Not Him Again

*Fourteen Years Ago*

"Sorry, Miss Lancaster?"

Suzie Parker, employed as a teacher for the lively bunch of seventh graders at Harmony Primary School, looked up from where she was busy packing up her stuff after a long day's slavery in front of the whiteboard, in which she just hoped to God that these thirteen years old had taken ANYTHING in of what she had tried her best to teach them.

And once again...she didn't really know why she was actually surprised in who wanted her attention...as always, these days, it was little Mikey Cunningham who had stayed behind after the final bell had rung out, and he was hovering in the doorway of the classroom, complete with his backpack in his hands, and a far-off scared look on his face, as was always the bloody case these last few weeks.

She closed her eyes and counted to ten, before she looked up at Mikey, with what she hoped was a warm, loving and reassuring smile on her face.

"It's time to go home, Mikey. Your mom is probably waiting for you in the car outside," Miss Lancaster then said, but with the sad, miserable look on the thirteen-year-old boy's face, she knew he had to walk home once more today. And of course, that would mean...the whole reason why he was now here in the first place.

His parents, Ashley and Frank Lancaster were some of the, if not, the richest of the kid's parents in the entire school register, and it was always poor Mikey that burned the brunt of that. The fact that his parents had money, and the fact that, to be honest, he didn't quite seem to have ever fit in, ever since she had started at Harmony Primary a couple of years before.

Mikey shook his head in the negative connotation, before he looked around him, his eyes flickering just about every direction you could possibly think of, before he entered the classroom, slowly. He suddenly clutched his backpack, before his eyes pleaded, as he spoke.

"Miss Parker, I was wondering if I could like, you know...clean the classroom before I go home today? Just like I did the other few days?"

Something inside Miss Parker's heart just broke...it wasn't because of the boy offering to stay behind and play janitor...it was because she knew the real reason that he was asking this. It had nothing to do with him wanting to actually clean anything.

And she also knew that she would regret it tomorrow, if she didn't agree to his request.

She found that out hard enough, the first time she had said no to him. The black-eyed shiner he carried the following day, spoke volumes.

"Sure Mikey, if you really, want to, that is? Are you sure?"

Mikey eagerly nodded yes, with just the slightest of smiles, finally streaking across his boyish thirteen-year-old face, before he placed his backpack down, and quickly ran towards the cupboard, where by now, he knew darn well, the cleaning equipment was kept.

"Thanks a stack, Miss Parker! I promise you I'll do a good job! I'll be here early tomorrow morning, when my dad drops me off, to give you back the keys. I promise you I won't lose it!"

Suzie Parker just nodded, before turning around, on the rouge of getting her handbag, before she gently pulled out a tissue and wiped the tears that had been threatening to spill over her eyes, before she composed herself and smiled at the boy.

"Mikey...I'm gonna be honest here. Look, I am your teacher. And teachers are in this world to help people. Especially bright, smart boys like yourself, and I really wanna help you, but if you refuse to tell anyone what is really going on..."

Mikey's face actually slumped towards the floor of the classroom, before he slowly removed the brushes to clean the whiteboard, as well as a broom from the cupboard. He remained silent in his attempts to "stay behind to clean the classroom" before Miss Parker sighed, and grabbed her handbag, swinging it over her shoulder.

"Mikey, listen to me. I don't mind, ever, in helping you staying away and out of Gavin Connolly's way, but ask yourself this...what is going to happen next year when you guys go to Highschool? I very much doubt that this is going to work on another teacher, especially a male teacher. Mikey, I've known you for three years, I can see what's going on. Gavin and his gang are bullying you again, aren't they? That's why you wanna stay behind...because you know they are going to wait for you somewhere on your way back home. Mikey? Please talk to me!"

Mikey continued to stare at the floor while he swept, not even noticing that he had been doing the very same spot ever since Miss Parker had started talking to him. He just shrugged his shoulders, before he sighed and looked up at his favorite teacher.

