A Cascade of Rueful Incidences

Chapter 2 - Tempting Trick

On the 31st of October, Rhett Vance was slouching on the floor in front of the TV as his father got home from work.

“Hi, son,” Gardner greeted the boy, getting no answer. “Have you eaten yet?” he said after an uncomfortable pause.

“Yeah,” was the annoyed sounding answer.

“What did you eat?”

“Something.” Apparently the episode of Wipeout was riveting. Rhett turned the volume up.

“Something other than chips and coke, I hope.” Gardner raised his voice.

Rhett grimaced. “Don’t start again!”

“I’m not starting anything. I’m just worried about you, son. You need to eat more healthy meals,” Gardner said in full parenting mode.

“Stop nagging!”

Gardner let his son’s aggravating tone of voice slide like water from the back of the proverbial goose. "I'm going to order in something. Would you prefer Chinese, Korean, or something else?" he said reasonably.

"Nothing. Are you deaf? I told you I've eaten,” Rhett rolled his eyes. “Besides, I've got plans."

"What plans and with whom?” Gardner snapped. “Let me guess: with Ronny and Wade. Won't happen, Rhett. You're not going out with those boys. I forbid it. You're too young to hang out with them."

"Wade is seventeen and Ronny is just eighteen. They aren't..."

"And you're fifteen,” Gardner chimed in. “Do they even know your age? With your height and build, you might look like you’re their age, but you're just a child."

"I'm not a child!"

"As long as you behave like one..."

"Shithead!"

"Watch your mouth, boy! I won't listen to that kind of language in my house," Gardner took a step closer to his son.

"Good!” Rhett pushed himself up to a sitting position and looked at his father, eyes full of resentment. “I never wanted to be here anyway!"

"You should be grateful you have a father that accepts you as you are," Gardner said, trying to calm down.

"As if! If you accepted me being gay you would let me hang out with others of my kind!"

"Bullshit. I have nothing against gays, and I love you."

"If you loved me you'd let me go with Wade and Ronny!" Rhett shouted.

"And where would they take you? To Liberty Avenue! You're way too young to go there, especially at night."

"I'm not too young. There are a lot of guys my age and younger, there," the young boy whined.

"Doing what, I wonder. No, you're not going. Not another word on the matter, you hear me?" Gardner said sternly.

"It's Halloween, Gardner!” Rhett spun around and rose to his knees, facing his father. “You can't keep me here!" he said full of anger.

"What do you say if we go to a nice restaurant, to have a proper meal, huh?" Gardner chose to ignore Rhett’s foul mood.

"Do whatever you want; I won't come!” the boy screamed at the top of his lungs. “I'm not spending Halloween with you!"

"And I'm not leaving you alone here! Don’t think I don’t know what you've got in mind."

"I won't let you ruin my life!" Rhett got up from the floor. "I'm going. You can't stop me!"

"I'm your father!"

"Yeah, right. Some father. You left us!" The boy pushed past his father.

"Get back here! You're not leaving!" Gardner shouted as Rhett stopped to put on shoes and to grab a coat.

"Watch me!" Rhett growled and stomped out the door, slamming it shut in his father’s face.

For a second or two, Gardner watched the closed door; then he turned and walked to the phone. With a crooked little smile, he dialed a number.

“The game is on,” he said to the person on the other end of the line.

*****

Also Rhett was on the phone. He couldn’t reach Wade, but Ronny answered his call.

“I’m already heading toward Liberty Avenue; well, I’m not even at the bus stop yet, but on my way,” Rhett told Ronny. “Are you getting down there soon?”

“Not yet, it’s still too early. Nobody is there at this hour. Did you fight with your old man again?”

“Yeah, Gardner wanted to take me to dinner. It was all so I couldn’t meet with you guys tonight. What a jerk. I had to leave; he drives me crazy.” 

”So, what are you planning to do now?”

“I don’t know. Liberty Diner is open, at least. I could go there.”

“Or back to dear old dad,” Ronny drawled.

“Shut up.”

Laughing, Ronny cut the connection.

Tucking the cell into his pocket, Rhett reached the bus stop and settled to wait. Several other people joined him: one of them a cute, dark-haired boy about his age. Rhett amused himself by trying to find out whether the boy was straight or gay. There was something about him that suggested gay, but Rhett wasn’t sure.

