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Brother's Keeper
by Vamphile
Nine
He followed Aaron into the house again.
“What time’s your mother getting home?”
Aaron's attention was almost completely on making sure he killed the third guy, after having run over the other two with his car. “Five thirty probably.”
Justin picked up his controller and tried to keep up. The kid was good.
Alicia arrived a little earlier than expected. She looked less surprised to see Justin there this time.
“Can you stay for dinner?”
“I really can’t, but I wanted to talk to you…do you have a couple of minutes?”
“Just let me change and get dinner started for Aaron.”
“Sure.”
Justin sat back down and was about to pick up his controller again when Aaron paused the game. “What do you want to talk to her about.”
“Just family bullshit.”
“My dad?”
“Not specifically.”
“Me?”
“Not specifically.”
“Then what?”
“Grown up stuff.”
“Pfft, you like to pretend you’re this big important grown up. I’ve seen you. You’re not.”
“Aaron, do you ever stop talking shit about things you don’t know?”
“I know you think you’re gonna ‘save’ me.”
“Never said anything like that.”
“Whatever.”
Alicia came down then in jeans and a sweater that had seen better days. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and for the first time Justin realized that she was pretty fucking young.
“Would you like something to drink?”
Justin followed her into the kitchen. “Sure, water if you have it.”
She pulled two bottles of water from the ‘fridge and handed one to Justin. “Is Aaron okay?”
“Oh, I think he’s doing better. He was scared. He at least seems a little more comfortable with me.”
“He does. And thank you for the last few days. I know he didn’t go to school on Monday.”
“You do.”
“They call Justin, they have an entire office of people whose job it is to call when a kid isn’t in school.”
“They do?”
Alicia laughed. “I guess things have changed a little since you were in school.”
“I went to a private school. I think they just handled things differently then.”
“Was he with you on Monday?”
“He came looking for me but I was already back in New York.”
Alicia looked puzzled. “I know he didn’t go back to New York.”
“No, he found Brian, who called me. And now I’m here.”
“You’re a good brother.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“You are. He used to have friends here every day. It’s good that you’re here now. I guess they’re not comfortable coming over.”
“That sucks.”
Alicia laughed. “Yeah, for Aaron it does. I, however, will have to do a lot less grocery shopping.”
Justin laughed with her and then remembered why he was here. “We have to talk about Craig, and that place you want to send him.”
“Fresh start.”
“Yeah, Fresh Start. It’s not what you think.”
“You don’t know what I think.”
Justin tilted his head, conceding the point. “I’d like to know.”
“I think god’s pretty clear on homosexuality. I also think he’s pretty clear on forgiveness. I think the fact that god can forgive is a damn good thing considering the mistakes I’ve made in my life.”
“What about you? How are you on forgiveness?
Alicia looked confused.
Justin pushed forward. “Aaron. Are you going to be able to forgive him?”
“I don’t see that there’s anything to forgive. He’s my son. And I love him. That doesn’t change because he’s made a few mistakes.”
“You think being gay is a mistake.”
Alicia sighed; her shoulders slumped as she pulled something out of the refrigerator. “No. I think their public display of affection in the school locker room was a mistake.”
“Are you going to send him to Fresh Start?”
“I don’t really think that’s any of your business.”
Justin and Alicia both looked up quickly to see Craig standing in the doorway.
Justin cursed himself for the fear he felt. He pushed it aside. “I thought we’d already been through what is and isn’t my business.”
“What are you even doing here?” Craig’s tone was businesslike but his body language was threatening and, Justin noticed, the vein in his forehead was becoming more prominent by the second.
“He’s my brother. We were just hanging out.”
“But he’s out there, and you’re talking about him with his mother.”
Justin was tired, now, and aggravated. He’d been close to actually getting answers. “Dad, what are you doing here.”
“I came to talk to Alicia about OUR son.”
“Well, that’s why I’m here. So why don’t we all just sit down and talk.”
“Justin, you’ve meddled in enough of my relationships. You made your choice. You want to be with that…”
“Brian, dad. His name is Brian.”
“Whatever. Go to him. Go to visit your mother. But stay out of this.”
“No.”
“No?”
“Alicia, why don’t we go out to dinner? I’m sure Justin has plans, and Aaron will be okay by himself for a few hours.”
“Craig, I was in the middle of a conversation, I’m not walking out because you don’t want Justin involved. I’m interested in what he has to say.”
Justin smiled then. He was feeling a little better about Alicia.
