Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:08:15 EDT
From: Djedoric58@aol.com
Subject: The Bull ~Singer, chapter twenty-seven

THE BULL SINGER

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

From chapter twenty-six

(I have made a slight alteration to the end of chapter twenty-six. Just a
few more words to make the scene clearer.)

Soon the water was flowing at a comfortable temperature and I handed Joey
the shampoo. I let the spray wash over him while I tied one of the plastic
aprons from the cupboard round my waist to save my pants from getting too
damp, and then spread another one on the floor to kneel on. Turning the
showerhead to one side, I lathered a sponge and attacked his back and
shoulders. By the time he had finished shampooing his hair, I was ready to
help him wash his feet; a difficult task as Joey was so ticklish. The next
minute was filled with Joey's noisy giggles and shouts of protest but at
last the job was done; so much for the sedative he was supposed to have
been given. I was about to rise to my feet when we heard the sound of angry
voices in the bedroom. I heard Marge shout angrily for someone not to come
into the bathroom, that it was private; then the door burst open and the
place as full of people. One of them was Angela.

With a smile of cold triumph on the face, she turned to the men behind her,
and said, "There you are gentlemen. There's your abuser."

Now read on

She couldn't have picked a better time to arrive. I mean there was Joey,
naked and covered in soap from head to toe, and unfortunately sporting a
boner, with me kneeling in front of him. Both of us froze, our mouths
hanging open, as three men and a woman came to a halt behind Angela, two
were uniform. The one in plain clothes stepped round Angela and approached
us. "Magnus Alton?"

"Yes?" I rose to my feet and cast Angela an angry glare.

"I'm DS Barnes and these are police constables Clark and Wentworth. And
this is Miss Moore from Social Services. I'm arresting you on suspicion of
sexual assault upon a minor. Will you come with us please?"

"Bullshit," Joey yelled. "He never assaulted me. That Bitch did."

"And you can stop that bad language right now, young man," the man snapped
at him. "Mr Alton, if you please." He indicated the door.

The police officers moved towards me as I ripped the apron off and grabbed
my shirt, socks and jacket; there didn't see much point in resisting arrest
and making things worse. I slipped my feet into my shoes as Joey turned his
back to everyone and grabbed the showerhead to rinse himself off, muttering
curses under his breath. Seething with rage but determined to keep from
hitting Angela, I let them lead me to the door. Marge hurried past us,
giving Angela a look that could have killed, and went to help Joey finish
off, deliberately making a show of pulling the shower curtain round the
whole of the shower area. Then a thought came to me. How did the cops get
here so fast?  Out in the bedroom, I found Dad having a go at two men in
white coats. These I took to be Sam's colleague and the pediatrician. There
was no sign of Ben or Sam. With the officers either side of me, I marched
across the room and grabbed Sam's colleague. "Thanks a bunch, you just
couldn't wait, could you?"

"I swear it wasn't us who called the police." The man said. " We were going
to wait till we had all the facts together. I'm Derek Jones by the way, and
this is Steve Parker, our resident pediatrician." Before we could shake
hands, the officers grabbed my arms and dragged me away from them.

"Well if it wasn't you," Dad roared, "who the hell did?" Just then, Angela
emerged from the bathroom holding a tissue to her eyes, and Dad nodded as
the penny dropped. "You! I might have guessed. Well, you'd better have a
good lawyer because I can guarantee you're going to have one hell of a
fight in your hands."

"And I'll be your star witness, Gramps." Joey hopped out of the bathroom,
leaning heavily on Marge's arm. Letting go of her, he hobbled over to
Angela and shoved his face into hers, his face full of burning anger. "If
you want to play dirty, Mother dear, so will I. Mags didn't assault me, I
seduced him. And if these guys want to throw someone in jail for sexual
abuse, the cuffs will sit very nicely on you."

Angela put on a look of deep hurt on her face, although I don't think
anyone except Barnes was fooled. "Darling, why are you doing this? I'm your
mother and I love you."

