Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2015 21:42:27 -0400
From: Steve Temke <stemke2010@gmail.com>
Subject: Not All Angels Have Wings

Not All Angels Have Wings


It was the weekend before Halloween and the ten year old twins were
spending it with their grandpa.  Trevor and Tyler had always been close to
their grandparents, but since their grandmother had died unexpectedly a few
months ago, their bond had grown even stronger.

Their grandpa had done well for himself.  He had graduated from college
early, opened a successful small publishing company, then sold it at the
age of fifty-five and retired to spend time with his family.  He and his
wife had had two children and were extremely proud of them.  His daughter
was single, but was a free-lance photographer who spent her time living
from a suitcase, but she met many famous and influential people, and she
took the most incredible photographs.  Their son was a history professor at
a small private university here in the city, and had a wonderful wife and
the twin boys who were now resting on either end of his couch.

Trevor said, "Tell us a story, grandpa."

Tyler agreed.  "Yeah!  Make it a good scary one!

Their grandpa scratched his chin and settled on the sofa between them.  He
loved these two boys so much and he cherished the time he got to spend with
them.  He knew it wouldn't be long before they would be older and not want
to spend so much time with an old man like him.

"OK boys.  I think I've got one for you.  The events in this story took
place many years ago.  It all started way back when I was a kid...only a
little older than you guys are today..."


The 1960's was a tumultuous time.  The Viet Nam War was raging.  Robert
Kennedy, poised to be the next President of this great country, had been
assassinated, just like his brother.  The Civil Rights movement was gaining
momentum, but still faced considerable opposition from many with
centuries-old prejudices.  Hell.  A National Guard unit in Ohio shot and
killed four students who were protesting that abomination of a war in Viet
Nam.

On the other hand, the hippies and flower children were "checking out" and
lighting up.  They preached about free love and communes.  Bob Dylan, The
Beatles and Pete Seeger were making music with a message that inspired
hope.  It was a difficult time, but also an exciting time with hope, change
and the potential for great accomplishments.

Fifteen year old Christopher Donnelly didn't feel so excited about the
state of the world though.  Oh there were things that excited him, namely
some of the guys in his sophomore class, but when his hippie neighbors
talked about how things would be different, he need only listen to the talk
as he walked through the halls of his high school to know that society
wasn't ready to accept the "fags" yet.

Christopher was gay, but it wasn't like anyone really knew it.  He was a
nobody who survived by remaining anonymous.  He walked the halls with his
head down, plodding along, trying to keep his biggest secret just that...a
secret.

It wasn't like he had any experience with sex to make that determination,
though.  He just knew what he felt.  He knew he wanted to have sex with
other boys, but more than that, he wanted to have the emotional ties that
would link him with another guy his age.  He wanted to kiss.  He wanted to
hold hands.  He wanted a boyfriend.  It broke his heart to see boy-girl
couples walking hand in hand in the hallways at school, knowing that he
couldn't do the same thing with a boy who made him feel all giddy like his
classmates did with a girl they were "in love with."  His parents weren't
overly religious, but he had heard their comments when seeing news coverage
of the riots at a little gay bar in New York called the Stonewall Inn.  A
little piece of him died when he heard his father say, "Those fruitcakes
should all be shot.  Parading around in the streets like that, making a
nuisance of themselves.  No decent person is ever going to put up with
stuff like that."  No.  It was just better if Christopher kept that part of
himself to himself.

Billy Sanders and Lee Tanner were the ones Christopher was determined to
keep his secret from.  They were the "studs" of the sophomore class.  They
both played varsity football, even though they were only sophomores and
that shit went right to their heads.  Their school drew from a good chunk
of the city.  Christopher lived in the "old" part.  There was nothing wrong
with it.  It wasn't run down or anything.  It was just older.  The house
that Christopher grew up in had been built in 1921.  It was a nice old
house.  But, Billy and Lee looked down on those from the old part of town.
You see, they lived in the brand new suburbs that had sprung up as the city
grew after World War II.  Their fathers had done pretty well with the
opportunities available after the war.  College degrees, wildly successful
businesses and they had developed an arrogance that they passed on to their
sons.  In their minds, if you weren't successful and wealthy, you were
probably lazy.  And they made damned sure their sons lived by that credo
too.  As a result of that unfeeling, selfish upbringing Billy and Lee made
life hell for those they deemed "less" than themselves.

