The American Prince 6: Alone Again

When David turned 16, there was a huge party in the warehouse. They had considered having it in the motel room but they decided there would be too many participants, and David still didn’t want to do anything to attract attention. He’d heard several reports that Colin’s picture had been in newspapers and on TV, and the biggest worry of all for the boys, the fact that there was a large reward being offered for any information. Wallace Frank was obviously not one to give up easily.

By the time David and Colin arrived, the party was in full swing. There was lots of beer and cheap wine, and the smoke from cigarettes and marijuana was so thick Colin started to get high just from breathing. He accepted a can of beer from someone he didn’t know and went roaming about the large floor watching the sights. “Hey, man, you must be Colin, David’s new squeeze,” someone who was very drunk called to him. Colin nodded, thinking that would be the end of it; no such luck. The boy came lurching over to him. “Hi, I’m Derek,” he said as he stuck out his hand. “Wanna fuck?”
“I... I hardly know you,” Colin said with a laugh as he shook the hand that was offered.
“We can change that if ya like,” the boy said. “You’re really cute and I’d really like to get your cock up my ass.”
“Maybe later,” Colin said.
“Why not now, while I still don’t have AIDS?” the boy pressed.

Colin took a good look at Derek. There was no doubt that he was a good looking kid, and no more than 16 or 17 at the very most. He and David had already had a talk about tonight, David telling him that there would be rampant sex, drugs, booze, and probably some things even David hadn’t thought of. He had given Colin a dozen or so condoms, suggesting that he use them no matter what he did. He strongly suggested that Colin not receive anyone up his own butt, but that he could probably mount someone else without too much risk if he wanted. “Even oral,” David said, “amounts to some risk. So unless you’re really sure about some guy, you gotta be careful.”
“Ya don’t have to worry,” Colin had said with a shudder. “I don’t plan to have sex with any of those guys, or girls either for that matter.”

But now things were different. Colin was feeling a bit of a buzz from the beer he’d consumed, and was standing looking at a very great looking boy who was holding out a lit joint for him to try. The boy had told him that he was cute, which had sent a shiver of... of what he didn’t know, but something far from unpleasant had coursed through his lithe body. The boy had as much as told him that he didn’t have AIDS, at least not yet, and was offering, no, pleading, for Colin to take him. With a quivering hand, Colin reached and accepted the smoldering joint that Derek was offering while Derek’s other hand was groping Colin’s crotch, and Colin was letting him.

“You’re nice and hard,” Derek said as he felt up and down Colin’s ready shaft.
“Yeah,” Colin panted. “Seems I’m always hard these days.”
“Nice prick. Not too big, but not too small either. I think it’d be perfect for my first. I bet it’s your first too, isn’t it?”
“I... I gotta wear a condom,” Colin said, his head floating somewhere in the stratosphere. His shorts were descending to the floor now. He wasn’t wearing any underwear.
“That’s ok, you got any?” Derek said breathlessly, still fondling the now exposed genitals.
“Yeah,” Colin said, his voice now ragged and breathless. Derek led him over to a pile of blankets on the floor, which was his bed. He slipped out of his own shorts and dropped to his knees; Colin fumbled with his shorts which were still around his ankles, pulling out a condom. He slipped it on, then Derek applied some K-Y he’d retrieved from a little box by his “bed”.

Colin loved fucking Derek. He did it three times over the next two hours. Each time, as soon as Colin had finished his orgasm, he had brought Derek off by sucking him, swallowing the other boy’s ample seed hungrily. The third time the pair had attracted quite an audience, all high or drunk or both, and all cheering them on. Derek was moaning, actually screaming from pure ecstasy, and every scream spurred Colin on to even more aggressive lunges into Derek’s silky boy pussy. As he shot his load for the third time, still a rather impressive quantity filling the condom on his penis, Colin was wondering what it would feel like to be on the receiving end. He wouldn’t want a condom though; he felt instinctively that he’d be missing something really good if he couldn’t feel the sperm flowing into him.

