Author's note: This section is shorter than my first part. Reason is that I try to find good spots to put in a "too be continued..." If I had included all the rest I am still working on you would not have anymore to read now would you? I would still be writing it until I get to the next good stopping point. So here is the next chunk. I hope you all enjoy. Please leave me comments or feedback if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them. To let you all know, by the way, this is my story. Not yours. I would not like to see copies of it roaming around like feral pigeons just waiting for a hawk to swoop down and eat it up and carry it off to its young for a late dinner! Well, that analogy got a little away from me didn't it? So, please respect that it is my story and don't use it for anything else other than reading. I guess you could just memorize it if you wanted...but that would be silly...I would laugh at you.
Sincerely, PB
*****
Chapter 6: Pride.
I closed the front door, no I didn't slam it! I wanted to, but that would have been rude. Sure, I was upset and they invaded my personal space maybe they even meant well. No, I know they meant well, it was just too much though. I mean, when you get down to it, I am gun shy around people and this was like a big old' bazooka blast to me! How would you feel if in the last few hours you had all of this happen to you huh? You probably would be a little antsy as well, and you're not me! I had no idea what to do, about anything at all. I checked out the windows as I heard noises, I looked and saw Gwen, Hilda, and Jemima arguing at my front gate before leaving. I only caught snippets of what they were saying hearing words like "I told you so." "That was so mean of you." "Poor Greg."
Poor Greg...POOR GREG?
I gritted my teeth, pity, I never get used to pity. Will got it right on the head with that one. I remember walking with him to the Silver Dollar Pizza place near PGE Park. He had a curious expression on his face, and it looked like he wanted to say something to me, but was unsure how I would take it. At the time I was still sick with "I-don't-careitis", because I was an emotional void. Thank you SO MUCH neighbors for letting down my guard with you! I'll deal with that later. We had gotten to the door when Will finally stopped me by tapping me on the elbow.
"Gregory, do you mind if I make an observation?"
I shrugged.
"You know I hate it when you respond with a gesture when I know you have the power of speech."
I smiled a little and gave a half shrug, "I know."
He sighed, "Speech is one of the few things that separate us from the animals, and I am now making friends with a primitive who uses grunts, gestures and monosyllabic verbal responses. Why do I put myself through this?"
I gave a grunt, another shrug and opened the door to the restaurant for him to walk through.
"Maybe Will, it's because I am a curiosity to you, and I open doors for my elders? Or it could be that you feel a sort of pity for me?" I replied.
His eyes snapped to mine, "Not pity Gregory! Never pity. Pity is something you feel for those who are so much lesser than yourself. You are not lesser than me. I feel sympathy, same as I would for any reasoning thinking being." He strode through the door, sat at the bar and ordered a large seafood pizza with shrimp, scallops, and spinach leaves. I sat down next to him, and ordered a Mountain Dew and large combination. As I reached for my wallet, his hand landed on mine stopping me. "My treat Gregory, I wanted to talk to you a bit, and hopefully if you have to wait for food that I paid for I can get past your pride and we can talk. Without you leaving."
I shrugged again, but felt a little nervous. I had only known Will for a week or so now, but I really liked the man...vampire... uh, person? He actually was fun to hang out with, was crazy accurate at throwing darts. He claims it wasn't a vampire thing, but something he picked up when he lived in London proper. I don't believe him, but he still is a fun guy to hang around. I mulled over what I knew of him and decided that I would hear what he had to say. So I waited for him to speak.
He seemed a little nervous, which was surprising to me. Considering his age, and his levels of experience I figured he would be well versed in just about any situation. I was curious as to why he would order a pizza, I figured that with his "Liquid" diet that he couldn't eat food and I said as much to him. "I have been experimenting with many different cocktails and combinations, my friend." He replied. Then reached into his pocket for a small vial, which he then upended into his mouth with a grimace. "Yech! I won't tell you what is in it, but I am sure I finally have formed a compound that will allow me to eat solid food!" My jaw hit the bar!
"You serious!"
"Of course I am serious! Do you think I would take the chance of embarrassing myself in a public place like this if it didn't work? I already had a, what do you call it? A cheeseburger! That's it; a cheeseburger, and I could hold it down just fine. Flavors of the meat seem to be a little off from what I remember when I used to consume meat all the time, but I could TASTE! Over 500 years of searching and experimenting, and I can taste food again." He grinned at me, and then looked seriously at me.
