07-10-2025, 12:57 PM
Place: Klausdorf (a small village near Zurich, Switzerland)
Martin, 16y
From afar, I saw the facade of the building all too familiar to me, where I had spent so much time and was happy to be there again at last. For 5 weeks I had not been there now, and unlike many others, I really missed it. Although... it didn't look very inviting: an ugly yellow plaster that was slowly crumbling away and wasn't exactly in top condition either... but still: I was always glad when the vacations were finally over. I usually just spent them watching TV or reading to kill time until school started, or maybe going for a long walk at night... It was always so nice and quiet and you didn't meet anyone. Anyway, that was the case since Simon, my best friend, had moved away. As a result, I didn't have any friends with whom I could do anything. And what was there to do in this backwater anyway? About 170 inhabitants, an inn and a small village shop (which, by the way, belongs to my dad), that's all there was anyway.
Well, I don't have to worry about that anymore, because the holidays are finally over and at least I have something to do. You probably already guessed it: at school I was quite a nerd, which didn't exactly make me popular... at least they mostly left me alone, unlike before. Still, it wasn't nice to be alone because of that, but I just didn't want to stay stuck in this backwater forever and take over the village store, as my father wished.
By the way, I live alone with my father at the moment. My mother is in America for a year, but she should be back in about a month. I'm glad she'll be back soon because she's the exact opposite of my father. He wouldn't let himself be lured out of his village for the world. “He just leaves me here to do the work and travels around the world. One of these days she'll realize how much nicer and quieter it is here,” he said when she left. He was right about the calm, but what is supposed to be nice about calm? Every now and then it's nice, but I would much prefer a life in the big city where something is going on every night. I'm going to die of boredom here!
Just as I arrived at school, the bell rang and I had to hurry to get to class. And once again, I was the only one sitting at the front. Mr. Roth, our class teacher, sent the laziest, and that meant the back row, to the front as a punishment at the beginning of the lesson.
Just as he was about to start the lesson, there was a knock at the door and, without waiting for an answer, the head teacher of our school burst in. “Excuse me,” he said, looking first at us and then at Roth. “Mr. Roth, we have a new student. I'm sorry that I'm only telling you this now, but I only just returned from vacation today.” And then he turned back to us: ‘Well children...’ he began and took a step aside and let a blond, rather small boy in. ”This is Ron, his family just moved here and he will be going to your class from now on... Well, I've still got work to do.” and luckily he had disappeared again with a brief nod to Roth, I had never liked him, especially since I had a lesson with him once. His son was in the same class back then... I think you can imagine who was always the best in the class even though he never really participated and was never to blame when something happened...
“What's your name again?” Mr. Roth asked the boy. ‘Ron.’ ‘And where do you come from?’ ”A week ago, I still lived in Zurich with my parents.” “Aha, please sit down on the free seat next to Martin.” Did that have to be? Did Roth absolutely have to point to the empty seat next to me? I had always been glad that I had the seat to myself, then I could spread my stuff across the whole surface of the desk. But what could I do about it? Exactly! Nothing!
Ron
It was exactly as I had imagined it: a quiet, remote village where everything always stays the same and isn't constantly changing like in Zurich. And exactly as I had imagined it: I liked it just as little as I liked the stupid village idiots who grinned at me from all sides. At least one of them wasn't grinning, but he didn't even look at me. Only when he was hit from behind with a paper airplane did he raise his head and I could see his face. “Cute...” crossed my mind at the first glance... Then I saw the teacher approaching me out of the corner of my eye and quickly composed myself, you never knew what they could read from your eyes.
“I have selected the textbooks you will need today. The math book is an older edition, but I think it will suffice for today.“ ‘Thank you, Mr... Roth.’ I replied a bit absentmindedly. My thoughts were elsewhere. ‘You’re hardly here before you're hanging around with the boys again.” I said quietly to myself. “What did you say?” asked the boy next to me. “Er... Nothing, nothing at all. By the way, hi, I'm Ron.” I hoped he wouldn't notice how red I had become. ‘Martin.’ He replied a bit grumpily. He didn't seem to be in the best of moods...
“If you're done chatting, can we get started?” the teacher asked annoyed and everyone suddenly fell silent, which he took as yes. Apparently it was better not to mess with him, as it seemed. ”All right, we'll start a new topic today: percentage calculations.”
Luckily, I didn't have to pay much attention during the lesson; I had already covered the topic at the old school. I watched the class curiously and, unfortunately, my first impression was confirmed. Sorry if I offend anyone, but they were real village idiots. Only Martin seemed to make a different impression on me...
But now I want to introduce myself: I'm Ron, 17 years old and as you've probably already noticed: I'm gay! I haven't really come out yet (except to my parents), and I'm not planning to until I have a boyfriend, but how am I supposed to find someone in such a small town when I couldn't find anyone in Zurich? Probably not at all.
As soon as possible I will leave here again, my father might like it here, but I don't. And my mother didn't seem too happy about me moving away from Zurich either.
At that moment the bell rang and everyone ran out. I also wanted to leave, but at the door I saw that Martin was staying behind. “Aren't you going on a break?” I asked. “No,” I got as an answer, and from the undertone, his mood hadn't improved. “Have I done something to offend you? You could be a little more friendly,” I tried it in a direct way. He remained silent and I really didn't feel like it anymore and wanted to leave. “Sorry, you're right,” he held me back. It sounded pretty hard for him.
“Finally you're talking to me and I've already given up. You were the only one here who doesn't seem to be one of those village idiots.” He looked at me, scrutinizing. ‘Has it struck your tongue?’ I grinned at him. He still didn't say anything, so I had to come up with something to talk about. “You don't seem to be very popular around here, do you?” “No, I don't really have any friends here,” he replied curtly. “That's good, because I don't either. Will you come to my place today?” I said, smiling and holding out my hand.
Martin
“Okay, why not?“ I replied after a while and squeezed his hand.
“So? What's it like in Zurich? Certainly not as sleepy as here, is it?” I asked when we were outside. “No, definitely not.” And it certainly wasn't. “You really do waste away here... Anyway, as soon as school's over, I'm going to get out of here.” He suddenly stopped. “Is something wrong?” Had I done something wrong? “Just a thought,” he said, and since he didn't want to tell me, we just walked on until he stopped again after a while. “Hey Martin, would you maybe like to come with me to Zurich for the weekend? My mom and dad still have a few things to do there, and I'll go too. We'll stay until Monday.” - “Well... I don't know... My dad would say no anyway.” I replied uncertainly, the whole thing was a bit sudden... but somehow it was tempting. Maybe then I would see Simon again, who used to be my best friend but moved to Zurich. ‘Oh come on... Monday and Tuesday are school holidays, aren't they? Isn't that when the teachers are on a training course?’ ”Yes, they are. Still: maybe next time, my dad will probably say no anyway.” Not just probably, but definitely... I added mentally. “It's a shame... we're going again next week, so you can come with us then.” He seemed strangely disappointed. “Maybe...” I answered, muttering to myself. “Are you coming back to my place a little?” That sounded better. “Okay, but I have to be there by 9:00.” “That's fine, what do we have in the next hour, anyway? German, right?” I think we'll skip the rest of the lesson now; I doubt you're interested in how Mr. Roth ranted about the new spelling rules.
So, we'll resume history with the last ringing of the bell. I quickly packed up my stuff and went outside with Ron. One of our classmates shouted, “Have fun, nerds!” behind us, and Ron had already made himself unpopular... I never would have thought that someone would break my speed record in it.
“Where do you live?” I asked him after a while. ‘We moved into the village square, just above the village shop.’ Ron replied. ‘That's a coincidence! My dad owns the shop and we live there too. So you moved in right above our apartment, we live on the first floor.’ - ‘Well then you can come over anytime.’ - ”I will do that.” Ron was the first boy since Simon who seemed really nice to me, quite unlike the others here in the village.
