Craig Taylor awoke slowly on a sunny Saturday morning. He had turned the phone ringer off the night before so as not to be bothered by any thing. It had been weeks since he’d had a good night’s sleep. Between his job, his impending divorce and worrying over the well being of his son, he was stressed to the breaking point. He roused up and looked at the clock. It was after eight. He knew that he could lie in bed all day as he and Jennifer used to when they first got married, but it just wouldn’t be the same. His family was no longer what it had once been and he was alone. Thanks to one Brian Kinney and the unearthly hold he had on Justin. Craig pulled himself to his feet and padded to the bathroom. After relieving his bladder, he walked to the front door of his condo to retrieve his paper. Tucking it under his arm, he then turned to the kitchen to start coffee and catch up on what was going on in the world. Dropping a bagel into the toaster, Craig opened the paper. The headline that assaulted him read, Prom Turns Violent. Craig stared at the paper for several minutes before bringing himself to read it. --Pittsburgh teen, Justin Taylor, was the victim of a vicious attack last night at the St. James Academy senior prom. Officials report that another student identified as Christopher Hobbs, was responsible for a near fatal blow to Taylor’s head with a Baseball bat. Hobbs’ is being held at this time by the Pittsburgh Police Department and will be arraigned at noon today. Taylor was rushed to a local hospital where he is listed in critical condition.-- Craig sat down hard in a kitchen chair. He stared down at the paper in shock. Justin’s smiling face stared back at him. His senior picture had been used in the story and Craig was struck by how innocent his son looked. Other pictures showed the crime scene. Craig’s blood turned cold as he saw what could only be Brian Kinney standing near the back of the ambulance Justin was being loaded into. He then looked over at his answering machine sitting on the kitchen counter. The light was blinking. He walked over to discover more than a dozen messages had been left on the machine. Steeling himself, he pressed the button. All but two of the messages were from Jennifer. Of the other’s, one was from the woman Justin was staying with, Debbie Novotny, and several hang-ups. Craig didn’t even care who hung up; instead he picked up the phone and called Jennifer. When all he got was her answering machine, Craig hurried back to the bedroom, showered and dressed and rushed out to his car. He had to get to the hospital. He had to see his son. ~~ Joan Kinney woke up with a God-awful headache. It felt as if someone were behind her eyes pounding on the insides of her head. Truth be told, it was actually a hangover, but she would never admit to any such thing no matter how true it was. Joan Kinney would never have a hangover. Never. She slowly made her way to the bathroom and downed 3 aspirin with a glass of tap water. It had become her morning routine as of late, but she dismissed it. Everyone woke up with headaches sometimes. She was just getting her lion’s share recently. No big deal. She splashed her face with water before heading down to the kitchen to start some much needed coffee. As the coffee brewed, Joan went out to check on the mail and pick up her paper. She, too, saw the ‘Prom Turns Violent’ headline, but dismissed it since it couldn’t possibly affect her in any way. She barely glanced at the photo of Justin and missed the background shot of Brian all together. Deciding to call Claire to have her daughter take her to her weekly hair salon appointment, Joan lifted the phone receiver and dialed Claire’s number. The paper and its content were quickly forgotten. ~~ Craig broke every speed limit between the house and the hospital. The paper had said that Justin was in critical condition. Craig didn't know exactly what that might mean. The only thing he was sure of was that Justin was alive and Craig had to get to him soon. Craig chased away thoughts of whether Justin would recover or not. Justin would recover. He had to. As Craig neared the hospital, he noticed several news vans and several reporters near the emergency room entrance. Damn Vultures, he thought and decided to got to the front entrance. The front entrance was nearly abandoned. Only one or two people were milling about and Craig was pretty sure they were not part of any television crew. He slipped in through the automatic doors and headed straight to the information desk next to the elevators. The woman at the information desk wore a pink smock and looked to be about 100 years old. She smiled at Craig as he approached the counter. Craig didn't feel like smiling, but returned the expression as best he could. "May I help you, sir?" The woman, whose nametag identified her as Margie asked. "I need to find my son." Craig said trying not to sound as desperate as he felt. "He would have been brought in last night from his high school prom." "The young man in the paper?" "Yes, yes." Craig nodded. "He was brought here and I need to see him." "Just a second, sir." Margie said as she turned to the computer in front of her. She quickly typed in something and used the mouse to click on something else. She just stared at the screen for several seconds until Craig was tempted to shake her and to see if she had somehow fallen asleep with her eyes open. "Here it is." She finally said. "He's in the ICU." Craig opened his mouth to ask where the hell that was when she continued. "Fourth floor. Turn left at the elevator and report to the nurse's station. They'll help you from there." Craig barely heard he last words as he quickly thanked her and rushed to the elevators. He mashed the call button and after what seemed like hours the car finally opened and he stepped on. He closed his eyes and scrubbed his face with is hands. Justin had to be all right. He had to be. -- The ride to the beauty salon was silent as Claire sulked in the driver's seat. Joan