Sunshine Days - Chapter 26
When Jonathan rounded the corner, still lost in his own little world and humming, he nearly ran into Avery, who had been standing in his path to get to the bench.
He'd rarely run into anyone behind the cabin before then, except for David on one occasion. At first, Jonathan thought that this particular area, which he'd claimed for a safe space, a peaceful retreat where he could be alone, was simply taken over by another person and he'd have to go and find another place to hang out. It happened all the time. When he would find a little hermit crab shell to call his own, he'd soon find himself evicted, most times by teenagers, and he'd have to find someplace else. Unfortunately, this time it was Avery who was claiming the area. It would only take a few seconds for Jonathan to realize that this was not the case.
"Oh!" Jonathan had averted his eyes so quickly that he didn't see the look on Avery's face. "S-s-sorry, I d-di-," He stammered as he backed up, apologizing while making his retreat. He bumped into Henry, who was standing right behind him with Joey to block his escape.
"Hello, faggot," Avery said, taking a step forward.
Jonathan looked up, his eyes wide and fearful. He saw the predatory look on the rottweiler pup's face. His lips were turned up in a sneer and his eyes were blazing and hungry, like a feral cat stalking a small creature. It was then that he knew that they weren't there to hang out. Avery and his crew were there to hurt him. By the time he realized this, it was far too late. Everything that came next happened quicker than Jonathan could react to.
Avery stepped closer. There was nowhere for Jonathan to run. Any direction he tried to flee, he knew they would catch him. His heart fluttered, screaming for him to flee but his legs seemed to refuse to run.
"Well? Aren't you going to say hello?" Avery said before giving Jonathan a firm, open pawed shove to his chest.
Jonathan wailed lightly as he was sent flying backwards, nearly losing his balance if it hadn't been for Henry standing behind him. The big bull caught him and pushed him back forward again towards Avery. Jonathan stumbled as he was being pushed back and forth between the three boys, hearing their laughter spinning around his head.
Jonathan sought out what little strength he had left in himself to run. As he regained his balance and tried not to fall over from being shoved around, he spotted a break between Avery and Joey. He bolted for it but a strong hand grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him backwards.
"Yeah! Where'd you think yer going, faggot?" Henry said in his ear.
The bull spun him around quickly and gave his chest another firm shove, a lot harder than Avery's had been. Jonathan's sense of balance was already off kilter and that final shove sent him sprawling over backwards on the ground. He knocked the back of his head on the hard dirt, making bright stars dance in front of his eyes and his glasses go flying off his face. He heard them skitter across the ground. He turned himself over to look for them. He was able to see the sun glinting off the lenses despite his blurry vision. He quickly pushed himself towards them, reaching out to grab at them but Avery's foot came down on them, only inches away from his paw. He gave a short, despaired cry as he heard the crunch of plastic and glass. Avery's foot kicked them away, under the bench.
"Leave me alone!" Jonathan cried out, his voice a lot thinner and more pathetic than he'd hoped he sounded. This was met with malicious guffaws, Henry mimicking his voice shrilly.
Jonathan thought he saw another break, even though his vision past his own paws was a smudge of loose colors and shapes. He scrambled on his paws and knees until he gained enough momentum to push himself back up, but Joey's foot stuck under his legs and he went sprawling over again, this time on his front.
Henry's rough hands grabbed his shirt by the shoulders and jerked him back up to his feet. He bellowed out a loud scream in hopes that it would attract someone's attention and they'd come around the cabin to rescue him from his tormentors. A swift punch to the gut instantly quieted his scream, knocking the wind right out of him. Jonathan hunched forward, trying to draw in a breath but feeling like he was going to throw up instead. Avery, who had delivered the punch, grabbed a pawful of his hair and forced him to look up.
"You scream, you die. Got it?" Avery said. There was something chillingly sincere in his voice.
Jonathan nodded his head shakily, still trying to catch his breath. He silently prayed to himself. 'Dear God, please don't let me cry. Please don't let me wet myself now. Please don't let them kill me. Don't let them hurt me anymore...'
Henry had both of his arms pulled back, keeping him from running off or throwing any punches of his own. Jonathan would realize later, after this had all taken place, that the lump he'd felt in his lower back while being restrained was the bull's erection.
"Now," Avery said, backing off a little. "We've got a couple questions to ask you. And if you answer them, we'll let you go. That sound fair?"
Jonathan nodded quickly, coughing hollowly.
"Good. First question: Where's the Shindig being held?"
Jonathan looked up, able to see the black and brown blur of the pup but unable to see his expression. "What?" He asked in a voice husky.
Avery's fist came out of nowhere again, striking him in the belly once more. Jonathan had another coughing and gasping fit. His lungs were starting to feel tight. He was struck with the horrible realization that if he had another asthma attack out there, with no one to help him except his attackers, he could actually die. Tears started rolling down his cheeks.
"Where. Is. The. Fucking. Shindig. Fairy!?" Avery said, the anger rising in his stilted voice.
Jonathan whimpered and flinched as Avery spoke. His mind was racing, wondering how on earth Avery knew about the Shindig but more importantly, why he wanted to know where it was. He thought maybe they wanted to shut it down and get everyone in trouble. It seemed like something he'd do, given his particular history with David. Summoning what little bravery he still had left in reserve, he shook his head. A move he would regret.
