An Honorable Profession
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An Honorable Profession, is a 1991 novel by John L'Heureux.
Miles Bannon is a popular High School English teacher in Boston who enjoys the respect of his students. His mother is dying and he is involved in a deep heterosexual relationship with Margaret. But he is also plagued by a deep insecurity about his sexual orientation, both in his untoward feelings for boys at school and his homosexual leanings that result in a one-night stand with Robert, a practicing homosexual whose boyfriend is, unfortunately, a student at Miles' school.
When Billy Mack, a boy who has been sodomised with a broomstick by a group of older students, develops a crush on Miles, he fails to discourage it, leaving the boy little notes and taking him off jogging in the surrounding hills. Billy's father accuses him of behaviour that must have led on his abusers and this further depresses Billy.
Miles knows that Billy has fallen in love with him and on one of their jogging expeditions, Billy embraces him and has an orgasm in his jockstrap. Miles rejects the boy's advances and Billy runs off, committing suicide two hours later in his bedroom. Billy leaves an unfinished suicide note for Miles and not for his parents. Jack, Billy's police officer father, is determined to pin the blame on someone outside the family and starts a vendetta of child molestation allegations against Miles.
Miles confronts his own nature as he faces the opprobrium of his colleagues and the homophobia of the local community and media.