Colin had his first experience with a girl after he’d finished with Derek, but he didn’t enjoy it nearly as much. The girl had obviously been sexually active for quite some time, and even though she was very attractive Colin found her receptacle much too loose to his liking. That experience helped him decide once and for all that he preferred boys or men. The girl, whose name he didn’t even know, wanted him to enter her anally after he’d finished the conventional style, but he had completely lost interest. So he and David collapsed on a pile of blankets and sucked each other in a 69. That was the way they were when they both fell asleep, and they slept that way for the rest of the night.

They stayed in the warehouse the next day, still thinking that it was unwise for Colin to go out on the street during daylight. In late afternoon, David ventured out to get something to eat. He would get some McDonald’s takeout or something similar, he said, and told Colin to stay put. Four hours later it was dark, and David had not returned. “He’ll be back,” Jonathon assured Colin. “He probably met some trick he knows, or maybe he went to get ya something special to eat, but he’ll be back.” He never was. Colin waited all night and all the next day, but David had disappeared without a trace.

Colin ventured out around midnight the second night, thinking that maybe David had gone back to the motel for some reason. Derek went with him, but when they got there they found the place surrounded by police cars, red and blue lights flashing everywhere. “Looks like they’re searching all the rooms,” Derek observed as they stood in an alley and watched. Then to David’s horror, he saw two cops emerge from the room he had shared with David, carrying his backpack. “They can’t do that!” Colin said angrily. “All my clothes, my money, everything’s in that pack.”
“Looks like they’re doin’ it,” David verbalized the obvious. “There musta been some sort of serious crime there, an’ they’re collecting evidence.”

Derek’s theory was confirmed two days later. The news circulated throughout the homeless community that a teenage boy had been found in an alley, his throat cut from ear to ear. Someone had told the police that he’d often been seen around the motel, and that was the only information they had. Everyone knew that David had gone missing and assumed that he was the one who was dead, but no one knew for sure. The other rumor that was rampant on the street was that Colin was the prime suspect. Meanwhile Colin didn’t seem to care any more; he had just lost another lover, and he was alone again. And he was broke.

It was approaching the end of summer now, and Colin started thinking of moving somewhere south; but with no money and no way to get any except for the way that David had shown him, which was absolutely unacceptable to him, David was in a bit of a quandary. He knew that David would have been starting to plan his trip to southern Florida by now, but that was a little too close to Jacksonville for Colin. No, he told Derek, he would somehow have to get to California.

Colin found himself alone most of the time now. Derek had tried to get close to him, saying that they were more or less in the same boat: alone on the street, inexperienced, and broke. But Colin had felt himself getting a little too close to his new friend, and he had vowed that he’d never allow that to happen again. He and Derek both lived in the warehouse now, but they were camped at opposite ends of the building. Colin had also developed the habit of stealing food, and he was so ashamed of himself for doing that he wanted no one to see him, even fellow homeless who he knew were doing the same thing. Finally in desperation, he decided to try his hand at what David had called hustling.

It was a warm evening in late September, a little past 11 PM. Colin knew that this was past prime time, but he also knew there would be lots of business and no police. He had only wandered up and down the three block area known as “the stip” twice when a big black Buick pulled over to the curb. Colin eyed the car suspiciously, afraid it might be a plainclothes cop. As if sensing his doubts, the driver opened the passenger window and called out “I’m not a cop, are you?”
“N-no,” Colin replied as he walked cautiously over to the car.
“You working?” the man said, his meaning very clear to Colin.
“Yeah,” he answered.
“Why don’t you get in and we’ll go for a ride?” the man suggested. He was well dressed but casual. He wore a bright green Hawaiian shirt, a pair of light brown slacks and brown loafers. Colin wondered why the man didn’t just go to one of the gay bars where he should have little difficulty picking up someone. But David had told him that many of these tricks preferred nameless, homeless boys, especially if they had a family at home. In spite of his doubts and fears, Colin was hungry and tired. So he opened the door and got in the car.

