Christie Road, chapter 3
As I walked to school the next day the howling wind gnawed at my legs, my black bench trousers offering little protection against it's freezing rampage. My arms were folded across my chest in a feeble attempt to block some of it. I was hunched over and huddled as close to Billie as I could get without tripping both of us over. He rubbed my arm slowly with his hand to keep it warm, I can't say it was working well. Snowflakes swirled around us, white and glimmering. Billie turned and noticed the blue tinge to my lips as my teeth chattered uncontrollably.
"Here," he said, handing me his thick leather jacket. I couldn't reply, I simply nodded and smiled weakly.
We entered the school and I made my way to my locker. I tried desperately to turn the combination wheel on the padlock but my numb fingers refused to work properly. I let out a growl of frustration kicked the locker at the bottom. All I received was a dull throbbing in my toes. Billie walked up to me. He took the lock from my hands.
"What's the code?" he asked matter-of-factly.
"9365" he turned the wheel and the padlock sprung open.
"Thanks," I replied.
"No problem. What lesson you got next anyway?"
"History."
"Cool me too. I've got to go early though, the teacher wants a word, see ya there." he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, winked and walked off. Chloe came up.
"Tez is in love!"
"Ha ha. I only met the guy yesterday for Christ's sake!" I said. She shrugged. "And yo can hardly talk," I motioned to Tre's arm, which had seemingly been attached to her shoulders ever since last night. She grinned. "hang on, you didn't go home last night," I suddenly pointed out.
"Well done Miss Observant!" She mocked.
"Eww! Chloe, you've only known the dude for about 3 days!" Chloe laughed.
"Unlike you I have no problems with sex before marriage." Chloe said. Tre stared at me, wide eyed.
"I do not have a problem with sex before marriage, I just, don't trust guys so much now." I mumbled.
"Woah!" Tre suddenly entered the conversation, "Does that mean you're a virgin?" he asked.
"No," I replied even more quietly. He looked at Chloe, confusion etched all over his face. Chloe looked back at me.
"Can I tell him?" She asked. I simply nodded.
" OK. We got to get to maths, see you later!" She called as they walked off and Chloe began to tell Tre the lie I had told her ages ago, the lie I stuck to whenever awkward questions arose, the lie she thought was the truth. I sighed. I wished I could tells someone the truth, someone who wouldn't think I was dirty or a slut, as I though myself to be. I took my books out of my locker and made my way to history, thinking about who that person could be, if they even existed.
I collapsed onto the couch next to Billie and he put his arm around my shoulders. I grabbed the remote and changed the cannel to MTV. I rested my head on Billie's chest and closed my eyes briefly as he began to play with the end of my hair. I listened to the music flowing into my head.
"What's wrong," Billie whispered so quietly it took mew a second to figure out what he had said. I snapped my eyes open.
"Nothing," I lied quickly.
"Bullshit." He replied. I shrugged. "You know you can tell me anything right?" he said.
"We've only known each other for a day and a half, not even that." I said simply. He nodded.
"I know, but it feels like I've known you for ever. I know how you feel more than you think." I looked at him. "My stepfather used to beat me, before I moved out. My mom didn't believe me when I told her, so I left." I nodded. We sat in silence for a while and then I realised that he was the one I could tell all to, he knew how I felt.
"He didn't just beat me," I whispered. Billie looked at me. I slowly began to remove my top. He stared in disgust at the still clear hickies from the night before that covered my neck and my collarbone. I put my top back on. He placed his arms around me and I sobbed quietly into his chest. He kissed my hair lightly.
"Who else knows?" he asked.
"No one," I replied, "Chloe knows I'm not a virgin but she just thinks I got fucked around." He nodded.
The tears I were shedding weren't all in shame though. I began to feel an overwhelming sense of relief, someone knew, it was like a huge weight had been lifted. I felt better. The door opened and Mike walked in. He looked at me and Billie and just shrugged plonking himself down next to me and snatching the remote from me.
"Hey!" I squealed in protest, smiling slightly. Billie laughed as Mike held the remote far above my head so I couldn't reach it. He changed the channel.
"Bastard," I muttered. He just laughed, taking a swig of his beer. He pulled out a small bag with a green looking substance in it. Then he took out a load of unrolled fag papers and began to roll a joint. He rolled a few and then handed one to Billie. I watched the whole time. He laughed at the look on my face.
"Ever smoked pot before?" he asked. I nodded.
"Couple of times."
"Want one?" He asked. I nodded and he handed me one of the newly made spiffs. Billie handed me his lighter and I lit the end. Taking a deep breath I let the mind numbing smoke go to work and within a few minutes I was relaxed and all my problems had faded away. I smiled. I took another puff and the same sensation hit me. I felt like all life's worries were melting away and I enjoyed it. Suddenly Billie began to tickle me. I laughed, collapsing on Mike as I tried to fight him off. Mike smirked.
