Tool Belt Man

Chapter 7

Justin heard the phone ring behind him. He didn't know how long he had been sitting on the floor crying. He wiped at his face and picked up the receiver.

"Yes?" he managed to get out.

"Justin?" Manny's voice said. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes," Justin moaned.

"I have a client here for you, but I'll see if I can get someone else."

Justin drew in a deep breath. He was going to kill whoever took his money. They were going to die a slow, painful death. But right now he needed to start replacing it, because more than likely he would never see that money again.

"I'll be down in five minutes, if he can wait that long," Justin said with steel in his voice.

"That's fine; if you're sure you want to do it."

"I'll be there." Justin hung up and went to wash his face.

Justin took care of that trick and one other before he had a chance to speak to Manny about what had happened to his money.

"Shit!" Manny reacted to Justin's announcement. "Now we have a fucking thief in our midst. Who could have done it?"

"I've been trying to think of who's been in my room and would have had the opportunity," Justin began. "The only one I can think of is Brian. He was in there fixing the light switch and nobody was around." That was the conclusion he had finally come to whether he liked it or not. He had been wrong about Brian being interested in him, but he was pretty sure he was right about this, even though it caused an ache deep inside him. He didn't really want to believe it could be true, but he was afraid it was.

"Brian?" Manny asked shaking his head. "He doesn't seem like the type."

"He was in there alone and then he didn't come to work. Has he been back yet?"

"No," Manny admitted. "I thought he might be in today but he didn't come and he didn't call."

"See," Justin said feeling justified in his suspicions.

"You may be right. Let's see if we hear from him tomorrow."

"I bet you won't," Justin stated with bitterness.

Justin went back to his room. He took the twenty bucks in tips from his pocket. He had decided to keep his money in a sock in his dresser. The coffee can obviously was no longer safe. He now had less than five hundred dollars plus the couple of thousand on file with Manny. How was he ever going to take care of Jenny?

Somehow Justin got through the rest of the day. He did a couple more blowjobs and got no tips. He wondered if he was losing his touch. Blowjobs still tended to make him a little queasy even though he had managed not to throw up again like he had done with Max. He felt his arm throb at the thought.

When Justin returned to his room at the end of the day, he was very tired and felt a little defeated. His emotions were on such a rollercoaster ride these days. One minute he was sure he could handle everything and the next he felt about four years old and wanted his Mommy to look after him.

He ran a bath and sank into the soothing smell of the rose water he had added. As he sat soaking his mind wandered to Brian. Brian was the only one who could have taken his money, but he didn't really want to believe that. Somewhere deep inside he still felt all kinds of troubling and wonderful things for that man. He tried to remind himself that Brian didn't want him, that Brian had not taken him up on his overture, that Brian must have stolen his money.

Justin refused to cry this time. He had cried enough over the past few days. He was going to be strong. He climbed out of the tub and dried off. The bed looked very inviting and he slid in.

"I love you, Jenny," was the last thing he said before he fell asleep.

 

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He awoke a little after ten and made some coffee. He looked at the empty can still in the back of the cupboard where he had shoved it. He hadn't had the heart to throw it out after discovering that all his hard earned money was gone. Maybe he was hoping that one day he'd look in the can and it all would have miraculously reappeared.

He snorted at his own folly as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Billy had not appeared this morning either. Justin wondered where he could be. He hoped he was all right and had found someone to look out for him. Just his luck if Billy had found someone when he couldn't.

Justin decided he would go out for the morning. He wanted another long sleeved sweater to cover his bruised arms. He could use some time away from the Quoin. He stopped by the front desk on his way out. Manny was at his usual post.

"Have you heard from Billy?" Justin asked.

Manny shook his head. "I'm looking for someone to replace him today. I've already made a few calls."

"Oh," Justin said. He would be sorry that Billy wouldn't be around. They had always had a sort of friendship. It would be strange at the Quoin without Billy there, but in a couple of months he would be leaving too.

Justin returned around two o'clock. Manny was talking to a client at the desk so he just waved and headed on up to his room with his new sweater. He planned to wear it for the next client he had.

