The rest of the week flew by without warning and it was time for me to attend group therapy. Needless to say, the warm reception that I received (sans Theo since he was now kicked out of the group) was one I didn't expect since my meltdown a week ago. But what caught me off-guard was how Theo's now-disbanded Goth gang was all dressed in normal clothes and giving me hugs and smiles. "It's all because of Artem giving us that reality check," one female member (a gymnast who lost her parents to a car wreck and was suffering from sexual abuse from her cousin) commented. "We were lost in hating you when we were only hurting ourselves for letting Blake poison our minds."

"I'm still not over how he outed your secret like that," the dark-skinned male ex-Goth member (a Jamaican native who was suffering from schizophrenia) replied. "Dude, my mum would have my arse thrown out on the street if I pulled anything like that."

It was a little unnerving, yet it felt like I was finally ready to be more open.

After helping ourselves to some snacks and opening up with the Serenity prayer and other business, the main topic for me was one that felt overdue: Lottie Mae Ingram. I took a deep breath as I stepped forward to the front, grateful for Mitch's approving smile before I dove right in. "You guys, you know that I virtually had no support in my household when it came to my bass-ackwards and belly-up family other than my former landlord and his family alongside all the tenants who were under my mother's harsh hand," I said. "But the one woman who actually gave me the love and support was one who left this world way too soon: my late maternal grandmother Lottie Mae Ingram."

"What was she like?" Ciara wanted to know.

I smiled faintly. "She was a no-nonsense, God-fearing woman who loved everyone yet was the subject of her children's hatred since she believed in living a simple life. She and her late husband Roger Ingram, who died before I was born, did everything that they could to teach their children to love, but my mother and her siblings all loved the hip-hop values and wanting to live life in the fast lane. So when I came into this world and was the subject of abuse, she did all she could to make my world a brighter place- taking me to trips to see movies, the zoo, and even instilled some culture by taking me to operas and stage plays. She was even the one who began my love for playing the music and my other hobbies that my mother despised and wanted to snuff out of me. It was because of her that I allowed myself to survive as long as I could in that prison that was my apartment...

FLASHBACK (Demario in eighth grade)...

"Demario, baby, this family doesn't know how good they have it when it comes to you," Mama Lottie said in anger as she helped me washed my laundry after my older brothers wrecked it with some of the barbecue sauce from the Labor Day party that I wasn't allowed to attend yet had to cook the meals for the lot. "I swear to you that they're going to be wishing that they'd treated you better if something happens to them and they'll need to rely on you."

"It's okay, Mama Lottie," I assured her as I tossed in my ruined jeans. "I'm used to this treatment."

"But it's not okay at all, baby." She shut the washer lid closed and had me sit next to her as the washing machine did its magic. "You had to accept the worse things in life while your no-good siblings got to be spoiled by your momma. Me and the Tuckers are doing what we can, but she's turning up the heat in making you want to end it all so she and everyone else in this family- her husband's as well- are free from you. I don't know how long I have left on this earth, but I want you to promise me that even when I'm gone that you'll keep fighting for your right to live and survive. I told Mr. Tucker to make sure that you're given some necessities while the other old folks here in this apartment will take you in if you get locked out. Even the young folks will help out if they can. We can only do so much to help you, Demario, but we want you to keep living no matter what. Promise me this, my child. Don't let your momma and her brood steal your light."

I nodded. "I promise, Mama Lottie," I said softly, fighting my tears as she pulled me into a hug. "I love you, Mama Lottie."

"I love you too, baby. Never forget that. Despite how you're treated here, I will always love you, no matter what..."

"It was two weeks later when I would lose her to murder," I said. "Caught in the crossfires of an armed robbery at a grocery store. I was barred from attending her funeral, but was accused of not caring to show up by Uncle Carl. By then, Mom's reign of terror on me amplified and she had everyone blackmailed with a lethal fate if they dared to show kindness. But I kept my promise to my late grandma, which I almost failed when I tried to kill myself. I plan to keep that promise now that things are changing for me in so many ways."

"I bet she'll be proud of you for sharing her memories with us," Mitch commented.

I smiled faintly, allowing a few tears to fall. "In a way, I think that it's because of her that I'm still learning what I'm fighting for."

And that, dear friends, was the whole truth.

****************

Ryan's POV

FLASHBACK MOMENT (Ryan and Artem's Dating Games)...

Artem and I are now a couple. Needless to say, Artem wasn't easily sold the first time that I asked him out. "We'd be better off as friends," he had pointed out when my first attempt went bust. "And I don't think that Miss Kendricks is fully over you. Besides, it's too soon."

