Down the Rabbit Hole Chapter 63 – The Rose
A/N- The Rose was released by Bette Midler in 1980, "Some say love, it is a river, that drowns the tender reed. Some say love, it is a razor, that leaves your soul to bleed. Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need. I say love, it is a flower, and you, its only seed." Sorry for the long delay since the last update, but I have been doing a lot of overtime since I went back to work after being unemployed due to the pandemic. A little Queer history for you, Bette Midler, AKA the Divine Miss M, AKA Bathhouse Betty, got her start on Broadway in a performance of The Fiddler on the Roof. But her rise to infamy started in a gay bathhouse, The Continental Bathhouse, which was located in New York City back in the 70's. For those of you too young to know, and with the advent of online "dating", will probably never know. Bathhouses are member only or pay to enter establishments that have "Changing rooms", lockers, gyms, rec rooms and saunas, while some of them even have pools and bars. All are used for sexual encounters by their clientele, but sex has never been offered as a service by the establishment for obvious reasons. Bathhouses have historically been around and have been used for sex by men since the 15th century. Bette Midler, unlike others, did not shy away from these roots, but instead embraced them, even releasing an album back in 1998 called Bathhouse Betty.
Alice was sitting on the couch in the living room, with the remote in hand, mindlessly flipping through Friday daytime T.V. and its host of Soap Operas and talk shows. Attempting to find something to watch that wouldn't leave her feeling like she has lost several IQ points while she waited for Trixie to wake up. The doorbell rings as she flips by All My Children and some high-strung drama that she had no interest in. She was certain someone was either dead or in a coma and would eventually return next week whole and hearty. The promise of some form of distraction the doorbell brought finally gave her the permission she needed to give up on this exercise in futility. "I'll get it," she calls out to anyone who could hear her as she stands and turns off the television.
Opening the door, she finds a young man in his late teens to early twenties in a button up dress shirt and a pair of slacks standing upon their stoop holding a pretty bouquet of flowers. He stood roughly the same height as her and was thin to the point that she was wondering if he had any muscle mass on his body. The styling gel that he was using to unsuccessfully keep his hair parted to the right was giving a greasy shine to his light brown tresses. A few blemishes in differing stages of irritation could be seen upon his forehead, cheeks, and chin. His wire rimmed glasses had slid off the bridge of his nose and as he pushes them back up, he opens his mouth to speak and she could see the metal braces upon his teeth. "Flower delivery for Alice Divine," his smile was big as he ends his short announcement, exposing more of the metal work in his mouth.
Alice rolls her eyes as she sighs in irritation, for there was only one person in this world that she could think of that would send her flowers. As it has also been his fourth attempt at sending her gifts since she saw him at Dino's funeral. Was he so brazen to think that this small gift of floral beauty would soften her heart to him? Obviously, he expected her to come running back to him to beg his forgiveness for her impetuous choice of holding her own wellbeing above his obvious love for her. "I'm sorry, but you can give those to your girlfriend. I don't want them."
She reaches for the door and begins to close it as he calls out in a slightly panicked voice, "But I don't have…"
She pauses the movement of the door and looks him in the eye again as she interrupts him, "Then give them to your mother," she then slams the door shut in his face.
Ms. Ritta steps out from behind the counter in her kitchen and looks through the doorway to her daughter standing in the hall and asks, "Who was that?"
Alice turns her head to look over her should at her mother and scoffs, "Flower delivery from asshole."
"Ah," Ms. Ritta nods her understanding as she goes back to what she was doing, acknowledging that she had a valid reason to be upset. Even though the flower delivery person didn't deserve a door being slammed in their face.
Alice follows her into the kitchen, "Can you believe the nerve of him."
"MMhmm," Ms. Ritta hums her agreement as she put a cup of coffee onto a tray.
"Thinking that some measly flowers are going to make up for what he did," she crosses her arms tightly over her chest and leans against the counter.