“My name’s Mark,” the man said as he drove hastily out of the neighborhood. “What’s yours?”
“Colin,” the boy answered before he’d had a chance to think. He had not planned to use his own name, especially since it was not as common as some.
“Pleased to meet you,” Mark said. “So what are you selling and what’s it gonna cost me?”
“I can give you a blow job for fifty bucks,” Colin answered.
“Fifty? Kinda high priced, aren’t you?”
“I’m worth it,” Colin said. He’d been told he was really good, and he’d also been told that prospective tricks would try to beat him down. The idea was not to appear desperate, and not to undercut his peers.
“What if I want something more?” Mark asked.
“Like what?” Colin said nervously. “I don’t do anal, if that’s what you mean.”
“Never? You’ve never done anal, not even with your friends?”
“No, sir. It’s too risky, an’ I think too much of my body for that.”

Mark had been stealing glances at the young teen sitting beside him. This had to be the luckiest day of his entire life! This kid was downright drop dead gorgeous, and a virgin at that. How could he be so lucky? This was exactly what he’d been looking for, but he had to be sure. “I was kinda hoping you’d go back to my hotel room with me,” he said. “It’s worth a hundred bucks to me, but I’d want you to stay all night, and... and I’d want to fuck you.”

“I can make more than a hundred bucks right on the street,” Colin argued. “And I don’t fuck, I already told you.”
“You’ll have to do it sooner or later,” Mark returned. “Ya can’t tell me you don’t want to.”
“I’m not sayin’ I do or don’t,” Mark stated firmly. “What I am tellin’ you is that I won’t be doin’ it tonight, with you or anyone else! So please, it’s either 40 bucks for a blow job here in the car, or take me back. My time is money.”
“Ok,” Mark said. “You look like you could use a good meal, so I’ll pay you the fifty provided you’ll agree to meet me again, that is if you’re as good as you say you are.”
“Sounds fair,” Colin said as he groped the man’s crotch. Mark’s big eight incher turned to steel the second Colin touched it through his slacks, and Mark pulled into a dark alley.

Colin found that he didn’t mind servicing Mark at all, once he got past the idea of what he was doing. Mark was clean, the cleanest pleasure probe Colin had ever had in his mouth. There was a pleasant aroma of some subtle cologne, now mixed with the man’s own scent. He had more than a mouthful, again a bit of a novelty for Colin, and he enjoyed taking it as deeply as he could. It didn’t take very long before Mark was shooting his ample load, which Colin swallowed greedily. “You ARE good,” Mark said as he zipped his pants. Colin had taken care to be sure the man was thoroughly cleaned up, licking the entire area with his tongue. “I think we’re just gonna have to meet again, only next time you’d better plan to spend the night with me.”
“Fine with me,” Colin said, trying to appear indifferent. “But I’m not gonna change my mind. No anal, and the price will be $150. You name the night and I’ll be sure my calendar is clear.”
“You got a sense of humor too,” Mark chuckled. But how about day after tomorrow? I’ll pick you up about 9 at the same place, ok?”
“I’ll be there,” Colin said. He wasn’t sure if he would or not, but the thought of $150 in his pocket all at one time was appealing, maybe even enough to get him a bus ticket out of Boston, if he made enough tonight and tomorrow night.

Colin scored twice more that night before the traffic died down to a trickle. His second customer was every bit as clean as the first, but far less appreciative. He seemed to prefer groping and mauling his young whore. He did accept Colin’s blow job, but before they parted he had returned the favor. The third was quite another story. He was older, perhaps 50 or so, and Colin wondered if he’d had a bath all summer. When the man slipped out of his jean shorts, the stench filled the entire car. Even with a condom in place on the man’s huge pole, Colin had all he could do to keep from gagging as he bobbed his head up and down. He said there was no way he was paying full price considering that Colin insisted on his wearing a condom, and by this time Colin didn’t care. He accepted the thirty dollars he was offered and got out of the car, fully disgusted with his business for the rest of the night.

