Laughing in the Face of Death - Chapter Seven
It was a snowy day when the funeral for Mr. Mooneyham was held. Earlier last week Freddy had called the police, where they came to investigate the scene of the crime. Liz told them a convincing story that Mr. Mooneyham had been mentally impaired, and shot himself from grief.
Zack, Liz, and Mrs. Mooneyham had told the officers that they had been abused by Mr. Mooneyham for many years.
Freddy said he had been staying over at Zack's house and had nothing to do with Mr. Mooneyham's death.
The cars rolled into the cemetery. Freddy got out and waved his parents off.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" his mother asked him.
Freddy nodded. "Yes Mom. I'll call you when it's time to pick me up."
His mother waved good-bye as his father drove off. Freddy ran up the hill to where the a large gather of people stood. The priest was saying a few last prayers over Mr. Mooneyham's casket. Freddy peered through the crowd for Zack. He didn't see him. Across from him he spotted Liz. They made eye contact, and Liz's eyes seemed to direct him down on the other side of the hill.
Freddy slipped away from the crowd and headed down to the other side of the cemetery. He spotted Zack, his back to Freddy. Zack was atop another grave stone. Freddy walked over to him, his feet barely making any noise in the snow. When he reached Zack he slipped his arms around his waist and kissed him gently on the neck. Zack squeezed his hand and turned his head so he could kiss Freddy's forehead.
"Hello," Zack mumbled.
"Hello," Freddy replied, walking in front of Zack and kissing his lips gently.
When Freddy pulled away he asked, "So why are you down here and not up with your family?"
Zack shifted slightly, allowing Freddy to sit down next to him. Freddy slipped his arms around Zack again and leaned his head on Zack's shoulder.
"Come on!" Freddy moaned. "Spill it."
Zack sighed. "Well, I've been thinking," he whispered.
"About what?" asked Freddy.
"About why my father abused me," Zack responded.
Freddy stiffened slightly. "Zack, why would you think about that?" he asked.
Zack pointed his finger at the gravestone across from him. "See that gravestone?" he whispered. "Read what it says."
Freddy eyed the gravestone. "Douglas Edward...." Freddy gasped at the last name. "Mooneyham?"
Zack nodded. "Born on April 8th, 1973. Died March 11th, 1991."
"How was he related to your family?" Freddy asked. "And why are you showing me him?"
"Call this bizarre," Zack said, laughing slightly. "But I think that Douglas was the entire reason that my father abused me."
"How?" Freddy asked.
Well," Zack started. "Douglas was the son of my Uncle Mike. He was fifteen years old when I was born. I was three years old when he died. He was eighteen. I don't really remember Doug, he's mostly just a blur, but there are pictures and videos of us from when we were younger. My mother said that I was his favorite cousin."
"What's the point of this?" Freddy asked.
"I'm getting to it!" Zack exclaimed. "Anyway, they lived in on the floor below us. Doug used to watch Liz and I all the time. Doug used to be part of a band called Retired Virus. He was the lead guitarist. There are clips of us on the video tapes where he's playing the guitar. He used to teach me a few keys. I broke a few of his strings."
"Doug was a little bit wild. He had overly long hair for a guy, and he wore black at every one of his concerts. My mother said that Doug used to deal with drugs and a little alcohol. My father wasn't very fond of the drugs and alcohol. He was also goofing off a little bit. Soon he started to appear less and less on the videos."
"Then one night, when I was about three, Doug was doing a concert with his band mates. He collapsed on stage after the third song. There were pictures of him in a magazine the next day. He was lying on the stretcher, waving at the camera's and shouting 'Rock on hard!'"
"That day grew into tomorrow. It was on the news that night. He had died in the hospital of a combined drug and alcohol overdose, along with a bit of a heat stroke due to the lighting of the stage."
"My Uncle Mike and Aunt Angela were devastated. My father was even more in shock then they were. He supposedly thought that Doug was a perfect child. Up until a point in his life. As I grew up and learned to play the guitar I remember the look of horror in his eyes any time he would see me practice. I remember him muttering under his breath 'He'll turn out to be just like Doug.' He even fought with my mother over it."
"That was when the abuse started. One night my father and mother were arguing over my guitar playing. I remember hearing Doug's name mentioned a countless amount of times. My mother said something that my father disagreed with. He slapped her. Then he stormed into my room, and beat me. I was eight. I didn't know what was happening."
Freddy sat up. "I remember that day you came into school. You wouldn't talk to anybody that day. Except for me."
Zack nodded. "You were the only one I trusted back then, Freddy."
Freddy felt Zack shake slightly in his arms. Tears started flowing down the brown eyed guitarist's eyes. Freddy closed his arms around him in a tighter embrace then the one he had supplied before.
"Don't leave me!" Zack choked out through his tears. "Please. Please. Please. I don't have anyone else." More tears spewed from Zack's eyes. "I need you Freddy. More then ever before. I've..I've known I've said this before but..."
Zack paused and took in a sharp intake of breath.
"I really do love you."
Freddy smiled to himself.
"I know you love me," Freddy whispered to Zack. "You wouldn't be with me at the moment if you hated me."
Zack laughed and stood up, wiping tears from his eyes.
"Look at me standing here and crying," he said, laughing again.
"Don't be ashamed of crying," Freddy said, standing up also. "It's okay for guys to cry."
"I've never seen you cry," Zack pointed out.
Freddy sighed. "I don't have anything to cry over," Freddy admitted. "Trust me. I'll let you know the day that I start to bawl all over the place."
Zack smiled. "Yeah. You'll be on the telephone crying in my ear."
Freddy moved closer to Zack. "Who said I'll be on the telephone?" he whispered into Zack's ear. Zack quivered.
Freddy kissed Zack gently on the lips.
Zack giggled. "Your lips are cold!" he exclaimed.
Freddy smiled and raised an eyebrow.
"I might need some one to help me warm them up a little," he whispered again. Zack smiled and blushed a bright red.
"I could help you with that," Zack said to Freddy. Freddy smiled brightly.
"C'mon," Freddy said, taking Zack's hand. He began to pull Zack towards the edge of the cemetery.
"Where are we going?" Zack asked.
"I'm calling my parents," Freddy answered. "You're staying over the night."
"But we have school tomorrow!" Zack cried out.
Freddy looked at him. "Where not going to school tomorrow, okay? You need sometime to heal after a death. I'm going to be right there with you, as long as it takes."
Zack smiled. "Oh alright," he said. He slipped his arms around Freddy.
Off they walked, both knowing that tonight would be purely magical.
Xxxxxxxx fin
Welcome to the end of this fanfiction! I hope that you all enjoyed it! I want to thank all of my reviewers who helped keep me motivated enough to actually start and then finish a fanfic! I don't know what I'll be writing next, but who knows? Maybe I'll through out another Zack/Freddy fic in the future! Keep me in the back of your minds incase I do!
Mark of CTown
