The Gus Diaries

Part 51

The Threat
 

After knowing Jeremy for a week I already had the feeling that he wasn’t one to back off easily. Every time I saw him in school he would either brush past me, touching my arm or wink at me from down a hallway.

Due to his transfer from Allegheny High, despite our age difference, we even had two classes together and he made sure to take the seat next to mine.

At dinner a couple of nights ago I finally confessed my concerns to Dad & Pop.

“He’s everywhere. Like a fucking missile with a homing device.”

“That’s quite an analogy, Sonny Boy.” Dad took a sip of his wine then continued, “Are you sure there isn’t some way that you might be encouraging him? Usually pests like that don’t keep coming around if they know there’s really no chance.”

“Really, Dad, I haven’t encouraged him in the least. I mean, I don’t actually move my seat if he sits next to me in class because I think that’s fucking infantile, but I don’t talk to him at all unless I have to -- usually at the school paper meetings.”

“Gus, could there be something missing in your relationship with Jeff that’s directing you to unconsciously encourage Jeremy?”

“What the fuck are you talking about? Jeff and I are great.”

Pop lowered his head. “Sometimes things can be great one minute and then something happens to turn things to shit.”

Dad put his hand over Pop’s on the table. “Sunshine, history doesn’t always repeat itself. And guilt should sometimes be exorcised in a reasonable amount of time.”

Pop looked into Dad’s eyes, his own eyes reflecting sadness and regret. “Some things are hard to forgive yourself for.”

“I have everything. Even that snake charmer couldn’t lure you away for long.” Dad lifted Pop’s hand and kissed it gently.

I sensed this was about that creepy violin player, but decided not to interfere.

Pop looked in my direction. “Look, Gus, if this guy is really making you uncomfortable you need to tell him. You also need to share this with Jeff. If you have the solid relationship that you say you do then you don’t keep this kind of thing a secret. It’ll only come back to bite you in the ass.”

“And definitely NOT in a good way, Sonny Boy.” I laughed at Dad’s remark, but also new that my fathers were giving me good advice.

I dreaded telling Jeff. I didn’t want him to think he had to go and punch someone out to defend my honor, but at the same time if I kept it a secret I knew that in some sick way Jeremy was winning the battle.

The next day at school I made sure to have lunch with Jeff alone.

“Hey, Newbie, what’s up? You usually like to keep our one-on-one time reserved for after school.”

“I know. I need to tell you something that I’m sure you don’t want to hear.”

Jeff put down the sandwich he was eating and grew pale. I suddenly realized what that sounded like and I immediately continued, “I love you so much and I have to tell you about something that’s been happening, but I don’t want you to get mad and end up doing something you’ll regret.”

He looked directly at me, understanding this was serious. “Tell me.”

“Okay, well, you know that asshole sports columnist who pretended to be our friend and said he’d back off.”

“Yes...”

“Well he’s not really backing off. He’s like some fucking mosquito that I can’t swat and he pops up everywhere I am.”

“Shit!” Jeff stood up and started to pace. “I’d like to beat the crap out of that little asshole but something tells me that’s not why you told me.”

I stood up and placed my arms around Jeff from behind him and leaned against his back. He took my hands in his and held them at his waist. “I want to try to handle this myself. I know you’ll be watching my back but I really need to take care of this myself, otherwise what kind of man or boyfriend am I really.”

Jeff turned around and placed his hands on my face and drew me in for a kiss. It’s not something we would normally do at school but since we were outside, having lunch away from the rest of the students it seemed alright. “Okay. If you want to handle this, it’s all yours. Just know that I’m here if you need me.”

“Jeff, I know you’re angry at this fucked up situation but I just need to know, do you trust me?”

“More than I should.” I kissed him again and pulled him back onto the grass so we could finish our lunches before we had to leave for class.

The next step was to find Jeremy, although I knew that wouldn’t be hard since he always seemed to show up wherever I was. It was time to tell him to back off more forcefully.

No surprise, that when the school bell rang and I went to drop off the articles I’d been screening for the paper Jeremy was in the St. Jamesian’s office also.

“You again. What the fuck is wrong with you? You pop up wherever I am like some horny rabbit.”

He laughed at my comment then sat down on the edge of the table nearest to where I was standing. “Look Gus, isn’t it obvious that I’m not going to stop following you until you agree to go out with me at least once. Why don’t you do both of us a favor and just agree to it?”

