All About Brian

Chapter 3

“Ashley!” Bree called as she ran out of the school for recess.

Ashley had already been out of class for a few minutes. She was sitting on a mound of snow warmly wrapped in her snowsuit. She looked very thoughtful as she glanced up at Bree and waved. Bree raced over to her friend.

“What are you doing?” Bree asked as she plunked herself down beside her friend. “The teacher made us stay in, cuz somebody made a mess at the sand table and wouldn’t clean it up.”

“Was it Jacob?” Ashley asked, rolling her eyes.

“Yep, he finally admitted it. He has to stay in and clean it up. No recess for him,” Bree chuckled. “So, why are you sitting here?”

“Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“We got an assignment this morning.”

“Oh? What do you have to do?”

“I have to tell the class about somebody who has influenced my life.”

“That would be your mommy,” Bree said quickly.

“It’s not supposed to be our parents.”

“Oh, then who is it apposed to be?” Bree wanted to know.

Ashley sighed. “Somebody who has influenced my life,” she repeated.

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” Ashley replied. “I guess it’s somebody who has done something for you or … I don’t know.”

Bree frowned. “That’s hard. And it can’t be your mom?”

“Nope! The teacher said we should be creative with who we choose.”

“Creative? Like a picture?” Bree asked hopefully. She could help Ashley with that.

“I guess I could bring a picture, but I have to mostly talk. And I have to decide who to do.”

“Can you think of anybody?”

“I thought of you,” Ashley said.

“Me?” Bree’s eyes got very big.

“Yeah, ‘member when you were going to kick the ass of the kids who were calling me ugly?”

“Oh, yeah,” Bree said, although she didn’t like to think about that. They hadn’t picked on Ashley since, at least not that Bree knew about.

“You were so brave.”

“I was kind of scared too, but they made me so mad. My daddies told me that we should talk to the teacher, and we did. And Patrick said he would help too, if we needed him.”

“Yeah, it was great,” Ashley said with her little smile that made her face light up.

“I’m glad you’re my friend,” Bree said earnestly.

“Me too,” Ashley replied as the two girls hugged each other … hard.

“So who are you going to talk about?” Bree asked as they broke apart.

“I don’t know.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Bree said confidently. “You’re smart.”

Ashley smiled as the bell rang and they both got up to go back into the school.

 

*****
 

“Hunter?” Dennis Hawk said as he entered the office at the Jason Kemp Center, and saw the young man sitting behind the desk.

“Yes, Hunter Novotny-Bruckner,” Hunter said standing and extending his hand. “You must be Mr. Hawk.”

The man nodded as they shook hands. Hunter could see the guy sizing him up, and Hunter was doing the same.

“Have a seat,” Hunter said.

Dennis sat down in the chair on the other side of Hunter’s desk. “Have you worked here long?” Dennis asked.

Hunter thought the man didn’t waste any time on pleasantries, but that was okay. “I’ve been here since the place opened.”

“Oh?”

“I thought you would have known that when you were doing your research for this story,” Hunter replied.

“I did actually,” Dennis admitted. “But I don’t like to reveal too much of what I know. Sometimes I find I get more interesting information if I play dumb.”

“That works for you?” Hunter asked. He had never found playing dumb was a particularly good idea.

Dennis shrugged. “So, what can you tell me about this place?”

“I thought maybe we could start with a tour,” Hunter explained. “That would give you a feel for what we’re about.” Dennis didn’t seem very enthusiastic about taking a tour, but he nodded anyway and Hunter stood up. “This way,” Hunter said ushering the reporter out of his office. He was going to have to handle this carefully, Hunter warned himself. Something still felt … off.

 

*****
 

“Hey, JR,” Curtis said as he saw JR a couple of people ahead of him in the cafeteria line.

“Hi, Curtis.”

“Can we sit together? I want to talk to you about something.”

“Sure, I guess,” JR replied wondering what Curtis wanted.

They got their meals and found a couple of seats at the end of one of the tables in the bustling cafeteria of the high school.

“What do you want to talk about?” JR asked.

“Your Uncle Brian.”

“Uncle Brian? Why?” JR asked in surprise.

“I have to write a paper about someone who’s had a great impact on my life, and I’m thinking of doing it on your Uncle Brian,” Curtis replied.