"Billie! Stop it." I whined, still laughing.
"I rather like the position we're in." He smirked at me. I looked at him. He was lying on top of me. I pushed him off me.
"OW!" He complained as he hit the floor, I laughed at him. Mike just continued to smirk. Billie clambered back onto the couch but didn't try to tickle me again. I looked at both him and Mike, "You know," I began, "I have no spare clothes."
I approached the front door and opened it slowly. "hello?" I called out. No one answered. I looked around. The house was clean and tidy. It looked like any normal family home. I scowled. I made my way to the stairs. Suddenly a dog came bounding towards me wagging it's tail furiously. I stroked its head.
"Hey boy," I spoke softly to it. I began to make my way up the stairs. I turned left at the top and opened another door. In the middle of the room were two large bin bags, stuffed full of my clothes and other things. I grabbed them both and made my way downstairs. I got to the kitchen and grabbed a pen and paper from the side board. I quickly scribbled a note and then, leaving it on the breakfast bar, I left.
By the time I entered the house it was dark. I saw Tre watching tv and Billie was on the phone to someone. I dumped my bags in the hall and went to sit next to Tre.
"Where's Chloe?" I asked.
"She gone home," he said, stifling a yawn. I nodded and turned my head to the tv.
"Do you know how weird this is?" Tre suddenly piped up.
"Huh?" I asked, absorbed by the shitty music on MTV.
"Well, I meet a girl I really like. Then we meet you and Bill likes you, and then turns out the two of you are best mates, weird huh?"
"yeah... weird." I replied.
"Well, I'm going to bed." He said getting up and walking out the door, "Oh, and sorry bout the whole guy screwing you around thing, Chloe told me." I nodded, suddenly realising that maybe it was time to tell Chloe the truth. A couple of minutes later Billie entered the room and sat next to me. I snuggled up next to him and he placed his arm around me.
"Who were you on the phone to?" I asked after a few minutes.
"My mum." Billie replied. I looked up at him.
"did you tell her again?" he nodded, "how did it go?" I asked. He smiled.
"She believed me. I said I could show her the scars and she just burst into tears and said she knew," the smile quickly faded, "she said he did it to her too." I was silent for a minute or so and then spoke again.
"Why doesn't she kick him out?"
"She's afraid. He's really violent."
"Why don't you go and push him out?" I asked.
"I asked her that, she just told me not to get involved." he sighed. "It just hurts so much. I mean my dad always wanted her to be taken care of, when he died he told me that I would be the last in the house, I had to take care of her, he said never to let anyone hurt her or me or any of my brothers and sisters. I feel like I failed him. Like he's looking down on me with disgust not pride. I don't deserve to be his son. He was always kind and gentle, never hit any of us. I mean, he wasn't there a whole lot so I didn't know him well but when he was there he did try. I just feel like I've let everyone down." he looked down at me, his brilliant green eyes were dull with sadness.
"You haven't let anyone down Billie. You were only just a teenager when your mum married Brad, there was nothing you could have done. It's not your fault and your dad knows that, Billie no matter what your dad will always be proud of you, you tried today, and you offered to help." Billie sighed, closing hi eyes for a second before re opening them.
"I guess so." He said.
"You know," I said after a while of neither of us speaking, "I still can't believe you paid for me!" He laughed slightly.
"Yeah, waste of money wasn't it," he chuckled. I went to hit him on the arm but he grabbed my wrist before I made contact.
"Hey!" I said as he began to push me backwards. He just chuckled again as he began to kiss my neck, his rough lips making their way down to my collarbone.
"I don't remember authorising this." I warned. I could feel his lips curl into a smile against my skin.
"Don't worry, I did that for you," he murmured, his breath tickling me as he continued to kiss me, slowly making his way back up to my lips. His tongue slid into my mouth whilst his hands slid down my body to the waistband of my trousers. He slipped his hand inside and I let out a moan of pleasure. He smiled into my lips. He withdrew his hands and began to undo my belt buckle. I broke free, shaking my head.
"Sorry, I'm just... not ready... we've only known each other a couple of days." I hung my head. He brought his hand to my chin, lifting up my head so I was looking into his eyes, "That's fine," he said softly. I smiled.
"Thanks." he hugged me, tight, secure.
"I'm tired, I'm going to head in for the night. Wanna join me?" he asked, yawning slightly. I smiled.
"Sure."