“Oh, it's you.” I heard a voice as we arrived at the staircase; the voice seemed to come from the second floor. ‘Well, come on in, we haven't seen each other in forever.’ ‘Dad! Wait for us!’ Ron called up to the second floor. When we arrived at the top, Ron's father greeted us. “Hello Ron, how was the first day of school?” “Boring.” Ron replied curtly. “Well, I can understand that, it's just different here...” his father grinned at him. “Who did you bring with you? Have you already made friends with someone?” - “I have. Dad, this is Martin. Martin, this is my Dad, but you can also call him Tom.” He turned back to his Dad and was about to say something, but was immediately interrupted by a voice that was all too familiar to me. ‘Martin? Is that you?’ and with that, my Dad came out from behind the door frame. Tom and my Dad seemed to be old friends, which could only turn out well for me. ”Hi Dad, you must be...” “Well, what a coincidence! That my son and yours are becoming friends...” Tom interrupted me. ”It's a strange coincidence, because you both should know that we were best friends when we were your age. Well, at least until I had to move to Zurich, I'm really happy to be back here at last... Come in.” Thereupon my dad and Tom went in. ‘Come on, I'll show you my room,’ said Ron, pulling me into the apartment as well.
Ron
I pulled Martin's arm and led him to my room. ‘So this is my new realm.’ After a while Martin said, almost a little disappointed: ‘I would have expected it to be different.’ ”Hmm... probably all a bit more modern, right? Sorry, it was already furnished like the rest of the apartment. Mom and Dad will leave everything as it is, but not my room. At the weekend, we'll get my furniture from the old apartment and then the rest will be on the bulky waste list.” - ”Aha, I'm curious to see what it will look like. I'll quickly go and ask my dad if I can come with you at the weekend after all. Since he knows your dad, he'll allow it,”
Martin.
And I was right, he agreed. He was probably quite happy to get rid of me for a weekend, at least that's how it seemed. But I didn't care why he let me go, I didn't really like my dad much anyway. My mom had already messed up with him for the second time... Man... I'd be glad when she was back.
“He allowed me to. I should just come back on Monday evening at the latest,” I said when I came back to Ron's room. ‘Great! I can show you around the city a bit if you want and our apartment there is really great! I don't understand why my dad wanted to leave, and I think my mom feels the same way.’ ”Of course I'd like to see the city, and if I'm ever going to get out of this backwater, I can't miss out on something like this.”
Ron
I liked Martin more and more every minute, and slowly I started to feel a tingling sensation. I think I've got a little crush on him... Forget it! I thought at the same moment. There's a maximum 1:10 chance that he's gay too, and even if he was, how would I know that he felt the same way? But I couldn't do anything about it... Feelings were never really controllable. “What's up? What are you thinking?” Martin pulled me out of my thoughts. “Nothing.” I said evasively, which luckily satisfied Martin. “Hey, you've got a PC, do you have games on it too?” “Do you want to try?” “Sure.” I turned on the PC and soon we were both absorbed in the game.
A short time later, or so it seemed to me, my dad and Martin's dad came into my room. “Well, two hours on that thing is enough now. And Martin should go home anyway.” “Okay, just let him finish the level quickly,” I replied.
A short time later, this time it really was the case, Martin and his dad left and I went straight to bed. The whole time until I fell asleep, only one thought was buzzing around in my head...
Martin,
man, that was great! I finally seemed to have found a friend here again, and he wasn't one of those other blockheads from school. I wished it was Friday after school already, then I would finally get out of here. A weekend in Zurich was something very special for me, I don't think anyone who hasn't lived in some backwater for 17 years can imagine that. “Finally you've found a friend, then you won't be hanging around here at home and getting on my nerves as often. So, now march off to bed.” My father said, but he didn't have to tell me that anymore, because I was dog-tired. I undressed and lay down naked in bed. Since my sister no longer lived here, she hadn't done so for 5 years, I always slept like that. Even if that occasionally led to quite a few embarrassments...
-
Saturday morning:
“Hey! Wake up, lazybones!” my Dad was standing at the bed and pulled the blanket away from me. ‘Let me!’ I grumbled and grabbed the blanket again. ‘All right...’ he said, turned and headed for the door. ‘But Tom and Ron will be disappointed if you don't come.’ he added before he left the door open... As a result, I saw Ron and Tom standing in front of the door. Ron looked at me with a slight grin on his face (I was naked, after all...), Tom didn't even look into the room...
Shit, I thought and immediately retreated to the closet where Ron couldn't see me anymore. I had also completely forgotten that it was already Friday. I quickly looked at the alarm clock... Shit! I thought, it was already a quarter to twelve, and I had arranged to meet them at half past eleven...
I quickly jumped out of bed, rushed to the bathroom and got into the shower. A moment later, however, I was out again with a jump and a yell. “Sorry...” my father, who was standing outside the door, called to me with an ironic undertone: “Forgot to tell you that the hot water is used up, I'm sorry.”
Well, I just took an ice-cold shower, so at least I woke up. “He should be done in a minute. So you're staying until Monday?” I heard as I got out of the shower and dried myself, shivering from the cold. “Yes, we still have to show the apartment to two prospective tenants on Monday.” I heard Tom's voice while I was getting dressed, and shortly afterwards I was ready. “We're ready to go, bye Dad,” I said to him as I passed, and I was out the door already. He closed the door without saying anything.
Tom went ahead to drive the car up, “Your dad doesn't seem to like you very much, does he?” Tom asked. “Yes, but it's mutual. You see... he wanted – actually he still wants – me to take over the shop, but I just don't want to, I want to get out of this backwater when I'm old enough.” “I understand that, and it's the same with your dad. But he's a really nice guy if you let him.” Our driver was already pulling up... Tom had hired him because he couldn't drive himself at the moment because his arm was recovering from a sprain and was still in a splint. But how could they afford something like a chauffeur and at the same time live in such a shitty... normal middle-class apartment?
“Ron, what's up?” I asked him... he was still standing outside while I had already gotten in. ‘Jump in, Ron, your mom's probably done work and is waiting.’ Tom interrupted him as he was about to answer and so he got in silently.
Ron
In the meantime, I was showing Martin Zurich. The slogan “A Little Big City”, used to promote tourism, was really a good fit for Zurich. Compared to other cities outside of Switzerland, Zurich was not that big, but you could still find everything you would expect in a much larger city. And for gay people, there was plenty going on.
Speaking of which, Martin still didn't know, I think you know what I mean. I would have liked to have told him right away, but I thought it was better to wait. But somehow it was a stupid feeling to have such a secret from him, because in the short time I knew him, he had become my best friend I had, who would have forgotten me soon anyway here in Zurich (they weren't really friends either... when I was feeling down, they were gone)
Well, but now back to our city tour, I had just shown him the Grosmünster (or was it the Kleinmünster?) and now we were sitting together in, no, in front of the “Grand Café” directly on the Limmat where a ship (actually more of a larger boat) of the Limmat Shipping Company was passing through. A group of Japanese waved at us and suddenly one of them fell into the water. With the hectic Japanese that we then heard, Martin and I couldn't help but laugh, and many others felt the same way.
You could already see a crowd of onlookers forming, the tourist kept trying to get on board and even pulled someone else into the water in one attempt. “Come on, let's go, there are nicer things than this crowd,” I say to Martin, he nods and after we had paid we went towards Bellevue and thus also towards the lake. Suddenly I heard a voice that sounded familiar, “Hey Ron! Wait a minute!” OOOH NO! Does it really have to be like this? I thought and turned around. Unfortunately it was exactly as I had suspected, one of my best (fake) friends from Zurich was standing in front of the ‘Cranberry’ and now walking towards me.
“I thought you moved away the week before last? ... Must have been homesick? And who is that there next to you? Your new one?“ ‘Can't you pay attention?!’ I would have liked to have shouted in his face, but I tried to save what could still be saved.
“Yes, he's a new friend of mine.” I emphasized that, maybe the blockhead would then realize... “I'm really happy for you that you've finally found one.” Oh man... didn't he realize anything? “Sorry, we don't have time, but give me a call, you have my number,” I quickly said to get rid of him and wanted to quickly move on. ‘Why don't you come to Cranberry with him, I'll buy you a drink.’ he called after us. ‘No, I don't have time now,’ I shouted back and ran away, glad to get rid of him. ”Okay, I'll call you tomorrow,” I heard him call from afar and when I looked back I luckily didn't see him anymore.
