Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 17:36:03 +0200
From: satoriboy2000@yahoo.com
Subjects: Secrets Uncovered - Chapter 10

	Warning: The following story has homosexual content. If you are
offended or made uncomfortable by material concerning sexual relations
between consenting young men, then don't read. If it is in any way illegal
for you to be reading this, then don't. Otherwise please continue reading.

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					AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Sorry it took me so long to write this chapter, guys. It is a pretty
serious one so I wanted to take my time when writing it. I'm not completely
happy with it, but I want this to be the last chapter on David's
death. Thanks for all the support and good comments you've sent about my
stories. I will keep writing 'em as long as you keep the comments coming!

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Tomorrow did come. The world just continued as it always did. I don't
remember falling asleep or waking up. It seemed like one long stretch of
time from the moment I opened David's letter to sitting in the car with my
family. I stared out the window and watched trees and grass rushing
past. My mom turned the corner and I saw the cemetery. I hadn't been here
since my grandmother died a few years ago. Memories of that came rushing
back to me. I wasn't crying though, yet.

We got out of the car and walked in silence to the congregating hall. It
was the main hall where everyone gathered before walking to the
grave. There were a lot of people there.

I wasn't surprised that it was pouring with rain. I hardly noticed it
though. It was about a five minute walk to David's grave, with me, another
one of his close friends, and other family members being the pallbearers to
take his coffin to the grave.

A short sermon and memorial prayer was said, and it was handed over to
David's father to give the eulogy. It infuriated me - the things he said,
the falseness, it boiled my blood like you couldn't believe.

	"....My little boy, my innocent angel..." he said. "You left us in
the prime of your life. You were so special to your family and friends..."

And that was my breaking point. I stood up and started screaming at him.

	"You knew nothing about your son!" I screamed. "How dare you claim
to know what he felt?!  What he was going through?! You made his life a
living hell, and now you are desecrating him in his last moments on this
earth!"

I'd never seen myself speak the way I did. It was as though I seperated
from my body, and hung in the air above myself, watching myself scream at
David's father. I didn't care though. I was so enraged and fed up with all
this hypocrisy and falseness.

	"I hope you lie in bed tonight, and for every night for the rest of
your life and think about the way you treated him, and how now it's too
late! I hope you can never forgive yourself for driving him to do what he
did, you cold-hearted bastard!"

I ran from the gravesite with tears streaming down my face. I ran as fast
as I could, as far as I could. I knew what I was running from, though. It
wasn't David's father, or David's suicide, or David's history. It was
David. I knew that I was in denial. And that I hadn't accepted his death
yet. But that always seems to happen to me - that when someone close to me
passes away, it only actually hits me a few weeks or a month or however
long after they've been gone. But with David it was different. I never
wanted to accept his absence. He was such a big part of me. And he was
gone. But my mind would not believe it, would not accept it.

My mom caught up to me. She was gasping for breath. I was sitting with my
back propped up against one of the trees, about a kilometer from David's
grave. I could see practically the entire cemetery from where I was
sitting. The entire place was covered in pine trees. Any attempt that was
made in order to try and beautify this place failed miserably. Anywhere
else, these trees would look as though they were flourishing and happy. But
here they were stained with the same foul stench of death as everything
else was.

	"Jason," my mom started.
	"I'm sorry, mom. I don't know what came over me. It's just, the
things he said..."
	"I understand," she said. "I know that you knew things about David
that no-one else knew."

She sat down next to me.

	"You know that anything that's on your mind, you can tell me,
right?" she asked.
	"I know mom," I replied automatically.
	"Jason," she said, sternly. "Look at me."  I turned to face her.
	"Anything," she emphasised. A tear rolled down her cheek. I wasn't
sure why she was crying, or what was going on in her mind. But the site of
her crying always made me cry. So I started as well. She took me in her
arms. After about 5 minutes of just holding eachother, she pulled away from
me.

	"You okay to drive?" she asked.
	"Yeah," I said.
	"Here," she said, handing me the keys to her BMW. "Why don't you go
to Ricky's?"
	"Why would I want to go see Ricky now, mom?" I asked, getting a
little uneasy.
	"Oh, I don't know," she said, almost teasingly. "You guys seem
pretty close. I'm sure he's worried about how you're doing."

I realised that I hadn't thought about Ricky for about a day. That's a
pretty long time, if you think about how much I loved him. I smiled, and
realised I hadn't smiled once since the night of the party. It felt good.

	"That's not a bad idea, mom." I said.
	"I'll see you back at the house, sweetie. I'll get a lift with
Sharon," she said, and gave me a long kiss on the forehead.
	"Bye," I said, as she stood up and started walking away. I sat
there, silently staring out into nothingness, processing what had
happened. One thing came out of the processions - I needed to see Ricky.

I stood up and walked the few meters to my mom's car. I pressed the unlock
button and got into the driver's seat. Slipping the key into the ignition,
and reversed out the parking, put it into first, and pulled away out of the
cemetery. As I was driving out of the gates, I glanced in the rear-view
mirror.

	"Bye, David," I said to myself. "Forever, my friend."

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Satori.