A Tale From The Closet (Grant O'Brien Collegehumor fanfiction)

Chapter 9:

We looked the whole town for Grant. He wasn't anywhere to be found. I went to the gay bar occasionally to ask Alex or Pothead Paul if they saw him.

'Sorry, kiddo,' they'd tell me, 'He doesn't come here. Wonder what snapped him?'

Me, I thought. I snapped the guy up. I felt sick when I get closer to the gay home. Not because it was gay, but it just made me guiltier of what I did to him.

Sam Reich said he still came to the bar to work. I tried to go to the bar to see if he's there but every time I went there, it wasn't him. Sam said he'd try talking to him but I knew Sam couldn't change his mind either.

One day, Grant's parents came home. They were nice folks. Mrs. O' Brien was this sweet woman, light brown hair with those eyes Grant looks at me with, soft green. His dad, kind of looked hard, Grant looked a lot like him. But instead of having soft eyes, he had cold, hard eyes. Seems that he was losing bit of hair.

I told them what happened and they just shook it off, as if it normally happens. They didn't seem to care their son was missing. He could be running to Mexico and they still wouldn't be shocked.

'He's always like that,' Mrs. O'Brien said as we were eating at the dinner table, 'He'll come back eventually.'

'Ah, that boy,' Grant's father started, 'he doesn't seem to care at all. He already flunked math and mechanics, what kind of guy with the right mind would fail mechanics? Our son, that's all. He should be more like Julian, straight As and all. Bright boy, alright.'

'Charles, you always have something to say about Grant.' Mrs. O' Brien growled, 'Our sons are both doing well. Grant maybe isn't happy with mechanics. He's pretty good at art, you should see how great the kid draws...'

I tuned out, I didn't wanna hear it. Praising their son when he knows they're all lies. He's out there, alone, losing his head and they both seem to be not worried about where he is and if he'll ever come back. No wonder he doesn't speak what's on his mind. They always have something to say about him, whether it's him sucking at mechanics or something else. I have never heard them tell Grant they loved him.

More days pass and it's April. Grant has been missing for almost a week now. He didn't go to school, he started to work at the bar less and less, and he barely showed up in that gay bar. I was starting to think more and more. All the possible places he could be. After school, I'd go to Sam, Alex, Katie and Rekha. Nothing, he was gone for good. I couldn't ask the cops to help us or he might end up in jail again, even longer.

Grant's mom and dad didn't seem to mind. They lost hope, I mean they didn't want any talk about him. When I'd bring him up, one of them would change the subject. I feel like running away too, but I didn't, for Grant. I was his brother, I still believed he's still out there, hiding. But I also thought, what if he did come out? His parents would banish him, kick him out, he'd be out on the streets, homeless, barely making ends meet, getting beaten up. Because he's different and I just noticed that now.

I got out of school to do my usual search pattern for Grant. Katie and Rekha haven't found him yet either. Trapp, Zac and Raph don't know he's missing. We didn't want to risk it. I paced to the drive-in and see Josh Ruben and his buddies laughing and smoking. Josh was wearing a muscle tee and over this signature leather jacket. They notice me and start snickering.

'We heard you lost your big brother, smartass. What are you doing, looking for him? Oh, Grant where are you? How I miss your faggot body right by me.'

'Shut the f--k up!' I shouted. My face was burning. I was mad, but I couldn't fight them. I wasn't going to win one-on-five. It's pretty obvious what the outcome would be.