"What's wrong?" Micky asked.

"A-About the rumors you said were spreading at school—"

Micky gasped. Tears filled his eyes and some already started their journey down his cheeks. "Are they true?"

"Micky..." Mike looked down. "When I was...when I was there, I met this guard. His name was...it was Joseph and he was nicer to me than the rest of my kidnappers, in that instead of torturin' me he just...ignored my presence. When I, um..." Mike looked down at his arm, "when I got this scar, he's the one who helped me heal. After that...we started somethin'."

"An affair," Micky whispered.

"No! I-I mean..." Mike sighed, "not exactly."

"Then what exactly do you mean, Mike?"

"He um..." Mike looked down again. "He told me that he'd trade food and protection for...for sexual favors. He gave me food and saved me from torturing methods—most of the time—if I gave him...if I gave him sex. And, well, other things."

"Other things?" Micky whispered.

"Handjobs, blowjobs...the like," Mike sighed.

"S-So what are you trying to say?"

"He's the only reason I'm alive, Micky."