The Trip Ch. 04

"Morning beautiful." Josh said with a smile.

"Morning." Justin said with a yawn.

"I know sleeping-in is appealing but we have to get on the road soon."

"Okay. How soon do you want to leave?" Justin asked as he sat up on the bed.

"In about an hour," Josh said as he gave Justin a kiss. "Why don't you go and take a shower while I pack up and get ready to leave."

While he was in the shower Josh packed everything up and loaded before Justin got out. As he was putting the bags in the car he made sure this time he had the chord for the GPS. Some detours could be possible from any debris on the roads and he did not want a repeat of the trip down.

When Justin was drying off he noticed the large hickey on the side of his neck that Josh had left from the night before. He started to panic thinking of what his father was going to do when he saw it. He knew his dad was going to blow a fuse. When Justin came back in Josh noticed the hickey and the worried look on Justin's face.

"What's wrong babe?" Josh asked as he gave Justin a kiss.

"This hickey. My dad's going to kill me when he sees it." Justin said with panic in his voice.

"It's okay. I'll take care of it when we get back to my house." Josh said trying to reassure him.

"I hope so. Cause if you can't I might have to hide out for a few days before it goes away."

"You really think your dad would have a problem with it?"

"He beat my ass because there was a rumor running around school that I slept with another guy, I can only imagine what he would do if he actually saw evidence." Justin said as he looked to the floor.

"It's okay. He won't see it." Josh said as he lifted Justin's head.

Josh programmed the GPS for home and they all said their good-byes and headed for home. Josh told Justin to sit back and relax for the drive home. Justin was quiet for the first few hours of the drive. He was worried that Josh wasn't going to be able to get the hickey to go away. They decided to stop at Cracker Barrel for lunch and stretch their legs. After they ate and relaxed for a bit they headed back on the road.

The closer they got to home the more agitated Justin got. He reached into the glove box and pulled out his pack of smokes. He knew it was a bad habit but it helped calm his nerves. He was surprised when Josh asked him to light one up for him. They both smoked without saying a word to each other.

Josh wished for the last time he knew what his parents had planned as he turned the car off in his driveway. As they walked up to the door Josh's mom opened it before they could.

"I'm so glad you boys made it home safely." Cindy said as she gave both of them a big hug.

"Yeah there was hardly any traffic, and not too much damage from the storm." Josh said as he put his bags down.

"Yes thankfully by the time it got here it had weakened and turned out toward the sea. Why don't you boys take the bags up to your room and I'll make you something to eat." Cindy said with a smile.

When they brought Josh's bags up to his room Justin noticed that Josh was nervous.

"Josh is everything okay?" Justin asked as he put the bag on the bed.

"Yeah. I guess I'm just tired from the drive." He said trying to fake a smile.

"Okay. Are you going to try and take care of this hickey?"

"Yeah but let's go get something to eat then I will." Josh said as he started to walk to the door.

When they reached the kitchen Josh's mom and dad where sitting at the island talking quietly between themselves. When they saw the boys walk in they stopped.

"So your mother tells me that there wasn't much traffic on the ride back." Jeff said.

"No, we made great time." Josh responded as they both got seated.

"Justin, Mrs. Heisler and I would like to talk to you about something very serious." Jeff said as he put his coffee down. "It's been brought to our attention that your home life is not well."

Justin felt as if the walls of the room were closing in, "You told them! You promised me that you wouldn't tell!" Justin exclaimed as he shot Josh as look.

"Justin, I'm sorry but after what you told me there was no way I could let that slide by. My parents and I can help you. I love you and don't want to see you hurt ever again." Josh said as he reached for Justin's hand but Justin yanked it back.

"I told you that it wasn't your problem or your parents. I didn't want anyone else to have their lives fucked up because of me." Justin said has his face turned bright red realizing that he just dropped the "F" bomb in from of Josh's parents. "Please forgive me for using that word."

"Justin, what Josh did was the best thing for you. You cannot live with someone who is going to beat you for no reason, and we know it's more than just beatings that have taken place." Cindy said as she moved next to Justin. "We also know that you are sick and you need the best care possible."

"You told them that too." Justin said as tears started to fill his eyes. He was completely exposed, utterly betrayed.