As I lay in bed that night, with Billie's arm around me, his soft, heavy breathing soothing, I began to think about how lucky I was to have a guy like him, and friends like Chloe, Mike and Tre. Sure I had only known them about 2 days, well Mike, Tre and Billie, but it felt like I'd known them for ever. I snuggled closer to Billie and he groaned, slipping his other arm around my waist and pulling me closer still. I smiled to myself.
"Here," he said, handing me his thick leather jacket. I couldn't reply, I simply nodded and smiled weakly.
We entered the school and I made my way to my locker. I tried desperately to turn the combination wheel on the padlock but my numb fingers refused to work properly. I let out a growl of frustration kicked the locker at the bottom. All I received was a dull throbbing in my toes. Billie walked up to me. He took the lock from my hands.
"What's the code?" he asked matter-of-factly.
"9365" he turned the wheel and the padlock sprung open.
"Thanks," I replied.
"No problem. What lesson you got next anyway?"
"History."
"Cool me too. I've got to go early though, the teacher wants a word, see ya there." he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, winked and walked off. Chloe came up.
"Tez is in love!"
"Ha ha. I only met the guy yesterday for Christ's sake!" I said. She shrugged. "And yo can hardly talk," I motioned to Tre's arm, which had seemingly been attached to her shoulders ever since last night. She grinned. "hang on, you didn't go home last night," I suddenly pointed out.
"Well done Miss Observant!" She mocked.
"Eww! Chloe, you've only known the dude for about 3 days!" Chloe laughed.
"Unlike you I have no problems with sex before marriage." Chloe said. Tre stared at me, wide eyed.
"I do not have a problem with sex before marriage, I just, don't trust guys so much now." I mumbled.
"Woah!" Tre suddenly entered the conversation, "Does that mean you're a virgin?" he asked.
"No," I replied even more quietly. He looked at Chloe, confusion etched all over his face. Chloe looked back at me.
"Can I tell him?" She asked. I simply nodded.
" OK. We got to get to maths, see you later!" She called as they walked off and Chloe began to tell Tre the lie I had told her ages ago, the lie I stuck to whenever awkward questions arose, the lie she thought was the truth. I sighed. I wished I could tells someone the truth, someone who wouldn't think I was dirty or a slut, as I though myself to be. I took my books out of my locker and made my way to history, thinking about who that person could be, if they even existed.
I collapsed onto the couch next to Billie and he put his arm around my shoulders. I grabbed the remote and changed the cannel to MTV. I rested my head on Billie's chest and closed my eyes briefly as he began to play with the end of my hair. I listened to the music flowing into my head.
"What's wrong," Billie whispered so quietly it took mew a second to figure out what he had said. I snapped my eyes open.
"Nothing," I lied quickly.
"Bullshit." He replied. I shrugged. "You know you can tell me anything right?" he said.
"We've only known each other for a day and a half, not even that." I said simply. He nodded.
"I know, but it feels like I've known you for ever. I know how you feel more than you think." I looked at him. "My stepfather used to beat me, before I moved out. My mom didn't believe me when I told her, so I left." I nodded. We sat in silence for a while and then I realised that he was the one I could tell all to, he knew how I felt.
"He didn't just beat me," I whispered. Billie looked at me. I slowly began to remove my top. He stared in disgust at the still clear hickies from the night before that covered my neck and my collarbone. I put my top back on. He placed his arms around me and I sobbed quietly into his chest. He kissed my hair lightly.
"Who else knows?" he asked.
"No one," I replied, "Chloe knows I'm not a virgin but she just thinks I got fucked around." He nodded.
The tears I were shedding weren't all in shame though. I began to feel an overwhelming sense of relief, someone knew, it was like a huge weight had been lifted. I felt better. The door opened and Mike walked in. He looked at me and Billie and just shrugged plonking himself down next to me and snatching the remote from me.
"Hey!" I squealed in protest, smiling slightly. Billie laughed as Mike held the remote far above my head so I couldn't reach it. He changed the channel.
"Bastard," I muttered. He just laughed, taking a swig of his beer. He pulled out a small bag with a green looking substance in it. Then he took out a load of unrolled fag papers and began to roll a joint. He rolled a few and then handed one to Billie. I watched the whole time. He laughed at the look on my face.
"Ever smoked pot before?" he asked. I nodded.
"Couple of times."
"Want one?" He asked. I nodded and he handed me one of the newly made spiffs. Billie handed me his lighter and I lit the end. Taking a deep breath I let the mind numbing smoke go to work and within a few minutes I was relaxed and all my problems had faded away. I smiled. I took another puff and the same sensation hit me. I felt like all life's worries were melting away and I enjoyed it. Suddenly Billie began to tickle me. I laughed, collapsing on Mike as I tried to fight him off. Mike smirked.
"Billie! Stop it." I whined, still laughing.
