New Kid

Chapter Eight

  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“So, how was it?”

They were sitting in the cafeteria on Monday, Michael and Brian together at their usual table.

Brian smiled to himself. “It was good.”

“Brian—c’mon, tell me.”

He took a bite of his usual apple, saying nothing.

“Hey, Bri—think you could give me a hand in the gym for a couple of minutes?” Keith paused at the end of the table, barely noticing that Michael was there and scowling at the interruption.

“Brian. I thought we were going to hook up. We haven’t seen each other in weeks and I thought that maybe we could…”

“We will, today. Meet me after practice. My locker.” He was out of the room, headed after Keith before Mikey could lodge another protest.

In the equipment room they had their arms around each other as soon as the door closed. “Are you alright? Did your parents say anything when you got home last night?”

Brian kissed him, holding on, his arms around Keith. “They never notice what I do.” He smiled as he broke the kiss. “They don’t care. What about yours?”

“They think it’s a little odd that I’ve become such good friends with a freshman, but they’re OK with it. My father even said you seemed mature for your age.”

When they stopped laughing about the understatement, Brian asked “Can I see you later, after practice?” He whispered to Keith’s cheek. “I’d like to practice what you taught me this weekend.”

“I’ve set you on the road to ruin.” They kissed again, deeply, tongues intertwining until the class bell rang. “Come over after dinner, if you can. We’ll make up some shit about the team that we have to work on.”

Brian’s smile grew as he nodded. Letting themselves out of the closet, they kept a distance between them as they waked down the hall.

After practice Mikey met Brian by his locker, as had sort of become their custom, at least when Brian wasn’t with Keith. They would meet up; Brian would get whatever books he needed for that night’s homework then they would go over to the diner for a snack. Brian would avoid going home as long as he could, and Debbie would fuss over him while pretending not to fuss.

He relished the attention he was getting for the first time in his life and after a few months of it he was starting to thrive. What had been almost pure bravado and arrogance slowly, over the course of a few months evolved into genuine confidence.

Deb took credit for the youngster starting to come out of his shell, not realizing that she wasn’t the only reason, or even the main one.

He let her have her fantasy.

He and Keith were becoming inseparable and though they were both discrete, they knew that there were remarks about them. No one would say anything to either of their faces—Keith was one of the major wheels in the school and Brian, thought still just a freshman, had established himself as being more than able to take care of himself both verbally and, if necessary, otherwise.

The rumors made the rounds, though.

The rest of the soccer team, and later the track team defended both boys, saying the very idea that they were fags was complete and utter bullshit. Look at them, for shit’s sake. They were friends, OK? Get over it. So Brian was still a freshman. Look at the kid, he looked and acted like he was like seventeen or eighteen. He was the only Frosh to make first string Varsity. They had won the frigging State Championship again, Damnit, with his help. He was the only freshman to make All-State. He had set a school record in the middle distances in track and he was still on the Goddamned honor roll.

No one had ever seen them lay a hand on one another. They were friends. Period. Get over it.

The two boys would occasionally go out with girls, or rather Keith would. Brian pretended that he was simply a late developer and wasn’t interested—which was true, as far as it went. Keith took Alice Eldridge to the Christmas Dance and to the Spring Formal. She was a friend since kindergarten and she understood. They had a good time together and knew exactly what they were doing. Brian accepted the ruse for what it was. He knew it didn’t matter.

After a month or so the rumors died down. The two boys were simply too popular for that sort of scandal to touch either one of them.

Brian was often invited to Keith’s for dinner, an offer he rarely refused. The family was a warm one, the members actually liking one another and seeking each other out. It was like another world to Brian—a family that liked one another and willingly spent time together. At first he was quiet at these meals, saying little other than to thank Keith’s mother at the end. Eventually he started to contribute, bit by bit. The night he made a snarky comment in response to something Keith had said, they knew that he felt at ease.

On a weekend, when the boys would often be up late together talking or watching movies, Brian would often be invited to just sleep over. Keith’s room was a large one, he had a large bed and his parents knew that Brian’s home life was poor, at best. The two of them would stay up late, occasionally joined by one or both of Keith’s parents. They would all chat or even just read in the same room as the boys and would go up around midnight.

The boys would follow in an hour or so and would, seemingly go right to sleep. There was never any noise.