"Not much I can do when Gavin's father is the principal of the school, is there?" he said, so quietly and sadly, that Suzie struggled to hear what he was saying.

She bit her lip in wanting to say something of her own accord that she KNEW she would regret, before making the decision to finally leave. Afterall, tomorrow was another day. She desperately wanted to help Mikey, but there was nothing she could do, if he didn't wanna help himself.

Mikey point blank refused to admit that Gavin Connolly was bullying him, threatening him, to the point where she had received multiple calls from Mikey's mother Ashley, saying her son was too sick to come to school for days on end. Nearly every two weeks, Mikey would turn up with a black eye, or a burst lip, or he would be limping for no apparent reason. There were times that she would walk into the teacher's lounge and hear Mikey's father Frank, threaten the school with legal action if his son is bullied even ONCE more...

...but Mikey simply refused to even acknowledge that there was anything happening. He always, ALWAYS had an excuse for his injuries...He bumped his head...he accidently smashed his lip playing hockey...he simply didn't eat all day because he lost his lunch money...

...he broke his glasses by tripping over his own two feet. For God's sake.

"When you're ready to talk to me, Mikey, I'll be here, okay? Always know that...this shouldn't be happening. Ever. Anywhere. And you are the only one who can stop it! You go on and think about that," Miss Parker finally said, before she smiled sadly, and left the classroom.

She knew that she could trust Mikey to give her the keys tomorrow morning, first thing. Pity and sorrow for that little boy slashed her motherly heart. She was expecting her own bundle of joy in just a couple of months...and she would die before EVER allowing anyone to bully her own little girl.

Alas... if Mikey didn't wanna admit it, how could she or anyone for that matter, possibly help him?

* *

"Good news, everyone! Settle down, now!"

Oh great, a substitute teacher...Mikey pursed his lips and took his seat. He could already see Gavin smirking. Make no mistake, they would do their best to make this day HELL for this woman. They always fucking did, whenever Miss Parker couldn't be here, because her of pregnancy.

This new woman, however, didn't look like she as in the mood for taking anyone's shit, though.

"So, I guess I should tell you the details as to why I am here and your beloved teacher isn't. Miss Parker has gone into labour last night, so I'm afraid she won't be here for the next couple of months, but she promised that you ALL could come and visit her and her little girl Michaela once they are rested and back home. Okay, back to work...all of you open your books on page..."

Mikey didn't bother to listen any further.

His mind was working sheer overtime now.

His mom was working late today...and he knew better than to bother his father with coming to fetch him from school when they only lived two streets away. Sometimes he really got the feeling that his dad literally hated him...he sure as hell was tired of hearing that his son was bullied at school all the time.

Mikey knew that he should stand up for himself, that he should be braver like his dad. It's just...Gavin was bigger than him, much too big for what a thirteen-year-old realistically should be. And he just seemed to have it IN for Mikey, for God knows what reason, but there you were.

Mikey Lancaster...small for his age, and his only friends in the whole school were Lisi and Gemma...two girls, the fucking cherry on top of the cake. No boys in school, none whatsoever, wanted to be friends with him, or even as much as try to get to know him, because they knew Gavin would make their lives hell, if they so much as looked at Mikey.

That's just the way things were...if Gavin Connolly hated you, he made sure the entire school thought so too.

Mikey slumped in his seat...with Miss Parker not here today, would the substitute teacher allow him to stay behind so he could avoid running into Gavin after school? He had managed to successfully dodge him after school so far, but with Miss Parker not here...and him having to walk home this afternoon...

"You there, in the back! Day dreaming, are we?"

Mikey snapped back to reality when the sub teacher's voice thundered over towards his direction, and that's when he realized that she was actually talking to him.

"You, yes! I'm talking to you! Have you even heard one word I've been saying all this time?"

Mikey shuddered, his face immediately turned into several shades of red, and his eyes immediately diverted towards the rest of the class, as he saw Gavin and his best mate Rowan turn around in their own desks to face him, the smile and nasty glint in Gavin's eyes there for everyone but the teacher to see.

