Anthony's Story by MELODY DUPREE (first ebook reader .txt) 📕

"Do not meddle in what you don't know. There is a reason we both dreamed about the coffin of Melinda Johnson. But I can assure you that her spirit does not haunt that place," she snapped.

I couldn't help but argue with her.

"Where was the body buried because I'm pretty damn sure it wasn't in the family mausoleum if I am dreaming about a secret room in the cellar where you can't even tell the wall moves unless you push on it," I snapped back and she sobered down.

"You're right Anthony but no one and I mean no one has ever found that secret room in the cellar so we don't actually have a body in that house that we are aware of," she whispered taking my hand and pulling me down onto the couch beside her.

"The dream led me to a wall that is shrouded in darkness because you have to follow the trail of blood on the ground to find it. And if there is no longer the trail I can find the wall by using my dream and the memory of the position of the wall that I have of it in my head," I whispered and she shook her head.

 "We can search for it together. Now Ray needs some help getting Junior to respond because he's not talking and he's also throwing his things all over the place in that room he stayed in," she said and I nodded.

I walked upstairs and knocked on the closed door, entered, and immediately grabbed Junior around his waist quietly forcing him to the ground in a sitting position. His breathing slowed and he leaned against me as tears began to stream down his face. I knew he hated crying in front of any one of the guys on the team but sometimes for him he just couldn't help it. After I calmed him down we packed his things and we left to go back to America. And that was the beginning of my relationship with Junior.

With Anthony by my side I approached Jason and told him it was over. I made it quick just like pulling off an old Band-Aid or quitting cold turkey. Just as Jason was about to protest I gave him back the chain he had bought for me when we had first started dating and he turned and walked away silent tears streaming down his face. I made to follow after him but then remembered who was beside me and I turned to face him. He looked at me with a look that said ‘go after him’ and I gladly ran after Jason to find him in Jamie’s arms with the chain at his feet. I walked up to them and whispered ‘give us some space’ in Jamie’s ear and he nodded. He stepped back and I knelt down and picked up the chain and said, “Jason if it will make you feel better I’ll keep the chain.” He looked up at me his face tear streaked and nodded and I unclasped the hook on the chain and fastened it around my neck causing a small smile to appear on Jason’s face.

“Thanks Junior,” he whispered and we went our separate ways until lunch.

At lunch all the phones in people’s pockets went off only for all of us to receive a mass text alert revealing that the entire Baltimore high school football team was gay. Everyone immediately turned to look at our table just as another one went out saying our mother was a whore for giving birth to the entire high school football team. Just then I noticed Anthony texting on his phone and I leant over to read the text just as my phone beeped revealing Anthony’s new status as my mother’s slave and everyone burst into laughter as Anthony sent out his own mass text saying “Yeah I’m a slave and proud of it. So go suck your fathers’ dicks motherfuckers”, and everyone turned to look at our table with a vengeance. I grabbed Anthony and pulled him out of the cafeteria before anyone could attack him and I slammed him up against my locker once we were far enough away from the cafeteria.

“What is wrong with you man,” I asked as I noticed he was still texting out another mass text message.

   He hit send and immediately my phone beeped and I pulled it out to read, “At least their mom knows who their fathers are do your mothers know who your fathers are?”

  I looked up at him and said, “I can’t protect you unless we go in the janitor’s closet you know that right?”

  “I know but I can defend myself plus I have the team looking out for me right guys,” he whispered as the rest of the guys came up to us.

  “Yeah we got your back because they attacked both the girls’ basketball team and the boys’ basketball team as well so we have to have each other’s backs or else we will get walked all over. Anyway that mass text you sent out was fuckin’ hilarious. Both of them were actually,” Jason said and all of the people behind me agreed.

   “Just let me know if you need a bullshit mass text alert sent out because I can reword it just right and it will have the whole school in an uproar,” Anthony said and I pulled him behind me just as the whole school surged down the hallway towards us.

I looked at the guys and noticed that both the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams were standing there in a circle glaring at the rest of the school as they tried to get at Anthony. I heard Anthony texting another message and immediately everyone’s phones went off simultaneously and I pulled mine out to read, “Everyone’s going to be gay when they die and go to either hell or heaven so why everyone hating on the gay teams. Being gay just mean’s we are more unified and have more loyalty to our teammates than we would have if we were straight. So go hate on someone your own size,” and everyone busted out laughing.

“Okay Anthony we’ll let you go but only because you managed to get that mass text that said we’d all be gay when we die out to us before we hurt you,” the captain of the baseball team said as he walked away with his teammates behind him.

Anthony let out a relieved and nervous laugh as everyone walked away and went to their lockers to get their books for Spanish or whatever foreign language they took and headed to class. Anthony and the rest of the football team headed to Spanish class as I grabbed my book out of my locker and then headed to class. As I passed the janitor’s closet I heard Michael arguing with the team captain of the baseball team.

“I did what you wanted me to do James. So pay up and give me my god damn money,” he demanded and my first thought was to go in and punch him in his face for being a backstabber.

Just as I was about to open the door Anthony pulled me back and whispered, “The team knows and Jason is notifying the basketball teams as soon as classes let out. I saw him texting and each time he finished a mass text alert was sent out. I was checking the time on my phone but how he knew my status as that is a mystery because you know I don’t talk about my business like that."

 “Yeah I know thanks because I wanted to punch him in his face,” I whispered back as we walked to the field for football practice.

 After that we went home because practice was cancelled for all teams with gay members so that they could plan how to get back at the person responsible for insulting them. With Anthony in my car we headed to my house with literally thirty people behind us so we could plan our revenge on Michael. The plan would be placed in effect the next day and we wanted to be ready.

“What do you have in mind for the traitor you have on your team guys,” Johnathan Jordan asked as he walked up to us after we had all gotten out of our cars.

“Well I know something about his dad that he probably wouldn’t want to get out to the whole school along with something on his mother,” Jason said with a huge shit eating grin on his face.

 “And what would that be bro,” I asked as the team turned to stare at Jason.

 “His dad and my dad are dating and shacking up in my dad’s bed every night and his mom was a lesbian that didn’t even want a son or a daughter because she didn’t want kids so she abandoned him by leaving him with his dad as a baby,” Jason replied with a big ass smirk on his face.

“So what you are saying is he’s embarrassed because his dad is gay and his mom is a lesbian and he’s the only one straight in that family. So if that gets out his dad would hear about it and be extremely pissed off that his own son would break his teammates trust like that by revealing a secret that was entrusted to him to the entire school,” Johnathan said and Jason nodded.

“Let’s reveal it and do we all agree that Jason should be the one to send out the mass text alert since it’s his dad Michael’s dad is sleeping with,” Anthony asked and everyone nodded their consent.

After everyone left my house I took Anthony home and told my mom about what had happened and she shrugged it off even though I knew it hurt her to see all of her children’s business put out there like that especially Anthony’s new status. I gave her a reassuring hug, gave Anthony one last kiss and I headed back home for some food and a goodnight’s sleep.

I got to school and parked my car in my usual spot before I realized I was in deep shit if my teammates found out I betrayed them the way I did the day before at lunch. I walked over to the front doors to see most of the kids sitting on the front steps or lounging around on the grass of the quad as the bell had not yet rang