Rendezvous Pointe a short story By Indiana Jon © 2010 This is a fictional work. Any resemblance to actual persons, events, or dialog is strictly coincidental.
Thirteen-year-old Jessie Courtney stood on the pedals of his black and white Mongoose Fireball 24-inch dirt bike as he let it coast along the isolated, dusty, gravel country road that led to ‘civilization’ (the small town of Topeka, Indiana). Ahead of him about two-hundred yards, spanning his favorite swimming hole, was the old Sand Creek bridge; a wooden-planked, rusty iron bridge that should have been replaced over a decade ago. The late September day was unusually hot and muggy. Jessie’s long brown hair was starting to mat, dripping sweat onto his evenly-tanned shoulders and back. As he squinted from this distance, he could tell that the figure standing by the bridge, wearing the traditional blue Amish trousers and suspenders, along with a plain blue shirt and straw hat, was not B-Jay!
“Shit,” Jess swore under his breath; a bad habit his twelve-year-old best friend B-Jay was trying to help him break. Disappointed and pissed, he began peddling again, drawing closer to the Amish boy, who was now eyeing Jessie intently. Upon reaching the Amish boy, Jess hopped off his bike, allowing it to fall into the weeds, next to the other boy’s ‘plain-jane’ Schwinn bike.
“Where’s B-Jay?” Jess insolently asked the older, taller boy; unconcerned about his brashness. He impatiently wiped at the sweat running down his forehead and face.
“My brother’s name is Benjamin, NOT B-Jay…, and he isn’t meeting you, Jessie Courtney.”
“Was that his decision… or YOURS, David?” Jessie boldly snapped back at the fifteen-year-old facing him.
The older boy felt the blood rushing to his head. He never had to deal with such insubordination within his Order, because from the time Amish children were old enough to learn, the value of respect was constantly instilled into their minds. The English, he surmised, no longer held such values…, that is, if they ever did at all.
“Benjamin asked me to meet you. He does not wish to see you anymore,” the Amish boy patiently explained.
“BULLSHIT, DAVID!” Jessie exploded; his sudden high-pitched voice betraying the fact he was starting puberty. “B-Jay would never say that! He loves me, and I love him.”
“You are wrong, Jessie Courtney. My brother is not a homosexual. You have tried to confuse him over the last two years by secretly making him think it was proper to have certain forbidden feelings for other boys that are only meant for girls. Both of you are lucky that I caught you, and not Daed (Dad) or Mamm (Mom). He doesn’t love you, or any other boy.”
“That’s really a convenient argument for you, since he’s not here to tell me to my face!”
Instantly, Jess picked up on a brief, tell-tale look of panic in the older boy’s eyes.
“He is here, isn’t he, David!” Jess self-assuredly proclaimed, scouting the surrounding area.
The older boy’s mind froze in horror.
“B-Jay!…, I know you’re here, PLEASE come on out! I just want to talk!”
“LEAVE HIM ALONE, Jessie Courtney…, you are DAMNING HIS SOUL!”
As the older boy fervently pleaded, Jessie noticed movement over on the rugged foot trail that led to the underside of the bridge. A slightly smaller clone of the older Amish boy slowly made his way up the narrow path. He had long blond hair, like his older brother, but his eyes were red and swollen from crying. Jess’s heart leaped inside his chest upon seeing his best friend.
“Are you okay, B-Jay?” he anxiously asked.
The younger boy first looked at his brother, then back at Jessie before nodding his head yes.
“Is it true that you don’t want to see me anymore?” Jess held his breath, terrified of the answer he was about to receive.
The twelve-year-old lowered his head as fresh tears began to pit the fine dust around the boy’s dirty, bare feet with tiny craters.
“Jah”
Heartbroken, the thirteen-year-old took a deep breath to fight back his tears, and then tenderly responded, “Benjamin…, I just have one more question….”
Benjamin stood with his head down, too ashamed to look his best friend Jessie in the eyes.
“Can you honestly tell me that you never loved me the same way that I love you?”
“Don’t answer that, bruder (brother),” David implored.
“Stay out of this, asshole!” Jessie hissed, losing most of what precious-little self-control was keeping him from attacking the older boy right here and now.
At once, Benjamin became emotionally outraged, and could no longer keep his feelings inside any longer.