If Keith’s parents suspected that the boys were more to one another than close friends, they never asked and certainly never voiced their suspicions. They congratulated themselves on giving Brian the example of a stable home life and a safe haven from the Hell he was used to.

Dr. White had made a check of the various medical facilities available for about a fifteen-mile radius and had learned that Brian had been either treated and released or treated and held in almost every venue, usually more than once. The complete list of his injuries was two pages long and began when he was less than six months old.

One winter’s day Philip White took his son and Brian to his athletic club for a workout on the weight equipment. It would be a treat for all of them after all the snow and he was hoping to see if Brian’s numerous injuries had left many visible scars. In the locker room he noticed that Brian seemed more modest than he would have thought for a youngster used to being on an athletic team—with constant changing in a group. He took his bag into one of the curtained off cubicles, not coming out until he was wearing his shorts and a tee.

After the hour and a half of weight lifting, stair mastering and the boys pacing one another as they jogged a couple of miles on the indoor track, they hit the showers. Again, Brian chose to use a private stall. Though his father said nothing, Keith saw his odd look and knew what he was trying to find out. He’d heard his parents talking more that once about Brian’s home life and he could have told them more if he’d decided to.

The fact was that he knew tat Brian would be destroyed if he believed that anyone found out about his family’s dirty laundry.  It was only the pretense and the walls that Brian had built up to protect himself that kept him holding on. To expose the reality of his life, to knock down those walls might be too much for him.

Keith knew about the scars, just like he knew about the drinking and the affairs that Brian’s father flaunted in front of his family. He knew that Brian had latched onto him as a lifeline away from all the shit and he loved the kid enough to let him hold on for dear life.

He looked forward to the nights he and Brian would get talking, purposely not noticing the time, forcing Brian into an overnight.

They would go up to his room, just like any normal friends. They would change their clothes and brush their teeth. His Mom would come in to say goodnight and tell them to please keep the noise down. They would promise. The TV might be on low, or maybe music would be playing.

They would either settle on the floor or the bed and they’d turn out all the lights except for the flicker from whatever movie they’d stuck in or maybe just that kitschy old lava light that his father used to own. They’d snuggle down together, right against one another and in minutes they’d be kissing, their clothes would be off and they’d be pressing against one another.

Brian had gotten over his initial shyness about sex pretty fast. By the time they had slept together two or three times, he was almost becoming the aggressor. He would come up when no one was around—maybe in the locker room or the equipment closet or in Keith’s own room—slip his arms around Keith and start kissing some part he could reach. Sometimes he’d start on his neck or throat. Sometimes he’d start on his mouth; sometimes he’d just lift up the shirt and start on his nipples.

Wherever he started, Keith would take it up in seconds.

Damn, it amazed him how much he loved touching the little shit. Brian was hot and sexy and loved cumming in his mouth as much as he loved it when Keith returned the favor.

They had never buttfucked, though. In truth, Keith wanted to and so did Brian, but Keith was afraid. He’d heard that it hurt and he couldn’t bear the idea of hurting Brian. He didn’t mind it for himself. He figured that he could take a little pain to get to the fun, but after the way Brian had been hurt all his life by people who were supposed to love him, he—shit, he just couldn’t add to that. Besides, Brian seemed to have a fear of hurting someone he loved. It was probably a reaction to those turds who were, at least nominally, his parents.

Keith finally met Brian’s parents, months after they two boys had connected. He and Brian were going out, supposedly with a group of kids but they were really making an appearance at a soccer team party then just the two of them would peel off and hopefully spend the night together. Keith had stopped by the Kinney house to drop off the book Bri had left in the locker room that afternoon and surprise the little twat. Maybe they could go catch some dinner before hand. Better yet, maybe they could go to their favorite secluded park and have some fun together.

He heard the parents before he saw them. He heard them when he was about twenty feet from the front door.

It was a cold day and the windows were closed, so that wasn’t even an excuse.

After hesitating, he rang the bell.

An older looking woman, severe and obviously angry answered. “Yes?”

“I’m a friend of Brian’s, he left his book at school and just wanted to drop it off. Is he here?”

She looked like she was about to tell him to get lost when a man, a drunken man, came up behind her. “So he one of yours, Miss High and Mighty? He do to you what you don’t want me to?”