Explanation: The Cranberry is a gay bar and now you probably understand why I had to get rid of him.
Fortunately, after walking for a while, the tension had gone. After a while of silence, Ron suddenly said: “So you're embarrassed to be seen with me by your old friends? Well then go to them, I'll find my way to your apartment alone!” whereupon he also ran off and I was a bit taken aback for the time being. Fortunately, I soon recovered. Unfortunately too late: Martin is no longer to be seen. ‘Shit!’ He would certainly not find his way, a country boy can't find his way around in a big city.
But where should I look for him? He was down the lake, so he must still be by the lake. Soon after, I found him sitting on the lakeshore and sat down next to him. “Hey Martin...” “Get lost!” he interrupted me brusquely. “You don't like me at all, you're even ashamed of me.” - “No, I don't, Martin.” “Then what is the reason?” With this sentence he finally looked at me and even had tears in his face. It hurt me, but I just couldn't tell him, I was afraid that he wouldn't like me anymore. ”Martin, I can't tell you, as much as I would like to.” - “Oh, so you just can't think of the right excuse.” I didn't know what to say anymore, I wrestled with myself inside to tell him after all, I wanted to do it, but I was afraid that... “Oh, forget it!” he said, stood up and wanted to walk away. I grabbed him by the arm. “Wait!” I took all my courage together and...
Martin
WHAT!? What had he just said? That Cranberry was a gay bar? That means yes he... it occurred to me and I looked into his eyes in horror. I saw that he was really serious, but I couldn't quite believe it and asked again for the second time, although the answer was already clear. “Yes, believe it already.” - “No, that's not true! You can't... not...» I faltered. «be gay? Yes, I am.» He finished my sentence. This couldn't be true... I turned around, I just couldn't look Ron in the face anymore.
«Martin...» he said and put his hand on my shoulder. I pulled away «Leave me alone.» I shouted at him and ran away. I just couldn't think straight anymore and just ran, further and further down the lake... past women with strollers, a picnic meadow and grandpas feeding swans, I was met with astonished looks from all around. I kept running, and by now I was even on the other side of the lake. But suddenly I was rudely stopped when I ran into a man. “Hey! Watch where you're going!” he said angrily.
-
Just as I was about to get up again, someone grabbed me and helped me up. ‘Hi Martin, what are you doing here in Zurich?’ I looked at the person in puzzlement. He was about 35 and tall. I couldn't see much more because he had his back to the sun. “Do you know him?” asked the person I had run into and who was now standing next to us. ‘Yes, he's Julia's son.’ The other man thought for a moment. ‘Of Julia?’ Meanwhile, I saw who he was... ”Yes, Julia. She was there when we met, so maybe you know her now?”
That was Daniel, who had been the best friend of Julia, my mother, for a long time. At that time he still lived with us in the village. “Oh yes, now I know who you mean. And so that's... er Martin, am I right?” the man turned to me. “Sorry that I ran into you.” I apologized. “It's all right... and call me Marco.” he replied. “What are you doing here? Is your mom here too?” Daniel asked. ‘No, my mom's not here, I'm here with the parents of a friend.’ I must have pronounced ‘friend’ rather contemptuously, because Daniel immediately asked if we had had a fight.
“Hey you two, I'm going out, I still have to go get something. I'll see you later,” Marco said and disappeared pretty quickly. ‘Come on, let's sit on that bench over there and you can tell me everything,’ Daniel said.
-
After I had told him everything, Daniel looked at me with a look I couldn't interpret. “Martin, I know that you've probably heard something different everywhere. But since when do you believe in what they're saying up there in your village? They're people too, I'm sure your mother would have thought the same way.” ‘Do you really believe that?’ I wasn't so convinced. ‘Yes.’ There was a short pause, and then he said, ‘Martin... Marco is my boyfriend.’ ‘What do you mean?’ I asked incredulously. “You mean you're...?” I said after a short pause. ‘Yes, we're gay.’ ‘Did... did my mom know that?’ - ‘Yes, she did, she even introduced me to Marco.’ - ‘And that's really true?’ Like a naive child, I asked the same question again. ”Yes, that's just the way it is. Does that make me a different person to you?” No... he was still Daniel, but I suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, the whole thing was a little hard to digest. But if my mother didn't mind... “No... no.” I replied, swallowing. “You see? And it's just as unlikely...” “Is that him over there?” I turned and looked in the direction he was pointing.
Ron
I continued walking along the lake but I couldn't find Martin anywhere. There would be a big fuss at home if they knew I had lost him... but even worse was that the only new friend I had found might never talk to me again. And if that would come out up there in the village... I didn't even want to think about it.
“Ron! Over here.” someone said, bringing me back from my thoughts. I had completely overlooked him while I was lost in my thoughts... He was sitting on the meadow by the lake. ‘Man, I'm glad I found you again.’ – ‘Ron, I didn't mean to...’ – ”It's okay.” Only now did I notice the man standing next to Ron. “Who are you?” “This is Daniel, he's a good friend of my mother's...” Martin explained. “And he ran over my friend.” Daniel continued. “Friend? In what way?” Somehow I sensed it... from the way he said it... “In the same way you would have one.” Daniel replied. “Okay, so have you calmed down Martin? You really don't have to be afraid of me, I won't attack you.” ‘You won't? I will.’ Martin grinned, pounced on me and tickled me. I was paralyzed, I was completely surprised by how quickly Martin's mood had changed... ‘What's the matter? Did I do something wrong?’ Martin looked at me questioningly as I pushed him away. “No, I'm just a little surprised at how quickly you...” I turned to Daniel, still lying on the ground, ‘What did you tell him?’ ‘I just had to tell him about his mother, he always pricks up his ears when he hears that. You know, he admires his mother very much, and if she approves of something, he'll do it anyway.’ Martin blushed, but he nodded. He must be very impressed by his mother if she can make him change his mind so quickly. “Where is your mother? I'd like to meet her,” I asked him, since I only knew his father. “Unfortunately, you won't be able to meet her for another three weeks, because that's when she'll finally be back from America.” – “How long has she been gone?” Daniel asked in between. “A year... Um, Daniel... I have a favor to ask you.“ Martin seemed to have just had a thought. ‘What is it?’ ‘Could you pick up my mom at the airport on Friday at noon three weeks from now? My dad ’can't'.” - “Of course! I wouldn't miss this chance, I haven't seen her in so long and I'll pick you up quickly beforehand.” - “But at my place, okay Martin?” I interrupted. “So I can come to your place in Zurich again?” – ‘Yes, we won't be vacating the apartment for at least a month.’ – ‘That's great.’ Martin was as happy as a child, which I found kind of cute. ‘Thanks, Daniel, thanks, Ron.’ He bowed to us for fun. ‘You're welcome.’ – ‘You're not normal after all, you're way too nice for that.’ Martin grinned at us. “Those who think that people like you don't belong are just stupid.” I could have told him that until recently he was one of them, but I didn't.
Well, now he knew. And after initial difficulties, he had taken it well. Unfortunately, he was straight. I always seemed to fall in love with the wrong guys, always with straights.
But there were worse things, so we leave the subject now. A good friend is ultimately worth something, and I believe that Martin was definitely that.
Martin
It's funny, right after I found out from Ron that he was gay, I just hated him. Why exactly I can't explain to myself either... or rather why I listened to the crap that I was constantly being fed in the village.
“Hey you two, do you want to come now?” I heard Daniel say. What did he mean? ‘What?’ asked Ron, who apparently hadn't been there either. ‘Sorry, I wasn't listening to you. What did you ask?’ – ‘Well, if you want to come quickly, our apartment isn't far away,’ he invited us. ‘Okay with me,’ I replied, and Ron didn't mind either.
We walked about 100 meters and then went into a not exactly new-looking house. But when we arrived at the apartment, we were very surprised. “Me and Marco renovated it before we moved in here, before that it looked pretty shabby.” “Hi, Danny darling,” Marco said as he met us and gave Daniel a passionate kiss. Contrary to my expectations, it didn't look ‘gross’ (Swiss German for ‘disgusting’) at all, just a little strange.
