Round Trip (part 1)

           

Round Trip

            Four thirty. Just enough time to get his things and go. Garrett went up to the small grey number pad that was located on the wall next to the garage door.

            Four…seven...nine…three…zero.

            The teenager looked around at the other houses on the street. He brushed his light brown hair away from his hazel eyes to survey the houses down the street. Nobody seemed to be home. Most of the cars that were parked in the street when their owners were home were nowhere to be seen Not even Mr. Whitaker’s brand-new, orange 2019 Corvette that he kept parked in the driveway as a means of showing it off. Little did he know, the woman who lived just a couple doors down had a Maserati in her garage.

But it might be better if he didn’t know that. Knowing that a woman made more money than he did would surely rub him the wrong way. Whitaker was nearly seventy—five years old, and too old to be having a mid-life crisis. (It didn’t stop him from buying that Corvette, though.) He was very set in his ways, in a sense. So basically, not a fan of progressiveness.

            For a moment, Garrett considered waiting until Mr. Whitaker got home so he could take the old man’s car. He’d deserve it for leaving the top down. But, if he did decide to wait, Garrett would have to find a way past his parents when they got home. He was trying to avoid them at all costs. It would be easier if he didn’t have to come up with a lie to get out of the house.

            As the garage door opened, his phone buzzed out of inactivity. Garrett took it out of his back pocket and slid the green icon from the left to the right to answer the call he was getting from his best friend, Elliot. Raising the phone to his ear, Garrett already know what Elliot would say. But he was adamant about the decision he was making.

            “I already know what you’re gonna say. Yes, I’m still leaving. I can’t deal with my parents anymore,” Garret hurriedly whispered as he ran up the stairs.

            There was a pause before Elliot spoke, “I…didn’t call to change your mind.”

Elliot sounded a bit unsure of himself, which was very strange. Usually, Elliot was a braggadocious teenager. He acted as if he owned the world. But now, he sounded as if he might cry.

            “Then why did you call?” Garrett asked him, becoming anxious.

            “You’ll text me while you’re gone, right?”

            Garrett smiled a bit upon realizing that his best friend would miss him when he was gone. At least someone would. And for the right reasons.

            “Yeah, buddy. I will. Every chance I get.”

            “You think…maybe…I can come, too?”

            “No can do, El. I have to do this on my own. Besides, I need you to help me out, but you’d have to be here to do it.”

            “What d’you want me to do?” Elliot asked, sounded a bit less sad knowing he could help his friend.

            “Some serious shit is about to go down,” Garrett explained. “I’ll text you when it starts happening.”

            Garrett stopped speaking momentarily as he emptied his backpack and darted around his room getting the things he would need to bring on his mission.

            “I need you to stay safe until then, and…let you’re uncle know to stay away from the group.”

            “WHAT!? Why?”

            “Because Ben is helping me get away from my parents. But he asked me to do something for him, first.”

            “…Eww…” Elliot snickered. “I thought you were too old for him.”

            “It’s not like that!” Garrett raised his voice despite trying to stay quiet. He knew his older sister was home, probably, sleeping, and he didn’t want to alert her to his actions. Or, any that he may have made in the past.

            “Lighten up! I was just joking. I know you two were…ya know...close.  Like with Adam.”

            Garrett cringed. He didn’t want to remember what he had done with either of them. What they had made him do, just to hear them say they loved him. Only to be thrown away for a younger boy.

            “Sorry….” Elliot said. “I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

            “I’m not mad, Elliot,” Garrett could feel the tears welling up and rolling down his face. “I just… Do you ever get the feeling that your life isn’t yours? Or like people only want you around to do what they want?”

            “Sometimes. But, I guess, that’s just what it’s like for us.”

            “It shouldn’t be that way. So, I’m changing it.”
            “What d’you mean?”

            “You’ll see. Just make sure your uncle isn’t around when it happens.”

            “Right, but why?”

            “Steven cares about you. The way an uncle should. But, he’s a part of the group. For your sake, I don’t want him around when the police get involved.”

            “Ya know, you could have told me you were trying to take the guys down.”

            “And the fun in that is where?”

            The two boys laughed while Garrett put his things into his backpack in just the right way to fit everything he was sure he’d need. He’d just buy the other stuff as needed. He had enough money saved away to complete his mission without the money that was mysteriously placed in his checking account by Ben, but an extra three million dollars can go a long way.

            Garrett hung up and tossed his phone on the bed. He gathered his charger and threw it into his backpack. For a moment, Garrett wondered if he should even bring his phone. He knew if anyone really want to know where he was, they could just track his phone through the phone company.

