Call Out Your Name Ch. 06

Now the woman was paying attention. "Let me see them," she ordered, and Jesse reluctantly withdrew the bag from his bag. She sorted through them, reading several, and her face turned pale. "Have a seat, boys."

She picked up her telephone, pressed a button and quietly said, "Mr. Peabody, I'm sorry but I need to interrupt you. We have a situation you need to deal with immediately."

Leaving us in the waiting area she disappeared through a door behind her. A few minutes later she emerged with the principal who also looked agitated. Several teachers stepped around him, eying us carefully before heading off in various directions. "Boys," the administrator said, sweeping up his arm to encompass us. "Please come into my office."

Jesse was still acting like this was a waste of his time, so when we were finally seated in front of the principal I took the lead in explaining the letters. I told him everything: how Jesse had originally suspected me because of the timing of my starting week of school coinciding with the first note and how worried I was that this wasn't an innocent hoax. By the expression on Mr. Peabody's face, he didn't think so either, and presently we were joined by two County sheriff's deputies, Officer Erickson of the near-arrest fame being one of them.

He smirked at us as he walked in, and I gulped loudly, hoping our case wouldn't be diminished due to our prior contact. I could hear Jesse's teeth chattering even though it wasn't cold in the office. But Erickson, like the other officer, became deadly serious when he learned of the situation and read the notes. Shortly later we were joined by a detective who announced he was in charge of the case. So it was a case now. Thank God.

"This last message," Erickson said, looking up at Jesse and me. "The one referring to the 'faggot boy'; is he referring to you?" He stared at me expecting an answer even though he already knew it.

Even though my stomach clenched in anxiety, I had to face up to it. "Yes sir, Jesse's my boy."

They conferred. "Do you think both boys are in danger?" the detective questioned his cohorts calmly.

Oh shit. The principal had already called Jesse's mother and she was on her way to school. The last thing I needed was for them to contact my dad too. "You can't get my father involved," I begged. "Focus on Jesse. They aren't after me."

The other cop was staring at me and I think he understood the meaning behind my words. "Okay, Shane, but if you notice anything strange or you start getting notes, you must let us know immediately." I nodded in relief.

Of course, when Jesse's mother arrived she was fully informed and allowed to examine the warnings in all their homophobic glory. She didn't make one negative remark about Jesse gay and didn't even act surprised. It was exactly as he claimed after the prom; it was like she already knew.

"I found out you were gay when you were sixteen," she addressed Jesse, wiping a smudge of dirt off his face. "Maybe I should have told you then, but I wanted you to be ready to share it with me, not feel forced."

"I thought you knew last month when Shane picked me up for prom and you insisted on taking our picture," he smiled. "I was getting ready to tell you. I was worried about Grampa finding out and getting mad."

Sandra laughed. "He knows too. You can't hide that sort of stuff from him, Jesse. His body might not work the way it should but his mind is as sharp as a tack. And it's okay; as you can see he isn't angry either."

His mother addressed me with a loving grin. "So you are Jesse's boyfriend. Even if I didn't know he was gay, I knew he had someone important in his life. The past four months are the happiest he's been since he was little. I see joy every day in his eyes so I know you two love each other."

Both Jesse and I blushed in embarrassment at her enthusiastic affirmation, and I nodded, delighted over the way his family accepted him. In fact, I was a little jealous, but now was not the time to reflect on what my parents didn't give me that his did. I was enveloped in a big hug from her, and her eyes so much like Jesse's told me everything. She was happy for us.

Ms Capps had explained that Jesse had talked to her in April about the notes but didn't seem overly upset by them. She was somewhat irritated that he'd hidden the extent of the threat from her, but everyone agreed how it being out in the open made Jesse a lot safer. Hopefully less of a target too, although nobody could guarantee it yet. Another definite benefit was how the cops' direct questions and demeanor finally impressed upon Jesse that maybe he shouldn't have been so nonchalant over them. Whatever. I was just happy that someone would be watching out for him in the future. Maybe now they'd catch the bastard.

Three hours later we were released with a series of instructions of what to do and not to do. A cop was going to the Capps' home to look into security, and a deputy would be swinging by on a regular basis to stake out the area in case someone was hanging around. Jesse was advised not to go anywhere without a companion, and I volunteered to take him back and forth to school. Mark Butler and his friends were going to be questioned, and of course, if he received another note he was to let someone know immediately.

