Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:31:37 -0400
From: Ronyx <ronyx@woh.rr.com>
Subject: Down the Darkened Path  Chapter 7

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
ron@themustardjar.com with your comments. Ronyx is a prolific Nifty
author. Visit www.themustardjar.com for more stories by Ronyx.



Down the Darkened Path              Chapter 7



Jayden passed the police cruiser and looked inside. Anthony stared out the
window and sneered. He walked up the stairs just as Detective Wallace was
exiting the front door.

"Thanks to you, Jayden," he said as he shook his hand, "we'll be able to
put these guys behind bars for a long time." When Jayden looked behind
Wallace, he saw Jarvis standing with an astonished look on his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jayden responded abruptly before
pushing Wallace out of his way. He hurried to his room and looked out the
window, just as the cruisers were pulling away.

He pulled off his sweater and tossed it on the bed. When he turned, Jarvis
was standing at his door. "What did that cop mean?" He asked angrily. "Why
did he thank you?"

"I don't know what you`re talking about," Jayden stammered. "You must have
misunderstood him."

"No, I didn't." Jarvis entered the room and stood defiantly before
Jayden. "If you had anything to do with my brothers getting locked up,
you'll be sorry." He pushed Jayden back and then stormed out of the room.

He showered and then returned to his room and lay down on his bed. He could
still hear his aunt crying downstairs. He heard several people enter and
then leave the house. He assumed friends of Tyrone and Anthony were
stopping by to see what happened. He grew afraid that if they found out he
was the reason for their arrests, then they might try to harm him. He had
violated the code of the street. Even worse, he had informed on his own
family.

His aunt was gone the next morning when he got up for school. Jarvis came
into the kitchen, but turned and left when he saw Jayden. He knew it would
only be a matter of time until Jarvis told others what he suspected- if he
hadn't already.

When he entered school, the students were talking excitedly about what had
been on the morning news. A news crew had videotaped Tyrone and Anthony
entering the jail in handcuffs. Everyone was relieved that Troy's attackers
had been captured.

He jumped when someone came up behind him and grabbed his arm. "Isn't it
wonderful news?" He turned to see Claire grinning up at him. "They got the
guys who beat up Troy. I hope they put them behind bars and throw away the
keys." She wrapped her hand around Jayden's arm and walked down the hall
with him.

After they had walked in silence for a minute, she stopped him. "What's
wrong?"

"Nothing," he replied as he continued to his first period class. He was
beginning to regret having said anything to Detective Wallace. He didn't
realize at the time it would generate so much attention.

Claire hurried to catch up with him. "Aren't you glad they got the guys?
After seeing what they did to Troy, I thought you'd be happy."

"I am happy." He turned to face Claire. "It's just that.." He started to
tell her that they were his cousins, but he was afraid it might change her
feelings for him. He had felt that they were becoming friends the past few
days.

"It's just what?"

"Nothing," he replied. This time he hurried down the hall, darting in and
out of students so she couldn't catch up to him.

He was taking notes in his second period Currents Events class when he was
summoned once again to Principal Fallingsworth's office. He shook his head
when he saw Detective Wallace standing at the secretary's desk. He looked
up and smiled.

"Jayden." He motioned for him to follow him into the principal's office. A
woman in a black business suit stood up when they entered. She appeared to
be in her mid-forties, and she was professionally dressed. She extended her
hand to Jayden.

"I'm Marsha Conyers," she said. Jayden recognized her from the television
news. "I'm the prosecutor for Richards County." She sat down as Wallace
pulled up a chair and sat beside Jayden.

"Before we begin," said Mr. Fallingsworth as he looked with concern at
Jayden, "this is a very serious matter, Jayden. You're nineteen, so you can
make your own decision; but would you like me to call your aunt and have
her present?"

"What is this all about?" Jayden asked nervously. Mrs. Conyers handed him
an envelope. "What's this?"

"A subpoena," she stated flatly. `You're to testify before a grand jury."

"Well, Jayden?" Mr. Fallingsworth asked. "Do you want her here?" Jayden
shook his head while he nervously handled the envelope.

He looked up at the stern look on Mrs. Conyer's face. "Right now you're the
only witness we have for the Neal boy's assault. I've read Detective
Wallace's report, and according to you, they admitted their involvement in
this crime."

Jayden jumped to his feet. "I can't testify against them!" He
shouted. "They'll kill me."

"Sit down, Jayden," she said calmly. "I understand your feelings, but I
only have forty eight hours to take something to the grand jury so I can
keep them from being released. Until Troy recovers enough to identify his
attackers, you are all I have. I think it's important for the community's
safety that we keep them incarcerated."

"I can't testify," insisted Jayden.

Mrs. Conyers leaned forward and stared directly into Jayden's eyes. "I'm
afraid you have no choice." She looked down at the envelope Jayden was
turning nervously in his hand. "This is a summons to appear before the
grand jury this afternoon at three."