But a little persuasion and some time to focus on my priorities did wonders as I set up a picnic in the park with his favorite foods. We got to know each other, me telling him about my family and me being a part of the LGBTQ community alongside my fears of not finding the right guy as he told me of his transition from being an intersex female named Allison to the guy he now identified as Artem (a name he chose after his late great-great paternal grandfather. We even had our first kiss.

After that, we became the newest "it couple" of Pacifica Glades High that earned approval from everyone; although the transphobic yet tolerant Ms. McNeese didn't like the idea of a transgender student being paired up with me, much less having trans students Oliver Slade (who had recently came out as post-op FTM over the summer and was living with his transgender uncle) in school. I also had to deal with Jillian and her pesky godbrother Theo's persistent pleas to get back with her and finally tie the knot despite the engagement now being nullified.

Of course, Artem and I had our little fights and all, but we managed to find our way back to one another after we cooled off. But it was during homecoming when he accused me of letting Jillian kiss me off-guard that we needed some space from one another. And unfortunately, I was feeling horny and needing some release. So I did what I thought back then was unthinkable: call up one Theo Blake and invited him over to my place for some guy-time. I knew he was gay back in middle school and had the hots for me, but I never felt the same which left him feeling scorned as he went from a star student to a Goth kid with anger issues. One thing led to another and then...well, let's just say that he and I were now secret lovers.

Who would've thought that one event would change everything?

"Ryan?"

I snapped out of my thoughts, turning to face my now-boyfriend Theo as we lay naked in his bed after making love for the nth time since we outed Demario being a love child. And even now, we had no regrets even after our parents cursed us out and we were knocked around. "Yeah, babe?" I asked.

"Thinking about the past?" Theo said softly. "Was it about-"

"Artem doesn't mean anything anymore since he made his intentions clear," I interrupted. "Just like Demario and Jillian mean nothing to me. They made their choices clear, all of them claiming that I was too much for them when they were not enough for me. And now, all you and I have are each other. All I want to do now is put them out of their misery, especially Demario since he refused to accept my offers of romance and stuck with that tranny Oliver Slade."

Theo rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me," he said lowly. "But it would be nice to finally get rid of him as his late mom and her family wanted. Too bad that we can't get his crooked-cop uncle Carl involved. He says that he and his family want nothing to do with him. 'As long as he's out of our hair, he's not our problem,' he told me when I asked him to help me stage his death as a suicide. 'And I'm already being watched by the head police chief for my part in that boy's abuse, so you're on your own.' He did wish me luck, though."

I huffed a breath. "Fuck," I replied. "That means that we gotta find some other way to finally get rid of him. "With me out of the homecoming game and off the team as well as the aquatics team, I can't be near him at all costs. And thanks to Jillian, you and I can't be anywhere near him, not even at school or the incoming jazz concert next week."

My boyfriend's eyes lit up. "Babe, that's it!" he exclaimed. "The jazz concert is coming up, right? Well, there's bound to be a reception party afterwards and there's going to be lots of food and drink there."

"Yeah, but we're not going to be there thanks to our parents," I reminded him. "How does that-"

He reached into the nightstand beside the bed and pulled out three bottles that were full of an unfamiliar liquid. "Let's just say that I think that Demario will suffer a lethal poisoning that will have him out of our lives," he teased. "Thanks to these little bottles that I got from that punk's late brothers' friends, I believe that we'll put Demario and anyone else who drinks the spiked punch out of our lives."

"I dunno, babe," I said uneasily, giving him a small frown. "What if someone wisens up and finds out?"

Theo turned to the nightstand and extracted a small handgun. "Then we cut the lights like Phantom of the Opera...and permanently put out Demario's lights. In either case, his number will be up."

I gave him a cat-eating grin. "My little assassin," I laughed. "You're going to be quite a handful,, but it's worth it. Next week, Demario will play his final song before the curtains fall on him- for good. And by the time anyone else finds out, we'll be long gone."

Feeling horny from all the talk of death, I sheathed myself with another condom before proceeding to reward Theo with some loving. Demario, Jillian, and all those who scorned me will pay dearly with their lives. And after I lost my status and everything I had holding on as a quarterback and popular guy, I had nothing else to lose.

It was time to be a bad boy and show everyone who I can be when scorned. And by next week, death will reign!

First off, Demario's grandmother will make another appearance or two in act three alongside Demario's late mother and her brood. Lottie Mae reminds me so much of my late grandmother who was killed by a distant relative back in 2003. And her death still stings to this day.

And secondly, it looks like Ryan and Theo aren't playing around anymore! They have nothing to lose at this point and they want Demario, Jillian, and Artem out of their lives!

The last two chapters of act two will be full of musical wonders, an opportunity of a lifetime for Demario (and maybe Oliver), and the jaw-dropping cliffhanger that will blow your mind! I promise y'all that it's too good to pass up!

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