Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 22:14:33 EDT
From: Double A
Subject: Raven Hair(24)

Disclaimer:

     After a hiatus of sorts, I am back with another story! Yay!
Anyway, due to personal problems, I've been unable/unwilling to write much
of anything for a long time. Here is a new story from me to you. For those
of you who know my style and enjoy it, you should really like this
one. Like I said, though, I haven't written anything for a while, so I may
be a bit rusty. For those who don't know my style, I tend to use a lot of
build-up and "storyline".  So, if you came on to find a story for a quick
jack-off, then this probably ain't for you. However, if you want to take
the time to read a beautiful tale of young love, then sit back, take a sip
from your glass of wine, and enjoy!

And remember...Always stand up for what you think is right, don't listen to
bullshit, no matter who is saying it, and always speak with your fists and
swear a lot to be heard!

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

Part 24:

	And if David thought that his situation had gotten as bad as it was going
to get, his father came home the following evening with the fax of his web
page.

	It was the kind of situation that could actually cause nightmares and
require therapy for years to come, in order to get over the memories.
However, David's father and step-mother took those two hours before dinner
to sit David down on the couch and read aloud certain passages of the page,
while forcing David to look at him while he read. The stuff about how he
hated Taylor was embarrassing, it was true, but it was nothing compared to
when David's father flipped the page and actually read some selected
paragraphs from "Why I Lust for Zac Hanson". In hindsight, David wasn't sure
whether it was a bigger nightmare for the father, who had to read several
hundred words about how his 16-year-old son actually longed to do very
illegal things involving baby oil, rope, razors, vibrators, and various
other interesting implements, to an 12-year-old boy, or to the son, who had
to sit there and hear his father read those things out to him. David had
been light-years beyond "crawl into a hole and die" embarrassment. In fact,
he was "embarrassed", like God was "some spirit who did a few things."

	By the end, when David thought that he was actually spared from this Hell,
his father actually did something that was almost as bad as the reading had
been. He sat down with David and questioned him about what had been read.

	As far as David knew, there were three ways that this conversation could
have gone. The way of anger, intrigue, or denial. David's father chose a
mixture of the last two.

	"I'm aware of what you've been going through," the 41-year-old police
officer had said to his son, "but do you really want to..." and he took a
moment to read the sentence on the piece of paper.

	And David used to get embarrassed when his mother used the word "penis"

	And then David's father found the sentence and continued, "...Do you really
want to...tie Zac Hanson up to a bed, cover his body in baby oil, then shave
off what little pubic hair he has?"

	And it just went on like that.

	David found the path of least resistance on the two adults' part, by
answering either, "I guess so." or "I suppose not." to most of the
questions. Any sure "yes" or "no" would be met by anger or frustration on
their part.

	It was a horrible ordeal that David never thought he'd ever forget. He
didn't just eat crow; he had, in his opinion, the most disgusting, diseased,
rotted, decomposing, pustule-covered crow carcass that ever existed in the
most vile pits of Hell shoved down his throat. It was also the first time
that he ever heard the word "pedophile" used in reference to himself. No
words were expressed, as such, but he was totally sure that he lost a huge
chunk of his father's respect on that day.

	On a lighter note, and David supposed that there had have been a lighter
note in this situation, David's father found that nothing that was written
was illegal, per se, so it was possible to contend any attempts by the
Hanson family to take him to court.

	Taylor's main complaints had been: Defamation of character, fear of rape,
and just general offense. The first one, as far as David's father could
tell, was purely spite based on the other two. Considering that, during this
time period, the Internet was littered with Hanson Hater pages, it was
impossible for Taylor to claim that David was trying to destroy his
character, when most of what David said about him was said in many forms on
other pages. As for the fear of rape thing, it was somewhat justified, but
also wasn't. After all, David's essay was filled with a lot of "I'd like
to..."'s, but no "I'm going to..."'s, so considering it a premeditation for
rape was somewhat over the top, but at the same time, the lawyer did point
that "I'd like to have sex with him" and "I'd like to kill him" are similar
in appearance if that's what the meaning was taken as.

	Basically, it all came down to Taylor, a 14 year old who was, supposedly,
mature for his age, resorting to the age-old lawsuit basis of "I want
compensation for emotional stress that this caused on me and my whole
family."

	David was not the only one, this time at least, who felt that Taylor Hanson
was a petty jerk who was trying to take advantage of his fame and access to
good lawyers, in order to scare David into giving him what he asked for.
David didn't have much respect for Taylor before, but his respect for him
was now below zero.

	David, however, had a slight advantage, in his father being part of the
federal police force of Canada. All the money that Hanson was planning on
throwing into this, would not be able to compete with having the Canadian
government on David's side. As much respect as David thought that his father
had lost for him, his father was still willing to put his career on the line
to get David out of this. The facts were simple. If Hanson wanted a court
case, then it would be under Canadian law, because the web site was Canadian
and, so, if any laws were broken, they would be Canadian ones, not American
ones. Based on what David's father believed, this whole thing would be a
matter of convincing the judge that David had no intention of doing any harm
to anybody. Once that was established, and it would be, then it would be
Hanson who'd be on trial.

