THE MEANING OF &

A quant place in 1800

It was an odd thing; the status of the relationship between Mr Martin Godfey and Will Raymond, many of the townsfolk had at least asked the pair once, to which they always responded 'that's none of your business.' Everyone knew they could saunter up to the police station and file a report for homosexuality right then and there because the police were to thick to see it for themselves, but they let them be in their small cottage to the far left of the town.                                                                Martin felt a hand on his shoulder, one that he knew all too well, 'ah thank you' he said as Will handed him the tea which he had requested, 'you know it's your turn to go to the grocers' Martin said, leading backwards to watch Will walk away. 'Didn't I go last week?' Will replied with a hint of a smile on his lips, 'yes but I'm sore, I swear that walk almost had the death of me' Martin said, putting on his best "I'm in pain" face. 'Alright dear' Will replied, shrugging before planting a kiss on the top of his head.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Will left the house with a grin on his face and continued so as he started down the gravel path towards the bustling town, he bumped into a few people for his legs had taken control, and his mind was a whirl, he muttered a small good morning to the grocer and began to absent-mindedly pick up the fruit. He was so deep into his train of thought that he never noticed one of the scrawny street boys reach over the counter and steal an apple. As he came back into his senses, he decided to head over to the jewellers, at first to say hello to his good friend, Jamie lee, but he caught himself glancing to a gold ring, to which he asked himself 'why not'. As he walked past the grocers again, the shopkeep asked if he could have a look in his bag, 'did you steal the apple on the counter?' he asked Will, grabbing the bag from his hands before he could protest. 'What's this?' the shopkeep asked, holding up the ring to Will's eyes.

Everything froze, Will's mind was spinning, he knew the price of being homosexual was imprisonment or death, he let out a shaky 'it's for-' before being interrupted, 'What's all the commotion about?' asked a cold voice which made his heart drop, 'just making sure this man hadn't stolen anything' the shopkeep replied shrugging, 'ah, I see, as you were' an officer replied, nodding curtly 'planning to pop the question are you?' asked the officer, smiling, turning to Will. Will didn't smile back, 'obviously not' replied the keeper for him, 'why not?' the officer asked, 'well that would mean he would be one of the homosexuals, the only person he ever sees is his roommate' 'what roommate?' 'Why Martin Godfrey of course' the man said with a grin, 'everybody knows the rumours, two men living alone in a cottage, for over five years, neither of them married, I wonder why is that hmm?' Will looked at the ground as he felt the gaze of the town lay upon him, 'handcuffs please' the officer whispered to his nearby colleague who nodded and walked into the nearby building. The officer placed a hand on his back, which dug its nails into the flesh Will didn't move, he only stared at the ground through the ginger curls that hung over his face. 

Will straightened up and looked deep into the officer's eyes, 'I don't care what you do to me, just don't hurt him, please' was all he said, and It was all he did say as the mob of police walked him to his cottage and knocked on the door. 'Is this your "roommate" Will Raymond?' asked an officer who shoved the figure of Will towards a surprised looking Martin, 'yes officer, what seems to be the problem?' he asked, Will, suppressed a chuckle, classic Martin, always trying to make him laugh even though an officer could shot him in the head at any moment. 'Are you in a relationship with him?'Martin caught Will's gaze, 'no sir' he replied, breaking their gaze 'do you know why he had this ring on him?' he asked, snatching the box from Will's hands, Martin hesitated then shook his head. 'Do you mind if we have a minute, alone' Martin asked, looking at Will with a disguised desperateness, 'go on ahead, remember this is the last time you'll ever see each other' the sheriff replied with a sick smile on his face.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      'Oh Will' was all Martin said as he crashed into his parter's arms, 'im so sorry this is all my fault' he mumbled into Will's shoulder which now had a wet spot from Martin's tears, 'no-no, it's my fault, if I hadn't gotten you the ring we wouldn't be in this bloody mess right now.' Will replied, giving him a quick kiss on the head, 'we could run- run far away from this, we can-' Martin began to ramble, Will put a finger to his lips, 'where to?' Martin smiled, 'I heard of a place in the woods' he replied intertwining his fingers with Will's, 'sounds fair enough' he said before they walked off to the back door, the wind whipped at their faces as Will slipped the ring (which they had forgotten to take off him) onto Martin's finger, 'you ready?' 'whenever you are' and with one last look at the cottage they took off into the Autumn breeze.