Colin didn’t work the next night. He had lots of cash in his pocket, and he wanted to appear impeccable for his rendezvous with Mark for tomorrow night. He knew he had to save as much money as he could, but he remembered his father’s attitude that said he had to invest money to make money; so he rented a room in a modest motel. Here he could shower and make himself presentable and get a good night’s sleep for what promised to be a taxing night. After the room was rented, Colin went shopping for some more presentable clothes to replace those that he’d worn for at least two weeks. He had dealt with the fact that he was now a whore and homeless, but his upbringing demanded that if he were a whore, he had to be a good one.

Colin stopped by the warehouse late on the night before he was to meet Mark for his all-night session. He had never missed a day or evening, checking to see if anyone had heard from David, but the answer was always the same. Everyone but Colin, it seemed, believed that the boy that was found in the alley had been David, and no one was looking for him. No one, that is, but Colin. “You gotta get over it,” Jonathon advised. “David was a cool kid and it’s too bad, but that’s how it works on the streets. People come, people go, and there’s not a fuck of a lot we can do about it. He’s gone, Colin. I hate it for you, and believe me I know what you’re feeling ‘cause I been there, but it’s over. He’s gone, man!”
“You don’t know that,” Colin challenged.
“No, I guess I don’t,” Jonathon agreed. “But unless he shows up, we gotta believe he’s gone, and probably better off than we are.”

*****************************

Wallace Frank went grumbling to answer the door, wondering why it is that no one ever rings the bell except when he is there alone. He made a mental note as he reached for the knob to have a fence and security gate installed. The estate was certainly large enough to warrant such a thing, and it wouldn’t be the first in this neighborhood. He yanked open the door and opened his mouth to order off his land the salesman or news reporter, or whoever was disturbing him at nine o’clock on a Wednesday evening. He gasped loudly as he saw who was on the other side of the huge oak door. “Tony!” he exclaimed. “You’ve got a hell of a nerve! What in the world are you doing here?”

Tony regarded the man standing in the open door. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but this sure wasn’t it. Maybe somewhere in his mind he had pictured a man devastated, broken, destroyed at the loss of his only son; what he saw was the same Wallace Frank he had come to dislike so much. He was still poised, proud, overbearing, still ready to accept no responsibility for Colin’s problems and his disappearance. “I just heard that Colin is missing,” Tony said in the most assertive tone he could muster. “I guess I became somewhat detached from the world for a while, and when I finally read a newspaper there it was! I’ve come to do what I can to help.”
“You can help by telling me what you’ve done with my son,” Wallace snarled. “You can either tell me or the police, your choice.”
“I swear to you, Mr. Frank, I have done nothing, and I know nothing. I will gladly meet with the police, take a lie detector, anything you like. All I want to do is whatever I can to make sure Colin is safe.”
“You should have thought of that before you totally messed up his mind with all that gay love bullshit,” Wallace sneered.

Tony knew there was no point in trying to reason with the man or change his mind, and after all that wasn’t why he’d come. This was about Colin now, and Tony had a little more knowledge of what could happen to a boy alone, a rich good-looking boy, than he had ever told anyone. He knew the picture wasn’t very pretty, and he knew that Colin’s chance of survival diminished with each day that passed. “I’m not going to argue with you, sir,” Tony said with a lot more respect than he felt. “I do encourage you to call the police though. I really am anxious to help, and I may know some things about Colin that you don’t. Perhaps with a skilled interrogator I might reveal some things that could help find him.”
“A very impressive display of loyalty,” Wallace chuckled. “Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it. The police may just determine some things you’d rather they not know.”
“I’ve told you before, I have nothing to hide. I freely admit that Colin and I were in love, but there was never anything physical between us. I would never do that to him! Eventually, I’m sure if we’d stayed together something would have happened; but not until we were both ready and could both enjoy it without guilt or shame. Call the police, Mr. Frank. PLEASE call them!”