"But," Jayden started to protest.

"No, buts," she stated firmly. "Detective Wallace will pick you up here at
school at 2:30 and drive you to the courthouse. Do you understand?" Jayden
shook his head and looked down at the letter. He knew he had no choice. If
he didn't appear, he was afraid he too could go to jail. He certainly
didn't want to confront his cousins there.

Mr. Fallingsworth escorted Mrs. Conyers from his office, leaving Jayden
alone with Wallace. Wallace looked over at him as he put on his coat.

"You're doing the right thing, Jayden," he said. "Guys like Tyrone and
Anthony don't belong on the streets. They've committed so much violence in
your neighborhood. This is the first time we've been able to make anything
stick."

Jayden looked at him sorrowfully. "You really think I've done the right
thing?" He shouted. "How are you going to feel when you find my dead body
in an alley someday? Will it all be worth it then?" Tears welled up in his
eyes as he turned and fled from the room.

********

"Troy, Honey?" Mrs. Neal was leaning over Troy's hospital bed and speaking
softly in his ear. She turned to her husband, "I thought the doctors said
he would be able to hear us."

Mr. Neal looked down at his son. Twenty minutes earlier he had been brought
down from the ICU and placed in a private room. He had made steady progress
over the past twenty-four hours and the doctors felt he didn't need as much
medical attention. Time would now be a factor in how well Troy's battered
body healed.

"You have to remember," said her husband, "Troy's still pretty doped up. He
needs it for the pain." She wiped tears from her eyes as she positioned his
pillows to make him more comfortable.

They sat down and began the long vigil one takes in a hospital waiting for
someone to recover. They talked about the good times they had shared with
Troy in case he was alert enough to hear them.

"Do you remember the time he and Jeremy built that go cart?" Mrs. Neal
started laughing. "They almost killed themselves the first time they rode
it."

Her husband looked over at Troy and laughed. "They were so sure they were
going to win the Indy 500 some day. When the wheels fell off and Troy
landed in the bushes.." He started laughing uproariously. "All you could
see were arms and legs flying in the air."

They stopped laughing when they heard Troy's sheets ruffle. They looked
over as he sat up in bed and looked around. "Mom! Dad!" He screamed. They
rushed to the bed and grabbed him up in their arms.

"It's alright, Son," said Mr. Neal as he held tightly to Troy. "We're here
with you."

"What's wrong with me?" He screamed. "I can't see!" He reached up and
attempted to tear out the gauze covering his eyes. Mrs. Neal pulled his
hands away.

"Don't, Dear," she warned. "You could hurt yourself more."

He laid back and started sobbing. Mrs. Neal pressed the remote for the
nurse. She soon appeared and gave Troy a shot. Within seconds he was
sleeping soundly.

*********

When Claire entered the cafeteria, she scanned the room for two people-
Will and Jayden. She hadn't seen Will since their talk a few days
earlier. She had called him on his cell phone several times, but all she
got was a recorded message. She was also worried about Jayden. He seemed
extremely upset when she saw him before school.

Allison was beside her and was the first to see Will. "There he is," she
said as she pointed him out. She trailed behind as Claire approached
him. He was sitting with another boy who had worked on the set of the
play. They were deep in a conversation and didn't notice Claire as she
walked to the table.

"Hi," she said as she sat down. Will jumped and then scooted away from the
boy with whom he was talking. "Hi, Jasper." He waved timidly and then
started eating the slice of pizza on his plate. Allison sat down and stared
angrily at Will. She had been mad since Claire had told her about their
previous conversation.

"We need to talk," Claire said.

Will looked nervously at Jasper. "Not now," he said softly. Jasper took one
look at the angry look on Allison's face, picked up his plate and joined
some friends several tables away.

"Why haven't you been at the hospital?" Claire stared intently at Will,
waiting for him to respond.

"I told you the other day," he replied.

"That was bullshit and you know it," she spat back. "You can't turn your
back on Troy right now. He needs you."

He looked up tearfully. "I can't, Claire."


Allison stood up and stared down scornfully at him. "You selfish piece of
shit."

"I'm not being selfish," he responded. "It's just.. I can't see him like
that."

"Fuck you, Will." Claire stood up. "All you wanted from Troy was sex. Now I
understand why he didn't want to." She gave him and angry look as Allison
put her hand on her back.

"Let's get out of her," she warned, "before I kick his sorry ass in front
of everyone."

"You don't understand!" Will cried as they stormed away from the table.

***********

It was late afternoon when Detective Wallace drove Jayden home. As Jayden
had requested, he dropped him off about two blocks from his house so it
wouldn't raise any suspicions.

