The Skinny Boy Tales (boyxboy) - Completed-

Chapter 1

This chapter is dedicated BubbleBlowingUnicorn. She helped push me to and over 900 total votes! I appreciate you so much for that! Thank you!

Chapter 1
    The dark clouds above threatened ominously on that dreary morning. It only made sense that it rain honestly. In the movies, it always rained on the saddest days. Today, despite how my heart flittered with the idea of leaving my mother, felt like the most depressing day in my entire life.
    I was trading in one prison for another.
    My new home was to be the Trenton Live-in Clinic.
    My new prison.
    The first of the rain finally lost its grip from the black clouds above and splattered against the passenger side window. With a frail finger, I traced the drops path, fogging the glass where my finger made contact. Ohio was known for its ghastly winters, and this one already threatened to make its mark in the books.
    Sighing, I looked past the droplets into the bleak setting before me. Wadsworth, Ohio, my hometown, wasn’t a massively large town, but compared to Trenton, it was a metropolis. There were trees everywhere, and the few buildings we passed looked as if they stood against the weather for far too long, wearing away the brick and making the buildings appear far older than they possibly could have been.
    My mother drove silently as she occasionally eyed me through the rear-view mirror that she kept adjusted to spy on my slumped body more than to view the traffic behind her. It almost felt as if she thought at any moment I would sling the door open and leap into the rain. To be honest, the thought did cross my mind.
    I had to imagine what life would be like on my own, without my mother constantly breathing her hateful fire down my neck. How long would I survive in the outside world before a stiff wind blew me miles away; how long would I survive without someone constantly forcing food down my throat?
    How far would I make it if I just took off and ran?
    I liked to think that I would make it damn far, yet I knew better. I would probably make it a few miles before I passed out from sheer overexertion. My poor muscles were basically nonexistent now; I was little more than bone wrapped with skin.
    Most found that image terrifying, but I took comfort in it; I even found it beautiful.
    Suddenly, a huge Victorian-style house, painted the most vivid shade of white came into view. Despite the dark clouds above, the house shone like a white diamond, it’s vivid white paint reflecting every speck of light possible, shining like a beacon of hope.
    Somehow, I didn’t feel hopeful as we neared the looming, giant black, iron gates that wrapped around the clinic. Inn my mind, I pictured that the gates were electrified, serving as the boundary from my new prison and the outside world. I sat up as my mother pulled her car into the small square building in front of the iron gate.
    A round man in a black and white security guard uniform waddled out, pushing his thick bottle cap glasses up onto his nose. Unfortunately, with each step he took, his glasses slid farther down his bulbous nose, finally finding their home at its very tip.
    The deep wrinkles around his beady eyes hinted that he was in his late forties. His wiry black hair matched his handlebar mustache. As he neared the window, he pulled his cap from his tuffs of black hair, revealing a very pale, very shining bald spot. “What can I do fo ya, ma’am?” His voice was gruff, and I couldn’t tell if the gruffness was because that was his actual voice or if the early morning still clung to his vocal cords.
    My mother cleared her voice; though I couldn’t see her face, I knew she had a haughty expression on her features to match the condescending tone in her voice. “Silvia Rowe,” she said almost proudly. “I’m here to check my son in.”
    On cue, the guard turned his attention to me briefly. In that brief moment, I could practically see the disgust flash over his eyes. Self consciously, I sank farther in my seat and wondered to myself exactly how many boys this man saw come through these gates.
    More importantly, I wondered exactly how many boys came back out.
    That thought sent a chill down my spine, robbing the little heat that my body managed to retain.
    “Go on through, ma’am,” the guard said gruffly as he stepped back into his little building. The gate swung open, allowing entry.
    My mother turned her eyes back to me in the rearview mirror. I did my best to keep my face devoid of emotion, and I succeeded. Over the years, turning my exterior into an emotionless rock became one of my greatest skills.
    Despite my façade, my insides were in a complete and utter mess. My emotions were swirling and rocking like the sea during a storm; I didn’t know whether to be excited about leaving my mother behind or absolutely terrified.
