Backstory - Ezekiel Rhodes WHO: Ezekiel Rhodes (The Country Mouth), Joshua Lansen , James Rhodes – Zeke’s father (PBed by David Keith), Anne Rhodes – Zeke’s mother (PBed by Rita Wilson), Zeke's sister (who will be named by Tara soon when she's apped), brief appearance by Spencer Mastiff (the Mastiff) WHAT: Narrative – Backstory for Zeke leaving his parents house, he gets caught with another boy. WHEN: August 2004 WHERE: Rhodes residence, New Jersey NOTES: R for sexual content, language, and violence WARNING – There are offensive words used in this post. Mostly slurs about gays and homophobic ranting. These are not my personal feelings on the subject (considering Zeke is sleeping with a guy and my being bi you should know that, but yeah), however some people might find the use of this language offensive. This is one of the most painful and emotionally draining things I have EVER written. It's seriously... just... *flails* It's painful.
It happened on one those lazy hot end of the summer days. It was three days until the start of school and Ezekiel Rhodes was just happy to be only a fucking school year away from graduating and getting away from Jersey. To be honest, he would have been perfectly happy to not graduate and get away from New Jersey, since he was turning 18 in just seven days, but there was no grand life beyond Jersey without Spence and the stupid baby had another whole fucking year to go before he was legally free. In kindergarten, Zeke had been beyond pleased that his favorite preschool buddy was starting school with him even though he was almost a year younger, but at nearly eighteen and about to start senior year he wasn’t pleased about the age gap.
The end of summer made him crazy though as he thought about all that time he was soon going to have to spend hidden away in a box learning information that was generally going to be of no use to him. Zeke had no doubt in his mind that music was going to take him somewhere. He just knew it in his very bones. You did not need world history or government or fucking earth science to be in a band. His father would kill him before seeing him drop out of school though, and Zeke kind of liked his freedom, thanks. Hell, he got a good screaming at for a fucking C in gym. It was fucking gym. Who the fuck cared? Obviously his dad.
In hindsight, skipping gym to make-out with Steve Wellman in the locker rooms wasn’t probably the best way to pass the class either. But it sort of just happened the first time, and the second time, and then it sort of became a thing. Amazingly they’d never gotten caught. In fact, no one even really suspected anything. This was probably because Steve Wellman was on the basketball team and had a leggy girlfriend with size C breasts. They never talked about it. In fact they didn’t really talk when doing it either. Except the first time. Zeke always dawdled because he hated gym and he was often the last boy out of the locker room. Steve had waited for him, which Zeke hadn’t really noticed, and pounced him when the last person walked out of the room. Zeke had freaked out, more than a little, but hands in good places and shit… he’d squeaked though, and he was really glad Steve had been too distracted to notice the sudden increase in the mice population of the room. “You just assumed I would want this why?” Zeke had asked in a bitchy tone. Steve had returned with an “I’m not GAY Rhodes.” And that was sort of that. And Zeke had never gotten head before, so he didn’t really care to argue that point. Because Zeke wasn’t gay either, he just could appreciate the fact that Steve had no gag reflex and long fingers. He still had a crush on Connie Hayes that he was kind of pining about and Steve’s girlfriend probably readily went down on him too. Zeke sometimes used to wonder if he made that same sort of strangled “fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck” when she did it.
Then Steve Wellman had gotten a scholarship offer from the North Carolina and he could no longer afford to get caught, which meant no more rendezvous. And despite his best efforts at trying to get her to see him play his guitar, Connie Hayes still wasn’t giving him the time of day. So when Josh Lansen followed him into the bathroom at an end of the summer party, Zeke kind of went with it.
Maybe circumstances would’ve been different if Josh hadn’t shared a room with his younger brother. Because really, Zeke should’ve seen the whole thing coming. His father used to yell at Spencer and him for falling asleep together on the couch late at night. Spencer was supposed to sleep on the floor when he slept over, which Zeke thought was fucking retarded because he had a double bed and they both could fucking fit. But Zeke didn’t even fucking think about it, he was cocky enough to think he could get away with it anyways, sneaking some guy into his house to fuck around. Everyone and their mom snuck around their houses and had sex.
The day Zeke’s life as he knew it fell apart didn’t start out that much different from any other day in August. He woke up around 1pm and shuffled around in his PJs for a while, headed over to Spencer’s to jam a bit, and Josh showed up to hang out with them. Only his sister had been home when they’d gotten back to Zeke’s and Zeke yelled at her not to bother him and she was always pretty good about that. It was a Friday night which meant his father shouldn’t have been home until 7ish.
They weren’t in any rush. Zeke put on a CD and they debated the merits of Fall Out Boy and Modest Mouse, laying in Zeke’s bed with their sides flush against each other, hands sort of ghosting over to each other occasionally, until Josh tugged a little at Zeke’s shirt and Zeke gave a little smirk and turned. It was a lazy kind of summer day and they were in the mood for lazy summer sex, it was hot and sticky in Zeke’s room, even with the air conditioner blowing, and the cool of the air on their bare skinned was soon overwhelmed by the burn of skin on skin.
