A/N: I wrote this story back in the fall, so if it's not up to par with the things I've been posting recently, that's why. I just figured that I may as well post it & see what happens :)
Warning: Slash themes...this is a gay rights story. If you don't like that kind of stuff, then please don't bother reading it & don't flame it. Just hit the back button now!
**Prongs wrote this story & it belongs to Prongs**
***********************************************************************
~Johanna's Brother~
Johanna closed the backdoor quickly and ran up to her room. She didn't want anyone to see her crying. If her mother saw the tears, she would ask why her daughter was so upset. If her father saw the tears, he would figure out why Johanna was crying. But more than anything, Jo did not want her brother, Chris, to see her puffy eyes and tear stained face. After all, she was devastated because of the comments that followed her on a daily basis.
"Your brother's a fag!"
"He's a girly boy."
"What's wrong with him, anyways?"
"Why didn't your family kick him out or something?"
All of these comments stung like a bullet in Johanna's heart. She remembered when she was four years old. Johanna loved to play with her Barbie dolls and dress them up in the latest fashions. Despite the fact that he was seven years her senior, Chris would devote endless hours to Johanna's Barbie doll families, plots, and fashions. She always felt like he was the best playmate in the world. After all, he always let her use her favorite dolls, which were the new dolls that still had smooth hair and all of their jewelry. Chris would take the old tattered Barbies that were missing arms and had tangled masses of hair. He didn't seem to mind at all. He spent hours and days and years playing with Johanna. And he never complained.
When Johanna was in fifth grade, her mother knocked on Jo's door one winter night. Her mom explained to Jo that Chris was different. She told Jo that the family would still love Chris, but that many other people may make fun of him. Johanna couldn't possibly imagine anyone making fun of her brother. She had always looked up to him. He had always helped her, played with her, and given her the attention and love that her parents didn't seem able to give her. How could anyone make fun of him? He was perfect in her eyes.
Johanna felt confused after the talk with her mother. Several months later, when Johanna was walking home from school, the kids behind her started throwing rocks at her backpack.
"Hey! Stop it!" shouted an angry Johanna.
"Why doesn't your family leave town?"
"The likes of people like you shouldn't be allowed in our county!"
"Ha! County! They shouldn't be allowed in the country!"
Johanna started to run home as fast as she could. She didn't understand why the kids were saying those things to her. As her feet pounded on the ground with a rapid thudding noise, Johanna could feel the stings of the rocks that were hitting her legs, arms, and back. Finally, she made it home feeling frightened and full of fear. There was blood dripping down her legs, and tears flowing down her face.
She slammed the front door and stumbled up the stairs. She banged on her brother's door so hard that she thought her hand would break into a hundred little pieces. Chris immediately opened the door and after a second of shock and disbelief, he hugged his sister and then took her backpack off. Johanna couldn't stop crying.
Chris started cleaning Jo's cuts and bruises, and he asked her what had happened. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He already knew what had happened when he saw her at his bedroom door. Somehow, somewhere inside of him, he was hoping that he was wrong. Very wrong.
"They threw stones at me!" Johanna shrieked.
"Stones! Rocks! It hurt so bad, Chris," and she started to weep again.
Chris hugged his little sister. The world really can be a cruel place he thought to himself. He desperately wanted his family to be happy. Especially Johanna. He remembered the day that she was born. He was seven years old, and his father bought his a candy bar from the snack machine at the hospital. He saw Johanna a few hours after she was born, and he thought she was kind of funny looking. Her skin was a reddish color, and she only had a few specks of brown hair sticking up from her round head.
He grew to love his sister more than he could possibly have imagined. He loved to take care of her and help his mother feed Johanna and play games with her. Most of all, he loved to sing to her and dance with her. Johanna loved the way that he danced, and he was delighted to entertain her. Her smile made him feel such a sense of warmth and whenever he was in the room, she was smiling. If anything ever happened to her, or anyone ever hurt her, he promised himself that he would make it better.
But he didn't know how to make this better. People can be so ruthless and prejudiced. Ignorant and uncaring. The world was full of people who were like this. He was breaking his promise to his little sister, and it broke his heart.
After awhile, Johanna stopped crying and looked up at her brother. He looked deep in thought and tears were swelling up in his blue eyes.
"Why don't they like me? Why did they want to hurt me?" Johanna asked Chris.
He looked at her for a second and asked her if mom or dad had said anything to her about him. Johanna shook her head, and then said: "mom said you were different, but we still love you anyways. Why are you different?"