She went even stiffer, if was at all possible, and dealt by changing the subject and calling up the stairs. “Brian? Brian! A friend of yours is here.”

Within seconds Brian was at the head of the stairs and headed down at a run. Grabbing his jacket by the door he said, “Let’s go”, grabbed Keith’s arm and the boys were out the door.

“Brian? Brian! Where are you going? You answer me!”

“Sonnyboy, you get your skinny ass back here, you listening to me? Sonny boy!”

Five minutes later they were sitting in Keith’s car, parked along the river when Brian asked, his voice low, “How much did you hear?”

“Enough.”

“Shit—I’m sorry that you saw that…”

Keith turned Brian’s face to him, kissed the youngsters forehead then his mouth. “That’s not you, Bri. You’re better than they are. You’ll never be them.”

Without warning Brian’s arms went around Keith, his voice anguished. “Yes I will. I’m exactly like them. I’m going to end up in some crappy job I hate in some shitty house and I’ll drink and I’ll end up a fucking loser like them.”

“The fuck you will. You’re smarter than anyone I know and you work harder than any three people around. Don’t give me that self pity shit, you hear me?”

Brian tried to reach Keith’s face, tried to kiss him.

“No, don’t try to change the subject. You’re not going to end up like them. You can move in with us if you have to. My parents said so. You don’t have to stay there.”

“Keith…” He was shaking his head.

“You’re going to be incredible—you already are, you asshole. You’re going to come back here in ten years and you’re going to rub their faces in it.”

“I…” He was close to tears.

“You’re going to do it. You’re going to get out of here and you’re going to get to some fucking good college and you’re going to land some hotshit job and make tons of money and you’re going to tell them to piss off.”

The head that was now against his chest was still shaking ‘no.’

“Don’t you fucking tell me that. You’re going to do it.”

There was a space of breaths while Brian worked up the courage to say what was really on his mind. “But you’re going in a few months. You’ll be at fucking SC and I’ll be here and the only thing that kept me hanging on this year was you.”

“…How do you know I got into SC?” The University of Southern California had been one of Keith’s dreams since he had seen a shot of the Tommy Trojan statue on some TV show when he was about ten.  No one knew he’d gotten early acceptance. He’d put off telling Brian until he could find the right time. He knew the youngster was hoping that he’d end up at Pitt so they could still see each other all the time.

Brian sat up, isolated on his own side. “Your dad told me last week. I called for you and he answered the phone. I think the letter had just arrived that afternoon and he was excited about it. He told me.”

“Shit, Bri. I was going to tell you. I swear to God.”

“It’s alright. It’ll be fine.” His voice was toneless, devoid of expression.

“Bri, I was going to tell you. I knew you’d be upset and I didn’t want to hurt you. Honest. I just didn’t want you hurt.”

Brian was silent. Keith could feel the walls up between them and didn’t know what to do. He was only seventeen himself. He didn’t know what to do. Tentatively he put his hand on Brian’s cheek, pulling his face around, wanting to kiss him to make it better. Brian allowed himself to be moved like a mannequin and responded to the kiss physically but with no feeling.

He had known, really, that he and Keith would have to break up, but part of him had kept the fantasy that somehow they would just go on as they had been, that he would go to school somewhere local and maybe they could even move in together.

“Bri, please. I’ve always wanted to go there, you know that. You can go, too in a couple of years. We can be there together and I’ll be back in the summers and for most of the holidays. We’ll still see each other all the time.”

It was bullshit and they both knew it but Brian smiled, “Sure. It’ll be fine.” He kissed Keith, “We should go. Jamie expects us to be at his party tonight. Well, he expects you, anyway. He puts up with me.”

“Jamie likes you just fine.” It was a lie, but Brian didn’t call him on it. It didn’t matter. Jamie’s nose was out of joint because Brian had taken his spot as second only to Keith on the team. He was pissed because he knew the kid really was that good. Besides, before Brian had come along, he and Keith had been friends—no, not lovers, just good friends, but since the new kid arrived, that had been back burnered. Brian knew how he felt and why, he dealt with it by just being polite and staying away from any confrontations. It had worked so far.

“I had a surprise for you tonight. I was going to save it for later, but maybe it will cheer you up a little.”

