Marco was walking towards the hockey rink, though the gay neighborhood. His eyes were fixed on the pavement, he didn't want anyone to recognize him, not that he knew anyone here. But still. Maybe those two men holding hands on the sidewalk would notice him, would smile, would recognize him as one of them. He wasn't ready for that yet. Especially not after today with Spinner. If admitting to his close friend that he was gay meant that kind of rejection, he definitely wasn't ready to admit it to the rest of the world. Maybe someday. For now he was keeping his eyes down, moving fast. Looking back on it, maybe that wasn't the best way to navigate the world. Maybe that made him seem scared, vulnerable. But he was scared, was vulnerable, what else was he supposed to do? But once he had made it to the edge of the neighborhood into the park, when he had finally looked up from the sidewalk, he noticed a group of four guys walking towards him. They all looked dangerous, but the one in the front of the group looked angry somehow. Marco didn't want to get in their way so he tried to discretely veer off to the side but the group veered with him. Shit. They were following him. He didn't know what to do. He tried to turn and run in the opposite direction but that was apparently the wrong move. He heard footsteps quickening behind him and before he had reached the edge of the park Marco felt two strong hands on his shoulders, dragging him backwards, back into the deserted city park. He tried to yell, to get someone's attention but there was no one around and, besides, he felt another hand clamp over his mouth and the sound died in his throat. Someone spun him around and he found himself face to face with the leader of the pack. He still looked angry, but somehow less. Marco thought he actually looked somewhat pleased, like he was anticipating something exciting. A kid on Christmas morning.
"Hey faggot" the leader whispered in Marco's ear. "You know what I like to do with faggots?"
Without pausing to let Marco answer he punched him and Marco fell to the ground. Two of the cronies held Marco down while the leader kicked him, repeatedly, in the side until Marco nearly blacked out from the pain. He swore he had felt his ribs crack, he couldn't breathe. The leader then dragged Marco off of the ground and held him by the throat.
"You know, you are pretty. Exactly like a girl" whispered the leader "isn't he?"
All of the cronies laughed, nodding.
"You know what I do to pretty faggots?"
Marco shook his head nervously. He thought he knew what was coming…another beating, another kick in the ribs or punch in the face to get him to 'man up' …just like in grade school. He was used to getting beaten up. But instead he felt the leader loosen his grip around his neck I'm going to make it out of this. He's going to let me go thought Marco. But just as he was preparing his bruised body to get the hell out of there, he felt one of the cronies grab him by the shoulders and force him back down to the ground, heard the sound of pants unzipping, felt hands tugging at his own belt, turning him over, pinning him down. No, this is not happening
"Get off me!"Marco yelled, but that only got him another swift kick in the ribs. He saw the leader leering at him and then closed his eyes, pretending that he was at the hockey game, home in bed, anywhere but here. Marco felt his pants come off and then fingers digging into his sides, drawing blood. He yelped, but remembered not to scream. He didn't think his body could take any more impact. So he lay there as he felt a man press inside him but he couldn't stop himself from screaming.
After what felt like hours, but could have only been a couple of minutes, he felt the man come inside him and finally finally pull out. He tried to scramble up onto his knees to run but he felt a foot on his back, keeping him on the ground. He begged but when he heard the leader say
"Anyone else want a turn?"
Marco fell silent, went cold inside. He heard another set of jeans being unzipped but barely felt anything this time. He was somewhere else, watching this happen to some other poor kid, some other body. But just as the fourth man entered him, Marco was pulled back into himself by the sound of his phone ringing in his jacket pocket. It was Jimmy's ringtone. At least I know someone is looking for me thought Marco as his hand instinctively went to silence the phone. But the leader had another idea.
"Hey faggot. Is that your boyfriend calling? Answer it."
What? Thought Marco why would he want me to be able to call for help? The leader sensed his hesitation and delivered another kick, this time to the head.
"I said answer it."
So Marco did what he was told; he reached into his jacket pocket and answered. Sensing that the leader wouldn't actually allow him to have a conversation with Jimmy, Marco just screamed into the phone. He only managed to get out "Help! Park!" before the leader grabbed the phone out of his hands and smashed it against the pavement. At that, Marco started screaming at the top of his lungs. He hoped that Jimmy understood his message, that he was on his way. If not, it didn't matter how many times he was pummeled. He didn't have anything left to lose. Five minutes later Marco heard the sound of sirens approaching him, heard the footsteps of the men as they sprinted away from him. Moments later a cop car pulled up in front of him and a cop sprinted the way that the men had gone, but after a while seemed to think better of it and returned to the bleeding, crying Marco. At this point, Marco had pulled his pants back on and had done his best to sit up, leaning against the door of the car. Every breath felt like a knife going into his side, but other than that, Marco felt completely numb. He could tell there were hands holding him, keeping him steady. Too big to belong to the female cop. He couldn't turn his head to see who they belonged to, didn't care. He just wanted to keep his eyes shut, keep his back against the car, that way no one could hurt him. "Kid, I'm going to call an ambulance" was the last thing he heard before he slipped off to sleep.