Mysterious Marilyn
Part 2
 

Mysterious Marilyn looked at Brian, then at the tarot cards displayed on the bar in front of him, then finally back at Brian. "Foolish, contemptuous one," she hissed. "The strong one.......the one who doesn't talk much.....he knows. He knows!" she said.

Emmett and Michael waited for the rest of the reading. Much to their disappointment, Marilyn began to gather up her cards.

"That's it?" Michael looked puzzled.

"He knows? What kind of a reading is that?" Emmett was equally unimpressed.

"I gave you the reading that you paid for. Can I be of anymore service to you gentlemen?" Marilyn asked.

"No thanks. I think we're good," Ted dismissed her.

"Numerology, astrology, tarot......" Marilyn moved on to the next group of patrons at the bar.

"I want my money back. I could have given a better reading than that," Emmett protested.

"What did you expect for twenty dollars, Emm?" Ted snickered. "Fortune tellers make their money by giving you a generic answer, and waiting for some kind of reaction from you. Marilyn was obviously trying to get a rise out of Brian that would give her some indication that she was on the right track to continue on. It's a common practice among gypsies, and faith healers. The longer they keep you talking, the easier it is to read you, the more money they can stiff you for. Before you know it, you've ended up giving them hundreds of dollars."

"The one who doesn't talk much knows." Michael tried to decipher Marilyn's message. "She must be talking about Tony! How else could Marilyn know that Tony doesn't talk much if she didn't have a gift?"

Once again, Ted was the voice of reason. "These kind of con artists are very astute. They already know something about their mark before they approach them. Marilyn was obviously listening in on our earlier conversation when Brian mentioned that Tony was quiet, and didn't talk very much at home," he said.

While Theodore continued to rationalize, Brian's mind flashed back to the trick in New York, and the chance encounter that under normal circumstances would have been long forgotten by now, if Brian had not been married at the time. Ted was right. Parlor games, that's all it was. At least that's what Brian told himself. There was no way Mysterious Marilyn could have known about his indiscretion. Like Ted said, Marilyn's reading was too vague. He knows. That could apply to anyone, in almost any situation.

"Okay, now that that's over we can get down to some serious talk. So, Emm, are you fucking anybody interesting?" Ted changed the subject.

"As a matter of fact, I am," Emmett said coyly.

"Really? Is it anybody we know?" Michael asked.

"I think you might." Emmett grinned. "His name is Drew Boyd."

"Who's Drew Boyd? Is he the guy who opened up that new bakery not far from the diner? My ma says he's taking away a lot of their business. The sale of lemon squares is way down," Michael said.

"I'm not talking about a baker!" Emmett took offense. "I'm talking about Drew Boyd, the quarterback for the Pittsburgh IronMen."

"I thought you catered his wedding," Brian recalled.

"I did," Emmett said.

"So he's bi?" Ted looked confused.

Brian took a sip of his beer, and happened to catch his reflection in the mirror facing him, behind the bar. There, watching him from across the crowded room was Mysterious Marilyn. "Bullshit. Show me a bi-guy, and I'll show you a closet fag." Brian ignored her, and continued on with the conversation.

"He says that he likes to fuck guys....." Emmett said.

"That's generally a homosexual trait," Ted interjected.

"But he doesn't kiss guys, or anything," Emmett added.

"What's, or anything?" Michael needed clarification. "You mean like being seen in public together?"

"Drew has his reputation to protect. If word of us ever got out, it could ruin his career." Emmett defended his position.

"Now you're letting breeders fuck you. How pathetic." Brian shook his head in disgust, and happened to glance back to the mirror. Marilyn was still there, watching him. This time Brian's mind returned to the trick in New York. Again he told himself that his concern was unwarranted. His secret was still safe. The old drag queen didn't have any mystical powers.

"Drew loves me. I can feel it when we're together," Emmett said.

"I'm sure his wife is thinking the same thing," Ted begged to differ.

That was Michael's cue to climb up on his soapbox. "People who love each other don't cheat on each other," he began. "It's a matter of respect. There's nothing worse than betrayal. I still remember how bad it felt when I found out that David was fooling around at the baths."

"It was just a hand-job." Brian frowned.

"It's still cheating!" Michael insisted. "I don't know what I would do if I ever found out that Ben was cheating on me. I can't think of anything that would hurt more. Forget what marriage counselors say. There's no coming back from infidelity. Once that trust is gone, it never really returns completely. There's always going to be that doubt, and who wants to live in doubt for the rest of his life?"

