Devil's Playground

Chapter 2

"So," Daphne began, looking at Justin out the corner of her eyes. He was gripping his seatbelt in one hand, and the door handle in the other, "What'd you do after I left last night?"

Swallowing loudly, Justin shut his eyes tightly and prayed that this ride would be over soon. "I unpacked my satchel and became acquainted with the room. If I am going to be living there for the next year or so, I should get comfortable, I suppose."

Justin thought of his moment with the photograph last night. Eyeing Daphne warily, he wondered if she could sense the sin on him. She'd told him that you could do anything, yet his mother's voice, telling him that sinners were marked by the hand of Satan, was loud and clear in his head. He wondered if that would change after time.

"Yeah, sorry about the room theme. Mikey, that's Debbie's son, has this insane obsession with comic books. He like, loves them. It's really weird how obsessed really. I mean, he talks about them all the time. It's like everything that happens in life can somehow be explained by a comic. He can tell you all this shit about any character. I should've figured his room décor would involve comic book characters," Daphne explained.

"Shit? What does that mean? Is that an outside term for information?" Justin asked, intrigued by this new vocabulary word.

Stopping at a red light, Daphne turned to gape at Justin. Shaking her head softly, she smiled. This must have been what Melanie and Lindsay felt like. It was hard to believe that she, herself, had ever been in a place in her life where she was that naïve.

"Um, it's like…" Daphne paused, trying to find an explanation, "well, it has lots of meanings really. First, it can be a word used to describe excrement."

"Excrement?" he asked, a disgusted look taking over his features.

"Yeah, but, it can also mean stuff. Like, if you were packing to leave, I could say to you, get your stuff together, or, I could say to you, get your shit together. The way I used it, I replaced the word questions. I could have said I asked them some questions about Debbie's son, but instead I said, I asked them some shit."

Nodding in understanding, Justin stored the information in his brain. 'No,' he thought to himself, 'he stored this shit in his brain'. Smiling, pleased with himself, Justin didn't even notice that his grip loosened on the door and seatbelt. Daphne did, and grinned to herself, happy that Justin was easing up.

Entering the mall parking lot, Justin's eyes widened at the number of vehicles he saw lined up, one after the other. It was unbelievable.

Daphne spotted a space between two other cars, and arranged to pull into it. Justin watched, mesmerized, as she steered the huge, chunk of metal into a space that appeared to be entirely too small for the process. The wonders never ceased.

With the car all parked, Daphne and Justin got out and walked through the parking lot into the store. Along the way Justin noticed that all the cars had different names. Feeling a sinking feeling in his stomach, he realized that there was so much he was sheltered from in the colony. While he missed his family, he still wasn't sure if being sheltered had been a good thing or not.

"Penny for your thoughts," Daphne spoke up, noticing the conflicting emotions that were passing over Justin's face.

Jumping, startled, he glanced at Daphne with a puzzled look on his face.

"You want to give me a penny for thinking?"

Daphne stopped, at a loss for words. Gaping at Justin again, she was suddenly taken over by laughter. This kid was too cute for words. Helping him out was definitely going to be an experience.

"No, it's just an expression. It's just another way of asking what you were thinking."

"Oh," Justin replied, frowning. Living on the outside seemed to require learning a foreign language, "I was just thinking that there is so much to learn. I don't know that I will ever be able to fully fit in, especially in as short of a time period as a year is. Though right now, a year seems like forever."

Reaching over, Daphne laced her fingers through his. "I know how that feels Justin. I look at you and I think back to when I first was released. It was all so foreign, so different. You'll learn though. You'll get used to it," she reassured him.

Pausing to pull open the door, Daphne ushered him inside.

"Welcome to Pittsburgh's finest shopping center! Ross Park Mall. Ok…let's see…So many stores, so little time," Daphne informed him, rubbing her hands together. Eyeing Justin carefully, she slowly walked around him, looking him up and down.

"What are you doing?" he asked, confused by her behavior.

