Follow Carmen, a young and deeply closeted gay teenager as he navigates the 1980's and 1990's yearning for love and trying to find where he fits in.
This story is rated M because it contains elements of death (including children), homophobia, religi...
اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
***CONTENT WARNING*** Contains vague description of sex and threats of violence (no real violence actually occurs)
I looked carefully at Gerry. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm sure you know that you can pick out any old nickname you want for IRC, right?"
"Of course."
"Yes, well, one thing you can't pick is your IP address. No matter what username you pick, your IP address will be the same."
"Yeah, I knew that. So?"
"Well, one day when I was online I notice Bruce had joined the channel #gay_dads_for_sons. I messaged him with a friendly 'hi', and after a very brief conversation he said he had to go and logged off. Shortly after that I noticed a new user join the channel, one I hadn't seen before. Now, new people join that channel all the time, but one thing about this one piqued my interest: As soon as he joined the channel he was given channel op status. Out of curiosity I did a /whois and wrote down the IP address of that user. The next time Bruce signed in as Sportbikr I did a /whois before I even messaged him. The IP address matched. He's been using a different nickname when he doesn't want to be recognized online."
"What are you saying?"
"Carmen, what I'm saying is that I think Bruce might be running around on you. I've seen his interactions with other people in that channel. They know him well. And by the way some of them talk he has clearly met them recently."
"Holy..."
"I have more, Carmen. I think you might know one of the ones he's seeing. I believe you know a young man named 'Devin'?"
"Devin? Kyle's boyfriend? Yeah, I know him. You don't mean..."
"Well, I can't be sure. I mean, I do know that it's Devin, because his user name is Devin, but I'm not sure they're actually doing anything. But I do know they've been buddy-buddy on that channel. They always have been. They act like old friends, and it was Devin who gave Bruce's new nickname channel op status."
I was thinking back to when Bruce came upon me, Kyle, and Devin at the lake. He had not uttered a kind word about Devin, but he was also acting strangely toward him. Devin was acting oddly as well. Bruce eventually told me that he knew Devin, and that Devin was a slut. I was starting to feel sick to my stomach. Then something clicked.
"Wait a minute. Bruce is fucking around with Devin? Devin is only barely 19 years old, I've met him!"
Gerry said with a sad smile and a wink: "Yes, well, Bruce does like them young, doesn't he?"
"But 19? That's only a kid! Bruce is twice his age! Why would Devin even be interested in somebody like Bruce?"
"Well, Carmen, there are some people into that kind of thing. Tell, me, what did you think that channel gay_dads_for_sons that Bruce was always in was all about? Some older guys have a thing about being fatherly, and some younger guys have a thing about wanting a father figure. It's a kink. Hasn't Bruce ever tried being 'fatherly' toward you, treated you like a kid?"
