Jack and Toby Ch. 01

When I heard the doorbell, I didn't want to leave him but it kept ringing so I went down and found his sister Sarah standing there. She asked to see him. "Toby you have to come home."

He looked at her. "No one wants me there, Sarah."

"He will talk to you and you're going to be allowed to stay and Jack can come and visit whenever you want." Both Toby and I looked at Sarah. "Just come home you will see, bring Jack with you if you want."

Sarah wouldn't leave until Toby and I got ready to come, we followed her back to their parents' house. Toby held my hand for the first time when we walked back into the house. Everyone was sitting in the living room and when we walked in his dads' face harden. "Dad you promised." Sarah spoke out.

He audibly drew in and blew out a breath. "Yes, I did. Tobias, let's go talk in the kitchen." I sat down facing Mrs. Smith, Matt, Charlie and Sarah. Sarah was the only one that really talked to me. After about ten minutes I could hear Mr. Smith laughing but then I couldn't hear anything.

When Toby and Mr. Smith finally came back out to the living room, Toby asked me to go outside with him and we talked. He told me, that he was allowed to stay that Sarah had yelled at their dad on his behalf. But it will take him a while to accept this, his dad isn't sure if he will be able to handle me staying over. But Toby said he was going to have me stay anyways, like always. I just laughed at him, he's always pushing the envelope.

***

Toby went to the police academy for six month at the LA Police Academy, his whole family was proud of him when he graduated. I was too, but I couldn't show him in front of everyone, they are still very uncomfortable with the two of us.

He was placed on patrol right away, and almost every day he worked he would come home and say he hated being a cop. He would never tell his father and I felt bad for him. I get to do what I always loved, paint faces as a makeup artist and he thought he would love being a cop and he ended up hating it.

Toby stopped telling me that he hated working but I knew he still did. He made it a year before he quit, at first his family couldn't understand. His uncles were evil calling him a fairy faggot that couldn't even make it as a cop. I couldn't believe that Toby's dad didn't stop it.

Toby tries to stand up to his uncles but they are just plain out mean and his family haven't been supportive about his coming out at all. He wants his father's approval and I don't think he's ever going to get it. One night I'd stayed the night, his uncles were over. Toby and I had gone to bed. I'd come down to the kitchen to get a bottle of water and I could hear them in the basement. I knew I shouldn't have listened in but I went over to the stairs, no one else was up in the house.

I could hear them arguing. Then I heard what they were saying.

"Why in the hell do you let this happen in your house? Bill don't shrug your shoulders; your son has another guy in his bed."

"I know Tony; you don't have to tell me." Toby's dad answered.

"So why the fuck do you allow it?" Tony responded.

"What am I supposed to do? He's my son."

"Throw his ass out, tell him if he can't fuck women, that he can't live here. Shit, this has to be a phase. He can't possibility be a faggot." Tony insisted

"Yeah I bet you anything Toby ends up with a woman, because look at this fag he's sleeping with. He fancies himself up, just as much as one. What man does his nails and puts on makeup?" Frank, Toby's other uncle added.

"I can't kick Toby out, especially now he doesn't have a job."

"Especially because he doesn't have a job. It's his problem he quit. He's the pansy ass that couldn't handle being a L.A. cop. Shit doesn't he realize that's what we all do every day?" Tony spoke up, he seemed to be the ringleader in all of this.

"Matt likes it, why couldn't Toby handle it?" Frank asked.

"I don't know. He never talked to me. He just quit." Toby's dad stated.

"Then why don't we ask him?" Tony said.

Oh shit if they do I need to get back upstairs. I quickly got up and slipped back up to the room, Toby was still sleeping so I laid down. I could hear them coming up the stairs and Toby's dad trying to stop them.

"What's going on?" Toby's mom spoke up before they could reach the door.

"Hey Betty." I heard both Frank and Tony say.

"We're going to talk to Toby." Tony responded.

At this point Toby was awake and listening, I had kept him from getting up. I knew if he went out it would end badly. "Why do you want to talk to Toby?" Betty asked.

"He's our nephew, why can't we talk to him?" Frank stated. Toby got up and walked towards the door.

"You're all drunk."

"There's our queer of a nephew." God I hate that phrase and I know Toby does, he's said it more than once. "How you doing?"

"Fine, Uncle Tony. Is there a point to waking me?"

"Boy for a little faggot you're very disrespectful of your elders." Tony went to walk up to Toby with his hand raised.

"TONY!" Screamed Betty. "Don't you dare." Toby didn't even flinch, he would've taken the hit Tony was about to deliver. I know he has been hit before.

"I just want to talk to the boy, Betty." Tony responded again and pushed Toby into his room past me and shut the door on everyone in the hallway.

