It’s All Relative

 Chapter 6

Justin bumped into Debbie as they both walked into Kinnetik simultaneously.

“Hey, Deb, I didn’t know you were doing diner deliveries.”

“I’m not, Sunshine. Your big bad husband summoned me for lunch -- no questions asked.”

“Well, I guess we’ll all be eating together because he asked, or should I say demanded, that I come, too.”

“I bet this is about Helen.” Debbie pointed her long polished nail towards Justin.

“I’d take a piece of your bet. Brian was tossing and turning all last night, and he woke up this morning growling like a fucking tiger -- and not in a way that was in the least hot or inviting.”

Debbie laughed. “Well, then we’d better get inside before the tiger starts devouring everything in sight and spitting it out.”

Justin nodded. “Nice image, Deb.”

The two walked down the hallway towards Brian’s office. “Shit, this place gets fancier and fancier.”

“Brian only wants the best for his employees and his clients.”

“He’s a fucking genius.”

Justin smiled. “I think so.”

The two greeted Ted as they passed his desk and then stopped to say hello to Cynthia. “He’s waiting for you, go right in.”

As soon as the two stepped through the office doors, Brian approached. He kissed Deb on the cheek and planted a hot kiss on Justin’s lips. Justin opened his mouth, having missed their morning intimacy to Brian’s foul mood.

“Hey, you know I don’t mind watching, but I thought you wanted a business meeting with me, not a demonstration in kinky behavior.”

Justin blushed and Brian laughed. “Calm down, Deb, and have a seat at the table. As much as I’d love to oblige, no demonstrations today.”

Both visitors gazed at a beautiful spread of food on the conference table. “Brian, is anyone else coming?”

“No, Sunshine, but we might be here a while, and I didn’t want either of you to go hungry.”

“Go hungry! You can feed a small fuckin’ town on all that food.” Deb cracked her gum as she spoke.

The three sat at one end of the table. Following Brian’s lead, they filled their plates with food.

After they’d eaten, chatted about the weather and the new painting that Justin was working on, Brian finally got to the point. “I want to talk about Helen.”

“I had a feeling this wasn’t something you were doing just to show me how much you cared.” Deb glared at Brian, but her face softened almost immediately.

“Aw, Ma, you know how much I care about you, but you also know how important it is for me to take care of my family.”

Debbie nodded and placed her fork down on the plate. “I know, honey, and it warms my heart to see how much you love Sunshine and the kids. But, Brian, I just don’t know what I can possibly help you with.”

“Well, she’s your niece, you must know something about...”

“I haven’t seen her since she was eight years old. If you recall, I didn’t even remember her when she was in the diner until after she revealed her name.”

Justin looked from Debbie to Brian and back again, realizing that his husband had more on his mind so he remained silent.

“Deb, if you’ll just wait a minute and let me finish...”

“Okay, okay, go on.”

“What I was going to say is, you must know something about Helen Martin’s mother. She is your sister, isn’t she?”

Debbie lowered her head and shook it slightly. “She’s my sister by blood only. We share almost nothing except two parents.”

“I can relate,” Brian mumbled under his breath.

Justin touched Debbie’s hand, seeing her agitation at the sad memories that this discussion was bringing back. “Deb, if you don’t want to talk about it, or can’t, we’ll understand.”

Brian glared in Justin’s direction, his shoulders tensing. Justin turned his face away from Debbie to wink at Brian who nodded in response and immediately sat back in his chair.

“Oh, Sunshine, Justin, I really do want to help you. Let me see.” Debbie tapped her long nails on the table. “You know, I remember when I got pregnant with Michael there was a big to-do in the family. My sister was a bit younger than me and Vic, so she probably saw things a lot like Molly would have seen them at the time you left home.”

Justin grimaced at the reference but didn’t say a word, hoping to keep Debbie on track.

Debbie had a faraway look on her face. “She got angry with me and said if I weren’t so selfish, maybe I’d give the baby to a family that really wanted one.” Then she looked directly at Brian. “My parents wanted me to put the baby up for adoption or get out. Could you imagine my life, any of our lives without Michael?”

Brian huffed. “Not in the least. After all, Michael was the only real friend I had in high school when I moved here. Everything else was just for show.”

Justin took some sliced fruit from one of the trays and placed it on his plate. As he cut into the first piece, he nudged Debbie. “Go on, Deb, please.”

“Oh, of course.” She paused to think. “You know, I’d almost forgotten. As my sister got older, she joined some club. It was part of a national organization. After that, she became more and more bigoted. When she found out that Vic was gay, not just a bachelor, she was outraged and disgusted, but the last straw was when she found out that Michael was gay. He was in his teens, right about the time he met you, Brian.”

“Debbie, think hard. What do you mean by the last straw, and what was the name of the organization?”

“Why is that so important? We’re talking about Helen, not her mother.”

Brian looked into Debbie’s eyes. Justin saw the connection between the two, the parental bond that had been built over the years, and let Brian take over once again.

“Deb, when kids get older, they either want to follow in their parents’ footsteps or get as far away as possible. Michael proudly followed in yours, whereas I couldn’t get far enough away. I need to figure out what shaped Helen’s thoughts and attitudes towards gays. Please think.” Brian was practically pleading, but Justin understood that this could be a key to handling their social worker. She’d obviously brought preconceived ideas about the two of them, and they needed leverage wherever they could get it.

“I see. You’re right about Michael. He’s so much like me now that he’s a parent. It’s sometimes scary.”

Justin rolled his eyes. “He’s a chip off the old block, Deb.” He tried to keep his temper but wanted to move her along, so she wouldn’t begin reminiscing about the good ole days, raising her happy homo son.

“Right, right. I just love thinking about that cute brown-eyed little boy.”

“Deb...”

“Yes, Brian, I’m thinking.” She went back to tapping her fingernails on the table. Justin was pretty sure Brian was ready to rip the artificial pieces right off her fingers, so he held her hand.

“I’ve got it! I knew the name seemed passive enough, and it wasn’t until I got older that I realized exactly what it was all about. In fact, my sister and brother-in-law were officers in the local chapter and became the President and Vice President of the Philly chapter when they moved there.”

Brian stood up and paced, then looked directly at Debbie. “The name, what’s the name?”

Debbie chuckled out loud. “Oh, didn’t I say? It’s Focus on the Family.”

Brian and Justin froze, staring at each other and then simultaneously uttering, “Fuck!”


[TBC]
 

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