Joan VS The State of Liberty
Chapter 7
"Hey, Brian, the buzzer, dinner must be here!"
"Buzz him up, I gotta get my wallet." Justin hit the buzzer then opened the door a little as he heard the elevator start up. He was getting out the dishes when Justin heard the door slide open.
"Hey, who do you think you are?!" Justin yelled, thinking it was the delivery boy barging in.
"I think I'm your partner's brother and where the fuck is he?" John furiously yelled back.
"John, what's wrong?" Brian asked coming down the steps when he heard the commotion.
"What's wrong? I'll tell you what's fucking wrong?" John was so angry that his fists were clenched, ready to punch someone out. Brian had a good idea who that someone might be.
"Justin, take my wallet and meet the kid downstairs, my brother and I are going to have a chat."
"Brian, I'm staying." Justin said, taking a few steps closer to protect Brian.
In a low calm voice, Brian instructed Justin to stay where he was. "Justin, it'll be fine, just do as I say." Justin reluctantly walked out of the loft but kept the door open.
"John, what happened?"
"You know what happened. She found out. That bitch of a mother of yours found out who we are and we've been served papers. She wants all the money that went to the farm. If she doesn't get the money then she'll take our house and all the land. Brian, my mother is devastated. She wanted to come here and try to reason with Joan but I talked her out of it. I came instead. Maybe, I, maybe, shit. I don't know what to do."
"John, I have a lawyer who's looking into Jack's will. And Justin made another discovery."
"What kind of discovery?"
"It seems that JABK had an idea that he was going to have to leave the country so he could stay with Patrick. He had a will drawn stating that the farm and property go only to his first born male heirs. That meant his son Brian, then Aidan, then Jack, then you. Joan can't touch any of it."
"But I'm, you know."
"I know. Then it would be me and I already signed it over to your mother."
"God, Brian. I've never seen my mother so upset. We had a family meeting last night with Bobby, Steve and Bill. It's only right that they know."
"Listen, I gave my lawyer the letters that Patience wrote to Jack. If we can find Kinney's will it could settle everything."
"Bobby's coming home this weekend. We'll tear the place apart."
"Okay. If I can swing it, Justin and I will come up and help. I'll speak with Mel, she's our lawyer. We'll think of something. You want a beer?"
"Yeah, I could use it."
"You got it. And where the hell is Justin?"
"Right here. You two done shouting?"
"I wasn't shouting; John was."
"I...oh hell, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Joan can try the patience of a saint."
"Well, I'm sorry anyway. I apologize, Justin; I didn't mean to frighten you."
"Yeah, well, remind me never to make you angry. Come on, there's enough food to feed a small army. You can help us read through more of Kinney's journal. Maybe we can find out where he hid his will."
"That's the least I can do."
The three of them sat in the living room to have dinner. While they were eating Justin printed out more of the journal. With three pairs of eyes, maybe they'd be able to crack the mystery of the hidden will.
Several hours later, they were no closer to finding out where the will could possibly be hidden. They were certain that Kinney didn't take it with him to South America and that Martha knew where he hid it.
"This is getting us nowhere," John said feeling frustrated and his eyes hurt from reading the old script. "How did you and mom read those letters? This is like torture."
"He has young eyes," Brian quipped.
"Young eyes, my ass. I'm beat. Can I crash here tonight? I have a client to see just outside of the city."
"Hey big bro, mi loft, tu loft. I'll get you some blankets. Do you need clothes for the morning? We're about the same size. You can borrow anything you want."
"Thanks, I always keep an overnight bag in the car just in case. My job keeps me on the road a lot. I'll go down and get it."
John went down to get his bag and to make sure his car was secure. As he turned to go back in the lobby, he nearly bumped into a petite woman toting a briefcase.
"Hey, watch it, Asshole!"
"What?"
"Shit, you're not Brian."
"No, I'm not."
"You look so much like him."
"I know. I'm going up. Is he expecting you?"
"Not really but he called this morning about another will so I thought I'd drop by. I was in the neighborhood. I'm Melanie Marcus."
"John Anderson." John slid the loft door open and barked out, "Hey, look who I found lurking outside."
"Another Kinney asshole," Melanie snarked. Then her eyes grew wide as the brothers approached her at full height with the same smirk on their faces.