"I'm not any different than you or mom or dad," Chris explained.
"Why did mom say you were different than?" Johanna asked.
"Because..."he paused.
"Because I'm gay, and a lot of people here aren't. That's why she said I was different."
Johanna looked at him, "what's gay mean?"
"It means that I'm attracted to men in the way that a lot of guys are attracted to women."
Johanna looked confused.
"Ummm. You know how mom and dad are married because they love each other?"
Johanna nodded.
"Well, they are attracted to each other and they like to be together. Instead of liking women in the way like dad does, I like other men."
"You mean you don't like girls?" Johanna looked sad.
"Jo, you know I love you! The way that you love someone in your family is different than the way you love a husband or wife or a girlfriend or boyfriend."
"You don't want to marry a girl?" Johanna asked.
"No, I guess not," Chris replied. "I have a boyfriend whom I love, not a girlfriend."
"Why does that make you weird? What does that have to do with the rocks?"
Chris looked down at his baby sister. "It doesn't make me weird. But, it scares other people because they are used to seeing men and women together, and this is different in their minds and it frightens them."
"Can a girl like another girl like you like other guys?" asked Jo.
"Yes."
"Well, why do people hate you just because you like other guys? Why did they throw stones at me?"
"Because you're my sister, and they think our family should move because of me. They don't like me because they believe I'm not normal. They don't like you because you're related to me." Johanna looked around the room for a few seconds and then she hugged Chris. "I'm glad you're my brother. I don't understand why everyone is upset because you like guys. I like guys and girls. Don't they?"
Johanna was sitting on her bed crying. She had made it into her room without Chris or anyone else hearing her. She sat for hours thinking about her family and her brother. In the past three years, Johanna had experienced more hate than she could comprehend. Nobody at school liked her. She always sat by herself at lunch and played alone at recess. She hated school. The only good part was coming home because when got home, Chris would help her with her homework and then he would play with her. She loved played all sorts of games, but monopoly was her favorite. Chris spent endless hours with his sister.
Johanna knew that Chris wanted to be in college. He had always dreamed of becoming a famous dancer, and she knew that he would be the best ever. She loved to watch him dance around the house. Mom and dad told Chris that dancing was idiotic to pursue, especially for a guy. They told him that he could go to the local college and get a degree in something respectable such as business.
Chris seriously thought about attending the college, but he knew his heart was in dancing, not business. He didn't want to waste his parents' money on classes that would never mean anything to him. He would rather they save their money and pay for Johanna to go to whatever college she wanted to. He knew she would excel at whatever she wanted to do. Besides, Chris was well aware of the fact that going to college would be worse than high school from a social viewpoint. He was still the talk of the town, and they hated him with a passion. Most of his high school days ended with arguments and fights. He knew that college would be no different. But he desperately wanted a chance to learn how to dance. He would become famous and show them. He would show all of them.
"Have a good day at school, Johanna." Chris shouted as he watched her walk down the driveway. She turned around, smiled, and waved good-bye to her brother.
Chris walked back inside the house and went into the kitchen to clean the dishes from their breakfast. His parents had long since been at work.
Johanna walked into the school in a positive manner. Last night, she and Chris had been dancing in the living room, and they had composed a dance routine. Her parents had been away for a few hours at some business dinner, so Johanna and Chris had the house to themselves. She could hardly contain her excitement because Chris said that tonight they could make up another dance routine.
After finishing the dishes, Chris went up to his room. He was deep in thought writing a letter to one of the top dancing colleges in the nation. He was determined to get into dance school somehow. With or without the aid of his parents.
Johanna was bored. Her class had been doing algebraic equations for what seemed like hours. She looked at the clock. It had barely moved. She couldn't wait to go home. It felt like school was taking forever today.
Chris was up in his room when he heard a knock at the door. He went downstairs, opened the door, and hugged the guy who walked in. He closed the door and they went up stairs to his room.
Johanna looked up at the clock. 1:47 In thirteen more minutes, she would be free. She looked at her teacher who was reading a book about the Civil War. Johanna put her head down on her desk, but her eyes still watched the clock.
Chris showed his boyfriend the letters that he had written. He really felt like his life was starting to come together. The two jumped up when they heard a door slam and pounding feet running up the stairs.
Johanna put her head up. "Five, four, three, two, one..."
Chris looked up. A bullet leaped out of a gun and landed in his heart.
