Six Days in April

Chapter 6: Red Light, Green

Plan B, Jayden thought. Off to Greeves Street. If he could convince his mum that he wasn't a faggot, maybe his father would continue to pay the tuition for Melbourne Grammar. It was the only way, he thought, to convince Chezdon that the two of them belonged together, that Jayden could satisfy Chezdon as no one else could.

He had heard about Greeves Street, but he had never been. Brody and he had joked about going over to it or Grey Street sometime, but they'd never actually gone. Even for Brody, the red light district wasn't someplace to go on a whim. Or at all. Not at their ages.

Walking along Greeves Street, Jayden didn't see many women pacing on the sidewalk. It was still the late afternoon. There was, however, one girl—she looked 14—who Jayden focused on. Plain clothing, looking a tad scared. He walked up to her to start a conversation.

"Are you up for some fun right now?"

She looked him over and thought he was young for Greeves Street. Then again, she thought, there's nothing else going on. He could be a cheap, fast trick. Not too many punters this time of day, so what could it hurt?

"It depends on what you want and what it's worth to you," she replied.

"There's a hundred dollars in it for you."

"You know there's only a limited amount of things 100 dollars will buy, if you understand me." She looked around wondering if there were a bobby or two around. This guy looked so young. Maybe she was losing her touch—if she ever had one to begin with.

"OK, how about 150 dollars. And here's what I'm looking for." He explained his plan.

"I think I'm willing to do that," she said. "But what about transportation? Getting someplace and getting back here will cost."

"Well, ummm—"

"I'm Joannie."

"Well, Joannie, we'll go together to my apartment, and I'll give you enough money to get back here."

Damn, she thought, I haven't turned a trick in days. Where are all the punters? It's like the hobbyists had a convention and just left the red light district bereft of men needing comfort, men needing companionship, men ready to part with some of their wealth for a moment of fulfillment. Given that, what did she have to lose going with this child, Joannie thought. Besides, she was only 14. Someone near her age would be welcomed relief, all considered.

"OK. Money paid upfront."

Jayden pulled out the 150 dollars from his pocket and gave it to her as they waited for the next tram. 

Getting back to the McKenzie apartment, Joannie followed Jayden through the front door into the living room. Jayden's mother was sitting in the kitchen with a direct view of the door, smoking away on a cigarette.

"Who the hell are you?" she said, pointing at the door.

"Her name is Joannie, and she's my girlfriend," Jayden said.

"Faggots don't have girlfriends," his mother said and took a drag on her cigarette.

"I'm pretty sure he's not a faggot, Mrs McKenzie. He couldn't be." She turned towards Jayden and announced, "That was a great choice for an afternoon snack. Great cake!"

Mrs McKenzie got up out of her seat and looking Joannie over as she arched her eyebrow.

"Hmmmm...," she said. "How long have you two known each other?"

"We've been going out for a few weeks," Joannie responded, following through with the plan Jayden had laid out for her. "We've had a lot of fun in that time. Jayden's such an interesting guy!"

Jayden interjected, "We're going to my room to listen to some music." He gestured to Joannie to follow him as they went to his room.

Jayden locked the door to his bedroom and put on some music. As Joannie sat down on the bed, he picked a playlist with soft music. Something that wouldn't drown out any noises of "substance." After about 5 minutes, Joannie started jumping up and down, the bed starting to squeak. As the seconds turned into minutes, she began to jump more frequently, first with some deep breaths (in synchrony with Jayden's) followed by a gradually louder, "Oh, god, Jayden, yes, yes" repeatedly as she started to breath more frequently and shallower. Finally, she stopped and waited for a moment. She and Jayden then ruffled the sheets enought to make the bed look like they had both just been on top of it.

Mrs. McKenzie knocked at the door at first, then pounded. "Open this door, Jayden. What the hell are you two doing?"

"One moment, mum," Jayden yelled back. He opened the door, having made sure that his hair looked a mess and his skinny jeans as thought they had been taken off and then put on again. Joannie did the same thing with her hair and adjusted her jeans, and when Jayden opened the door, Joannie was touching her pants zipper as though she had just put them back on.

"Can I use the bathroom, Jayden?"

"Sure it's just over there," he said, pointing down the hall. As Joannie went to it, Jayden looked at his mum and asked with a smug look on his face, "What the blazes do you want now?"

After taking a drag on her cigarette, she responded, "Nothin'. Absolutely nothing." She then went back to the kitchen to resume sitting in her chair.

While Joannie was in the bathroom and after his mum left him alone, Jayden quickly took one of the condoms from the stash Brody had given him, queued up the video of Chezdon's donga while lying on his bed, and masturbated with all the speed as he could. He came in almost no time. He took the condom full of his juices and dropped it in the waste paper basket by his desk, and got dressed before he heard the toilet flush in the bathroom. He then shut off his computer.

Joannie reappeared as Jayden was walking out of his room, and as the two of them walked back across the living room to the front door, Joannie called, "It was nice to meet you, Mrs McKenzie!" She then said in a voice just loud enough to be heard in the kitchen, "He's definitely not a faggot."

"Mum, I'm taking Joannie back to the tram so she can go home. I won't be long, but we have to walk slowly since she has, ummmm, what the hell I guess, a full stomach."

"Yeah, right, Jayden," his mum responded, blowing some smoke across the kitchen.

No sooner were Jayden and Joannie out the door than Mrs McKenzie got up from her chair and went to the door into Jayden's room. She saw the bed looking disheveled and the conspicuous condom full of Jayden's cream tossed in the waste paper basket. She found herself badly confused. Faggots don't do this, she thought. She paused for a moment, smiled, and thought that there might be a grandchild yet.

Jayden took Joannie the short distance to the tram stop and asked if she had enough money for carfare. Joannie indicated that she did.

"Same time next week?" Jayden asked.

"Sure. But what if something comes up?"

"No problem." He gave her the burn phone number from the app on his mobile. They separated and Jayden went back to his apartment house. Along the way, going up the steps, he thought to himself that Joannie was a great actress and this plan of his would work perfectly. At last, Brody's scheme paid off. Absent the money from it, he'd never been able to pull off a ruse like this. Maybe now the bitch and his dad--her puppet-- would leave him alone and let him stay at Melbourne Grammar. After all, he thought smiling, he's not a faggot. At least not anymore.