Their usual target was a quiet, skinny freshman named Brian Lester.
Christopher wasn't even sure if Brian was gay.  He just had the misfortune
of springing a woody in his first ever mandatory shower after gym class.
The irony is that Brian wasn't the only one.  He just happened to be the
only one who did it and wasn't included in the "right" social circle.  High
school can really suck sometimes!

Brian was an only child so he never had to undress in front of others
before.  Even his own parents gave him his privacy and he hadn't been seen
naked by either of them since he was about seven or eight.  But fourteen
was a tough age with the hormones flowing like water through a tap.
Anything, or nothing, could give a young guy a boner.  Any guy who claims
he's never gotten a boner in math class is a liar...and there's nothing
arousing about math.  So it wasn't surprising that Brian, who hadn't seen a
naked body other than his own in years, plumped up during his first after
PE shower with about fifty boisterous, naked fourteen and fifteen year old
guys all in there together.

Billy Sanders started it.  "Look everybody.  That little fairy Lester is
getting a boner!"

His first week in high school and Brian Lester was branded a fag.


"Move faggot," grumbled Billy as he walked past while shoving Brian face
first into the wall of lockers.  Lee added another shove, banging his face
again on the same locker door.  Brian shook his head to clear the stars
that danced around him before he hurried off to the boy's room, needing to
wipe the blood off his lip and hoping to hide the few tears that had
managed to escape.  Christopher had just caught the end of that exchange
and watched the shy, quiet boy scurry past to clean himself up.

As Brian dabbed at the blood on his bottom lip with a damp paper towel, he,
for the thousandth time, cursed his unruly penis.  He wasn't gay.  The idea
of having sex with a guy, while not sickening to him, just wasn't something
he could ever imagine himself doing.  No.  Girls did it for him.  He had
even held hands with Lisa Fraley when they were at a school dance back in
the eighth grade.  He walked her home afterwards and kissed her on the
cheek.  He had no idea why he had gotten kind of hard in the shower that
first day in PE.  It was just...everyone was naked, and...he got hard
almost every time he took his clothes off...even when he was completely
alone.  It just wasn't fair.  He had been so looking forward to high
school.  And now, one stray boner had caused him to become a pariah.
Sometimes he wondered if it was worth going on.

The taunts and slaps and shoves continued.  Nearly everyday Brian was
assaulted, at least verbally.  Complaining to the school administration did
no good.  Even though Brain weighed barely more than one hundred pounds,
and the two football players weighed more than one hundred eighty, he was
told more than once that he needed to "toughen up" or that they were just
joking around.  Brian was convinced that the school officials had probably
heard the rumors claiming that he was gay and just didn't really care
whether he was being picked on.  In their eyes, he was only getting what he
had coming to him for being "one of those."

As September moved into October, Brian found that the only thing keeping
him coming to school was his running.  He had joined the cross country
team, and since it was something he didn't really need any friends to
participate in, he found that he enjoyed it and even excelled at it.
Running gave him an outlet for his frustration with his situation, and gave
him time to think...or time to just run and not think.  He started to
realize that the only time he was close to happy was when he was running.
He could blot out everyone and everything and just...run.  If he had been
paying any attention to his surroundings, he would have noticed that there
was another person just like himself on the team.  Christopher was on the
team too for much the same reasons.  Christopher knew that Brian was on the
team, but he never got the impression that Brian wanted to talk on the
runs, so he just sort of watched...and ran.

