"Yeah, I think that could happen" replied Liam. Troy stood and looked at them both with a shocked look on his face. The moment Troy dropped his guard; the two men lunged towards him. They grabbed him and started to tickle him without mercy. Troy fell to the ground, out of control in spasms of laughter.
Troy made a series of sounds which probably meant "I give." The three men all sat there on the grass, catching their breath.
"Assholes" mumbled Troy.
They were quiet when Liam spoke up. "Guys, I don't really understand what happened in there with Josh. I've seen Jared use his powers a few times and he has started teaching me about the spirituality of the Creator. I seem to know it deep within me at some level but I don't understand it yet. Do you guys?"
Tyler and Troy look at each other and then to Liam. "Your boyfriend is a very complex man. We are like brothers, but closer. You and Darren are first two who have been brought into our family since Jared brought us together. I don't know how much Jared has said about himself and I really don't know how much to say now. You are at a crossroad of your life path and it is not our role to point the direction" said Tyler.
Tyler continued "I will tell you a bit about me though. I had been in the police force for 3 years, and the death and misery I had seen was getting to me. I wasn't dealing with it very well. I was a 3rd generation police officer after my father and grandfather and it wasn't easy. I had been outed as gay by another police officer and he made sure my family heard. They disowned me. It was a disgrace to them having gay son, especially one who was a cop. They had the attitude all gays are monsters and should not be in a job which allows them to take advantage of others. It really surprised me as they had never said anything negative about gays previous to the comments directed at me. Anyway, it was Christmas time and I was at an all-time low. Between the grisly scenes I had seen, my isolation from the family and the stigma of being gay in a manly man's occupation, depression was hitting me in full force. Actually, it was Christmas Eve day and I had made the decision to use my service weapon to end it at home after shift" said Tyler.
Tyler paused and Troy reached over to massage his shoulders.
Tyler continued "Before the end of my shift we were called to a fight outside a bar. A lot of businesses had closed early on Christmas Eve day letting their staff leave so the bars were packed. As we pulled up the ambulance was arriving. There were 5 guys fighting with one on the ground unconscious. Jared got out of the ambulance and rushed over to the guy on the ground. Two of the guys didn't like that idea and tried to take a swing at Jared. I hadn't got more than 2 steps forward to help him when I watched him defend himself, laying them both of them flat in seconds using martial arts. There was someone in the gathering crowd throw a beer bottle at the back of Jared's head. He just turned and grabbed it in mid-air, holding it up for all to see. I guess one of the combatants felt safe with Jared's back to him so he had run towards like he was going to tackle him. Jared tossed the beer bottle in the air, spun and grabbed the guy's shoulder in something like a Vulcan neck pinch and he crumpled to the ground, unmoving. Jared then turned back to the crowd and moved his right hand out to catch the beer bottle before it hit the ground."
"I was close by then and I heard Jared say to the crowd "Violence is not acceptable. Take a Taxi and go home to sleep it off." I swear I felt his voice had a low vibration like being near a bulldozer driving by but everyone did exactly what he said. They all left in taxis. Jared worked on the patient and transported him to hospital. Before they drove away, he asked me to meet him at the hospital."
"I drove down to the hospital" Tyler continued. "After he dropped of his patient, he pulled me outside and into the ambulance bay. Jared looked at me and said "Don't do it. It is not meant to be." I claimed I had no idea what he was talking about but he just said it again very calmly. We locked eyes and a feeling of despair built within me until it overflowed. I started to cry. He took me in his arms and after a couple of minutes, he patted my back, gave me his address and he told me to be there for supper at 900 pm. I went over and had a great homemade supper. We went to church that night and celebrated the midnight service. He took me back to his apartment and we talked long into the night. He put me to bed in the spare room and in the morning I talked more with him just listening. After breakfast, he introduced me to the smudging ceremony. Neither one of us had got dressed that morning so we were just wandering around in our underwear. During the ceremony, he put his hand over my heart and I felt warmth grow deep inside me. It was love, inner peace and for the lack of better words to describe it, contentment with life. Those feelings have never left me to this day. Jared told me things would work out on the Creator's schedule, not mine and I must put faith in myself and the Creator. We spent a lot of time together after that but it was never more than friends. His true friendship was something I had never had before or until I met the rest of you guys"
Liam nodded his head in understanding. "He has that ability to make a person feel wanted."