    As the car inched forward, fear won out, leaving me near trembling as my mother drove around the large paved loop in front of the clinic. She pulled the car into a park and sighed deeply before turning in her seat to meet my eyes. I stared at her large green eyes and picked out every emotion except for kindness, compassion.
    Love.
    I had my mother’s eyes, and I hoped like hell that when someone looked in my eyes, they saw everything that this woman didn’t posses. Sadly, I knew that if someone were to look into my eyes right now, they would see a petrified boy in a whole world of messed up. No one would be able to see past that to see anything deeper than what rested on my skin.
    Then again, most of the time, I felt so incredibly hollow that I wondered if there was anything inside me at all; I felt like a husk of a person. I chewed up and vomited out any good that once rested inside me.
    “Don’t mess this up for us, Max,” she said as she ran her fingers through her dusty locks. The grey seemed to pick up the dull light, almost giving the locks that framed her face a glow, a halo.
    It seemed fitting for the woman who had the bible shoved so far up her rear. Don’t get me wrong, I grew up with religion. At one point, I believed wholeheartedly in my parent’s god, but once I realized my attraction to men, I couldn’t believe in a religion that dammed something I couldn’t control.
    “I’ll try,” I said sheepishly.
    My mother scoffed as her eyes bore into me. “You don’t get to try, Max. You are going to come out of here in a year cured. Do you understand?” She waited expectantly for me to say something.
    “I don’t think it works like that,” I mumbled. I doubted the fact that moving into a clinic would cure me, and to be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure what part of me she wanted cured more.
    My mother moved so quickly that I didn’t even notice her unbuckle her seatbelt. Before I knew it, her tiny body leaned over the middle console just as she slapped me harshly against my cheek. She hit me with enough intensity that tears automatically stung my eyes. “Did you hear me, Maximus? I don’t care how it works; all I care about is that you fix yourself. I’m not going to sit around and let you ruin me. This is your last chance. If you ruin this, so help me, the Lord is going to have to hold me back from abandoning you on some churches doorstep.” The venom in her words stung almost as much as my burning cheek.
    “Do you understand me?” She asked again as her voice returned to normal.
    I cradled my pulsing cheek in my hand as tears dripped down my chin. What did I do to earn this much hate from the woman that bore me? My existence seemed to be the root of all her problems; my existence seemed to be the root of all my own problems. “Yes,” I said weakly.
    “Good,” she eyed me, keeping her face flat. “Stop crying. I don’t want you walking in there looking more of a mess than you already do.”
    I nodded and sniffled, hurriedly wiping away my tears with the back of my hand. A sudden tap on the window caused both my mother and me to turn our attention to the aged face peeking into the car.
    Automatically, my mother’s entire demeanor shifted. Instead of appearing so hostile, her face lit up as she smiled brightly at the woman through the glass. She opened her door and stepped into the cool morning. “Good morning,” my mother said brightly as she walked around the car and extended her hand to the woman.
    I opened my door, pulling my crimson, knapsack over my shoulder and grabbing my small black duffle bag that held my clothes. Thankfully, the rain stopped.
    “You must be Ms. Rowe,” the older woman said gently as she took my mother’s hand in her own.
    “Yes,” she said as she nodded.
    “I’m so pleased that you made it here on time; punctuality is often most neglected,” the older woman went on.
    As they continued their polite greetings, I glanced around. The clinic was beautiful in a sterile way. The lawn was perfectly manicured and not even a single leaf from the two giant trees on either side of the clinic marred the lawn.
    However, I found myself turned around, watching the iron gate close. My chance to run was over; my fate was set in stone.
    “You must be Maximus Rowe.”
    I turned around swiftly, meeting the pale eyes of the older woman. Her tiny glasses hung on the tip of her nose. Despite the light in her eyes and the kindness on her wrinkled features, the sharpness of her pantsuit and the tightness of her white, powered curls took control, giving her a nearly domineering feel. It almost looked as if she spent much of her life looking down at everyone around her.
    She extended a hand to me. “I’m Ruth Darlene, head of staff at the clinic.”
