Country Boys

*Timmy\'s View*

I was in a deep sleep when a repetitive tapping noise slowly pulled me back into awareness. I tried to ignore it, assuming it was the houses plumbing or an animal outside. Either way, my mind was so numb with exhaustion that I didn\'t feel like giving it much attention.

However, each clank agitated me more and more. It almost sounded like it was right in my ear, like something was hitting the window next to me.

I heard muffled laughter and people talking which forced me to open my eyes. I sat up and looked at the window. Something hit the glass, forcing an even louder sound than before.

\'Was that a rock?\' I thought to myself.

"Yo, what if this is the wrong fucking window?" I heard a muffled voice say followed by more moronic laughter.

I got up and opened the window to find Marcus and his friend from earlier looking up at me.

"Hey Timehhhhhhh!" His friend yelled in a harsh whisper before he started chuckling.

My heart began to race. \'What the fuck are they doing here!? What if they wake up Daylith\'s dad?!\' I thought in a panic.

"What do you want?" I asked, trying to keep my voice low enough so Daylith wouldn\'t wake up.

Marcus gestured for me to come down with his hand. I didn\'t know what to do. I wasn\'t sure if waking up Daylith would be such a bright idea. I couldn\'t see that leading in a positive direction at all, yet I also didn\'t see anything good happening if I went down by myself.

I started to get annoyed. "Tell me what you fucken want!" "We just wanna talk Latin, and we\'re not leaving till we do." Marcus said while staring directly at me. It was strange; the usual look in his eyes was gone. He didn’t have that scornful gaze; instead, his eyes almost looked playful.

His friend wouldn\'t stop snickering and he covered his mouth with the back of his hand to hold back his laughter.

\'What are they drunk?\' I wondered.

"Come on baby, get down here." Marcus said again.

I let out a sigh of frustration and gestured for him to wait a minute. I closed the window while incessantly cursing in my head. I quietly grabbed a pair of jeans and put them on in the hallway, then snuck downstairs and went out of the back door.

Marcus and his friend were already waiting for me by the steps.

"There he is, it\'s Timmy Latinnnn." Marcus commented in a drunken stupor. "Alright so let\'s get moven." He said before turning around.

"Wait." He and his friend stopped to look at me. "Can\'t you say what you want right here and leave?" I asked wishing things could be that simple with Marcus.

"You\'d like it that way wouldn\'t you? Unfortunately that\'s not how it works." Marcus said with a shadow of annoyance briefly crossing his face. "We have to go somewhere away from Daylith\'s house to have this conversation."

His friend took off his hooded sweatshirt and handed it to me. I stupidly thought I could get rid of them here, so I didn\'t grab a shirt on my way out.

I took the sweatshirt and thanked him. I wasn\'t sure who this guy was, but he seemed nice if he was going to tough out the cold in a t-shirt just so I could have his sweater.

He was tall and older looking; maybe in his early twenties. He had black hair like Daylith, only his was a little longer and less refined. Between his height and his muscular build, he almost made Marcus seem average..

"At least let me know what I\'m in for. What do you wanna talk about?" I asked curiously.

"Latin…" Marcus began.

I hated it when he called me by my last name. He was the only one who called me that and it was the only tie I had left to my dead parents. The last thing I wanted was to have it soiled with the memory of him.

"If you wanna talk to me your gonna have to drop this whole Latin shit, my names Timmy!" I yelled in frustration.

His friend grinned and released another drunken laugh before looking at me and then to Marcus. It was almost as if he anticipated something was going to happen.

It was dark, but the moon provided enough light to catch the sight of Marcus\'s face drop to a dead and angry stare.

Before I had time to react he took two quick steps towards me and grabbed me by the throat. I could feel his thumb and four fingers squeezing into my neck underneath my jaw bone.

"I\'ll call you whatever the fuck I want!" He said between gritted teeth.

He held his grip for a moment and when I struggled for air, he let go. He turned away from me and spit on the ground while walking towards the woods.