"You did do the right thing," Wallace tried to reassure him. He was sure
that after Jayden's sworn testimony the grand jury would hand down
indictments on his cousins for assault and attempted murder against Troy.

"Yeah, I know," sighed Jayden. "But it still doesn't bring me much
satisfaction knowing I'm sending my cousins away to prison for several
years."

"If it hadn't been Troy," he said, "it would have been some other guy, or
perhaps several more people. You may have just saved someone else's life."

"Yeah, sure," Jayden said sadly as he looked at Wallace and slammed the
door shut. He pulled his hood over his head and headed home. He turned and
watched as Wallace did a u-turn and sped back down the street.

His aunt was in the kitchen preparing supper when he entered. He looked
over at the dining room table where she had set the table for five
people. He assumed she did it expecting his cousins to be home soon.

She walked into the dining room, wiping her hand on her apron. "Where have
you been?" She looked over at the clock on the table in the corner. "You
are usually home before now."

"I had things to do," he said dismissively as he headed toward the stairs.

"Well, you really should come home right after school," she said, "just in
case I need you to ride the bus with me to go see my boys." He left the
room without responding. She had suggested several times the previous day
that she wanted to go to the county jail to see Tyrone and Anthony. Anthony
had been taking her places since he was fifteen; so without him, she now
had to depend on public transportation.

He went to his bedroom and started working on his homework. He had a
research paper for his American history class that was due in several
weeks. He was thumbing through a book when his aunt called out that dinner
was ready.

He took his usual seat at the dinner table. Jarvis came in and sat down
across from him, but as usual, didn't speak. Jayden looked at the two empty
plates on the table. His aunt entered and they began eating in
silence. Usually, it had been his two older cousins who had dominated the
conversation at the table. Without them, the room was deadly quiet.

Jayden turned his head toward the living room when he heard the television
announcer from the local evening news. "This just in," he said as he
quickly scanned the sheet in front of him. "Two young men were indicted by
a grand jury just moments ago for the brutal beating of Troy Neal last
Saturday evening."

"Oh, God." His aunt jumped from the table, hurried to the living room and
stood before the television."

"As you will recall, Troy Neal is the high school senior who was driving
home late Saturday night when his car ran out of gas on the west side of
town. He was confronted by two young men, Tyrone Hamilton, age 22, and his
brother Anthony Hamilton, age 19. He was brutally beaten and still remains
in critical condition at Grand Memorial Hospital. After a witness, believed
to be a relative, testified before the grand jury this afternoon, they
returned an attempted murder indictment against the two men. If convicted,
they could be facing twenty five years in prison."

Jayden looked up from the television into the eyes of his astonished
aunt. Her eyes narrowed as she questioned him. "Where did you say you were
this afternoon?"


His knees buckled when he felt a fist slam into his temple. He lifted his
arm and stopped Jarvis from landing another blow to his head. "You Mother
Fucker!" Jarvis screamed. He lunged at Jayden and they both fell backwards
onto the floor. He could hear his aunt screaming hysterically in the
background.

As he wrestled with Jarvis on the floor, he could hear his aunt shouting,
"Get out of my house!" He rolled Jarvis on his back and sat on his chest,
holding his arms out so he wouldn't hit him again.

He looked down just as Jarvis spit into his face. "You son of a bitch!"
Jarvis shouted as he struggled to break free. "Let me up so I can kill
you!"

Suddenly, he felt his aunt's hands on his shoulder, grabbing his shirt and
trying to lift him to his feet. "You stay right there!" She screamed at
Jarvis.

"But Momma!" He shouted as he started to get up, but she kicked him in his
side.

"I told you not to move!" Tears filled Jarvis's eyes as Jayden rose.

His aunt stood defiantly before him. "I want you out of my house. You have
five minutes to go get whatever you can bring down."

"Where will I go?" Jayden pleaded.

"To hell," cried Jarvis as he continued to lie on the floor and cry.

"If you're not out of here in five minutes," warned his aunt. "I'm going to
go get Anthony's gun and shoot your fucking ass." She started crying
hysterically. "I can't believe you told on my sons- your own cousins."

"But they beat that innocent boy!" Jayden shouted. He didn't react fast
enough to avoid his aunt's hand as it landed flatly against the left side
of his face.

"It wasn't your responsibility!" She screamed. "You shouldn't have said
anything." She looked over at the clock. "You've got four minutes."

Jayden left the room and ran up the stairs. He turned to see his aunt
kneeling on the floor trying to comfort Jarvis.

He grabbed what clothes he could and stuffed them in two pillow cases. He
shoved his books into his book bag and slung it over his shoulder. After
carefully checking to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything important, he
sighed and left the room. He knew he would never return. Since he was
nineteen, there was little he could do except leave.

His aunt and Jarvis were sitting on the sofa in the living room. She was
still holding him as they both sobbed loudly. Jarvis tried to jump up, but
his aunt held him tightly.

