Country Boys

*Timmy's View*
The rest of the walk we were pretty quiet.
We only met each other this morning and we already went through so much.

We made it back to his house in about fifteen minutes. It was a really nice and big house too; much better then mine. His was actually clean. They had a field for property but they had no horses or any animals at all. I was surprised that I never really noticed this house before. After all it was only a couple of houses away from mine.
"I guess my dad's not home." He said while stepping inside.
There was a note on the door that read...

Son,
I hope you had a good first day at school. Sorry I’m not home to hear about it but I was called into work for an emergency, so
see you when I get back later on tonight.
love, Dad.
p.s. I heard it's going to rain so keep the windows shut.

'So that's what it's like to have a father,' I thought to myself. My uncle wouldn't have bothered to leave a note, let alone wonder about how my day was.
"Follow me into my room and I’ll give you some dry clothes to put on."
I followed him upstairs and right at the top of the steps was a door. We stepped inside and Daylith said, "As you can see, my room's the only room on this floor."
" Looks cool." I said.
Despite my compliment, it looked like a regular room to me. An un-made bed, clothes on the floor, a desk with a lamp and scattered papers with drawings on them. I also noticed a couple of basketball trophies lined up on a shelf. 'So that's where his talent came from.'

*Daylith's View*
It felt weird to have Timmy in my room. He was officially the first person to see my new room aside from my dad.
I got out a pair of jeans, a white T, and a pair of socks and handed it to him. "The bathrooms right there through that door."
"Oh man. It must be awesome to have your own bathroom." He said.
"Yea I have no complaints." I said. I saw him eye the clothes I handed him and then went into the bathroom. While he was in there I changed into a pair of shorts and went to get some Neosporin and a Band-Aid patch. By the time I was back, Timmy was already out of the bathroom and sitting on my bed looking around the room. It was a little embarrassing because of the mess. There was even a box in plain view filled with junk that I didn’t unpack yet.
"Got the medicine." I said.

*Timmy's View*
I was a bit surprised to see Daylith walk into the room shirtless. I mean, I’ve seen him without a shirt in gym, yet for some reason I still couldn't stop myself from staring. He knelt in front of me and leaned between my legs so he was directly in front of the wound.
"Lift up your shirt for a minute."
I did what he said and he squirted the medicine on the cut and rubbed it in. Then he covered it up with the patch and gave it a smack while saying, "All done ya big baby and don't worry, it'll probably just bruise a little."
"Thanks." I said while inspecting the handy-work.
Still sitting between my legs he asked, "So you think your uncle won't mind you staying until the rain stops?"
"I'm sure he'll have something to say, but I don't care."
Daylith made it hard to find out, but I wondered if he was taking in the company the same way I was.
"So you hungry?" He asked while getting up.
"Not really, I’m actually really tired." I said with a yawn.
I couldn't believe how exhausted I felt all of a sudden. My uncle had me working like a slave all weekend, then I had to get up early for school, and then I did that half hour walk in the rain. Everything seemed to take a heavy toll on me and I just laid back to get a minute to shut my eyes.

*Daylith's View*
Timmy said that he wasn't hungry, but to me he looked famished. Based on the few comments he's made about his uncle, I’d say that they didn't have a great relationship, so who knows how long it's been since he ate. I decided to make a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to at least put something in our stomachs. After making the sandwiches I brought them up to my room to find that Timmy fell asleep. 'He really meant it when he said he was tired.' I thought to myself.
He looked really uncomfortable with his legs hanging off of the bed with no pillow, so I set the sandwiches aside and went to position him better.
I moved him until he was vertical on the bed and lifted the blanket over him.
Once he looked more comfortable, I put the TV on low volume and watched it while eating my sandwich.
An hour had gone by and I heard someone say something so I figured my Dad was home. But then I realized that it was Timmy mumbling in his sleep. I couldn't help but laugh at the thought and I walked over bringing my ear close to his face to try and hear what he was saying.
"No Un.. Jimmy. I'm not… I'm not gay!" He shouted and sat up quickly resulting in us bashing heads. He fell back down holding his hand to his head and I backed up rubbing mine.
"Oww what the hell were you doing Daylith?!"
"You were talking in your sleep so I was trying to hear what you were saying."

*Timmy's View*
I couldn't believe that I spoke in my sleep. What was I saying? I can't remember what I was dreaming about. What if I said something about Daylith?' I thought slightly panicked.
"So what was I saying?" I asked.
Daylith looked like he was trying to decipher what he heard but then he gave up and summarized it. "It sounded like you were saying Uncle Jimmy, and that you're not gay." He smiled at the last part.

