Busted – The Game Show

© Justin Cumberland 2007

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Eventually, of course, he was able to stand and was able to walk. And with Todd’s help he made it the locker room – to the shower stall. It was well past lunchtime now, maybe one or two-thirty. He didn’t know; but the day, for him, was over. There would be no more pain, or so he thought.

Todd pushed him into the stall and leant him against the back wall.

‘It’ll be okay, Jase,’ Todd said.

Jason didn’t even want to nod. He couldn’t be bothered. Didn’t know if he even believed Todd; but knew one thing. He didn’t want Todd to leave him.

Todd turned on the shower and let his clothes get wet while he held onto Jason, making sure Jason could stand upright on his own before he bent down and started to take the riding boots off his own feet. Jason fell sideways a couple of times and lost his footing. He kept trying to put a hand down to feel his arse. He wanted to see what had happened to it; but he couldn’t keep his balance and reach it; and Todd had to stop in untying his laces and stand up to position Jase again so he didn’t fall.

‘Just keep still, Jase.’

Jason nodded. Todd was wet now; and as he bent down, Jason could see that they hadn’t given him any jocks to wear under the jodhpurs. They were tight and were turning transparent under the water from the shower. Jason felt his cock starting to rise and remembered he didn’t have one. He winced.

Todd stood up and put his hands at the waistband of the jodhpurs. He was going to pull them off; but Jason reached forward all in one motion and grabbed Todd’s hips, falling at the same time until he was sitting cross-legged on the floor of the shower with his hands on Todd’s hips.

It was like he was drunk.

Todd moved his hands away while Jason stared up at the kid’s groin. The outline of his cock and balls – the color of the skin was clearly visible as his gear was squashed and separated between the tight clothing. Jason reached a hand forward and stroked it through the fabric. He felt Todd harden a little bit under his touch, and put his hands up to the waistband of the jodhpurs, sliding them down over Todd’s thighs and watching as the boy’s cock popped out from beneath the tight fabric, springing up into the air as it filled quickly with blood.

Jason leant forward and put his lips around it. He put his mouth over the whole thing, stretching up a bit with his thighs from his sitting position, aware of, but ignoring, the strange loose feeling at his hole.

He pulled Todd’s jodhpurs down to his ankles and held them there while he sucked the boy’s dick, working his head back and forth. He could see the boy’s white shirt wet against his hips and he sucked harder at the sight of it, reaching his hand up and putting it on Todd’s arse. Todd moved a bit as though he didn’t like it. Jason moved his hand and moved his head back at the same time, feeling Todd’s dick jerk upwards in his mouth. He moved his head back, about to say, ‘Can’t I touch your arse?’ when Todd came into his partly opened mouth, onto his nose; and, with a final jerk, into one of his eyes.

Jason closed his eyes and shook his head. He turned around, kneeling and tried to wash his face with the water. He reached up for a hand and got Todd to help him up, using the boy’s shoulders and struggling to his feet.

‘You can stand, Jase,’ Todd said.

Jason took hands off Todd’s shoulders while the boy stepped out of his jodhpurs and kicked them out of the stall. He unbuttoned his shirt and took it off.

Jason got the soap and handed it to Todd. ‘Can you wash me?’ he said.

Todd shrugged. ‘You’re not even dirty,’ he said, shrugging his shoulders and turning around to open the stall door. ‘Just wash between your legs.’

Jason soaped there and got out of the shower also. He felt alright now. A bit woozy; but he was okay.

Todd was standing in the center of the locker room looking around him. ‘There aren’t any towels,’ he said.

Jason looked around. There were a couple they had used earlier, bunched up in the corner on the floor; but anyway, he wanted to look in the mirror. He wanted to see what had been done to him.

He went and stood in front of it, shaking his hair and watching the hair splay out all around his head. He looked at himself and smiled. His golden body was covered in droplets of water and he ran a hand over his chest and down over the ripples of his abs.

He turned to one side and tried to see his arse. He bent forward a bit and craned his head around before reaching down and feeling his hole with his fingers. He reached up with four fingers and felt them slide into his hole like it was a mailbox. There was no resistance. He bent forward and spread his cheeks, looking around one side of him and trying to see what had happened to it.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Todd’s foot came out in a sideways arc, catching Jason hard in the arse. He fell forward onto his hands and knees. And stayed there, breathing heavily. It had hurt. He had hurt his wrists and his knees and he didn’t understand why Todd had kicked him.