"I know sweety, men can be some of the most confounding of god's creatures," Ms. Ritta muses. "Most men seem to have this notion that all our problems, which are mostly caused by them, will simply vanish because they are in our lives. As if we live and breathe to be by their sides, when in fact, it is they who cannot live without us."
"Truer words have never been spoken," Alice halfheartedly smiles at her mother's wisdom.
"Could you do me a favor," she asks to change the subject and take her child's mind of the annoyance. "Can you take this up to Trixie for me," she lifts the tray of food and turns to hand it to Alice, "It's about time she got up, don't you think."
"Sure," Alice replies as she takes the tray.
Ms. Ritta places her hand upon Alice's arm to stop her as she turns to walk away, "Have you asked her to go out with you and the others tomorrow night."
Alice had a worried look on her face as she replies, "I don't know if she's feeling up to it. I mean," she looks down and away from her mother, "It's only been two weeks."
"I get that," Ms. Ritta places a comforting hand on her shoulder, "But I'm sure she wouldn't want to miss your birthday. And besides, getting out and celebrating life might do her some good."
"Ok, I'll try," Alice says softly, feeling unsure if it was a good idea to push her sister into going out.
Ms. Ritta gives her a reassuring smile and adds, "Trust me, she'll say yes."
Alice returns her smile with a weak one of her own and steps out of the kitchen to head up the stairs to the room they had been sharing with the tray of food in her hand. Balancing the try on one arm, she knocks softly on the door and waits a second for a response from within that didn't come. She opens the door quietly and steps inside the room which was shrouded in darkness. The only light illuminating her path to the bed was coming from the now open door, as the curtains and blinds were closed to keep out the sunlight. "Trixie," she calls out softly as she navigates the twilight of the room, "It's time to get up."
Trixie shifts her body on the bed and groans in annoyance as Alice sets the tray down on the bedside table closest to her, "What time is it?"
"One in the afternoon," Alice replies hoping the knowledge of the late hour would motivate her to wake up.
But she got her answer as Trixie rolls over to face away from her, "I'm still tired, can you please just," she pauses for a second, "I'll get up in a little while."
"Um," Alice sits on the bed which invokes a sharp frustrated sigh from her sister, "I was wondering if…"
Trixie quickly turns and sits up in bed which startles her sister a little, her voice did not mask her irritation as she spoke, "Look, Alice. I appreciate that your concerned about me, but I'll get up when I'm ready. So, could you please just leave me alone," she did not wait for her sisters response as she lays back down to face away from her again.
"Sure," Alice replies softly as she stands, "Do you want me to leave the food or take it with me?"
"Take it," she replies quietly as she was now feeling guilt for snapping at her sister who was only showing compassion for her. She hears Alice picking up the tray and her silent footfalls as she walks towards the door, "Alice," she turns to look over her shoulder at her sister who pauses at the door to meet her gaze, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bite your head off. I'm just," she pauses to try and find the right words.
But Alice saw no need for her to explain, "It's alright, I get it."
She weakly smiles at her sister to show her appreciation, though she could not see the gesture through the dark gloom of the room, "Thanks."
Alice's apprehension about asking her sister settles down with her apology, "So, um, we're going to go out tomorrow, and I was wondering if you might want to go with us."
Trixie furrows her brow as she thought about it for a moment, her expression softening when she realizes what day tomorrow would be, "I wouldn't miss your birthday for the world."
"You don't have to if you're not feeling up to it," Alice assures her, "I mean, I'll understand if you want to be alone."
Trixie sits back up and holds out her arms, "Come here," opening and closing her fingers to motion her to her. Alice places the tray on the dresser by the door and walks over to sit by her sister to give her a comforting hug. Trixie hums out her approval for the much-needed sisterly affection and comfort, "I told you I was going, so not even God and all his angels could keep me from it."