“Hey you two, are you thirsty? We only have coke, iced tea or mineral water.” Daniel asked, but before we could say anything, Marco started talking and we didn't get a chance to say anything for a long time. I think he could talk for hours on end.
-
“So you're Martin and you... hmm... I don't think I know you yet.” He pointed at Ron and seemed to finally calm down. “That's clear, he only joined us after you left, his name is Ron and he's a friend of Martin.” And - I must have been mistaken - Marco was already blabbering away. The guy was starting to get on my nerves and I found him more and more unappealing; he seemed so fake, like someone without talent was playing a role in a theater. We're going to watch a little TV, okay?” I tried to get us away from him. ‘Yeah, go ahead, we'll go to the kitchen and cook something, the remote is in the right drawer of the cabinet.’ Daniel said, pointing to a passageway hung with pearl curtains... rather strange such a curtain where everything else was rather modern...
I turned on the TV and Ron pulled on the drawer, but it didn't open. He pulled a little harder and... then I realized why it didn't open, it was the wrong one. “Hey! He said the right one, that's the left one!” tried to stop him, but unfortunately too late, because the lock flew out and the drawer clattered to the floor. Luckily, no one had heard it.
Ron
I picked up the things that were scattered everywhere and froze when I saw the photos lying there. “Quickly, I threw everything down. I grabbed Martin by the arm and whispered, ”Be quiet, just be quiet! We have to get out of here.” He didn't seem to understand what was going on, but he followed me as we crept silently along the wall to the front door. I pushed down the handle and slowly began to open the door, unfortunately it squeaked quite loudly. ‘Did you hear something?’ I heard Daniel's voice from the kitchen. “No, it was probably just the TV in the living room,” Marco replied. Martin snuck out, and I followed as quickly as I could through the narrow gap. The last thing I heard was Daniel: ”I'll still go see how the two of them are doing.”
“Shit!” I swore softly. ‘Let's get out of here!’ We ran down the stairs and out into the street. A few meters further on, we were lucky that a policeman was in the process of writing down parking offenders. ‘Please, could you notify your colleagues?’ I said hastily to him. ‘Why?’
-
I told him the whole story to the end. “So you've seen photos that prove that the two are child molesters?” the policeman asked incredulously. “Only one of them was on it, we don't know about the other one, and only I saw them.” During the whole thing, the memory of what was on the perverse pictures came back to me and it shook me at the thought of what the two could have done to us... “And now come on! Before the two of them run away or destroy any evidence.”
After some hesitation, the man called for backup. ‘They'll be at the address you gave me in a moment. Please come with me, you have to identify them.’ Just then, Daniel came running around the corner and almost crashed into us. ”I finally found you...” He didn't get to finish the sentence because the policeman thought Daniel was going to attack us. He threw him to the ground with a skillful move, twisted his arms behind his back and handcuffed him.
“I didn't do anything,” said Daniel, lying on the ground. ”Maybe not, but what do you know about the photos they say you have in your apartment?” “I didn't know about them until today. My roommate always kept that drawer locked.” ‘What exactly happened?’ ”I thought I heard something and wanted to check on Martin and his friend, who we had invited over. When I looked into the living room, they weren't there anymore. Only the drawer and these photos were on the floor. I was shocked when I saw them, immediately took my key, went out and locked the apartment, so Marco should still be there.” - ‘Well, you'll be able to tell the story again at the station, that's where the actual interrogation will take place. Then we'll check whether you're telling the truth.’ He held Daniel's arm and led him back to the house where he put him in a police car that was already waiting there. Two policemen were just going up to the apartment.” We asked if we could come with them, but we were told that it was too dangerous.
But everything went as smoothly as it looked, and the police officers soon came down with Marco, ‘Asshole! You'll regret this,’ he shouted in my face and spat at me. I wiped my face with my handkerchief.
“I'll drive you home, okay? I've parked my private car just around the corner,” said the policeman who had overpowered Daniel. We gratefully accepted, because today we only wanted one thing: to go home.
-
“I'll quickly go to the bathroom to shower, brush my teeth and so on, Ron.” Martin said and disappeared into the bathroom. ‘You should also go to bed, Ron, we can talk about it tomorrow,’ my father said and wished me a good night. I went to bed right away, the day had also taken its toll on me.
-
Man oh man! Today you've really got yourself into a mess. I said quietly to myself. I'd really had enough, first with Martin, and then with Daniel and Marco, although both had ended well for me, but I really had enough for today. Why was life sometimes so difficult?
Exhausted, I lay down in bed but couldn't sleep. Something inside me tightened, I kept thinking about Martin and even cried a little. Why did I always fall in love with the wrong ones? At that moment, Martin came in and I pretended to be asleep so he wouldn't hear from the sound of my voice how I was doing. I lay awake for a long time and heard Martin breathing rhythmically after a short time... so he was already asleep. After tossing and turning for a long time, I also fell asleep...
until I suddenly woke up. “NO!!! Leave me alone, I don't want that,” Martin screamed over and over again as I looked at him. I got up and went to him. “Hey! Wake up!” I called to him. “NO! Get lost Ron! I don't want that!” There was no other way, I slapped Martin a few times, which probably hurt me more than him.
Finally he woke up and looked at me with fear and hatred. “You just had a nightmare, it's all over,” I said and ran my hand through his hair comfortingly, whereupon he shrank back even more fearfully. “What were you dreaming about? If you want, you can tell me, or if you need anything else.” “No, it's okay...” he replied, but I still sensed that something was wrong. ‘I'm going to go back to bed now, but you can wake me up anytime if you need me, I don't need much sleep anyway,’ I said, and then went back to my bed. ”Okay, thanks. I'll try to get some sleep again too.”
Martin
But I couldn't sleep for a long time, because I still knew exactly what I had dreamt and the images kept going through my mind. I felt the hatred growing again inside me towards Ron because he was gay. I kept telling myself that it was nonsense to hold Ron responsible for what Marco and Daniel had done, but I couldn't quite get rid of the image of the dream... Ron's hateful face still haunted me, but I kept telling myself that he would never do such a thing. I lay awake for a long time, turning over and over in my mind, but only going around in circles... Fortunately, I eventually fell asleep again.
-
The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful, Zurich had lost its appeal for me if people like Marco and Daniel lived here... who unfortunately somehow managed to escape... then I'd rather stay in our backwater and take over my dad's shop.
Meanwhile, we were on the way back and just arrived in the village. By the way, Tom's wife wasn't with us, she had gone home earlier to meet an old girlfriend... soon I would know who she was.
During the whole trip, the mood was at rock bottom. I would have been surprised if anyone was in a good mood after such a weekend.
“See you tomorrow,” Ron said as I unlocked the door to our apartment on the first floor. I didn't answer, I couldn't somehow. When I came in, I took my backpack up to my room and went into the living room to watch a little TV. But when I entered, I was shocked: my mother was sitting on the armchair reading some women's magazine. That couldn't be right, she wasn't supposed to come back for another three weeks. Dad was sitting at the other end of the sofa and looked just as angry as my mother, who was almost tearing the pages out when turning them.
“So the police have already reported the incident to you?” ‘Wwwhat? What incident do you mean?’ my mother stuttered. ‘You see, I always told you that your son would amount to nothing, and now the police have caught him. What have you done?’ He stood up and seemed to want to grab me by the ears. “Nothing, I was just there for a witness interview.“ He let go of it again, but looked at me suspiciously. ‘What happened?’ my mother asked. ‘Later, Mom.’ I'd better tell them that later, now they both didn't seem to be in the mood.
“I...” my mother began hesitantly. “I'll take you to Zurich today, everything's already been arranged with school,” my mother said. ‘What?’ ‘You're coming with me to Zurich tonight.’ My mother looked at me as if it were the most normal thing in the world. ‘You're welcome to him, he's a good-for-nothing anyway,’ I heard my dad say, but I didn't give a damn about him now. ”Why do we have to go to Zurich?”
