Misunderstanding

Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes of Hazzard, not making any money, just cheap thrills.


Warnings: Angst, Violence


Rating: FRAO


* indicates thoughts


Misunderstanding
Chapter 2


The sun shining in his eyes woke him the next morning. Glancing at the clock, he was surprised to see that it was nearly ten. Stretching, he moaned in pain as sore muscles protested the movement and cracked ribs added their voice to the protest. Moving carefully, Bo slowly climbed out of his bed and headed towards the bathroom. Picking up his toothbrush from the back of the sink, he applied paste and began to brush his teeth. After brushing his teeth repeatedly, being sure to scrub the brush across his tongue and the roof of his mouth as well, Bo was finally beginning to feel better. Finally putting the paste and toothbrush away, he finished up and headed to the kitchen.


When Daisy had come home the night before, everybody had been in bed. So it wasn't until she woke up that Luke had the chance to tell her about Bo's injuries. Still, though, seeing him covered in bruises, with bandages around his chest was a shocking sight as she came inside the backdoor. "Bo you're awake!" Daisy cried out. "How are ya feeling this morning?" She asked, stepping to his side and giving him a very gentle hug.


"Sore, but I'll be okay," Bo replied, slowly moving to take a seat at the table.


"Well your voice sounds better today," Luke said as he came into the kitchen, surprising them both.


"Feels a little better," Bo answered.


"You feel up to eating anything honey?" Daisy asked, moving towards the refrigerator. When Bo only shrugged his shoulders in response, Daisy looked at Luke for help.


"Maybe some broth from the crawdad bisque, that should be easy on your throat," Luke suggested, hoping to tempt him.


"Yeah, guess I could try," Bo quietly agreed.


Daisy dipped some broth into a smaller pan and quickly heated it up for her younger cousin. A few minutes later, she sat a steaming bowl of broth on the table in front of Bo, "What do ya want to drink?"


"Just some water please."


"You sure?" At his nod, she took a glass from the cabinet and ran some water, tossing some ice into the glass, she handed it to Bo.


"Thanks Daisy," Bo said, taking the glass and gulping down a large swallow of water. Slowly sipping the broth, Bo was glad it wasn't irritating his throat any. Just as he emptied the bowl a few minutes later, Jesse walked into the kitchen.


"Well that explains it, I was wondering what was keeping ya Luke."


"Sorry Uncle Jesse," Luke apologized, starting to get up.


"That's okay, just go ahead and sit down for a few more minutes. Bo, how you feeling?" Jesse asked, moving to the fridge for a glass of lemonade.


"Sore, but better, throat feels better," Bo replied, turning slightly towards his uncle.


"It sounds like it," Jesse replied as he reached into the fridge. Spotting the buttermilk, Jesse had an idea, grabbing a clean glass, he poured a generous amount of buttermilk. "Here ya go Bo, try this it ought to soothe your throat a bit," Jesse said, sitting the glass in front of Bo.


"Thanks Uncle Jesse," Bo said. Picking up the glass, he glanced into it as he took a swallow. The sight of the milk, combined with the thickness of it and Bo suddenly jumped up, running to the bathroom. Retching into the toilet, he knelt on the floor, images of the night before racing through his mind. * "Start sucking fairy or I swear I'll kill you." * Bo shuddered at the memory of the other man's voice, and the feel of his dick choking him as he continued to retch. Finally the vomiting stopped, and Bo relaxed. A hand on his back and he jerked away so hard he fell against the wall, "No please don't."


"Bo it's just me," Luke called to him, worried by his cousin's reaction.


"Luke?" Bo asked, his eyes once again focusing on his cousin's face, no longer seeing the man who had assaulted him.


"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Here, let me give you a hand," Luke offered, holding out a hand and helping Bo to his feet.


"It's okay," Bo replied, moving to the sink and rinsing his mouth. After wiping his face, he again filled the glass with water, the soothing liquid feeling good against his irritated throat. "You know since I'm in here, think I'll take a shower."


"You need me to get anything for you?"


"Some clean clothes and maybe when I'm done you could help me wrap my ribs again?" Bo asked.


"Sure thing, you go ahead and get your shower, I'll be back in a few minutes with your clothes," Luke agreed.