"Blasphemy," Alice giggles and leans back to try and avoid the playful slap to the shoulder she earned from her sister.
"By the way, how're we getting to the bar tomorrow," Trixie asks as the Summerville Police Department has not located her car and return it to her yet. Unless they were driving with their mother when she goes to the Barony fundraiser at the new gay bar across the street from The Dock called Scores.
"Nat and Double D are going to pick us up around nine thirty," she replies.
"Oh god," Trixie exclaims as she recalls the last time she went to the bar with Double D, Leslie, Nat, and a few of their friends while Alice was still with Marcus, "Am I going to have to babysit again?" We'll just say that Double D really poured on the PDA with Leslie after he had a few soda's that Nat, with Double D's approval, had snuck shots into. And I'd also like to add that the boy lost all his inhibitions after he, Nat and Big Ed went to the bathroom together to smoke a joint in the handicap stall. The events of the evening culminating with the boy dancing with his extremely embarrassed girlfriend in one of the cages perched above the dance floor in nothing but his boxer briefs.
"Nat swears Double D will be on his best behavior," Alice relays the message. It wasn't too difficult for her to figure out what Nat and Trixie were referring to, since she has witnessed firsthand what the boy is like once he "loosens up". But she couldn't help but wonder what else he has gotten himself into that they were unaware of. Or more appropriately, who has gotten themselves into him.
"MMhmm," Trixie hums out her doubt, "I'll believe it when I see it." She lays back down on the bed to get more comfortable, while Alice brings her right leg up on the bed to face her better. "It kinda makes me wonder what the boy is hiding that he's totally like Jekyll and Hyde every time he gets a few drinks in him. Don't get me wrong, letting go of stress is cleansing in a way. But it's so damn dramatic that it's kinda like how some straight boys use alcohol to give themselves permission to do gay things. You know," She butches up her voice to impersonate a few dumb redneck jocks she knew in high school, "I was so drunk, I don't know what I did last night."
Alice couldn't help the laughter that escapes her when Trixie hits the nail on the head, and as she starts to get herself under control she explains her outburst through light giggles, "It's funny you should say that."
"Do tell, you know I love me some good T," she props herself up on her elbows eagerly awaiting the gossip.
But Alice was feeling a little guilty for inadvertently letting it slip that she had any such knowledge, "You have to swear you won't say anything, not even to Double D."
"You know I won't say a word."
"You have to promise."
Trixie went through the motions as she spoke, "I cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. There is that good enough for you?" Trixie laughs at the end of her own overly exaggerated childish promise, god it felt good to have this distraction, even if it was only for a little while.
"Ok," Alice adjusts herself nervously on the bed, "You remember the circuit party the night before the pride parade."
Trixie nods as she had some recollection of the events, "Yeah."
"So, you remember how I had to go find the little dork halfway through the night."
"Vaguely," she replies offhandedly, as her drunk induced hazy memory was mostly centered around dancing the night away.
"So, I get to the bathroom and after dealing with some assholes in line," Trixie gives her a look that says, 'Really bitch, I don't need to hear about no drama, get to the good stuff'. But Alice pays her no mind and continues her dialog, "I head to the stalls, because you knew a girl's got to have her privacy. So, while I'm waiting for one of the doors to open, a pair of inconsiderate jerks are letting the entire bathroom know that they are doing much more than answering mother nature's call. Panting and moaning only two feet from me on the other side of the door."
"And let me guess," Trixie says unenthusiastically, "Lo and behold, when the door opens, there stands our little dork, pulling up his pants."
"You're no fun," Alice swats her arm playfully.
Trixie stifles her laugh over her sisters reaction, "I can't help it if your terrible at telling stories. If you wanted it to be a shocking reveal, then you needed to skip to when the door opens."
"You could've just acted shocked," Alice pouts.
Trixie covers her mouth and takes in a dramatic breath, "Oh no, our little Double D was packing some fudge, whatever will we do? Call a priest, the national guard, the president."