Martin, 16y
From afar, I saw the facade of the building all too familiar to me, where I had spent so much time and was happy to be there again at last. For 5 weeks I had not been there now, and unlike many others, I really missed it. Although... it didn't look very inviting: an ugly yellow plaster that was slowly crumbling away and wasn't exactly in top condition either... but still: I was always glad when the vacations were finally over. I usually just spent them watching TV or reading to kill time until school started, or maybe going for a long walk at night... It was always so nice and quiet and you didn't meet anyone. Anyway, that was the case since Simon, my best friend, had moved away. As a result, I didn't have any friends with whom I could do anything. And what was there to do in this backwater anyway? About 170 inhabitants, an inn and a small village shop (which, by the way, belongs to my dad), that's all there was anyway.
Well, I don't have to worry about that anymore, because the holidays are finally over and at least I have something to do. You probably already guessed it: at school I was quite a nerd, which didn't exactly make me popular... at least they mostly left me alone, unlike before. Still, it wasn't nice to be alone because of that, but I just didn't want to stay stuck in this backwater forever and take over the village store, as my father wished.
By the way, I live alone with my father at the moment. My mother is in America for a year, but she should be back in about a month. I'm glad she'll be back soon because she's the exact opposite of my father. He wouldn't let himself be lured out of his village for the world. “He just leaves me here to do the work and travels around the world. One of these days she'll realize how much nicer and quieter it is here,” he said when she left. He was right about the calm, but what is supposed to be nice about calm? Every now and then it's nice, but I would much prefer a life in the big city where something is going on every night. I'm going to die of boredom here!
Just as I arrived at school, the bell rang and I had to hurry to get to class. And once again, I was the only one sitting at the front. Mr. Roth, our class teacher, sent the laziest, and that meant the back row, to the front as a punishment at the beginning of the lesson.
Just as he was about to start the lesson, there was a knock at the door and, without waiting for an answer, the head teacher of our school burst in. “Excuse me,” he said, looking first at us and then at Roth. “Mr. Roth, we have a new student. I'm sorry that I'm only telling you this now, but I only just returned from vacation today.” And then he turned back to us: ‘Well children...’ he began and took a step aside and let a blond, rather small boy in. ”This is Ron, his family just moved here and he will be going to your class from now on... Well, I've still got work to do.” and luckily he had disappeared again with a brief nod to Roth, I had never liked him, especially since I had a lesson with him once. His son was in the same class back then... I think you can imagine who was always the best in the class even though he never really participated and was never to blame when something happened...
“What's your name again?” Mr. Roth asked the boy. ‘Ron.’ ‘And where do you come from?’ ”A week ago, I still lived in Zurich with my parents.” “Aha, please sit down on the free seat next to Martin.” Did that have to be? Did Roth absolutely have to point to the empty seat next to me? I had always been glad that I had the seat to myself, then I could spread my stuff across the whole surface of the desk. But what could I do about it? Exactly! Nothing!
Ron
It was exactly as I had imagined it: a quiet, remote village where everything always stays the same and isn't constantly changing like in Zurich. And exactly as I had imagined it: I liked it just as little as I liked the stupid village idiots who grinned at me from all sides. At least one of them wasn't grinning, but he didn't even look at me. Only when he was hit from behind with a paper airplane did he raise his head and I could see his face. “Cute...” crossed my mind at the first glance... Then I saw the teacher approaching me out of the corner of my eye and quickly composed myself, you never knew what they could read from your eyes.
“I have selected the textbooks you will need today. The math book is an older edition, but I think it will suffice for today.“ ‘Thank you, Mr... Roth.’ I replied a bit absentmindedly. My thoughts were elsewhere. ‘You’re hardly here before you're hanging around with the boys again.” I said quietly to myself. “What did you say?” asked the boy next to me. “Er... Nothing, nothing at all. By the way, hi, I'm Ron.” I hoped he wouldn't notice how red I had become. ‘Martin.’ He replied a bit grumpily. He didn't seem to be in the best of moods...
“If you're done chatting, can we get started?” the teacher asked annoyed and everyone suddenly fell silent, which he took as yes. Apparently it was better not to mess with him, as it seemed. ”All right, we'll start a new topic today: percentage calculations.”
Luckily, I didn't have to pay much attention during the lesson; I had already covered the topic at the old school. I watched the class curiously and, unfortunately, my first impression was confirmed. Sorry if I offend anyone, but they were real village idiots. Only Martin seemed to make a different impression on me...
But now I want to introduce myself: I'm Ron, 17 years old and as you've probably already noticed: I'm gay! I haven't really come out yet (except to my parents), and I'm not planning to until I have a boyfriend, but how am I supposed to find someone in such a small town when I couldn't find anyone in Zurich? Probably not at all.
As soon as possible I will leave here again, my father might like it here, but I don't. And my mother didn't seem too happy about me moving away from Zurich either.
At that moment the bell rang and everyone ran out. I also wanted to leave, but at the door I saw that Martin was staying behind. “Aren't you going on a break?” I asked. “No,” I got as an answer, and from the undertone, his mood hadn't improved. “Have I done something to offend you? You could be a little more friendly,” I tried it in a direct way. He remained silent and I really didn't feel like it anymore and wanted to leave. “Sorry, you're right,” he held me back. It sounded pretty hard for him.
“Finally you're talking to me and I've already given up. You were the only one here who doesn't seem to be one of those village idiots.” He looked at me, scrutinizing. ‘Has it struck your tongue?’ I grinned at him. He still didn't say anything, so I had to come up with something to talk about. “You don't seem to be very popular around here, do you?” “No, I don't really have any friends here,” he replied curtly. “That's good, because I don't either. Will you come to my place today?” I said, smiling and holding out my hand.
Martin
“Okay, why not?“ I replied after a while and squeezed his hand.
“So? What's it like in Zurich? Certainly not as sleepy as here, is it?” I asked when we were outside. “No, definitely not.” And it certainly wasn't. “You really do waste away here... Anyway, as soon as school's over, I'm going to get out of here.” He suddenly stopped. “Is something wrong?” Had I done something wrong? “Just a thought,” he said, and since he didn't want to tell me, we just walked on until he stopped again after a while. “Hey Martin, would you maybe like to come with me to Zurich for the weekend? My mom and dad still have a few things to do there, and I'll go too. We'll stay until Monday.” - “Well... I don't know... My dad would say no anyway.” I replied uncertainly, the whole thing was a bit sudden... but somehow it was tempting. Maybe then I would see Simon again, who used to be my best friend but moved to Zurich. ‘Oh come on... Monday and Tuesday are school holidays, aren't they? Isn't that when the teachers are on a training course?’ ”Yes, they are. Still: maybe next time, my dad will probably say no anyway.” Not just probably, but definitely... I added mentally. “It's a shame... we're going again next week, so you can come with us then.” He seemed strangely disappointed. “Maybe...” I answered, muttering to myself. “Are you coming back to my place a little?” That sounded better. “Okay, but I have to be there by 9:00.” “That's fine, what do we have in the next hour, anyway? German, right?” I think we'll skip the rest of the lesson now; I doubt you're interested in how Mr. Roth ranted about the new spelling rules.
So, we'll resume history with the last ringing of the bell. I quickly packed up my stuff and went outside with Ron. One of our classmates shouted, “Have fun, nerds!” behind us, and Ron had already made himself unpopular... I never would have thought that someone would break my speed record in it.
“Where do you live?” I asked him after a while. ‘We moved into the village square, just above the village shop.’ Ron replied. ‘That's a coincidence! My dad owns the shop and we live there too. So you moved in right above our apartment, we live on the first floor.’ - ‘Well then you can come over anytime.’ - ”I will do that.” Ron was the first boy since Simon who seemed really nice to me, quite unlike the others here in the village.