had no idea what was wrong with her daughter. Claire always took Joan to get her hair done. "Mother, I really wish you would give me a little more notice." Claire had said over the phone. "The boys are going to a birthday party today and I don't have to drop them off for another hour." Joan shook her head. Her own daughter couldn't stand to be around her. Didn't want to help her at all. And Brian, well, she didn't want to think about him. He avoided she and Claire as if they were lepers. Only showing up at holidays, staying for an hour or so and then leaving so fast he nearly left skid marks. Joan just couldn't figure out where she had gone wrong with her ungrateful children. In the end, Claire had dropped the boys off nearly 45 minutes early apologizing profusely to the mother of her son's friend. Gloria had just given her a forced smile and assured Claire that she would just have to put them to work setting up for the party. When they walked in to the salon, Joan noticed that her usual stylist was busy. The young woman at the counter greeted her with a smile and told her it would only be a few more minutes. Joan gave a smile she didn't feel and walked over to sit beside Claire in the waiting area. Claire continued to ignore her mother as she pretended to read a magazine she'd picked up off of a table. Joan overheard another woman whom she had heard the stylist called Linda discussing a story in the paper sitting in Linda's lap. Joan listened distractedly to what Linda and the stylist named Lynn were saying. "Isn't it just awful about what happened to that young man?" Linda was saying. "Just terrible." Lynn agreed. "I can't believe what people are capable of. And this was just a couple of high school kids." "I know. Makes me think about all those school shootings." "And at their prom no less." Lynn continued. "Such a nice looking young man, too." Linda observed. "I hope he won't be scarred for life or end up a vegetable." "We can only hope and keep our fingers crossed." Lynn crossed her fingers. "I can't even imagine what his parents must be going through." "I'd be a complete wreck if it happened to one of my boys." "Does it say why Hobbs took the bat to the Taylor boy?" "Well, some of the other kids at the prom stated that Taylor danced with another boy at the prom." "Gay bashing?" "That's what their saying." At the term 'gay bashing', Joan's ears perked up. She could not believe what she had just heard. A boy in high school who is homosexual. She couldn't believe it. What could the world be coming to? If the boy was lucky and lived, maybe that blow to the head would wake him to the sin he was committing and make him see the error of his ways. If that happened than it would all be worth it. He could beg for forgiveness and God would help him back to the proper path. Joan looked up to see the picture of the young man who had been assaulted. He was so young. And, yet so lost. With any luck, Joan thought, this will change him for the better. She smiled at the thought. She might even bring it up to the new pastor at her church. She was sure Reverend Tom would want to speak to the boy. He needed to be saved and Reverend Tom was just the man to do it. As the two women continued to talk about the boy in the paper, Joan decided to look for a decent magazine to read. There wasn't much to choose from. She picked up another copy of the paper to see what was under it when one of the pictures with the story caught her eye. There was a man standing behind an ambulance that Joan could only presume was the one that had taken the hurt boy to the hospital. He looked so familiar to Joan, but his face was in his hands and she could only make out a portion of the side of his face. She looked at it for a second or two, but then dismissed it. No way she would know anything about a couple of queers. She shook her head and dropped the paper onto the table and grabbed a current issue of a women's magazine. As her mind turned to cake baking and flower planting, she all but forgot the story. -- Craig exited the elevator and hurried to the nurse's station to check in and find Justin. The nurse looked up at his approach. Craig hoped she didn't smile at him. He was sure that he would strangle the very next person who smiled at him. "May I help you sir?" She asked with a look of indifference. "I'm looking for my son." Craig explained. "The lady at the information desk downstairs said that he's been brought up here." "Name?" "Uh, Justin Taylor." "Are you his father?" "Yes." "Mr. Taylor is in room 421." The nurse said. "Can I see him?" "There is someone in with him right now, but you can wait with the rest of his family in the waiting room." Craig nodded. "Right through there." She indicated a door opposite the desk. Craig opened the door to see his daughter sitting with some woman with a bright red wig and thick makeup on. He frowned and walked over to them. Molly looked up and ran to him. "Daddy!" She shouted. "Daddy, Justin is hurt and Momma is in his room with him and he won't wake up and I'm scared." She rattled off as he pulled her into his arms. "It's okay." Craig soothed. "Daddy's here now." Craig looked around to see that they had become the center of attention to the other people in the waiting room. He set his daughter down and looked in Debbie's direction. "You're Debbie, right, Debbie Novotny?" He asked. "Yes." Debbie said curtly. "Is there any news?" "I'll let Jennifer talk to you." Debbie said as she got up and walked toward the door. "I think I need some air." Craig frowned and wondered what that was all about. Two men who were sitting across from him kept staring at him and were making him decidedly uncomfortable. He looked up to see that they were two of the men who had been in front of the nightclub he’d gone to in order to find Justin. Craig thought about saying something to them, but just then the door opened and Jennifer walked in. “Debbie, you can go in and see Justin now.” She looked up in shock at her ex-husband. "Craig? We