"Well, judging by your build, I'd say we could find some nice outfits for you in Banana Republic, J. Crew, American Eagle…hmm, on the way home we can even check out Old Navy. There isn't one in this mall, I still can't believe it. Anyways, we can also check some of the department stores, they can have some bargains in their clearance and sales racks," she answered.

Justin wasn't really sure what she was talking about. He assumed that she was naming stores, but he didn't really know what kind of things they sold there. He figured he'd just go with the flow, and let what happened happen. He gaped at Daphne as she continued her little circle around him. He began shifting awkwardly. He felt like a small rabbit being circled by a pack of hungry wolves.

"Well, I think I have an idea of what kind of look we're going for. Let's go," Daphne muttered, grabbing his hand and pulling.

The number of stores was endless. Justin looked around in awe. Wall to wall, when one ended, another began. There were fake people in the window, some in obscene poses, others half naked. At least they were faceless…there was some respect for the commandment in place. There were pictures though…hundreds and hundreds of pictures…women and men of all ages displayed as if there were nothing wrong with the replication of one's image. Blasphemy.

There was one poster that took up the entire window of one of the shops. It was a girl and a guy, around his age, locked in what could only be described as a passionate embrace. What caused that? Where did those emotions come from? His mother and father never looked at one another that way. No one in the colony did.

"Doesn't that picture just make you want to fuck?" Daphne asked, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Fuck?"

"Well, you know. Fuck…like, have sex," she continued.

"You mean procreate?" Justin asked, confused.

Laughing, Daphne grabbed him by the hand and pulled him into the store they were standing in front of. 'American Eagle' Justin read. 'Was this a bird store?' he wondered. 'Who in their right mind would go shopping in a center such as this for creatures of the sky?'

As they stepped in, he saw there was nothing remotely related to eagles, or birds at all for that matter.

"Here in the real world, Jus, it's not just procreating. Here, it's like…a sport!" Daphne declared giggling mischievously, "It's like a hunt! You go out on the prowl, dressed to the nines, searching for your kill. At a bar, at a party, wherever you want! Then you look until you find him, or, in your case a her. You talk, you flirt, but ultimately, you seduce. Then, just because it feels damn good, you go to bed together and fuck your brains out!"

Justin's eyes widened until Daphne was sure that they would fall out of his head. His hand still caught in hers, she pulled him over to a rack of men's cargo pants.

"But Daphne, the Word says that it is sinful to come together in an act of passion without the intention of bringing life into this world. Besides, how would you prevent a child, short of being barren?"

Dropping Justin's hand to go through the pants, Daphne eyed the boy's waist carefully before turning to the pants.

"Well, there's ways of preventing pregnancy. As for the Word and what it says…I say fuck it. Listen Justin…you have to open your mind. Understand, here, our old world doesn't exist. You won't get anywhere or experience anything different or fun if you're constrained by who you were. Who you were a few days ago isn't who you are now, or who you will be throughout this year. It's like being born again Justin, without the set of rules we are given as Amish. I mean, don't get me wrong. You still have your basics like, don't kill, rob, maim, etc, but…I don't know. I can't explain it. All I know is that if you don't let go of Amish Justin, you'll never be able to get to know any other Justin. Now, you look like a 29 or 30 waist…Here," Daphne paused, grabbing a variety of cargo pants and thrusting them into Justin's arms, "ok, shirts…let's see. You're so tiny…let's get you some tight stuff, but not too tight. Hmmm," Daphne went through racks.

"Nothing with words!! I don't like them, they don't make sense!" Justin blurted out quickly.

Eyeing him, Daphne murmured an ok and kept looking.

"What about numbers?" she asked, puzzled at his outburst.

Shrugging Justin accepted a few shirts from her. Numbers were probably ok. It seemed like everything had some kind of word or number on it. Leaving him with the clothes in his arms, Daphne said she was going to go find a worker to let them into the dressing room. Eyeing all the mirrors warily, Justin began wondering what he was getting himself into with this clothes situation. It couldn't be worse than the clothes they wore at the colony though. Tight, restrictive, and stiff linens were never fun.

"Ok, let me make sure no one's in here," a pretty, brunette smiled quickly looking through the keys in her key chain. She knocked on the door. When no one answered, she inserted a key and turned to Daphne. "Ok, how many do you have?"