It was like Gavin was taunting him, with his eyes doing all the talking.

"BOY! I'm talking to you!"

Mikey cleared his throat and looked straight at the sub teacher, trying his best to avoid Gavin and Rowan's sneers.

"Yes, Miss. Sorry, Miss. It won't...it won't happen again, Miss."

"It better not! Now, like I said, the Civil War started..."

* *

The final bell of the school day sounded.

Mikey closed his eyes and felt the goosebumps spread out on his arms, the small little hairs on his unblemished skin standing upright in sheer morbid fright.

He swallowed slowly, his eyes starting to water, but he quickly wiped away any sort of tears that was bursting to come out, before he stood up with the rest of the class, acting like he too, was ready to go home.

He was going to have to try...at least, and take his chances with the sub teacher.

Maybe she would be impressed...perhaps...with him wanting to stay behind and "clean the classroom" to try and avoid walking home, straight into Gavin and Rowan's fists. As far as Mikey knew, neither boy knew that he was staying behind on the days where his parents were too busy to come and fetch him. If they did, they would have waited outside the gates, or something...at least, that's what he thought, and hoped.

As the final kid in his class left the classroom, Mikey hovered in front of his desk, and nearly pissed himself as the sub teacher actually spotted him...

"You again! I want to get home too, you know! Come on then, out you get!"

Wow, was she speaking to a dog?

Mikey stood up, and smiled as best and as friendly as he hoped he looked, before he carried his backpack and walked towards the sub teacher.

"Miss... I was wondering..."

"Well, take two Aspirin's, the pain will go away. Can we go now? Teachers are tired of being here all day too, even if you lot don't think so!"

This wasn't getting off the best of starts...

Mikey swallowed, closed his eyes and just went for it...

"Could I stay behind? I sometimes...sometimes I volunteer...yes, that's the word...I volunteer to clean the class after school, and Miss Parker always allows me to...please?"

The sub teacher swung her handbag over her shoulder, before sighing and walking towards the classroom door. For a moment, Mikey thought that she was simply going to leave, which probably meant that she was totally okay with this...maybe he could still avoid running into Gavin after all...

...but boy, was he wrong.

"Boy, what's your name, please?"

Mikey frowned and kept clinging to his backpack. His hands were sweaty, and his voice croaked. He adjusted his glasses, before he opened his mouth...

"Mikey...Mikey Lancaster."

The sub teacher rolled her eyes.

"Well, Mister Mikey Lancaster, I've had a long day. Okay? You do understand that, right? No one stays behind alone in my class without supervision. I don't care what Miss Parker allows you to do, but if you haven't noticed, I'm not her! Please...leave now."

Mikey pursed his lips and his entire body felt like it was aching with fear. He took one last look at the cupboard door...before he begrudgingly walked out of the classroom.

Maybe he could just...I dunno, wait outside the school gates? Maybe he could join the kids in the aftercare building until it was safe to walk home? No... then the word would spread to Gavin that he was there, instead of actually going home. That's gonna totally blow his cover.

As Mikey peeped around the corner of the exit into the outside area, he couldn't see either Gavin or Rowan anywhere, but of course, that didn't mean shit. He carefully scouted the parking lot...hoping to God that his dad maybe had decided to come and pick him up after all...but no dice.

If he got home late to do his homework, that would be another thing for the VERY strict disciplinarian that he was, Frank Lancaster to moan about...Mikey sighed. He knew he had to get home. He lived close enough...and he didn't dare tell his dad about being bullied again. He knew he'd just get the age-old speech yet again about how he needed to stand up for himself and face his fears, like a man.

He didn't see Gavin as he slowly walked out of the school gates, and not when he turned into the next street as well, before he quickly started to walk home, as fast as he could. His house was literally JUST in the following street, so maybe if he was lucky, he could make it with running into those to idiots.