Craig saw Justin's smile. He recognized that knowing little grin. He’d seen it so many times when Justin had such a good time painting those pretty verbal pictures of he and Brian together. He took a step forward. He was surprised when Justin didn’t back off.
“Justin, maybe you should leave.” He heard Alicia say.
“He doesn’t have to go. If he wants to stay here and give his useless opinions, let him. It won’t change what’s going to happen.”
Aaron was standing behind Craig now. “What IS going to happen dad? I thought we were done with this.”
“Not by a long shot kiddo.” Craig turned his attention to Aaron. “We’ve got to make some changes around here.”
“What kind of changes?” Aaron looked scared.
Justin glanced over at Alicia who looked less than calm herself. She was standing frozen to the spot, a bag of pasta forgotten in her hands. “Dad. Back off. Aaron’s gonna tone it down we talked about it.”
“You talked about it? With Aaron? So now you’re giving him advice on how to ‘tone it down’? Last time I checked, Justin, every time there’s an interview with you you’re …what was the phrase they used ‘unapologetically gay.’ How exactly is that toning it down?”
“Fuck you dad.” Justin spit the word out. “I AM gay. And I’m not gonna apologize for it. But that doesn’t mean I want to see Aaron get hurt. Not at school and not by YOU”
Justin brushed past Craig. “Aaron, want to go to dinner? Brian and I were going to go out, you can keep us company.”
Justin knew he was pushing it but he was too angry to care right now.
Craig watched an all too familiar scene. Some confident motherfucker walking out on him. His son following like a puppy dog. He couldn’t hold back his anger anymore.
He grabbed Justin’s wrist. “You’re not going anywhere and you’re not taking him with you.”
Justin tried to twist his arm out of Craig's grip. “Fuck off. You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore Craig. I’ll go where I want, with whomever I want.” He was still trying to pull his arm out of Craig’s vice like hold as he turned to Alicia. “You don’t mind if Aaron has dinner with us do you?”
Alicia shook her head numbly. Right now she wanted both Aaron and Justin out of the house and away from Craig who was angrier than she’d ever seen him.
That’s when Craig's fist made contact with Justin’s jaw.
Justin was shocked. Not that Craig had taken a swing. He’d been prepared for that. But that he’d done it in public and that it hurt so fucking much.
He ducked away from the next blow and it landed squarely on his shoulder.
He finally got his arm free and moved his body away from Craig's as he went to take a swing of his own.
He heard a noise, like a bellow and found himself laid out on the floor. The fucker had tackled him.
He heard Aaron yelling for Craig to stop. He heard Alicia trying to reason with Craig, but mostly he heard a rather sickening thud as he felt a foot connect with his back. He rolled over and was about to stand up when another foot fell hard onto his stomach.
It knocked the wind out of him and he saw Craig, breathing hard and smiling victoriously as he lay there trying to get his body to move.
He felt another sharp pain as a heel pressed into his palm and that’s when he moved. He wasn’t going through any more fucking therapy to get his hand working again.
He stood up, facing Craig, refusing to run away. Still in too much shock to acknowledge the pain he was in. He curled his fist and clocked Craig in the eye.
Then he sat on the sofa and calmly called the police.
Aaron was silent. Alicia handed him a bag of frozen peas for his jaw. Craig was protesting his innocence while the police handcuffed him and took him away.
“We’re gonna end up on Cops.”
Justin smiled at Aaron. “No cameras. I’m surprised Craig didn’t run before they got here.”
“I don’t think he believed you called them”
Justin nodded. “Fuck, what time is it?”
“After six.”
“I have to go.”
“Are you okay to drive?” Alicia seemed genuinely concerned.
“I’m fine. Just a little bruised. But… Alicia.”
“She nodded. He doesn’t have his children’s best interests at heart.”
“I’m glad you can see that.”
“I wish it hadn’t taken this for me to see it.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Justin was holding his ribs. They’d taken pictures of the bruises. And he’d have to go tomorrow to make a formal statement but he’d pushed away all offers of hospitals, or ambulances. It was a fucking bruise or two. He’d be fine.
He headed back towards the loft and dialed Brian’s number at work.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
“I was thinking we could go to…”
“Brian we have a lot to talk about and I’m thinking it’s best not done in public. Dinner’s cancelled.”
“What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you when I get back to the loft.”
“Where are you now?”
“On my way.”
“See you at home.”
“Yeah.”
“Bye.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Brian beat Justin home by at least twenty minutes.
When Justin walked in he headed straight for the bedroom where he lay down, still fully clothed.
Brian walked up beside him and saw the bruise on his chin. “What the fuck is that?”