I caught my breath and clasped my hand over my neck to find that my hands were actually shaking. In that moment it felt like reality struck me and I realized how dangerous my situation was.

I\'ve always known that Marcus hated me and wanted to see me suffer, but that was the first time I ever felt like he wanted me dead.

Part of me wanted to go back inside while I had the chance and get Daylith, yet I stupidly remained outside.

His friend looked at me with a small amount of concern on his face and then went to follow after Marcus. "Let\'s go." He said.

I stayed where I stood. "What does he want to talk to me about and why can\'t it be here?" I asked, hoping his friend would at least answer me.

"He has some kind of an offer for you; he said he wanted to make some kind of a truce between you guys. He\'s just being a little testy cause he took down a couple beers." He paused for a minute, then said "I\'m Brian by the way."

I didn\'t acknowledge his introduction. I just walked passed him to follow after Marcus. As nice as Brian seemed, I didn\'t want to be gullible. Any friend of Marcus had to be fake.

I felt him start walking behind me and it didn\'t take long to catch up to Marcus.

To my relief, we didn\'t go inside the woods. Instead, we went to the far end of Daylith\'s property where the line of the forest began. However, it was still dangerous because the darkness would prevent anyone from seeing us from so far away. By that, I mean Daylith if he were to wake up and find me gone.

As we were standing there, Marcus positioned himself so that he was right in front of me.

"So… Latin." He said while placing extra emphasis on my last name. I just gritted my teeth and let it slide. "Let me explain why I dragged you out here."

I stared at him curiously and intently; ready to listen to every word.

"I came here hoping to get you alone because that truce I mentioned on the basketball court only deals with you."

I felt a familiar knot form in my stomach as I remembered the look he gave me on the court earlier today.

"I don\'t know what it is about you," He began to say, and I could smell a hint of alcohol in the air from his breath. "But every time I see you I get so fucking hard that honestly… I don\'t care what I have to do to get you. But unfortunately fucking around with you is bringing me a little more trouble than I feel like dealing with. So I\'m gonna make you an offer to end this."

I tried to hold my ground and keep his words from affecting me. I let out a short sarcastic chuckle, "You shouldn\'t talk like that, I\'ll think you have a crush on me."

He smirked. "You think so? Well let\'s find out where your feelings stand for me."

He took a couple steps away from me before saying what his truce would be.

"If you hate me so much that you would want me out of your life forever… then here\'s your chance. I\'ll promise to leave you alone under one… single… condition. Tonight, just this one night, you have to give yourself willingly to me and Brian."

I opened my mouth to protest when Marcus cut in. "Ah! Don\'t say a word! I\'m not finished. This deal comes with more rules. I\'m not kidding when I say you have to give yourself willingly; if you mouth one word of protest, now, later, or anytime tonight, the deal is off. Then things would just go back to the way they were; only I\'d try and find ways to do things without getting kicked off the sports teams."

I thought frantically, but held my mouth shut.

"So this is where it begins. Truce?" He asked monotonously.

I\'ve never had so much trouble deciphering right from wrong. Fighting him now would only cause more problems, but if I agreed I\'d be betraying Daylith again. However, I\'d also be getting rid of Marcus.

As stupid as it seemed, I trusted Marcus\'s word when it came to things like this. I\'ve learned through experience that he keeps his promises, so I\'m sure he\'d leave us alone if he said he would. However, Daylith would kill me if he found out I agreed to these terms.

I looked over at his friend who stood there watching curiously. To think he was in on this whole thing too. I bet he knew what Marcus had planned all along and yet he still played Mr. nice guy.

Despite all the thoughts rushing through my head, everything came down to one simple thing. Either spend one night with Marcus… or years.

"Daylith would never know?" I asked.

Marcus nodded and I bit my bottom lip while trying to make up my mind.

After a moment, I came to a decision that crippled me emotionally and strangled my pride, but hopefully would be worth it in the end.

I felt defeated and couldn\'t bring myself to look him in the eyes. "Truce."