“Oh, it's you.” I heard a voice as we arrived at the staircase; the voice seemed to come from the second floor. ‘Well, come on in, we haven't seen each other in forever.’ ‘Dad! Wait for us!’ Ron called up to the second floor. When we arrived at the top, Ron's father greeted us. “Hello Ron, how was the first day of school?” “Boring.” Ron replied curtly. “Well, I can understand that, it's just different here...” his father grinned at him. “Who did you bring with you? Have you already made friends with someone?” - “I have. Dad, this is Martin. Martin, this is my Dad, but you can also call him Tom.” He turned back to his Dad and was about to say something, but was immediately interrupted by a voice that was all too familiar to me. ‘Martin? Is that you?’ and with that, my Dad came out from behind the door frame. Tom and my Dad seemed to be old friends, which could only turn out well for me. ”Hi Dad, you must be...” “Well, what a coincidence! That my son and yours are becoming friends...” Tom interrupted me. ”It's a strange coincidence, because you both should know that we were best friends when we were your age. Well, at least until I had to move to Zurich, I'm really happy to be back here at last... Come in.” Thereupon my dad and Tom went in. ‘Come on, I'll show you my room,’ said Ron, pulling me into the apartment as well.
Ron
I pulled Martin's arm and led him to my room. ‘So this is my new realm.’ After a while Martin said, almost a little disappointed: ‘I would have expected it to be different.’ ”Hmm... probably all a bit more modern, right? Sorry, it was already furnished like the rest of the apartment. Mom and Dad will leave everything as it is, but not my room. At the weekend, we'll get my furniture from the old apartment and then the rest will be on the bulky waste list.” - ”Aha, I'm curious to see what it will look like. I'll quickly go and ask my dad if I can come with you at the weekend after all. Since he knows your dad, he'll allow it,”
Martin.
And I was right, he agreed. He was probably quite happy to get rid of me for a weekend, at least that's how it seemed. But I didn't care why he let me go, I didn't really like my dad much anyway. My mom had already messed up with him for the second time... Man... I'd be glad when she was back.
“He allowed me to. I should just come back on Monday evening at the latest,” I said when I came back to Ron's room. ‘Great! I can show you around the city a bit if you want and our apartment there is really great! I don't understand why my dad wanted to leave, and I think my mom feels the same way.’ ”Of course I'd like to see the city, and if I'm ever going to get out of this backwater, I can't miss out on something like this.”
Ron
I liked Martin more and more every minute, and slowly I started to feel a tingling sensation. I think I've got a little crush on him... Forget it! I thought at the same moment. There's a maximum 1:10 chance that he's gay too, and even if he was, how would I know that he felt the same way? But I couldn't do anything about it... Feelings were never really controllable. “What's up? What are you thinking?” Martin pulled me out of my thoughts. “Nothing.” I said evasively, which luckily satisfied Martin. “Hey, you've got a PC, do you have games on it too?” “Do you want to try?” “Sure.” I turned on the PC and soon we were both absorbed in the game.
A short time later, or so it seemed to me, my dad and Martin's dad came into my room. “Well, two hours on that thing is enough now. And Martin should go home anyway.” “Okay, just let him finish the level quickly,” I replied.
A short time later, this time it really was the case, Martin and his dad left and I went straight to bed. The whole time until I fell asleep, only one thought was buzzing around in my head...
Martin,
man, that was great! I finally seemed to have found a friend here again, and he wasn't one of those other blockheads from school. I wished it was Friday after school already, then I would finally get out of here. A weekend in Zurich was something very special for me, I don't think anyone who hasn't lived in some backwater for 17 years can imagine that. “Finally you've found a friend, then you won't be hanging around here at home and getting on my nerves as often. So, now march off to bed.” My father said, but he didn't have to tell me that anymore, because I was dog-tired. I undressed and lay down naked in bed. Since my sister no longer lived here, she hadn't done so for 5 years, I always slept like that. Even if that occasionally led to quite a few embarrassments...
-
Saturday morning:
“Hey! Wake up, lazybones!” my Dad was standing at the bed and pulled the blanket away from me. ‘Let me!’ I grumbled and grabbed the blanket again. ‘All right...’ he said, turned and headed for the door. ‘But Tom and Ron will be disappointed if you don't come.’ he added before he left the door open... As a result, I saw Ron and Tom standing in front of the door. Ron looked at me with a slight grin on his face (I was naked, after all...), Tom didn't even look into the room...
Shit, I thought and immediately retreated to the closet where Ron couldn't see me anymore. I had also completely forgotten that it was already Friday. I quickly looked at the alarm clock... Shit! I thought, it was already a quarter to twelve, and I had arranged to meet them at half past eleven...
I quickly jumped out of bed, rushed to the bathroom and got into the shower. A moment later, however, I was out again with a jump and a yell. “Sorry...” my father, who was standing outside the door, called to me with an ironic undertone: “Forgot to tell you that the hot water is used up, I'm sorry.”
Well, I just took an ice-cold shower, so at least I woke up. “He should be done in a minute. So you're staying until Monday?” I heard as I got out of the shower and dried myself, shivering from the cold. “Yes, we still have to show the apartment to two prospective tenants on Monday.” I heard Tom's voice while I was getting dressed, and shortly afterwards I was ready. “We're ready to go, bye Dad,” I said to him as I passed, and I was out the door already. He closed the door without saying anything.
Tom went ahead to drive the car up, “Your dad doesn't seem to like you very much, does he?” Tom asked. “Yes, but it's mutual. You see... he wanted – actually he still wants – me to take over the shop, but I just don't want to, I want to get out of this backwater when I'm old enough.” “I understand that, and it's the same with your dad. But he's a really nice guy if you let him.” Our driver was already pulling up... Tom had hired him because he couldn't drive himself at the moment because his arm was recovering from a sprain and was still in a splint. But how could they afford something like a chauffeur and at the same time live in such a shitty... normal middle-class apartment?
“Ron, what's up?” I asked him... he was still standing outside while I had already gotten in. ‘Jump in, Ron, your mom's probably done work and is waiting.’ Tom interrupted him as he was about to answer and so he got in silently.
Ron
In the meantime, I was showing Martin Zurich. The slogan “A Little Big City”, used to promote tourism, was really a good fit for Zurich. Compared to other cities outside of Switzerland, Zurich was not that big, but you could still find everything you would expect in a much larger city. And for gay people, there was plenty going on.
Speaking of which, Martin still didn't know, I think you know what I mean. I would have liked to have told him right away, but I thought it was better to wait. But somehow it was a stupid feeling to have such a secret from him, because in the short time I knew him, he had become my best friend I had, who would have forgotten me soon anyway here in Zurich (they weren't really friends either... when I was feeling down, they were gone)
Well, but now back to our city tour, I had just shown him the Grosmünster (or was it the Kleinmünster?) and now we were sitting together in, no, in front of the “Grand Café” directly on the Limmat where a ship (actually more of a larger boat) of the Limmat Shipping Company was passing through. A group of Japanese waved at us and suddenly one of them fell into the water. With the hectic Japanese that we then heard, Martin and I couldn't help but laugh, and many others felt the same way.
You could already see a crowd of onlookers forming, the tourist kept trying to get on board and even pulled someone else into the water in one attempt. “Come on, let's go, there are nicer things than this crowd,” I say to Martin, he nods and after we had paid we went towards Bellevue and thus also towards the lake. Suddenly I heard a voice that sounded familiar, “Hey Ron! Wait a minute!” OOOH NO! Does it really have to be like this? I thought and turned around. Unfortunately it was exactly as I had suspected, one of my best (fake) friends from Zurich was standing in front of the ‘Cranberry’ and now walking towards me.
“I thought you moved away the week before last? ... Must have been homesick? And who is that there next to you? Your new one?“ ‘Can't you pay attention?!’ I would have liked to have shouted in his face, but I tried to save what could still be saved.
“Yes, he's a new friend of mine.” I emphasized that, maybe the blockhead would then realize... “I'm really happy for you that you've finally found one.” Oh man... didn't he realize anything? “Sorry, we don't have time, but give me a call, you have my number,” I quickly said to get rid of him and wanted to quickly move on. ‘Why don't you come to Cranberry with him, I'll buy you a drink.’ he called after us. ‘No, I don't have time now,’ I shouted back and ran away, glad to get rid of him. ”Okay, I'll call you tomorrow,” I heard him call from afar and when I looked back I luckily didn't see him anymore.