"I agree," Ted seconded.

Brian could feel himself becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Christ, was it always going to be like this? It was only a one-night-stand. Hell, Brian couldn't even remember what the trick looked like, let alone what Blondie's real name was. This awful feeling of guilt was foreign to the man who lived his life with no apologies and no regrets. Brian wondered if this was how his father felt on Sunday mornings after not coming home after work on Friday nights. How many times could Brian recall his mother in tears, vowing to leave Jack Kinney, even when she knew she couldn't. Where was a young mother to go with two small children in tow? For the sake of Brian, and his sister Claire some compromises had to be made. Jack was allowed to continue on with his cheating ways, while Joan Kinney replaced her loveless marriage with the vodka bottle that she kept hidden in the cabinet underneath the kitchen sink. Michael was right. Nothing ruins a marriage like betrayal.

Brian looked into the mirror behind the bar. This time Marilyn wasn't there. "And so ends tonight's discussion, boys." He stood up from his barstool.

Michael looked at his watch. "You're leaving already? It's still early. What about Babylon?" he said.

"Tonight I leave Babylon in Theodore's capable hands. I'm going home. I'm tired." Brian faked a yawn, then leaned over and gave Mikey a goodbye kiss.

With the hour of Babylon rapidly approaching, the crowd at the bar was becoming more and more dense. Brian pushed his way to the exit for a much needed cigarette, before the short drive back to Camelot. The door of Woody's had barely closed behind him when he took his first long drag. "Can a lady have a light?" A familiar voice interrupted him. It was Mysterious Marilyn.

"Why are you following me?" Brian snapped.

"I wasn't following you. I simply came outside for a smoke. Now, may I have that light?" Marilyn extended her cigarette to him.

Brian lit it cautiously, and waited for the old queen to finish her first puff. "So what do you want?" he asked.

"The question is what do you want," Marilyn said.

"I don't like riddles. Whatever you want to tell me, give it to me straight," Brian insisted.

"Why do you care if you have no faith in my gift?" Marilyn smirked.

"The strong one that doesn't talk much. What is it that he knows?" Brian cut to the chase.

Marilyn took another puff of her cigarette. "You already know the answer to that question," she said. "What you really want to know is if he's going to leave you. The answer is yes."

Brian could feel his heart sinking. How could he have made such a stupid mistake? No, stupid wasn't the right word. What Brian had done was nothing less than tragic. Everything that he, and Justin, and Tony had built together thus far could conceivably come crashing down around them because of his momentary lapse in judgment. Even if by some small miracle Justin would forgive him, there was no way that Tony would tolerate such a breach of confidence. Brian took another drag of his cigarette. This couldn't be happening. That old queen didn't know what she was talking about. Like Ted said, Marilyn was merely trying to get a reaction out of him that would indicate to her that her con was on the right track. Given Brian's history on Liberty Avenue, of course any half-way decent soothsayer would begin with his reputation for fucking everything that moves, and what are the odds that any couple will stay together forever? Indeed, maybe Marilyn wasn't quite as mysterious as she was making herself out to be.

Brian flicked the remainder of his cigarette onto the ground, and crushed it with his boot. "You almost had me going for a moment there." He smiled. "However, that was before it occurred to me that you haven't given me anything specific enough to convince me that you know jack-shit about my, or anyone else's future. You have about as much psychic abilities as my left nut."

Marilyn's face crimsoned. "How dare you....?" she gasped.

"How dare I? How dare you? Did you really think that you could run your hustle on me? Get out of my way." Brian brushed her aside, and proceeded on to his car.

Mysterious Marilyn watched in disbelief as Brian started walking away. In all of her years at Woody's no one had ever raised a hand to her, or spoken to her with such contempt. The old drag queen adjusted the shawl around her shoulders, and the rose on the side of her wig. "Brian Kinney, the fear that you're feeling is real. You won't get away this time!" she called to him.

"Fuck you!" Brian yelled back, without turning around.

"The damage has already been done! It continues now, even as we speak!" Marilyn was relentless.

"Whatever you say!" Brian continued walking.

"THIS TIME HE'S GOING TO TAKE HIS PRINCESS WITH HIM!"

The old queen's last prediction caused Brian to stop, and turn around. There was no way that Marilyn could have known that Tony called Justin his princess. The sinking feeling in Brian's heart had returned.

"If they come back to you, it will be because of the small one who binds you. Good night....Precious, and good luck." Marilyn smiled, then turned, and disappeared back inside Woody's.
 

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