Waylaid

[Stepsguy]

Here's a story I'm working on, and I'd love some feedback.

Waylaid:

One:

When I look back at that time in my life, it’s with a mixture of sadness and regret. I was 18 years old, I was months away from graduating, and then the worst possible thing happened. It’s funny how we all go through life, going through our day to day, not realizing something huge is waiting right around the corner…

I was running late, which was the only reason I got the phone call. My parents had already gone to work, and it was up to me to get myself to school. At that point, I was so over it all. I was taking nothing but electives, and it all just felt meaningless. I was 18, about to graduate, and get out of there (hopefully). I had applied to all these colleges, and I didn’t really care where I went, as long as it was far away. That morning, I was lollygagging; I was just another meaningless day being wasted on stupid art classes, and people I sort of never wanted to see again.

That morning, I kept forgetting something I needed for the day, so I kept having to double back whenever I started to leave the house. (Now, was this on purpose or not? I’m not sure…)

I went back to my room to grab a sketch pad I'd forgotten, and was about to leave when the phone rang. I paused at the door and stared at the phone. I really was running late, but I wondered whether I should answer it. I reasoned that if I had left on time, as I was supposed to, I would never have heard the phone ring, so I should go.

It seemed like I stood there forever, but a few seconds later, I reflexively reached down and grabbed the phone.


Two:

“Hello?” I asked into the receiver.

“Hello. This is Sergeant Pearl. To whom am I speaking?” came a man’s grim voice in response.

Why were the police calling? Why did I answer the phone? Was it because I was running late? I’d probably make it on time if I ran part of the way! “Kevin Baker…” I eventually answered.

There was a pause, then “Kevin. Can you do me a favor? I’m gonna need you to stay home for me, buddy.”

“But, I’m going to be late for school!” Another pause, then “I know, buddy, but I just need you to do this. Please?”

I didn’t understand what was happening, but I promised to stay. Sergeant Pearl promised to “be over shortly(???)” and hung up.

I put my stuff down and paced the living room. What on earth could they possibly want with me? It just didn’t make sense. Was I in trouble? I started thinking about everything I had done recently, but nothing seemed to require police attention. What was going on?!! Then the doorbell rang. I walked over to the door and saw two outlines in the frosted glass. Whatever was about to happen, this was it.

I opened the door, and a man and a woman stood there, their faces grim.

“Kevin Baker?” the man said. I recognized his voice as Sergeant Pearl’s from the phone.

“Yes…” I said.

“I’m Sergeant Pearl, and this is Deputy Prada.” The woman nodded toward me.

“May we come in?” Sergeant Pearl asked.

“Uh, yeah. Ok.” I said and ushered them toward the living room, closing the door behind them. I walked back to the living room and found them awkwardly standing there.

“Why don’t you sit down?” Sergeant Pearl asked me.

“Ok…” I said as I sat down and stared up at them.

There was a pause, then “Are your parents Joseph and Samantha Baker?”

“Yes…” I responded, confused as ever.

They gave each other a look, then Sergeant Pearl said, “This morning, while traveling Northbound on the 110, the Bakers were involved in a head-on collision.” I let this wash all over me.

“Ok…” I heard myself say, my stomach sinking into the ground.

Sergeant Pearl continued, “Unfortunately, they were both killed on impact.”

“What?” I think I said. At this point, things started to become blurry. I felt like I was going to pass out.

Somewhere in the distance, I heard Sergeant Pearl ask something about any family I had, and somehow I said, “I don’t have any family…” Sergeant Pearl then said that Deputy Prada would be taking me to the hospital to identify my parents. At that point, it all started to really become a blur. Next thing I knew, I was sitting in Deputy Prada’s patrol vehicle. The next thing I knew, I was at the hospital looking at my parents. After seeing them, I threw up. I remembered that much. Suddenly, I was back home, and Deputy Prada was asking me if I had anyone I could reach. I was in such a fog I didn’t even know what to think, but I heard myself automatically say, “Carla and Richard.”