Grabbing his toothbrush and some paste, Bo got into the shower. Standing under the hot water, he began to brush his teeth again, unable to taste anything except for the man who had assaulted him. After the second brushing, he forced himself to put the toothbrush down. He knew Luke would be back any second and didn't want to make him suspicious. Picking up the soap and a rough cloth, Bo began to scrub at his skin. Unconsciously applying pressure as he scrubbed, he wasn't aware of how red his skin was becoming as he scrubbed under the hottest water he could stand.


"Bo, you okay in there?" Luke asked from outside the curtain.


"Yeah, I'll be done in a minute," Bo replied, reluctantly turning off the water even though he still felt dirty. "Hand me a towel will ya?" A second later, Luke's hand appeared at one end of the curtain, holding a towel out to him. "Thanks," Bo said, taking the towel and drying off. Stepping out of the shower, he pulled on clean underwear and jeans, not noticing the shocked look on Luke's face.


"Bo what did you do to yourself?" Luke demanded, finding his voice and moving towards his cousin who now sat on the closed toilet.


"Huh? What do ya mean Luke?" Bo asked, looking up at his older cousin.


"I mean your skin, it looks like ya tried to scrub it clear off," Luke snapped, his worry for Bo coming out as anger.


"Oh," Bo said in a small voice, "Guess I wasn't paying attention."


"Bo, you don't get your skin that red and raw looking just by not paying attention. Talk to me cousin, what's going on with you?" Luke asked, his voice softening as he laid a gentle hand on Bo's shoulder.


"Ain't nothing going on Luke that a little time won't fix," Bo replied honestly. He was sure that he could get past this on his own and he didn't want his family to know what he'd let that man force him to do.


"Alright Bo, I know there's something you ain't telling me but I'll let it go for now. Just remember you can always talk to me, or Daisy and Uncle Jesse, any of us will help ya," Luke reminded him.


"Thanks cousin," Bo replied. "Speaking of help, you ready to help with my ribs?" Bo asked, reminding Luke of why he was in the room.

A short time later, Bo's ribs were once again tightly wrapped and he threw a loose t-shirt on, hiding most of his bruises. After Luke helped him into clean socks and put his boots on him, Bo stood up and headed outside. "So, what can I help with?"


"Nothing, doc said no heavy lifting and you need to rest. Tell ya what, why don't you keep me company while I tune the General?" Luke suggested, seeing the irritated look on his cousin's face.


"What do ya mean keep you company? I can help with the tune-up," Bo insisted, not wanting to be treated like an invalid.


"Bo don't be stupid, you know how much it's going to hurt to bend over an engine for hours?"


"Oh, hadn't thought of that, but Luke there's got to be something I can do," Bo whined.


"Told ya, you can keep me company and I guess you could hand me tools."


"Better than nothing, so why are we just standing here?" Bo asked, moving as quickly as he could towards the General. A few minutes later, Jesse and Daisy came over to where they were working.


"You feel better Bo?" Jesse asked.


"Yeah, thanks Uncle Jesse," he replied.


"Good, good, me and Daisy are going into town for a little grocery shopping, is there anything y'all need?" Jesse asked.


"I'm good," Luke answered.


"Nothing for me," Bo told him.


"Okay, we should be back in an hour or so, holler on the cb if you need anything," Jesse said, turning back towards the pick-up.


An hour later, Bo's current girlfriend drove into the yard. Smiling at her, Bo walked over to greet the pretty brunette as she stepped out of her car. "Hey there Cindy, what brings you out here darlin?" Bo asked, reaching out to take her in his arms. He stopped in surprise when Cindy jerked away from him and looked at him with such anger and loathing it was like a physical blow. "Cindy, what's wrong?"


"What's wrong? You've got the nerve to ask me what's wrong after what you did Bo Duke?" Cindy screamed at him, putting her hands against his chest and shoving him off balance.


"Cindy I don't know what you're talking about," Bo tried to explain, only to be cut off.


"Well then let me tell you," Cindy snarled at him. "Bobby Jensen saw you last night in Cedar City and he's telling everybody what you did. I cannot believe you Bo, are you seriously going to stand there and try to look innocent?" Cindy asked when he only stared at her in surprised confusion. "Let me remind you, an alley, you on your knees, ringing any bells?"


"Cindy don't you know better than to listen to Bobby Jensen?" Luke asked, moving to stand beside Bo and missing the look of horrified understanding on his cousin's face.