Alice allows her to get all that out of her system before giving her an evil grin, "Actually, I think he was having his fudge packed."
Trixie laughs, "Why are all the straight guys bottoms?"
"I guess when they switch teams for the night, they're just too curious to know what it's like to get plowed," Alice ponders.
Trixie responds mischievously, "Could be, or they're just tired of shoving it into pussy all the time and want to be dominated by a big burly beefcake." (Just so you know my straight girl and boy readers, this is 99.9% true of those straight guys who hop the fence to our side for an evening and are looking for more than just a blow job.)
Alice raises an eyebrow and looks at her out of the corner of her eyes with a wicked grin as she corrects her, "Or in Double D's case, a twisted tweaking twink."
"Oh, that's right," she laughs, "He was blitzed out of his mind when he got back. I wonder if his girl suspects anything. Or do you think they have some sort of arrangement?"
Alice blows a raspberry through her lips, "Those two are too straight for anything like that."
"Poor girl," Trixie felt bad for her, after all, who wouldn't want to know if their partner was cheating on them. But that was just a momentary bit of emotional weakness, probably brought on by her period of mourning, "Well, it's not our job to out him. He's probably just experimenting right now anyways, and it's not our place to judge him or force him to choose who he is," she reasoned.
"Yeah, totally," Alice agreed, because she knew that if they confronted him about it, it would more than likely force him to withdraw from them and not ask for advice if he needs it.
"He'll eventually figure it out," she says dismissively in an attempt to get off this subject. Reinforcing this desire by sitting up properly in the bed and asking, "Hey, why don't you hand me my breakfast…"
"You mean your cold lunch," Alice corrects her as she stands.
"Whatever," Trixie smiles warmly and adjusts the pillow behind her. "How about this, I'll choke down this food you let get cold, then we can go out and do something. What do you say? Are you up for being in the presence of my greatness this afternoon?" Trixie asks as she tries to get herself in the right mindset for an afternoon out of the house, which would be her first exodus from its safe and comforting confines since Dino's funeral.
Alice's reply was snarky, "I'm sure I will somehow manage," but was given with nothing but love for her sister.
Plank opens the door to the building and is greeted by the familiar sounds of wheels rolling across the polyurethane coated hardwood floor. Rave steps in behind him and releases the door when Kevin's hand takes over the responsibility of holding it open as he enters after him. Madonna's Vogue was playing over the speakers of the rink as they walk down a small hallway toward the locker bank. 'Hey Lisa," Plank greets the girl at the cash register and then the boy at the skate exchange window, "How's it hanging Ringo."
The older Caucasian teen playfully smirks at him and replies, "You know man, a little to the left and halfway down." But of course, Plank already knew where it hung, I mean who wouldn't as the outline of his bulge was prominent in those tight jeans. And was the center of many of Plank's jerk off fantasy as he imagined what this dark-haired alpha male of a D&D dork looked like naked. Oh daddy, force me down on my knees and have me pray to all the gods for your divine seed, I mean inspiration. Or bend me over the alter and show me the difference between a rod and a staff. But unfortunately, this little morsel of studly geek was already spoken for by Lisa. But if the chance should ever discreetly come up, he wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating cookies. Hey, don't judge him, it's just a fantasy that he knows will never go anywhere anytime soon.
"Your aunts in the office," Lisa calls out to him and Plank could swear that he sees the fire of jealousy in her eyes.
"Hey Plank," Ringo calls out to get his attention again, "I'm hosting another game in my basement tomorrow night. You could come over early to create your character before the other guys show up, and I can help you if you want." This must be the twelfth time he has asked him to join their D&D sessions since he started working here four months ago.
Plank turns to face him with a mildly flirtatious smile and draws out the word, "Tempting, but I've already got plans, sorry."
"Maybe another time then," Ringo says but shows no disappoint to Plank's rejection of his offer.
