Peanut Butter and Jelly (boyxboy)

Chapter Two

Even before Gabriel pulled to a stop in front of the house, Tyler started to shake.

            “When we get in there, you let me and your aunt do all the talking,” Gabriel advised, and Tyler just nodded.

            His Aunt Cory offered him an encouraging smile as they got out of the car and headed up the walkway. Tyler tried to smile back, but he couldn’t get over the idea that he was a dead man walking. Before they even made it to the door, his father had it open. The way his eyes blazed, he was the one who looked possessed.

            “I hope you’re happy,” Tom snapped, glaring at Tyler. “This little stunt is costing me a day of work.”

            “It’s costing all of us time off work, but I think helping Tyler’s more important than work,” Gabriel said.

            When they stepped inside, Mary let out a gasp. Tyler figured it was for his face, but he thought it looked better than he’d expected. At least his eye was open, and he could still see. After the way it closed up on him last night, he’d been afraid he’d be blind in one eye.

            “All right, Gabriel, what’s this all about?” Tom demanded.

            “I think we’d all be more comfortable sitting down,” Gabriel pointed out.

            “By all means, let’s have a seat then,” Tom said. “After all, you’re calling all the shots right? I don’t give you what you want, and you call the police?”

            Gabriel gave him a cool smile. “You catch on pretty quick, Tom.” 

            His aunt and uncle took a seat on the couch, and Tyler dropped down between them. When he did, his dad sneered at him as he moved to sit on the love seat next to his mom.

            “I suppose Tyler told you about his illness and the perverted acts he committed on that very couch you’re sitting on,” Tom guessed, Tyler’s neck lit on fire.

            Cory laughed. “I’m sure a good steam cleaning will save your sofa.”

            “This isn’t funny,” Tom snapped.

            “You’re right about that,” Gabriel agreed. “It isn’t funny, but it isn’t the end of the world either, and it sure as hell doesn’t give you the right to beat the kid within an inch of his life.”

            “It’s my right as a father to discipline my son,” Tom insisted. “If you had any children of your own you’d understand that.”

            Both his aunt and uncle stiffened.

            “I don’t have to have any children of my own to understand that not only did you break the law when you laid your hands on my nephew, but you betrayed his trust in you,” Gabriel said through clenched teeth.

            “He betrayed us,” Mary spoke up. “He lied to us and said he was too ill to attend church last night, and then he committed a sinful abomination in our own home.”

            “We need to drop this whole sinful abomination talk,” Cory said.

            “I wouldn’t expect a godless jezebel like you to understand the power of sin,” Tom retorted.

            Cory laughed again. “Isn’t there something in your religion about all sinners being forgiven?”

            “There is, but that only applies to the sinners they think are worthy of being forgiven,” Gabriel answered for Tom. “The glory of the kingdom of Heaven is reserved only for God’s most perfect and most faithful followers.”