Small Town
Part 6
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When Justin finally pulled himself away from Brian after sitting in the car in front of his house for a good ten minutes, he walked up to the front door and unlocked it. Entering the house, he turned and gave a small wave and a smile towards the car, sighing when Brian drove off. He shut the door and locked it then turned off the outside light. With a huge smile still plastered on his face he headed for the kitchen.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
“AHHHHHHH!” Justin yelled and jumped. “Mom, you scared the shit out of me,” he said, gasping with his hand held across his chest.
“Justin. Language,” Jennifer reprimanded.
“Sorry, Mom.”
“So, where have you been?” Jennifer asked, picking up her coffee and taking a sip.
“Just out with a friend,” Justin replied, sounding slightly muffled as his head was stuck in the fridge.
“Oh, who?”
Pulling back and closing the fridge, Justin turned around, holding a soda in one hand and a chicken leg in the other, with a huge bite taken out of it. Waiting until he was done chewing, he swallowed then answered his mother. “Brian.”
“Oh, Brian,” the woman said with a nod of her head, then looked sharply at her son. “Brian who?”
Justin was well aware that his mother liked to know EVERYTHING that was going on in her children’s lives, but for some reason she was pushing beyond her normal nosiness. He furrowed his brows, wondering what was going on. Instantly a shiver ran down his spine as a terrifying thought ran through his head. ‘She saw.’ But she couldn’t have, she would have had to be looking out the window, watching to have seen. He eyed his mother, looking for a sign that she knew something , but the woman was giving nothing away. But still, it did explain her behavior.
“Justin, I asked you who exactly is this Brian?”
“Um, just a guy I know. A new friend. He works down at Kinney’s. You know, the market?” he said, trying his best to act nonchalant. He leaned back against the kitchen counter and continued to eat his cold chicken. He wasn’t really hungry anymore, having lost his appetite from the strange vibe he was getting from his mother, but he didn’t want her to notice, so he chomped away.
“Yes, of course I know Kinney’s, Justin. So, he works there?” she asked, taking another sip of her coffee.
“Mom, what’s with the third degree?” the young man asked, trying to ignore the churning in the pit of his stomach.
“Sweetheart, can’t I just ask about the people you hang around with?”
Laughing slightly at his mother’s answer, he said, “You’ve known the people that I hang around with my whole life, Mom. Why the sudden interest in someone new?” He definitely figured something was up. His mother had NEVER been so inquisitive before.
“Well, it’s just that you don’t really seem to make new friends that often, Justin. So, I was, well, just wondering who this new person was.” Jennifer knew she was being too pushy, but she couldn’t stop herself. She HAD seen Justin and the other boy in the car.
Justin looked at his mother, his eyes shifting downwards for a minute, then back up to meet the ones that were identical to his. He knew she knew something. It wasn’t a question anymore. Just how much, how much had she seen? He wasn’t ready to deal with all of it now. He wasn’t sure when he would be, but he definitely knew it wasn’t then. Pouring the remainder of the soda down the drain and throwing the can into the recycling bin, then tossing the half-eaten chicken into the garbage, Justin said, “Goodnight, Mom,” and left the room.
Closing her eyes, Jennifer slowly let out the breath that she’d been holding since her son had walked into the kitchen. She’d always suspected that Justin was different from the other boys around town. He was artistic and seemed to see things from a different perspective then most of the other kids did, but she thought it was just his personality, his nature. Now she knew what it was. She shook her head, “Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe they were just, talking, closely, over the loud music.” She tried to tell herself any other reason that she could think of for what she knew she’d witnessed, but she couldn’t even convince herself. She knew what she’d seen. She wasn’t confused. She just kept hoping that maybe there was another explanation. But deep inside, she knew that there wasn’t.
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Upstairs in his room Justin’s head was spinning. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. What the fuck am I going to do?” he muttered under his breath as he paced. He knew she knew. He knew it. She was acting too weird and asking for just too much information.
She’d been spying on me? Watching me from the window? Why? Why would she feel like she had to watch me?
Sitting down on the edge of his bed, he dropped his head into his hands and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He couldn’t help but laugh as a stupid thought passed through his mind. ‘Well, at least she won’t keep trying to play match-maker now.’