During the first week of October, the cross country team was on one of its
usual four to five mile runs along the streets around the school.  They
made a big loop that started from the school parking lot, circled a good
part of the neighborhood, and ended up back at the front of the school.
Unfortunately for Brian, the football team was doing some running as part
of their training that day too, but they were doing the run in the opposite
direction.  Brian and Christopher were the best runners on the team, so
they were well out ahead of the other members of their team.  Brian was in
his "zone" so he failed to realize that the big lumbering football players
were headed right towards him.  The teams had strict instructions to stay
on the sidewalks as some of the streets were pretty busy and could be
dangerous if they were to run in them.  Billy and Lee saw the shy, quiet
kid running toward them and separated from their teammates a bit.  As Brain
passed them, not even noticing they were there, Lee shoved him hard toward
the street, right into the path of a car going probably a little too fast
for the neighborhood.  The driver saw Brian stumble and fall into the
street and locked up his brakes.  Christopher also saw the whole thing and
grabbed onto Brian's shirt, pulling him back enough that the car was able
to swerve and stop a few feet past where Brian had been lying just seconds
ago.  Realizing how close he had come to dying, Brian just collapsed on the
sidewalk and sobbed.  Christopher turned and glared at Billy and Lee who
just laughed and high fived each other as they continued down the street.
Christopher tried to help Brian up, but he was beyond caring what was going
on around him.  Brian couldn't even speak to thank this other boy for
helping him due to his uncontrollable crying.  Finally, Brian got up and
bolted back to the school.  Even Christopher couldn't keep up with him.
When Christopher made it back to school, he found that Brian was already
gone.

Even though he was rebuffed when he tried to talk to Brian, Christopher was
determined to do his best to keep an eye on him.  Maybe someday they could
be friends, even if they would never be boyfriends.

The next couple of days, Christopher looked for Brian in the halls, and
then again at cross country practice, but he never showed.  He really just
wanted to talk to him and make sure that he was all right, and maybe let
him know that he'd like to be friends.  It sure seemed that they both could
use a friend right now.  Christopher was getting worried about Brian and
the treatment he was receiving from Billy and Lee.  Their abuse seemed to
be escalating and it didn't look as if they cared one way or another
whether they seriously hurt Brian, or even killed him.  Christopher
couldn't understand the callous disregard they showed, no matter if Brian
was gay or not.  In his mind, someone would have to be mentally unbalanced
to treat another person so cruelly.


October 31, 1969 was a Friday that year and the school was hosting a
costumed Halloween dance for all of the students.  Brian really didn't want
to go, but his parents had noticed how withdrawn and sad he had seemed
since school had started, and pretty much insisted that he go.  They
figured he was just having adjustment issues to being in high school and
just needed to socialize and make a few friends.  They saw the Halloween
dance as the perfect opportunity for Brian to get to know some of his
classmates in an environment that might make it easier for him to make some
friends.  His mom had put in a lot of time and expense getting a vampire
costume for him that included a cape and even white face make up.  Brian
had to admit.  He did look pretty good, even if going to any function at
school was the last thing he wanted to do.

Christopher wasn't sure if Brian was going to be at the dance, but decided
to go anyway, just to make sure that nothing happened to him if he was
there.  He threw together a hobo outfit, which was really just some of his
father's old clothes and some cheap, dime store make up and an old broom
stick with a bandanna tied to the end of it.

Billy Sanders and Lee Tanner wouldn't miss this dance for anything.  They
were in their element, enjoying their popularity as the sophomore studs.
They wanted everyone to see them, and they made sure that everyone did.
They were both dressed in faded jeans, studded leather jackets with leather
caps.  They didn't know it at the time, but in a few years, their outfits
would have "screamed" gay, leather couple!  They had a "flock" of giggling
girls around them when they spotted Brian walk in alone.  They excused
themselves and made their way over towards the door to intercept Brian as
he entered the gym.  From a corner across the gym, Christopher saw Brian
enter, and the two bullies shove their way through the crowd.  The
teacher/chaperones weren't paying any attention to anything except who
might be dancing a little too close...not that Christopher expected them to
do anything anyway.

Before Brian was more than ten feet into the door, Billy and Lee were on
him.  He looked around helplessly, hoping to spot anything or anyone who
might stop this from happening again.  The two football players got on
either side of him, each taking an arm and started leading him across the
floor towards the door to the pool.  You would think at an event like this,
the school administration would have the pool locked, but as the boys
approached it, Billy hit the bar with a hip and they were on their way down
the stairs.  Actually, Brian was shoved down the concrete steps, and Billy
and Lee bounced down gleefully as they saw blood start to leak from a large
gash on Brian's head.  They dragged him onto the pool deck where they
planned to have some more "fun" with him.