            ‘Maybe I want them to know where I am,’ Garrett sat on that thought or a moment. He had been planning on taking down the group quietly and watch the panic as the members were being taken into custody. For as long as he’d been planning this quest, he’d been okay with that being the conclusion. However, if it were possible to pull it off while keeping everyone in the loop, that could be much more satisfying.

            Suddenly, the sound of a door slamming echoed into Garrett’s room. The sound made him jump, almost making him drop to the floor the way he did when his mother was angry with him. Or angry in general. She had a tendency to attack unprovoked. Virginia would often tell Garrett that he was allowed to visit Elliot’s house, or go to the park, among other things, but then cite that as an excuse to beat him until he crawled under his bed. The older Garrett got, the worse the beatings would be.

            “Shit!” Garrett whispered to himself. He’d have to move faster and plan the execution of his plot when he got to Tee Jay’s house when he got there.

            Garrett grabbed his backpack and quietly slid himself under the bed before mentally kicking himself in the balls when he realized, if his mom was home—and mad—that would be the first place she would look. But he didn’t have time to look for another place. He could hear the footsteps making their way towards his room. And in that moment, Garrett’s heartbeat slowed down just a bit. He’d realized the slamming door was the one to his sister’s room. Fortunately, she wasn’t as much of a bitch as their mother, but she could be when she was having issues with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, however, Josh had been at the receiving end of Norah’s frustration. Apples really don’t fall far from their trees.

            “Garrett!” Norah yelled. “I know you’re here! I heard the garage door open.”

            “Ugh…” Garrett slid himself out from under the bed, making sure to leave his backpack there. He didn’t want her to ask why all of his school supplies were dumped onto his desk, but it seemed to be full.

            “What were you doing under the bed?” Norah asked as she walked into the room, closing the door behind her. Garrett took note of that. He was planning to leave through the window, but Norah never closes the door behind her when she comes in.

            Garrett looked sheepishly toward the floor, “I...thought you were mom.”

            “Oh, I guess that makes sense,” Norah remembered several occasions on which Garrett had tried to hide under the bed when their mom was unleashing her fury on Garrett. And some times when it didn’t work.

            “Did you need something?” Garrett asked trying not to sound too direct or in any way set his big sister off.

            “Mom’s gonna be late getting home from work. She said we could order pizza. What do you want?”

            “Uh…I’m good. I was about to head over to Elliot’s house,” Garrett was surprised at how quickly he thought of that excuse, but he knew it put Elliot in a bit of a bind. He decided to let Elliot know about it and come up with an what to say if anybody came looking.

            “Cool,” Norah turned to walk out of Garrett’s room, her long, blonde hair swishing across her back as she left. “Just don’t bitch about being hungry later.”

            He thought about the times where he’d gone to bed hungry in the past thinking ‘It’s not like that would be a first for me.’ However, Garret’s father, Joseph, was a lot less harsh than Virginia. He would often pull Garrett out of bed and take him somewhere to get some food so the two of them could catch up while Garrett ate. On one hand, Garrett appreciate his dad for those times. But he wasn’t a stupid kid. He knew the main reason for Joseph did things like that was to make Garrett feel loved enough to allow his father to abuse him in his own way.

            Although obviously horrible, Garrett preferred that to his mother’s tantrums that usually resulted in bruises and welts and lots of blood. But, one thing he didn’t like about his dad forcing himself on the teenager was that it was abuse disguised as love. Sometimes, he wondered if anyone actually loved him. If anyone did, it wasn’t anyone in his family.

            Now that Norah was finally gone, Garrett could relax. He slid he backpack out from under the bed, pulling it onto his shoulders. This was the time to leave, if he had the balls to. Knowing his mom wouldn’t be home as soon as he thought made him feel as though he had all the time in the world. As Garrett knew, however, that just simply wasn’t the case. The more time he had to put distance between this house, the better.

            “At least I don’t have to leave through the window,” Garrett muttered to himself. Although, the Idea of doing so made leaving feel like a real escape, which is part of why Garett felt the aspect of leaving home would be so exciting.

Garrett picked up his keys and stopped.

            ‘I’m not gonna need these, anymore,” He told himself. ‘I never used them before anyways.’ True, Garrett usually just came in through the garage. At least, when his mom wasn’t home. When she was, he preferred to try to sneak in the back door. He didn’t want to be taken by surprise again and hit over the head with her umbrella. Or her purse. Or a frying pan. Anything she could get her hands on before her son walked really. Virginia liked to hide behind the back door for him while letting her anger over absolutely nothing involving Garrett boil over.

            He put his keys back down on his desk and took in a deep breath before letting it out. Just to make sure, Garrett checked to make sure he had his anxiety medication in his backpack. When he was confident that his Paxil was definitely in his possession Garrett made his way downstairs. Out of habit, he tried to walk quietly past his sister’s room. Norah was as intense as their mother, but Garrett could see her one day becoming just as hateful.