"BULLSHIT, YOU LYING, THIEVING SLUT! You've been abusing me since I was a
kid; you and all your boyfriends." Angela's hurt expression changed to one
of hatred as she lost it and struck him in the face. As PC Wentworth sprang
to intervene, Joey retaliated with a blow that sent her reeling backwards,
assuring her of a beautiful black eye if she didn't get it
treated. Wentworth grabbed Joey round the waist, which no canny copper
would do, and I wondered just how long he had been in uniform as Joey
easily used elbows and one good foot to escape from the PC's clutches. The
PC limped away nursing a bruised leg and sore ribs and Barnes grabbed Joey
as he went for his mother a second time. This time it was a standard arm
lock and a swipe to the ankles that brought Joey to the floor, yelling and
struggling.  Derek and Steve beat me to them, Steve warning Barnes about
Joey's state of health. Barnes didn't listen and with a knee in Joey's back
and with a firm hold on his wrists, he whipped out a pair handcuffs. But
before he could use them, Joey's body started jerking. His mouth opened,
gasping for air as his eyes widened for a second before he went limp.

Derek tried to drag Barnes off him. "Get off him now, you stupid
fool. Can't you see what's happened?" He pushed Barnes away and he and
Steve rolled Joey onto his back. It took only a moment for Steve to yell at
Marge. "Cardiac arrest! Get the CPR team in here." As I watched, stunned,
Derek pulled Joey's head back, pulled his mouth open and lowered his mouth
to the boy's. I have never actually witnessed CPR before, and I found it
scary to think that my Joey's heart had stopped beating, that he was
dead. For a few seconds, Barnes stared down at the scene, then turned to
find someone else to use his handcuffs, and his anger, on. I was now the
prime target.

Signalling for his police colleagues to join him, he advanced on me with
all the determination of a Rhino on the run. "Mr. Alton, I'm not in the
mood for any more trouble. Are you going to resist arrest like your lover,
or are you going to go quietly?"

My first thought was to sock him in the gob for what he'd done to Joey, but
a gentle hand on my arm stopped me. Benjamin was there, shaking his head at
me. "It's all right, Mags, Elias will sort things out."

I pointed to where Sam was still battling to save Joey's life. "I'm not
going anywhere till I know he's okay."

At that moment the re-suss team hurried in with their equipment loaded onto
a large trolley, followed by a two porters pushing a gurney. We were pushed
hastily aside and I lost sight of Joey as he disappeared below a pile of
bodies. The room suddenly seemed overcrowded and we all had to stand back
to let them do their work. The police made no move to remove me from the
room, and from the looks on their faces, all three were just as interested
in the spectacle of a life being saved as Joe Public.  Two minutes later
one of the team raised an arm to indicate success, and those kneeling round
Joey relaxed. Taking advantage of the police being distracted, Benjamin
squeezed my arm and leaned down to whisper in ear. "He's going to be fine,
Mags. Now you go with Mr. Barnes and Elias will have his lawyer meet you at
the police station. No offence, but you are just a small cog in the works
as far as Elias's fight with Angela is concerned. This had been coming to a
head for some time, and Elias is now ready to blow Angle's little schemes
wide open. A plan is already in motion and you will have the best legal
team at your disposal"

"What about, Joey?"

"We will try our best to make sure he isn't hurt in the process, but we
will have to be prepared for some backlash from Angela to affect him. It
also depends on what the Social Services decide to do about him, although I
can guarantee Miss Moore from Social Services is inclined to favour the
needs of the child rather than go by the book. I have had dealings with her
on the odd occasion." I stared up at him in surprise. He smiled and said,
"Trust me, Mags."