************************************

Colin didn’t keep his appointment with Mark. It wasn’t his choice; he was instead picked up by a roving patrol car. The cop behind the wheel had a real thing for the kids he saw standing on the corners night after night. He knew why they were there and he had some understanding of what could happen to them. He had arrived just minutes after Colin, and had decided that the freshly scrubbed, very clean well groomed boy was either new or had fixed himself up for something special. Either way, he was determined to do what he could to get the kid out of here, for good.

“You can’t arrest me,” Colin said defiantly as he was gently but forcibly stuffed into the back seat of the patrol car. “I haven’t done anything wrong. You either gotta charge me or let me go.”
“So we have a little attorney here,” the cop said with a chuckle. “Well, Mr. Attorney, you’re absolutely right, at least on one count. You have broken no law that I know of, but I strongly suspect if I were to take a good look at the missing kids posters I’d find your picture. If you know the law nearly as well as you think you do, you’ll realize that I can hold you for questioning if I suspect you’re a runaway, and that’s precisely what I suspect. I’m not going to go through those pictures unless I have to, but in return for that favor you have to do one for me.”

Colin eyed the cop suspiciously in the rear view mirror. He had put the handcuffs on Colin, not so much that he was a dangerous criminal but more that the cop knew full well that these kids would bolt without warning, and he wanted to intimidate the boy, to be sure the boy knew who was in charge. Now Colin was convinced that he was about to suck the dick of a police officer. He had made it very clear that he had a vague idea who Colin was, but would not turn him in if... well, he hadn’t said it in so many words, but there was a condition. For reasons Colin didn’t understand, the thought was the most disgusting thing he’d ever heard in his life. “What’s the favor?” Colin asked. He wanted to hear the words, wanted the opportunity to tell this cop that he should do something sexual and solitary.

“I’m gonna take you to meet somebody,” the cop said. “His name is Jeremy Thompson and he works for Social Services. He won’t turn you in, won’t even try to find out who you are. He’ll just make sure you know who he is so you can call him if you need him. Do we have a deal?”

Colin was completely taken off guard. “I thought you wanted...”
“Don’t say it,” the cop said with a chuckle. “I know exactly what you thought, but you can just forget it. I’m not gonna get into your pants, and I’m certainly not gonna let you in mine. I’m trying to help you here, kid. All I’m asking from you is that you trust me.”
“Yeah,” Colin said as he recovered. “You want me to trust you, but you got me in handcuffs. It don’t seem that you trust me very much.”
“Nope, I sure don’t. I’m not stupid. I know the second I take those cuffs off you, you’ll be gone in a cloud of dust. I’ll take the cuffs off you when you’re sitting in Jeremy’s office and I have your word you’ll stay and hear what he has to say, and not a moment sooner. Now which is it? Do I call Jeremy, or do we go to the station and browse some photos?”
“I’ll go see him,” Colin said weakly. He knew he had no choice, and it really didn’t matter if he trusted this cop or not; he was busted and this would hopefully buy him some time to try and find some way to escape.

“Take the cuffs off him, Luke!” a big black man ordered as Colin was ushered into a rather dingy office not far from where he’d been picked up.
“You gonna run, kid?” Luke said to Colin.
“I will if I get a chance,” Colin said truthfully.
“He won’t run,” the black man said. “Now please, take the cuffs off. He’s not a criminal, and I won’t have him treated like one.” A reluctant cop unlocked the handcuffs and removed them. “Thanks for bringing him in, Luke,” the black man said as Luke turned to go. “I’ll take him where he wants to go when we’re done here. Now that you can shake hands like a man, my name is Jeremy Thompson. Yours is Colin Frank, right?”
“You know me?” Colin said with surprise as he took the man’s hand.
“Shit man, everyone knows you who has access to missing kids files, watches TV or glances at a newspaper. Your picture is plastered all over everywhere. But relax, I’m not gonna turn you in unless you tell me to. I just want to talk to you.”

