh more than he does."

"There's nothing wrong with me," muttered Allen angrily.

Ignoring his outburst, Dr. Yu continued. "We'd like to keep him here for
about a week and see if we can get his weight back up.

"Don't you get it?" Allen shouted at Dr. Yu. "I don't want to gain
weight. I just want to die. Just get the fuck out of my life."
Mrs. Albright let out a sharp gasp.

"Thank you, Young Man," said Dr. Yu angrily, "for giving me a reason to
keep you here." She turned to a nurse's aide. "Have him put on suicide
watch."

"Fuck you!" Allen rose up in the bed and stared at Dr. Yu. "You have to let
me out of here someday."

Mrs. Albright grabbed Allen's hand. He quickly pulled away. His eyes
wandered around the room, and then they settled on me. "Fuck all of you!"

Just then two orderlies came in. "Get him up to surgery." We watched as
they rolled Allen out of the room. He had his eyes closed and refused to
look at any of us.

Allen's mother apologized to Dr. Yu. "We see this quite often in people who
are HIV positive or have AIDS. We have an excellent psychological staff
here that can help him."

I laughed to myself. I remembered how I had fed them a lame story and they
believed every word I said. Some excellent staff.

Dr. Yu told us to go out into the waiting room and wait. She explained that
Allen's surgery would probably take about an hour, and then he would be in
recovery for another hour or two. She said it would be several hours before
he would be admitted to a room.

I looked at the time on the clock in the waiting room. It was after
11:00. I had been at the hospital for over four hours. I asked to borrow
Star's phone. I called Ticker and updated him on what was going on. I told
him that I'd be spending the night at the hospital and then go directly to
the school in the morning. He told me that if I changed my mind, he would
happy to come and get me.

"Is there someplace I can get a cup of coffee?" Star and I started
laughing. Mrs. Albright gave us a confused looked.

"I don't think it would qualify as coffee," stated Star. "I'll take you if
you really want to poison your body."

She turned to me. "I'd prefer that Joey show me." Star looked over and gave
me a puzzled look. "You wait here in case they come out with some news
about Allen." She extended her hand to me. "Come with me." I took her hand
and got up from my seat. She wrapped her arm around mine and we walked
away.

She got a black coffee from the vending machine while I got a Seven-up. I
also purchased a bag of potato chips. It had been several hours since
dinner and I was hungry. I started to leave the vending area, but
Mrs. Albright walked over to a small table and sat down. I walked back and
sat down opposite her.

There were a few minutes of awkward silence. Mrs. Albright seemed to be
appraising me. Finally, she spoke. "I went by Allen's yesterday and he
mentioned you." I looked over, waiting for her to tell me more. I was
interested in why he would mention me to his mother.

"He seems to like you quite a bit."

Again, I sat quietly, unsure what to say. "As you know, Allen doesn't have
a lot of friends anymore." Tears welled up in her eyes. "Since he got sick,
he's pushed everyone out of his life. I'm glad that you and Star show an
interest in him."

I looked up and met her eyes. "We just met," I said. "I really don't know
him very well."

"Sometimes a person you just met can know you more than someone who has
known you all your life." I thought about what she'd said. She seemed
surprised to hear Allen say that he wanted to die, but I had known it from
the moment we met. She didn't seem to understand the hurt inside him, but I
could feel it.

"How did you meet?" She asked. "He really didn't tell me much about you."

I didn't want to tell her the truth. How could I tell her that he had dared
me to jump off a bridge and kill myself? "We met in a coffee shop."

"I see." She again looked intently at me. "You don't look very old. You
seem about the same age as my youngest son."

"I'm in the same class at school as Gene," I informed her. A surprised look
appeared on her face.

"You know my son Gene?" I nodded. "Are you friends as school?"

I started laughing. "I don't think so," I replied. "I'm the boy who he hit
at school a couple of weeks ago and got suspended."

"Oh, Dear," she exclaimed. "You're that gay boy?" She quickly put her hand
over her mouth.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "That didn't come out right." She reached across
the table and held my arm. "When the principal called and told me that Gene
had been suspended for trying to fight with you, I was very upset."

She looked into my eyes. "When Allen became sick, my husband became
unbearable. He slowly pushed Allen out of the house and turned Gene against
him. I can't understand it because Gene and Allen were so close. But his
father refused to let him see Allen.

She took a sip of her coffee before continuing. "Gene has changed a lot
recently. He used to be so outgoing and popular, but anymore he stays to
himself. I really don't know what to do."

I felt sorry for the woman sitting across from me. She seemed like a
wonderful mother; but she was trying to deal with two boys, each with their
own problems.

"Has Gene left you alone at school?" I remembered the encounter at school
earlier.

"He would if Barry would stay out of it."

"Yes, Barry," she said harshly. "He's Gene's best friend, and I'm afraid
he's not a very good influence. That's too bad, since he's Star's
brother. I just wish he would leave Gene alone." I nodded my head in
agreement. He did seem to push Gene into fighting me.

She reached across the table and once again touched my arm. "Anyway, I'm
glad you're Allen's friend. He needs friends." I thought for a minute she
was going to break down in tears.

"We'd better get back," We arose and she held my arm all the way back to
the waiting room. For someone I had just met, I felt very comfortable
around her. Maybe it was because she seemed to have compassion for her
sons; something my own mother never possessed.