Turning back around he quietly addresses his friends, "God, I'd so lick his lollipop."
The three of them look over their shoulders and see both Ringo and Lisa engaged in the time old tradition of on-the-job heterosexual courtship. Rave muses upon better inspection of the boy and his prominent attributes, "I wonder how many like it takes to get to the creamy center."
"The world may never know," Plank responds in admiration then forces his eyes away from that basket. "You two go get something to drink and tell Jonny to count it towards what my aunt lets me have, and I'll be over there in a minute." Walking back in the direction of the exchange window, he stops in front of a door a few feet from it and calls out to Ringo and Lisa, "Can one of you let me in please."
Ringo takes a step towards him to open the door, but Lisa rushes past and gets to the door first, "Can you give this to your aunt for me?" She places her metal cash box with a set of keys sitting on top of it in his hands before he can reply, then turns around to walk back over to the exchange counter to lean against it to flirt with Ringo.
"Yeah, no problem," Plank replies with an edge of annoyance then turns to walk the short distance from where he entered the back room to the office door and knocks.
"Who is it," asks his aunt from the other side of the door.
"Your favorite nephew in the whole wide world," he replies sweetly.
She unlocks and opens the door, "What are you doing here kiddo?"
He hands her the cashbox and keys as he enters, "Came by to pick up Jonny." She nods with an expression that said she should have known, "I was wondering," he continues but she cuts him off.
"If he gets his area cleaned up he can leave early," she doesn't look up from what she was writing down on a spread sheet as she continues, "Just do me a favor kiddo, and don't make this a habit."
"I swear, I won't ask again 'til next month," he laughs when he sees the tell-tale movement of her head that told him she was rolling her eyes at him.
"Ok, go on, get out of here, I've got work to do," she shoos him away playfully.
He awkwardly turns around in the small office and opens the door again, "Love you Aunt Sybil."
"Have fun," she calls after him as he rushes down the hall then closes the door again.
He quickly rejoins his friends at the snack bar and rests his folded arms on top of the glass as Kevin finishes explaining things to Jonny. "Nah, he didn't invite Lee, Adam or Trey because they're not on the wrestling team. But he did ask me to make sure you were coming," Kevin felt the warm glow of happiness fill him when he sees the look of excitement in Jonny's eyes.
"He did," Jonny asks excitedly but with a hint of nervousness.
"Yeah," Kevin replies enthusiastically, "Said it wouldn't be the whole team without ya man."
"He was really insistent that we bring you with us," Rave adds. He was getting the impression that Chance was trying to make up for how things went down with Jonny at the last party, to assure him that he was welcome.
"So, you're coming, right," Kevin asks again.
Jonny nods his head and meekly says, "Yeah, sure."
"Cool, now that that's out of the way, let's hurry up and get this place cleaned up," Plank interrupts and draws their attention to him, "Aunt Sybil says you can leave once it's done."
"She's not going to be upset," Jonny starts with a worried thought racing through his mind as well as a means to get out of going to this party. Parties with people who weren't his close friends hasn't been his idea of a good time since the third grade and was reinforced once again in the seventh grade. But that's a tale for another time.
"Only if we leave the place looking like shit," Plank replies a little too loudly and notices a few kids close by looking at him in shock for using a bad word. He lowers his voice and leans in closer, "And then she'll probably just blame me for rushing you anyways. So, let's just get this place looking presentable and you won't have anything to worry fucking about." With that reassurance, and his excuse in shambles, the quartet starts the quick job of cleaning up. Jonny takes care of the clean up behind the counter while Kevin cleans the glass divider and counter tops. Plank and Rave clean the trash off the tables and quickly wipes them down, then Plank vacuums the area while Jonny takes his till to the back office to count.
Ringo stops Jonny as he emerges from the office five minutes later and informs him, "Plank told me to tell you they were waiting for you in the car."