need to talk." She led him out the door and into an empty patient room. "How is he, Jenn?" "You care?" "Of course, I care. He's my son." "Right. When it's convenient." Sarcasm dripped from her words. "Where were you last night?" "I was at home." Craig explained. "I haven't been sleeping very well, so I turned off my phone." Jennifer bit her bottom lip. "How was I to know this would happen?" "And just how was I going to get in touch with you in case of an emergency?" "I didn't think about that." "Well, we all know you don't think anything through." "Jenn, please." Craig begged. "Where is he? Can I see him?" "He's in a coma." Jennifer's voice cracked. "The doctors don't know when or even if he'll wake up." "Oh, Jenn." Craig whispered as he tried to pull her into his arms. "Don't touch me." Craig looked like he had been slapped. He couldn't believe Jennifer was acting this way. Not now. "Jenn?" "Justin was bashed by one the students in his class." Jennifer began. "A boy who thinks the same way you do about Justin." Craig looked down at the floor. "He hates fags, too. Don't you see, Craig?" "See what?" "Don't you see what your hate can do?" Tears streamed down Jennifer's face. "This is what Justin needed protection from. He needed *you* to protect him and where were you?" Craig didn't know what to say. "Where the hell were you? If you're his God damned father, where the hell were you when he needed you last night?" Jennifer turned and stormed out the door. Craig followed her snatching her by the arm. “Wait a damned minute.” Craig said angrily. “I tried to be there for Justin, but you and that fucking pedophile convinced Justin that I didn’t care.” “Please don’t call Brian that. Just leave him out of this.” Jennifer said through clenched teeth. “This is not Brian’s fault.” “Oh, no?” “No.” Jennifer hissed. “I’ve tried to blame him, but I can’t. All Brian wanted to do was make Justin’s prom a night he’d never forget.” Jennifer left out an exhausted breath. “It was that other boy, Chris Hobbs, the one we didn’t do anything about, who hurt our son. And now, Justin might die because of it.” “So, you’re taking sides.” “Yes.” Jennifer said matter-of-factly. “Justin’s.” Craig felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. The head of steam he’d built up on the ride over was gone. He dropped his arms to his side and stared at Jennifer. She wouldn’t even look at him. “Just go.” Jennifer finally managed. Defeated, Craig shook his head and he walked toward the elevators. Jennifer watched him get in the car when the doors opened. Craig didn’t even look up as the doors closed. Jennifer wiped her eyes with the heels of her hands and headed back toward the waiting room. ~~ Joan Kinney walked back into her house just an hour and a half after Claire had picked her up for her hair appointment. Claire opted not to come in but decided she had to get to the birthday party where her sons were at instead, so Joan was alone. . . again. She blew out a breath and walked into the kitchen. She thought about making herself some tea or maybe coffee, but decided to pour herself a small glass of sherry instead. She drained the glass in one gulp then filled it up again. She knew in the back of her mind that she would pay for this in the morning, but at the moment, she didn’t care. As she finished off the second of many drinks to come on this beautiful Saturday afternoon, she listened to her house. All was silent. Dead silent. That thought made her smile. Better off dead. She thought and gulped down another drink. She walked into the living room and turned on the television. The four o’clock news was on, so Joan set her glass and the bottle of sherry on the coffee table in front of her and watched. It was same old, same old in the wonderful Burgh of Pitts. She chuckled drunkenly. She really was in the Pitts. Who else in the world could say that and it be so true. She giggled this time before taking another sip from her glass. She stared pretty much unseeing at the picture on the screen. She vaguely noticed the picture of the ‘nice young man’ who had been attacked at his prom for dancing with another boy. Her attention was caught for a moment as she stared at the boy’s face. So sweet, she thought, so innocent. She frowned. Then she saw a picture of an ambulance and caught a glimpse of the man she’d seen in the paper. He was facing away from her but he still looked so familiar to her. She couldn’t even imagine how she might know him. Perhaps it was just the fact that he had the same build as Brian or that his hair seemed to be styled similarly to that of her son’s. Before any real recognition set in, Joan decided she’d already had enough of the news and began to surf through the other channels. She settled on a cooking show. She had once loved to cook, so she enjoyed watching others create amazing dishes. By the first commercial, Joan Kinney had all but forgotten the man from the news program that had seemed so familiar to her son. ~~ Craig Taylor walked into the very first bar he came to. He sat down at the bar and ordered a shot of whiskey. The bartender poured the shot and started to move away with the bottle in hand. “Leave it.” Craig hissed. The bartender nodded then moved down the bar to attend to another customer. Craig downed the shot in one gulp feeling the liquor slowly move down his throat and warm his stomach. Tears that had nothing to do with the alcohol came to his eyes. He cleared his throat and poured himself another shot. He downed the next one as quickly as the first. Maybe if he was lucky, he could drink enough to cloud his pain. It’d still be there in the morning when he woke up, but for now he didn’t care. Jennifer was right; he’d failed his son. He’d failed to keep his son safe. Safe from Chris Hobbs. Safe from Brian fucking Kinney. Safe from the whole fucking world. He’d failed. No wonder Justin was the way he was, Craig thought, considering what kind of father I’ve been. He shook his head and downed another shot. The End.