Walking down the side of Highway 12 was not a good idea in the best of conditions. Cars and trucks blazed down the two lane highway, moving between the towns of Wester and Lancashire, speeding through the curves and straightaways both. Walking down the side of Highway 12 at ten o'clock in the evening was even more dangerous.
Walking down the side of Highway 12 was exactly what Parson was doing.
In a daze, Parson blindly put one foot in front of the other, not knowing exactly where he was headed and not caring. He had been walking for the past hour and a half and was far from his poshly furnished upper middle class home. His cell phone had gone off several times within that ninety minute span, but he had not answered it. His mind was only on the events of the last few days.
Parson Wilkes had always been a handsome youth. Since the time he could walk on his own, strangers would approach his mother to exclaim over what a beautiful child he was and to touch his hair or his face. As he grew older and began to fill out into the form of a young man, Parson had not lost any of his beauty and had, in fact, become even more so as the softness of youth transformed into the strength of an adult.
It was no mystery, then, that Parson was always the center of attention. Girls would hover around him, hoping for a smile or a word that would indicate his interest in them. Boys would all include him in their activities, wanting to be his friend. It was a shock to his family when Parson arrived home one afternoon with his very first crush. It was a boy three years older than him, very handsome, very kind hearted, and very male. Parson's parents were taken aback by the fact their son was gay, but they were supportive all the same.
They were supportive, in fact, of most everything Parson did because they trusted his judgement. It was only this most recent love that his, a love his parents saw as obsessive, that they were against. Parson had recently been spending a lot of time together with a very rough street boy named Raymond. Raymond was very controlling and very domineering, quite unlike any of Parson's other boyfriends. Parson's parents could tell that Parson was getting roughed up by Raymond. Their son had bruises on his arms and marks on his face, but Parson insisted nothing was wrong. The boy was so much in love with Raymond that he could not imagine the abuse he was receiving was anything other than signs of affection.
It wasn't until this evening that Parson saw the full extent of Raymond's cruelty and contempt for him. Raymond and his lovemaking had always been a bit rough, but Parson assumed that was because Raymond loved him so fiercely. This evening, though, Raymond had been especially cruel, until Parson had cried out in pain, begging the sadistic youth to stop. Raymond had become furious with him and punched Parson repeatedly until he was unconscious.
When he woke up a half hour later, Raymond was gone and so were all of his valuables. It was clear to Parson that Raymond had been using him for his sick pleasure only and didn't really love him. The pain of that realization was worse than the throbbing pain throughout his body.
Not even bothering to pick up his shirt from the floor, Parson stumbled out the door, his only thought to get as far away from Raymond's apartment as possible.