Officer Erickson said for us to go about our lives as normally as possible. If one of our classmates approached us about the notes, it was fine for us to acknowledge their existence and tell a detective. Maybe one of them had information that would prove useful. Above all, he told Jesse, don't take chances and pay attention to his surroundings.

"I told you so," was all I said as I passed through the door. I knew that mocking him would hurt his feelings, and where was triumph in that? I followed my words with a quick kiss, knowing that the campus was empty of students and I was safe. Separating in the parking lot where a deputy waited to escort him home, I headed out in the opposite direction to eat dinner and study. We texted each other all evening.

'I'm sorry for doubting you,' he sent me along with a smiley face.

'It's okay', I messaged back. 'You're safe- that's what matters.'

Our first two finals were the following morning, and we seniors only had half a day of school. We were strolling out to my car at noon when Mark Butler put himself in our path.

"What the fuck, Capps," he demanded. "You sent the cops after me? You really are a..."

Jesse's normal self-normal self-confidence failed him right then and he backed up in fear. I immediately jumped in to defend him. "Jesse has been getting threatening notes in his locker and on his car. The cops asked if anyone was harassing him and your name came up. If you don't have anything to hide..."

Mark's mouth dropped open in shock. It was the way that he looked at the both of us, like this news was the last thing he expected. However, a second emotion quickly passed through his eyes that was inscrutable and I was immediately wary, particularly when his guard went back up in a way that reminded me of a hunted animal.

"Come on," I told Jesse. "Let's go." I could feel Mark's eyes on our backs as we walked away.

"What's that about?" he asked, half turning around.

I grabbed his arm. "Don't look at him," I ordered. "Call the detective when you get home."

We drove into Santa Barbara and got tacos for lunch before I went back with Jesse to his house. Now that he was out to his family we didn't have to hide our relationship, and I spent the afternoon watching a DVD with him in his living room. Half an hour after I arrived his grandfather shuffled out of his bedroom.

"Hi, Grampa," Jesse greeted him in a level tone of voice, but I could see his mouth tighten as if he expected to be scolded. "How are you feeling today?"

"Fine, Jesse-boy," he said. The tall man gazed at me without expression. "So this is your friend."

"This is Shane," Jesse corrected. "He's my best friend and my..."

"Boyfriend," Mr. Capps smiled. "I don't mean to be rude, but whatever you are, be proud of it, Jesse." He stared at me again, and I saw a grin edging his mouth. "I don't bite."

"Boyfriend," I confirmed, hopping up to shake his hand. He pumped mine warmly in both hands.

We talked a little while longer as Jesse's grandfather asked me about classes and graduation. He was happy to hear I played football and would be going to the same college as Jesse. After about half an hour he looked tired and Jesse helped him back to bed.

I ended up staying for dinner, but we had another day of finals the following morning so I left at seven. As I pulled away from the Capps home a police cruiser appeared and stopped at the house. The sheriff's office was doing its job keeping Jesse safe.

Friday was all about our second set of finals and graduation practice in the afternoon. I worked for Uncle Carl over the weekend, and Jesse and I were only able to stay in touch by cell phone, too busy to see each other. Monday was a duplicate day of Friday.

Jesse was never without me or a family member by his side except when he was in class where he wasn't exactly alone either. Still, after five days, there had been no break on the case, but then, Jesse hadn't received another note either.

Dad was supposed to go to Jillian's after work on Monday night, and Jesse got permission to come over to my house after our rehearsal. I made him pasta for dinner and we talked about our graduation in three days. Classes were over for the both of us, and it was like a load off our shoulders. I couldn't wait for Thursday when we left high school forever and celebrated with a night at Disneyland.

We were cleaning up dinner when I heard a car door slam outside. Looking through the living room window I saw my father and Jillian approach the front door. Shit!

"What do I do?" Jesse asked, a an expression of dread gracing his face.

There was no time for any deception on my part and I shrugged. Dad knew Jesse was my best friend if he remembered me mentioning his name, and I could only hope for the best.

