The Gus Diaries

Part 134

March Madness IV
 

The basketball game at The Garden was amazing. I could feel myself itching to play against some of those teams. I hope our team gets a spot in the tournament next year. While journalism is where my future career lies, basketball comes a close second.

Spending the afternoon watching another game was great, but afterwards all I could think about was that asshole, Rich. I know Dad, Pop, and Jeff all had confidence in our plan and felt it was as close to perfect as it could be, but I was still concerned -- was it close enough. I guess I’m a worrier. I’m pretty sure I get that trait from Mem. She sometimes lets worrying get the better of her. Hell, that’s how we ended up in Canada for such a long time.

“Hey, Newbie, are you ready?”

“No.”

Jeff stood behind me in our hotel room. I was staring blankly at nothing in particular, trying to build up courage. He started to massage my shoulders.

“That feels great. I wish we could stay here and not have to go out that door.”

He kissed the nape of my neck. “But if we stay, we’ll still have this bullshit with Rich hanging over our heads. It’s time he learned his lesson.”

“What if the timing is off? If he touches you, I mean really touches you, I’ll probably puke right on the floor.” I took a deep breath. “Or haul off and belt him right across the face.”

“Nothing’s going to go wrong. You know your Dad and Pop wouldn’t let us go through with this if they thought it might not work.”

I nodded. “Can you kiss me before we leave -- for courage?”

“My pleasure.”

I turned around, looking into Jeff’s beautiful eyes. When our lips touched my hands automatically wrapped around him and I felt one of his on my back and the other laced in my hair. It was pure bliss. Opening my mouth, I invited him in. I was always home when he held me like this.

All too soon he pulled back. “It’s time to go, Gus.”

“I know.”

“Let’s do this, then we can return to more enjoyable activities.”

“Okay.” I tried to smile, but I just couldn’t force it.

It took no time to get from our room to Rich’s since all of our rooms were on the same floor and in the same corridor. As he had promised, Rich was the only one there. Jeff followed him in ahead of me. I stayed a step or two behind; leaving the door open just a crack, not enough for Rich to notice.

“I’m glad you boys decided to wise up. This will be a great opportunity for all of us.”

I couldn’t get any words out, so Jeff took over. Getting Rich to talk was critical. “I know what you’ll be getting out of this, but how do you figure we get anything out of this? There’s no guarantee.”

“You really are smart for a ball player, Jeffie boy.” I wanted to strangle him for being so damn condescending. “Remember, you’ll be getting the experience of having me give you the evening of your life. I’ll make sure both of you have a night you’ll never forget.”

He made me so angry with his boasting. I finally found my voice. “We don’t need you for that, Rich. Jeff and I are fine on our own.”

“He’s a feisty one, Mr. Martin. Maybe I’ll take him first while you watch.”

I could see Jeff’s eyes narrowing and worried he’d throw a punch before we could fully carry out our plan.

“What if I don’t let you anywhere near Gus?” Jeff took an audible deep breath.

“Then you and Gus can kiss your basketball careers good-bye. I’ll certainly make sure neither one of you has a chance to become captain. Not to mention, I’ll make sure the kid is ostracized on campus.”

“Do you really think you have that kind of power?”

“You’d be amazed how much power being the captain of a team can bring about.” I couldn’t wait to see the smirk wiped off Rich’s face. “Now, boys, it’s time for you to keep to our agreement. I get to take both of you in any way I want.”

I could feel the bile rising and hoped I wouldn’t lose it before the crucial time yet to come.

“I’ll start with you, Gus. You will definitely be an asset to the team... and me.” He approached me and started to unbutton my shirt.

Now was the time for things to move forward with the plan. I noticed Jeff glance at the door, his eyes wide. What the fuck happened? This asshole was getting close to taking off my shirt. He brushed his hands against my chest as the fabric fell open. I could feel beads of sweat forming on my brow.

Suddenly the door flew open with a loud bang. “Hey, Rich, we want in on your deal. Sex for a good rep on the team works for us too.” The other three incoming freshmen walked in together. One of them was clearly a future center. He was the tallest guy I’d ever seen and the way he tilted his head was pretty damn cool.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“We heard you were negotiating team positions in exchange for sexual favors. You have quite a rep, Captain. We didn’t want to be left out.”