Explanation: The Cranberry is a gay bar and now you probably understand why I had to get rid of him.
Fortunately, after walking for a while, the tension had gone. After a while of silence, Ron suddenly said: “So you're embarrassed to be seen with me by your old friends? Well then go to them, I'll find my way to your apartment alone!” whereupon he also ran off and I was a bit taken aback for the time being. Fortunately, I soon recovered. Unfortunately too late: Martin is no longer to be seen. ‘Shit!’ He would certainly not find his way, a country boy can't find his way around in a big city.
But where should I look for him? He was down the lake, so he must still be by the lake. Soon after, I found him sitting on the lakeshore and sat down next to him. “Hey Martin...” “Get lost!” he interrupted me brusquely. “You don't like me at all, you're even ashamed of me.” - “No, I don't, Martin.” “Then what is the reason?” With this sentence he finally looked at me and even had tears in his face. It hurt me, but I just couldn't tell him, I was afraid that he wouldn't like me anymore. ”Martin, I can't tell you, as much as I would like to.” - “Oh, so you just can't think of the right excuse.” I didn't know what to say anymore, I wrestled with myself inside to tell him after all, I wanted to do it, but I was afraid that... “Oh, forget it!” he said, stood up and wanted to walk away. I grabbed him by the arm. “Wait!” I took all my courage together and...
Martin
WHAT!? What had he just said? That Cranberry was a gay bar? That means yes he... it occurred to me and I looked into his eyes in horror. I saw that he was really serious, but I couldn't quite believe it and asked again for the second time, although the answer was already clear. “Yes, believe it already.” - “No, that's not true! You can't... not...» I faltered. «be gay? Yes, I am.» He finished my sentence. This couldn't be true... I turned around, I just couldn't look Ron in the face anymore.
«Martin...» he said and put his hand on my shoulder. I pulled away «Leave me alone.» I shouted at him and ran away. I just couldn't think straight anymore and just ran, further and further down the lake... past women with strollers, a picnic meadow and grandpas feeding swans, I was met with astonished looks from all around. I kept running, and by now I was even on the other side of the lake. But suddenly I was rudely stopped when I ran into a man. “Hey! Watch where you're going!” he said angrily.
-
Just as I was about to get up again, someone grabbed me and helped me up. ‘Hi Martin, what are you doing here in Zurich?’ I looked at the person in puzzlement. He was about 35 and tall. I couldn't see much more because he had his back to the sun. “Do you know him?” asked the person I had run into and who was now standing next to us. ‘Yes, he's Julia's son.’ The other man thought for a moment. ‘Of Julia?’ Meanwhile, I saw who he was... ”Yes, Julia. She was there when we met, so maybe you know her now?”
That was Daniel, who had been the best friend of Julia, my mother, for a long time. At that time he still lived with us in the village. “Oh yes, now I know who you mean. And so that's... er Martin, am I right?” the man turned to me. “Sorry that I ran into you.” I apologized. “It's all right... and call me Marco.” he replied. “What are you doing here? Is your mom here too?” Daniel asked. ‘No, my mom's not here, I'm here with the parents of a friend.’ I must have pronounced ‘friend’ rather contemptuously, because Daniel immediately asked if we had had a fight.
“Hey you two, I'm going out, I still have to go get something. I'll see you later,” Marco said and disappeared pretty quickly. ‘Come on, let's sit on that bench over there and you can tell me everything,’ Daniel said.
-
After I had told him everything, Daniel looked at me with a look I couldn't interpret. “Martin, I know that you've probably heard something different everywhere. But since when do you believe in what they're saying up there in your village? They're people too, I'm sure your mother would have thought the same way.” ‘Do you really believe that?’ I wasn't so convinced. ‘Yes.’ There was a short pause, and then he said, ‘Martin... Marco is my boyfriend.’ ‘What do you mean?’ I asked incredulously. “You mean you're...?” I said after a short pause. ‘Yes, we're gay.’ ‘Did... did my mom know that?’ - ‘Yes, she did, she even introduced me to Marco.’ - ‘And that's really true?’ Like a naive child, I asked the same question again. ”Yes, that's just the way it is. Does that make me a different person to you?” No... he was still Daniel, but I suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, the whole thing was a little hard to digest. But if my mother didn't mind... “No... no.” I replied, swallowing. “You see? And it's just as unlikely...” “Is that him over there?” I turned and looked in the direction he was pointing.
Ron
I continued walking along the lake but I couldn't find Martin anywhere. There would be a big fuss at home if they knew I had lost him... but even worse was that the only new friend I had found might never talk to me again. And if that would come out up there in the village... I didn't even want to think about it.
“Ron! Over here.” someone said, bringing me back from my thoughts. I had completely overlooked him while I was lost in my thoughts... He was sitting on the meadow by the lake. ‘Man, I'm glad I found you again.’ – ‘Ron, I didn't mean to...’ – ”It's okay.” Only now did I notice the man standing next to Ron. “Who are you?” “This is Daniel, he's a good friend of my mother's...” Martin explained. “And he ran over my friend.” Daniel continued. “Friend? In what way?” Somehow I sensed it... from the way he said it... “In the same way you would have one.” Daniel replied. “Okay, so have you calmed down Martin? You really don't have to be afraid of me, I won't attack you.” ‘You won't? I will.’ Martin grinned, pounced on me and tickled me. I was paralyzed, I was completely surprised by how quickly Martin's mood had changed... ‘What's the matter? Did I do something wrong?’ Martin looked at me questioningly as I pushed him away. “No, I'm just a little surprised at how quickly you...” I turned to Daniel, still lying on the ground, ‘What did you tell him?’ ‘I just had to tell him about his mother, he always pricks up his ears when he hears that. You know, he admires his mother very much, and if she approves of something, he'll do it anyway.’ Martin blushed, but he nodded. He must be very impressed by his mother if she can make him change his mind so quickly. “Where is your mother? I'd like to meet her,” I asked him, since I only knew his father. “Unfortunately, you won't be able to meet her for another three weeks, because that's when she'll finally be back from America.” – “How long has she been gone?” Daniel asked in between. “A year... Um, Daniel... I have a favor to ask you.“ Martin seemed to have just had a thought. ‘What is it?’ ‘Could you pick up my mom at the airport on Friday at noon three weeks from now? My dad ’can't'.” - “Of course! I wouldn't miss this chance, I haven't seen her in so long and I'll pick you up quickly beforehand.” - “But at my place, okay Martin?” I interrupted. “So I can come to your place in Zurich again?” – ‘Yes, we won't be vacating the apartment for at least a month.’ – ‘That's great.’ Martin was as happy as a child, which I found kind of cute. ‘Thanks, Daniel, thanks, Ron.’ He bowed to us for fun. ‘You're welcome.’ – ‘You're not normal after all, you're way too nice for that.’ Martin grinned at us. “Those who think that people like you don't belong are just stupid.” I could have told him that until recently he was one of them, but I didn't.
Well, now he knew. And after initial difficulties, he had taken it well. Unfortunately, he was straight. I always seemed to fall in love with the wrong guys, always with straights.
But there were worse things, so we leave the subject now. A good friend is ultimately worth something, and I believe that Martin was definitely that.
Martin
It's funny, right after I found out from Ron that he was gay, I just hated him. Why exactly I can't explain to myself either... or rather why I listened to the crap that I was constantly being fed in the village.
“Hey you two, do you want to come now?” I heard Daniel say. What did he mean? ‘What?’ asked Ron, who apparently hadn't been there either. ‘Sorry, I wasn't listening to you. What did you ask?’ – ‘Well, if you want to come quickly, our apartment isn't far away,’ he invited us. ‘Okay with me,’ I replied, and Ron didn't mind either.
We walked about 100 meters and then went into a not exactly new-looking house. But when we arrived at the apartment, we were very surprised. “Me and Marco renovated it before we moved in here, before that it looked pretty shabby.” “Hi, Danny darling,” Marco said as he met us and gave Daniel a passionate kiss. Contrary to my expectations, it didn't look ‘gross’ (Swiss German for ‘disgusting’) at all, just a little strange.