Justin rubbed it with his hand and Brian saw the damage to his wrist, to his palm, and the bruises on his knuckles. His stomach knotted. “Justin.”
“Is there a way in hell that we could do this quietly and without you queening out?
“Depends on whether you got that wrestling with your little brother or went picking a fight in a bar.”
“Neither.”
“So you talked to your father.”
Justin closed his eyes. And Brian sat down next to him trying to remain calm. His hands ran through Justin's hair.
Justin sighed.
“Did you hit your head?”
Justin sat up angrily. “I thought you were comforting me.”
“I was. I’m also checking for a concussion but I guess the hospital would have mentioned that.”
Justin was silent.
“Right. No doctors, no hospitals. Whatever.” He held Justin's damaged hand in his and bit back the urge to drop it and go do something about this. “Start at the beginning.”
“When my mother was in college she was dating this asshole. He asked her to marry him and she said yes.”
“Fast forward a little.”
“Eventually he fucked around on her and had a child by another woman.”
“Justin. Start with leaving the loft after I found your pants. End when you call me and don’t bother to tell me you’re hurt.”
“Brian, I’m okay. Just a few bruises.”
“Where else.”
“I thought you wanted to hear the story.”
“You said don’t send him there. Craig said stay out of it. You didn’t. He said you’re a fucking faggot. You said, and proud of it. Then you did something phenomenally stupid and Craig lost it. Did I miss anything important?”
“He’s in jail, for the moment. I don’t think Alicia's gonna bail him out.”
“Okay, now take off your shirt.”
“Brian I’m tired and so not in the mood.”
“Wasn’t a request.”
Justin sat up, biting back a groan as the bruise on his stomach responded negatively to the movement.
“You have to swear not to lose it.”
“No.”
“Brian.”
“Justin, I don’t make promises I can’t keep. Did he hurt Aaron too?”
“No, I’m the one who really pissed him off.”
“I’ll kill him for you now if you ask.”
“Well, that is why I did this. Fuck you, only killing him for my mom.”
“Justin, take your fucking shirt off.”
Justin was stalling and Brian knew it, and the longer he stalled the more worried Brian got.
“You haven’t said you’re not gonna flip out.”
“I don’t do that.”
“Okay.”
Brian was tugging at the bottom of Justin's shirt. He was just as insistently holding it down.
“He kicked me, that’s all. It’s gonna look worse than it is.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“It’s not as bad as what he did to you.”
“I feel much better, fucker almost broke my ribs, and I’m twice your size.”
“Twice? Dream on.”
“Not in the mood to debate.”
Justin leaned forward to kiss him. Brian's hand was still holding his damaged one. “I clocked him in the eye.”
“Good for you. Take your shirt off.”
Justin was nibbling on Brian's bottom lip. “He’s in jail now. He can’t hurt anyone.”
“Glad to hear it. Take your shirt off.”
Justin gave up and pulled his shirt off quickly. Brian took a deep inhale. “Motherfucker.”
“Technically yes. He is.”
“Let’s go bail him out so I can kill him.”
“That would leave a paper trail.”
Brian’s fingers gently grazed over the nasty looking bruise on Justin’s stomach. “He punched you in the gut?”
Justin shook his head. “He stepped on me.”
“Motherfucker.”
“We established that.”
Brian pulled Justin towards him. Justin wrapped his arms around Brian, until he realized that once again it wasn’t a gesture of comfort, it was to check for more bruising. And he’d found some.
Brian stood up and walked to the kitchen. “What do you want to drink?”
“Beer and aspirin.”
Brian nodded trying to wrap his head around any or all of this.
He sat down next to Justin on the bed. Let me see your hand.
“It’s okay.”
“Did you put ice on it?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll get some more.”
Brian stood up again. Justin swallowed the aspirin and tried to remember that the simple fact that Brian was calm was probably a good sign. 'Til he saw Brian’s face when he came back to the bed. Carrying a bottle of beam and an ice pack his expression was dangerously blank and his eyes dark. Justin reached for the bottle and Brian held it away from him and handed him the ice pack instead.
“We can both get drunk in a minute.”
“Why a minute?”
“I need more information and you’re a lightweight.”
“Fuck you. I could drink you under the table.”
Brian raised an eyebrow and Justin smiled. “I could blow you once you were under the table, except I’d be passed out drunk.”
“More accurate.”
“Justin held the ice to his hand.
“You sure there’s no internal bleeding?”
“How the fuck should I know. If it still hurts next week I’ll do something about it.”