With this young kid, he could take full advantage of his looks of appearing like an older boy and play the part of an experienced young stud; with boys that actually were older than him he couldn't hope to pull it off. He made the lad uncomfortable just by repeatedly making eye contact with him. The boy turned slightly away from him and, unintentionally, managed to give him a nice view of his rear. The boy kept his eyes on the stretch of the street where there was a fine, old, residential area. As Rhett chuckled quietly, the boy glanced at him over his shoulder, blushing. Rhett was enjoying the game as the bus came.

To his delight, the boy followed him into the bus heading towards the gay Mecca of Pittsburgh. Maybe he was gay. Unfortunately, the boy took a seat behind him, so he couldn’t keep his eye on the cutie.

After an uneventful ride, the bus reached Rhett’s stop. In addition to him, there was only one other person leaving the bus: the cute boy. Before Rhett could react, the boy made a beeline towards Liberty Diner. Rhett grinned. Definitely gay! Here he had something to do while he waited for his pals. He crossed the street but kept his eye on the boy as he walked in the same direction. He watched the boy take a quick glance around before entering the diner but walked by. A few buildings further ahead there was a shop. Rhett dropped in, to buy cigarettes and other necessities. Then, he headed back to the diner. The place was packed, so it wasn't easy to check whether the boy still was there. His luck had not failed him; the boy was sitting in one of the back booths.

“Hi, I’m Rhett. Didn’t I see you earlier, today, somewhere?” he said as he dropped into a seat across from the surprised lad.

“Hi,” the boy said warily, looking up with frightened, blue eyes. “The b-bus?” he stammered.

“Did we ride the same bus here? I don’t remember seeing you there.”

“We waited at the same stop,” the boy said hesitantly, casting a look at the door as it chimed.

“Of course! Now I remember you,” Rhett lied. ”Would you mind telling me your name?”

“Ethan?”

“Hello, Ethan. So, what were you doing in Shadyside?”

“Live there?”

“Really? Me, too.” Rhett took the menu and opened it on the table in front of him. For a moment, he studied the list. "Did you come here all by yourself?" he asked startling the boy.

"I expected a couple of my friends to be here, but they haven't got here yet..." Ethan said with a nervous little chuckle.

"I'm in exactly the same situation; we could wait together," Rhett said with a leer. He had something other than waiting in mind. "Or we could ditch them altogether."

"Why?" Ethan seemed out of his depth.

"There's a lot to see, a lot to do here, at the Liberty, for a pair of strapping young guys like us," Rhett said with an open smile. "Why waste time waiting for some losers that can't get out of their houses?"

"I don't know..."

"Sure, you aren't afraid? We're in the middle of people here! What could possibly happen to you with me?"

"Nothing I guess..."

"Let's go!"

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"I'm not hungry, and apparently, you aren't either." Rhett pointed a finger at Ethan's barely tasted fries and stood up. "Com' on. Let's get out of here."

Behind them, unnoticed, a new customer entered the diner. The big and strong looking man turned his head left and right, scanning the room until he found what he was looking for, and more. Rhett was pulling Ethan out of the booth and onto his feet. He wrapped a hand around the smaller boy's shoulders.

"Ethan!" a loud, male voice called from the door. "Ethan Jeremy Gold! What are you doing here, son?"

Ethan spun around, his eyes wide open in fright. "Dad?" he whispered.

Mr. Gold’s eyes glazed over as he turned to look at Rhett. "Get your dirty hands off my boy, you!" he yelled making every head in the diner turn to look.

Under the cold stare, Rhett took a quick step back from Ethan raising his hands in front of him, palms outward, innocence personified.

With angry air in his steps, Mr. Gold quickly closed the distance to the two youngsters. "Ethan, I told you not to leave the house. You're grounded for the next two months! And this time, there will be a lock on the door. Your escapades will stop, you hear me!"

While Mr. Gold was berating his son, Rhett decided it was a perfect chance to melt away, but he wasn't quick enough. A firm hand grabbed him by the collar. "Not so quickly, mister," the irate man growled. "Who's in charge, here!" he shouted loud enough to carry over the tumult of the busy diner.