He shook his head, too tired to deal with it anymore. He stood up, removed his clothes, tossed them into the hamper and crawled into bed. He hadn’t bothered to turn on the light when he’d first entered his room, too distracted by his mother’s behavior to even notice the darkness. He closed his eyes, wanting to push it all away. He didn’t want to think about it anymore. So what if she knew? She was his mother, she would love him no matter what. Wouldn’t she?
He tried to focus on something else, something better and instantly his mind went to Brian. A smile spread across his face at the mere thought of the man. He still couldn’t believe what they’d done, what he’d done. His smile widened as he said to himself, “I’m not a virgin anymore.” He felt as if he’d suddenly acquired a new badge from Cub Scouts. The ‘taken it up the ass and proud of it’ badge. ‘Hmph, I wonder if there really is such a thing?’ he thought. You never know with those Cub leaders, they always did seem kind of shifty around all of us.
Needing to shake the sick image from his mind, once again his thoughts turned towards Brian. Just the idea of the man made his dick twitch and his heart beat a little faster. He never knew he could feel like that about anyone, and was amazed that after such a short time he felt like the man was so important. He couldn’t wait to see him again and hoped that Brian felt the same way. He was pretty sure he did.
As he settled in to sleep, the conversation with his mother long forgotten, he replayed every little detail of the evening’s activities. He finally fell asleep with a huge smile on his face, a warm feeling throughout his body and the image of Brian’s beautiful face lingering in his thoughts.
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When Brian got home, he unlocked the door, walked into the house and quietly shut and locked the door behind him. He looked around and seeing that no one was still up, he was able to relax. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, downing it in one long gulp, then carefully tossed the empty bottle into the recycling bin. His mother freaked out if even one scrap of something that could be recycled landed in the garbage. She said that she wouldn’t allow her family to make any contributions to the demise of God’s precious planet. He snorted at the thought. She didn’t give a shit about the demise of her son’s life at the hands of his abusive father or neglectful mother, but she worried so much about a little bit of garbage that may fall into the wrong bin and destroy the precious gift from God. He sure knew his place in her life. Right below the garbage.
Making his way towards the staircase, his eyes caught the sight of his father passed out on the couch and instantly a jolt of fear passed through him. He tip-toed up to his room, making sure to avoid the spots on the stairs that he knew creaked. Sighing with relief he finally reached his room, shutting and locking the door behind him. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the back of the door. ‘Just a few more months,’ he repeated over and over in his head and felt himself start to calm. He was so tired of all the shit he had to deal with. So fucking tired of it.
He flopped down on the bed, laying on his back and resting his head on the pillow. Without thinking, he slid his hand underneath his mattress and pulled out a magazine. On the cover was a big, glossy picture of Patrick Swayze. He never got tired of looking at it, which was very obvious by the well-worn corners. Opening to the middle, he pulled something out and tossed the magazine beside him. A smile instantly spread across his face as he looked at the object held gently between his long fingers. It was a photograph of Justin.
He still remembered the day he’d taken it. It was just a few months ago. He was outside the store, taking a break when he saw the blond walking down the street. When he first caught sight of him, his heart began to beat a little faster and his palms started to sweat. His normal reaction to the man. But then he saw that he was with a girl, and his heart instantly fell. Maybe he was totally wrong? Maybe what he’d thought he sensed from the man was nothing more than a misreading of vibes on his part? He tried to shake the thought from his mind by telling himself that he couldn’t be wrong. He wouldn’t allow himself to even think about it. He needed to be right. It was one of the thoughts that kept him going when things got really tough. The hope that maybe one day, they would be together.
So, as he stood there watching the pair talk and laugh, he was taken back by the incredible beauty of the man and ducked into the store, grabbed a disposable camera, ran back outside and started shooting. He didn’t care that as he continued to take pictures the man had turned and walked away. All he cared about was that hopefully at least one of the shots would come out and he would have a permanent reminder of the blond. Something he could take out and look at whenever he needed a little boost. He couldn’t believe how many times he had needed to look at the photograph. He wondered what Justin would think if he told him? Would he think he was a nut? He laughed at himself, thinking that maybe he was a little crazy. But as he gazed at the face of the man on the only picture that had actually turned out, he knew that he was definitely crazy. Crazy about an amazing blond guy named Justin.