"Oh, I don't have any. He's got a bunch though; it's for him. Justin, how many pieces do you have?" Daphne asked.

Assuming she meant the clothes, Justin began counting everything he had. Because he was so focused on the task, he didn't notice her gaping at him. Daphne didn't miss it though, and she hid a grin.

"15," Justin called out.

"Well, policy says you can only take 7 at a time," the girl began, but she smiled at Justin. "We can overlook that for you though. I'm sure you won't steal anything, right?" she flirted.

Looking shocked and appalled Justin shook his head vehemently.

"Right. I'll be waiting for you by the register. Let me know if you need anything," she finished, winking.

"She wants you so bad!" Daphne whispered when the girl was out of earshot. She giggled and shoved Justin in the dressing room.

"Wants me for what?" Justin asked naively.

"Well, duh! You're body!"

"Oh!" Justin blushed furiously, grateful that he was hidden in the room.

Grabbing the first shirt and pair of pants, he went to put both on. He got the shirt on no problem, but the pants were another story. He knew buttons. Buttons weren't an issue, but there was this metal contraption that seemed to have teeth. He'd ask Daphne when he got out. Buttoning the pants, he turned and stared at himself in the mirror. He couldn't believe the difference. He turned from side to side admiring himself. It was so different to see himself in something other than the black slacks and blue collared shirts. He was wearing a pair of amber colored pants with a seemingly endless supply of pockets. He had a shirt that was a dark blue in the torso, and a lighter blue in the sleeves, with a 34 in the middle. The blue seemed to make his eyes brighter. Weird.

Opening the door, he stepped out to show Daphne.

"Holy fucking shit!"

Startled, he looked down and asked, "What?!"

"You're fucking hot. Justin! Turn around! Whoa! What a butt you have on you! God damn! Working on the farm has done your body good. Let me feel your abs!" Daphne walked towards him, her arms outstretched. She began rubbing and poking at his stomach. He giggled at the sensations.

"Stop, stop! It tickles, Daphne!"

Easing up, Daphne turned towards the dressing room to get the other clothes, when Justin stopped her.

"Daph, what's this?" he asked, pointing to the zipper of the jeans.

"Shit! I forgot. These things confused the shit out of me at first too. It's a zipper," she explained, "you just pull it up and it closes. It's really weird. I don't even really know how it works. But all you gotta do is this."

Leaning down, she grabbed the zipper with one hand, and pulled the cloth at the base of the zipper tight and zipped. Justin watched in disbelief. It was so strange how the contraption just closed up suddenly. He laughed in amusement.

Laughing with him, Daphne walked into the dressing room,

"I think we're good. We'll take these in the same sizes, some different colors. Other shirts and whatnot. Next store here we come! Don't take that outfit off! We're cutting the tags off and paying for them! No more nasty Amish clothes for you! Let's go! The sales girl is going to shit herself!" Daphne stated, walking out of the dressing room with a pile of clothes in her arms.

They walked up to the counter where Daphne unceremoniously dropped all the clothes on the counter. The sales girl's eyes widened to the point where Daphne thought they would roll out of her head. It wasn't over the sale, but over the young man the clothes were going to. As she rang everything up, Daphne explained that Justin wanted to keep the clothes he had on, on.

"Well, if your boyfriend would just walk around back here, I can just get the theft device off the shirt and he'll be fine."

"He's not my boyfriend, but ok," Daphne said, grinning at this girl's blatant information digging tactics.

Justin walked behind the counter to stand next to the girl. She grabbed the hem of the shirt where the little piece of plastic was sitting, and rubbed her knuckles gently over the skin of his abdomen in the process. He looked at her, confused, and she grinned back and winked. Once the plastic was off, Justin just wanted to bolt from where he stood, but she caught his arm and asked him to wait. Ripping some paper off the register, she jotted something down, folded it and shoved it into his pocket. She let her hand linger in his pocket as she whispered, "Use it."

Throwing Daphne on last furtive glance, the girl turned and went back to work.