Dad appeared startled by Jesse's presence. I tried to play it cool. We were both fully dressed, and the Xbox and two of my video games were on the living room floor, indicating the innocuous way we'd spent our afternoon. There shouldn't have been any trouble unless Dad chose to be an asshole.

Unfortunately...

He glared at the both of us. "Is this the boyfriend?" he demanded angrily.

My eyes flew open wide, and Jesse backed up before his wrath. Jillian glanced at the three of us uncertainly.

What. The. Hell.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, a drop of sweat trickling down my spine.

"Don't lie to me," my father scoffed, taking a menacing step towards me. "I have friends in the sheriff's substation who informed me that some kid at your high school is being harassed because he's gay. Your name came up in the report, Shane. So I want the truth. Is this your boyfriend?"

I took a big breath and let it out slowly. There didn't seem to be any way out of this, and my father wouldn't believe me even if Jesse wasn't my lover. I might as well get it out in the open.

"Yeah, he is. This is Jesse."

My father moved in my direction and I saw him raise his fist as if he was going to strike me. "Ken," Jillian screeched, lunging at him desperately and grabbing his hand. "Don't you dare hit Shane. Use our head and think about the repercussions."

He struggled against her for a few minutes before giving up. "Repercussions?" he jeered. "Okay, try this, Shane. As of tomorrow you find a new place to live."

Embarrassed at being scolded in front of Jesse and distressed over being kicked out... again... by a parent, I bristled and I could feel how close I was to losing my cool. "Oh, that's just great. I graduate in three days and you're kicking me out with no place to go. What the hell is wrong with you people?"

Dad pulled against Jillian's restraining grip, and she flashed me a look that said I was pushing it to engage my father in an argument. She didn't agree with him but they had been together long enough for her to recognize the warning signs of a full-blown temper tantrum.

"Wrong with us?" Dad glared at me as if I'd grown a second head. "What the hell is wrong with you? How many times have I told you not to fuck around like this in my house?"

"Fuck around?" I asked, heedless of his anger, keeping my anger cloaked in a deadly calm tone. "All we're doing is eating dinner and playing video games."

"Don't be stupid. You know perfectly well what I mean. Do you honestly think I don't know what goes on here when I'm not home? You and your cocksucking boyfriend..."

Jillian gasped, and Jesse's eyes went wide as he began to tremble. I took two steps sideways to place myself between them. If Dad got a notion to start hitting again I didn't want Jesse to bear the brunt of his anger.

"Jesus, Dad," I shouted. "I'm bi. That's all. I'm not sick, I'm not perverted, and I didn't do anything to make myself this way. So what if I'm in love with Jesse. We aren't hurting anybody. Why do you have act so ignorant? You and Mom both."

"Why you..." He tried to interrupt, but I refused to let him say anything. My breathing was coming out in harsh gasps, and I could feel my eyes begin to water. My voice was squeaking several octaves higher than I normally spoke, but I was on a roll.

All the pain, loneliness and despair over being dumped in Calberia with nobody in my corner that I had been holding inside of me for way too long needed release. And then to be treated as if I should worship my father and deny myself the love that Jesse was willing to give me was absurd. I was already getting kicked out of the house, so I had nothing to lose.

"Loving Jesse isn't a crime any more than being bisexual means I'm a monster, so why does everyone hate on us so much? I'm committed to him and he's the only one I've been with since I moved here." I grabbed his hand, and I saw my father's eyes bulge. "He loves me which is more than I can say about you and Mom. He is the kindest, most loving person I have ever met."

"Well, you can take your boy-loving, faggoty ass out of here, do you understand?" Dad raged. "Grab whatever you need for tonight and leave the rest of your stuff. You can collect it later. Just get out."

"Ken, don't," Jillian warned, but he wasn't listening. In tears I dragged Jesse back to my bedroom to pack up a few items I knew I'd need over the next couple of days.

"Are you alright," he asked, hugging me tenderly while I cried on his shoulder.

"Yeah," I sniffed. I wrapped my arms around him and let go for a few minutes, allowing my tears to rid myself of every fucking thing my father had said and done to me over the past half a year.