“Next week?”
“Well it hurts now.” Justin gave Brian his best “duh” face. “But unless my stomach gets all rigid, or I’m vomiting blood, I’m assuming it’s because I’m a little banged up.”
“A little?”
Justin flexed his fingers. “Had to fucking pick on my gimp hand.”
“Had to fucking incite him.”
“This is my fault now?”
“No. But you knew he was dangerous what were you doing there with him?”
“I didn’t plan it. It just kind of happened.”
Brian was holding the ice on Justin's hand now. “Tell me what happened.”
“You told me.”
“Details are fun.”
Justin regaled Brian with the whole story. When he finished Brian passed him the joint that he’d already rolled and lit.
“So Alicia's not gonna send Aaron to god’s tabernacle of the holy pussy?”
“It’s called Fresh Start and no. I think this was a graphic illustration of just how out of his tree my dad is.”
“Is she safe?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“What about the half-breed?”
“Not so sure.”
“When’s he gonna get bailed out. I’d really like to kill him.”
“I know. And I don’t know. I have to go down and make a formal complaint and file a restraining order and all that bullshit tomorrow.”
“Do we need to call Carl?”
“To do what?”
“I don’t fucking know. Help.”
“I think I can fill out paperwork without Carl. Besides, do we really want Debbie to know?”
“Like she’s not gonna find out.”
“How?”
The phone rang. Brian picked it up and Justin heard Debbie’s unmistakable and unique screech. Brian said nothing and handed the phone to Justin, who exhaled his last toke slowly. “I’m fine Deb.”
“No, I don’t need soup or lasagna. I swear. I’m okay. How the fuck did you find out. Sorry. Yeah, should have figured. You have him check for everyone’s name? Yeah. Makes sense. Mmm hmmmm. Tomorrow. After I’m done there. Diner. Promise. Gotta go Deb. I know. Mmm hmmmm. Fine. I’m okay. Don’t need a doctor. Yeah, he is. Yeah, he’s here. Pretty sure we’re in for the night. Tell anyone you want. Really gotta go Deb. I’ll tell him. Fine.” He handed the phone back to Brian.
“I promise. Wouldn’t dream of it. I’m sure. Diner. Lunch. Tomorrow. I’ll be there. He’ll eat. Deb I gotta take care of him he needs something. Okay. Bye.”
“Did you know she did that?”
“Did what?”
“Had Carl check for familiar names in police reports.”
Brian laughed. “Does it surprise you?”
Justin was half way to stoned and had finished his beer. He took a sip from the bottle of beam. “No.”
Brian sighed. “So lunch at the diner after you file your report. Sounds like fun.”
“You know everyone’s gonna be there right? You know that she’s working the phone tree now. Michael and Ben know and then… oh shit.”
“What?”
The phone rang and Justin said, before he even answered it. “My mother.”
Brian smiled. Justin grimaced. “Hi mom. Fine. Swear. Yeah he is. Yeah Brian’s here. Yeah, he does want to. Okay, maybe I will let him. Lunch at the diner. Of course. Okay. Gotta go. Swear I’m fine. Don’t need a doctor. Pretend I’m an adult. If I can. Gotta go mom. I will. Yeah. Gotta go mom. Fine, here.”
He handed the phone to Brian. She wants you to make sure I’m not dead.
“He’s not dead. I’m sure. I’ll call that changes. Sorry, you’re right. Okay. He needs something. I have to go. See you at lunch tomorrow.” Brian hung up the phone and turned off the ringer. He then got up, turned out the rest of the lights in the loft. Set the alarm. Turned off his phone. And came back to bed.
“your mother has no sense of humor about the possibility of you dying.”
“are you just figuring that out?”
Brian shrugged. “Give me your phone.”
“Why?”
“So I can’ turn it off.”
“Just did.”
“Good.”
“How sore are you?”
“Not that sore.”
Justin was moving slowly, his mouth leaving hot wet kisses on Brian's ear and neck. Brian gently pushed him backwards. “I think you’ve exerted yourself enough today.”
Justin was about to pout but Brian was hovering over him and leaned in to kiss him. He arched his body towards Brian but Brian's hands were gently holding him still.
“Be still, I’m gonna kiss you all better.”
Justin sighed and let his head hit the pillow letting Brian do some of his best work.
Eventually they both fell asleep and Justin didn’t bother to wake Brian several hours later when he got up and dug in his bag for something a little stronger than aspirin for the pain. He was not looking forward to tomorrow, and he still had to go pick Aaron up and drive him to school in the morning.
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