Chapter 1
Nobody else was home. Mickey turned on the laptop his brother had stolen a few days ago (but hadn't pawned yet) and sat on his bed with the computer on his lap, waiting for it to load up. It was relatively new, so it didn't take too long. Once the thing had booted up, he opened the internet browser and typed in the url he'd seen written on the men's room wall in the locker room at school.
There was a disclaimer saying he had to be over 18 in order to continue on to the site. Mickey laughed as he clicked the "Proceed" button. The next screen was a log-in/registration one. He entered in his information and had to pick a username and password. It only took a minute to sign up. He picked a stupid icon as his profile picture and he was set.
Mickey read through the various chatroom names, avoiding the ones he was sure were full of lesbians. You could tell a lot about the kind of people who would be in each room from their names. Mickey scrolled right past "Master and Commander," "Watersports," "Out and Proud," "Who's Your Daddy," and "Winnie-the-Pooh-Bear." He shuddered at the last one. Mickey may have had a few kinks, but even he had standards. There was no way he was going to talk to some big, fat, hairy man who probably hadn't seen his dick in years.
Towards the bottom of the forum list, he saw one that was called "The Big Guns" and double clicked.
Okay, so he probably should have realized the conversation wasn't going to be about actual guns, but it was his first time on the site, so he wasn't really thinking. He watched the text roll down his screen and started getting annoyed. Everyone in the chat was talking about how much training they did or what kind of protein powder was the best. Sure, muscles were hot, but from the avatars he could see, these men were all body builders, and he was not attracted to juiced-up gym addicts. He was about to close the window and try a different room when he saw a message that caught his eye.
redmarine15: u think lifting a 120lb bar over and over is hard? try running 5 miles in full gear with an m16 on your back. that shit takes stamina.
He didn't know why, but Mickey felt like answering. He hit enter and saw his message added to the conversation.
fuckthepopo247: or better yet, try doin it with an m60 n 200+ rounds. that'll be at least 40lbs for the gun and the ammo together
He watched as the assholes continued talking about their bulging biceps. Fuckers. Mickey X-ed out of the room. He was still reading though the other chatroom names when a private message popped up onto his screen.
redmarine15: u know a lot about machine guns?
fuckthepopo247: is that a question?
redmarine15: no, i guess it's not
redmarine15: i was just surprised to see someone else in that room actually talkin bout somethin other than how tough they are because they take steroids and can lift a lot
Mickey snorted. At least he wasn't the only one who thought those body builders were really pussies. He was about to type out a clever response when the other guy messaged him again.
redmarine15: a/s/l
redmarine15: ?
Mickey stared at the message, at a loss. What the hell did "a/s/l" mean? If he wasn't such a lazy ass, he might have considered googling it. Instead, he decided to just ask, even if it made him look stupid. It wasn't like he knew the guy for real.
fuckthepopo247: wtf does that mean?
redmarine15: it means age/sex/location
fuckthepopo247: why the fuck do u care?
redmarine15: well, i don't exactly wanna chat with someone i wouldn't be into IRL, right?
fuckthepopo247: IRL?
redmarine15: In Real Life
redmarine15: :-P
Mickey bit his lower lip. He was right. What would be the point in talking if they had no interest in one another?
fuckthepopo247: 16/m/chicago
redmarine15: now that wasn't so hard, was it?
redmarine15: 15/m/chicago here
redmarine15: small world, i guess
Shit. Mickey was tempted to log out then and there. He didn't want to chat with anyone who might know him. There was no way he could afford his dad finding out that he was into guys. He'd kill him. Milkoviches didn't fuck around about that kind of shit.
Mickey took a second to think about it. Chicago was a huge city. He was freaking out for no reason. Definitely overreacting. He took a deep breath and told his heart to stop pounding. He didn't want to stop talking to the guy, but he would definitely change the topic of conversation to something less personal.
fuckthepopo247: u know a lot about guns too?
redmarine15: is that a question?
fuckthepopo247: haha, fuck you
redmarine15: lol, maybe...
redmarine15: but we should probably get to know each other first!
redmarine15: j/k ;)
fuckthepopo247: j/k?
redmarine15: Just Kidding
fuckthepopo247: oh
redmarine15: sorry, it's just habit
redmarine15: and b4 u ask, "lol" means Laughing Out Loud
redmarine15: are u sure you're not some creepy old man pretending to be a teenager?
fuckthepopo247: yeah... y?
redmarine15: cuz u don't know a lot of the shorthands that i'm using. it's suspicious!
fuckthepopo247: i'm new to this chatting thing... gimme a break
fuckthepopo247: before you make another smart-ass comment, i'll rephrase my question
fuckthepopo247: how do you know about guns?
redmarine15: i've been in junior rotc since i started hs
redmarine15: how bout u? how do u know bout guns
fuckthepopo247: life
fuckthepopo247: been around guns since i was born.
redmarine15: k but "guns" are one thing and machine guns are def another thing
fuckthepopo247: haha
fuckthepopo247: yeah, i know
redmarine15: you've shot an M60 before?
fuckthepopo247: once, under the L
fuckthepopo247: dad bought one during a deal last year. guy looked like he was ex-military, and he had a trunk full of 'em...
fuckthepopo247: me n my brothers waited til july 4th to try it out so that no one would hear the shots and call the cops
redmarine15: that's so cool
fuckthepopo247: it was fun
Mickey caught himself smiling impishly. Not a lot of people would find the idea of shooting illegal guns as exciting as he did.
Mickey heard the front door open and he quickly slammed the laptop shut. Mandy burst into his room just as he threw his blanket over the computer.
"Hey fuckface, Iggy called and said he and dad won't be home 'til tomorrow night. Wanna get pizza?"
Mickey hated that his door had no lock. He hated the fact that the only functioning bathroom in their house was in his room, which meant his family just walked right in whenever they fucking wanted to, and there was nothing he could do to prevent it from happening.
"Yeah, alright. But none of that thin crust bullshit this time, Mandy. You're from Chicago—act like it."
His sister scowled at him but Mickey just laughed in return. He grabbed his sweater off of the floor and they headed out.