JR looked thought. “Yeah, I guess he did affect your life,” she said after a moment. She knew about the knife incident and how her Uncle Brian didn’t press charges, and then got Curtis into Hunter’s care. “Uncle Brian’s had a big impact on lots of people’s lives.”

“You?” Curtis asked in surprise.

“Yeah,” JR chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“A few years ago Uncle Brian sent my moms on a vacation to Florida.”

“Wow,” Curtis said.

“That’s not the funny part.”

“What is?”

“I put some of Grandma Deb’s lasagna in the microwave one day while they were away.”

“And the funny part would be…?” Curtis said.

“Be patient,” JR warned.

Curtis smiled at her. “Certainly,” he replied.

“I forgot it was in an aluminum foil container.”

“Uh oh.”

“Exactly,” JR grinned as she ate some of her salad.

“It blew up?”

“Yep.”

“So what does Mr. Kinney have to do with that?”

“I called him and he helped me get rid of the microwave. Then he went with me to pick out a new one that looked just like the old one. He paid for it, and everything, and he didn’t tell the moms.”

“That was cool.”

“Yeah.”

“But where’s the funny part?”

“He wanted to check the electricity after I blew up the microwave, and he ended up renovating the whole damn house,” JR giggled. “He had plumbers and electricians come over and they rewired everything and fixed the plumbing.”

“He paid for all that?” JR nodded. “Maybe I could blow up our microwave and he could renovate our place,” Curtis joked.

“I don’t think it works quite like that,” JR cautioned. “But he always comes through if you need him.”

“What did your mothers say about what he did?”

“We weren’t supposed to tell the moms.”

“Didn’t they notice?”

“Eventually, but it was fun pretending nothing had changed.”

“Your Uncle Brian is a cool dude.”

“I know.”

“Got any more stories about him? I might be able to use some of them in my paper.”

“Sure,” JR said as she continued to eat her salad.

Curtis grinned at her as he dug into his own lunch.

 

*****
 

“How’s your paper coming?” Lindsay asked Mel. Melanie appeared to be totally engrossed in her work.

“It’s not, so I’m taking a break. I’m working on some notes for a divorce case. It seems that divorce is easier to write about than Brian Kinney,” Melanie said with a sneer.

Lindsay chuckled at her wife’s quandary. “Would you like some help? With your paper, I mean. Divorce cases make me nervous,” Lindsay admitted. The girls had come too close several times in the past to permanently splitting up. “I have known Brian longer than you have.”

“Honestly, I thought about asking you but I really need to do this on my own. You wouldn’t ask me to help you paint one of your paintings, would you?”

“Heavens, no. Okay, I see your point. I guess I’ll go start on dinner,” Lindsay said leaving Mel to her work.

 

*****
 

“How’s your dedication coming?” Bobby asked as he rounded the top of the spiral staircase and into their office.

“I’ve built houses in less time than it’s taking to write this thing,” John said with exasperation.

“Aw, poor baby. May I suggest you keep it simple. Such as, ‘I devote this work to my brother Brian Kinney, without his influences, my life would be a helluva a lot duller.’ You can quote me,” Bobby said smugly, chuckling as he scurried back down to the relative safety of their kitchen.

“Wise ass,” John mumbled then got back to work.

 

*****
 

“Brian?”

“Miss Leda, I do declare!” Brian teased with an exaggerated drawl. “What can little ole me do for you, shhuga?”

“You can stop being an asshole and tell me if we’re on for the next phase of the campaign,” Leda demanded.

“It must be an uber dyke thing,” Brian grumbled. “None of you have a sense of humor, and before you try to bite my head off through the phone, the answer is yes. We’re all set. But I told you that we’re waiting for March. If we get a freak blizzard or something, your bikes are going to be holed up somewhere and not out on the road like we want. So cool your jets and let my people do what you hired us to do!”

Leda grumbled.

“What was that?” Brian innocently asked.

“Asshole!”

“Ah, that’s what I thought you said. Y’all have a nice night now, ya hear!” Brian hung up his phone.

“You really are a bastard sometimes, you know that,” Bobby remarked as he came up the spiral stairs into Brian’s office just opposite his and John’s. He was shaking his head, although he was wearing a grin.