"I'm sorry Justin I had too. I love you." Josh said as his own eyes started to tear seeing the hurt in Justin's eyes.

"We want you to move in here with us where you will be safe." Jeff said.

"I can't. I know that if I do my dad won't pay for my treatment."

"You don't have to worry about that. Mrs. Heisler and I have already taken care of it. Your first round of treatment starts this week." Jeff said.

"I can't let you pay for this. It cost way too much money!" Justin exclaimed.

Cindy shook her head, "Justin, our son loves you. We would do anything for the one that he loves, including paying for this. We love you and want to help you through this."

Justin sat in stunned silence. His carefully constructed walls where under siege. Violence from his father he knew how to counter, how to keep himself safe. He had no protections from... this; whatever this was.

"How am I going to tell my mom what's going on?" He asked helplessly to the air.

"We've also taken care of that. Your mom is going to be here shortly. We're going to talk to her about everything. Justin, she has to know everything that has happened to you." Cindy said as she hugged Justin.

Justin sobbed into her shoulder, it was all too much.

Cindy suggested that Justin go lie down till his mother came. Josh tried to follow Justin to the room but Justin told him to just leave him alone. He flopped down and continued to sob until he cried himself to sleep. He was awakened by Cindy knocking on the door, she told him to follow her downstairs, and his mother was waiting. When he walked down the stairs he saw her sitting in the living room talking to Mr. Heisler. Josh moved over on the couch for Justin to sit next to him, but Justin took a seat in the leather chair across the room. He noted the pain in Josh's face, but all of this was his fault.

"Thanks for meeting with us Jen. We know you're busy with work." Jeff said.

"Not a problem., but I can't say I'm not curious," Jen said with a smile.

"Okay we're going to get right down to business. There is a very serious matter that has to be addressed here." Josh's dad was a successful lawyer and his professional persona was on full display. "It has been brought to our attention that there are been some issues with Justin and his father."

"Issues? What kind of issues?" Jen asked as she looked at her son but Justin just stared at the floor.

"This is not easy to tell you but George has been abusing Justin." Jeff said, carefully noting Jen's reaction. He was not completely convinced she was unaware of the abuse.

"What?! What kind of abuse?" She exclaimed.

"Physical. Extreme physical abuse." Jeff pointed out.

"Justin, is this true?" His mother asked him.

"Yes it is." Justin said as he buried his head in his hands.

"How long has this been going on for?" His mother asked him as she moved over to her shaking son.

"Sin-since I was 16." Justin said as he started to cry.

"Justin, so she can understand exactly what we are talking about I need you to show your mother the scar on your back." Jeff suggested.

Justin was mortified. As if he wasn't embarrassed enough that Josh's parents and now his mother knew about the abuse, now he was going to have to show her the branding his father had given him.

"Scar? What scar!" Jen's eyes darted from Jeff to Justin.

Justin stood up with his back facing his mother he slowly lifted his shirt. When she saw the scar she let out a soul rending scream. The sound triggered wracking sobs to overtake her son. Jen's reached to place her fingers on the horrible scars and Justin twisted from her touch. Unable to stand any longer he crumpled onto the floor, his arm wrapped around himself.

"Joshua, please take Justin up to your room." Cindy asked.

Josh gathered his angel and led him up the stairs. His only desire was to hold Justin until his tears stopped falling. But Justin slammed the bedroom door behind him and locked himself in Josh's bathroom.

"Justin, please let me in." Josh cried as he tried the door knob.

"Go away! How could you lie to me like that! You promised me that you wouldn't tell anyone and now my mom and your parents know!" Justin screamed through the door.

"Justin I had to! Your dad would have killed you someday if you stayed there."

"I trusted you! You made me believe that you really cared for me. I let you fuck me! I gave you my virginity and this is how you treat me by betraying my trust. Go away and leave me the fuck alone!"

There was nothing Josh could do to get Justin to open the door. He knew he had done the right thing, even if that meant Justin hating him forever.

Downstairs Jen raged.

"I am going to kill that sick son of a bitch!!" She promised as she paced the room

.