The door to his room stood open. A wave of panic ran through him. Someone was trying to steal the rest of his money. He raced down the hall and flew through the doorway. He stopped dead in his tracks. Near his bed stood Brian looking at his sketchbook.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Justin yelled. "Trying to take some more of my money?"

"What?" Brian asked turning towards Justin. "I didn't take your money."

"How do you know it's missing then?" Justin demanded glaring at Brian.

"Didn't you speak to Manny?"

"No, why should I? I'm calling the cops."

"I'm sure the cops would love to come to the Quoin. Manny will be ecstatic to have them here," Brian said with all the sarcasm he could muster.

Justin hesitated. "How the fuck could you have the nerve to come back here?"

"I work here," Brian said with that supercilious attitude that made Justin want to strangle him.

"Not any more! Manny won't have a thief in the Quoin."

"He gave me the keys," Brian stated dangling the keys in Justin's face.

"He did?" Justin asked faltering in his resolve. "Why would he do that?"

"He told me about your money being stolen. It wasn't me, Justin," Brian said his voice softening and the sincerity seeming to come through. "I may be a lot of things but I'm not a thief."

"How do I know I can believe you?" Justin asked hoping what Brian said was true. He still had feelings for the man.

"Manny believed me. Why would I come back here if I had your money?"

"To steal more," Justin declared before he could stop himself.

"Then I'm a pretty fucking stupid thief. Why would I be standing at the scene of the crime? Don't you think I would avoid this room like the plague?"

"Maybe," Justin admitted slowly.

"Besides Manny checked out where I've been for the last couple of days. He understands why I didn't come in."

"And why's that?" Justin asked wanting to believe Brian but needing the full story.

"It's kind of complicated."

"I'm not going anywhere and neither are you until you tell me why you stayed away. You don't look sick."

"I never said I was sick. Something came up."

"Yeah? Like what?"

Brian sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'd like to tell you, Justin, but it's a long, awful story."

Justin heard the part about Brian wanting to tell him and his heart soared. He tried to rein in his emotions. "I'd like to hear the story, if you think you can trust me."

"I'm supposed to be working," Brian said. "Could you … um … come to dinner with me and I'll explain everything?"

"Tonight?" Justin asked. Brian nodded. "I might have to work," Justin replied knowing Manny was shorthanded.

"I need to fix your faucet," Brian said wearily. "If you want to come with me meet me in the lobby at seven. If you're not there, I'll know that you still don't trust me." He turned abruptly and went into the bathroom to work on the faucet.

Justin stood uncertainly in his room. He wanted to trust Brian, but he had just found him alone in his room again. He went to the dresser and pulled out the sock containing his latest tips. It was still intact. He glanced over his shoulder to see if Brian was watching him. The man was nowhere in sight and Justin could hear him tapping on the pipes. He stuffed the sock in his pocket, just in case. He decided he better find out why Manny had let Brian back into his room unsupervised.

Manny told Justin that Brian had seemed very sincere and he had talked on the telephone with the friend that he had been with for the last few days.

"Friend?" Justin asked. He didn't like the sound of that.

"This friend was in the hospital. I had to go through the switchboard of Pittsburgh General, so what Brian said was true."

"Oh," Justin said slowly. "Was the friend sick?"

"I didn't really get into that. She just said there had been a medical problem and Brian had stayed with her."

"Her? The friend was a her?"

Manny nodded. "It all seemed legit so I gave Brian the keys to continue fixing things. He didn't touch anything in your room, did he?"

"No … no, he didn't, but then who took my money?"

"I don't know, Justin, but I don't believe it was Brian."

Justin turned away thoroughly confused. Who could have stolen his money if it wasn't Brian? He had been sure it was the handyman. On the other hand he was happy that Brian didn't seem to be the thief. He was glad for a chance to talk to the man at dinner tonight. Maybe there was still some hope for them. He immediately pushed that thought away. He was going to stand on his own two feet and stop looking for a white knight to rescue him. He didn't need to fall into that trap again.