Time was wasting. I raised my head to smile at Jesse tentatively and dried my eyes. He was worth every single drop of water, and we were going to be together. That was what mattered, and I didn't have to hide anymore. I could live my life in the daylight and be proud to be Jesse's boyfriend. Fuck my dad!

Ten minutes later I was ready to go. I passed Dad and Jillian, and her arms were crossed over her chest angrily. My father was doing everything possible to ignore her resentment. I didn't even give him more than a glance as we rushed by, slamming the front door behind us. Part of me was even glad to leave. This house had never been a home. Not a real one.

"Oh my god," Jesse breathed as soon as we rushed to my Chevy. "What are you going to do now?"

"I have no fucking idea," I muttered, wiping my face. "I guess the first thing is to get you home."

We drove across town with Jesse on his cell phone. I was in a daze and not paying much attention to him. We were turning on to his street when he spoke to me next.

"Mom says you can sleep on the living room couch for tonight," he chirped. "Tomorrow we'll figure out something else."

I sighed, grateful for at least a temporary bed. Tomorrow I'd go see my uncle and see if he had any ideas.

It was fully dark when we pulled up to Jesse's house and black as pitch in his front yard. Jesse sprang from my car before it even came to a complete stop, and I heard movement from nearby. Thoroughly unnerved already because of my father's behavior, I turned off the ignition just as I became aware of a second person outside my vehicle.

"Hi, Jesse," a garbled voice said from the passenger side. I screwed up my eyes to try to see the speaker but there wasn't enough light.

"Mitchell," Jesse drawled in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

As I reached for the door handle everything that Jesse had told me about this stranger coalesced in my mind. Mitchell Butler was Mark's older brother who had enjoyed tormenting my boyfriend last year before he graduated. What the hell was he doing in Jesse's front yard in the middle of the night?

"Delivering a message in person since you're too stupid to take the ones I wrote seriously."

The ones he wrote. The messages Mitchell wrote. With instant clarity I realized that Mitchell was the penman of Jesse's threatening letters. I spilled out of my car as fast as I could move, nearly tripping on the uneven dirt driveway in my haste to protect my boy.

"Get away from him," I shouted wildly. "Leave Jesse alone."

For some strange reason, Mitchell was not paying attention to the fact that my car had to have a driver. Like Jesse had been transported home by some kind of space-age auto-navigation device. At the sound of my voice he pivoted, stunned into suspension and giving us precious seconds.

At the same time my cry had been heard and alerted the occupants of the house because the front door of the house crashed open. There stood Jesse's mother bathed in the light of the living room accompanied by a stocky young man a couple of years older than us. He pushed past her, slamming his body against the screen door on a dead run towards us.

Jesse took a longer time to digest the meaning behind Mitchell's threat, but at last it dawned on him that his safety was at stake and he moved back a few paces from the older boy just in time. I was already on their side of the Chevy about four yards away when I saw the flash of a knife in Mitchell's hand.

"Run Jesse," I yelled, and he bolted around me.

It was just enough to distract Mitchell. Less than a second later, the sturdy person from the house tackled him, taking him to the ground easily. Caught off guard, he dropped the knife and I kicked it away before I leapt on him too. In rage, my fists gave way and I pummeled him thoroughly, all the pent up anxiety of five months of terror behind them.

"Whoa, Superman," the other man cautioned with a grin, capturing my hands. "I think you got him."

I looked down and Mitchell was out cold. Already my adrenaline rush was dissipating; my knuckles had blood on them and were beginning to ache. Shit, I didn't care, not if this was the maniac who had been threatening Jesse all this time, not if the ordeal was finally over.

As we sat on Mitchell and kept watch to make sure he didn't threaten Jesse, Ms Capps' telephone call connected her with the 911 operator. We were told a sheriff's car would be dispatched right away. It was only a matter of minutes when a cruiser pulled up to investigate, and in the meantime I discovered the man who had valiantly thrown himself into protecting my boyfriend was his cousin, Chad.

So that was how Jesse's stalker ended up getting arrested. Mitchell had some mental illness and drug use in his background, and he had been fixated on the younger boy all through high school. Upon graduation, he could no longer directly monitor what happened at school on a day-to-day basis, but he received enough information from his brother, Mark, who didn't take kindly to Jesse's vow to himself to stop letting people push him around.