"Holy fuckin' shit! I could be looking at twins. I need to sit down." Melanie dropped her briefcase then plopped onto a dining room chair.
"Don't worry, Mel, you'll get used to it," Justin told her.
"Melanie, why are you here?" Brian asked.
"I wanted to talk to you about Kinney's will. If we can find it, it will solve everything. I tried Harrisburg. There may have been a record of it at one time but there was a flood. A lot of the old records were destroyed. If you have the will hidden somewhere, we need to find it."
"Fuck!" Three voices rang out together. Melanie nodded
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"Brian, Debbie's here and she seems upset. I think you better see her."
"Okay, Cynthia. Send her in and can you bring us some coffee?"
"Sure...right this way Debbie."
"Thank you, honey. Such a sweet girl and pretty too. Brian, can't you hook her up with anyone?"
"Deb, you didn't come here to discuss my assistant's love life. Now why are you here? You're all right, aren't you, Mikey...?"
"No, Kiddo. Everyone's fine, for now. Brian, I think I did something really stupid and I have to tell you about it but please don't start screaming at me until after I finish. Okay?"
"Debbie, how bad can it be?"
"Real bad." Debbie proceeded to tell Brian about the conversation she had with Joan and how Joan stormed off out of the diner. She also told him about how Joan had paid the art gallery a visit the morning of the closing gala. Then she told Brian that Joan saw Gus at the gallery just before he picked them all up.
After her story, Debbie closed her eyes and waited for Mount Kinney to blow his stack.
"Cynthia." Brian called into the intercom.
"Yes, Bri."
"Forget the coffee."
"Okay."
Brian opened the bottom drawer to his desk and pulled out a bottle of JB and two glasses. He poured about two fingers worth and downed it in a second. He then poured another two fingers worth in each glass and passed one to Debbie. The two stared at each other for about half a second then downed the shots.
"Fucking hell, Debbie. We've all been served papers."
"Papers? What kind of papers?" Debbie shrieked. Brian got up and paced while he described the events of the past two weeks since the close of the show.
"First, the bitch served my sister with papers trying to get custody of the spawn. Then I got served cause she wants the money from the sale of the Kinney paintings. And then Claire and John got served cause she wants the farm and the land. My sister is having a nervous breakdown; she can't stop crying. Her boys are panicking. John nearly punched my lights out and his mother is devastated. Justin feels he needs to do something so he has his nose glued to a computer screen all day trying to find Kinney's lost will. Oh, there's a lost will leaving everything to Kinney's male heirs, only male heirs. It would solve everything except we can't find the will. And I actually hired Melanie, thank you very much. Did I leave anything out?"
"Shit, Brian!"
"You can say that again."
"Shit. I'm sorry; I guess I really blew it, didn't I?"
"No, I don't think so, not really. Somehow good old Joanie is finding out things. You said she was at the art gallery that morning of the closing show?"
"Yeah, that nice handsome priest of hers brought her."
"Father Tom? Hmm, maybe I'll pay the dear father a visit."
"Brian, he's a man of the cloth, you be nice to him."
"Don't worry Debbie; I know just how to handle that man."
"I don't think I want to know. Brian, I'm really sorry I fucked things up for all of you. I would never do anything to hurt any of you."
"I know that and I know this wasn't easy for you to come here. Thank you for telling me."
"You know I love you, Kiddo," Debbie said as she got up to leave.
Walking Debbie to the door, Brian hugged her. "Awe Maw, I love you too." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and Debbie gave him one back. Rubbing her lipstick off Brian's cheek, she gave him a soft smack then left.
"Cynthia!"
"Yes, boss."
"Can you hold down the fort for a while? I have some errands to run."
"Sure thing and is there anything I can do?"
"No, yes, just pray that Justin can solve another mystery."
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"Brian?"
"Father Tom."
"What brings you here?"
"My mother."
"Ah. You and she attempting to reconcile?"
"Not exactly." Brian informed the good father of what transpired since the ending of the art show. Needless to say, Father Tom was shocked that Joan would try to take Claire's children away and that she was planning on suing for the money that went to the Farm. Father Tom assured Brian of his cooperation, if Joan came to him for any advice he would advise her to drop the suits and leave well enough alone. Father Tom also informed Brian that he escorted Joan to the gallery that morning at her request.