Mikey was so focused on what was happening INFRONT of him, that he didn't bother to check if there was anyone behind him...and just before he could turn into his own street, his own house a mere four plots away...he was taken into a solid chokehold.

"HOLD HIM!" he could hear Gavin order his minion, before he smelled the deodorant that Rowan always used after they had PE, as he was dragged away from his street, and into the opposing one that he had just been in. Finally, the hand around his mouth was removed, and before Mikey could say or do anything, he had Gavin Connolly right in his face, right there and then...

"Life is wonderful...isn't it?"

Mikey just started to shake, his hands clenched into fists, as he suddenly remembered his father's voice saying that he needed to have some respect and stand up for himself...also what Miss Parker had said that day flashed through his terrified mind, that only he could stop all of this, if he just spoke up.

"Why didn't you give me your fucking lunch money today? I was waiting like an idiot at the tuck shop!" Gavin shouted, top of his voice. Mikey could hear Rowan laughing like a maniac behind him as well...before he felt a slight slap across his face. Not enough to hurt him, but enough to warn him.

"I'm waiting for an answer, you whimp!" Gavin said, his eyes as dark as the midnight sky.

Mikey swallowed once more, before he shook his head.

"You have to believe me, I forgot it at home this morning! I didn't mean to! Look, if you just let me go, I'll give you double that tomorrow, okay? Just, please lemme go, Gavin!"

Gavin sneered at Mikey and then laughed nastily. He ran his fingers through his jet-black hair, before kneeling down, so that he was at Mikey's level of sight.

"So...double the usual money tomorrow, or I fuck you up tomorrow afternoon, good and proper. We good?"

Mikey nodded severely, terrified by now, his eyes were a watery mess. He saw Gavin nod towards Rowan, and he was finally released, slumping towards the gravel pavement, his legs completely refusing to work.

"Oh, and another thing..."

Gavin turned around and before Mikey knew what hit him, he kicked the latter boy inside his stomach as hard as he could.

Mikey doubled over in sheer pain...the blast hurting and bloating him beyond belief, before he started to cry and shake violently, still laying on the pavement. His arms were clutching his tender stomach from where Gavin had kicked him, before he was violently pulled upwards, to where he could see the latter boy's deep blue eyes, staring down at him with the most hatred he had EVER seen in his young life.

"If you EVER...as much as come CLOSE to Lisi...I'll finish you. She's, MY girlfriend. As if you can ever compete with me, but still. Oh...you dunno what I'm talking about? Lemme refresh your memory...no, someone has told her an insane lie that...wait for this...that I was the one who gave you that black eye the other week. And she said if she finds out it was me, that she'll break up with me. Wonder who told her crap like that?"

Mikey struggled to catch his breath, his stomach still hurting and cramping up, before he shook his head. His glasses were quickly fogging up as well, what with the pressure he was under, as well as the quickening of his breathing.

"I didn't...honest Gavin, I didn't tell her anything..."

"Well, you fucking go and tell her someone else fucking hurt you, and then you NEVER speak to her again, you hear? I don't care if she's your best friend. I don't care. I don't want people saying my girlfriend hangs out with losers."

And with that, Gavin stood up and signaled for Rowan to follow him. They didn't even bother to help Mikey up, as they walked away without a care in the world.

Mikey coughed twice, before finally having enough energy to get up...slowly but surely. He held his tender stomach, before gingerly picking up his backpack, but swinging it over his shoulder wasn't an option right now, not with the pain threatening to blind him.

He angrily wiped away a few tears, before he stood upwards, and as quickly as his injured body would allow him, he trudged off home.

* *

"Mikey...Mikey, Mikey, Mikey...!"

Mikey turned around and once more, totally withdrew in his personal shell, the moment that he saw Gavin approaching. The smile on his face, almost as sickening, as big, sarcastic and cheery as it was.

It was the first recess of the following day, and he knew exactly why Gavin was there. He wanted his lunch money...and Mikey quickly took out his Pokemon themed wallet, and took out the amount of cash that his mother had given him that very morning, complete with the amount that he forgot at home the previous day.