Grabbing a bag each, they walked out of American Eagle, Daphne a few dollars poorer.

The remainder of the shopping trip was for the most part, exactly the same. Everywhere they went, girls were throwing themselves at Justin, wanting his attention, flirting, giving him numbers. Justin was shocked by what was occurring. Girls were seeking his attention, displaying sexuality in the most unfitting of ways, all for him! What would his parents say?!

"Stop thinking Justin," Daphne joked, as they walked to the car.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I can hear the wheels in your brain spinning as you analyze everything that's occurring. Just stop. Let things happen. All those girls loved you! You're hot, you're sexy. Shit, if I wasn't seeing someone I'd probably throw myself at you!"

Justin blushed furiously. He helped Daphne load all the purchases into her trunk.

"How am I going to pay you back?" Justin asked.

"Sexual favors," Daphne replied, a serious look plastered on her face.

As she opened her door and dropped into the driver's seat. Justin just gaped, unsure of what to say. He opened the door and got in, looking at her skeptically. Daphne, noticing his look, burst into laughter.

"I'm just joking, you weirdo," she replied, elbowing him gently.

As she started the car, the radio turned on, not having been turned off previously. Justin jumped, startled. He would never get used to the fact that a person was speaking through that little machine.

"I love this song!" Daphne squealed, turning the radio up.

Pull over

Let me do all the work

My hands wrapped around

Stroking up and down

But nothing can compare to

The warmth of my mouth

Justin's eyes widened at the song. The singer was…she was talking about…oh my goodness! He couldn't even fathom. She was discussing…

I love every sound you make

When I'm down

Nothing can prepare you for

The Warmth of my

Mouth against your mouth

Getting you aroused

Whisper in your ear

I think I'll take it further south

Kissing on your neck

Rubbing on your leg

Slide a little further up

I feel you get erect

Looking at Daphne, his eyes got wider. This song was absolutely scandalous and Daphne was SINGING ALONG! Putting his hands over his ears, he yelled over the music,

"Turn it off!!! Turn it off!!!"

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Daphne asked, confused. Leaning over, she turned the knob until the volume was all the way down.

"That SONG was DISGUSTING! I can't believe that they're talking like that! And you said that people can hear that ALL OVER!? Unbelievable!"

Rolling her eyes, Daphne tried to explain yet again.

"Justin, c'mon. This is what popular music is like for the most part. SEX ISN'T BAD HERE! Everyone has sex. There are kids your sister's age already having kids. It's not a big deal."

"So, it isn't sinful?"

"Justin, what is sinful? I mean, somewhere, someone is always going to be telling you something is sinful. The difference is that here, things aren't dictated by religion. Not the way they are back home."

"So, touching yourself isn't bad?" he asked, looking away, pretending to be preoccupied with something out the window.

"Masturbating you mean? Shit no! I do it all the time. Sometimes Curtis just can't give me what I need so I tweak and twerk and happiness achieved."

"So…so you touch yourself too?" Justin turned to face her, more comfortable after Daphne's admission.

"Yeah. Everyone does."

"Well, do you…squirt stuff out?" Justin asked uncertainly.

"What!?"

"Does white stuff spray out of you too? What is it? Is it normal? Is it poisonous?" Justin asked hurriedly.

"Um…Ok. First, no…White stuff doesn't spray out of me. That's just for guys. That's cum Justin. It's the juice that carries the sperm that makes girls pregnant. It is normal, and no it's not poisonous. In fact, when someone gives someone head, they swallow it!"

"Swallow it? You mean, you put your mouth down there?" Justin asked incredulously.

Laughing, Daphne looked over at Justin and said, "Honey, you have a lot to learn."

Daphne pulled into a parking space on Liberty Ave. She knew that bringing Justin here was going to be a rude awakening, but she had a feeling. Those numbers from the various girls were going to go unnoticed because this little blonde bombshell had a thing for the cock.

Justin looked around as he stepped out of the car. There were rainbows on everything. Rainbows and upside down triangles. 'Strange decorations' he thought. Turning, he was about to say so to Daphne when he caught sight of it. Two women. Locked in an embrace. Passionately kissing. What was going on?! Turning again, he paled as he saw two men walking arm in arm, looking at each other, oblivious to all. Was this possible?