    I took her hand and we shook politely. “It’s nice to meet you,” I managed through my near chattering teeth.
    “Now that we have that aside,” Ruth began as she pulled away from my touch, “let’s get you inside, Maximus.” She wrapped an arm around my shoulder and began pulling me up the long path that led to the front door.
    I glanced over my shoulder at my mother. She gave me one last look before getting into her car without as much as a wave.
    I resisted the urge to sigh as Ruth ushered me to the large, dark wood double doors. As she put a hand on the golden doorknob, she looked down at me. “I’ll give you a tour and introduce you to the other boys to break the ice, ok?”
    I could tell she was trying to be nice, but her voice seemed to echo the boredom in her eyes. It became obvious to me that she must have gone through this same routine dozens of times with dozens of other kids just like me.
    I nodded silently as she pushed the doors open.
    “This is the clinic’s main floor,” she began as we stepped in. Our footsteps seemed to echo off the highly polished dark hardwood floors. “This floor is where you will spend most of your time here. It houses everything. The kitchen is to the right.” She paused to point to a large open doorway. “To the left is the room where you will have group and individual therapy.” She pushed me forward to a large set of stairs directly beside the central hub where a man with short and tidy mahogany brown hair sat.
    “Make sure to check Maximus Rowe in and check his bags.” She smiled down at me. “Please hand your bags over to Mr. Dickson. He is our security guard who also helps with keeping an eye on all of you.” He nodded silently and offered me a small smile as he took my bags. As we began to ascend the stairs, he nodded once to me.
    Something about the way his eyes lit up when he smiled made me smile weakly back at him.
    “The upstairs is strictly the bedroom quarters,” Ruth began once more. “There are six rooms up here, but there are only three boys here currently. Well,” she said with a chuckle to herself, “there are four if we count you.”
    I stared down the hall. A long floral rug lined the hallway and separated the rooms. There were three rooms on each side of the hall. On the opposite end of the hall was another door.
    Obviously following my eyes, Ruth went on with her explanation. “The room at the end of the hall is the upstairs bathroom. Unfortunately, due to your,” she paused as if to lull the words over in her mind, “condition, you have to work towards free bathroom privileges. Until then, you will only be allowed supervised bathroom breaks.”
    I felt my face drain at the idea of having someone in the bathroom while I did my business.
    “Don’t look so horrified,” Ruth said with a light laugh. “You get used to it, and if you behave properly here, you’ll have almost all the privileges you are used to.”
    “Sounds good,” I mumbled.
    We began back downstairs. Once on the main floor, Ruth walked past the stairs. “You will find my office, the nurse’s station, and the living quarters for the staff.” She ushered me to a wooden door that match the floors. On the door was a golden plague with her name etched on it. “Please, have a seat.” She said as she pushed open the door.
    I did as she asked and sat in a large plush leather chair in front of an orderly desk. Ruth sat down in her chair and folded her hands on top of the desk. “I need to explain the rules to you, Maximus.”
    “I go by Max,” I said sheepishly as my eyes found their way to my feet.
    “Well, Max, I need to stress to you how important it is that you understand and follow every rule here.”
    I nodded.
    “In this clinic, you will have your room searched randomly to ensure that you aren’t throwing up and hiding it anywhere since the bathrooms are off-limits unless supervised.”
    The bluntness in her voice made me blink. She seemed so straightforward.
    “For all three meals, you will be supervised and will not be permitted to leave the room until you have eaten every bit of your food. I don’t care how long it takes; you will find that the staff here is equally as patient as I am. It is in your best benefit to comprehend early on that whether you like it or not, you will be forced into the rules; you might as well obey them from the beginning.”
    I nodded once more, a foul lump forming in the pit of my stomach. Nervously, I folded my arms across my chest.
    “It is very possible to work towards unsupervised meal times and unsupervised bathroom breaks, but you have to work very hard for them. Do you understand?”
    I nodded, meeting her eyes.