To Be Continued

 

[Stepsguy]

Three:

Deputy Prada stayed with me while I waited for Carla and Richard to show up. This was going to be a bit of a wait, as they both worked at the same place my parents did… had. They were my parents' best friends, and they had worked together for years.

They all worked for a film and television production studio. They all took care of various aspects, ensuring the studios functioned as intended for TV and film companies to conduct their business. (It was assumed and expected that I would be going to work with them… and I really didn’t want to!)

I don’t even know what I did as I sat there, but I could feel Deputy Prada’s sad gaze fall upon me as she awkwardly sat there watching me. I don’t know if it was hours or minutes, but the next thing I knew, I heard the front door ring. I looked over to the front door, confused. Seeing that I was so out of it, Deputy Prada went and answered the door. I heard Deputy Prada speaking to a man and a woman who seemed familiar. Next thing I knew, Carla and Richard walked into the room. Carla had clearly been crying, and Richard looked awful.

I looked at them blankly, and then Carla rushed forward, arms spread open. “Oh, Kevin, I’m so sorry,” she said. I felt my body stand up and open my arms to enter her embrace. Richard awkwardly hung back watching. At that moment, Deputy Prada said something, handed Richard something (a card, I think?), and was suddenly gone.

Carla and Richard had decided to stay with me at my house. Food was ordered, but I couldn't eat. Again, it was all just a blur. Apparently, decisions had to be made, but I was in no condition to think. I was lucky that Carla and Richard could stay with me, as they made sure I did the bare minimum to stay alive.

I woke up one day and realized I was starving. I went downstairs to the kitchen and found a bunch of breakfast-type foods sitting around the counter. I grabbed a muffin and sat down. Eventually, Carla came into the kitchen, and we spoke.

One of the first things that was brought up was that the police were asking me if I wanted to try to reach out to any family members I might have. Since I was 18, it was up to me, but they could try to help if I wanted. I flat-out said no. My parents left home at a young age to move to LA and build new lives for themselves, without the blessing or support of their families. I wanted to honor their wishes to stay out of contact.

Next, I had been out of school for a couple of days. It wasn’t as bad as I thought (I'd thought it had been weeks), but apparently, I was headed toward repeating 12th grade if I didn’t start going again. Despite knowing my situation, the school said I either had to return or fail all my classes, forfeiting my year. So I decided to go back the next day.

The last issue was the worst. A lawyer had appeared needing to talk to me. Carla had convinced them she was my guardian, so she could get a sense of what was going on. Apparently, the house was still in mortgage and would need to be paid off. As I didn’t have a job and couldn’t afford to make payments, the next question was whether I wanted to sell it. With both my parents' life insurance policies, work insurance policies, and general savings, there would be enough to pay off the remaining balance. I could then stay, but the general view was that I wouldn’t be able to maintain the home on my own and would instead benefit from selling it and inheriting a much larger sum. I would need to meet with the lawyer and make that decision soon.

(Which, once I met with him and he gave me the proposed amount, compared to what I would get just by paying off the mortgage and keeping the house with no other money, it became a no-brainer. Even if it hurt at the time to sell my family home.)

Then there was the issue of deciding on my parents’ funerals and everything that that entailed.

Once a bit of the dust had settled, and all the pieces started to get into motion, I had to leave my home, which was something I didn’t even think about. Luckily, Carla and Richard offered to let me live with them until I figured everything out and the lawyer could cut through the red tape and finalize everything.


Four:

While Carla and Richard had a fairly modest home, it didn’t feel quite right to me (like truly my home). It was roomy enough, but my house felt so much more spaced out. In fairness to them, they were in their mid to late thirties and didn’t have children (and had no plans to), so it’s not like they needed this huge house. I was lucky enough to get the extra room next to their office, but it wasn’t really close to their bedroom. So I felt like I had some privacy.

