He starts out using their real names, but that gets him into serious trouble with the snake who's pimping him. The man was told by another boy about Adam's writings, so searched his room to find it, then seriously beat Adam once it was found. Money he'd saved was taken, as well.
However, Adam soon realizes the pimp kept the book and is using it as blackmail, to protect himself and his racket. He fosters orphan boys and kids kicked out of their homes for being gay, like Adam was. On the state dime.
He's got corrupt, hypocritical politicians, businessmen, priests and NGO heads backing him in anything he wants to do...in exchange for his silence and continued access to the boys.
Corruption is nothing new or even recent, in politics. Ulysses S Grant supposedly had the most corrupt administration in US history, until the current Felon in Chief. Warren G. Harding wasn't exactly a saint when it came to business deals, while Nixon wasn't so much venal as just plain in love with power.
So...Dair's Window already has a sort of structure in place. Part One telling about Adam through his time with Dair, before he dies. Part Two is Adam watching over Dair like a guardian angel and seeing how horribly he's being treated by his parents, who sue him for half his wealth because they claim Adam helped him make it.
The story is going to end in 2008, with the backlash against Proposition 8, in California, that's spreading. I want to be able to reference touchstones in the fight for equality. But the beginning is going to focus on Adam and his developing poetry, shifting to serious as he rides the trans-Canadian train from Toronto to Vancouver...and how he eventually uses it as a way to avoid his growing feelings for Dair.