Gavin held out his hand while snickering at the boy, before he licked his lips at the cash inside Mikey's hand.

"Yum...so in the mood for a double cheeseburger and chili fries today! Thanks, Loser. Gotta go...see ya after school. Oh, and I have some homework that I need you to do for me. Relax, it's only for tomorrow. I have soccer practice: you see, I can't do it this afternoon. So, you're gonna have to. Just figure out what to write and type it for me, will ya?"

Mikey blinked, before he came to terms with what Gavin was actually saying...or more demanding.

"I can't! I mean..."

Gavin frowned and came closer towards Mikey...who tripped over his feet in trying to get away, before he fell down on the grass of the soccer pitch on the playground.

"What did you say? Did you say you won't do it?" Gavin asked, his voice raising just a tad.

"No, I didn't say I didn't want to, I literally can't! I have computer club this afternoon and it's my mom's birthday, so we're all going out for dinner and I still have to do my own assignment..."

Mikey stopped speaking as he saw Gavin kneel beside him. He felt the boy's hand slap his face a few more times, lightly at first, but then it got more and more severe, to the point, where it started to hurt. His glasses were on the verge of falling of his face if it continued...

"Oh Mikey, Mikey, Mikey...I don't fucking care if you mom pisses herself crying, but you ARE going to do my homework. I don't care if yours ain't finished either, but you ARE going to finish mine. Because if it's not, I am gonna finish YOU."

Mikey's lips trembled at the sheer illicit unfairness of it all, and also because this was happening in full view for EVERYONE to see, and no one ever bothered to come to his aid. Then again...who in their right mind would EVER go against Gavin Connolly?

Gavin winked at Mikey, before he rolled around the cash that the latter boy had just given him, around in the palm of his hand.

"Tell you mom happy birthday from me, though. I've seen her around school before...she's the one with the skinny ass like she has some kind of disease, right? Geez, no wonder you're such a pea brain, look who you came out of."

It was then, that something inside Mikey had just SNAPPED.

He loved his mom like no one else, she always stood by him, she always fought his father whenever he had something nasty about him to say...she always took on Principal Connolly in that something had to be done, done MORE to protect her son from bullies...and it just dawned on his that he was giving Gavin the money that SHE was working so hard to earn and give to him out of the goodness of her heart.

And here Gavin Connolly was...just taking it from him like a willing beggar on the street!

NO! HELL NO!

A vicious anger like Mikey had EVER felt willed up inside his chest and his heart. He stood up, and with Gavin's back turned towards him, himself merrily on his way to the tuck shop for that cheeseburger and fries...never saw it coming, and certainly not from someone normally as meek and mild as Mikey.

Mikey launched a massive cry from deep inside himself, at Gavin and with ALL his might, he raised his leg and KICKED the boy severely on his back, so much so, that Gavin plotzed down onto the grass, in jackhammer pain, like he had never felt before.

Everything was quiet on the playground...all of a sudden...deathly quiet...you could literally hear a pin drop...someone finally...finally had the GUTS to stand up to Gavin Connolly...let alone injure him...and it was little Mikey Lancaster who had done it.

"What the hell is going on here? Who was screaming like that? I could hear the commotion all the way from my office...SON! OH MY GOD! Gavin! What happened?"

Mikey turned around, only to see Principal Connolly, and as well as Gavin's father storm onto the playground's grassy area, where his son was still lying flat on his face, and trying his best to reach backwards with his hands to where Mikey had kicked him, as it was obviously still hurting like a mother fucker.

Mikey knew he should probably run away from all of this...the last thing he wanted was to face the principal right now, himself in such a state that he could actually DO this so someone...but his legs were like jelly. He literally couldn't move.

"Who did this? Who bloody did this?" Principal Connolly shouted, much like his very own son did to Mikey the previous day, and like ONE person...every single one the surrounding students, boys and girls pointed their fingers...

...straight at Mikey.