Colin sat and listened as Jeremy told him how much he knew about street kids, how he understood their position because he himself had grown up on the streets, but that there was a better way, and he was trying to reach as many kids as he could before they were completely trashed.

“That’s fine for you,” Colin said. “Try an’ tell those kids there’s a better way when they’re hungry, or cold, or sick. Try an’ tell ‘em there’s a better way when they have to dodge cops, gangs, so-called respectable citizens. Try an’ tell ‘em there’s a better way when their friends end up in an alley with their throat cut!”

“Colin, from what I’ve read of your case you have a home, and a very nice one at that. From what I understand, it was your choice to leave it. And very often that’s the case. For most of the street kids I’ve seen, it’s not that they don’t have a home, it’s that they don’t choose to live there.”
“Maybe you don’t know as much as you think you do,” Colin said bitterly.
“Maybe not. Perhaps you’d like to tell me about it?”

Colin sat quietly, sullenly, his head down. “Ok,” Jeremy said with a sigh, “then I’ll tell you. Stop me when I go off track. Things got tough for you at home. Either your parents abused you or neglected you, or they discovered that you’re gay and didn’t take it very well. Or perhaps it was a combination of two or more of the above. Eventually something happened that made life at home unbearable, so you left. You traveled around the country, eventually ending up here. Maybe you met someone and came here with that person, or perhaps you just landed here by chance. Either way you’re here now, and selling sexual favors on the street. From the looks of you, I suspect that you care about your body and how you look. You look pretty clean and well groomed, which tells me that you have been able somehow to save, or make, enough money to get a room somewhere. You also have more than likely spent time in less than clean environments, and if you have been sexually active on the street for very long, you have probably done some things that you would not have done if you’d had a choice. How am I doing so far?”

“You think you know it all, don’t ya?” Colin said defiantly.
“No, I don’t know it all. I don’t know why a nice kid like you would leave a good home, but I know whatever the reason, it was real to you and that makes it real to me, period! I don’t know what happened, and I don’t know if it can be fixed; but I do know that things are going to get worse for you on the street. I sincerely doubt that you’re using the right protection, so there’s a danger of all sorts of things, not the least of which is AIDS. I know that cold weather is coming, and we will be starting to find dead kids in about three months. Have you ever heard of hypothermia?”
“Course I have,” Colin scoffed. He’d had it drilled into him during his career as a Scout that hypothermia can kill, and it doesn’t even have to be that cold. He knew there were all sorts of reasons why a person might lose body heat and not be able to do anything about it.

“I don’t know if you have made any friends on the street or not. Maybe you have a lover by now; but I do know there are all sorts of dangers you know nothing about. I know that people you consider your friends will take advantage of you, rob you, do whatever they have to do to survive. It’s not that they’re bad people, but this is very much a survival of the fittest environment, and I strongly suspect that you’re not used to living in that sort of situation. If you’re strong, which I suspect you are, you will survive long enough to learn the ropes. But you’ll pay a high price for your education. By the way, speaking of education, mind if I ask you a few questions?”
“No, sir, long as I reserve the right not to answer.”
“Fair enough. First question, where do... er... did you go to school?”

Colin eyed Jeremy suspiciously. For a moment he was unsure exactly what answer to give, but he didn’t know the name of his intended school anyway, so he finally said “Willowcrest. It’s a private school.”
“Believe it or not, I’ve heard of it. Nice school! Did you like it there?”
“Yes, sir, I loved it.”
“Remember what your GPA was?”
“Yes, sir. 4.0."
“ Impressive! So what was so good about it?”
“We had a great swim team,” Colin said, becoming animated and cooperative now. “The swim coach was the greatest! I also played basketball and baseball and soccer, we had a good music program, and... well the kids there weren’t snobs. We all worked hard and we all loved our school, so there was no fooling around. When we were in class, we worked hard; when we were playing some sport, we played hard at that.”
“Do you miss it?”