“I know. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it. And you must admit, I excel at bastard and asshole,” Brian said proudly. “What brings you up here to my inner sanctum, your hubby throw you out of his?”

“Just letting you know dinner is almost ready. I didn’t feel like shouting. It’s nice and quiet tonight.”

“Yes, it is. The kids all concentrating on homework. John with his cottage paper. Justin is elbow deep in paint and I have a campaign and a new branch to play with. What about you?”

“Surprisingly enough, and given the precarious state of the economy, I am knee deep in charitable grants and funds. Some people have finally realized that we better get our heads out of our collective asses and start taking care of our own. No one else is going to do it for us.”

“Amen, brother. So does that mean organizations like the Farm and the clinic are okay?”

“Both of those are set for life. You can even cut back on your personal contributions if you like.”

“No, I can’t think of anywhere else my money is better spent. Other than college tuition and keeping a certain young lady in pink and purple apparel. Although, that collection the Sarah Kingsley sent over will keep Bree in the pink for the entire season. We’ll keep my contributions just as they are.”

“I thought so but it never hurts to check with you. You’re a good man, Brian Kinney.”

“Hush, now, Big Red. I just might get a swelled head,” Brian teased.

“And this is where I make a discreet retreat,” Bobby replied. “Dinner,” Bobby said as a reminder.

“I’ll be right down,” Brian assured him as he began to save his work then shut down his computer. Just before he got up from his desk, the phone rang.

“Kinney.”

“Brian, it’s Hunter.”

“The master of social work, what can I do for you, kiddo?”

“Nothing that wouldn’t get us in a shitload of trouble. Listen, I do have a potential problem so I wanted to get your input.”

Brian stiffened. “I’m listening.”

“I got a call from a reporter, Dennis Hawk from the Tribune. He wants to do a story about gay boys on the street.”

“So what’s the problem? You’ve done dozens of those interviews over the years. Maybe he wants to know how the clinic fared over the holidays. I know the classic holiday film festival at the theater was a success. You were able to put a lot of well earned salaries in the pockets of your kids. And I heard the Village shops did well. That New Year’s party you threw at the bowling alley was the talk of Liberty and beyond for a month.”

“You were gone for a month, how do you know all this?”

“I have spies everywhere. I repeat, what’s the problem?”

“I don’t know. Something about him bothers me.”

“Then I say go with your instincts. They kept you alive under the most dire of circumstances. I’ll have him checked out. In the meantime, go slow with him. Don’t let him know you suspect him but try to limit his contact with any of your kids. Let your staff know what you suspect. They’ve all been around the block a few times. They’ll know how to handle themselves, especially Karen. She’s a pitbull.”

Hunter laughed. “I’ll let her know what you think of her. But I agree on your assessment. She was crucial with Curtis and getting those Hardigans out of business.”

The boys paused for a moment at the memory of that time.

“Hunter, trust yourself. I know I do. I’ll be here if you need me.”

“Thanks, Brian.”

“Anytime.”

“Tell blondie I can still give him a run for his money,” Hunter said laughing just before they hung up.

“I’ll tell him,” Brian replied as he hung up the phone. He quickly jotted down Hawk’s name then went down to join his family for dinner.

“Hey,” Justin said as Brian approached the dinner table. They were all at the Anderson-Morrison side of Edna’s Treasures. “I was about to send Beau out to fetch you. We were waiting for you.”

“Even John tore himself away from his research to get here on time,” Bobby added.

“Sorry about that,” Brian apologized as he helped to prepare a plate for Bree. “Hunter just called.”

“Is he okay?” John asked as he passed the potatoes.

“He’s fine. He got a call from a reporter looking to do a story on street kids.”

“Nothing unusual there, is there?” Justin asked, his blues eyes searching Brian’s face.

“He’s not sure. He got the ‘uh-oh’ feeling about the guy.”

“So I take it, it’s not the Connolly’s,” John inquired.

“No. Someone that I haven’t heard of.”

“You gonna check him out?” Bobby asked knowingly, passing a plate of sauteed green beans.

Brian nodded.

“Good,” the three other men stated. No other explanation was necessary. Dinner proceeded with peace.
 

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