The person who answered Mr. Gold’s call could’ve been an unattractive woman, but in fact, despite the garb, makeup and hair, he wasn’t. “Good evening, sir. I’m Kiki,” he greeted softly. “What can I do for you, Mr…?”

“Kyle Gold.”

“Mr. Gold, please tell me what is the matter here. Have these boys been bothering you?”

“That is my son, Ethan.” Mr. Gold pointed a hand at the red-faced boy behind him. “I’d like you to see that he is not let in here in future. He’s way too young.”

“At all, sir? Maybe, just in evenings,” Kiki suggested in a mellow voice. “A lot of youngsters come here in the afternoons, after school. I hope you don’t mean that your son shouldn’t come here because we are gay people, here?” Towards the end, Kiki’s tone of voice got less warm in color.

“Okay. Afternoons should be fine, but keep this creep far from him, whatever the time of the day!” Mr. Gold turned his attention back to Rhett who he still had in his grip. “What’s your name, and age, sleazebag?” He shook Rhett violently. “Answer me!”

“Let go of me!” Rhett shouted, scared. ”I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“You had your sleazy hands all over my boy! Heaven only knows what you had in mind. Ethan is just fourteen, for God’s sake. You’re what, nineteen? You’re too old to hang out with my boy!”

“No, no,” Rhett hurried to placate the man. “I’m just fifteen: not old at all.”

“Don’t try and play games with me, mister. Your parents wouldn’t let you be here if you were so young, not at this hour.” The man’s face turned an ugly, blotchy color: pale and purple mixed together. “I should call the police. My boy is a minor! You’re guilty of initiating a sexual act with a minor. Maybe more than once! Who knows how many young boys you’ve molested, monster! It would be a good thing, to get you out off the streets.”

“No, sir!” Rhett felt the earth getting more and more unsteady beneath him. “I’m a minor, too. I haven’t done nothing wrong, Mr. Gold!”

“It doesn’t even matter; whatever your age, Ethan is a minor and you clearly were the aggressor. I saw that you pulled him out of the booth, without his consent.”

“No father! He did…”

“Keep your mouth shut, Ethan. If you had done what you’ve been told nothing would have happened.”

“Nothing happened!” Rhett shouted. “I did nothing!”

“Ms. Kiki, do you know who this guy is?”

“I think he’s been called Rhett.”

“And do you know his age?”

“No… but he’s been hanging out with a couple of guys I know. They are about eighteen.”

“Eighteen!” Ethan’s father seemed to lose it. “You, you…monster! I’ll teach you…!”

Mr. Gold swung his big, meaty fist. The next thing Rhett knew was that he was on his back on the floor, and four big fellows were holding Mr. Gold pinned. The man was growling in rage.

“Calm down, man!” The men holding Mr. Gold tried to get through to him. “Do you want to get arrested, too?”

“As long as that bastard is put behind bars, I don’t care. Let me go!”

Rhett lay still, not daring to move a muscle. He prayed that the guys didn’t let the enraged father go. He saw nothing but hatred in the eyes that had him pinned to the floor.

Suddenly, the crowd around them was disturbed as someone pushed through.

“Where is he? Where is Ethan Gold?! I want his autograph!” 

A slight young man with sandy hair pushed one last person out of his way. ”Where is he?” he repeated, looking at the faces before him, one after another. “Did I miss him?”

“He’s right there, behind those men,” Kiki told him, pointing at Ethan.

“But…? That’s not Ethan Gold,” the man said, bewildered.

“I guess you’re referring to the violinist, that Ethan Gold?” Ethan’s father said. ”He’s not here, just my son, also Ethan. You’ve been misinformed, man.”

”You’ve got a son named Ethan Gold?” the man wondered. “How peculiar!”

“My wife is a huge fan.”

“I’m a huge fan, too,” the guy enthused.

As the newcomer stole Mr. Gold’s attention, the man forgot to keep an eye on Rhett. The boy took the opportunity and sneaked behind the people surrounding the Golds and the fan and ran out of the diner.

Rhett walked on shaky legs to the nearby opening of an alley and hid there from curious eyes.

Feedback for Ela

or email to elaere@gmail.com

Return to The Scary Things Challenge