* *

"He's been suspended! He's been thrown out of school! Where did you get the brilliant idea from to actually KICK another boy? You idiot!"

Mikey sat in small heap on the living room couch, crouching forward to try and ignore his father's yells and screams, as they were flying at him in full force.

Principal Connolly took his son's word at what happened...no surprise there...and he had about fifty students refusing to admit that it was Gavin who had started all of this in the first place...refusing to actually tell him, that the only reason that Mikey so much as touched Gavin, was because he severely insulted his mother.

To all and sundry it seemed as if Mikey Lancaster just...seemingly ATTACKED Gavin Connolly for no apparent reason...hence the indefinite suspension, despite being one of the most academically gifted kids in the entire school. Principal Connolly was clearly just as ruthless as his son.

"Do you realize how this is going to make ME look now? My god damn son has been kicked out of school because he was VIOLENT?! If the business suffers or loses clients over this, so help me, Michael..."

At the sound of his real name, Mikey blinked, before the tears were rolling down his face once more. His mother hugged him tightly, where she was sitting next to him, and in her heart of hearts, she knew something drastic had to happen for Mikey, gentle and kindhearted as he was, to completely lose it like this.

"For God's sake, Frank! You are the one who told him to stand up for himself, to stand up against his bullies! And yes! He is getting bullied, only YOU chose not to see it! Where were YOU, when our son came home with black eyes? When he came home with custard dripping all over him? I'm telling you, that Gavin Connolly is mean, nasty piece of work and he got away with it because of his father!"

Frank slammed his fist into the wooden furniture, before he walked straight over to his son.

"Michael..."

"He prefers to be called Mikey..."

"He has a name, Ashley! Are you a god damn sissy? You were christened Michael James Lancaster, not this ridiculous excuse for a nickname! Now you listen to me, and you listen good. Is it true? Was Gavin Connolly bullying you? Did he do something...anything, say or do anything, to make you attack him like you did? ANSWER ME!"

Mikey shuddered, and looked up at his mother, who gave his shoulder a warm squeeze, before she gently nodded...telling it that it was okay. He opened his mouth, wiping away some more tears...

...before he thought back...no one actually helped him...they all saw what was happening, they all heard what Gavin had said.

And no one...not even Lisi or Gemma, chose to help him. No one even remotely threw Gavin under the bus. He might have been suspended from school indefinitely, but that didn't mean Gavin or Rowan for that matter, would leave him alone, even then. They could still come after him.

And what about Lisi...he didn't have many friends on this earth, but Lisi was one of them, even though she didn't do shit to help him...he knew she was in love with Gavin. He had known it for ages...he has literally changed her so much; he hardly even recognized her anymore.

He didn't wanna lose her friendship...not for anything in the world...and he had a sickening feeling that was EXACTLY what was going to happen, if he told anyone what Gavin had done...and how the boy had been literally bullying him for months on end.

He looked up...for once in his life, he looked his father straight in the eye...and shook his head.

"No Dad...Gavin didn't do anything. It was me. It was all me."

Ashley Lancaster shook her head, in deep despair, before she stood up and paced around the living room.

"He's lying, Frank! Look in his eyes, you can see he's scared to say something! Why can't you support our son for who he is? Maybe then he will actually have the guts to tell the truth!"

Frank Lancaster closed his eyes, and nodded. He then turned towards Mikey, and placed his hand on his shoulder, slowly.

"We'll home school you. That's all that's left to do. You'll be home schooled from now on. I'm so done with this shit, and I'll never have to see that school or that damn Connolly bastard ever again. We have the money, so why not do it? And you...if I find out you're not getting the bloody best marks you possibly can from now on...you focus on what you're good at. You're my son...you're a bloody Lancaster! It's time you started acting like one!"

*Present Day*

"Hey mom! How's it going?"

"You thought I had forgotten, didn't you? Happy birthday, baby! Twenty-seven, today! Nearly thirty. Feeling old yet?"