"It's two, it's two, it's two!" shouted Johanna. And she excitedly ran out of the school building towards home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Please review! Thanks :)
Warning: Slash themes...this is a gay rights story. If you don't like that kind of stuff, then please don't bother reading it & don't flame it. Just hit the back button now!
**Prongs wrote this story & it belongs to Prongs**
***********************************************************************
~Johanna's Brother~
Johanna closed the backdoor quickly and ran up to her room. She didn't want anyone to see her crying. If her mother saw the tears, she would ask why her daughter was so upset. If her father saw the tears, he would figure out why Johanna was crying. But more than anything, Jo did not want her brother, Chris, to see her puffy eyes and tear stained face. After all, she was devastated because of the comments that followed her on a daily basis.
"Your brother's a fag!"
"He's a girly boy."
"What's wrong with him, anyways?"
"Why didn't your family kick him out or something?"
All of these comments stung like a bullet in Johanna's heart. She remembered when she was four years old. Johanna loved to play with her Barbie dolls and dress them up in the latest fashions. Despite the fact that he was seven years her senior, Chris would devote endless hours to Johanna's Barbie doll families, plots, and fashions. She always felt like he was the best playmate in the world. After all, he always let her use her favorite dolls, which were the new dolls that still had smooth hair and all of their jewelry. Chris would take the old tattered Barbies that were missing arms and had tangled masses of hair. He didn't seem to mind at all. He spent hours and days and years playing with Johanna. And he never complained.
When Johanna was in fifth grade, her mother knocked on Jo's door one winter night. Her mom explained to Jo that Chris was different. She told Jo that the family would still love Chris, but that many other people may make fun of him. Johanna couldn't possibly imagine anyone making fun of her brother. She had always looked up to him. He had always helped her, played with her, and given her the attention and love that her parents didn't seem able to give her. How could anyone make fun of him? He was perfect in her eyes.
Johanna felt confused after the talk with her mother. Several months later, when Johanna was walking home from school, the kids behind her started throwing rocks at her backpack.
"Hey! Stop it!" shouted an angry Johanna.
"Why doesn't your family leave town?"
"The likes of people like you shouldn't be allowed in our county!"
"Ha! County! They shouldn't be allowed in the country!"
Johanna started to run home as fast as she could. She didn't understand why the kids were saying those things to her. As her feet pounded on the ground with a rapid thudding noise, Johanna could feel the stings of the rocks that were hitting her legs, arms, and back. Finally, she made it home feeling frightened and full of fear. There was blood dripping down her legs, and tears flowing down her face.
She slammed the front door and stumbled up the stairs. She banged on her brother's door so hard that she thought her hand would break into a hundred little pieces. Chris immediately opened the door and after a second of shock and disbelief, he hugged his sister and then took her backpack off. Johanna couldn't stop crying.
Chris started cleaning Jo's cuts and bruises, and he asked her what had happened. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He already knew what had happened when he saw her at his bedroom door. Somehow, somewhere inside of him, he was hoping that he was wrong. Very wrong.
"They threw stones at me!" Johanna shrieked.
"Stones! Rocks! It hurt so bad, Chris," and she started to weep again.
Chris hugged his little sister. The world really can be a cruel place he thought to himself. He desperately wanted his family to be happy. Especially Johanna. He remembered the day that she was born. He was seven years old, and his father bought his a candy bar from the snack machine at the hospital. He saw Johanna a few hours after she was born, and he thought she was kind of funny looking. Her skin was a reddish color, and she only had a few specks of brown hair sticking up from her round head.
He grew to love his sister more than he could possibly have imagined. He loved to take care of her and help his mother feed Johanna and play games with her. Most of all, he loved to sing to her and dance with her. Johanna loved the way that he danced, and he was delighted to entertain her. Her smile made him feel such a sense of warmth and whenever he was in the room, she was smiling. If anything ever happened to her, or anyone ever hurt her, he promised himself that he would make it better.
But he didn't know how to make this better. People can be so ruthless and prejudiced. Ignorant and uncaring. The world was full of people who were like this. He was breaking his promise to his little sister, and it broke his heart.
After awhile, Johanna stopped crying and looked up at her brother. He looked deep in thought and tears were swelling up in his blue eyes.
"Why don't they like me? Why did they want to hurt me?" Johanna asked Chris.
He looked at her for a second and asked her if mom or dad had said anything to her about him. Johanna shook her head, and then said: "mom said you were different, but we still love you anyways. Why are you different?"
"I'm not any different than you or mom or dad," Chris explained.