The tears betrayed Colin’s feelings before he had a chance to reply. “Yeah,” he sniffled. “I think that school and Tony were the only things that held it together for me, and I was losing both of ‘em.”
“Tony? A boy friend?”
“Not exactly. We were in love all right but he was hired by my father to take care of me when Dad was out of town. He wouldn’t fool around with me ‘cause he said it wouldn’t be right.”
“Your father found out and fired him, right?”
“Uh-huh. He not only fired him, he did something to him that made him disappear. My father is very rich, and he can do just about anything he wants.”
“You said you were losing both. He was taking you out of Willowcrest?”
“Yes, sir. He was gonna send me to a military academy in the fall.”
“And that was unacceptable to you, right?”
“What the hell do you think?”
“Did you tell him?”
“Ya don’t tell my dad anything! He does the talking and you listen.”

Jeremy sat and looked at Colin, giving him time to recover his composure. He marveled at how quickly he’d been able to disarm him, how the tough street facade had totally vanished and Colin was now back to the mode that was much more comfortable for him: an obedient, cooperative, respectful young teen. His defenses were completely down, and he was sincerely taking part in their conversation, to the best of his ability. “This kid is worth saving,” he said to himself. So many of them were so incredibly traumatized and damaged by the time Jeremy first saw them, that there was no way that anyone could salvage what was left of their lives. Jeremy knew that this was not the case with Colin; the old Colin was still alive and well, albeit slightly damaged and well hidden under the cover of his street tough shell that he was learning, as he learned everything, very quickly.

“I don’t suppose there’s any point in trying to convince you to call home?” Jeremy asked when Colin had calmed down.
“You’d be wasting your breath,” Colin said firmly.
“Then how about this? There’s a shelter I know about where they’ll take you in, give you a warm bed and good food, and they won’t ask any questions. If you want, you can even get registered for school there under an assumed name. You can at least finish school.”
“I think I’m already finished,” Colin sniffled. That idea was obviously not appealing to him, but there seemed no chance to him now that he’d ever be an A student again.

“It’s really not a bad place,” Jeremy continued. “It certainly beats the hell out of lying on a cold dirty floor of an old falling down warehouse with winter coming on.”
“No thanks,” Colin said. “If I wanted to give up my freedom I’d just stay home and get sent wherever my father decides he wants me.”
“Then will you at least take my card? I’d like to take some blood samples if you’ll let me so I can run some tests. If you need any medication I can arrange for you to get them.”
“Why?” Colin asked. “Why are ya doing all this?”
“Because I was once where you are now, Colin. Somebody helped me. I’m hoping that you’ll have the good sense to see that you need help and take what I’m offering.”
“I’m not goin’ back!” Colin said defiantly.

Jeremy dropped the conversation at that point. As he was drawing blood from Colin’s arm, he asked the boy’s permission to check into a few things in Jacksonville, at the same time promising that he would do it discreetly. Colin agreed, stating emphatically that he did not want his father finding out that he was in Boston. “We went to a lot of trouble to cover our tracks,” he stated. “I don’t wanna have to do it again.”
“We?” Jeremy said. But Colin would not explain what he’d meant, nor would he say any more. “That’s ok,” Jeremy assured him. “I promised I wouldn’t push and I won’t. I just want you to promise to call in about a week. I’ll have the tests back by then.”
“I’ll call,” Colin said. He still had a respect, a concern for his body and he knew he’d already done some things that he really should not have done. Jeremy offered to drive him back to where he’d been picked up, but Colin declined. It was too late for his appointment now, so he decided he’d just walk back to the strip and turn a trick or to, then go back to his hotel room and keep it for another night.