            ‘I hope she never has kids...’

            As Garrett reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard Norah call out to him from the kitchen. She was raiding the fridge while she waited for her pizza to come. Garrett always wondered where she put all that food considering she was a petite, short girl. Almost as short as her fuse.

            “You’d better get back before mom gets home! You know how mad she’ll be.”

            Garrett paused at the door, “Do you think Mom would miss me if I died?”

            “Nope,” Norah replied while stuffing the second half of a cookie she’d been eating into her mouth. “She’d probably be mad you didn’t let her kill you.”

            ‘Good,’ Garrett thought to himself with a smile.

He opened the front door, happy to go through this door without being concerned about what waited for him beyond it. Garrett went around to the side of the house and got on his bike. The one that Benito had bought him for his fifteenth birthday. It had been his favorite bike for over a year.

 Most kids in his grade were getting their driver’s licenses and cars their parents bought them. But Garrett knew his parents would never do the same for him. He had his driver’s license, although he never told them about it. Benito taught him how to drive, automatic and stick. He was the one who took him to take is driving test. There was talk about getting Garrett a car, but both of them knew that wouldn’t be possible. How do you explain to your parents a man they did know you knew bought you a car? His mom and dad would lose their fucking minds. And his dad might even be a little jealous of Benito.

‘Maybe I should’ve introduced Dad to Ben,’ Garrett pondered as he pedaled his bike to Benito’s house. ‘I wonder how that situation would end up.’

Garrett imagined them getting along well, or them hating each other and making it harder for him to visit Ben. Of course, by this point, it was too late to see how well that would work for him. Ben’s funeral was two days ago. Garrett was afraid to go but went with T.J. anyway. Neither wanted to see someone they cared so much for lying in a casket. Even if he was the leader of a child sex ring that he ran with his friends. Garrett never thought he would cry so much, or care so much, about a man he knew was just using him. Well, he more so thought he was being used.

It had crossed Garrett’s mind several times before and after Benito’s death that if he was just being used, it didn’t make sense for Ben to continued to spend time with him now that Garrett was out of Ben’s preferred age range. Even Ben’s son, T.J. (who was spared the abuse by Ben and the Group), once asked Garrett asked if he was relieved that he was only being used by one man now that he was too old for any of the members of the sex ring they called “The Group”. Garrett wasn’t sure how to answer that. He didn’t like participating in the activities they had set up for him and the other boys. But now that he wasn’t being forced to even be around the men, he missed the attention he used to receive.

Coming up to the red light at the top of the hill, Garrett took a right turn into a small side street that led to the gate encompassing many multimillion-dollar homes. He stopped at the gate to let the security guard know he was there to see T.J. The guard picked up a small black phone in the booth that he sat in, waiting for people to enter or exit the premises. After a short conversation, the guard let Garrett in through the gate.

Garrett noticed that the guard was giving him a vaguely sad look as he walked his bike through the gate. He knew. And Garrett knew he did. Many of the activities the Group held were hosted at Ben’s mansion. The guards knew what happened there, as did some of Ben’s neighbors. People in this neighborhood liked to know their neighbors’ business, but no one liked to get involved. And, even if they did, they weren’t willing to spend their millions in a court case against Benito for something they had no proof for, no matter how opposed they were to his...misconduct.

Garrett had a lot of practice shaking off the awkward feelings he got from the staring guards, which he was glad for. He used to not like when people looked at him. Now, he just didn’t care. This applied to the feeling of being watched he got every time he rode his bike up Ben’s driveway. He knew that there were cameras along the long trail that led to the house. He also knew that Ben loved to watch him as he pedaled his way closer. No doubt imagining what he would have in store for his prey. Hell, Ben got off on seeing Garrett’s shocked and horrified face whenever he mentioned it involved being tied up or paddled. Anything that made Garrett nervous was exciting to Ben.

Garrett Sighed as he rang the doorbell. He looked straight ahead instead of into the camera in the doorbell. Being here again brought back of a lot of memories, both good and bad. He hoped things would go well with T.J. as they’d had some issues in the past ranging from T.J. not liking Garrett to T.J. being jealous of him. And eventually, Garrett discovered that Ben’s son had a small crush on him. That confused Garrett quite a bit. He was never really sure if he was attracted to men or not. He felt the same way about women. But, when he found out that T.J. liked him, he was elated. And scared. T.J. Was a lot nicer than Ben was, however, he had his own quirks that occasionally gave Garrett nightmares of an evil toy master trying to turn him into a puppet.