Jonny gives him his thanks and rushes out of the building only to be greeted by Plank hanging his head out of the car window to yell at him, "Come on slowpoke, times a wasting." He looks both ways before hurrying across to the parked car as the door creaks open to let him in the back seat. "Here," Plank says as he tosses a plastic bag over his shoulder into the back seat with Jonny. Inside the bag was a clean, somewhat folded t-shirt, along with his deodorant and toothbrush in a Ziplock bag. "I told your grandmother you'd be staying the night with me tonight and she gave me that for you," Plank informed him.
"Which means," Kevin starts as he takes the bag from him and pulls out the shirt and deodorant.
"I'm staying with you tonight," Jonny excitedly finishes for him as he yanks off his work shirt.
"Exactly," Rave contributes. It was good to see that their regular teenage adventures, like tonight's party, has helped keep Jonny's mind off his parent's divorce as much as possible.
"Unless you all want to have an orgy at my place after the party," Plank teases and laughs to let them know he is only joking, but only gets stunned silence as a response from all those in the car. "What? No takers?" He looks around while in a fit of laughter as he starts the car and it sputters into life, "Fine, your loss." He pulls out of the parking space and towards the exit of the parking lot to turn left onto Plum Rd. to head down the closest hill towards downtown Peach Creek. Ten minutes and a few Led-Zeppelin songs later and they were pulling into a parking space a few houses down from Chances place. "But Gollum and the evil one, crept up and slipped away with her," Plank belted out before turning the car off.
"Do you got any cologne," Kevin asks as he finishes helping Jonny straighten up his messed-up work hair.
"Yeah," Plank replies and leans over to pull it out of the glovebox, intentionally brushing against Rave's leg as he does. Leaning back up he wages his eyebrows at Rave and says, "Hey sweet cheeks what brings you around here."
"OH god," Rave exclaims, "Would somebody please douse this horndog with some water already," he opens the door and gets out, slamming it shut behind him.
"Here," Plank drops the small bottle of Drakkar Noir in Kevin's lap and exits the vehicle to follow Rave, "Hey, slow down, I'm sorry, I was being an ass, I'll stop, I promise."
Rave turns to look at him with an expression of annoyance as he speaks, "Just grow up a little, ok."
"Understood, no more sex jokes?" He looks truly apologetic with his downcast eyes and bowed head, "Do you forgive me?"
"Yeah, I forgive you," he lets out his frustrations through a heavy sigh, "Ok, the sex jokes are fine, I normally don't mind them. It's just you've been constantly using them tonight to let us all know just how horny you are, and it's kinda getting old."
"Sorry," Plank apologies again, "I'll try and do better."
"Please do," Rave gives his final word on the subject as both Kevin and Jonny stop a few feet behind Plank. With everything said that needed to be said, the little spat between them was quickly forgotten, and the two of them walked side by side down the sidewalk to Chance's house. As the group neared the home, the distinct thump of music could be heard emanating from the old brick structure.
As they near the door it swings open and Reggie is once again shoving an underclassman out the door, "Get the fuck outta here, you punk motherfucker." Noticing the guys as the young man stumbles and staggers to regain his balance, he says, "Hey guys, how're y'all doing?" He halfheartedly smiles at them, "You know we really need to stop meeting like this."
Jonny asks while pointing in the general direction of the retreating figure, "What did Simon do?"
"The dumb shit doesn't know how to take no for an answer," Reggie replies, then raises his voice to shout at the boy, "Disrespectful bitch." Then returns his attention to the boys as he steps aside for them to enter, "He totally freaked one of the cheerleaders out when he kept asking her to go upstairs with him. He couldn't seem to understand that she wasn't interested, so, the fucker had to go," he made a motion with his hands as though he is brushing them clean of dirt.
Rave and the others were filled with respect for the older boy, Rave's view of the young man changed from being just one of Kevin's jock friends to someone to look up to. "Well, I'm personally glad you were here to keep her safe."
