Chapter 11-1
Fathers and Sons
Part 2
I knew if I was really his own flesh and blood and not a meal ticket, he would never request such a procedure, but Dad was caught in a hard place and there was no way that he couldn't bury that secret any longer. So, when my caseworker asked point-blank about the other boys in the home. Dad was silent, ordering me to get in, the car, and telling everyone he would deal with this problem when he got home. I didn't argue; I knew better not to disobey and did just that, but was stopped by my caseworker and Officer Kenly, with Bishop Earl right behind him. Dad told them to get out of their way, but no one moved, but me and Dad and once more I was stopped.
My caseworker remained calm and asked the nurse at the desk for a more private room where they could talk without being disturbed. She was more than happy to reply and led her to a room that had several nice comfortable chairs where family met from time to time when they wanted to be alone. Personally, I wanted to hang glide from the roof, and then spend time in a room that could explode into a powder keg.
The nurse was nice enough to bring me a soft pillow to sit on after hearing me scream all the way down the hall. It didn't take a genius to know what they were doing to me. Grandma fluffed my pillow and draped a warm blanket over my bare shoulders and sat next to me with my mother on the other side. Officer Kenly was guarding the door. Dad was angry, but it was a calm angry and I hadn't seen this side of him in a long time and when I did it was just as deadly.
Once again, my caseworker took control of the room by stating she had called my foster mother and had requested that Shane and my two younger brothers be present to find out the extent of the damage. But in either case, I would not be going back until she was confident that the problem would be solved.
Dad eyed my mother only to have her look away. In some ways, she was getting everything she wanted. I, on the other hand, wasn't all that happy about it, and the fact that nobody asked me how I felt just proved that I was nothing more than a toy to be played with. Yet at the moment, I didn't really want to go home with Dad either. I was glad that Aaron wasn't here to see this or my sisters.
When Shane arrived with my brothers, my foster mother was with him. I could only assume that the three bad boys in question were locked in their rooms. Personally, they could be locked behind bars for all I cared. I do know if Shawn was here, I would have laid him out cold on the floor for causing this in the first place. Even though Pa had taught me never to seek revenge telling me it solves nothing, right now I was willing to take that chance, feeling my fist tighten and my sore bottom as I sat here waiting for the monsters in the room to beat on each other.
In some ways Shane had more to lose than anybody, he was little more than a month away before entering the MTC to begin his two-year LDS mission, and the fact he was considered an adult now that he was nineteen, which meant if he was found guilty, he would go to prison for sexually abusing a minor. It didn't matter to anyone in the room except Mom and Dad that he wasn't guilty of the same crime I was being accused of and found not guilty.
What did matter that Shane, and I had shared the same bed for a little over two years? If I was found guilty, so would he, and our lives as would be changed forever. Like me, Shane didn't hesitate to volunteer for the procedure as I watched him calmly walk down the hall with my foster parents. It gave me goosebumps hearing him cry out in the same pain that I had gone through. Grandma placed my head on her shoulder, hoping it would help tune it out, but nothing could tune out that kind of pain.
By the time he came back as white as a sheet and with hot tears running down his cheek. The look in his eye's said Shawn was about to die. When it was the younger boys' turn, Shane hugged them and told them not to be scared that the pain would go away quickly, and everything would be alright. We both knew it would never be alright again.
One by one they strolled down to the same room. Their screams were mild compared to ours and everyone in the room knew why, stating they had been abused but had been long enough to heal, but damaged scar tissue will always remain.
My foster parents didn't say a word except to tell Shane to come home when he was ready. Only to be stopped by Officer Kenly and my caseworker before they had gotten past the door. She was more than angry when it came to young boys like Jared and Jason, and that the same thing could have happened to me, or my brother Aaron was unspeakable.
Even though Shane was nineteen, he could have been just as easily sexually abused. The fact that they pushed it off as nothing more than simple flirtation as boys discovering their bodies and how they work made her madder. She was not going to let that be an excuse, even more so after I had given Bishop Earl and Officer Kenly permission to divulge that secret. At first, I thought she was going to rip my head off not informing her sooner until my foster parents were caught in the bear trap. She did, however, tell me we were going to have a long discussion when I got home tonight.
She ordered Officer Kenly to call the state police and pick up Shawn and Danny as well as place Arthur into a mental hospital. Watching my foster parents' faces turn completely white, I knew it was my fault as Dad and Mom narrowed their eyes on me. If we were alone, they would have killed me with their bare hands.
It was Officer Kenly who stepped in and stomped out the lit powder keg and said. "Mr. and Mrs. Rothwell it was your own words and your two young sons and the two doctors that performed the procedure that said that this had been going on for some time. It's not like they have never been to Juvenal hall before, but if we do not put a stop to it right this very minute, I can guarantee them a long life in the prison system considering your son Shawn is still considered a minor, but Danny is not and is on the brink of being adult and could face criminal charges. That being said, if he is stopped now and seeks the treatment, he could be returned to you before it escalates any further."
Dad's eyes never left mine. They said I was going to regret being born when I was returned to them. It was the same look my father gave me whenever he looked at me or Aaron. But I didn't fear my father, I feared my foster Dad a hell of a lot more. Dad reached for Shane's arm only to have Shane step back. Dad growled angrily and grabbed Jared only to be flung back by Officer Kenly telling him under these circumstances he cannot allow him to take his boys home until they are no longer endangered and since Shane is considered an adult he is placing them in his care for the next seventy-two hours.
