Birch and Lawrence **OLD**

It All Comes Crashing Down

"Birch? Are you awake?" Mr Kelton called.

Thinking fast, Birch jumped out of bed and pressed his weight against his bedroom door. "Get your clothes on," he told Lawrence. "Then climb out the window. I'll keep my pa out."

Lawrence started getting dressed, which was difficult to do because he was shaking so hard. It took a long time.

"C'mon, faster!" Birch hissed.

"Birch, who're you talkin' to?" his father called. Birch didn't reply.

Every second felt like minutes. Mr Kelton knocked on Birch's bedroom door. "Are you alright in there?" He tried to push it open, and realized Birch was pressing against it. "What're you hidin'?" he demanded accusingly.

"Nothin, pa!" Birch shakily replied. Lawrence was fully clothed now, and he was struggling to get Birch's window open.

"Don't you lie to me, boy!" Mr Kelton yelled. "Lemme in there!"

"No!" Birch cried.

That's what did it. Before Lawrence could get the window open, Mr Kelton's big, burly strength pushed the door open and Birch fell to the floor. He saw a nigger kid, his son lying nude on the floor, and put two and two together.

"What the fuck is goin' on!?" Mr Kelton yelled.

Birch panicked. "Pa, this isn't what it looks like-"

Mr Kelton gave his son a hard, stinging smack across the face. "It's true!" he bellowed. "You are a faggot! And a faggot with a nigger, too! Would you believe it!"

A trickle of blood streamed down Birch's lip. He turned his head to Lawrence. "Lawrence, run!"

Lawrence acted quickly, tossing Birch's pants to him. He opened the window and began to climb through it.

"Hey, hey git back here!" Mr Kelton ran after him, but Lawrence had escaped into the night before he could grab him.

By now, Mary was frightened and entered the room. "What's goin' on?" she cried. She saw her brother bleeding, and gasped. "Mary, leave!" Mr Kelton demanded.

"But, Birch-"

"Leave now!"

Quick as a flash, Birch grabbed his pants, ran to the window and lept out. He heard his father screaming at him to come back, calling hims horrible things. After running several meters Birch put his pants on as swiftly as he could and called Lawrence's name. He heard bushes rustling behind him, and when he turned around he saw Lawrence crawl out. He sprinted to him and hugged him tightly. "Birch, I'm so sorry," he sobbed. "It's all my fault."

"No it's not, honey," Birch whispered, stroking his hair. "C'mon, we gotta run!"

With that, they took each other's hand and ran off into the forest. They made the fatal mistake of running to an opening, where they were greeted by a dozen of Klansmen waiting for them. They turned around and ran back to where they came, but were stopped in their tracks by Mr Kelton and several more Klansmen. Mary trailed behind them, crying loudly and begging for them not to hurt her brother.

At that moment, Birch and Lawrence knew there was nowhere to hide now. There was little to no chance of them making it out of this alive. They got on their knees and put their hands behind their heads, surrendering to their worst fear.