It was a huge adjustment. Carla didn’t really cook, so it was a lot of takeout (which was fine). I was used to “production time” schedules because of my parents, but Carla and Richard both kept really different schedules in comparison, and worked odd hours because of their roles at the studio. So there were times when neither would be home, or only one of them would be. It was pretty rare for them to be home at the same time.

I overheard them talking about how their schedule was because of all the time they took off to help me with the funerals and all the other issues I needed to deal with.

I was left to my own devices most of the time. I was sort of used to this anyway, as once I got into high school, my parents thought I’d be able to handle myself without a babysitter. The part I wasn’t used to was where I had no one checking in on me at all, like how school was going, or what my homework was, or if I had even done it.

I was lucky that Carla and Richard lived close enough to my school, and that it didn’t disrupt my life much. I still had to walk, but it wasn’t that far.

As for school, all my teachers were aware of my situation, and they told me, in no uncertain terms, that all I had to do was show up. They had zero expectations of me, which I was grateful for. So sometimes I just sat there, and sometimes I’d participate, but it didn’t matter, because none of my classes were required. I literally had only these dumb electives left to fulfill the required units for graduation.

The worst part was my classmates, who all sat and stared at me, unsure of what to do or say. It was only a couple more months, then it’d all be over. So, whatever.

One day, I came “home” from school and found Carla at home. She had stopped by and picked up the mail that was at my old house, and a few of them were for me. They were letters from colleges. I noticed that some were in giant envelopes while others were in standard-sized envelopes. I opened the smaller counterparts first. Rejection, rejection, rejection. I moved on to the larger packages and was happy to see that I got accepted to three colleges. I just needed to choose.

Carla looked on bemusedly and awkwardly congratulated me, then asked what I thought I might want to do. I wasn’t sure. She understood, then quietly snuck in that I could always work for the studio if I wanted, that there was a job I could walk into at any time. I told her I had a lot to think about, then went to the guest room.

I didn’t know what I’d be doing, but one thing I was sure of was that I would NOT be working there.


To Be Continued

 

[Stepsguy]

Five:

It dawned on me that I wasn't seeing Richard at all. It seemed he was working overnight, coming home after I left for school and leaving before I came home. Not that I was too sad about it. Of the two of them, (like I said) he was much more reserved, almost coming off as aloof. He wasn’t rude, but in ways, he could be seen as cold and distant if you didn’t know him.

As one might expect, I was mostly consumed with my own misery at the time. Despite that, I noticed Carla looking a little strained. She never said anything (because why would she), but something was clearly going on.

Carla was about 34 years old. I know this is crazy, but she reminded me of the character Taryn from the film Elm Street 4, in looks and attitude. Like Taryn, Carla had that same punkish attitude, but I could never imagine Carla donning the full-on punk outfit Taryn did in her dream.

Carla was always a cool sort of aunt substitute in my life.

Richard was different. As I said, he’s reserved. One time, I heard him and my dad talking, and I remembered him saying he'd been a high school football player, and I could see it. He was 38 years old, probably about 5’10", and had a stocky, muscular build. I guess he was technically fat, but he wore it well. He was bearded, with red hair and blue eyes. Sometimes he’d get this little smirk on his face, and I swear I’d catch him staring at me with that damn look on his face, then he’d quickly look away. I’m sure I was looking into it way too much, and it was probably nothing. Though I was starting to like that stupid smirk a bit too much…

(I also started to like the way his fat, round ass looked when he wore sweatpants, and I couldn’t help but notice how much his package seemed to move around as well… But what was I talking about? He was my mom and dad’s dear friend and… like an uncle! I couldn’t think of him that way…)

As I’ve said before, I’m 18 and sorely average. I’m 5’8, probably weighed about 160 pounds at the time, had brown hair, and brown eyes. So so average. The only thing I had going for me was that one of my girlfriends told me that I had a huge ass. She got all my other girlfriends to agree, and for a while, they all called me “Kevy Cakes,” especially once I started walking. (“There goes Kevy Cake’s!”) I noticed that some of my male classmates also seemed to notice it, as I caught quite a few staring. I’d walk off laughing as they’d rush away red in the face. Of course, all that kind of stuff stopped once my parents died. Now all I got were the silent stares.