"It's not what you think Cindy, please let me exp..."


"There is nothing you could say that would explain what Bobby saw. I just came out here to tell you I don't appreciate being made a fool of and you'd better just stay away from me." Cindy coldly told him, ending her statement with a hard slap. Climbing back behind the wheel of her car, she started the engine and backed up, not even slowing down when she nearly hit Bo with the front fender.


"You okay Bo?" Luke asked, turning towards his cousin.


"I...Luke, I need, uh," Bo tried to answer his cousin, stopping as his knees buckled and his face lost all color.


"Bo!" Luke cried out, catching the younger man and helping him into the house. Getting him into the living room, Luke got Bo settled on the couch, before going to get his pain killers and a glass of water. Hurrying back into the living room, he handed Bo the pills and water. "Damn her," Luke growled, remembering the shove against Bo's chest and the ugly words she'd yelled at him. "You want to talk about it?"


"Not really, but if Bobby Jensen's spreading rumors I'm going to have to."


Luke looked at Bo confused, "Bo are you saying you know what Cindy was talking about?"


"Yeah," Bo softly replied.


"So did she have a right to be mad at you?"


"I...don't know," Bo answered. He knew that what had happened last night wasn't really his fault, but he couldn't help feeling guilty, as though he'd caused it somehow. Worse than that was his family's reactions; he had no idea if they would blame him, and so he could answer no other way.


"What do ya mean you don't know? You ought to know if you did something wrong," Luke insisted.


"Please Luke, I know you want an explanation and I'll give ya one. I just don't think I can tell the story more than once, so could you wait until Jesse and Daisy get back from town?"

"I guess I can," Luke reluctantly agreed.

For the next thirty minutes, the two boys sat in the living room, an awkward silence between them. Bo could feel the panic rising inside him as he fought the urge to run away. * Don't be stupid, where would you go? Ya ain't got no money and by the time the story gets around town ain't no decent people gonna take you in. * Bo reminded himself, feeling more and more afraid as the minutes passed.


From his seat in the rocker, Luke watched Bo, worried by the fear he could see on his face. * What could be that bad? Why can't he tell the story more than once? What did Cindy mean anyway? * Luke asked himself, as he watched Bo, wishing Jesse and Daisy would hurry.

Finally they heard the sound of the pick-up pulling into the yard. Looking up fearfully, Bo's breathing began to quicken, as the moment he'd been dreading moved closer and closer. One look at their faces and Bo knew they'd already heard the rumors. "Uncle Jesse, Daisy please let me explain?" Bo managed to squeak out, devastated by the twin looks of anger and shame he saw.


"Can you?" Uncle Jesse demanded.


"If you'll let me," Bo replied.


Standing up Luke gave up the rocker to his uncle and moved to sit beside Bo on the couch. With Daisy perched on the arm of the rocker beside him, Jesse gave Bo a look that clearly said: explain.


"Uncle Jesse do you remember my friend Chris Taylor, from high school?" Bo asked, after a moment.


"Yeah, he moved away soon after graduation didn't he?" Jesse replied.


"Yes sir he did, what you didn't know was why he moved away. You see a few months before graduation, Chris' parents threw him out because they found out he's gay. I helped out, let him stay at one of your unused still sites, took him food when I could, that kind of thing. After he moved we stayed in touch and yesterday he called me. He had met somebody, a man he fell in love with and he wanted me to meet him. That's why I went to Cedar City last night."


"So the rumors are true?" Daisy asked, her voice thick with anger.


"No, at least not exactly," Bo replied.


"What rumors? What are y'all talking about?" Luke asked, confused by the anger he saw from Jesse and Daisy.


"It you'll let me go on I'll tell ya," Bo answered. At nods from his family, Bo continued. "They wanted to meet at a place called Our House, it's a gay bar. I didn't mind, couldn't really blame them for wanting to meet where they could be themselves. We talked for a while, had a few beers and then I left because I knew I'd have to get up early for chores. I was on my way to the truck when it happened...there's an alley beside the bar and when I went past it somebody grabbed me. I tried to fight them Uncle Jesse but there were too many and they were too big."


"Them?" Jesse whispered, beginning to get an idea where this story was going.


