Boise ID Book 1: New Life

"Mike, relax, let me go talk to her before you go off on…" Doc is cut short by Mike barging out of the room, going to the living room.

"Mother! How dare you go to my boyfriend's house and beg for me to come back to you after everything you did to me last night! Like what was going through your head when you kicked me out of my childhood home and called me a fucking faggot! You are no better than Father when he left us all those years ago! What kind of mother just throws their only child out just for being who they are! I HATE YOU!" He says all this to her, ultimately breaking down in anger and sadness as DOc runs out to defuse the situation.

"Mike, I understand that you hate me, and you have every right to be pissed and hate me. But, you need to understand that I still love you." Mike cuts her off by raising his hand with his index finger up.

"If you loved me, we would be sitting down watching something on TV, but no, you had to kick me out for being gay! Do you think that's okay for a mother to do? Because I thought that a mother is supposed to love their child no matter what?"

"Mike! That's enough! Go to the truck, and I will grab your things so we can go back." Doc says with a commanding voice so all Mike can do is barge out of the house, going to the truck waiting inside. He pulls out his phone and starts looking at all the posts about his coming out. He starts to get pissed off, so he starts texting Leo to help him calm down.

11:08 Mike- Hey Babe

11:10 Leo- Hey baby, I'm sorry about this morning. It needed to be brought up.

11:10 Mike- I'm past that, babe… I need to talk to you so I can calm down.

11:11 Leo- What's wrong? Are you okay?

11:12 Mike- I went with Dr. True to get my stuff, and when we were about to leave, my mother came home, and I blew up on her big time.

11:15 Leo- Oh god babe! Are you okay? What did you say to her?

11:18 Mike- I said everything that has been going on in my head with her like calling me a faggot, dumping me as my father did to her two years ago… If it weren't for Doc, I would have said some messed up things that would have ruined her more. I'm sorry babe.

11:20 Leo- You have nothing to be sorry for Mike. You had every right to say those things to her, but I'm glad that Doc was there to help you. Where are you right now?

11:21 Mike- Waiting in Docs truck till he's done talking to her and getting my stuff.

11:21 Leo- okay babe, Tell Doc that I said hi for me, please.

11:22 Mike- Sure babe, hows the first day of school so far? Are there any rumors about us yet?

After a few moments and no reply from Leo, he puts his phone on vibrate and looks out the truck, and he sees Doc come out of the house with some boxes, but when they make eye contact, he puts up his index finger, letting Mike know it will be a few more minutes. To pass the time, he puts on the song Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron & Wine. As Mike losses himself in the music, he begins to remember his parents fighting leading up to his father leaving them; he remembers back to when his father threw an empty alcohol bottle at him because he tried interfering with an argument that was happening. When the song is over, he looks up to see Doc and his mother leaving the house with Doc getting the driver's seat, but before they drive off, Mikes mother comes up to the truck and hands Doc an envelope, and they exchange a nod before he drives off with all Mikes things.

They sit in the truck quietly, not wanting to talk about what just happened with his mother. Doc takes a turn away from Jays' house, and instead, they head to In-N-Out burger to get some lunch given that it is now noon. As they pull into the parking lot, Mike sees Leo sitting on one of the outside benches with his dad already with food. As soon as they park, Mike runs out of the truck to Leo and hugs him close and sitting next to him.

Leo and his dad looking surprised but happy as well offer a seat for Mike and Doc. "Hey baby, How are you doing now?" Leo asks, holding Mike's hand under the table.

"I'm a little better now babe, is this why you didn't text me back?" Mike asks, shoving Leo's shoulder playfully.

"Damn Mike, you two already sound like a couple, and it's not even 24 hours yet." Leos, dad Allen says, looking at his phone.

"We have been friends for a long time now so if you think about it we are an old married couple," Mike says, taking a fry from Leos pile.

"Shut up baby. Anyway, it looks like Doc wants you a the register so you can order." Leo says, shoving Mike out of the booth playfully and goes back to talking to his dad about stuff.