Michael Lancaster smiled and rolled his eyes.

Even though that terrible age of thirty was coming ever closer, he hardly felt his true age. Still holding his cell phone to his ear, he smirked as he walked into his massive bedroom, and saw himself reflected in the big ass mirror he had installed the previous year.

His muscles were intense, and flexing. His chest was ripped, his six pack abs were literally glowing from the work out he had just before his mother had called to wish him happy birthday. He lost the glasses he always wore as well, a couple of years ago, wearing contacts now instead, bringing out his beautiful caramel-colored eyes.

Sure as hell knows...none of the men he brought home to fuck and leave EVER had any complaints. That's what his seven-and-a-half-inch cock made more than sure of.

"How's Dad doing? Still recovering from the stroke?" he asked, sitting down to have a drink of his coffee as he did so.

"Yes...and no. it's going to be a much tougher road to healing than any of us ever thought. Oh Mikey...I wish you could come home and see him some time. I know you're busy with the company but...at least think about it?"

Michael cleared his throat, and willed the tears that had gathered up in his eyes, hearing the desperation in his mother's voice, as he always did.

"Mom, Dad told me, more than once, never to come home ever again. You know all of this, you were there. So, tell me, what should I do with that?"

He could hear Ashley Lancaster sighing in the background, before she blew out some much-needed air.

"Mikey..."

"Mother, my name is Michael. Please call me that. Please."

Another sigh, followed by a few seconds of complete and utter silence.

"Michael...look, we both know your dad has some...issues with you being homosexual..."

"GAY, MOM! You can say it, you won't turn into stone or go to hell by just saying the damn word."

"Fact remains, that things have changed. Your dad needs you. We don't know if he will ever recover and be who he was before, so just...think about it, okay? You're his only child, and more importantly, you're his only son!"

Michael nodded, before he removed the phone from his ear, having heard a real commotion of note in the outside. It sounded like it was coming from his next-door neighbour Keith, which was also no surprise.

Man, the times that he had heard the very same Keith shout and beat his wife over these last few years ever since he had moved into his current home...fucking hell, some men just aren't supposed to ever marry.

Which was why he was glad as fuck, that he was gay. It ruined his relationship with his father and with several other people back home, but at least, he lived alone. And he preferred it that way. Fuck them, and leave them. No strings attached. Ever.

"Mom, I have to go, but I'll call you tonight, okay? I still have some things to do, and I have a Zoom meeting later. Gotta earn the big bucks somehow, right? I love you, Mom. I hope you know that. And...and give Dad my regards. I'll try and come up to see him."

"That's a promise I will see you keep, Mikey!"

"MOM!"

* *

"I told you; I don't have anything for you to do here! Just go! Get the hell outta here before I call security!"

"Relax, Sir! I was just looking for some work, there is no need to shout!"

"If you aren't off my fucking property in literally three seconds, I'll GIVE you something to shout about! This is a respectable neighbourhood! Take that pathetic excuse for a van and GET LOST!"

Geez...what the hell has gotten into Keith this afternoon?

Michael drank the last of his coffee, before he unlocked his front door and walked outside. Once there, he saw his neighbour ranting and raving as he always did, and walking away, dejectedly from him, was a man...and a what looked like a young boy, of perhaps twelve, or maybe thirteen, at the very most.

Michael's eyes widened as the man abruptly came to a standstill, the boy right next to him, before said man wiped the sweat out of his eyes and visibly sighed...and who could blame him. It was right in the middle of the South African summer...and if you lived here, you knew what that meant. Approximately about thirty-five and upper degrees every single fucking day.

Michael's heart fluttered as he saw the man smile and accept a bottle of water from the young boy, ruffling the kid's hair lovingly in the process...holy shit, this dude was just about the hottest bloody guy he had ever seen in his entire life, hands fucking down! He had jet black hair, neatly styled, and he was wearing a white tank top, as well as some ripped, yet faded blue jeans.