"Five of them, and they were all big men," Bo replied. "They thought I was gay, guess they saw me leaving the bar. I tried to tell them they were wrong, but they wouldn't let me, just started hitting me. Like I said, I tried to fight, but there were just too many. Next thing I know, I'm on the ground curled up in a ball and they're kicking and hitting me. All the time that they were beating on me, they kept calling me a faggot and other stuff, nastier names. Finally they stopped and left, at least I thought they'd left," Bo shuddered, stopping to take a deep breath before going on. "I started to pull myself up when one of them came back, he said that he had a problem. He wanted me to...oh God," Bo sobbed, burying his face in his hands and refusing to look at his family.


"Bo? What did he do?" Luke asked, placing a hand on his cousin's shoulder.


"He forced me to, he had a gun there was nothing else I could do. I swear to y'all, I never wanted to, but he held that gun to my head and said if I didn't he'd kill me. Please you have to believe me," Bo cried out.


"Bo, are you saying that he ra...raped you?" Jesse managed to ask, angry now at the man who had hurt his nephew.


"No, he just made me use my mouth on...put his, um," Bo hesitated, suddenly realizing that Daisy was in the room.


"It's alright Bo, we get the idea," Luke told him. Drawing the younger man in for a hug, Luke wanted to hit somebody when he felt Bo flinch slightly before relaxing against him. "What does Bobby Jensen have to do with this?" Luke asked, remembering what Cindy had said.


"I don't know Luke, guess he must've seen me and that one man," Bo replied. "Uncle Jesse, I'm sorry I never meant to make you ashamed. If you want me to leave I will," Bo offered, not sure where he'd go if Jesse threw him out.


"Leave? Bo, of course I don't want you to leave and for the record I ain't ashamed of you. You're the victim son, I just hope you can forgive me for wondering if the rumors were true," Jesse told him.


"Me too," Daisy offered from beside their uncle.


"Sure I forgive ya, ain't nothing to forgive anyway. It ain't like you knew they were lies," Bo excused them.


"No we didn't, but we know you and we should've known better. Even if ya are gay, ya wouldn't do anything like that in public and we should've known that. Guess it was just the shock of it, kind of caught us off guard," Jesse explained.


"I ain't gay Uncle Jesse, just cause I got a gay friend doesn't mean I am," Bo snapped. A second later, his momentary anger gone, he sagged back against the couch feeling defeated and lost.


"Oh, well that's good," Jesse said, not hiding the relief he felt.


"So if I was gay would that be a problem?" Bo asked, not sure he wanted to know, but somehow needing the answer.


"No, but I ain't gonna lie and say I'd be thrilled to hear it. Bo, son I just wouldn't want to see you get hurt..."


"You mean like last night?"


"That's exactly what I mean sprout, being gay in the south isn't an easy life and I'd hate to see you dealing with it. I wouldn't understand it, and I probably wouldn't be real comfortable, but I'd never turn my back on ya and would always love you." Jesse told him, moving to the couch and pulling him up for a quick hug.


The sound of shattering glass had them all dropping to the floor as a large rock came hurtling through the window. "We don't want no faggots in Hazzard!" The sound of shouts and whistles came in through the broken glass, as a pick-up full of good ol' boys tore out of the yard. Running outside, Luke grabbed his bow and arrow from the General, but he was too late.


Picking up the stone as he climbed to his feet, Bo shakily removed the paper from around it.


"What is it Bo?" Luke asked, coming back inside and seeing his cousin's white face as he stared at a piece of paper in his hand. When Bo didn't answer, Luke stepped to his side and gently took the paper from his hand.


"What's it say Luke?" Jesse asked.


"The only good faggot is a dead faggot. Leave Hazzard Now!" Luke read from the paper he held. "Cowards," Luke snarled angrily. " Don't you worry Bo, we'll get this straightened out."


"Will we Luke? How are we gonna do that? Even I ain't dumb enough to think anybody's going to believe me," Bo snapped. "I should've let him kill me," he mumbled, sure his life was over.


"You're right Bo, they won't all believe you, but most of them will," Luke replied, not hearing the last remark. "So what are you going to do? Will you just give up and let a bunch of bigoted idiots run you out of your home?"


"I don't know what to do Luke, I only know that I feel like my life ended last night in that alley," Bo replied. Hunching his shoulders, he walked defeatedly towards his bedroom, leaving behind three very worried people.


TBC


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