"I rather like the position we're in." He smirked at me. I looked at him. He was lying on top of me. I pushed him off me.
"OW!" He complained as he hit the floor, I laughed at him. Mike just continued to smirk. Billie clambered back onto the couch but didn't try to tickle me again. I looked at both him and Mike, "You know," I began, "I have no spare clothes."
I approached the front door and opened it slowly. "hello?" I called out. No one answered. I looked around. The house was clean and tidy. It looked like any normal family home. I scowled. I made my way to the stairs. Suddenly a dog came bounding towards me wagging it's tail furiously. I stroked its head.
"Hey boy," I spoke softly to it. I began to make my way up the stairs. I turned left at the top and opened another door. In the middle of the room were two large bin bags, stuffed full of my clothes and other things. I grabbed them both and made my way downstairs. I got to the kitchen and grabbed a pen and paper from the side board. I quickly scribbled a note and then, leaving it on the breakfast bar, I left.
By the time I entered the house it was dark. I saw Tre watching tv and Billie was on the phone to someone. I dumped my bags in the hall and went to sit next to Tre.
"Where's Chloe?" I asked.
"She gone home," he said, stifling a yawn. I nodded and turned my head to the tv.
"Do you know how weird this is?" Tre suddenly piped up.
"Huh?" I asked, absorbed by the shitty music on MTV.
"Well, I meet a girl I really like. Then we meet you and Bill likes you, and then turns out the two of you are best mates, weird huh?"
"yeah... weird." I replied.
"Well, I'm going to bed." He said getting up and walking out the door, "Oh, and sorry bout the whole guy screwing you around thing, Chloe told me." I nodded, suddenly realising that maybe it was time to tell Chloe the truth. A couple of minutes later Billie entered the room and sat next to me. I snuggled up next to him and he placed his arm around me.
"Who were you on the phone to?" I asked after a few minutes.
"My mum." Billie replied. I looked up at him.
"did you tell her again?" he nodded, "how did it go?" I asked. He smiled.
"She believed me. I said I could show her the scars and she just burst into tears and said she knew," the smile quickly faded, "she said he did it to her too." I was silent for a minute or so and then spoke again.
"Why doesn't she kick him out?"
"She's afraid. He's really violent."
"Why don't you go and push him out?" I asked.
"I asked her that, she just told me not to get involved." he sighed. "It just hurts so much. I mean my dad always wanted her to be taken care of, when he died he told me that I would be the last in the house, I had to take care of her, he said never to let anyone hurt her or me or any of my brothers and sisters. I feel like I failed him. Like he's looking down on me with disgust not pride. I don't deserve to be his son. He was always kind and gentle, never hit any of us. I mean, he wasn't there a whole lot so I didn't know him well but when he was there he did try. I just feel like I've let everyone down." he looked down at me, his brilliant green eyes were dull with sadness.
"You haven't let anyone down Billie. You were only just a teenager when your mum married Brad, there was nothing you could have done. It's not your fault and your dad knows that, Billie no matter what your dad will always be proud of you, you tried today, and you offered to help." Billie sighed, closing hi eyes for a second before re opening them.
"I guess so." He said.
"You know," I said after a while of neither of us speaking, "I still can't believe you paid for me!" He laughed slightly.
"Yeah, waste of money wasn't it," he chuckled. I went to hit him on the arm but he grabbed my wrist before I made contact.
"Hey!" I said as he began to push me backwards. He just chuckled again as he began to kiss my neck, his rough lips making their way down to my collarbone.
"I don't remember authorising this." I warned. I could feel his lips curl into a smile against my skin.
"Don't worry, I did that for you," he murmured, his breath tickling me as he continued to kiss me, slowly making his way back up to my lips. His tongue slid into my mouth whilst his hands slid down my body to the waistband of my trousers. He slipped his hand inside and I let out a moan of pleasure. He smiled into my lips. He withdrew his hands and began to undo my belt buckle. I broke free, shaking my head.
"Sorry, I'm just... not ready... we've only known each other a couple of days." I hung my head. He brought his hand to my chin, lifting up my head so I was looking into his eyes, "That's fine," he said softly. I smiled.
"Thanks." he hugged me, tight, secure.
"I'm tired, I'm going to head in for the night. Wanna join me?" he asked, yawning slightly. I smiled.
"Sure."
As I lay in bed that night, with Billie's arm around me, his soft, heavy breathing soothing, I began to think about how lucky I was to have a guy like him, and friends like Chloe, Mike and Tre. Sure I had only known them about 2 days, well Mike, Tre and Billie, but it felt like I'd known them for ever. I snuggled closer to Billie and he groaned, slipping his other arm around my waist and pulling me closer still. I smiled to myself.
