Bent (Boyxboy)

Chapter 6

Danny arrived back home with a tired smile on his face and a wad of cash stuffed into his pocket. He was victorious at the races today, and was lucky enough to not get caught by the cops on the way there and back. Danny legally wasn't supposed to be driving because he was only in his second year of high school, and didn't have a licence. He had got into racing at the beginning of high school when he became unlikely friends with a couple troublemakers that were in the upper years, and have since graduated.

They had helped Danny to get a car, with the condition that he had to pay them back for it with interest, and taught him how to drive and drift. Within only a few races Danny had won enough money to pay them back for the car and then some. With that out of the way he began to save up some money so that he could get an apartment for him and his younger brother to stay at, instead of the vile home that he currently lived in. Danny, Philip, and their parents all lived in what used to be a beautiful four bedroom house with a backyard and a thriving vegetable garden. But the house was nothing more than peeling paint, empty alcohol bottles, and mostly empty cupboards, and the garden was nothing more than a patch of thistle bushes.

When Danny opened the door to the dishevelled house he almost tripped over a small pile of liquor bottles that were laying just inside the doorway. The house looked like there had been more then one frat party going on in there, but Danny knew the truth. You'd never think that the actual causes were just two adults in their late 40s. As Danny stepped around the bits of debris, from what probably had used to be a wooden chair, he caught sight of his younger brother Philip peaking up warily from around the far side of the couch.

"Its just me, Philip," Danny told his brother in a soothing voice as walked over and ruffled his younger brother's hair. Danny could visibly see Philip relax and lean against him, his eyes closed for a moment before he looked back up at Danny and grinned. "How was school?"

Philip's smile faltered for a moment before it came back, but more strained. Danny knew something was up, and as Philip opened his mouth to speak Danny made sure to raise an eyebrow at him. He usually only did that as a warning to his younger brother not to lie to him. Philip quickly closed his mouth and looked down at his hands as he nervously fiddled with his fingers. Danny just stood there and waited, he knew Philip would spill the beans.

"Well the day was going pretty good up until gym class," Philip hesitantly told his brother, keeping his eye down. "When we were all changing I tried to sneak away to the bathroom to change, and the other boys kind of blocked my way. They told me that I had to change in the room like a man and stop being a sissy. I tried to tell them why but they were already trying to tear my shirt off."

Philip began to sniffle and rubbed his eyes, trying his best to not cry and to act strong like his older brother, Danny. But Danny pulled the 12 year old closer to himself, and gently rubbed Philip's back. Danny can figure what happened next without his younger brother having to say anything.

"They saw the scars?" Danny asked in a hushed tone, as he continued to rub his brother's back. Philip nodded against Danny's chest as he snuggled closer and gripped the back of Danny's t-shirt under his leather jacket. "I'm sorry big guy."

Danny knew that Philip was a bit of a softer guy, and because he didn't really stand up for himself much he was bullied a lot, and now there was just one more thing for them to bully him about. Danny knew what it was like to be in his position as he used to be there himself, that was until he started to fight back, now no one messed with him. But Danny knew that Philip would never be like that as Philip didn't like violence.

"What would you say if I made your favourite for dinner tonight?" Danny told Philip trying his best to cheer him up.

"I would say that you're the best brother in the world," Philip mumbled into Danny's t-shirt, squeezing him even tighter for half a second more before letting go. They both walked into the kitchen and Danny began to make Philip's favourite dinner of macaroni and cheese with hotdog pieces, while Philip brought out his homework to work on at the table. Danny brought two bowls over to the table and set one down in front of Philip and the other one at the empty seat to the right of him. Danny ran out of the kitchen and over to his bag that he had left next to the couch. He rifled through it until he had found his homework and returned to the table to work on it.

For a few minutes they sat in silence, eating their dinners and working on their respective homework. Danny could see out of the corner of his eye that Philip was struggling a bit with his homework as his eyebrows were scrunched together in concentration. Danny pushed aside his homework for a moment and helped his brother through the problem that he was having difficulty with, before resuming his own homework. It was not 10 minutes after they had put their homework away and cleaned the dishes in the sink that they both heard the door slam open. Danny's heart sank and Philip started to hyperventilate and tremble.

"Hide! Now!" Danny whisper-shouted at Philip, not taking his eyes off of the approaching shadows. Philip didn't wait to be told twice and booked it away from Danny to find a good hiding place. Philip was long gone before they came around the corner and entered the kitchen. Before they even got into the room the unmistakably strong smell of vodka and beer wafted over to Danny making him scrunch up his nose.

"Mother, father, welcome home," Danny started, his mind going back to the painful days of being trained to welcome them home properly, the monsters he was forced to call parents. "Can I get you something fo-..."

Danny was cut off by his father's swift and drunken approach, for a moment Danny was caught off guard and that was when he struck. Danny fell to the cold tile floor, the right side of his face was stinging from the backhand, and a small trickle of blood slipped from the corner of his lip. That's when it hit him, literally, that they were more drunk than usual and that there would be no reasoning with him tonight. Danny was thinking that things would've been a lot better if he had not trusted his elder brother and allowed him to talk Danny into mentioning to their parents that he might be gay. But for tonight, he would hope that he'd be able to see the sunrise the next day.