"Now Jen as much as you want to kill him, as much as we all would like to kill him, you have to think of Justin right now. He's going to need his mother more than anything." Cindy said as she tried to comfort Jen.

"Let's look at what the next step is going to be, and no it's not to kill him." Jeff said as he stood up and walked over to the window.

"You're right," Jen acquiesced after taking a few cleansing breaths. "What's best for Justin is all that matters. He's all that ever should have mattered." She had failed, failed the child she chose, adopted just to love; failed the child of her heart. Doing right by him was the only thing that had to be done.

"The best thing is to have him come over here and you can confront him. At least here you will have us to help you, if need be." Cindy suggested.

"Thank you Cindy, I think if I was alone with that man I might not be able to control my actions." Jen said as she stood up to get her cell phone out.

With trembling fingers she called her husband, telling him to meet her at the Heisler house to take a look at Justin's car. She knew the lie would get the ass she married there faster. When he arrived at the house Jen was waiting for him in the living room. Jeff and Cindy excused themselves to the kitchen.

"What did he do to his car this time." George said very sarcastically.

"Nothing's wrong with his car." Jen said, projecting a calm that belied her emotions.

"Then why did you have me rush over here!" George exclaimed.

"Don't you raise your voice at me you pathetic impotent bastard!" Jen yelled.

"Watch your mouth Jen!"

"Why? If I don't are you going to beat me like you beat our son!"

George's eyes became saucer like.

"That's right. I found out what you've been doing to him and it makes me sick, sick!!"

George scoffed. "Woman you have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, but I do. I saw the scars on his back from where you whipped him and cut... carved 'faggot slut'. How could you do that to him!"

"What? What I didn't cut him. It was probably one of the many guys your son fucks around with. But the way I see it, he is a little faggot slut and won't amount to anything more than a cock sucking slut! He is an embarrassment to the Devereaux name! I worked hard to earn a solid reputation and I'll be damned if I'm going to let some perverted ass pounder ruin it for me!"

With that statement Jen shrieked, lunged across the room upending the end tabled and landing with her hands around George's neck. Jeff and Cindy ran in the room.

When Jeff saw Jen on top of George he ran over and pulled her off of him.

"You crazy bitch! How dare you lay your hands on me!"

George exclaimed as he took a step towards Jen but Cindy stepped in between them.

"I think it's time you leave this house." Cindy ordered, even as he took a threatening step towards her. Her green eyes flashed, ready for whatever came, no one intimidated her, especially not overgrown bullies.

"I want you gone by the time I get home!" Jen screamed.

"You can't kick me out of my own house." George spat back at her.

"Can you pay the mortgage, genius? No, it's me, all me. Your salary is what you drink and piss away every week. If you don't want to go to jail for what you've done and have that precious Devereaux name in the paper as a child abuser you'll be gone!"

George looked around the room; the contempt on every face was unmistakable. "You want to know something. I did all those things to him and to tell you the truth I enjoyed every fucking moment of it. You are a worthless wife and even worse mother, making him a twisted dick lover like you did, and if you love him so much why didn't you notice what I was doing to him. Think about that, and if I could do it again I would and do it ten times as worse! Knowing that the little mayflower feared me was the greatest feeling in the world."

"You need to leave now!" Cindy exclaimed pointing to the door.

"Shut your mouth cunt!" George spat.

Jeff decked George across the jaw, knocking him to the ground.

"Get the fuck out of my house! And if you ever come near my family or Justin ever again, I will personally put you in a body bag!" Jeff said with a tone that could have felled a mountain. Had he actually said not to kill him?

George picked himself up off the floor and stormed out of the house. Jen collapsed into a ball on the couch and cried. She couldn't believe what George had just admitted to, but some of it stung because it was true. What kind of mother was she not to know? Cindy went into the kitchen and put on a large pot of coffee and put some ice in a bag for Jeff's hand. When she walked back to the living room she handed Jeff the ice bag and said that coffee would be ready in a few minutes.

"I'm so sorry that you had to see that. Jeff, is your hand okay?" Jen asked.

"There's nothing for you be sorry about. All that matters is Justin is going to be safe." Jeff said as he put cream and sugar in his coffee.

"I feel like the world's worst mother. How could I not see what was going on?" Jen asked as she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes.