Christopher cursed himself for putting himself so far away from where Brian
came in.  He was having trouble getting through the crowd of students to
follow his would be friend and his tormentors.  As he burst through the
pool door, he heard the faint sounds of splashing and some laughing.  When
he got to the bottom of the stairs, he saw Lee and Billy on their knees
while holding Brian's head under the water.  Blood was staining the water
near his head and his arm was lying at a strange angle that lead
Christopher to believe that it was broken.

"STOP IT!" Christopher screamed.

The two bullies jumped at the sudden noise and let Brian go, who suddenly
pitched forward and fell face first into the water.  He had just enough
strength and wits left to pull himself away from the two monsters and
gradually made his way over to the ladder.  While the cape made for a great
costume, it, and his broken arm, made it extremely difficult to maneuver in
the water, and he went under a few times before he got there.

When Billy and Lee saw who had interrupted them, they laughed.  "Take off,
loser.  This is none of your business."

"I'm making it my business," cried Christopher angrily.

They were a lot bigger than both Brian and Christopher so they weren't
really worried.  They charged at Christopher just as he swung his
broomstick, hoping to bean one of them.  Billy took the brunt of that swing
and Christopher heard a satisfying crack, as both the stick and Billy's jaw
broke.  This only enraged Billy, but didn't stop Lee at all.  They started
pounding on Christopher and continued long past when he had lost
consciousness.  Brian was in no shape to help and had slipped away to hope
to get some help.

When the principal got to the pool after Brian's bloody entrance back into
the dance, he saw Christopher floating face down in the water, while Lee
was trying to hold a towel to Billy's broken jaw to stem the bleeding.  As
another teacher came in right behind him, they both jumped into the pool,
hoping to get Christopher out of the water so he could breathe.  When they
flipped him over, it sickened them to see the condition the poor boy was
in.  Christopher was dead.


Based on Brian's and the two teacher's testimony, Billy and Lee were
arrested and eventually went to trial.  Their fathers tried to use their
money and political influence to keep the case in juvenile court, but the
district attorney, citing the brutality of the attacks on the two smaller
boys, succeeded in getting them charged as adults.  They both got
twenty-five years to life.  When the story of Brian's abuse came out during
the trial, and the fact that nothing had been done to stop it by the school
administration, the principal and several teachers were fired.  The DA was
only sorry that he couldn't charge them with a crime too.

The week before Christmas found Brian, his arm still in a cast, standing
alone before the freshly placed headstone.

Christopher Donnelly Born January 16, 1954 Died October 31, 1969 An Angel
Without Wings

Brian wept bitterly as he read the words "An Angel Without Wings."
Christopher certainly had been his angel.  He had saved his life twice, and
Brian never even thanked him.  That's why he was here now.  He had to right
that wrong before the guilt drove him crazy.

"Thank you Christopher.  I was so wrapped up in my own misery that I never
realized I did have a friend.  I promise you now that I will make sure your
friendship and your sacrifice wasn't in vain.  I will make something of my
life.  I will never forget you.  I hope we both can find some peace now."

He placed a bouquet of cut flowers gently on the grave in front of the
marker, turned and started his long walk home with the tears still tracking
down his cheeks.


The twins were quiet for a minute until they noticed that Grandpa had tears
running down his face.

"Why are you crying, Grandpa?" Trevor asked.

Grandpa Brian answered simply.  "I was just thinking about someone I knew a
long time ago."

"Was he a friend of yours?" Tyler wanted to know.

Grandpa smiled sadly and nodded.  "He turned out to be a very good friend."

"That was a good story, Grandpa.  But it wasn't very scary," Tyler said.

Brian smiled again and replied quietly, "Just remember that not all
monsters have fangs and not all angels have wings.  It's not usually hard
to spot the monsters.  It's the angels you have to pay attention in order
to find...or sometimes, they find you."


THE END

by Steve T.

Any words of encouragement to stemke2010 at gmail dot com