“Neither did we.” In walked several current freshmen and sophomores.

“What the hell is going on?” Rich looked from Jeff to me. “You told them? Are you crazy?”

“We didn’t say a word to them.”

“We did.” My dads walked in, accompanied by the Coach and one of his assistants.

Rich glared at me. “You fucking baby asshole. You went to your parents just because--”

The Coach got right into Rich’s face. “Just because you sexually harassed him. It didn’t take much investigating to discover you’ve been doing it for a while. You’re damn straight the rookie went to his fathers. He did the right thing. I wish others hadn’t taken your threats seriously enough to keep quiet.”

“But Coach, you don’t understand. It’s like a game we play. It’s perfectly consensual.”

“It didn’t look or sound that way to me.” The coach was gripping a baseball cap so tightly in his hands I thought it might disintegrate.

I made my way to Jeff, who was standing alongside Pop. He wrapped an arm around my waist and whispered in my ear. “I told you it would work. Have I ever let you down?”

I turned toward Jeff and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Never.”

“There will be disciplinary action taken when we return to campus. In the meantime, you’ll gather your things and stay in my room. You’re damn lucky no one wants to press charges.” The Coach’s voice was so firm and steady, it was scary. “The rest of you can leave now. Show’s over.”

If I could, I would have been the first one out the door. I didn’t want to see Rich’s face when he spotted me between Jeff and my dads.

In the hallway, Jeff thanked the rest of the guys who had helped carry out my Dads’ plan, and then he started heading toward our room. “You coming, Newbie? I definitely want some alone time with you.”

I cupped Jeff’s cheek. “Me too. I’ll be there in a minute. I just want to go thank my dads. They seemed to take off as soon as they were no longer needed.”

“I’ll see you in our room.”

“You can count on it. I won’t be long.”

When I arrived at my fathers’ suite the door was still ajar and I heard them talking. It sounded pretty damn intense so I waited before barging in.

“You know, Justin, this was eerily reminiscent of your dealings with the Sap.” Who the hell was the Sap?

“I thought the same thing, Brian.” There was a strange hitch in Pop’s voice.

“Why didn’t you tell me about him when it happened? We could have taken care of him together. I wouldn’t have let you down.” Dad’s voice didn’t sound much better. I wish I knew what, or who, the hell they were talking about.

I heard Pop huff. “Is that how you see it?”

“Of course.”

“Brian, I know you wouldn’t have let me down, but you’re fooling yourself.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I heard Dad’s voice escalating with every word.

“If I had told you he had drugged me and I had almost been gang-raped, you would have killed him. I couldn’t risk that.” What!

“You couldn’t risk losing the Sap!” Dad sounded totally pissed off.

“No, I couldn’t risk losing you to jail because of me. Even though you didn’t know it back then, or couldn’t admit it, you were in love with me, and I was completely in love with you. I couldn’t bear watching you end up in prison on my behalf.”

Both my dads remained silent. I took a peek through the door’s opening. The two were holding each other so tightly I wondered how either of them could breathe.

“If he had actually gotten you in that sling--”

“Don’t go there, Brian. He didn’t. I got away.”

“Jesus, but you said he had another kid like that.”

“I know. I never saw him around Liberty Avenue after that night. My guess is he ran away.”

“You were so young, Sunshine. Too young for everything that happened before you were even twenty. And now this crap with Gus brings it all back.”

“Gus is fine and so is Jeff. That’s what’s important. You took care of them. The way you would have taken care of me if we’d known the Sap’s intentions in advance.”

“I love you, Justin.”

“I know, Brian. I love you too.”

I figured I’d be able to thank my fathers the next day. I’m not completely clear on what happened when Pop was younger, but it sounded pretty damn scary. My guess is this was before he met that weird violin player. I’m just glad he was okay, and now he and Dad are obviously completely safe and happy in each other’s arms.

It was time for me to be safe and happy in Jeff’s arms. I could use a little of his special brand of loving, and I bet he could use some of mine.
 

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