WARNING: SUICIDE, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, AND HOMOPHOBIA ARE MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER.

February 10, 2018

     The park was made in 1999, and dedicated to James Greenbury, who donated ten thousand dollars in cash to a children's shelter just before he died of cancer in 1995. 

SUNRISE PARK WAS BUILT IN THE SUMMER OF 1999
IN LOVING MEMORY OF JAMES A. GREENBURY(1950-1995)
PASSED AWAY DUE TO CANCER.
WITH HIS LAST MOMENT OF LIFE, HE SIGNED A TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR CHECK TO CHERRYTREE PROTECTIVE CHILDREN'S SHELTER
THANK YOU, JAMES

     He seemed like a good guy.

     The park itself was around 400 square feet. It contained a swing set and a play house thingy that had a rock wall, a rope ladder, a normal ladder, a pole, stairs, two slides, a wooden bridge leading from one side to the other, and a plastic tunnel that did the same thing. It was all on top of a bunch of pebbles. Outside of that pebble area was a semi-large grass expanse that, although not part of the actual park, was still open to the public. It had a single oak tree and a rotting wooden picnic table.

     Julian had came over to my house to see this park. He was observing it with hawklike concentration.

     "Can we sit on this?" He asked.

     "What?"

     "Can we sit on that tube thingy without breaking it?"

     "I think so, why?"

     Without answering, Julian climbed up the rock wall, clinked over the tunnel, and sat on the outside of it. After he was done, he gestured for me to do the same.

     I was a little uneasy about sitting on top of an old, slippery, plastic tube, but it was only eight feet off the ground. And if something bad happened, I wasn't going to let Julian get hurt alone. I would've rather both of us get hurt than only Julian. That logic is a little faulty, but it made sense to me. So I climbed up the play set and sat on the tunnel.

     Neither of us talked. We just sat there, looking at the trees in the distance and at the horizon.

     After around ten minutes of eternity, Julian spoke. "The best time for the party will be around now. The Sun is setting and no kids would be allowed here in the evening. Is six in the evening to nine at night good for you?" He turned his head and looked at me.

"Yeah," I said, "that's perfect."

It was a Saturday, and Julian would be staying the night at my house. I promised not to keep him up all night with movie marathons and energy drinks. Just half of the night.

     When we got home, my parents requested a "family meeting" without any of my siblings. This was a little strange, considering Julian was there, but I didn't think much of it. When we all met in the living room, I told Julian he could go to my room.

     "No," my mom interjected, "This is for him, too."

     I frowned. "Why?"

     "Well, if Julian's going to be your boyfriend, we need to lay some rules down," my dad answered.

     "What?" They had to be messing with me.

     "Well, you are still a kid. You should abide by our rules."

     "No, Julian and I, we're not-"

     "We don't want you two having sex," my mom continued. "Especially not in this house."

     "Mom, you-"

     "No exceptions."

     Julian was losing his shit. He had his face covered with his hands, trying not to let it show that he was sniggering.

    "Julian," I said in exasperation.

     "Yes?" He replied innocently.

    "Mother, Father, Julian and I are not dating."

    "Sam, you know better than to lie to us-"

     "I'm not lying. Julian is not my boyfriend."

     "But Tonya said-"

     "Oh," I laughed. "That explains it. Look, I am completely single. I'll tell you if anything changes."

     After a little explaining on my part, my parents dismissed us.

     "I love your family," Julian said when we were back in my room.

     "Shut up."

     "Make me."

     Butterflies flittered in my stomach. "That's impossible."

     "Hmph." Julian mock-pouted.

     "Hmph?" I asked

     "Hmph."

     "You're a hmph."

     "No," Julian responded, "I'm really not."

     "Whatever."

     A few hours later, we were having a conversation when Julian shifted the subject to a more serious topic.

     "Y'know the first time I stayed the night at your house, and we were playing twenty questions?"

     "Yeah," I replied.

     "And I started crying like a baby?"

     I looked down.

     "So you do remember. Anyway, I wanted to talk about that."

     I shifted so that I could see Julian's face clearly. "Okay."

      "So," He said, "in the park, the sign mentioned Cherrytree Children's Shelter. Well, I . . . My father hasn't been in the best place for the past few years. He  sent me there while he was picking himself up. Cherrytree wasn't the "worst memory ever," or whatever, that made me upset. They were all very nice people and they provided us with more than enough fundamental supplies. They took care of me. It is why I went there that upset me. 

     "Four years ago, I came out to my parents as gay." Julian said, glassy eyed. "My mother, well, she was very religious, and she became very devastated." He closed his eyes, breathing in shakily. 

     Julian furrowed his eyebrows. "The next day, I walked into the bathroom to, y'know, pee, and she was there."

     I scooted closer to him.

     "Sam," Julian continued, his voice cracking, "she was dead. She had overdosed on painkillers that night." A tear ran down Julian's cheek. "On the wall, she had written, "I'm sorry, God," with her lipstick." Julian was close to sobbing. "It was terrible, Sam. And my dad, he just lost it. He started abusing alcohol. He was fired from his job because he was late all the time. He wasn't in a good place. So he sent me to a children's home. I stayed there for three years. This past year was the year my father took me back."

    I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything. I hugged Julian. Not a fake, one armed hug, but a real hug. I wanted to squeeze all of the sadness out of him.

     Julian clung onto me, as tears streamed down his face and onto my shirt. Silent sobs racked through his body.

     I couldn't imagine what Julian had gone through, or what he was going through, by reliving all of it. I held Julian tight, keeping him as close to me as possible.

     After a few minutes I spoke, still holding Julian. "I guess we should thank James A. Greenbury for donating to the people who took care of you."

     Julian let out a shaky laugh. "Yeah."

      "Thank you, James."