I knew there was going to be words and none of them were going to be pleasant; I drew the line when my caseworker asked Officer Kenly to remove my tracking device. I said that was never going to happen. Not when she was placing me in a home where my father could take advantage of it. I didn't mention the other reason regarding the missing tranquilizers at the Rothwell home. She knew that was one battle that wasn't worth fighting for knowing my father and my mother, so she dropped it. Either way, my foster parents were going home empty-handed. It made me feel that I was the bad guy, and that it was all my fault. Yet if the circumstances said differently, I could be joining Danny and Shawn and there would be nothing to prevent that from happening.
It didn't matter that Shane, and my two younger brothers Jared and Jason were not part of my mother's ward. Bishop Earl invited them to the father's and sons' camp-out. Which gave them all a place to stay while my foster parents worked things out and had time to cool off, Jody too was invited but declined the offer stating she would stay at her sister's house until the air cleared, mostly because it was all guys outing where woman certainly had no business being there. It was either that or return our group camp-out, but most if not, everyone was leaving by morning anyway or simply going to the fathers and sons.
Mom offered her house to Shane and my two foster brothers, having them accept the offer after knowing she would not take no for an answer. I could only imagine my father's face when he found out, and that made me feel all nice and fuzzy inside. It was like watching the last fireworks shoot into the sky as we all headed home.
Shane draped his arm over my shoulders and his younger brother Jared. I hated to say goodbye to my grandmother as I watched her get into Mr. Whitmore's car, but after several kisses and hugs and promises to call her, the time had come. I felt bad about how things turned out, but I also felt relieved at the same time. I also dreaded that conversation that I would be having with my caseworker, but for now, I had enough on my plate. Why worry about trouble in the future when you have enough right in front of you?
Mom had Shane follow us so we both could stop at the pharmacy to fill our badly needed prescriptions. It hurt and felt uncomfortable with no pillow; I prayed I would never feel that kind of pain again, but I also knew that Jared and Jason felt this kind of pain every time Shawn and Danny sexually abused them, so I had very little to complain about. In many ways, it made me angrier knowing it and it made me nauseous thinking how your own brother or anyone could do this to another person. I didn't care if I ever saw Danny, Shawn, and Arthur again, and also hoped I could mend the rift between me and my foster parents. Because eventually, I would have to be returned to them, but for now, our trust has once more been broken.
When we arrived home, my sisters bathed and changed into nice clean clothes. We had picked up Aaron on the way back from Officer Kenly's house. She didn't ask any questions regarding what had taken place. She simply gave me a great big bear hug and several kisses. Telling me if I needed anything, all I had to do was ask and remind me that her door was always open. Aaron had been bathed and looked better and smelled better than the rest of us in a clean pair of borrowed shorts. Telling my mother she had just put Aaron's clothes into the dryer. Mom thanked her for it. However, she felt slightly jealous, having someone else care for her son, but she also knew if it wasn't for them being close by when my father would take his anger out on us. This was the best place for us to be, and she never had to worry about us being here.
My father, on the other hand, was not pleased having already heard in great detail what had taken place, from my two sisters Susan and Becky. Was about to unleash his anger but stopped when Shane and my two foster brothers walked into the house carrying sleeping bags. It didn't take long to put two and two together. The first words out of his mouth were "I had thought you had gone back to those immoral heathens, or better yet gone to prison for your immoral ways." Mom and I had warned my brothers that my father could be quite mean and spiteful and would do or say anything to provoke a fight. Shane was just as capable, if not stronger to defend himself against my so-called father. Just shrugged it off-putting Jarred and Jason behind us so if my father tried anything we could fight the monster, without putting them in a line of fire.
Mom stood her ground and said. "Plans changed. Eric will be home longer than intended because of problems I rather not discuss with you, and I have invited his brothers to stay as long as they want to. So, either shut your mouth or get out of my house. Either way, the decision has been made."
My father was not happy, but having more people witness his outrage was something he couldn't afford, so he turned a blind eye for the moment. Telling my mother that the discussion was far from over, but to my mother it was. Telling me to show my brothers where they can put their things for now. Unlike in the Rothwell house, we didn't have two complete bathrooms, so we all had to take turns. Mom was more than alright with me and Shane sharing the same shower or tub, but we had chosen not to do so. Mostly because my father was watching every move we made.
Shane and my younger brothers had little in clothing other than a shirt or two and a few pairs of boxers. They had brought with them knowing we wouldn't need much to stay decent as we camped at the pond. They hadn't even had time to unpack before they were ordered back so all their clothes; they had been dirty, that in itself incriminated them. Because we may have been decent to other people, we certainly weren't decent enough according to my father's rules or my two sisters.
Yet Mom simply said that it was her house her rules and they were her guests. If they chose to run naked, it wouldn't bother her in the least, considering she knew their bodies and mine or better, as if she was their own mother. My father had lost that battle and simply growled immoral freaks. Having my mother take all their clothes and wash them, while they simply wore towels around their waist as we waited for our turn for the bathroom. Listening to my father complain about the water bill and that we were eating him out of the house and home, most of all how indecent they were.