He looked up at Todd quickly and saw that the boy’s face was flushed with anger. Jason frowned.

He got up and tried to avoid looking at Todd.

He turned back and looked at himself in the mirror, brushing his knees while he wondered what Todd was so angry about, wondered why the kid had kicked him and what had brought this on. Had Jason done something wrong?

‘You think you look fucking good!’ Todd said. He yelled it. ‘You still think you’re fucking good, don’t you, Jase?’ There was a sneer to Todd’s voice and he rushed rapidly from behind Jason, extending his arm and catching Jason between the shoulder blades with the heel of a hand. Jason was pushed forward into the mirror. He hit his forehead and the mirror cracked from side to side. A long wave of a river rolled on forever.

Jason fell hard onto his knees and rolled onto one side. He put a hand up and felt his forehead. It was bleeding.

Suddenly Todd kicked him again, catching him in the small of his back; and then moving around, kicking Jason in the chest, in the stomach, kicking him in his empty groin, while Jason writhed and tried to turn away, tried to cover himself with his hands.

‘You think you’re fucking good!’ Todd yelled. He kicked Jason again, kicked him in the legs, kicked his butt; and then walked around to stand in front of him with his hands on his hips. ‘I oughta smash your fucking face,’ Todd screamed. He swung forward and planted his foot in Jason’s face. There was a crunching sound and Jason knew that his nose had broken.

‘You’re a piece of shit, Jase.’ Todd screamed. He kicked Jason again, aiming for his face but hitting his forearms because Jason had them up, protecting his face. ‘You’re a piece of fucking shit.’ He kicked Jason in the kidneys and Jason felt his back arch. He curled into a ball and cradled his head with one hand, keeping the other at his side.

It was too much. What the fuck was happening?

‘Lay on your fucking stomach,’ Todd said. He kicked Jason in the arse again, softer though, calmer now somehow, Jason could tell from his voice.

Jason rolled over and lay on his stomach. He cradled his head with his hands, not wanting to get kicked in the side of the face. There was blood in his mouth. Blood in his nose. He could taste it.

‘You’re not fucking good, Jase,’ Todd said, kneeling down on his back with one knee. ‘You’re a piece of shit. Move your fucking hands,’ he said, hitting Jason’s arms with his fist. He bent down and lay on Jason. He put his arm underneath Jason’s neck and threaded it around his throat, catching the soft of Jason’s neck in the crook of his elbow. He squeezed and grasped with his other hand, locking his arm behind Jason’s head, tightening his arms into a triangle, locked together. He squeezed with all his might.

Jason started choking. He couldn’t breathe.

‘You’re a piece of shit, Jase,’ Todd said, gritting his teeth.

Jason started to panic. He tried to thrust himself up and tried to thrust Todd off. He managed topple him over behind him but this only increased the pressure on his neck. Jason reach and hand up and grasped Todd’s forearm. Clawed at it and squeezed at the sides of the boy’s wrists.

But still he held on.

Was Todd going to kill him?

Jason started to deliberately convulse himself. He jerked his body back and forth as hard as he could; but Todd kicked his knee up suddenly, kneeing Jason two, three, four times in the small of his back.

Jason’s breath tried to expel. But it couldn’t.

It felt like his head would explode. It was hot like it was on fire. He had to breathe out. He had to breathe in. But he wasn’t going to get a breath. There was no way he could get one and slowly, suddenly everything started to go sick. Everything…

He was going to die.

He felt his will weaken. It would be okay. It didn’t really hurt now. It was uncomfortable. It was hot. But he could just give up. It would be easier. He could let himself slide. The pain was a warmth and a pleasure and he remembered how he had swum in the pool when he was a boy.

The pool at home.

Holding his breath.

It was like swimming, when you went under the water and held your breath, trying to make it from one end to the other. His dad had been there, smiling as Jason came up and saying, ‘Well done, Jase,’ while Jason exploded air and water out of his mouth. He had made it the whole length without taking a breath. ‘Well done, Jase,’ his dad had said.