"Justin…hey Justin…Shit!" Daphne exclaimed, pulling him towards the door to a shop right in front of them.

The ringing bell caught the owner's attention, and he looked up to see who entered.

"Daphne," he said, smiling, "what's up?"

Daphne barely spared the man a glance, instead focusing completely on Justin.

"Justin, breathe. It's ok! Don't worry! Breathe."

"I'm ok…I'm fine…It was just weird," Justin replied, shifting uncomfortable. The image of the men made the stiffness he seemed to be feeling often lately occur once more.

"Justin, this is Michael. Debbie's son. He owns this comic book store. Mikey, this is Justin, he's the latest one on Rumspringa."

"Hey Justin, good to meet you. I know Mom can be a bit out there when you first meet her, but she means well," Michael joked.

"Good to meet you, too. Was that two girls kissing each other? And two guys holding each other?" he asked, wanting to be sure that he'd seen correctly.

Sighing, Daphne replied, "Yeah. Look Justin, this is the gay center of the Pitts."

"Ok, so people are happy here. That doesn't answer my question," Justin pressed on.

Glaring at Michael when the man laughed, Daphne explained, "No. Here the term gay can have more than one meaning. One is happy, as you know it. The other is a man who loves other men, as opposed to loving women. There is a separate term for women. It's lesbian."

"You mean…men can love other men romantically? It's ok here?"

Michael snorted, and patted Justin on the shoulder, "It's not ok. But there are people and organizations who are trying to make it so. I mean, it's not wrong, but a lot of people feel it is. We're trying to convince them that they're wrong."

Nodding, Justin feigned understanding. He would do anything to get this man to quit touching him. He felt sleazy…just wrong being touched by him.

"Look Justin, let's get to the diner. We can talk to Deb and you can see where you'll be working."

Swallowing hard, Justin nodded. Saying goodbye to Michael, they headed out the door.

"Well, quite a hot little piece of ass Mom got this time. Better than that fuckhead, Cody," Michael muttered to himself. Walking to his phone, he lifted it to call his best friend Brian and fill him in.

It was around lunchtime, so the place was crowded. Justin looked around, amazed at the number of people crammed into the building. In booths there were men sitting on other men's laps. Some were kissing with such fervor, it seemed they were trying to swallow each other whole. On the walk to the diner from the comic book store, little Justin had calmed down. For whatever reason, the sights he was seeing made him perk right back up.

"Hey you guys! Come sit right up here on these stools! They've got your names written all over them!" they heard Deb much before they saw her.

Following Daphne, he stopped when a hand caught his wrist. It was a guy, about his age, with curly black hair and short, trim facial hair. He believed it was called a goatee. He simply thought it looked like a rat was on his chin.

"Hey beautiful, you're new here."

"Yeah, just moved into town," Justin forced out. Beautiful…this man called him beautiful. He was disgusted, yet turned on…all at the same time.

"I'm Ethan. Who are you?" the curly haired man continued.

"J-Justin."

Ethan grinned, thinking it was his attention that was making the young man fidgety.

"Well Justin, your face will haunt me and be the source of my music for the next hundred years. Put me out of my misery and call me before then," he finished, slipping a number into Justin's pocket.

Justin gave him a thin smile and continued towards Daphne. The young man looked greasy, disgusting…not something Justin liked in a mate. He stilled. Shocked by his thought. Why was he even considering a male a potential mate? Oh no…No! No! No! Daphne noticed his face again and yanked him roughly on the chair.

"What's the matter?" Deb asked, alarmed.

Swallowing hard, Justin decided it was time to confide in his new friends. There was no other choice.

"When I was on the farm, there was this boy. Ezekiel. He worked side by side with me in the fields. I was churning butter one day when I spied him working with his shirt off. Things…happened to my body. I felt.. I don't know. Alive, needy, all these different things. Now, these girls all wanted me to call them this morning, and I felt nothing. Now, seeing these men…on top of each other makes me feel the way Ezekiel did all over again," he finished, dropping his head into his hands.