* * *

Joey's Story

I felt like shit. My chest hurt like someone had stepped on it, my head
pounded and my body felt as if someone had plugged me into an outlet and
drained all my energy away. My eyelids were ton weights as I tried to lift
them. Something enclosed my mouth and nose and smelled of plastic, and
hissed and gurgled as I breathed. An oxygen mask? Why? What was happening?
Once I got my eyes to focus I realised I was back in bed but in a white
walled room with lots of equipment round the bed, and Marge sitting beside
me. "Well, hello! Welcome back to the land of the living. Feeling better
now?"

I shook my head, wondering what I should be feeling better from. "My chest
hurts; what happened?" My throat hurt when I spoke and my voice came out as
a croak.

"I think I'll let the doctor explain things. Would you like a drink?" Marge
removed the mask put a straw to my lips. I sucked at it and felt the
coolness of iced water as it trickled down my throat. Marge placed the mask
back over my face and I settled back and closed my eyes, wondering why I
felt so tired. I must have drifted off because I roused to find one of the
doctor's gazing down at me.

"Hello, young man." The doctor smiled at me and glanced up at a
monitor. "Things seem to be back to normal, so let's get you unhooked from
all this stuff."

As he proceeded to remove the oxygen mask and pull the contacts from
various parts of my body, he said, "Marge says you're feeling sore. That's
because your heart stopped and we had to work fast and thump your chest a
few times to get it beating again. And they had to put a tube down your
throat to keep you breathing for a few hours so that will be sore for a bit
as well. We took it out this morning."

"What?" Confused, I stared at him.

The doctor nodded. "It took us a few minutes to get your heart started
again, then you slipped into a coma. That's nature's way of shutting down
your body whole it deals with any trauma. Fortunately the coma only lasted
for about twenty hours and you're fine now though. Hopefully, after some
more tests and a few days rest you'll be well enough to leave here." Once
the wires had been cleared away, he removed the IV from my arm then sat
down on the chair Marge had used. Leaning close he gave me a gentle smile,
and said, "I don't know whether you remember me, I'm Steve, the resident
pediatrician. First I'd like to apologise for what happened yesterday. How
that woman and those policemen got past our security is a mystery, which is
being investigated. Normally, getting into this clinic is worse than
getting into the Bank of England vaults. And I can assure you no one at
this clinic contacted the police or the Social Services." He
grinned. "Marge looks like a sweetie but she rules this place and Derek
wouldn't dare upset her. Her strict instructions were not to call anyone
till we'd had a talk with you and Mags." He grinned again. "You really had
the cops on a roll. I can see Barnes being given a right talking to about
police brutality over this. He's not the kind of copper I like to see
handling juvenile cases. Not all kids have the guts to stand up to them
like you did."

I was totally confused. "Why what did he do?"

Derek stopped laughing and frowned at me. "Don't you remember? He tried to
arrest you for attacking your mother. You were so angry, your tress factor
kicked in and you collapsed. Your heart stopped and it was like a scene
from Casualty in here till they got you going again."

I closed my eyes and tried to remember. I thought back to being in the
shower with Mags, then Angela coming in and him being arrested. My eyes
shot open. "Mags! Where is he? What's happened to him?"

"Take it easy, kiddo. It's okay, he's safe." Derek had to grip my shoulders
to stop me sitting up. "He was taken to Oldham Police Station for
questioning, but Mr. Chambers sent his owner lawyer to sort things
out. your uncle will probably be released on bail with the usual conditions
attached, like not having any unsupervised contact with you. Now, if you
want to help him, what you need to do is to get better so we can get you
out of here. If you don't, we'll only give you another dose of happyland
juice for another twenty-four hours. Somehow I'd rather do as I'm told and
eat some decent grub rather than be fed by IV. The food in this place is
certainly not your standard hospital food, but even better, Mr Chambers has
his own chef cook for him when he's here, and he's sent the man in to cook
for you. Now that's luxury for you. Now then, I have some questions I need
to ask." Derek took a tiny voice recorder from his coat pocket. "I hope you
don't mind if I record everything. It's just for my own research into child
development, and I promise the recording will be wiped once I've collated
the information. Okay?" I shrugged my shoulders. I was sure he had his
reasons. "Right. First of all, can you tell me how far back you can
remember about your health?"