"I still need to talk to you my boy." I shrugged and he rolled his eyes.
"Fine, I talk you listen?" I shrugged again and snickered.
"I worry about you Greg." I faced forward and took a sip of my drink after putting a dip in my lip. "I smelled blood on you yesterday. You also are walking with a limp, not too pronounced, you cover for it well. You want to tell me what happened?" I shrugged.
"Work accident, the tabs on the dumpster caught me when I was linking it to be dumped in the compactor. Banged my hip pretty good." I replied. He nodded, and took a drink of his Dead Guy Ale. Hah! I know right. He is a vampire and what does he drink when he can finally drink and eat food? Dead Guy Ale! You should try it, it's pretty good.
"I see, he responded. I thought the blood I smelled was yours." I nodded. "No problem, Can understand your concern though. Thanks." He took another sip.
"I was actually more concerned for the four other blood types I smelled on you. You don't seem to like violence, and I was worried about your reaction to hurting others." He said quietly.
Yes folks, I got jumped. It happens to people occasionally. More so to people who are like me, those with my label. Not all that often, but enough to make us leery. You see in the beginning of all this I knew an injustice had been done to me, so I began to spread the word. I had a grand idea that I might be able to change how people view sex offenders. That I could show that many of us were falsely accused or situations had been blown out of proportion. Like the two kids that get drunk and they both have sex and the girl claims rape, and the guy didn't even like her or remember having sex. Like that stupid Vegas movie with Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. Or the father who puts some ointment on his little girls tummy and when the girl is asked if her daddy ever touched her "Down There" she says yes and he ends up in jail. The list goes on.
Many people say they understood my side of the story, but what a person says does not necessarily mean anything. It's the actions that take place. I got into my first altercation shortly after getting out of jail, walking to my car from a Starbucks. Right at the intersection of 185th and Walker Road. Nice little mall there, good Easter sales. That was the first time I had been attacked by a group. I got hit in the back with a tire iron, and turned into a fist that made me see stars, my legs got swept and I was on the asphalt looking up and trying to breathe. It happened fast, no more that fifteen to thirty seconds and the guys ran. I cried from the shock, more than the pain, I couldn't believe anyone would do that to me! What had I done? It was the words that were spoken to me, that clinched the situation in my mind.
"Don't worry Rapo! There's gonna be a lot more of this in your future!"
My trust got locked away that day. It had been steadily pushed more and more into the background after Dawn, and her lies. Now I could see there could be no trust for the world at large, only for those I really knew. Even then, they should be held suspect. The next time I was jumped, I was ready. My sense of justice burned deeply. I caught the arm that was swinging, and dropped, putting my assailant face first into the ground! While there I caught the foot swinging at me, ignoring the pain of the kick and twisted hard putting the other man on the ground. Then I was back on my feet and doing my best to kick them anywhere I could. They got up and ran, yelling how they would get their friends and come back for me, and my family.
So how did my sense of Justice come to get locked away? After my first visit to the police. I explained my situation, and they said all the right words. Their investigation didn't even get past the paperwork I filled out. They even tried to hold me for twenty-four hours for getting into an altercation! It took the security footage from the owner of the Starbucks to show I was acting in my own defense so they let me go with a good bit annoyance.
Nobody gives a damn about an SO.
I realized that justice is pointless, I will never get it. There is no justice in this world and maybe when I get to heaven I can get justice up there for what has happened down here. "Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord" and all that crap. For a while I wanted revenge, I always thought that revenge is just like justice, but with some teeth and better attitude. Wrong, revenge burns hot, and it's like putting racing fuel in your engine. It really gets your motor running, but it also kills the life of your engine. Since I only got one engine, I need to take care of it. I stopped trying to get people to understand the situation with sex offenders. Most don't care, they hear the words Sex Offender and immediately see a rapist, or a pedophile. We are not all rapists and pedophiles; many of us are victims as well. The exact percentage, I don't know, and there is no way to tell. I only know me, and my story. Story...? Crap, Will is talking still!
I glanced over next to me and saw Will patiently waiting. "I was jumped, attacked, and waylaid, whatever you want to call it. I got out of it, a little banged up but I am fine. You know how long the pizza takes to get here?" I asked changing the subject.
"Pride." Will said suddenly.