All anyone could hear on the other side was some mumbles coming from Tony, he was too low to be heard from the other side of the door. Betty tried to get in but Tony must have had Toby against the door because she couldn't budge it. "TONY, YOU BETTER NOT BE HURTING MY SON." Betty yelled through the door.

He finally opened the door, Toby had jeans and a t-shirt on and just walked out before anyone could say anything. He walked passed everyone and down the stairs and wouldn't turn around. "WHAT DID YOU DO?" Betty yelled.

"I just talked to the queer."

We all could hear Toby's motorcycle leave the garage. "Someone call him NOW!" Betty responded.

"I will." I stated and walked into Toby's bedroom to retrieve my phone and walked back into the hallway and called. We all could he his phone ringing, it was sitting on his dresser.

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Betty screamed at Frank and Tony.

"I didn't do anything." Frank stated with a laugh.

I was just looking at Toby's dad, he didn't do anything to stop any of this, and he didn't protect his son at all. Why doesn't he do anything? I walked back into the bedroom, dressed, got my things and left.

I was hoping that Toby had gone to my house but he didn't. I got up the next day for work and there was nothing on my phone from him. I tried calling him and it went to voicemail. When I tried later, Betty answered the phone telling me he still hasn't returned home. Now I was getting worried about him, not that I wasn't already.

***

Toby had been missing for three days, no one had seen him. I stopped by his house everyday even his dad was worried. They asked me to stay for dinner, I was going to turn them down but it was his dad that said please.

It was Toby's parents, Sarah and me sitting at the dinner table when Toby walked in. "I got a job, so you don't have to worry that I'm not working." He went to walk back out of the kitchen.

"Tobias, stop." Bill spoke up, Toby continued to walk out. "Toby, please."

"Dad, I'm sorry that I'm...."

"Toby, no. I'm sorry." I could see them standing in the hallway "Did he hurt you and don't lie to me." Toby just looked at his dad he never answered him. "Show me."

"It's okay. Dad. It's fine." I saw Toby try to walk away and his dad try to stop his by grabbing his waist.

"Toby...."

"It's okay. Dad." I could see him go up the stairs and Bill followed him.

When Bill came back down, I went up to Toby's room and knocked. "Can I come in?" Toby opened the door. "Hi Babe." I wrapped my arms around him and he moaned. "Honey?"

"It's nothing." Toby responded.

"Toby, what happened? What did Tony do to you, where did you go all this time?"

"The beach, I rode up the PCH for a while." He avoided most of my questions.

We laid down after a while. "You said you got a job?"

"Yeah, as a security guard, it doesn't pay well, but it's a job." Toby stated. "Babe, can we just sleep, I'm tired."

"Yeah Hon. I love you."

"I love you too." Toby said.

Sometime during the night he turned away from me and in the morning, he was still asleep and laying on his stomach. He must had gotten hot in the middle of the night because he did what he had always done, he pulled his shirt off. I saw his back, his left side of his back had a few lines of bruises. There were round spots which I'm assuming were the main bruises that had radiated out from there. It just gives me more reasons to hate his uncles.

I got up and Toby never move, he had to be exhausted and ran into Bill. "Did he show you the bruises?" I asked.

Bill swore under his breath. "No, he wouldn't let me see them."

***

Over the next few weeks Toby grew distant to me, we hadn't had sex since before his disappearance. I don't know what's going on. Did I do something, is he starting to think differently about me? Or did what his uncle's say really bother him, to the point that he doesn't want to be a dishonor to his family so he's going to pull away.

So I waited until he was at my house before I said anything to him. He was still not really touching me. "Toby, what's wrong."

"Nothing."

"Bullshit, you haven't been right since you disappeared." I quickly responded.

"What are you talking about?"

"Toby, you haven't touched me, made love to me or anything since."

"We have...." I could see Toby try to think of the last time. "No Hon, we had to of. We been together every night."

"Toby, yes we've been together but it doesn't mean you still want me." Toby looked down. "Toby, do you?"

"I don't know." He got up and left, he actually left.

***

For the next week, every time I call it went straight to voicemail. I would go to work and be moping around. "Damn it Jack, will you stop doing that."

"Doing what, Shana."

"Pining over Toby. If you want him back, the fastest way honey is to go out on a date."

"With Toby?"

"NO. With someone else. Make him jealous, haven't you done that before?"

"No, I only had one boyfriend at a time." I responded.

"Honey, I can guarantee that he will be back on your doorstep, if he finds out that you're dating someone else. Do you have any common friends?" Shana asked.

"A couple."

"Make sure they know that you're dating someone and that they will let Toby know. Just offhandedly." Shana smiled. "Will your friends help you out?"

I smiled. "I think one will, but who in the world am I going to find to date?"

"How about Jeff, he's cute and he has been hitting on you. So that is a plus."

"I can't use him." I exclaimed.

"Do you want Toby back?"