"Brian, if I had known the outcome of that visit I would have never done it."
"You didn't know. No one knew. Maybe this is all my fault. I should have told her about Gus but at the time I just thought of myself as a sperm donor. When I signed away my rights to Gus' mothers, I just stayed out of the way. Now that I've become more involved in Gus' life I just want to protect him. He doesn't need to grow up the way that I did. Lindsay, his mother, is a good person. She's my best friend except for Justin and Mikey. I can't think of a better mother for Gus."
"Brian, I can't break any confidences that are told to me but I promise, if Joan asks me for any advice about this I will try to guide her to the right path. Away from you and your family."
"Thank you. I appreciate that. You know, if you didn't wear that collar..."
"I know about your one time only rule, Kinney. Besides, there's a certain blond young man who may have something to say about that. Now, get your ass out of my church," Father Tom said in jest. And then in all sincerity, "Brian, I'll help in any way I can. Your mother is a lonely, bitter woman. She firmly believes that whatever she's doing, she's doing for the best. Maybe you and Claire can find some way to reach out to her."
"I don't think I can do that but then I didn't think I could be a dad or a partner or build a treehouse."
"He works in mysterious ways, Brian."
"Amen to that."
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On his drive back to Kinnetik, Brian passed the park. He saw Lindsay with Gus and pulled over to park the car. Just down the block, Joan was also parked watching Lindsay and Gus.
"Daddy!" Gus ran over to Brian, jumping up and down.
"Sonny Boy!" Brian swooped down to pick up the child and then gave Lindsay a kiss.
"Lindz, I have to tell you what's going on." Brian filled Lindsey in on what was happening.
"Brian, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do?"
"I don't know. Just keep an eye on Gus, I mean more than you already do. I get the feeling that Joan's been sneaking around and spying on us. Shit, I get the chills just thinking about it."
"You don't think she was at the gallery that night, do you?"
"A couple of weeks ago I could have sworn, Joan would never go near Liberty Avenue, but now I've learned she's been there at least twice in the past two weeks. I don't know, Lindz."
"Daddy?"
"What Gus?"
"Is that mean lady making you sad?"
"Don't worry about that lady, Gus."
"Daddy, I don't want you to be sad."
"How can I be sad when I have you and your mommy and Justin to protect me?"
"I promise Daddy, I'll 'patect' you."
"Thank you Gus. I know you will."
As Gus gave his daddy a 'patective' hug, Joan scowled. 'Sinners, all of them.' She thought. Then she drove off.
Later that night Brian needed some of Justin's 'patection.'
They took a long leisurely shower. Brian adjusted the water temperature and spray to a warm gentle soothing mist. He lathered his boy with a soft apple scented body wash. Rubbing his hardness against Justin's ass, Justin began to moan.
"Brian, fuck me." They kissed, tongues dueling for dominance, their hard cocks aching for release. Brian pushed Justin up against the glass, sheathed his cock and then drove home. Brian held Justin's waist tight as Justin desperately hung on to the slippery glass. Brian angled himself to rack his dick across Justin's sweet spot. The two came within minutes of one another. The cooling water served to cool their sweating bodies. They quickly rinsed off then went to bed.
Before round two, Brian told Justin about Debbie's visit, his visit to Father Tom and meeting Lindsay and Gus in the park. He also told Justin about his suspicions about Joan spying.
"Brian, do really think she's spying on us?"
"It's not like she doesn't have anything better to do besides worshipping the grape. Just try to keep an eye out for her."
"Okay. I read some more of the journal today. A lot of it was kind of boring. But he did a couple of dick doodles, I mean real dick doodles, of Patrick. I felt funny seeing them."
"Justin, you've seen hundreds of dicks. How can a hundred year old sketch embarrass you?"
"Because he loved Patrick, all of Patrick. And he was discovering his sexuality."
"You mean his HOMOsexuality."
"Maybe. He hinted that the will was in a safe place. A place that represented his heart. I wish I knew what he meant."
"Enough thinking about JABK. I want you to think about this Kinney and this Kinney's dick needs some serious attention."
"Does it now?"
"Yes it does. Wouldn't want it to feel neglected now, would you?"
"No, we couldn't have that."
"So, what are you going to do about it, Taylor?"
"I'll show you, Kinney." And Justin did.