Reggie could clearly see Rave's admiration for him, and it was kinda embarrassing, as he had only done what he knew should be done, nothing more. "You know, I'll tolerate a lot of bullshit in life, but disrespecting the ladies is something that I can't stand by and let happen."
"Hey guys," they all could barely hear the voice calling to them over the rap music, but when they all turned in its direction they could clearly see Chance making his way toward them. Reaching the group a moment later, he claps his hand on Reggie's shoulder and says, "Ambers looking for ya man."
"Thanks man," he replies and turns his attention back to the four boys, "Have fun boys," he takes a step back to leave, "And don't do nothing I wouldn't do."
That was a pretty silly thing for a heterosexual to say to a group of queens, Plank thought to himself, as that statement pretty much ruled out all forms of sex for them. "It's about time you all got here," Chance greets Kevin, Rave and Plank with varying hand gestures ranging from fist bumps to that age old macho arm-wrestling handshake. He offers up the same gesture to Jonny, but when the boy hesitates for a moment he urges him on by saying, "Don't leave a bro hanging man." Jonny meekly complies after his insistence and brings their hands together with a mild slap. Chance takes the opportunity and pulls him in for a quick one-armed hug, surprising the boy slightly, and softly says, "Glad you could make it."
"Nice turn out," Plank commented as he looks over the lively crowd in the living room.
"It's alright," Chance was being modest, "But the nights still young."
"I hear that," Plank says as the song changes to Brand Nubian's Punks Jump Up to Get Beat Down. "So, do you know where my herbal friends might be?"
"Jarrod and Sam," Chance Raises a brow as he confirms those were the two he was looking for, "You know them, they're probably hold up in the guest room."
"Cool."
The following lyrics catch all four boys attention, "Though I can freak, fly, floow, fuck up a faggot. Don't understand their ways I ain't down with gays." These simple two lines that didn't connect to any of the previous or follow lyrics made the four of them extremely uncomfortable. Since no one in the room, including Chance seemed to care that the singer had just declared his animosity towards gay people. And it brought a nagging question to the back of each of their minds, if they were to be discovered, would Chance or Reggie defend them, or would they disavow any allegiance to them. It also reminded them that even if they were out and proud, that in the straight societies view, they had no right to defend themselves against their verbal or physical onslaughts.
"Love the music man," Plank leans in to sarcastically state, while Rave was visibly anxious standing beside him.
"Thanks," Chance replies with a proud smile on his face.
Plank turns and walks away, tugging at the shoulder of Rave's shirt to tell him to come with him, while he mutters under his breath, "Fucking breeders."
While he climbs the steps to the second floor, he could see Chance directing Jonny and Kevin toward the kitchen while saying, "Let's get you two something to drink." Jonny looks anxious and he would normally tell him to follow them, but he was with Kevin, so he should be alright if he wants to stay with him.
It wasn't hard to find the smoking room, as there were only four doors to choose from in the second-floor hallway, and the one with the line in front of it was obviously the bathroom. Opening the door with the strongest pot smell to it, they were greeted by the familiar faces from the last party, minus one. "Hey guys, what's happening," Plank calls out as he steps in and a cloud of smoke rolls into the hallway from the open door.
The four individuals, two girls and two boys, were sitting in a semicircle on the floor or in chairs around the television, watching a movie as they toked on a joint. "Where's Jarrod," Rave asks as he notices his absence.
Sam finally clicks back into reality and notices their presence for the first time with that question, "He's probably off somewhere with Beth and Sara."
"What are you watching," Plank asks as he starts to join the semicircle of his peers.
"Menace II society," the girl next to him responds.
