The Before Now and After Then by Pen Name Publishing

Author:Pen Name Publishing [Publishing, Pen Name]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YA, Young Adult, Gay, Lgbt, Coming of Age
Publisher: Pen Name Publishing
Published: 2014-09-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Rusty was concerned about what I would tell my Mom about his eye. “The truth,” I said as we pulled into the driveway. “She already thinks I’m bullied all of the time, so at least she’ll think someone’s looking out for me.”

But that wasn’t what happened at all. “Rusty! Do you know how bad you could have been hurt?” she semi-screamed. Rusty blinked painfully as Mom applied ointment to his bruise. “I do not tolerate violence.” She looked up at Alex who just shrugged his shoulders.

“Did you get him really good?” Alex inquired.

“Yeah,” Rusty said.

“Atta boy,” Alex jested, cracking open a beer can. “If you can’t beat em, then beat em up.”

“Alex!” Mom shouted. “Do not encourage these boys to fight, especially not with your track record.”

Alex laughed and nodded.

“Did you used to get into fights?” Rusty asked Alex.

“I had to.”

“You did not have to,” Mom interjected.

“No, you’re right. If I wanted to continue to let your mom protect me and cause a scene every day in the cafeteria shouting at the top of her lungs, then I wouldn’t have had to fight. But I just got sick of it.”

I thought about Cher and how she had come to my rescue. “What happened?”

“Yes,” Mom laughed, “tell them.”

Alex sat down on one of the stools at the kitchen island. “I was tired of being picked on. It was relentless. Every day I was called names, tripped in the halls and pushed into lockers. They even vandalized my car. Teachers never did anything about it,” he said, taking a sip of his beer. “Your mom even made me talk to my counselor about it, but she told me to get over it, that a little bit of teasing would just make me stronger. Can you believe that? A little bit of teasing.”

“It was pretty bad,” Mom replied as she kissed Rusty’s cheek to let him know she was done.

“So anyway, this guy named Mike Shaunessy was the worst. He was kind of the ring leader,” Alex said.

“Mike Shaunessy. What an asshole,” Mom muttered.

“Yeah, Mike Shaunessy. He had this beautiful Saab that was his pride and joy. Anyway, he wouldn’t stop so I asked around and found out different ways to destroy a car. One day, while we were in class, I went outside and put sand in the gas tank, super glued his windshield wipers down and caulked all of his doors shut.”

Rusty immediately started laughing, “That’s perfect!”

“I thought so,” Alex said.

“Except someone saw him,” Mom chimed in. “and then he was expelled.”

“They expelled you for that?” I asked.

Alex nodded. “But not before Mike Shaunessy and three of his friends waited for me after work one day and beat the shit out of me, leaving me for dead in the dumpster at McDonalds.”

“Seriously?” I asked, surprised that I had never heard this story. “But I thought you graduated from high school with Mom and Dad.”

Alex shook his head. “Nope, I got a job slinging burgers and got my GED.”

“What happened after that? What happened to Mike Shaunessey?” Rusty asked.

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