Justin turned back to Manny. "Do you need me to work tonight or did you hire a new boy?"

"I hired someone that Billy had recommended to me a couple of weeks ago. He starts tonight and seems okay, so you can have the night off if you want."

"Thanks, Manny. He didn't say anything about where Billy might be, did he?"

"I never thought to mention it. I'll ask him when he comes in."

Justin went up to his room. He would wear his new sweater when he went out to dinner with Brian. In the meantime he thought he might sketch until it was time to get ready. He picked up his sketchbook remembering that Brian had been looking at it when he had confronted him. He wondered which pictures the handyman had seen.

He flipped open the book and looked at the cottage scene with Jenny and the butterfly. He really liked that drawing. The next one was Brian's face. He had done a good job on that face. He wished Brian would look at him like that all the time. He sighed and flipped to the drawing of Brian's dick and the tool belt. He grinned. He wondered if Brian had looked at that one. The next one was Brian with a hand, Justin's hand, on his chest pushing him away. It was powerful in a disturbing kind of way. He had captured something strange about the emotion on Brian's face. Maybe he'd show it to him someday and see what he thought. That was if they survived this fucking dinner. A glance at the clock told him he better get ready.

Half an hour later he stood in the lobby waiting for Brian. Manny said he hadn't seen him. As the minutes ticked away Justin began to think he had been made a fool of again. Just like the other night Brian was leaving him hanging, waiting and wondering if he would show up. And he wouldn't.

Justin's temper had begun to rise when Brian finally came down the stairs from above. He was sweaty and out of breath.

"You're still here," he said.

"Disappointed?" Justin asked sarcastically. He was ready to cry once again. Those fucking hormones!

"No, I was hoping you'd wait. I had a little flood on the second floor and I had to get it stopped and cleaned up before I could leave. I was hoping you'd still be here."

Justin relaxed a bit with that explanation.

"I really need to shower before we go to dinner. Do you mind coming to my place while I get cleaned up?"

Justin wasn't about to refuse. He wanted to see where Brian lived and what sorts of things he was interested in.

The apartment was tiny, a third floor walk-up. Justin was surprised that it was so sparsely furnished with what looked like secondhand furniture. He had thought Brian liked the finer things for some reason. The place didn't show much for thirty years of Brian's life.

Brian showered quickly and reappeared in pale blue denim. It was a style that suited him. Justin thought he looked scrumptious enough to eat. Forget about dinner.

"What kind of food do you like?" Brian asked.

"Just about anything," Justin said with a grin.

"That doesn't help to narrow down where we're going."

"Um … if you want … we could order pizza and stay here and talk," Justin suggested. He wanted to get to know Brian and find out what had happened over the last few days.

Brian raised an eyebrow. "You're a cheap date." Justin could see him blush immediately.

"What?" Justin asked noting the man's embarrassment.

"I … I don't do dates. I don't know why I said that."

Justin hoped he knew why. "We're just friends sharing a pizza," Justin said trying to make things better.

"Right."

Brian went to the phone and placed the order. He grabbed a couple of beers, but Justin asked for a soda instead.

"I'll be glad when I can have beer again," Justin said as he sipped his soda.

"The baby?" Brian asked and that strange, sad look passed over his face again.

Justin nodded. "Not quite four months left."

"How … how did it happen?"

"Broken condom."

"Why … why are you keeping it?"

"I want a family," Justin said with such simplicity that Brian wanted to take him into his arms and hold him and kiss him and protect him.

"You don't have any other family?"

Justin felt the tears. He never talked about what had happened to his family, but he wanted to tell Brian. "My mother and father went to visit my grandparents in New York just before…just before…just before that dirty bomb went off about three years ago."

He didn't need to say anymore. Brian's arms came around him and held him close. He felt a few tears run down his cheeks. When Brian released him he saw tears on the man's face as well.

"What's wrong?" Justin asked.

"It's about why I was AWOL from the job at the Quoin," Brian said slowly wiping his face and staring at Justin.

"Tell me. I want to know."

Brian sighed and began.




 

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