Truth Behind the Lies

Author's Notes: Yes, I have ANOTHER story out that I must keep up with, but I feel like I won't have any problems updating this one too much. I got the idea for this story in my head and just starting typing and typing and typing. I've put so much spare time into this story that I've got three more chapters alrady done. So, if you're wondering where is "Gender" or the other stories, I blame this story for taking all my time.

--Scribbles05

Prologue

“Shay! Shay, wake up honey!” A frantic man said to his 6 year old son. The curly haired brunette leaned down towards the bed and shook his much identical looking son on the shoulder. “Wake up Shay! Get up now, sweetheart!”

The little boy rubbed his eyes. “What’s the matter, mama?” once finally shaking the sleep away from his brain, Shay was able to see the anxiousness, the eagerness, and what looked like a manic expression in his mother’s wide eyes even in the darkness of his bedroom.

“Come on. We don’t have much time. Here, put your coat on.” Sitting up his son, Bryant Gibson quickly slipped a blue coat on over the Sesame Street pajamas his son wore. Reaching under the bed, he grabbed tennis shoes and placed them on small bare feet.

At six, Shay didn’t understand what was going on, but he sensed the fervent nature of his mother and grew nervous. His father, Larry Gibson, was working the graveyard shift at the coal mine and wouldn’t be home until seven that morning. Everything was fine and peaceful that afternoon. Shay and Bryant sat in the den of their small home in Plumsfield, Virginia, watching tv and playing hide-and-go-seek. Bryant fixed them both a filling dinner then sent his son to bed, reading him a story. All was fine….happy….now this. “Mama, what’s the matter?”

“You’re MY son…” he spoke as he tied the laces to the shoes. “I’ll be damned if I let them take you away from me.”

“Mama?”

Bryant quickly picked up his son and hurried out the bedroom and down the hall to the front door. They were met with cool, 3:30 in the morning air. Ella Moore, Bryant’s ailing grandmother, heard the noise being made in the house and feebly walked out her room to the wide open front door with her cane, wrapping a pink flowered robe around herself. “Bryant? Bryant, where are you going? Put that boy back to bed, he’s got school in the mornin’.”

“They’re not taking my Shay!” he opened the door to his gray ’97 JEEP Cherokee and put Shay in the passenger seat.

“Bryant, what are you talkin’ about?! Get back in this house, it’s cold out here! Shay is gonna get sick!” She yelled at her grandson, frustrated.

Bryant got in the driver’s side of the car and started the ignition. That’s when young Shay figured whoever was trying to get him must’ve been pretty bad people for his mama to rush out the house in only his boxers, t-shirt, and no shoes on.

“Mama, who’s gonna get me?!” Shay said starting to cry.

Bryant looked to his son and held his little face in his hands. “Bad people want to take you away from me, sweetheart. They want to hurt you, but I wont let that happen. You hear me?” Shay nodded. “I wont let them take you.” He kissed him on his forehead then put the car in drive. “They wont take my baby.” He whispered to himself.

Ella walked back into the house and grabbed the cordless phone, dialing her nephew, “Buggy” Moore, at his home as she watched Bryant pull out the driveway from the livingroom window.

“‘ello?”

“Buggy?”

“Yea.”

“It’s your Auntie Ella. I need your help.”

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s Bryant.”

Buggy sighed. “What’s happened now?”

“He’s gone again. He took Shay with him. You gotta bring him back.”

“Where’s Larry?”

“He’s still at work. He doesn’t get out until seven.”

“He didn’t take his medicine, did he?”

“No. And that’s why I’m scared. He took SHAY with him, Buggy. There’s no telling what your cousin will do without his medication.”

“Did he say where he was going?”

“No.”

“Alright. I’ll stop by your house to pick up his medication then start backtracking.”

“Okay. Hurry, Buggy.”

“I will Auntie.”

***

“Mama! Mama, look!” Shay pointed to the blinking headlights that were tailing behind them as they drove down the dark, secluded road.