"Just leave," she said angrily as Jayden stopped before them. He wanted to
apologize, but he knew it would be useless to do so. Instead, he shook his
head sadly and walked out the door. Once on the sidewalk, tears started to
fall down his face as he walked away.

*********

"Troy?"

Troy was jarred awake by someone shaking his shoulder. He didn't know where
he was and he couldn't think coherently. He couldn't tell reality from the
foggy sleepiness he had been experiencing. He thought he had heard his
parents talking beside him, but he couldn't comprehend if he was dreaming
or if it was actually occurring.


He felt the hand gently shake him again. He attempted to open his eyes, but
he was surrounded by darkness.

"Troy," the voice said again. "It's Dr. Ramey. Can you hear me?" He felt a
hand wrap around his. "Squeeze my hand if you can feel mine." He
instinctively attempted to move his hand, but like all the sensations he
had been feeling recently, he wasn't sure if he was imagining them.

"Good," he heard the voice say excitedly. For the first time, he felt that
he was sensing some form of reality. To make sure, he attempted to move his
hand once again. He felt his hand gripped tighter. "Excellent," the voice
responded.

"Where am I?" He tried to mutter, but he wasn't sure if his lips were
actually making any sounds.

"It's okay," he heard the voice say soothingly. "You're going to be
alright." He felt a cool sensation on his lips as a nurse pressed a damp
cloth to his dry mouth. He moved his tongue against his lips and tasted the
moisture. It felt cool and refreshing.

He again felt the hand grip his tightly. "Squeeze my hand once for yes, and
two for no." He squeezed the hand once, hoping they would know he could
hear them.

"Are you in any pain?" He tried to feel his body, but couldn't feel any
sensation except the hand against his. He squeezed twice.

"Do you know where you are?"

Two squeezes.

"Do you remember what happened to you?"

Two squeezes.

Suddenly, unwanted images came soaring at him. Two figures, fear, kicking,
pain. He felt the board cracking his skull and he could feel his body
reeling from the kicks to his face and sides.

One squeeze. He gripped the hand he was holding and shouted out, "NO!" He
attempted to sit up in bed, but a firm hand held his shoulder down.

"Don't move, Troy," the voice insisted. "I don't want to give you a shot to
put you back to sleep. You've got to stay alert for me. I know this is
painful, but you've got to get through this, do you understand?"

Troy rested his head back. One squeeze.

He was slowly remembering what had happened. He was in the hospital. He
could recall running out of gas and a van pulling up and two guys getting
out. They approached him and began beating him. He managed to get away and
stumble blindly down the sidewalk until someone came to help him. After
that, he could remember no more.

"Are you alright?" The voice asked worriedly.

One squeeze, then two.

He felt panic sweep over his body, but he knew if he reacted the voice on
the other end would only put him back to sleep. He wasn't sure how long he
had now been asleep. He needed to stay awake to find out what was wrong
with him. He couldn't understand why everything was dark when he attempted
to open his eyes. He could also sense that something was wrapped tightly
around his face.

"Don't try to think about anything right now," the voice said. "Just lie
back and relax." He sucked at the moisture that once again was pressed
against his lips. He felt the covers removed from his body and hands
pressing around his body. He winced when he felt a sharp pain jabbing into
his side.

"Did you feel that?"

One squeeze. He tightened his grip when the doctor once again pressed the
spot. He jumped when what felt like a needle enter the bottom of his foot.

"Did you feel that?"

One squeeze.

Someone lifted his back and sat him up. He felt the rim of a cup on his
lips. "Take a sip of this water," the voice said. "Sip slowly," he warned
when Troy tried to gulp the cold water from its container. He wanted more
when the cup was finally removed.

Troy felt his senses growing stronger. He could hear movement around him,
and he was more aware of the probing that continued to his body.

"Doctor?" He gripped the hand that was still holding his.

"Yes, Troy?"

"Am I going to be alright?" He panicked when the hand was pulled from
his. He could feel the doctor removing the bandages from his face and
feeling around his eyes. He couldn't understand why he couldn't see. He
reached out and grabbed the doctor's hand and squeezed it.

"What's wrong with me!" He screamed. "Why aren't you telling me anything!"
He attempted to sit up, but again the firm hand pushed him back down. He
could feel the bandages once again being placed around his face.

He grabbed the hand once again and gripped it. "What's wrong? Why can't I
see you?"

The doctor held his hand and rubbed his other hand gently across the side
of Troy's face.

"You've lost your sight," he said calmly.

"You mean I'm blind?" Troy screamed.

"Yes," the doctor said sadly. "You're blind."

"NO!"

Two squeezes.

Two squeezes.

Two squeezes.

He was still tightly squeezing the hand when he felt sleep once again
approach.

**********

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