'Damn, I can't believe I said that.' I thought feeling completely embarrassed. "Look, I’m sorry about all that, I’m going to go." I said while getting up to leave.
He looked at me as if he wanted to protest but stopped, "Okay, your uncle's probably wondering where you are by now anyway. I'll see you tomorrow then. Meet ya at the bus stop?”
"Yea, I’ll give you your clothes tomorrow too. See ya."
When I stepped outside I was happy to see that the rain turned into a drizzle, I didn't want to get his clothes all wet and dirty because I had no way of washing them.
It took about three minutes to get back to my house at a running pace and all of a sudden a wave of fear hit me at the sight of my uncles pick-up truck parked in the dirt driveway. 'What did you expect? Him to not be home?'
I dragged my feet across the worn down welcome mat and stepped inside to see my uncle sitting on the couch with a beer bottle in his hand and a cigar in his mouth. As soon as he saw me step in he lifted two fingers to remove the cigar and blew a puff of smoke from between his stubbly lips. "Where’ve you been boy? I see you ain't wear'n none of your clothes, so don't even try lien to me."
"I was over a friend’s house. I got stuck late after school so we walked home."
"What was the point in goin over his house when you know you've got chores to do?" He asked while slowly standing up.
I gripped my soaked clothes harder with my arm and answered, "It was pouring out Uncle Jimmy, I never do the chores in the rain; I didn't think it would make a difference. He's new around here so I was just trying to help him out. Oh, and those papers that man tried to get you to sign; there for him, you need to sign them uncle. The school's giving him a hard time."
The corners of his mouth lifted in a forced smile. "Well you thought wrong boy. Twice! You did have them chores to do and I don't have to sign shit!"
"But he..." Before I could even finish my sentence my uncle cut in. "Shut the fuck up!" He yelled while throwing his beer bottle in my direction. I tried to move but it hit me hard in the shoulder. I dropped my clothes to rub the spot where the bottle hit me. I was sure a bruise would show up there soon.
"You damn faggot! Because of you I had to load the turkeys into the truck and drive it to the Pratt's by muhself in the damn rain! Dammit boy! Sometimes you just piss me the fuck off!" He yelled in a drunken rage.
He started running his hand through his hair, pushing it back like he always did when he was extremely ticked.
He continued cursing angrily until he led himself into a hysteric where he'd swing his arms at me. I took a step back trying to avoid his massive fists. I was scared and unsure of what to do; there wasn't much room left for me to avoid his hits.
"I let you fucken live here and all I ask of you is to do yur damn chores and yuh can't even do that you useless shit! Instead yur runnen around to boys houses like a little fag! I didn't raise you that way you damn dick loving queer!"
As soon as the last word left his mouth he swung a drunken fist at my face, but I ducked so he missed.
"I- I'm not gay Uncle Jimmy!" I yelled while moving around him hoping that I could get out through the back door.
"That's right! Get out’a muh house! I don't need no faggots on my property!"
"Shut up! I'm not a fag!" I yelled while storming through the back door; finally I was free from his anger for now.

I walked over to the barn to get out of the rain and it was surprisingly warm inside. I went to the far corner of the barn and stacked the hey to make a secluded area. At least now if my uncle came in he wouldn't be able to see me.
I was wet, itchy, and hungry. I didn't know how long I’d last like this. 'What am I doing? Where will I end up in life with Jimmy for an uncle.' I thought silently to myself.
I missed my aunt a lot. None of this would be happening if she were here. She was like a medium for my uncle. When she wasn't around he'd be mean and aggressive, but when she was near, you could almost consider liking him.
I could feel my eyes starting to get warm with tears, but I didn't want to cry. Boys don't cry. So I laid there and held it in.

*Daylith's View*
About an hour after Timmy left, my dad got back home. I told him practically everything that happened today, including having Timmy over for an hour and a half.
"I'm glad to hear you’re enjoying it here. I was worried that the drastic change from city life to country was going to be too much." My dad said while sipping coffee.
"I know, I was thinking the same thing too, but it's cool."
"That's good. Well I’m gonna get to bed, I have to get up for work the same time you have to go to school."
"But it's only seven o clock."
"Yea well, you know the saying… early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
"Yea yea, you’re such a dork dad. Night."
"Night kid."

I decided to go to bed early too. I was pretty tired anyway, but I couldn't help but stay up awhile thinking about Timmy. 'I wonder what happened with his uncle when he got home.'