Troy then spoke up "My dad had been a paramedic and I wanted to follow in his footsteps so I went to school and started working. I was off duty and driving home to my apartment after another night of hanging around with my friends. I had not come out yet and was trying to keep up appearances of being straight or at least just one of the guys. As I was driving home, a drunk driver blew through a red light and T-boned the car on my side. The police, firefighters and other paramedics were working extra hard to get me out of the wreck but I was beginning to slip into unconsciousness. I was trapped in the vehicle and the last thing I heard was Jared telling everyone to step back while he worked on me. I woke up in the hospital room a few hours later and Jared was sitting there next to the bed reading quietly. When I stirred, he looked over at me and said "good morning." I asked what happened and he looked me in the eye and said "The Creator spared your life because of the work you do for others. You are doing his work and it will make a difference." I had no clue what he was talking about and just shrugged it off. He looked at me again and said "you'll be released tomorrow morning and I'll pick you up. We can have lunch and talk some more."
"I'd seen Jared at the ambulance base and even talked with him. He wasn't a friend or anything other than saying hi to each other or even some small talk. Sure enough, he picked me up the next day and took me to his apartment to have lunch. We talked, ate and drank coffee into the evening. Jared said it was time and he took me into the smudging room. I really didn't know a lot about what he was talking about. He started to strip down to his underwear. When he was done, he told me I could wear my clothing or join him as he was dressed, it didn't matter. I undressed to my underwear as well. He conducted the ceremony for us. I felt the same warmth and inner feelings in my chest as Tyler described when he placed his hand over my heart" said Troy.
"The death of my family had been eating me up inside and I was beginning to drink and self-medicate. I hadn't been drinking the night of the accident which was lucky for me. My family had died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to a faulty furnace in their home. I was supposed to stop for a visit but I got involved with my friends and forgot. I kept blaming myself with the feelings if I had gone, I could have found them and maybe saved them. Jared told me at the creator had healed an aortic tear and if it had not repaired, I would not have been freed from the wreckage alive. My ribs and arm were still tender, well, they hurt badly still. It was strange, but I believed what he said. After the ceremony, I had the same feeling as Tyler had said. I realized it wasn't my fault that my parents had died and I could have been killed as well if I had spent the night. We become very close and like Tyler. Jared actually introduced the two of us to each other and we have been together since.
"Incredible" Liam commented.
Tyler spoke up and said "we won't tell you the whole story, but Josh had been knifed twice in a domestic fight. The knife was a filet knife and went right through the body armour he was wearing. When Jared and Troy got there, I cleared out the kitchen for them to work. I saw Jared's eyes and the glow on his hands after he prayed."
"This time, Troy and I brought Josh over to Jared's after his being released from the hospital a couple of days later. We all talked and then smudged, introducing Josh to the ceremony. Josh was not a nice person before he had been knifed. He was really a great cop, but an absolute asshole. Well, maybe he hasn't changed much" reflected Tyler with a smirk.
Troy slapped him on the back of the head. "Ok, he has changed" Tyler said.
Troy jumped in and continued the story. "Josh seemed to target the LGBT community for his enforcement. He made a lot of clean busts, never setting anyone up or falsifying evidence but he seemed to step around other busts he could have made to target the LGBT community. Turns out he had been in foster care as a teenager after his dad killed his mom in a drunken fight. He was raped by one of the older kids in the foster home repeatedly. Josh had a real inner struggle about the rapes and guilt of feeling enjoyment as the rapes went on. He was also blaming the older kid for turning him gay. He had so much anger in him and he fought with those inner feelings until he met us as a group. He finally felt safe and with us supporting him, he got his life together and came out. He became a better cop, a good person, and a member of our family from that day forward."
Tyler spoke up "He did file a complaint against the rapist with Jared's help. The investigators eventually filed charges for the rapes. The foster family never did believe it really happened and they hated Josh and made it known all through the trial. With the press covering the story, two other victims came forward. He was convicted and ended up on suicide watch in the prison. In spite of them watching, he succeeded anyways. Before he hung himself, he had written letters to Josh and his parents, confessing everything as well as begging to be forgiven for his actions."
Liam sat a thought for a minute. "I don't know what to say. My story isn't like yours. He helped me, but nothing like you guys. He is my work partner and I was feeling bad one day."
Liam paused speaking. "No, I have to tell you the truth. My family had been killed when they were coming to visit me at college. I had been blaming myself for killing them and one day a patient died on me and I cracked. We did the first smudging ceremony as you guys did." Liam gave them a crooked smirk. "But we made love later, my first time."