“Because I have a boyfriend I’m in love with and because I have NO interest in YOU!” Maybe if I spoke loud and clear he’d get the message.

“I don’t like getting turned down, especially without getting a fair opportunity to show what I’ve got, so I have an offer I don’t think you’ll be able to refuse.”

“Oh really, and what would that be?”

I tried to focus on filing the articles to be edited in the correct reporters’ mailboxes.

“You see, Gus, or as your sweetie calls you, Newbie...” I turned around, hopefully demonstrating the anger I felt at that moment with my facial expression. “I’ve written two columns for the first issue of the school paper but I’ll only submit one.”

“What the fuck does that have to do with me?”

“You need to think logically. One of these articles is entitled St. James Basketball Team Led by a Star.” He tossed the printout of his article down on the table in front of me. “It illustrates the skill and talent of Jeff Martin, superstar. This is the article I plan to submit.”

“I repeat, what the fuck does that have to do with me?”

“You need to think outside the box my friend.” He moved closer to me and held up the article, “This is the article that will go in the school paper IF you agree to give me a chance and go out with me.”

“And if I don’t...”

“And if you make that unfortunate decision,” he pulled another article out of his backpack and placed on top of the first one, “then this article will be submitted.”

I picked up the second article. It was titled, The Sweethearts of the St. James Basketball Team. “Are you out of your fucking mind? This won’t only hurt me and Jeff, but it’ll make a laughing stock out of the entire team.”

“What a shame that would be, since you have so much talent and your team could win it all this year.” He placed both articles in front of me. “Read them, Gus. They’re both the truth, just two different angles. It’s up to you. Your boyfriend needs to be taken seriously to get those lucrative scholarship offers, doesn’t he?”

“You fucking asshole!” I couldn’t believe this. “This is blackmail and you damn well know it.”

“That’s a nasty word. I prefer to think of it as a good negotiating tool.” He had an awful smirk on his face.

“Fine, I’ll think about it.”

“You have until tomorrow, same time, same place.” Then that asshole left.

I wasn’t sure what to do. I took both articles and put them in my backpack. I went straight to work.

I opened each box that had comics to be shelved forcefully... apparently more forcefully than usual.

“Hey, Gus, what’s up? Those comics never did anything to hurt you, but it seems like you want to rip all of them to shreds.”

I stood up and put down the knife I was using to open the boxes. Brushing my hand through my hair I looked at Uncle Michael. “I’m in deep-shit trouble and I can’t figure out how to get out of it without hurting someone -- or a bunch of someones.”

“That stinks. You want to tell me what’s going on? I’m not as smart as your fathers but I am here.” Uncle Michael really did underestimate his value sometimes.

I thought about it for a minute and then I took the articles out of my backpack and showed them to Uncle Michael, prefacing it with the abbreviated version of my connection with the whole fucking fiasco. He read each one carefully. “Holy shit!”

“My thoughts exactly. If he prints this article it’ll ruin the team.”

“Where did you say you were going to meet this asshole tomorrow?”

“In the school newspaper office, why?”

“Tell me if I’m wrong but don’t you have a teacher, you know, some kind of faculty advisor, that supervises the paper?”

“Yeah, but their job is to make sure no lies are printed. There are no lies in either article.”

“That’s true, but one is the basis of an extortion scheme, the other one a true disclosure of the truth.”

“How do you know all this shit?”

“I’ve been writing a comic book for over 13 years. If I didn’t know about some of this shit, it would have gone under years ago.”

“So what do you suggest?”

Michael shared his ideas. He was smarter, and definitely sneakier than I’d ever imagined. He also strongly recommended that I tell my dads what was going on. “Remember that they love you unconditionally and would want to know what you’re dealing with.”

That night I went home and decided to just tell Pop what was happening. I knew Dad would flip out and go for the jugular and I really wanted to handle this myself.

“Gus, you know that I’m going to tell Brian about this in the morning if I don’t tell him tonight.”

“I know. You two always tell each other everything, but can you please wait until after you’ve dropped me off at school. I really do want to take care of this myself. It’s important to me.”

“For the record, I think this whole situation sucks and you AND Jeff deserve better.”

“I guess there are creeps all around, even in the gay community.”

“More than you know.”