Fat fucking chance. “What is it?” He asked the question with no interest. The day had sucked big time, there wasn’t much that would salvage it. Whatever it was didn’t matter.

“I was talking to Wilkins today during practice. He’s ready to name the team for next year.”

“Yeah, I know. He asked me if I was going out for it again.”

“But he didn’t tell you that he’s naming you as the co-captain. You’ll be the first sophomore to ever get the position in any sport in our school.”

“What did you do? Blow him?”

Keith refused to rise to the bait. “You got it because you earned it, now cut the shit. I know you’ve had a crappy day and I know you don’t want to go to the party, but you fucking have to because you’re one of the guests of honor so put a fucking smile on your face and stop being a spoiled twat.”

He started the car, the drive was in silence which neither one of them knew how to break. When they pulled up outside of Jamie’s house and got out, Keith stopped him before he could get too far. No one else was around. “I didn’t know how to tell you about SC. I knew you’d be hurt and I didn’t know what to say.”

“It’s alright. It’s fine.”

“Fucking stop that. Shit, I love you,” He was whispering. “I hate that we’re going to be separated, but I have to go to college and they offered me a scholarship.”

“And your family really needs it, too.”

“Bri—shit, can’t you be even a little happy for me?”

Brian was leaning against the fender. “…I am. I know this is what you wanted, I just sort of hoped that…”

“It wouldn’t happen? Bri, we’re still us, OK? It’s not over. Fuck, I love you.”

Brian reached over to put his hand on Keith’s. “I know you do.” He attempted a smile. “We’ll be alright. We’ll see each other a lot and I’ll be OK. We’ll be OK.” He pushed off from the car. “We should go in.” He was lying and they both knew it. It would be a while before they sorted this out and they both knew that, too.

“Yeah, they’re expecting us. Wilkins is going to be here and he’s making the announcement to the whole team.”

Brian gave a rueful smile. “I hate shit like this.”

“I know but you’ll be fine. The guys all like you a lot.”

Inside the house was crowded, none of the team members knowing that it was more than just a party until Coach Wilkins showed up about a half an hour later. The Iron City quickly stowed out of sight, he stood on the seat by the fireplace and told the sixty or so people in the room that next year’s captain would be Steve Sugrue, this year’s co-captain, and his co would be Brian Kinney. That meant that in all likelihood Brian would be captain as a junior.

There was a confused buzz from the players—“Kinney’s a freshman.” “What about Donnie?” “He’s too young.” “Fuck that, he’s the best player on the team.” “He’s not experienced enough.” He’s the only freshman in Pennsylvania to make All-State.”

It went back and forth with the consensus finally tipping in Brian’s favor when Keith spoke about the talk, “He’s the best fucking choice and you assholes all know it, so don’t give him shit or I’ll come back and whip your butts.”

That did it. From that moment on, Brian never had trouble with a single member of the team for any reason.

An hour later he had accepted the congratulations and the ass slaps, the back pounding and the beers. He’d been kissed by various teammates girlfriends and he’s eaten the shitty pizza because Keith told him it would be bad form if he didn’t.

His mood improved enough that when Keith asked if he wanted to stay over for the weekend, he smiled and blushed. He knew what it meant. They stayed a while longer, both of them circulating and talking to everyone and finally went to the master bedroom to get their jackets off the bed about midnight. Brian was handing Keith his when the older boy took his hand and pulled him the over the foot that separated them, their arms around one another.

“Hey, someone could walk in.”

“They’re all drunk downstairs.” He kissed Brian, deeply. “So, you in a better mood than you were? I know it was a shitty day for you.”

Brian kissed him back, deeper and longer. “Yes, better.” He smiled a bit. “Can we go?”

“What’s your rush, kid?”

“…I’m horny and I think tonight we should finally really fuck.”

“And what makes you think I’d go along with that?”

“Because your cock is so hard it’s about to drill a hole in me.” His hands were down the back of Keith’s jeans, holding and squeezing his ass.

“Bri—you sure?” His hands were doing the same to Brian’s nether parts.

“Fucking A.”

“Well, in that case, we should get going.” Laughing, disentangling, they turned to the door.

Jamie, their teammate and host, was standing there.

“Christ, you are a couple of Goddamned fags.”

Return to New Kid