Mike runs over to the register where Doc is, and the guy behind the counter asks Mike what he wants, and he responds with his usual order being a double animal style with extra crispy fries. Once finished ordering, they wait for their food by the counter because Mike likes to watch them make the food. When they get their order, they go outside to join Leo and his dad.

Leo and Mike sit at their own table so they can talk in private about stuff. "So babe, how was your first day of school?" Mike asks as he takes a sip of his lemon-up.

"It was okay, to say the least… The whole day it felt like all the eyes were on me and Jay, we kept hearing people whisper throughout the school about what happened to you. Oh, the school counselor and the dean wants to talk to us when you come back tomorrow asap, so we have that to look forward to when you come back. But besides that, it wasn't that bad." Leo says, watching Mike eat like an animal who hasn't eaten for days.

"I'm sorry babe… I should have been there with you guys this morning instead of getting my stuff. Anyway, what did the counselor and the dean say about my absence today?" Mike says, finishing his burger.

"About that, Jay's parents called them and gave them the rundown of what's going on with you. They didn't tell them about you and your mom though so you will have to tell them about that when you are ready. They did alert your teachers what happened so they won't get too mad at you for missing the first day of school or even a week for that matter." Leo says, scooting closer to Mike, so they are now hip to hip.

"So all the normal stuff along with talking to them about being gay most likely on top of that."

"Pretty much… But you may want to stay away from Kyles crew because they think you jumped him instead of how it actually went down, and don't try to fight them either because they grew a bit over the summer."

Mike looks down and closes his eyes for a moment, and after Leo is done talking, Mike takes a few breaths resting his head on Leos's shoulder with Leo putting his arm around Mike to hold him close. As the boys do this, people walking around outside are pointing and talking amongst themselves. Leo notices this and gets a sad face but brushes it away, not to seem intimidated. But Allen sees this, so he puts down his food and stands looking around.

"Excuse me, everyone? Can I get your attention please?" once he gets people's attention, he looks at them all. "My name is Allen Sharen and few of you know me as your personal mechanic. But over the past few days, I came to learn a few things… The two boys holding each other that you all have been pointing and talking about is my son and his boyfriend. His boyfriend has been through a lot over the past few days and I don't think any of you will be able to handle or even begin to comprehend the things that may be going through his young mind. So I ask all of you to leave people be and to let them love who they want to love. If you have a problem you can come see me." Allen sits back down at his table, picking up his drinking, taking a small sip as the people around them leave Mike and Leo alone except for one man.

He walks over to Allen and gets in his face. "So you're okay with letting your son go to hell? Spend the rest of his eternal soul with the devil? How dare you be okay with this you heathen! Its people like them that killed a lot of good people with their diseases and their drug use!" The man then looks to Leo and Mike with disgust and slams his fist on the boy's table. "Hope you enjoy hell you disgusting faggots!" As soon as he finishes, Allen comes up behind him and grabs him shoving him into the parking lot.

"I called the cops and they are on their way to deal with you! So I recommend you get your story straight before they get here." Allen says, standing between the boys and the man. The police cruiser pulls up, and as soon as the officers are out the car, one goes to Allen, and the other goes to the man, and they begin to talk. As this is going on, the boys run to the truck to get away from it all and lay in the pickup bed. Doc runs over to them to make sure they are okay and not too shaken up.

Mike looks up at him, close to crying, "Can we go home now? I want to get my stuff to Jays before something else comes up." He says, looking at Doc with a look that says we need to talk.

"Okay, Mike. Get in the truck and Leo I think your dad has other plans for you once he's done with the cops. So how about you go to him now." Doc says as Mike and Leo get out of the pickup bed, holding hands when they are out.

"See you later babe! I hope it all goes well setting up your room." Leo says as he runs to his dad's work truck.

When Mike and DOc are in the truck driving off Doc looks at Mike and sighs as Mike puts on the song Little Wonders by Rob Thomas using his phone speakers. Doc takes the long way to the house to let Mike calm down and enjoy his music for a moment. As the song reaches its end, Doc pulls into the house's driveway, but they sit in the truck in silence once the song is over.