At this point, I was sure that I was gay. I sort of knew all along, but as my high school years went on, it became more apparent. I started to notice my eyes would linger on a guy's butt a bit longer than they should have, and I wasn’t looking at girls the same way at all. Then I started to notice that a lot of my male classmates were, quite frankly, hot. The way they sagged their pants, the stupid facial hair they had, and their stupid faces that I wanted to kiss for some stupid reason. No doubt they were very gross. I mean, I had to be around them all the time, so I saw horrible things and heard horrible things, too. But also, inexplicably, I wanted to do things with them, to them.

At night, when I’d start to have thoughts about my classmates, I was finding that more recently Richard would come into my mind, and I’d have to stop, all freaked out that my mind even went there. But still…

None of this mattered anyway. Richard was hardly home anymore, and I was going to be leaving this all behind soon enough. (And, you know, he was married to Carla!!!). This was all a waste of my time, Richard was straight and married and wouldn’t be interested in sex with a man, no less me! Yeah, I had to let it go. Stop being delusional. (But damn, he had a nice ass though…)


Six:
I didn’t know what time it was, but it was still dark out. I looked around the room, confused about where I was. Then it came back, I was at Carla’s house, and this wasn’t my room, and well, all the rest of it… But something woke me up? Was it a noise or? I looked at the time and saw that it was 3ish in the morning. I was immediately pissed. “What the hell, man, I have school in the morning!!!” I thought, but then remembered it was the weekend. I sat there, even more confused. That’s when I heard the noise again. Moaning. Oh my God, was I hearing Carla and Richard having sex? What a nightmare. I definitely didn’t want to think about something like that, much less hear it! But the sound was nearby, and their room was basically on the other side of the house. So what the hell was this? I silently got up and went to the door.

One thing I noticed about this house was how quiet everything was. If I wanted to sneak out, I could very easily do so, but of course, I didn't want to go out to party with friends or whatever nowadays. Now, I was grateful for the silence as I opened the door.

I realized the sound was coming from the office next to the guest room. I crept to the office door and found it wide open.

Looking in, I made two discoveries. One, the moans were coming from a porn video that was playing on the large TV. And Two, Richard was fully nude and jerking off to the video, which I only then realized was of two guys having sex. I guess he was so immersed in what he was doing, he didn’t notice me. He lay on the couch, facing the TV, his back to the door. My eyes focused on the big, fat cock in his hand. It looked to be about 7 to 7.5 inches and very thick. I was mesmerized, thinking that this was it, this was my chance!

But the rational side of me took over. I realized that if he saw me, I’d be catching him in a very compromised position, and none of this was fair to him. (And he was still a married straight guy, no matter what I saw).

I slowly backed out of the doorway and backed down the hall. I was actually almost to the guest room when he suddenly said, “Yeah. Look at that fat ass… I want to fuck a nice fat ass…” I was so taken aback that I tripped over myself and bumped into a decorative vase that was in the hall.

Luckily, it didn’t break, but it did make a very loud clatter on the ground. I quickly entered my room and shut the door as quietly as possible. (Of course, I basically slammed the door shut.)

I ran to the bed and jumped under the covers. I then paused, waiting to see what would happen. Eventually, I heard the office door close, and no more sounds came after that. Despite being as scared as I was, I somehow fell asleep.

The next morning, I bolted upright with a start. Many thoughts went through my mind, but mostly I hoped Richard had just figured it was Carla who caught him and that he wouldn’t suspect me at all.

I was starving, so I got up and dressed, heading to the kitchen to make myself some breakfast. At least they’d both be gone, so I could do whatever all day long.

But as I entered the kitchen, I found out that I was wrong, so very, very wrong.


To Be Continued