	"Defamation of character?" The judge would scoff, "Are you that insecure
about yourselves, that you'd consider a small website that generates less
than 300 hits a month to be a threat to your fame? And who the hell do you
think you are, paying all this money for high-class lawyers and then trying
to get financial compensation out of this poor family, when they have a
mortgage, car payments, credit debts...These people aren't hurting anybody,
nor is the website, so why don't you stop spending money on your counsel and
get off your damn pedestals?!"

	Hanson would be burnt at the stake, for being a group of celebrities who
like to pick on lower-middle-class families. They'd be shown as petty,
childish and greedy. Heck, a few hours into the trial, and their reputation
would be destroyed.

	Or maybe not, but the end result didn't come down to a trial. Somehow,
David's father managed to work out a compromise that seemed to make
everybody happy. Hanson would be in Vancouver the following week, so David
would go down with his father, and meet Taylor and Zac, with their lawyer,
and apologize.

	Of course, the site would be destroyed and removed from the Internet, which
was just what happened the next morning. David's father watched, as David
deleted each file and removed his page, months of work, from the Internet
forever.

	The next week, David's father drove him down to the GM Place in Vancouver,
where David would spend no more than ten seconds apologizing to Taylor and
Zac. It hardly seemed worth it, but it was this or a trial and, while
David's idea seemed fun, it probably wouldn't happen that perfectly.

	On the other hand, David was getting a free meeting with Hanson. Everything
else, including the situation, aside, this was pretty cool. Maybe he'd lunge
at Taylor and need to be restrained by security or something. While it
seemed like a bad time to ask for an autograph, David wished he brought a
camera for his photo album.

	The arena was, of course, surrounded by a bunch of screaming, teenage
girls, who David had begun to affectionately refer to as "panty-wetters",
and, so, security escorted David and his father through the mob and unlocked
the doors, letting them in.

	He led them up to the office level on one of the top floors and asked them
to sit down for a few minutes.

	"Now, do you know what you're going to say?" asked David's father, once the
guard had left.

	"I think so." David replied, "I'm just going to say that I'm sorry about
the things that I said and I hope that it didn't hurt them too much and they
can forgive me, even just a little bit."

	"That sounds okay." David's father said, sounding somewhat unconvinced.

	David loathed having to do this, though. He now hated Taylor with some
severe loathing, and having to basically beg for forgiveness from a kid who
was younger than him seemed like something totally stupid. Was David sorry
for what he said? Hell no! Did he really mean what he said? Of course! Did
he really feel that way about Zac? Well, not as insane as that, but he did
find the 12-year-old to be really sexy and, yeah, he'd love to go to bed
with him.

	A very short, annoying twit of a guy exited one of the offices. David's
father stood up and shook his hand.

	"I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Levine." He said to David's father, "The boys
are inside and will see David now."

	David's stomach filled with butterflies, as he stood up and followed his
dad through the open door.

	His heart filled his throat, as he entered to see Taylor and Zachary Hanson
seated, talking. Taylor's long, blond hair fell around the shoulders of his
white T-shirt, and he wore blue jeans. Zac's hair was tied back in a
ponytail and he wore a camouflage T-shirt and khaki pants. They both looked
up as the three of them entered.

	In a very patronizing tone, the lawyer guy said to David, "David, I believe
you have something you'd like to say to Taylor and Zac?"

	David was suddenly back in kindergarten and had pinched JoJo Savard, over a
bunch of blocks. He took a deep breath and couldn't help but the note the
slight smile on Zac's face. It wasn't a smile of pride or malice. It was, if
David was correct, a smile of humour. With the knowledge that the person who
was the reason why he was here, might find this situation as stupid as he
did, he was filled with slightly more confidence, as he said, "Taylor and
Zac, I want to apologize for what I wrote about you two. It was stupid and
disgusting and I feel really embarrassed about it. I know how much it must
have hurt you. I hope you can forgive my actions."

	As he spoke, David tried to avoid Taylor's gaze. It was one of true malice.
He could see that this apology idea was not Taylor's and Taylor did not
agree with it at all. He looked uncomfortable to be around David and maybe
even hated him.

	When he was through, Zac looked at Taylor for a few seconds, then looked
right at David and shrugged, then said, "It's cool."

	"Okay." Taylor replied, not looking at David, then turned back to Zac and
continued talking.

	David was deeply offended by Taylor's feigned ignorance of his apology. It
was like he was saying, "Very well, now be off with you."

	"Thank you very much, David." The lawyer said, standing up and escorting
David and his father out of the room.

	The drive home was one of silence. David felt almost violated for saying
what he did.

	His father and step-mother ignored him for a good portion of the rest of
the week. David supposed that they were discussing what was to be done with
him now.

	On Friday afternoon, the phone rang and David's father was downstairs, so
David got it.

	"Hello?"

	"Oh, hello David." The voice, who David quickly recognized as the Hanson
lawyer, said, "I wanted to speak with your father, but I guess it's not that
important. I did want to tell you, though, that Taylor and Zac were very
convinced by your apology and have opted to drop the charges against you."

	"That's great." David said, "Oh...umm...There's one thing that I forgot to
say."

	"Oh? I'd be willing to deliver any other word of apology to them, if you
want."

	"Okay." David said, then calmly continued, "I want you to tell Taylor that
just because he's ashamed that he's gay, it doesn't give him the right to
take it out on me."

	Then David slammed down the phone and went back to eating lunch.