Looking at each other wide eyed, Daphne and Debbie both turned to Justin,

"Sunshine, honey…" Deb began. "It's ok. Look. Things may have been unacceptable where you're from, but that's the point of getting out of there for the year. For you to see who you are, what you are. To learn about yourself and the rest of the world. Don't be ashamed, baby, just be yourself. You're beautiful no matter what; fuck everyone and everything else."

A ding was heard from the other end of the diner. Deb looked towards it then turned towards Justin, an apologetic look on her face.

"Sunshine, we'll talk tonight. Mikey, my son, well he's gay too. There are groups and people you can talk to. I have to get back to work now, my orders up. You guys sit tight and I'll put in orders for you. Burgers with the works," Placing a kiss on his check, she tapped his face lightly with her palm before walking away.

"How about we talk about something else? Then we can eat and go back to Deb's after that," Daphne whispered softly, rubbing his back.

"Yeah, ok," Justin whispered, his eyes shut tightly to prevent tears from spilling out. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes back up and looked at Daphne. Doing his best to keep his emotions under control, he smiled at her to give her some reassurance. Reaching his hand into his pocket, he pulled out lots of folded up pieces of paper.

"Man J, you got a shitload of numbers today!" Daphne exclaimed, laughing.

"Well, I know that they're numbers...but what are they numbers for Daph? They're broken down into series. What am I supposed to do with them?" he asked, genuinely perplexed.

Giggling, Daphne reached into her pocket and pulled out a rectangular piece of plastic. She laid it on the counter between them. Justin noticed it had three columns of numbers. It went from 1 -9 with 0 also at the very bottom nestled between two funny figures. He watched as Daphne reached for one of the pieces of paper. She unfolded it and placed it on the table above the phone.

"Ok. You see all the numbers on this paper?" she asked.

Nodding, Justin paid close attention. This looked complicated.

"Well, first thing to remember, is that you always have to pay attention to these first three numbers. See these in between these curved lines?"

"Daphne," Justin muttered, annoyed, "I know what parenthesis are. I did get school through the eighth grade you know."

"Well, you always dial a one first. Then you dial all the numbers, starting with the ones in the parenthesis."

"Ok, so I dial. Then what?"

"Well, on a house phone, you just wait for someone to pick up and you ask for who you want to talk to and talk. On cell phones like these, you push this little green button, and when the other person picks up, you talk. Like this," Daphne proceeded to call her apartment where she knew her answering machine would pick up.

"Ok, so where's the other person?" Justin asked, looking around.

"What are you looking for?"

"Well, the other person you'd be talking to wouldn't actually be here," Daphne replied.

"What do you mean? Then how do you talk?" Justin asked, not grasping the concept at all.

"Through the phone. They have one too, wherever they may be."

Justin gaped at her, "So you're talking to a person that's not really there?"

"Well," Daphne shrugged, "kinda."

"I don't like it."

Justin awoke slowly, the fuzziness slowly seeping out of his brain. He froze when he felt another warm body in his bed. As the events of the day came back to him, Justin looked down at the top of Daphne's head. Her small body was curled into his own, her head on his chest They had come back to talk and must have dozed off. Smiling, he thought of what his mother's reaction to him sharing a bed with another girl would be.

His mother. The smile slid from his face slowly as he thought of his family. He felt bad, but the more he learned about this outside world, the more he grew to like it. There was so much freedom, so many possibilities. No one was expecting anything of him, there were no requirements he was expected to meet. Nothing. That didn't mean that he didn't think about them, or miss them. It was just, different.

Hearing a click, he turned towards the door to the room. The man he'd met earlier, Deb's son poked his head in.

"Hi Justin, it's Michael. I didn't mean to wake you, I just needed to get some comics out of here for my shop."

Justin nodded, his brain not having reached fully functional mode yet.

Then there was this man. He was Deb's son. Not the guy who was in the picture. He wondered about the man in the photograph. Who was he and why was his photo in this room? Deb had said Michael was gay. Did that mean that the man in the photo was his partner?