"Why did mom say you were different than?" Johanna asked.
"Because..."he paused.
"Because I'm gay, and a lot of people here aren't. That's why she said I was different."
Johanna looked at him, "what's gay mean?"
"It means that I'm attracted to men in the way that a lot of guys are attracted to women."
Johanna looked confused.
"Ummm. You know how mom and dad are married because they love each other?"
Johanna nodded.
"Well, they are attracted to each other and they like to be together. Instead of liking women in the way like dad does, I like other men."
"You mean you don't like girls?" Johanna looked sad.
"Jo, you know I love you! The way that you love someone in your family is different than the way you love a husband or wife or a girlfriend or boyfriend."
"You don't want to marry a girl?" Johanna asked.
"No, I guess not," Chris replied. "I have a boyfriend whom I love, not a girlfriend."
"Why does that make you weird? What does that have to do with the rocks?"
Chris looked down at his baby sister. "It doesn't make me weird. But, it scares other people because they are used to seeing men and women together, and this is different in their minds and it frightens them."
"Can a girl like another girl like you like other guys?" asked Jo.
"Yes."
"Well, why do people hate you just because you like other guys? Why did they throw stones at me?"
"Because you're my sister, and they think our family should move because of me. They don't like me because they believe I'm not normal. They don't like you because you're related to me." Johanna looked around the room for a few seconds and then she hugged Chris. "I'm glad you're my brother. I don't understand why everyone is upset because you like guys. I like guys and girls. Don't they?"
Johanna was sitting on her bed crying. She had made it into her room without Chris or anyone else hearing her. She sat for hours thinking about her family and her brother. In the past three years, Johanna had experienced more hate than she could comprehend. Nobody at school liked her. She always sat by herself at lunch and played alone at recess. She hated school. The only good part was coming home because when got home, Chris would help her with her homework and then he would play with her. She loved played all sorts of games, but monopoly was her favorite. Chris spent endless hours with his sister.
Johanna knew that Chris wanted to be in college. He had always dreamed of becoming a famous dancer, and she knew that he would be the best ever. She loved to watch him dance around the house. Mom and dad told Chris that dancing was idiotic to pursue, especially for a guy. They told him that he could go to the local college and get a degree in something respectable such as business.
Chris seriously thought about attending the college, but he knew his heart was in dancing, not business. He didn't want to waste his parents' money on classes that would never mean anything to him. He would rather they save their money and pay for Johanna to go to whatever college she wanted to. He knew she would excel at whatever she wanted to do. Besides, Chris was well aware of the fact that going to college would be worse than high school from a social viewpoint. He was still the talk of the town, and they hated him with a passion. Most of his high school days ended with arguments and fights. He knew that college would be no different. But he desperately wanted a chance to learn how to dance. He would become famous and show them. He would show all of them.
"Have a good day at school, Johanna." Chris shouted as he watched her walk down the driveway. She turned around, smiled, and waved good-bye to her brother.
Chris walked back inside the house and went into the kitchen to clean the dishes from their breakfast. His parents had long since been at work.
Johanna walked into the school in a positive manner. Last night, she and Chris had been dancing in the living room, and they had composed a dance routine. Her parents had been away for a few hours at some business dinner, so Johanna and Chris had the house to themselves. She could hardly contain her excitement because Chris said that tonight they could make up another dance routine.
After finishing the dishes, Chris went up to his room. He was deep in thought writing a letter to one of the top dancing colleges in the nation. He was determined to get into dance school somehow. With or without the aid of his parents.
Johanna was bored. Her class had been doing algebraic equations for what seemed like hours. She looked at the clock. It had barely moved. She couldn't wait to go home. It felt like school was taking forever today.
Chris was up in his room when he heard a knock at the door. He went downstairs, opened the door, and hugged the guy who walked in. He closed the door and they went up stairs to his room.
Johanna looked up at the clock. 1:47 In thirteen more minutes, she would be free. She looked at her teacher who was reading a book about the Civil War. Johanna put her head down on her desk, but her eyes still watched the clock.
Chris showed his boyfriend the letters that he had written. He really felt like his life was starting to come together. The two jumped up when they heard a door slam and pounding feet running up the stairs.
Johanna put her head up. "Five, four, three, two, one..."
Chris looked up. A bullet leaped out of a gun and landed in his heart.
"It's two, it's two, it's two!" shouted Johanna. And she excitedly ran out of the school building towards home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Please review! Thanks :)