Avery glared at him, huffing through his nose like a feral bull circling a matador. He looked up at Henry and gave him a nod. Henry gripped one arm and twisted it up behind his back, making the cat screech in pain.
"TELL US!" Avery roared in Jonathan's face.
"I don't know!" Jonathan wailed, squirming under Henry's firm hold.
The pressure on his arm intensified as Henry pulled it up an extra inch. Jonathan cried out and arched up, trying to counter the bright, flaring pain in his shoulder.
"I think you _do_know," Avery said. There wasn't a trace of malicious glee in his voice then. He was serious business. "I think you know and you're trying to protect your fucking fairy friends. Right?"
Jonathan whimpered and shook his head again. His breaths were coming out in short gasps and wheezes, his head was spinning, and he felt nauseous.
Avery growled again, looking up at Henry and nodded his head over towards the bench.
Henry smirked and slung the tabby cat around like a rag doll before throwing him down roughly on the bench. Jonathan gave a loud grunt as he landed in the seat, grateful that the rickety old thing didn't collapse under him. He was also thankful that they didn't decide to break his arm like they had broken his glasses. His shoulder still ached with hot, dull pain, and would still ache long after he left camp and went home, a bitter souvenir from Camp Sunshine Days.
He shrunk back as he saw Avery's blurry shape coming towards him again, watching him slip a paw into his pocket and pulled something out. He pushed himself back more, whimpering with fear as Avery held out the item, shoving it inches from his face where it became clearer. The item was a cellular flip-phone, one of the higher end ones that could take pictures.
Even though his vision was still a little blurry and the image on the phone was low quality, there was no mistaking what he saw. It was a picture of him and David when they were alone in the cabin, taken through a dirty window. There was David, naked and straddling Jonathan's lap, their faces frozen in ecstasy.
Jonathan felt the icy coldness of dread washing over him.
Avery smirked, seeing that his point was getting across. "You see it? You know what that is?"
Jonathan's lip trembled as he nodded, trying not to cry anymore than he already had.
"Good. Now, you're going to answer our questions, otherwise this picture's going to go all around camp. Then we're going to show it to Pastor Durham, and he's going to call your parent's and get you in trouble. You got it?"
In between strained wheezes, Jonathan asked, "Why...do you want...to know?"
Avery got right up close to his face again. He shouted loud enough to make the kitten's ears ring, spittle flying from the pup's lips onto his short muzzle. "NONE OF YOUR GODDAMN BUSINESS! THAT'S WHY!"
Jonathan closed his eyes and raised his paws to defend himself. Avery pulled back, breathing sharply through his nose. The pup took a moment to compose himself before continuing.
"You're going to tell us...where the Shindig is being held. And you're going to tell us who's in charge of it. If you tell us...If you answer our fucking questions, we'll let your fairy ass go. Got it?"
Jonathan looked down at the ground. He didn't answer right away. He needed a second to think about the consequences about telling them what he knew. It was more than just ruining the Shindig. No, they wanted to get information out of him and get everyone in trouble. Including his cousin. As much as he wanted to get away from these creeps, he didn't want to get Vince in trouble.
"I'm waiting..." Avery said impatiently. Henry cracked his knuckles and Joey stood off to the side, making sure no one would come around the corner and catch them.
Jonathan's eyes darted everywhere. There was no way he could squeal on his own family. He thought maybe he could just take their beatings and go on his way. He shook his head again.
Henry's fist came flying out of nowhere, colliding with his face with a dull, smacking noise that sounded nothing like how they sounded in the movies. Bright pain flashed in his cheek before becoming numb. Stars danced in front of his eyes again as everything briefly went black. He felt himself flying to the side, his shoulder landing on the wooden planks of the bench.
"Henry, what the fuck!?"
Jonathan could hear Avery shouting at the bull but it sounded distant, like they were under water. He opened his eyes again, the smudgy world spinning around his throbbing head.
"You're not supposed to hit his face, you fucking dumbass!"
"Sorry." He heard Henry say, his voice sounding dull and indignant. "What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that if you break his muzzle, WE could get in trouble. Fucking moron!"
Henry snorted and glared down at the smaller rottweiler before standing down.
Avery turned his attention back to Jonathan, dragging him up by his shirt and forcing him to sit up straight. With his face now mere inches away from his own again, he could clearly see the blazing, fiery anger in Avery's eyes.
"Tell me." He said in a low voice, "Tell me or we're just going to keep hurting you, faggot."
Jonathan trembled again. His will was weakening by the second, his dedication and resolve fading. He knew if he told them, his cousin would get in lots of trouble. But he couldn't breathe. He couldn't stand anymore pain and he couldn't stand the thought of everyone knowing about his dirty little secret.
'This is God punishing me,' He thought to himself. 'This is God punishing me because I'm gay...'
He ducked his head down as tears rolled down his dirty cheeks. Avery grabbed him roughly by the muzzle and forced him to look back up.
"Tell me." He said again with firmly controlled anger.
Jonathan broke down and told them everything they wanted to know.