The shout didn’t have time to register as he was nipping and licking his way down Josh’s torso, Josh’s hand lightly pulling, wrapped up in his hair. There was a jarring feeling as he was pulled roughly by the hair, arm grabbed and twisted back, his slight frame literally thrown into his dresser. The wind knocked out of him, he blinked and struggled for air, trying to make sense out of the yelling. He couldn’t catch his breath, not just from the force of the fall, but the terror at the anger he could see in his father, anger like he’d never seen and he’d pissed off his father plenty, he’d never been a good enough son. The world turned into sharp edges and broken pieces, the only words he really understood at the time were curses and the word “faggot” repeated again and again as his father backhanded Josh, flinching at the distinct smack and cracking noise. Josh curled up into a defensive position and tried to scurry away, but Zeke’s father just grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him viciously off the bed. The world turned sharper as Zeke relearned how to breathe, taking in air like broken pieces of glass.
“You turned my son into a fudge packer, you fucking piece of faggot filth” Zeke’s father yelled as his foot connected with Josh’s stomach and the other boy recoiled in pain.
“JAMES! James, stop it!” Zeke was fairly certain he’d never been so glad to hear his mother’s voice. “James you are going to kill him!” his mother sounded terrified and somehow, that just pissed Zeke off. He’d never heard his mother sound scared of his father before, as often as Zeke himself had been terrified of the man.
“The fucking faggot deserves to die, Annie” Zeke’s father responded, but at his wife’s touch, he stopped his physical attack. Zeke’s mother grabbed the boy’s hand and hurriedly pulled him out of the room. Zeke doesn’t know what happened to Josh after that as the full force of James Rhodes’ anger turned towards his only son and for the first time, Zeke saw hatred in his father’s eyes. He’d long ago accepted the disappointment, even if he hadn’t truly ever come to terms with it, but this was an entirely different feeling.
“How DARE you bring such perversion into this house! How dare you disgrace this family with your deviant sodomist ways! You are no son of mine! You filthy disgusting piece of meat” Zeke curled in on himself, physically flinching at his father’s words, preparing for another blow. “I will not have a fucking faggot under my roof, do you hear me!” and Zeke was half tempted to say that he wasn’t gay, that he still liked girls too, but the words wouldn’t come out. He was too shell shocked, too unnerved, to fucking scared because he had no doubt that his father could break him into a zillion pieces, Zeke was tiny, effeminate, something that always bothered his father in the first place.
“I should have known with that ridiculous hair, that whiney music you listen to, and” he picked up a pair of Zeke’s jeans off the floor “your fairy girly jeans” and threw them at Zeke. Zeke grabbed at them, pulling a pair of boxers off the floor and scrambling into them as his father ranted on about Zeke being an ungrateful fucking faggot who didn’t appreciate everything his family had done for him. Zeke had stopped listening, flinching only sometimes at the tone or the word faggot, which his father said with implied violence.
Zeke had finally managed to get his pants on when his mother came back, anxious and worried look on her face, going to her only son’s side. “James, maybe we should talk…” she tried to calm him down, get him away from her baby for a moment, but he wouldn’t have any of it.
“Shut up Anne!” he yelled. “This is probably your fault, with all your coddling him, letting him be such a mama’s boy” he accused and Zeke snapped, done being the scared little boy.
“Leave her alone, you homophobic jackass!” he yelled. “You can’t blame mom for the fact that I like sucking cock!” and yeah, he’d officially lost it, stepping in front of his mother and receiving backhand for his trouble. This time Zeke spit out blood.
“James!” his mother screamed as she tried to rush to Zeke’s side, but her husband stopped her, grabbing her arm. “Leave him be Annie” he commanded, but she pulled her arm out of his grip, though she looked genuinely afraid he might strike at her as well.
“He’s your son James, he’s just a boy” she replied, holding her son’s head in her hands, wiping at the blood with one of Zeke’s hoodies, the closest thing within reach.
“He’s no son of mine. And I won’t have some faggot living under my roof, get off of him Annie” Zeke’s father yelled, grabbed Zeke’s arm and dragging him up. Zeke’s mother let go out of fear of hurting Zeke worse by holding him firm.
Zeke stumbled as his father dragged him forcefully out of his room, blinking at the sight of his sister in the hallway, tears falling down her face. “Oh Zeke” she whispered as he was pulled past her, hand lightly touching his bare shoulder before he was dragged down the stairs. He stumbled, his arm nearly pulled out of its socked as his father yanked him towards the door, throwing it open and literally shoving Zeke out. “I’ll have no fucking fairy under my roof…” he growled softly at Zeke before adding “And don’t you DARE let me see your face again” at a scream with an implied ‘or else’ attached as the door slammed shut.
Zeke turned and stared dazed at the front door of his childhood home. Still in shock, he stumbled down the block, making his way to Spencer’s and throwing a rock at his best friend’s window. Spencer’s head popped out and his annoyed “Dude” turned into an “Oh FUCK, what the fuck? Go around back” and Zeke did as he was told, stumbling into Spencer’s backyard until he felt his best friend’s arm wrap around him and Zeke let himself drift into oblivion.