“Oh no.” Bryant whispered. “They’re here……oh no, oh no, oh no.” he pulled the car off the road and into the grass. “No, no, no, no, no, no….” he took both his first two fingers and rubbed the sides of his head, his green eyes closed, and sweat began to form on his tense forehead.

“Is that them?! Is that whose coming to get me?!” the young child asked in his squeaky little voice. Bryant began to rock back and forth, still chanting “no” over and over, still rubbing his temples when Shay crawled his way into his mother’s lap, latching on to him. “Don’t let them take me, Mama!”

The beat up red and gray Silverado pick-up pulled up behind the Cherokee and the door to the driver’s side opened. “Bry?!” A man dressed in old jeans, a black t-shirt, and oily trucker’s hat walked to the car and knocked on the window. Shay screamed. “Shay?”

The little boy looked up from hiding his face in Bryant’s chest. “Buggy?”

“Shay, open the door.”

Shay pulled the lock on the door and Buggy opened it, pulling the boy out the car. “Go get in the truck, kiddo.” Shay followed Buggy’s orders and hopped into the truck. Buggy touched his cousins shaking shoulder. Bryant jumped. “Bry, it’s me buddy. It’s Buggy.”

“Where’s Shay?” he whispered.

“He’s in my truck. He’s…”

“Give me my son!”

“Did you take your medication?” Buggy asked calmly.

“Fuck you!” Bryant responded, growing more and more aggressive after every minute. He never cursed…..atleast not the real Bryant.

In Buggy’s hand was a bottle of water, and pills. “Take the pills, Bry.”

“No!”

“Take them.”

“Fuck off!” Bryant shoved Buggy and tried to fight him, swing his arms at his cousin’s face. But being the quick man he was, Buggy trapped the flailing hands, pinning them to Bryant’s chest with on hand. Using, his other hand, he pushed two green pills into the mouth, then forced the water down his throat to swallow it all. The pills took immediate effect, turning the once aggressive, agitated, and responsive Bryant into an incompetent, almost zombie-like being. Bryant hated taking those pills……now you see why.

Buggy sighed. Although this wasn’t the first time he’d had to chase after Bryant, his cousin had never taken his son along with him to get away from “them”. No, it wasn’t his first time chasing Bryant, nor would it be his last. He looked towards his truck and saw little Shay peaking his head out from the window.

Covered in black coal and silica dust, Larry pulled his beige truck into the driveway of his home. Extremely tired after spending ten hours drilling coal and smelling methane, all he wanted to do was shower and get in the bed. But when Larry opened the door, he was met with Bryant’s cousin, Buggy and Ella sitting in the living room, silent. Shay was wrapped up in a blanket, sleeping in his great-grandmother’s lap. The dusty brunette hung up his hat in the hallway near the door then walked inside the room. “What’s he doin’ downstairs? And why isn’t he gettin’ ready for school?”

Ella ran her wrinkled hand over the boy’s curly brown hair. “He’s not going to school today. He just got back to sleep.”

“What do you mean, ‘he just got back to sleep’?”

Buggy spoke. “There was a problem last night.”

“A problem?” Buggy nodded. “Was it Bry?” he nodded again.

“He didn’t take his meds yesterday and snapped during the middle of the night. He took Shay and drove down the road. Ella called and told me what was going on and I found him ‘bout an hour later….rubbing his head and mumbling more mess ‘bout ‘them’ again.”

Larry sighed. He had to deal with dangerous conditions at work that could leave you smashed to death, with a black lung, emphysema, or cancer and a boss that was always on his ass….he didn’t need this too. “Only once in a while, I’d like to go atleast a full week without any problems from home.” He walked back out the living room.

“Where are you going?” Ella asked Larry as he ascended up the stairs.

“I’m goin’ to shower and I’m goin’ to bed…I’m tired.”

Buggy stood up frowning. “Your husband is sick. He put your SON in danger last night. And you’re tired?”

Larry stopped his steps but didn’t turn around. “Yes.”

“Don’t you care?”

“I said a long time ago, back when Bry’s symptoms were mild, that he needs to be put in an institution. I was out voted, so no….I don’t care anymore.” He started back up the steps.