*******************************

Tony spent two grueling days under interrogation with the Jacksonville police, the FBI, and the private investigator Wallace had hired. He was never under arrest, although that would have suited Wallace to a T. Contrarily, both the local police and the private detective advised Wallace very strongly to keep Tony around because he knew Colin far better than anyone else, and he might just come up with some tidbit that might help. “They want me to keep you here,” Wallace said when Tony again showed up at his door. “They say you know my son better than I do.”
“It’s little wonder,” Tony said in an accusing tone. “I spent a lot of time with Colin - a lot more than you did. I’ll be glad to stay, in fact I’d like that. Perhaps we can get to know each other and I’m sure I can tell you a lot about him that you should know, and it might just come in handy when we find him.”
“You don’t have anything to say that I want to hear,” Wallace said. “Anything you have to say is just so much lunatic deviant ravings to me.”

Now Tony was getting really angry. “This isn’t about me, Mr. Frank,” he said. “But it isn’t about you either. It’s about a boy, a very good, talented boy, that is at this very moment out there in the world all alone.”
“If you hadn’t messed him all up...” Wallace began.
“Don’t you even think about laying this on me!” Tony seethed. “Ok, so perhaps I overstepped when I allowed Colin to think of me as his boyfriend. But if you had let me see him, to explain to him that the road we were headed down was wrong, and I had to go away for his own good... but no! I had to leave right away, thinking that I was sparing him the heartbreak of being sent away from his own home. You fucked up, Wallace! You fucked up big time! I was the only one on earth that could have explained it all to Colin, and I’m not even sure I could have. And then you went ahead and did it anyway. You canceled his Olympic training and you told him he was going away to school. Now you’re looking for a scapegoat, but you’re not gonna find it in me. I will start looking for him myself, not to take him away from you because you’ve done that very successfully all by yourself. No, I simply think he needs to be found, so I will look for him. I’ll make no promises what will happen if I find him before you do.”

**********************************

A week later, Colin had still not heard from or seen Mark. He still wasn’t back in the warehouse, but he visited every day in hopes that someone had heard from David. There was never any word. Colin had discovered something that no one had told him, if they knew at all. He found that he was much more sought after and desired because he was a little cleaner and more well groomed, so he had rented himself a room where he could shower every day and keep himself clean. He knew he couldn’t stay there all winter, but for the time being he was making more money than he was spending, so over time he could develop a bit of a nestegg that would hopefully help him get to California when the weather turned cold. As he’d promised, he went to a pay phone and called Jeremy Thompson.

“Colin!” Jeremy exclaimed when he heard the boy’s voice. “I was hoping you’d call. I got the results of your blood tests today, and as far as I can tell you’re in perfect health.”
“Well, at least I was a week ago, right?” Colin commented, for no real good reason that he could think of.
“What’s going on, Colin?” Jeremy said with alarm. “Has something happened?”
“No, not really,” Colin said. “Just the same old stuff. You know how it is on the streets, right? You know it all, right?”
“Colin, please, let’s just talk, ok? I’ve been in touch with your school and some of the investigators on your case. You didn’t tell me you were something of a super kid.”
“I didn’t tell ya because I didn’t know. I’m no super kid.”
“I think you are. I mean, straight A student, outstanding athlete, contender for the Olympic team, Black Belt, even a church organist! Man, Colin, you’ve given up so much!”
“If you say so. But most of all I got my life back. I’m not a little puppet any more. Sorry, but I’ve gotta go.”
“Colin, please don’t hang up. Will you call me again? Maybe we can go out to dinner or something, my treat.”
“Maybe. Thanks for the blood tests. I gotta go, ok?”

Mark sat at home, wondering if it was safe yet to go looking for Colin again. He had already decided that it would be worth considerable risk to get his hands on this boy, but he would have to work fast. At 15, he knew the boy had to be on the very hairy edge of puberty so he would have to do his thing with him quickly, before he grew more mature. He knew exactly what to do, he’d done it several times before; but this one would be his best yet. He decided it would be worth the risk, so he started patrolling the streets again.

To be continued...