“Jessie Courtney, quit swearing at my bruder! You know I hate it when you use those words!” Turning to his brother, he continued. “David King, I’m almost thirteen! I know you are my older bruder, and I do honor you, as I have been taught. But I deserve to make my own choices, just like you did when you were my age. You didn’t have an older bruder telling you what you could and could not do. I know you could have shared my secret with our parents, and I am forever grateful that you chose to handle it on your own. But it is not your friendship that is ending today! It is mine!”
The boy’s intense emotional pain brought about a fresh outburst of tears, silencing him temporarily. Finally composing himself enough to talk, he continued.
“Now I ask that you please respect me, and trust me to do the right thing, and allow me to do what I have to do by myself…, please, David.”
David’s countenance immediately softened, as the full implication of what his little brother had just told him sunk in.
“I’m sorry, Benjamin. You are correct. I will do what you have asked.”
Turning to Jessie, David addressed him next.
“Jessie Courtney, I am sorry that we cannot be friends, as I had once hoped. I am also truly sorry that your actions have jeopardized your friendship with my little bruder. I know how much he cares for you.”
David paused, wanting to point out to Jess what all was wrong with a boy-boy relationship, but decided it wasn’t important any more. He hugged his brother at length, and then finally retrieved his bicycle and started peddling across the old bridge towards their farmhouse two miles away.
Jessie and Benjamin stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity, both with tears streaming down their cheeks. Finally, Jess found the strength to speak.
“B-Jay, I’m so sorry I ever met you that day I had a flat tire on my bike. If only I had asked for help at the next house past yours, none of this would have happened, and you wouldn’t be forced to make such a painful decision.”
The younger boy began sobbing uncontrollably; his shoulders heaving up and down. Jessie’s instinct implored him to hold his best friend tight and comfort him, but he felt so estranged now that he sadly chose to stay put.
After several agonizing moments, Benjamin gradually calmed himself. Using both hands, he tried wiping the tears from his face before soulfully looking Jessie in the eyes.
“Neh,” he softly spoke.
“No?” Jess repeated in English. “No what?”
“Neh, Jessie Courtney, I cannot tell you that I have never loved you the same way you love me.”
“But…?” Jessie fervently inquired, waiting for his friend to finish his statement.
“But, what we are doing goes against everything I believe in, or have been taught. I can not continue to live a lie in my family, or my Order. If my bruder caught on, so will others!”
“But…, I thought that’s why we planned on meeting here today, so that you could come and live with me. Don’t you care if we never see each other ever again?” Jessie asked, desperate and confused.
“How can you ask me that, Jessie Courtney? When we….” The younger boy paused mid-sentence and glanced both ways before continuing in a whisper. “When we shared our love with each other, it was because I loved you, not anything else!”
“I’m sorry, B-Jay,” Jess quickly apologized. “I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant that it is killing me on the inside to think we will never get to even see each other again…, ever!”
“I feel the same way, Jessie. But I know in my heart that this is not what God wants from me. Unfortunately, my decision is based on something bigger than you or I. As much as I want to run away with you, I have to tell you neh, even though it is destroying my insides.”
Jessie lowered his head, painfully acknowledging defeat. Benjamin gravely walked over to him as he tossed his straw hat onto the ground. Tears were once again streaming down both of their faces as Benjamin looked into his best friend’s eyes.
“Please…, kiss me good-bye now, Jessie Courtney…, and know with my last kiss that I will always love you.”
Seizing the younger boy in a possessive embrace, Jess broke down and sobbed on Benjamin’s shoulder, unable yet to say goodbye. After a long cry, the older boy finally pulled himself together.
“Good-bye, my best friend,” Jessie bravely proclaimed. “I will always love you, too.”
Leaning forward he tenderly kissed the younger boy with all the affection in his heart.
As their lips parted, they were both smiling. Benjamin reached down and retrieved his hat before he went and got his bicycle that he had hidden under the bridge. When he got to the road, he gave a small wave with his left hand before mounting his bike and riding off towards home.
Jess watched him until he rode out of sight, then he sat down in the weeds. He didn’t cry. He didn’t curse. He just numbly sat there, listening to the creek. As it started getting dark, he stood up and brushed off his butt. Leaving his bicycle where it was, he walked to the middle of the bridge, crawled onto the guardrail, and sat down for a spell; contemplating how he could ever continue his life without B-Jay. Confident that the best chapter of his life had just come to a close, he slowly stood to his feet….
(End of Rendezvous Pointe. Don’t miss Tim and Dalton’s new series, New Beginnings next month.)