Michael's cock hardened slightly...man, he was hot...incredibly sexy...he made all the guys he fucked and brought home these days look like Boris Johnson in comparison!

Well...Michael wasn't exactly Shrek himself, indeed far from it, so he knew he had the confidence in trying to see if he could score himself some nookie with this complete and utter stud of a man. He took off his shirt he was wearing, tossing it behind him, inside of the house, before he flexed his pecs, walking out into his garden, shirtless and spectacular.

"Afternoon there, Keith. Is there a problem?" he asked, doing his best to avoid looking at Mr Hunk who was now slowly watching him approach his neighbour.

"Oh, hey Michael. Didn't see you there. No, no problem at all, if only some folk would learn to stay out of places they don't belong in!"

Michael casually turned towards the man and boy, acting like he was now only seeing them for the very first time.

"Oh, hello there. Sorry about him...Can I be of any help?" he asked, turning his naked upper body directly towards the man, hoping to God that there was even a single gay bone inside this stud's body...because wow...he was even more handsome and HOT up close!

The stranger smiled at Michael, and signalled at the boy to follow him. Before he came face to face with Michael, he stopped, paused, before wiping both his hands slightly off on his jeans, as if they were filthy, before reaching out solidly and confidently with his right hand.

"Afternoon, Sir! I'm also sorry for all the chaos and the noise and what not...I've been laid off at my usual job because of the pandemic and...well you know...when times are hard, people suddenly don't need their pools cleaned as much as they used to."

Michael felt a slight flutter of electricity FLASH through him as their hands touched...the stranger's hand was rock hard, as if it had been through a LOT of hard work and grinding in its lifetime...just the way that Michael liked his men...whenever he would sleep with a guy, he had to KNOW it was a MAN...a real man...otherwise he could just as well go and fuck a woman.

Was it his imagination, or did the man feel it too? Nah...couldn't be...could it?

The stranger gave Michael a warm smile, before he proudly looked at the boy next to him.

"Oh, and this is my son, Kyle. He's helping me now, during the school holidays. I apologise we really didn't mean to freak you out or to offend anyone. We're just going around in the different neighbourhoods to see if anyone needed their pools cleaned...please understand, Sir, I had to do something...anyway, thanks for at least, being kind to me...dunno how you cope with that idiot next door...no offence. I guess we'll be on our way."

Michael laughed loudly his stomach muscles once more flexed with every beating of his heart, as he did so. He knew he looked good. He knew it...but if this guy had a child...then he must have had sex with a woman...not saying he wasn't gay, but the chances of him getting this handsome fucker into bed just narrowed severely.

There was no way he was going to allow this gorgeous fucking human being go this easily...at least not before he has gotten his phone number. At least.

"Sure man, no problem. I actually have a company that looks after my pool, but it can't hurt to see what another company has to offer. I can't be home much, you see, I design games for Nintendo, so that means long hours at work. Come on in, your son is welcome to join."

A smile as beautiful as he has ever seen spread across the stranger's face as it was clearly more of relief than anything else, before he placed his arm around his son, and shook his head.

"Dude...I mean, Sir, THANKS! I promise you, all I ask, is a chance to prove myself and show you what I can do."

I bet you will...Michael smirked as he pursed his lips and hid his thoughts.

"No problem. And stop with all this "Sir" nonsense okay, my name is Michael."

The stranger hugged his son to him and followed Michael up the stairs towards his big ass home.

"Cool, if you say so, then that's how it will be, you're the boss. You already know Kyle here, and yeah, I guess I didn't tell you my own name? What, with all the drama going on out there? Once again, sorry about that!"

The man wiped his feet before he and his son entered the house, whistling low and in awe, raw and out of the back of his throat as he saw the inside of Michael's home.

"Man...you say you design games? Wow, you must be doing well for yourself."

He suddenly turned around and faced Michael, and once more, he reached out his right hand.

"Right, almost forgot, where's my manners? I'm Gavin Connolly. Pool maintenance extraordinaire...totally at your service. Nice to meet you!"