***

12 years later


Ella was gone. Had been for 8 years now. Bryant didn’t take it too well. During the funeral, he had an episode—rocking in his seat back and forth, shaking his head, and groaning with tears in his eyes. With Buggy being a truck driver, his time in Plumsfield would be limited, but when finding out his great-aunt had died, he made plans to be home. Once Buggy saw his cousin was having a fit, he got up and took him outside.

Bryant had gotten worse. Less and less of the true Bryant was seen every year and more of the new Bryant took its place. Plumsfield, Virginia was a small town. Very small. With a population of near 3,300 people, it meant that Plumsfield would be very hard to find on a map and that news traveled fast. So when Bryant started to become ill, word spread like wild fire. Barbershops, beauty salons, grocery stores, churches, and farmer’s markets all whispered about Bryant’s “condition”. People whispered about how crazy he was and how poor Shay wouldn’t have his mother to take care of him.

Larry became more distant over the years. His interactions with his family dwindled drastically. He wasn’t always like that. When he and Bryant first got married, he was the perfect husband. Though he still didn’t like his work at the coal mine, he worked it and used the money to spoil Bryant with gifts, romantic dinners at restaurants, and trips. Sex was so constant, it shocked Larry to find out they wound up with only one child. And when Shay came, he adored the child, proud to be a father. But then, Ella became ill and moved in, slowing down Larry and Bryant’s marital bliss. Then Bryant started to get sick, and Larry totally shutdown. Larry was only seen at home when necessary. He put in more hours at work just so he could avoid the sickly grandmother and his “Cuckoo” husband. Sometimes, he didn’t have to work when he told the family he did. Those days, he would drive off to the next town and spend hours at the local casinos, peepshows, and bars. Because of his blatant distance towards his family, his relationship with his son was almost nonexistent.

And Shay…..well…with a mentally unstable mother and a bum for a father, the rest of the town just knew he would have a few loose springs too. It wasn’t so bad in public. They would go into town and get a few looks and whispers here and there, but nothings ever as bad as when your fellow classmates in school know your history.

“Loony Tune” as Shay was called in school received a lot of flack for his parent being the way he was. He had no friends, no social life, and became introverted. When the torture reached high school, Shay decided he was tired of being known as Crazy Mr. Gibson’s son….so he was gonna be known as something else. Just WHAT he turned out to be wasn’t much better. He became ‘easy’.

In a desperate plea to rid himself of his background and to gain some much desired attention, Shay started to sleep around. It started with one night at David Tucker’s house. David let him in through the basement—that’s where his room was—and cut right to the chase. There was no romance, not even foreplay. And without those things, you couldn’t expect a virgin to be totally willing. Shay decided to leave, but it didn’t turn out to be that simple. David slammed him back down on his bed, holding him down by the front of his shirt, ripped his pants off, and raped him.

Too embarrassed about the whole ordeal, Shay never told anyone. However, after that happened, his fellow schoolmates knew about it. Shay slept with David Tucker, the most popular guy in school. he still wasn’t very popular with the girls, they were quick to call him a slut, but the boys began to pay more attention to him. Was he a part of their clique? No. But was he the favorite of their bed partners? Yes. Which suited Shay fine. He wanted to feel attention, affection, and interest from someone, even if it was for an hour or so, and the guy was currently on the verge of an orgasm. But somehow, the guys all seemed to forget they knew him at school the next day. They’d walk straight by Shay at school until they’d catch him alone and send him a note or whisper for him to come over that night. Many say that type of lifestyle is no way to gain attention, but when you had very little of it at home, you’ll find anyway to get it. Ella died when he was 10 and his mother became even sicker after that. That’s when the ‘love’ ended. Larry was hardly ever home and they had no relationship as it was, so Shay didn’t expect anything there.