 I racked my brains, trying to think back as far as I could. I closed my
eyes so I could concentrate as pictures of my past life appeared. "I was
about two I think. Angela was a real mother in those days and tried to look
after me but I was always sick. I was sick for years.  I remember seeing
lots of doctors. Funny, we always moved after seeing doctors anywhere."

"Can you describe your symptoms?"

"Just the usual kids stuff, I think. Perhaps I had less energy than other
kids, I don't know; I found it hard to do sports. One doctor thought I was
Asthmatic. Another said I suffered from Hayfever but nothing as ever done
about it. Another one said I was susceptible to viruses because my Immune
system wasn't working as it should."

"So how did you have the energy for dancing?"

"You've heard about that, huh? When I was about ten I started to look after
myself, health-wise. I read a lot of books about illnesses and how to avoid
them by eating healthily. If I felt ill I went to the doctor by myself."

"Can you remember the names of any of the doctors you saw, and where their
surgeries were?"

"Some of them. There was a Doctor Saunders, he was in Birmingham somewhere;
then there was a Doctor Shillington in Hanley, Stoke on Trent, and a nice
Egyptian doctor in Bangor North Wales by the name of Khan. I remember him
because he got stroppy with Angela about something and made an appointment
for me to see a doctor at Ysybty Gwynedd, that's the hospital in Bangor."

"Did you keep the appointment?"

"No way. We moved again." I reeled off several more that I could think of
an wondered why he wanted to know. He just smiled and said the records my
currant doctor had faxed to the clinic seemed to be inc2omplete and needed
to be updated. Ben's the one to ask. He always kept track of us; wherever
we were he'd find us.

"How old are you?"

That came as a surprise. "What? I thought you already knew, I'm sixteen in
February 2008. You can see my birth certificate if you like. Why do you
ask?"

"Just a theory." Steve had a strange look in his eyes. "Do you remember the
ex-rays and other tests we did on you when we first discovered you'd been
abused? Those ex-rays showed not only the currant state of your skeletal
frame in case there was more damage, they also revealed any bruising or
damage from earlier times. Most of the test are routine when a child is
brought in with any sign abuse. I heard what you accused your mother of,
and from what Derek and I discovered, we're inclined to believe you. I can
also tell you that Sam wasn't one hundred percent certain of his first
diagnosis about you suffering purely from stress, so we'd like to run a few
more tests just to make sure. Some tests we run can also establish the age
of a child. Is there any reason your mother would hide your correct age
from you?"

Where was this guy coming from? "Why would she do that?"

"I'm not sure. How do find school? Do you find the work easy?"

"It's a doddle. It always has been; so much it's mostly boring. Why are you
asking me all this?"

"Just a theory I'm exploring. I believe you about your high grades. You
head teacher came to see you but you were out for the count, so we chatted
for bit and he told us you were very bright and was thinking of moving you
up a year to give you more of a challenge."

I fixed him with a look of exasperation. "Doctor, I don't think I like this
interrogation. Just what are you getting at?"

Derek sighed and studied his hands for a moment, then he looked at me and
said, "I remember you saying that Mags didn't assault you, that you seduced
him. Is that true?"

"Of course it's true. Now tell me what you're getting at or leave me
alone." I folded my arms across my chest and looked away.

Derek sighed again. "Unfortunately you've put Mags in a position where is
has no choice but to plead guilty. When you told Barnes you seduced Mags,
it was an admission that you and Mags had sex, which means he is guilty of
child sex abuse."

"But he didn't abuse me."

"I'm sorry, Joey, but the law says that he should have resisted you and
said no. The onus is on the adult not to have sex with a minor, no matter
how loving and consensual the relationship. Of course there is one way you
can help him."

I turned my head to look at him. "How?"

Derek smiled at me. "Have you noticed any bodily changes lately?"