Neither boy had seen the movie before, as the aforementioned lyrics and the scene that is about to unfold before them was the major reason gangster rap and all media associated with it never appealed to them. Two African American men stood in an alleyway on the T.V. screen, the one holding the paper bag was visibly jittery, while the other was quite agitate with the other. It was obvious through the dialog that the one holding the paper bag was trying to barter its contents, some double cheeseburgers, for drugs. Which is why the other was agitated, as food was not an acceptable form of payment for the goods he was selling, and with frustration in his voice and demeanor he turns to walk away. The jittery man garbs ahold of him and in a moment of desperation, with no other options he could think of, declares, "Come on, wait, wait, wait man. Man, man I'll suck your dick, come on man just hook me up."
The agitated man then responds in anger, with a disgusted look on his face, "What the fuck did you just say N****."
The jittery man repeats himself, "I said I'll suck your dick."
Earing him a gunshot to the chest at point plank rang, "Suck on that you bitch ass trick." Followed by the man picking up the bag the deceased was carrying before kicking his corps then holding up the bag to ask his friends, as nonchalantly as asking about the weather, "Any of y'all want a hamburger? What's wrong? You don't want no hamburger?"
The other boy in the room manages to say through his amused chuckles, "Fucking faggot."
Rave pauses in his process of join the group while Plank looks over his shoulder to his anxious friend who was now leaning against the dresser. He wonders if they should wait a few minutes or if leaving now would look suspicious, "Where did you say Jarrod was?"
"I don't know," Sam says with a little annoyance in his voice, did they really think he was Jarrod's keeper or something, "Why?"
"Oh, I've just got to talk to him about something is all," Plank replies to give an excuse to his question and why they were going to be leaving the room so quickly.
"He's in the room across the hall," the girl beside him answers.
"Thanks," he says, then stands back up and turns to follow Rave back out the door and down the stairs to find Jonny and Kevin. They both knew that they probably shouldn't let things like that get to them and hurt them. Because they both knew that this wasn't going to be the last time that society reminds them were their place is or what their life is worth. And according to the things they have witnessed in the past ten to fifteen minutes, their worth was the cost of the bullet that would land them in their place, which was dead in a ditch. The thing that stung the most though, was that up until this moment, they were beginning to think that these people were a decent group that they could get to know better. But I guess that's one of the benefits and downfalls of being in the closet and having those around you assume you are straight. You get a front row seat to an unfiltered view of how they feel and what they think about people like you. Well, at least they now know who to avoid.
A/N- I could get on my soapbox and preach to you for hours about how I felt in my youth when I had to listen to songs like that and watch my friends sing along to them. Knowing all along that if they ever knew who I truly was I would be dead to them, which is of course what happened once I was outed the summer before my twelfth-grade year. I could also tell you in detail how scared and powerless I felt when I watched that scene in Menace II Society back in '93 and had no right to voice an opposing opinion to it, even if I wanted to. Being in the closet sucks for more reasons than one, let me tell you. I would also like to point out how that scene portrays the gay panic defense five years before it was ever used in a court of law. I know the younger crowd thinks of the term gay panic as something totally different than I do. So, while you all think of it as cute nervousness over a gay situation, I think of the term as the defense Mathew Shepard's killers used to defend their actions. The gay panic defense, for those who don't know, is simply this. A guy walks into a bar and sits down, the guy next to him flirts with him. But instead of kindly declining his advances, he feels so threatened or disgusted by him that the only thing he can think to do in his panicked state is to kill him. Thus, trying to make it the victims fault for his murder, for if he hadn't flirted with an obvious straight guy and induced a panic in him, he wouldn't have died. Now I don't think you can find this on the web, lord knows I've tried just for reference, but I distinctly remember seeing it on my local news, I lived in Kentucky at the time. That shortly after the two assholes were convicted of Mathew Shepard's murder, the Commonwealth of Kentucky briefly considered making the gay panic defense a legal defense. Now, we always knew that there was a possibility that you could die if you left with someone you were flirting with. But having the media flat out tell you and confirm that there are straight guys out there who will lure you out to kill you only ramped up that paranoia.