“Hey you two, are you thirsty? We only have coke, iced tea or mineral water.” Daniel asked, but before we could say anything, Marco started talking and we didn't get a chance to say anything for a long time. I think he could talk for hours on end.
-
“So you're Martin and you... hmm... I don't think I know you yet.” He pointed at Ron and seemed to finally calm down. “That's clear, he only joined us after you left, his name is Ron and he's a friend of Martin.” And - I must have been mistaken - Marco was already blabbering away. The guy was starting to get on my nerves and I found him more and more unappealing; he seemed so fake, like someone without talent was playing a role in a theater. We're going to watch a little TV, okay?” I tried to get us away from him. ‘Yeah, go ahead, we'll go to the kitchen and cook something, the remote is in the right drawer of the cabinet.’ Daniel said, pointing to a passageway hung with pearl curtains... rather strange such a curtain where everything else was rather modern...
I turned on the TV and Ron pulled on the drawer, but it didn't open. He pulled a little harder and... then I realized why it didn't open, it was the wrong one. “Hey! He said the right one, that's the left one!” tried to stop him, but unfortunately too late, because the lock flew out and the drawer clattered to the floor. Luckily, no one had heard it.
Ron
I picked up the things that were scattered everywhere and froze when I saw the photos lying there. “Quickly, I threw everything down. I grabbed Martin by the arm and whispered, ”Be quiet, just be quiet! We have to get out of here.” He didn't seem to understand what was going on, but he followed me as we crept silently along the wall to the front door. I pushed down the handle and slowly began to open the door, unfortunately it squeaked quite loudly. ‘Did you hear something?’ I heard Daniel's voice from the kitchen. “No, it was probably just the TV in the living room,” Marco replied. Martin snuck out, and I followed as quickly as I could through the narrow gap. The last thing I heard was Daniel: ”I'll still go see how the two of them are doing.”
“Shit!” I swore softly. ‘Let's get out of here!’ We ran down the stairs and out into the street. A few meters further on, we were lucky that a policeman was in the process of writing down parking offenders. ‘Please, could you notify your colleagues?’ I said hastily to him. ‘Why?’
-
I told him the whole story to the end. “So you've seen photos that prove that the two are child molesters?” the policeman asked incredulously. “Only one of them was on it, we don't know about the other one, and only I saw them.” During the whole thing, the memory of what was on the perverse pictures came back to me and it shook me at the thought of what the two could have done to us... “And now come on! Before the two of them run away or destroy any evidence.”
After some hesitation, the man called for backup. ‘They'll be at the address you gave me in a moment. Please come with me, you have to identify them.’ Just then, Daniel came running around the corner and almost crashed into us. ”I finally found you...” He didn't get to finish the sentence because the policeman thought Daniel was going to attack us. He threw him to the ground with a skillful move, twisted his arms behind his back and handcuffed him.
“I didn't do anything,” said Daniel, lying on the ground. ”Maybe not, but what do you know about the photos they say you have in your apartment?” “I didn't know about them until today. My roommate always kept that drawer locked.” ‘What exactly happened?’ ”I thought I heard something and wanted to check on Martin and his friend, who we had invited over. When I looked into the living room, they weren't there anymore. Only the drawer and these photos were on the floor. I was shocked when I saw them, immediately took my key, went out and locked the apartment, so Marco should still be there.” - ‘Well, you'll be able to tell the story again at the station, that's where the actual interrogation will take place. Then we'll check whether you're telling the truth.’ He held Daniel's arm and led him back to the house where he put him in a police car that was already waiting there. Two policemen were just going up to the apartment.” We asked if we could come with them, but we were told that it was too dangerous.
But everything went as smoothly as it looked, and the police officers soon came down with Marco, ‘Asshole! You'll regret this,’ he shouted in my face and spat at me. I wiped my face with my handkerchief.
“I'll drive you home, okay? I've parked my private car just around the corner,” said the policeman who had overpowered Daniel. We gratefully accepted, because today we only wanted one thing: to go home.
-
“I'll quickly go to the bathroom to shower, brush my teeth and so on, Ron.” Martin said and disappeared into the bathroom. ‘You should also go to bed, Ron, we can talk about it tomorrow,’ my father said and wished me a good night. I went to bed right away, the day had also taken its toll on me.
-
Man oh man! Today you've really got yourself into a mess. I said quietly to myself. I'd really had enough, first with Martin, and then with Daniel and Marco, although both had ended well for me, but I really had enough for today. Why was life sometimes so difficult?
Exhausted, I lay down in bed but couldn't sleep. Something inside me tightened, I kept thinking about Martin and even cried a little. Why did I always fall in love with the wrong ones? At that moment, Martin came in and I pretended to be asleep so he wouldn't hear from the sound of my voice how I was doing. I lay awake for a long time and heard Martin breathing rhythmically after a short time... so he was already asleep. After tossing and turning for a long time, I also fell asleep...
until I suddenly woke up. “NO!!! Leave me alone, I don't want that,” Martin screamed over and over again as I looked at him. I got up and went to him. “Hey! Wake up!” I called to him. “NO! Get lost Ron! I don't want that!” There was no other way, I slapped Martin a few times, which probably hurt me more than him.
Finally he woke up and looked at me with fear and hatred. “You just had a nightmare, it's all over,” I said and ran my hand through his hair comfortingly, whereupon he shrank back even more fearfully. “What were you dreaming about? If you want, you can tell me, or if you need anything else.” “No, it's okay...” he replied, but I still sensed that something was wrong. ‘I'm going to go back to bed now, but you can wake me up anytime if you need me, I don't need much sleep anyway,’ I said, and then went back to my bed. ”Okay, thanks. I'll try to get some sleep again too.”
Martin
But I couldn't sleep for a long time, because I still knew exactly what I had dreamt and the images kept going through my mind. I felt the hatred growing again inside me towards Ron because he was gay. I kept telling myself that it was nonsense to hold Ron responsible for what Marco and Daniel had done, but I couldn't quite get rid of the image of the dream... Ron's hateful face still haunted me, but I kept telling myself that he would never do such a thing. I lay awake for a long time, turning over and over in my mind, but only going around in circles... Fortunately, I eventually fell asleep again.
-
The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful, Zurich had lost its appeal for me if people like Marco and Daniel lived here... who unfortunately somehow managed to escape... then I'd rather stay in our backwater and take over my dad's shop.
Meanwhile, we were on the way back and just arrived in the village. By the way, Tom's wife wasn't with us, she had gone home earlier to meet an old girlfriend... soon I would know who she was.
During the whole trip, the mood was at rock bottom. I would have been surprised if anyone was in a good mood after such a weekend.
“See you tomorrow,” Ron said as I unlocked the door to our apartment on the first floor. I didn't answer, I couldn't somehow. When I came in, I took my backpack up to my room and went into the living room to watch a little TV. But when I entered, I was shocked: my mother was sitting on the armchair reading some women's magazine. That couldn't be right, she wasn't supposed to come back for another three weeks. Dad was sitting at the other end of the sofa and looked just as angry as my mother, who was almost tearing the pages out when turning them.
“So the police have already reported the incident to you?” ‘Wwwhat? What incident do you mean?’ my mother stuttered. ‘You see, I always told you that your son would amount to nothing, and now the police have caught him. What have you done?’ He stood up and seemed to want to grab me by the ears. “Nothing, I was just there for a witness interview.“ He let go of it again, but looked at me suspiciously. ‘What happened?’ my mother asked. ‘Later, Mom.’ I'd better tell them that later, now they both didn't seem to be in the mood.
“I...” my mother began hesitantly. “I'll take you to Zurich today, everything's already been arranged with school,” my mother said. ‘What?’ ‘You're coming with me to Zurich tonight.’ My mother looked at me as if it were the most normal thing in the world. ‘You're welcome to him, he's a good-for-nothing anyway,’ I heard my dad say, but I didn't give a damn about him now. ”Why do we have to go to Zurich?”