The Nature of Things

Chapter 26

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Brian answered the phone in the kitchen, listened intently, and turned to Molly. "The jury's back."

"Let's go," Molly said without hesitation.

They made it to the courthouse with mere minutes to spare. As Molly slid into her seat the jury was led back into the courtroom. The head juror smiled at her before standing to read the verdict.

"We the jury find the defendant, Casey James Adams, guilty on the count of rape. On the count of aggravated indecent assualt, we find the defendant, guilty. On the count of assault and battery we find the defendant guilty."

"Thank you," the judge said and turned to face Casey. "Mr. Adams, a jury of your peers has found you guilty on all counts. At this time you will be remanded to the Pittsburgh jail until such time as your sentencing. Sentencing shall be set for one week from today. At that time the court will hear from the victim and from Mr. Adams. Court adjourned."

Molly was enveloped in hugs from her family. She felt a weight was off her shoulders, but in the back of her mind she knew that she still faced a custody battle.

The gang celebrated at the Diner, sharing their good news with Debbie, who promptly arranged an impromptu party at Woody's for later that weekend.

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Ben opened the door to find Michael.

"Can we talk?" Michael wasn't sure that his partner would want anything to do with him now, but he knew that what he was about to tell him would surely end their lives together.

"Sure, come on in." Leading the way to the living room, Ben could see Michael looking around. "Hunter's at soccer practice; he won't be back til late this afternoon. Would you like some tea?"

"That'd be nice, thank you." Michael fidgeted with the string on his sweats and looked around the room. Everything seemed the same, all the pictures were the same, the furniture exactly as when he left, the only thing missing was him.

Ben brought back two steaming cups of tea and sat down across from Michael. "So what is it you want to talk about?"

"First I wanted to apologize for leaving the way I did. It had nothing to do with you, it was just something I had to do. I'm really sorry for worrying you."

"I'm not sure that I'm ready to accept your apology right now. You really put Hunter and me through a lot of shit, Michael."

"I know. I'd really like to talk to Hunter too, if that's okay."

"He's still your son, and I'm sure he'd love to see you. He's grown a lot and he's been working hard at school. He's even applied for a few jobs for the summer."

"I'm glad." Michael studied the tea in his cup, but did not drink.

"What is it you wanted, Michael?"

"I wanted to tell you about why I left. I don't expect you to forgive me, or even try to forgive me. I did some horrible things, Ben. I wasn't getting what I thought I needed from you, so I started tricking. I met this kid at Babylon and at first we were just friends."

"Why didn't you just come and talk to me?"

"I don't know. I guess I just thought you didn't want me anymore. Maybe I thought I was more like Brian than I realized, but things just went so horribly wrong. I've been having these nightmares lately. I've been seeing a therapist for the last few weeks and I think that the dreams really happened. When I started going to Casey's house, I would wake up the next morning not knowing how I got home or what I'd done the night before. But I kept going back. It wasn't until I was gone that the dreams started to get clear. There was someone else there and I think I had sex with them."

"Stop, Michael, I really don't want to hear this."

"I have to tell you Ben. You need to know. I think I was drugged, but that doesn't make it right. I slept with Justin, and I think he was drugged too."

"You what?!?" Ben stood and paced the room before speaking again. "Does Brian know?"

"No, I'm going over to talk to the both of them when I leave here. I thought you should know first."

"How long have you known this?"

"A few weeks. I was going to tell you all that night at Ma's, but then all that shit happened with Molly and I thought it would be best if I just stayed quiet until the trial was done."

"That was very gracious of you."

Michael watched Ben for signs of anger or disappointment and all he found was emptiness in his eyes. Without another word, Michael left.

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Justin lay with his head on Brian's chest, relaxing and enjoying Brian's soft strokes. Closing his eyes, he could see Michael's face again.

"Justin, what's wrong?" Brian asked when he felt his lover tense.

Justin took a deep breath and admitted what he'd feared for the last month. "I think I had sex with Michael."

Brian raised an eyebrow, thought a moment and questioned, "What the fuck do you mean you think you slept with Michael?"

"I mean, I think that I slept with Michael."

"When?"

"When I was living with Casey."

"And you're just now telling me this?" Brian moved Justin and got out of bed.

"Calm down, Bri. It's not like I meant to do it. I think I was drugged," Justin tried to explain.

"You were drugged? By who? Michael? In case you haven't forgotten, he has a partner. Michael would not be out trolling for tricks."

"I never saw him at the clubs. I think that Casey was drugging my drinks. I would wake up in the morning, not remembering how the hell I'd gotten to bed, or how I got in Casey's room. At first I thought I might've slept with Casey, but then I started having these dreams. I could never quite make out the face, but then I ran into Michael at Woody's one night and it all made sense."

"So you run into him and you automatically think that he is the one you fucked. This doesn't make any fucking sense, Sunshine. Michael would not do this to me."

"To you? He wouldn't do this to you?" Justin looked at Brian with amazement in his eyes. "He didn't do anything to you, he did it to me. ME, Brian."

Justin dressed quickly and stormed out of the house.

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MIchael stood on Brian's front porch for what seemed like hours before he got up enough nerve to knock. He wasn't prepared for the punch that greeted him.

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