Saturday December 7th, 1991 (11.08 a.m.)
As Booker flicked through the pages of a gossip magazine, he unconsciously fell into a synchronized rhythm with the audible ticking of the wall clock. Each page turned was another second passed, and he had just about exhausted all the reading material in the waiting room of his local doctor. Tom had been in the examination room for nearly an hour and throughout the interminably long wait, the muscles in Booker’s neck and shoulders had become increasingly taut, until his upper body throbbed painfully from the tension. Closing the magazine, he tossed it onto the table with a weary sigh and maneuvering his head slowly from side to side, he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and attempted to massage …show more content…
Tom needed the examination, but he could understand his reticence. He had suffered a shocking ordeal at the hands of Ana and her pandilla and it was little wonder that he was now wary of strange men touching him. However, there was a complexity to his fears because he had willingly performed oral sex on McLeod and that suggested a need to gratify and a penchant for homosexual contact. It was then that Booker realized just how monumentally screwed up Tom really was. The internal exam was just the tip of the iceberg; there would be many years of psychological probing to follow if his friend had any hope of ever leading a normal life …show more content…
His stomach knotted in panic and he struggled to hear Booker’s voice, but the deafening whoosh of blood pounding in his ears made it difficult for him to hear the soft words of comfort. However, he could still feel warm fingers entwined in his own and he squeezed them as his need for reassurance became desperate. Seconds later, soft lips pressed against his forehead and the discomfort in his lower body became secondary as he focused on the tenderness of the kiss. It was the affection he craved but was too frightened to acknowledge. McLeod had been different; he sucked him off and in return, he received gentle caresses and vocal praise for his skill and attention. However, Dennis was different because although he still loved him, he could never commit to a physical relationship like the one they had once shared and anything less would be a compromise. He was dead below the waist and, therefore, he was physically incapable of giving him what he deserved; a partner who could reciprocate the passion he
As Booker flicked through the pages of a gossip magazine, he unconsciously fell into a synchronized rhythm with the audible ticking of the wall clock. Each page turned was another second passed, and he had just about exhausted all the reading material in the waiting room of his local doctor. Tom had been in the examination room for nearly an hour and throughout the interminably long wait, the muscles in Booker’s neck and shoulders had become increasingly taut, until his upper body throbbed painfully from the tension. Closing the magazine, he tossed it onto the table with a weary sigh and maneuvering his head slowly from side to side, he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and attempted to massage …show more content…
Tom needed the examination, but he could understand his reticence. He had suffered a shocking ordeal at the hands of Ana and her pandilla and it was little wonder that he was now wary of strange men touching him. However, there was a complexity to his fears because he had willingly performed oral sex on McLeod and that suggested a need to gratify and a penchant for homosexual contact. It was then that Booker realized just how monumentally screwed up Tom really was. The internal exam was just the tip of the iceberg; there would be many years of psychological probing to follow if his friend had any hope of ever leading a normal life …show more content…
His stomach knotted in panic and he struggled to hear Booker’s voice, but the deafening whoosh of blood pounding in his ears made it difficult for him to hear the soft words of comfort. However, he could still feel warm fingers entwined in his own and he squeezed them as his need for reassurance became desperate. Seconds later, soft lips pressed against his forehead and the discomfort in his lower body became secondary as he focused on the tenderness of the kiss. It was the affection he craved but was too frightened to acknowledge. McLeod had been different; he sucked him off and in return, he received gentle caresses and vocal praise for his skill and attention. However, Dennis was different because although he still loved him, he could never commit to a physical relationship like the one they had once shared and anything less would be a compromise. He was dead below the waist and, therefore, he was physically incapable of giving him what he deserved; a partner who could reciprocate the passion he