Chapter 4: Danny Meets the Other Victims

Danny arrived at Johns at ten o’clock the following Monday. It was half term holiday, so it seemed an ideal time. He discovered that everyone was already there, having been dropped off early. John told him two of the lads couldn’t (or wouldn’t) attend, then took him into the back room, where six lads of varying sizes, shapes and ages sat, all looking uncertain. He introduced Danny and said, ‘I can’t remember all your names, so I’ll leave Danny to sort out who’s who.’

‘I’m going out for the day,’ he told them, ‘Danny will let me know when I can come back, so you don’t have to worry about anyone coming in. Now,’ he said looking around at each one, ‘You have a unique opportunity here, so don’t waste it. I have known Danny for a while, and I can assure you that anything you tell him go no further. The toilet is upstairs, there’s coke and squash and biscuits in the kitchen. Danny, thank you for doing this.’ With a nod to Danny, he went through into the hall, then they heard the front door close a few moments later.

Danny looked round at six now expectant faces. ‘I’ll get your names shortly,’ he told them, first let me tell you all the plan for the day. In a moment I’ll tell you what happened to me and how I dealt with it. Then we’ll have a general chat, then I’ll do some one-to-one sessions. Now I know,’ he said looking round with a grin at them all,’ That most if not all of you are here because your parents pushed you. They are expecting me to tell them two things. One is that you have no lasting physical damage and two, that you can cope with what happened psychologically, so it doesn’t mess up your life.’

‘My report to your parents will tell them nothing about today, it will simply say you are physically ok after your ordeal, and you have come to terms with it. I will also put a note in with that to tell them that they must not discuss it with you or even mention it ever again, unless you raise it.’ A few heads nodded at this. ‘You all heard Mr Williams’s comments, let me assure you that anything you tell me, either in this group or individually, will never leave this room. I ask that you all respect that for the sake of you all.’

‘None of this will work without your co-operation,’ he continued.’ So, if at any time you don’t want to continue, you are free to leave.’ He looked around at six blank faces,’ then said, ‘You would not get any report for your parents in that event of course.’ Then he added, ‘Finally, I’m going to try to get you all sorted today, but if I can’t, one or two of you might need a second visit.’

‘Any questions so far?’ he asked. A hand went up, Danny felt like a teacher. The one with his hand up looked to be the eldest of the group so that made him sixteen. He was about the same height as Danny but looked more muscular with broad shoulders as if he spent time in the gym. ‘I’m Wayne,’ the lad said, ‘You mentioned a physical test, you look a bit young to be a doctor.’ Danny smiled at him, ‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘I am too young, I’m seventeen, but I do have sufficient medical knowledge for what we need today, although as I’m not officially qualified. I can only examine you if you give me permission. You will be told that before it happens, and the decision is yours.’ Wayne nodded and said, ‘Thank you.’

‘I’ll just get your names and ages, so I know who I’m speaking to,’ Danny told them, then we’ll start. He had a sheet of paper on which he had drawn a plan of the room plus a small circle for each person in their position. He looked at the first one, who said, ‘Kevin, age fourteen.’ Danny said, ‘Thank you, Kevin.’ He made a note on his plan, adding that he was slim and shorter than himself. Then he looked at the next one who told him he was Colin, age fourteen, just. He was quite chubby and much shorter. The next one told him Jack, age fifteen. He was four inches taller than Danny and very slim. The next one was Wayne who he had already listed. Next one along was Billy, age fourteen, he was Danny’s height, stocky and with some padding, although not fat. Finally, he looked at the one who looked the youngest. ‘Alan, age fifteen,’ he said. ‘Thank you, Alan,’ Danny said as he marked it on his plan. Adding that Alan was extremely thin, a little shorter, but looked about twelve.

Danny took out his phone and said, ‘Please put this number in your phones,’ he waited until they all opened their phones, then read out his number. ‘Now please text that number with your Christian name and the letters JW. That stands for John Williams whose house we are in, he explained having seen some puzzled looks. They all did so, and Danny’s phone pinged six times. Now I will know who you are if you contact me in future,’ he told them.

Putting his phone down and making himself comfortable, Danny told them that he was seventeen. He had been at this house and Gordon had tricked him into going with him to his bedroom on the pretext off assisting to turn the mattress. He told them every little detail, including his escape and crying in the park. ‘Like you,’ Danny said, ‘I felt ashamed about it, bottling it up and telling no one, despite the excruciating pain I was suffering. I don’t know how things would have worked out,’ he told them, ‘If I hadn’t been introduced to a remarkable person.’ He told them about his Mum realising something was wrong, her telling his Uncle Mike, and him introducing him to his friend.

‘The friend was younger than me, but he wants to be a doctor when he’s older. I felt comfortable with him right away. He had been told there was something bothering me, but no one knew what. He talked to me, then asked if I would be his patient so he could practice. I agreed and he tested me all over, heartbeat, joints, breathing, spine stomach etc.’

‘Now he soon realised that whenever he put his hand anywhere near my bum, I tensed up and looked scared, whilst when he examined my front, I was at ease. He thought that was strange, for a man is usually more bothered about anyone touching around the area of his cock, than he is about his bum. Coupled with what he had been told about me being bothered about something, he cottoned on right away. I was lying on my back, so he sat me up, put his hands on my shoulders, looked straight at me and said, ‘You’ve been raped, haven’t you?’

‘I felt horrified that someone had guessed, yet at the same time it felt as if a weight had lifted off me, for now someone else knew about it. I burst into tears. He put his arms round me and just held me until I finished crying. When I did, I felt better than I had felt for months. He explained that none of it was my fault and there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. He promised me that nothing I told him would leave the room or be told to either my uncle or my Mum unless I said so.’

‘He then asked if he could check my bum for any lasting damage. By now I felt totally at ease with him. So, I agreed. He examined me very, very, gently, it didn’t hurt, in fact it felt rather nice, and he was able to tell me that everything had healed up. We then talked through everything that had happened to me. That night I had the best night’s sleep I had had for ages. He also suggested that I should tell my uncle so that there would be someone close I could talk to in future if I needed to. I said I didn’t want to talk about it to anyone else, so he agreed to talk to Uncle Mike for me, which I agreed to. He also pointed out, that whilst he could understand my not wanting to go public by going to the police, what had happened to me, could happen to someone else. So, we decided he would ask Uncle Mike to call here and tell Mr Williams so that he could warn other family members.’