But then half way into his senior year of high school, 18 year old Shay would finally get love from someone that would be unconditional. He became pregnant. Though Shay was promiscuous, he KNEW who the father was. It had been a while since he had been invited to the guy’s houses and Jimmy Dean was the only guy he had sex with within that timeframe. Jimmy was a 28 year old blonde with blue eyes, a rugged face, and a boyish smile. He captivated Shay one night when they both met at a high school football game. Telling the teen how beautiful he was and how much he’d like to know him, Jimmy managed to spark a small association with Shay. They’d meet often at a motel and have sex—he’d hold Shay afterwards and speak to him about their future…..together. Jimmy had mentioned before he loved kids, so Shay wasn’t too worried about telling him about the pregnancy. He confronted him one day after school, when he drove to the motel.

“Jimmy?” Shay said to the blue eyed blonde, who was currently unbuttoning his white dress shirt.

“Yeah?”

“I need to talk to you.”

Jimmy unbuttoned the cuffs of the shirt before removing it, hanging it on a hanger in the motel’s closet. He revealed a strong, lightly haired, tan chest. “About what?” he turned around and saw Shay was still standing next to the bed, still dressed. “Why are your clothes still on?” he smiled as he walked up to Shay, peeling his green t-shirt over his head. “Perhaps you want me to help you?” Jimmy kissed Shay’s collarbone, making the boy gasp. He knew the collarbone was one of the teen’s erogenous zones.

“Jimmy. Jimmy, I’m serious.” Shay pushed him away slightly. “It’s important.”

He laughed. Unbuttoning his black slacks and pushing them quickly down his legs, Jimmy sat down on the edge of the bed in his boxer briefs. “Alright. Talk first, sex later.”

Shay paused. He wasn’t sure how he should say it. “…..I’ve got something to tell you.”

“So you’ve said.”

“It’s important.”

“You’ve said that already too….How important is it?”

“Very.”

Jimmy cocked an eyebrow. “Define ‘very’.”

“Well….it’s life-changing.”

Jimmy rolled his eyes to the ceiling, deep in thought. He couldn’t come up with anything. “What’s goin’ on, Shay?”

Shay’s brown eyes looked to the floor. He rubbed his hands together nervously. “…………I’m pregnant.”

“Pregnant. You’re pregnant?” Shay nodded. “You…..You’ve got to be fuckin’ kiddin’ me. You’re joking, right?”

“No.” Shay watched as Jimmy got up from the bed and paced the floor, running a hand through his hair.

“Are you sure it’s mine?”

Shay suddenly looked up, shocked. “Yes it’s yours. How could you—”

Jimmy turned to face the teen. “How could I what, Shay? Lets face it ok, you’re a whore. You’re so gullible, you spread your legs for anyone who even twinkles an eye at you. You don’t know who the father is.”

Shay grew angry. “I’ve been fucking you for the past month, Jimmy! I’m only a week along! I know who the father is! It’s you!”

“The fuck it is! That baby is not mine, Shay!”

“Jimmy….”

“No. You’re not going to put this shit off on me. I don’t need the pressure of a baby. I…I just started a new job, my husband is pregnant with another child….”

“What?! You never mentioned you were married!” Shay became frustrated.

“It doesn’t matter! I don’t have to tell you anything! You were just ass on the side! I have a good life ahead of me, Shay. A future.”

“What about MY future?!”

Jimmy walked up to Shay and stood directly in his face. “‘What about your future’? This IS your future, Shay. You’re Plumsfield’s new rising slut. I suggest you get used to it. You don’t know who the father is, okay? Just admit it. Just because you came from a low income family, you see my bright prospects and well-to-do life, you think you can get a piece of the action. Well you’ve got another thing comin’. You’re not gonna hem me up in nothin’.” He backed up again. “You know, I’m gonna feel sorry for the kid when it comes into the world. With genes like his—a whore for a mother, a failure for a grandfather, and a nut for a grandmother—he’s gonna have nothing to look forward too.” Jimmy pulled his clothes back on, and left a stunned 18 year old Shay alone in the motel room, fighting tears as he stood in silence.

Summer time, when all of Plumsfield’s graduates were leaving for their graduation trips and preparing for their stint in college, Shay was having a baby. 7lbs. 11oz., his cousin Buggy and Bryant were there to see little Jack Bryant Gibson be brought into the world.



Off to work on "Gender" now. I hope you liked this so far, cause I'm having a blast writing it. Let me know.