"Where are they?" he heard Michael mumble as he opened one of the drawers in the dresser. Turning towards Justin, he asked, "Did you move them?"

"Are you talking about those thin little pamphlet type things that had colorful people wearing tight clothes?"

"Yeah! Where'd you put them?" Michael asked, smiling.

"They were all stained and disgusting," Justin paused, making a face at the memory. He was so focused on remembering that he didn't see Michael's pathetic little blush, "I threw them away. They were awful."

Michael just stood there gaping at Justin for what seemed like an eternity. Justin began to shift uncomfortably under the scrutiny.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN, YOU THREW THEM AWAY!?"

Justin jumped, startled by the man's scream. Daphne, who'd still been sleeping, bolted upright by the sudden outburst.

"What the fuck is going on?" she asked rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"They were just there, dirty, wrinkled. They were disgusting. I figured nobody would miss them, so I just threw them out this morning," Justin repeated.

"I can't fucking believe you threw them away! That was the fucking issue where Captain Astro becomes a woman! You piece of shit!!" Michael continued screaming.

"Michael, calm the fuck down! He didn't know what it was! It wasn't on purpose!" Daphne jumped in, defending her new friend.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Deb asked, bursting into the room.

"Michael's pissed because Justin threw out some old, cum stained comic," Daphne snarked, glaring at Michael.

"The asshole threw out the issue where Captain Astro -"

"Watch you're fucking mouth, you Shithead! Justin's new here! And I don't want to hear a fucking thing about your comic! I've told you a million fucking times to get all your shit together and out of this room! Serves you right! Time you learned a God damned lesson."

"But ma!"

"Don't you 'but ma' me!"

"This is my fucking room!" Michael exclaimed, stomping his foot.

"Oh really?! Cause last time I checked it was my name and Vic's on the fucking lease. And it was my fucking money that paid the God damned mortgage! And it's my fucking money that furnished this shit hole! So I think that actually makes it one of my many rooms!"

Looking between the two women and Justin, Michael saw he wasn't going to win.

"Did you take out the garbage already?" he asked.

"I don't know. Go ask Vic, you little asshole," Deb replied.

Michael glared at Justin one last time before he stomped out of the room like a child.

Smiling at Justin, Debbie told him, "Don't worry about him Sunshine. You and Daphne get ready for dinner. It's waiting for ya."

Michael stormed into the apartment he shared with his friend Emmett. He couldn't remember a time that he was so fucking pissed. What the fuck was wrong with this kid!? He threw away his fucking comics! Then, to add insult to the injury, when he'd gone digging through the garbage, he found that the comic was buried beneath all the fucking moldy food his mom had in her refrigerator. Of all fucking days to decide to clean it out, it had to be that one.

Picking up his phone, he decided to call Brian. His mom wanted him to let everyone know about family dinner on Sunday anyways.

"Kinney," the familiar voice said in the form of a greeting.

"Hey Brian," Michael murmured sweetly, everything temporarily forgotten at the sound of Brian's voice.

"Mikey, what's up?"

"The little fucker staying with my mom is an asshole!" Michael declared.

"Really?" Brian answered, amused. Earlier, Michael had called to tell him about how fucking hot the kid was. He wondered what had changed, "What happened?"

Michael related his story to Brian, telling him about how Justin had ruthlessly thrown away his comics, thus allowing them to be ruined by his mother's old food. Brian was glad that Mikey was telling him this over the phone so he wouldn't catch him rolling his eyes or smiling.

"He fucked with Captain Astro," he began sarcastically, "that piece of shit."

"Yeah!! Anyways, Mom wants everyone over at her place Sunday so we can welcome him into the family."

"Sunday…Sunday…hmm…I'll have to see that I have no other previous arrangements. After all, between a good fuck and a good dinner, it's the good fuck that makes me lose a load, not gain one."

"Ew, Brian, that's fucking gross. Just be there or Ma will have your balls," Mikey whined. He needed his best friend to be there if he was going to stomach seeing the blonde asshole again.

"Bye Mikey."

Song Warmth By Janet Jackson