Chapter 28

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Viv, Martin, Dr. Nolan and Adam were seated in a circle on plush chairs. Martin guessed were set up that way for therapy sessions. On the coffee table were ashtrays and boxes of Kleenex. Martin glanced around the room. On one wall there were colorful small paintings posted under a sign that read 'SELF PORTRAITS.' The figures in the paintings were all so very different. Some were hideously disfigured, others were small and so faint they were difficult to see. They reminded Martin of the picture his niece painted of him and he suddenly felt a connection with people working their way out of a dark place in their life. His heart went out to these people he never even met but felt an incredible connection to because of some tempera paint on white sheets of paper.

Martin looked back over at Adam Weller, a lanky young man with curly brown hair and pale skin. He had been quiet for the last few minutes since they told him that Jeremy was missing. He just sat there rocking slowly and taking long drags of his cigarette; silent tears streaming down his face.

"I can't believe he's missing. I talked to him the day I came here." Adam finally said in a voice that was soft and cracked. "I can't believe it."

"Adam, can you tell us what you and Jeremy talked about that day?" Viv asked, handing a box of tissues to Adam.

Adam smiled in gratitude and plucked a few tissues from the box. He blew his nose and wiped the tears off of his face.

"I was on my way here." Adam began…

XXXX

Adam was in a taxi, his eyes darting around nervously. He took a long drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke out the window when his cell phone rang. He fished it out of his jacket pocket and pressed the 'Talk' button.

"Hi, Mark, sorry, I mean Jeremy." Adam said into the phone. "Sorry, I still can't get used your new name. Where are you? I've been calling you all morning."

Jeremy was sitting on some bleachers at the school. "I'm at school. I'm sorry I wasn't able to answer your calls earlier. I was in class. How are you doing?"

"I'm freaking out. I don't know if I can do this." Adam's voice was full of fear as he leaned his head back.

"You can do this. I believe in you." Jeremy encouraged. "And I'll be there first thing on Sunday to visit you."

"Are you going to bring your boyfriend?" Adam hissed.

"No. Be nice Adam, please. I've had a really hard day." Jeremy's voice broke and he sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

"Jeremy, what's wrong?" Adam listened as Jeremy broke down.

"I told my parents this morning." Jeremy said in a soft, scared voice.

"How did they take it?" Adam asked his voice full of concern.

"Not good. My mom just cried but my dad….he was just so angry."

"He didn't hit you did he?" Adam asked panicked.

Jeremy gave a forced laugh and replied, "No, he just told me to stop it. He said, 'No son of his was going to be a queer. There are no fags in the NFL.' Then he told me to go to school and forget about this nonsense. Like I just woke up this morning and decided to be gay."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I just know I don't want to go home." Jeremy sounded determined.

"What about your boyfriend? Can you stay with him?"

"I don't know. That situation is complicated."

"You can go stay at my place; my roommates went to Fire Island for the week. The key is under the flower pot." Adam offered.

"Thanks, I might do that. I better go; it's almost time for practice. Love you."

Adam smiled and said, "Love you, too. See you Sunday."

XXXX

"And that was it." Adam whispered.

"We're going to need your address." Martin requested as he handed some paper and a pen to Adam. Adam wrote down the address and handed it back.

"You have to find him. He's the closest thing to family I have. I'll be lost without him." Adam pleaded.

Martin remained silent but gave Adam a look of sympathy.

"Adam, did Jeremy ever tell you the name of his boyfriend?" Viv asked.

"No, he tried but I didn't want to know, knowing would make it too real."

"Did he tell you anything about him?" Viv asked.

Adam took another drag of his cigarette and blew out a puff of smoke, "All I know is that he went to school with him, he was another football player."