    “Good.” She said brightly as she leaned back in her chair. “I must warn that if you are found throwing up, you will be given one warning. In that case, all your previous rewards will be revoked permanently for the remainder of your stay here. If you are caught a second time, you will be removed from this clinic.”
    From the picture Ruth painted, being expelled from the clinic didn’t sound all that bad; however, I could just picture what my mother’s face would look like if I got expelled.
    It wasn’t a pretty picture.
    “Do you have any questions, Max?”
    The first question that popped in my mind wasn’t intended for Ruth. I wondered how in the world my sixteen-year-old self ended up in this place. “How does the reward system work?” I asked, unable to keep the nerves from my voice.
    “Well, it works in levels. All the boys here begin on level four, which requires constant supervision during all three meal times and bathroom breaks. On the third level, you will be allowed free bathroom breaks within reason. On the second level, you will be allowed to go outside after each mealtime in the courtyard instead of being cooped up in the house all day. On the first and highest level, you will be allowed unsupervised bathroom privileges as well as unsupervised meal times where you can actually eat in your own room.”
    That all actually sounded reasonable to me. “I see,” I said as bits of the nervousness left my voice. I couldn’t help but think to myself that this place wouldn’t be so bad if I managed to climb the reward system. It gave me something to look forward to, to work towards during my stay.
    “I see the hope in your eyes, Max.”
    I turned my attention to the woman in front of me. I found her smiling at me.
    “Don’t ever lose that hope, and you just may be able to beat this.”
    I nodded.
    “I want you to remember that no matter what happens here in the clinic, no matter how much you grow to hate us, we are here to help you; we have your best interest at heart. In a year’s time, we hope to help you in ways that you never would have been able to accomplish on your own.”
    Despite the hope in her words, something about them sent yet another chill down my spine. Maybe it was the way her eyes lit up at the prospect of me hating her? Nonetheless, my nerves kicked back into high gear.
    “I’ll do my best to remember that,” I responded honestly.
    “Great!” She said as she rose to her heeled feet once more. The thought that a woman so old shouldn’t be wearing such high heels popped into my mind, but I shoved it to the side. “Let me introduce you to the other boys, and then we will pick your bags up from the front desk and let you unpack.”
    My stomach dropped as I stood. The urge to plop back down in the chair and refuse to meet the other boys rang loudly in my mind, but I forced myself to follow Ruth out of her office and down the stairs.
    “The boys should still be in group therapy; we will just stop by and say hello quickly.”
    We walked past the front desk and stopped in front of Mr. Dickson. He smiled down at me kindly as he handed over my things. “Everything was in order, Mrs. Darlene.”
    She nodded silently at the security guard as I slung my bag over my shoulder and slung my duffle bag over my other shoulder.
    I noticed that despite the fact that Mr. Dickson wore a navy blue security guard outfit, he didn’t seem to carry a gun. At that, he didn’t look much older than twenty years old.
    “Good luck,” he said gently as we walked past him.
    “Thank you,” I said with a small smile as I met his dark eyes.
    Ruth ushered me past the guard and to another large set of wooden double doors. She knocked politely, and a few moments later, a statuesque woman opened the door. She appeared to be in her early thirties, but when she saw me, the smile that pulled on her lips made her appear much younger.
    “Is this the new one?” She asked as she turned her gaze to Ruth.
    “Yes, this is Max.”
    The woman extended her red acrylic nailed hand to me and smiled brightly. “It’s nice to meet you, Max. My name is Ms. Elaine, but please call me Dawn.” Her bright blue eyes seemed to shimmer behind her red framed glasses.
    I took her hand and couldn’t help but smile, though it was a weak one. This woman seemed far too kind for her own good.
    “Let me introduce you to the other boys.” She pulled the doors open as I was ushered into yet another white room. In a small semicircle, three boys sat in their chairs in front of another chair. “Boys,” she said as she addressed all three boys at once, “this is Max; he is the newest addition to our family.”
    I felt my breath hitch as their eyes seemed to stare straight through me.

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Here is the first chapter to this story! I hope you all enjoy it. I'm sure there are a few grammatcial errors, but I currently have a raging headache, which prevents me from editing properly.

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