"Sometimes it is very hard for people to see something that is happening right in front of them." Cindy offered as she poured a cup of coffee.

"Now that I look back I see things differently. A lot of things now make sense." Jen said as she put her coffee down and picked up the bottle of aspirin Cindy had brought for her.

"What do you mean?" Cindy asked.

"I know what George is. He wasn't always that way, but over the years I became more successful and he stuck, lost. But I thought we were still a family; a broken family, but a family. I thought the distance with Justin was because he's gay. I thought George would come around, after all no matter what he is our son. I was such a blind fool. Maybe I just didn't want to see." Jen said as she ran her hands through her shoulder length dirty blonde hair.

"Jen, hindsight is always 20-20. When you found out you tried to kill him, we just witnessed a murder attempt in our living room." Cindy said with a smile, "In my opinion you're a damn good mother and Justin is lucky to have you fighting for him."

"Where are the boys?" Jen asked as she looked around.

"I think they're in Josh's room. Justin might still be a little on edge." Jeff announced. "He is upset with Josh for telling us about what had happen with him."

"I'll go up and talk to him. Thank you both so much." Jen said as she headed up the stairs.

When she entered Josh's room she saw him sitting with his back on the bathroom door with his head in his hands.

"Josh, are you okay?" She asked as she knelt down next him.

"Justin hates me and I don't ever think he'll forgive me." Josh said as fought back more tears.

"He doesn't hate you. He's always carried every burden himself." Jen said as she pulled Josh to his feet.

"You are the best friend he's ever had."

"I love him, more than I ever thought possible." Josh admitted as he looked at the closed door.

Understanding dawned on Jen, they were far more than best friends. Good for Justin, she thought.

"When he calms down he'll realize that you did the best thing for him. I have a few things to say to my son." She said with a smile.

"Good luck trying to get him out he won't even answer me anymore." Josh said as he started for the door.

"Justin, please open the door." Jen said as she tried to open the door.

"No, go away! I don't want to talk or see anyone right now."

"Justin Alexander O'Ryan Devereaux, don't take that tone with me. I am down to my last good nerve. Open. The. Door." She knew from experience, a soft touch would never get the door opened.

Justin opened the door but he could not bring himself to look his mother in the eyes. She had screamed in disgust when she saw his back. She didn't want him to see the shame in her eyes it would break his heart.

"Justin come on let's talk."

"We can go out on the balcony." Justin said and he reached into his bag and pulled out his pack of cigarettes.

"With everything you've been through I'm not going to say anything about you smoking for right now, but we will talk about that." His mother said as she sat on the bench. "I love you Justin and I'm sorry for being a horrible mother."

"You're not a horrible mother. Why would you say a thing like that?" Justin asked as he lit the cigarette.

"Because I couldn't see what was going on right in front of my face. I knew your father didn't like the fact that you're gay but I never thought he was filled with that much hate."

"Mom, no one knew. I hid it from everyone."

"Yes you did a good job at hiding it but I still had a feeling that something wasn't right. There were times when you got hurt I didn't believe the reasons you would give. When you broke your arm and said that it happened when you fell off your bike, something deep inside me didn't believe it but I ignored it. Did I ever say anything or do something that didn't make you feel comfortable to come and talk to me?" Jen said.

She was not a demonstrative person by nature, but she loved Justin more than he could know. The day Jen felt him in her arms was the first time she ever knew she could love anything.

"No. I just....I didn't want to cause any more problems between you and dad." Justin said as he took another drag.

"What are you talking about? You never caused any problems."

"Mom, I heard you and dad fighting and most of the time it was about me. Dad hates the fact that I'm gay. Sometimes I just wish I was straight so he would love me, wouldn't it be easier for everyone." Justin said as he lowered his head as tears started to form.

"Justin, he's an evil son of a bitch. The fact that you are gay should not make a difference whether he loved you or not. And to be completely honest with you there were problems way before you came out to us. He should be moving out as we speak. I would love to have you press charges, but do you want to face him in court?"

"Mom I just can't, this day was hard enough. It's not like he's a danger to anyone else, I just want him to leave me in peace, and maybe I can drop his name."