Star was asleep on one of the sofas. She had her feet curled up and was
lying in a fetal position. Because of her small stature, she appeared like
a little girl asleep. All she needed was to be holding a teddy bear.

I sat down on a sofa with Mrs. Albright, and I fell immediately to
sleep. It was one of those where your eyes are closed, but you are just
aware of what is going on around you. At one point a rather large family
came in. They were panicked. An older gentleman had suffered a heart attack
and it didn't sound good. Paramedics had given him CPR at his home before
transporting him to the hospital.

I was awakened about a half hour later to shouting and crying. A doctor had
informed the family that he had died, and they became distraught. Family
members were calling others and informing them of his death.

I thought back to when I had thought about my own death. I remembered
thinking that no one would miss me. Yet here was a man whose death was
being mourned by so many. What had he done in life to make so many people
cry at his passing? While my funeral would have been attended by a number
you could count on your right hand, his funeral would be attended by
probably hundreds of people.

What is it about life that some people die and are mourned by people from
around a nation, or even the world. I remembered seeing pictures of John
Kennedy's funeral procession. It went on for miles and miles, and
dignitaries from all over the world attended.

Then there is the homeless person who dies and is buried in a pauper's
grave with only the grave diggers in attendance. What is it about life that
one person is loved by so many, and others are loved by no one? Who
shuffles the deck and hands out a royal flush to one person, and a pair of
deuces to another?

I was falling back asleep, when I groggily noticed Dr. Yu come through the
door. Mrs. Albright immediately jumped up. The doctor waited until Star and
I were standing beside her.

"He's doing well," she said. I could hear Mrs. Albright let out a sigh. "We
repaired the damage to his arm. It's going to take several months for it to
heal properly. He also sprained his wrist, but that shouldn't be too much
of a problem."

"Can we see him?" Mrs. Albright asked.

"He's in recovery right now," said Dr. Yu, "but he should be in a room in a
couple of hours." I looked at the clock on the wall. It was 2:38. "Why
don't you go home and come back in the morning? Visiting hours begin at
eight, and he should be in a room by then."

"May we see him for just a moment?" Dr. Yu looked at her watch. "Alright,
but just for a minute. Then you can come back in the morning."
Mrs. Albright nodded her approval.

We followed the doctor into the surgery recovery area. She pulled back and
curtain and we saw Allen lying on a bed. He had a tube running into his
nose and one in his arm. He stirred slightly when we entered, but he didn't
wake up.

Allen's mother and Star walked over and kissed him on his forehead. I stood
back and watched. Star looked over, expecting me to walk up and kiss him
also, but I didn't. I'd already done that once tonight, and I wasn't sure
how Mrs. Albright felt about it.

On the way out of the hospital, Mrs. Albright asked me if I wanted a ride
home. I yawned and told her that I could call Ticker. She looked at her
watch.

"It's after three in the morning." She announced. "It's too late to wake
people up. Why don't you go home with me and you can sleep in Allen's old
room?"

"I can't do that."

"Nonsense," she said. "Star can sleep in one of the guest bedrooms. I don't
want to wake up Ralph and Debra this late at night."

We drove silently to the Albright home. Star was asleep in the backseat,
and I had my head resting on the window. It had been a long night, and we
were all very tired.

I couldn't believe the Albright's home when we pulled into the driveway, or
I should say the lane leading to an old two-story Victorian mansion. With
the manicured landscape and old elm trees, I thought I had stepped back in
time. I didn't even know that these type of home even existed in our
community.

"I live over there." Star pointed to an equally large home next door. The
house was lit up with outdoor lighting, accentuating the beautiful columns
on the porch. The double door was oaken with giant Tiffany pane glass
windows.

We pulled into a three door garage. For the first time I realized that
Mrs. Albright was driving a Lexus. A black Mercedes and a red corvette were
also parked inside. I then remembered other students talking about Gene's
red convertible.

I thought how sad it must have been for Allen to give up living in such a
magnificent home, and move to the squalid apartment where he now resided. I
could understand the deep resentment he felt for Gene and his stepfather.

When entered a door that led to an immense kitchen. There was an island
with four bar stools surrounding it. Mrs. Albright told us to have a seat
and she would fix us a small snack before we went to bed.

She went over to the double door refrigerator and returned with a gallon of
milk. After pouring each of us a glass of milk, she opened up a cookie jar
on the counter and offered us a chocolate chip cookie. We hurriedly ate and
then headed exhaustedly up the stairs to the bedrooms.

Mrs. Albright showed me Allen's room. She looked around sorrowfully for a
few minutes. I could imagine her picturing a time when Allen occupied the
room. She walked over to a dresser and pulled out a pair of flannel
pajamas. When she turned, I noticed that she was crying.

"Allen used to sleep in these," she said as she clutched them to her chest
before handing them to me. She told me that I could use the bathroom across
the hall if I wanted to clean up before going to bed. After looking around
one last time, she sighed and walked out of the room.

I undressed, and then I decided that I would take a shower before going to
bed. I wrapped a towel around my waist and headed across the hallway. Just
as I was about to enter the bathroom, I heard a door open.

"What are you doing here?"

Gene was standing in the hallway with a stunned looked on his face.

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

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