"Are you okay Mike? You gave me a look that said you wanted to talk, so what's up?" Doc says, turning, so he is facing Mike.

"Are Leo and I going to have to face that a lot in our relationship?" He asks, looking at Doc with light tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Oh Mike… I'm not going to sugar coat it for you with this answer. You and Leo might come across more people like that, but you need to remember that they were raised differently and they might not be accepting of who you are." As Doc says this to Mike, he begins to look sadder. "But all that matters is that you are happy with who you are and who you are with. Just remember that every time you come across someone like that." Doc gets out of the truck and starts to move the boxes into the house with Mike's help.

Once all the boxes are in the room, they hear Jay run into the house and straight to the bathroom as he always does for after school. Once out of the bathroom, he comes in and helps Doc and Mike put stuff away in the closet and dresser. "So I got a text from Leo about what happened at your mom's place. Are you okay?" Jay asks, sounding concerned.

"Yea I'm okay. It just took me by surprise when she walked in so when I saw her I just told her everything that I felt. Like how she dumped me just like my father did us when I was 10 and how she now regrets what she did to me after the damage has been done. That is not okay at all." As Mike says this, he is progressively getting angrier and is now slamming stuff in the drawers.

"Mike, I understand that you yours mad right now but you need yo learn how to control your emotions better before something bad happens and you do something you will regret," Doc says now looking Mike in the eye, which is hard for him to do.

He takes a few deep breaths and calms down, falling on his bed, grabbing his sock monkey, letting out a big sigh. "I have no idea why I am so angry all the time now… I hope that it changes soon so the school won't be harder or even get me kicked out over it starting a fight in the future."

"That's why I'm going to sign you up for anger management classes that ran by a friend of mine, you might not like it all that much at first but over time you will find it amazing," Doc says, handing Mike a card with the info.

All Mike can do is sit there, nodding his head at what Doc is saying, "Thanks Doc, I really do hope it will help… Because if I plan on being with Leo for a long time and I don't want to risk it becoming abusive at all."

When a few minutes pass, they go back to work, getting the room set up the way Mike wants it. Jay opens a box and sees Mike's old journals they Doc used to have him do when his parents split. Seeing that gave Jay an idea and runs off to his room and comes back with a fresh notebook and hands it to Mike. "Umm… Why are you handing me this bro? I have some already." Mike says, taking it from jay and setting in on the dresser.

"I remember that you used to keep a journal when your parents split so Maybe you can go back to doing that as a way to get over your mom leaving you and maybe it can help with your anger as well."

"What do you think about this Doc? I know it was your idea in the first place for me to do it." Mike says, looking at Doc

"It won't hurt to try Mike, you know I'm ready to try things to help you, but you know that I will want to see the journals every month just to see how you are doing in your head." Doc says, putting away some clothes.

"If you say so Doc, just know that it may include some private things between me and Leo so be warned," Mike says with a smile.

They all start laughing and giggling, and for the first time in a week, Mike was back to his old self again. Mike slowly stops laughing and goes back to putting stuff away while Doc talks to Jay about school and how his teachers are. Steph walks in and knocks on the door frame. "Hey Dr. True, how are you and the boys getting along? Have they been good for you?"

"No problems at all with my favorite client and his brother. They have been very good to me today and only with one problem getting the stuff here." Doc says, motioning to the empty boxes in the corner of the room.

"Due tell about this problem you had Doc," Steph says, crossing her arms looking concerned.

"How about we go to the living room to talk about this," Dos says, leading Steph to the living room, leaving the boys in Mike's room.

"I'm kinda glad they left… I was wanting to take a nap actually, today has taken a lot out of me and I feel like a nap is what I need right now." Mike says, taking off his t-shirt as Jay leaves the room nodding. When Mike climes into bed, he almost instantly falls asleep, holding his sock monkey close to his chest.