Jason shook his head and got out of the pool. His dad hugged him. ‘You’re a good boy,’ he said.

Jason smiled. He was only a little kid. He was only eight or nine and it was a hot day. The sun was shining and his mum was in the kitchen. He could see her through the large windows. She was making lunch and she was smiling out at him and his dad. Out by the pool. In the sunshine. There were birds singing. And it felt great to be alive.

It was days, maybe, before his parents had gone away. Before they had gone to Australia and left him. Taken Emily. But left him.

Garth will look after you.

Garth?

He lives next door.

And that had been years ago. Years and years ago.

And the sun was going down now; and everything was becoming an afternoon darkness; and he was drifting into the sky like he was floating in water, like he was floating under the water, where there were stars and a darkness…

A sudden sound exploded.

Like the rushing of tunnel with a train. Like a frog croaking at a sudden pain. Like a scream choked.

His breath rushed inwards through his throat and he felt it – not making it happen, not breathing inwards but feeling the breath simply sucking inside him like there was a vacuum in his chest. Something he had never felt.

And a sound. A vibration in his ears and the sound of his breath rushing inwards through his throat like someone was going to die.

He became aware of the bright lights in the locker room and knew where he was. He knew Todd was there; but his body started to convulse spasmodically, jerking without him having any control over it and worrying him as it jolted him helplessly on the floor.

And when it stopped he jumped to his feet only to fall down again with a sudden dizziness. He fell on a elbow and looked at Todd who was kneeling, sinking down onto his bottom and staring at Jason.

‘I choked you out,’ Todd said.

Jason put a hand on his throat and shook his head in a series of jerks. Had he died? Was that it was to die?

He lay down on the floor, on his side, and he held his hands on his guts. He tried not to vomit.

Todd was looking at him.

‘Did you see the light?’

Jason said nothing.

‘There isn’t any light, is there, Jase?’

There wasn’t any light.

‘Not for you.’

Jason waited. He thought; and he waited.

‘You’re crap, Jase. You really need to understand that.’

Jason pushed his lips together and listened.

‘You’re wrong. You’re a wrong thing.’

A wrong thing? Maybe. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he had always been wrong. His parents had left him after all. They had taken his sister and left him. And he was fucked. He was fucked up. How could he be right?

Something, suddenly, became very clear.

And Jason felt a force rise up inside him. His back arched and strained. A sudden groan, desperate and hard-won, wrenched itself from somewhere and burst from his throat. He let his head fall backwards. ‘Aghaaghaugh,’ he groaned, taking a breath and starting again. ‘Aghaaghaugh…,’ forcing the sound out. ‘Aghaaghaugh…’ He cried, as though a fight had somehow been won and he had triumphed in defeat. Victory, when fallen.

Because he knew, all at once, that he was nothing. He had never done anything right. He was crap.

He burst forth with another groan which turned to tears; and he started to sob while Todd came over and lay beside him. The boy put his arms around Jason, and Jason, as he swallowed his pride, put his arms out and held them around Todd. They lay together, side by side, on the cold, tiled floor.

‘You won, Jase,’ Todd said. ‘You fucking well won.’

Jason shook his head and felt it rub against Todd’s. He hadn’t won anything. He had lost. He shuffled forward and hugged the boy closer and knew all at once, at the same time, everything that had happened that day, knew all about Garth and Garth’s plans; and knew all about Todd and what Todd had done; and how Todd was going to get it now, was going to get what had happened to Jason and probably get it worse.

‘Don’t go back out there,’ Jason said, pushing his lips against Todd’s ear and speaking desperately. ‘Don’t let them do it to you.’

There was silence for a moment and then Todd said, ‘They won’t, Jase. They won’t do it to me. I’m going to win. I’m going to do it properly.’

‘You can’t, Todd. It’s not possible to win. No one’s ever won.’

‘It’s easy,’ Todd said. ‘I’ve done it before. You just don’t give up. No matter what happens, you just keep going.’

‘But they’ll kill you.’

Todd shrugged his shoulders. ‘I can’t die, Jase. No one dies. Not even when they want to. Not really. It’s forever, this life. We ever be. Just don’t give up, Jase. No matter what happens. Never say die. No matter how bad it gets you just hold on.’