Only Fools Rush In

Walking through the door of his home later that Saturday afternoon, Jack had a wide grin set on his face which had been there most of the day. He couldn’t get rid of it no matter how hard he tried, though part of him didn’t want it to fade.

But when he strolled into his large kitchen, the teen’s smile dropped immediately as he encountered his parents; both wearing livid expressions that caused a shiver to run down their son’s spine.

He’d seen them with a similar facial expression years before when they found out about his sexual preferences, so he knew that he was in some deep shit. He just didn’t know why.

“Where were you?” Mr Barakat asked, his jaw tense and his eyes fierce.
Gulping at the tone, the raven haired boy replied with a simple and timid “out.”

“Where?” his father said again but more firmly.
“I-I was o-out with, um, s-some fr-friends at the, eh, the m-mall,” he stuttered out another answer that didn’t seem to please his parents
“So it is true,” Mrs Barakat snapped, her brown eyes staring angrily at her son.

The married couple were fuming, only causing the teenager to feel more anxious and confused. There seemed to be an unfair game playing out in Jack’s disadvantage, like usual. It was just another one of those things that defeated the boy.

“I d-don’t know wha-” but before the youngest Barakat could finish his sentence, his father stormed over to him and harshly smacked him across the side of his head then grabbed the collar of his shirt.
“You disgust me, boy. You disgust everyone in this family. Why can’t you be normal? Why do you have to be such a disappointment all the time?”

Trying to ignore the glower and the cruel words was a lot easier said than done for Jack, but at least the throbbing headache was forgotten about. He still didn’t know what he had done wrong and when he attempted to ask, he got another smack but this time across his face.

“Only speak when spoken to, Jack! You know what you’ve done; you constantly bring shame on this family with your idiocy and revolting homosexuality.”
“Oh,” Jack whispered in realization, though he still didn’t know where his dad was going with this ‘talk’.

“Yes, ‘oh’,” Mr Barakat spat, pushing his son against the wall and causing Jack to bash his head. “It’s bad enough that your mother and I have to deal with you being a filthy faggot, but for our friends to see you and some guy fooling around is horrific! Do you not have any decency at all?”

Before the raven haired student could clear his dizziness and respond, he was thrown against the wall again, his father’s hands moving from the shirt to his throat. All he wanted to do was to yell for help, but he knew it was useless. Mrs Barakat wasn’t paying attention to the fight; the newspaper was more interesting to her.

“Who was that guy anyway? Probably some whore infested with STDs, right?” His hands tightened their hold around Jack’s neck, causing the kid to wheeze and gag as he angrily pushed his dad away from him.

Coughing as he took in gasps of breath, Jack glared at his abuser.
“Don’t you fucking dare speak about him like that! Say all you like about me but don’t fucking mention him. He has nothing to do with you!”

Turning on his heels and planning on exiting the room, Jack only reached the kitchen’s threshold before he felt his father take a fistful of his hair and drag him back, throwing him to the ground. After that, the teen only felt the pain of his face and head colliding with the floor over and over again.

“Stop it! Stop it, now! Get off of him!” Mrs Barakat screeched at her husband, trying her hardest to pull him off of their child. But her husband was stronger and in his rage, shoved the woman away causing her to stumble and fall.

“Don’t you ever walk away from me again,” the older man growled in his son’s ear then stood up, walking away from where the boy lay.

As Jack slowly pulled himself up and towards the doorframe for support, he overheard his dad speaking to his fearful mother.
“Don’t ever question my judgement again or you‘ll end up like him. I‘m ashamed to call that boy my son. We would all be happier if he wasn’t even born.”

With every ounce of strength left, the student continued out the door and straight out the house where he got into his car and drove to the only place he wanted to be.

***

“Jack, what happened?! Who the fuck did this to you? We need to get you to the hospital or something,” Alex exclaimed, the horror obvious in his voice and eyes.
“No, no doctors. It’s not that bad and it doesn’t even matter. I just need to lie down or something… Have you got any painkillers?”

The teacher’s anxious expression didn’t falter as he walked away to fetch pills, water and an ice pack. Jack felt a tad awkward standing unsteadily in the large living room without his boyfriend present though it wasn’t long before Alex returned.

“Can you please just tell me who did this to you? Was it the same assholes from before?” the brunette pleaded as he took a seat on his comfy couch, patting the space next to him. “Come here and lie down; you need to rest.”

Taking two of the tablets and a gulp of water, Jack complied and kicked his shoes off before taking a place on the sofa and lying back, resting his head on Alex’s lap. His eyes slowly fluttered shut as he settled into the comfort of his boyfriend playing with his hair.

“Jack…”
Opening his eyes to find a beautiful pair staring back at him, the boy let out a sigh. “If I tell you, you can’t mention it to anyone, okay?”
With a nod signalling his promise, Jack plucked up the courage to reveal his tormentor.

“Uh, so, my, uh, parents found out about us hanging out today. One of their friends had seen us together and asked them about it, and since they’re not fond of me being gay, well actually they‘re not fond of me at all, my dad kind of, sort of got angry…”

The room fell silent for a few moments until Alex spoke, his voice wavering. “What exactly are you saying, Jack?”
“Umm, well, this,” he started, gesturing to his damaged face, “is my dad’s work.”

And if they thought the room was quiet before, it was deafeningly silent now. The raven haired teen wanted to disappear in the moment because the look on the older man’s face was too much to handle.

The mix of shock, anger, disgust and sadness hurt Jack more than the beating he got from his parent.

Reaching up to touch the teacher’s stubbly cheek, the teenager let out another sigh. “Forget about it, Alex. This was the first, and the last, time this will happen. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Jack, you can’t tell me not to worry about you and expect me to listen. Right now all I want to do is beat the shit out of your dad for ever laying a hand on yo-”
“No! Lexie, promise me you wont. It’ll only make things worse. And anyway, my mom will sort him out since she got caught in the crossfire.”

Once Alex grudgingly agreed to Jack’s wishes, the two were left in the quiet apartment; Alex never taking his eyes off his student, while Jack drifted into a painless sleep.

It was around 8pm when Jack stirred, his eyes flitting open to find his boyfriend asleep, still in the sitting position as before. After taking a minute to admire him, the teen leaned up to place a soft kiss on the other man’s lips, causing him to wake.

“Hey,” Alex smiled, wiping his eyes before leaning in to kiss the adolescent with more vigour. “I should feed you.”
“Hmm I do like the sound of that,” Jack purred as he kissed his boyfriend’s throat and slid his hand up the inside of his thigh.

Chuckling and pulling back, the brunette pecked Jack on the nose. “That comes later. But I’m starving and I know you must be too.” Hopping off the couch and heading to the kitchen, the raven haired boy groaned but followed.

“I should probably get going soon. I don’t want to anger him any further…”
“Jack, you’re not going anywhere. I’m not letting you go home to that monster, not tonight anyway.”

“Wait, are you saying I can stay the night here?” the boy asked, nervous yet excited.
“Duh! I sleep better with you here anyway,” the older male turned to Jack, a heavenly smile spread across his face. “What would you like; spaghetti or pizza?”

It was late at night while the two boys were watching reruns of Adventure Time when Jack’s phone began to ring. It had been going off all night due to his parents calling, but the teen kept declining them.

However, this time it was from a number he didn’t recognize which only made him curious. Deciding to answer, with Alex’s wary eyes on him, he was greeted by a shrill voice.

“Where the fuck are you, Jack?!”
“May?!”