Curveball

Chapter 6

We pulled up the short driveway leading to the house, and I was awestruck as soon as I saw it. It was a beautiful beige two-story house on a little corner of the street. It had green shutters with green flower boxes underneath the windows. Whenever I opened the door to get out of the car, Angel told me not to move. I tried to stand up, but my bruised stomach made me sit back down. He came over and picked me up in his arms and carried me to the door of his house. Angel tried to open the door, but it was locked.

As he rang the doorbell, he held me in his arms the entire time and never let me go. I wished this moment would never end. Him just holding me tight, the music playing in my head. I just wish I wasn't beaten to a pulp. On the second ring, the door finally swung open, and a lady who looked just like Angel opened the door. She was wearing a men's T-shirt and grey sweatpants. You could tell she was woke up from a deep sleep. The look that she had when she realized what was going on was one of confusion and distress.

"Oh, my God!!!" she frantically started screaming. "Are you okay?! What happened?!"

"Mom, I'll explain in a few minutes," Angel calmly said. "Just let us get in the house. He's hurt bad; just get him in here."

She swung the door opened wide and rushed back into the house. He carried me through the living room and up into his bedroom. I couldn't help but feel happy that something like this was finally happening to me. I was finally being held by a boy who loved me for who I am and not just because they had to. If this was what doing wrong felt like, I never wanted to do right again. He then laid me down on his bed, looked at me, and smiled.

"Everything will be all right now, Joey," he sweetly whispered. "I'm here. I've got you. Don't worry about having a place to live. I've got you. You're safe. Mom, you gotta call Sarabella now! It's an emergency."

I didn't care who was called. He just told me I was safe. All these years, I've wanted to hear those words. From my mother. From my teachers. From everyone in my life who I thought loved me but eventually did me wrong. And when I do hear it, it's from someone who actually loves me. The only thing I could do is cry. Part of it was from my stomach, but most of it was from actually being told that I didn't have to worry about anything anymore. He then did something I didn't see coming at all. He gently caressed my cheeks in his hands, turned my head downward, and kissed my forehead. At that moment, I felt sparks flying as I never did before.

"Holy shit!" I thought. "The love of my life actually kissed my forehead. This night can't get any better." He looked at me and then smiled.

"I know you've had a rough life, baby, but now, you won't have to worry about any of it anymore. I'll be your protector. I'll be your rock when you need to cry and vent. I'll be your love."

"Oh, FUCK!!!!!" my thoughts started screaming. "Did he really just say, 'I'll be your love.'?! What the hell!?"

Apparently my face showed my thoughts more than I could stand. He looked at me, took my hands in his face, closed his eyes, and KISSED ME! What the hell was going on?! First, I start having the worst night ever. Then it all changes whenever I'm collapsed on the sidewalk with two bags. If there really is a God, I was thanking him now. My eyes widened when he put his lips to mine. He then pulled away and just looked into my eyes.

"It's all gonna be all right, baby. I told you. I'll be your love... AND your lover."

I just looked at him for a second, grabbed his face, and pulled it in for another kiss. The first kiss was like I was tasting the nectar of the gods. If there was a heaven, this would have been it for me. I wished this night would be my life for all eternity. How could something everybody frowns upon feel this so damn good? We just held onto each other's face and enjoyed the moment. It felt like an eternity passed when in reality only a minute had gone by.

"Holy shit," was all I could end up saying after that. He left me speechless.

"I'm saying the same thing," Angel said, gasping for air. "That was something I never experienced before."

"Thank you, Angel," I said, blushing more now than I ever did before. "You don't realize what you just did for me, baby." He just laid there and looked at me, confused.

At that moment, I heard the door open up. Standing in the doorway was a blonde-haired girl dressed in a pink sweatsuit. I assumed she was Sarabella. She had on running shoes and looked like she ran for marathons.

"Angel, I ran here as soon as I got...," she trailed off, out of breath and seeing the beat-up man laying on the bed. "Oh." She paused for a brief second. "Angel, tell me everything."

He told Sarabella everything that happened that night, including how he found me on the side of the street. I so wished he hadn't told her that my mother kicked me, but I couldn't control what he was saying cause I started feeling where I was kicked. Now that I think about it, I think Mom who was wearing steel-toed boots. It wouldn't be bruising as much and as bad as it is. I started groaning, and they looked at me. Joey's look was out of concern and worry. Sarabella's was out of what-the-hell-is-going-on-ness.

"Are you okay, baby?" Joey was distressed and starting to tear up. All I could do was groan. He looked at me and lifted my shirt. I winced and looked up at him, the look pleading for him not to take off my shirt. He just looked at me and dried his cheeks (Apparently, some tears leaked out of his eyes and down his gorgeous face.) "Baby, please. Let me see. I won't hurt you."

I reluctantly consented, and he lifted my shirt over my head, revealing the bruises on my ribs and stomach. He looked at me in terror and started just bawling. This caused ME to start crying, and Sarabella chimed in a stupid question.

"Why the hell are you guys crying?" Then she walked over and saw my black-and-blue abdomen.

"Oh, my God." She was in shock at what she saw. Then she looked at my face and saw the handprint. "Angel, we gotta get him to the hospital."

"They won't let us in, Sara. They know he's gay. You can't imagine how discriminatory they are here. We gotta take care of him here."

"You guys...," I tried to speak up, but it came out as a pained whisper. "You guys don't have to do anything. It'll eventually go away." I got cut off by my own pain.

"That right there is why we HAVE to do something," Sarabella said to me like I was stupid. "You can't be in pain for the rest of your life."

"She's right, Joey," Angel said in worry. "We gotta do something."

"Fine," I said, giving into their stubbornness of the matter. "Just take me to the hospital then, I guess."

Who knew this blowup from my mother would cause so much pain to me and worry to everybody around me? Why couldn't I have a normal life with my boyfriend? Well, I may never know the answers. But one was about to get answered: How much discrimination was I gonna face by the hospital?