“It’s too bad. I actually could have been friends with Jeremy if he didn’t turn out to be such an asshole. He’s a great writer. Both articles are fantastic and he’ll get a following no matter which one goes in the paper.”

“Some people just don’t understand their limits.”

“And some just don’t get the meaning of the word, ‘no’.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
 

School the next day was tense. I had lunch with Jeff and our usual group from the basketball team.

“Hey, Newbie, you seem out of it. Are you getting sick?”

I touched Jeff’s hand and then pulled it away. “Not sick, just tired. But I’m hoping after today I’ll be able to catch up on my sleep.”

“I guess we all have to get back into the new school year. It’s a fucking pain in the ass.”

I laughed, “You can say that again.” Then I looked him straight in the eyes. “Look, I know we don’t have practice today and we both have a lot of homework, but can you come out to Britin tonight after work? Dad and Pop will pick us up.”

Jeff looked at me and knew this wasn’t about sex, although I’d really hoped we get some quality alone time. “Sure, Gus, I’ll just call your grandma and Tucker and let them know I’ll be going back with you. It’s a good thing I’ve started leaving some stuff at your house.” I nodded and smiled as best I could.

As we left the cafeteria I quickly leaned into Jeff. “I love you.” Then I kissed him. My plan, well really Uncle Michael’s plan, had to work.

When I arrived at the St. Jamesian’s office Jeremy was already there as I expected. We were obviously alone as the school paper’s weekly meeting wasn’t due to start for another fifteen minutes.

“So, Mr. Gus Taylor Kinney, what’ll it be? Dinner and dancing or just dinner and then maybe a walk in the park... and whatever else might come up.” I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face with my fist but I focused on my goals.

“I just have one question before I agree to this little get-together.”

He was all smiles now, “Sure, fire away.”

“How did you do on your PSAT’s?”

He looked at me like I was crazy and then shrugged his shoulders. “I did a great job. I ended up in the 90th percentile.”

I smiled and started to pace around Jeremy. “That represents quite a good score, but I have a funny feeling I’ll get quite a bit higher.” That got his attention. I hoped he was getting a bit dizzy as I walked slow and consistent circles around him. “You see, you gave me these two amazing articles. By the way, you’re an outstanding writer, but I’m sure you already knew that.

“However, you forgot to bring common sense to the table.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You gave me these articles to read, complete with your by-line.”

“So...”

“So, now I have a decision to make.”

“I know, what have you decided? I’m getting impatient with you.”

“I’d imagine you are. Here are my two choices -- slightly different than the ones you offered. As I see it, I can either keep these two articles safe and sound, hidden at my home where copies of them reside, or I can tell Mr. Clark about them and after you’re booted off the paper for unethical conduct I can then show them to my six-foot, four-inch boyfriend and let him beat the crap out of you while I cheer him on.”

Jeremy stood there with his mouth open wide.

“You can shut your mouth because no matter how wide you can open it, this man’s cock will never be in there.”

Neither of us spoke another word. When the presentation of the first St. Jamesian’s articles were given, I submitted mine, along with an editorial about ethics in politics, and its frequent absence.

Jeremy turned in a fabulous article about the star athlete of St. James Academy’s basketball team.

I went home that night with Jeff and my fathers and no matter what we discussed or how much homework I had to complete for the next day, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face the entire night.

Just before bed I went in alone to say goodnight to my dads. Jeff was upstairs working on his Calculus homework. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Sonny Boy.” Dad looked directly at me with his tongue in his cheek for a moment. “Justin told me an interesting story this morning. Clearly, from the look on your face everything went as you had hoped.”

“Maybe even better.”

“I’ll have to visit your Uncle Michael tomorrow. He’s been whining about not having lunch together for a while. I think he deserves a treat -- don’t you, Sunshine.”

“Absolutely. Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all. Mikey will love being given props by the both of us.”

“Maybe Debbie will name a sandwich after him.”

I laughed and added my two cents, “How about calling it ‘The Sneak’?”

“Goodnight, Sonny Boy.”

“Goodnight, Gus.”

“Goodnight, you guys. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Now that doesn’t leave out much of anything, Sunshine, does it?”

Both of them laughed as Dad chased Pop up the stairs to their bedroom.

Yep, not taking that smile off my face... all night if Jeff has anything to say about it.
 

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