KIDZ

Chapter 1

June 2021, Bree and Patrick had a couple more weeks left of school before their summer vacation. Gus had spent two weeks at Edna’s Treasures after the Memorial Day barbecue then drove back to Pittsburgh to start his summer semester at PIFA and to spend some time with his mother and JR.

Brian was brooding. He managed to get through his fiftieth birthday ... barely, and conveniently ignored the fact that his nine year old daughter (going on thirty) wanted to work at Kinnetik. He decided to take his impending queen out, out on his garden.

Brian Kinney was hot, sweaty and currently glaring at the well manicured grass that surrounded the outside portion of the manmade koi pond. Although the grass looked nice, due to the irregular shape of the pond, it wasn’t easy to keep the grass trimmed. Brian decided to remove the grass and replace it with a graveled path. Fortunately Todd, Brian’s partner at the garden center, understood the problem and sent over just the right materials Brian needed to complete his project.

“Bri, are you sure you don’t me to help?” Justin asked as he approached his mate with a few bottles of chilled water.

“No, I’m the one who wants to rip out the grass, so I’ll do it,” Brian growled.

“You’re sure?” Justin asked as he dared to give the beast a hug.

“I’m all sweaty,” Brian grumbled as he gently pushed Justin back.

“I know,” Justin purred, waggling his eyebrows.

“Don’t tempt me, Sunshine,” Brian said with a smile. Justin could always ‘lift’ Brian’s spirits. “Go back in the house. I know you want to take advantage of the quiet to paint.”

Justin gave Brian a coy smile, reached up to kiss his lips then slowly walked back toward their cottage with an exaggerated swish of his behind. Brian adjusted himself, shook his head clear of lusty thoughts then returned to the task at hand. As he wiped the sweat from his forehead, Brian heard Justin call back to him.

“And wear a hat!”

A few hours later Brian had cleared the desired path of the sod that the landscapers had laid down the prior summer and pounded in the edging he’d need to keep the gravel in place. He laid down the layer of weed inhibiting mesh and was just about to dump his first wheelbarrow full of gravel when his cell phone rang.

“What!?” he growled as Brian recognized the number. His chest was heaving from the exertion. The wheelbarrow was heavy.

“Can’t you answer your phone like a normal person?” came the immediate retort. Brian rolled his eyes.

“Why hello, dear sister of mine, and how are you?” Brian snarked with a sickly sweet tone.

“That’s better,” Claire replied, oblivious to Brian’s sarcasm. “I need that brother of yours,” Claire continued, not bothering with any sort of salutation.

“He’s your brother too,” Brian snarled.

“No, he’s your brother,” Claire snarked, not really understanding how ridiculous she sounded. Brian didn’t bother asking Claire for an explanation.

“What do want John for?” Brian sighed; Claire worked in mysterious ways. At least she wasn’t sniveling or wailing in his ear.

“My son bought a house. I want John to check it out,” Claire said blandly.

“Which one of your spawn has decided to move back to the Pitts and sprout roots?” Brian taunted.

“You can be such a bitch!”

“You’re just realizing this now?”

“Brian!”

“Get to the point, Claire. I’m busy working my way up to a heart attack.” Brian had the wheelbarrow leaning against his legs when he answered his phone. He set it down then walked over to the shade provided by the back of the greenhouse near the pond. He sat on the wall of the pond to listen to his sister...that was if she ever got to the point.

“John, my son John,” Claire clarified as if Brian couldn’t figure it out. “John bought a house.”

“You said that.”

“Brian, can you just shut up a minute so I can explain,” Claire whined.

“This is me shutting up,” Brian said making a zipper motion across his mouth like Ted so often did.

“Thank you,” she sighed with frustration. “If I had known he wanted to settle down here I would have never agreed to sell mother’s house. But neither of them ever showed any interest in her house so how was I supposed to know,” Claire rambled on. “Anyway, they’ve decided to start a family and his wife’s parents live here so they moved back.”

It was a good thing that Claire couldn’t see Brian’s face. He had a look of sheer horror at the thought of his nephews breeding. Well, Peter wasn’t so bad. He had a gentle soul when he was finally free of the influence of his older brother. Peter actually turned out rather well. He embraced the artist in himself. And while he was never going to be of the caliber of a Justin Taylor, he turned out to be a very good graphic artist.

“Brian, are you listening?”

“Yes, Claire, I heard every syllable,” Brian murmured. “What do you need John for?”

“I want him to check out the house.”

“It’s a little too late for that, don’t you think? Any reputable realtor would have had the house inspected. Did you go through Jennifer? You know she would have made sure John got the best deal.”

“Uh...”

“Tell me you didn’t go use that Wallace guy!”

“Well...”

“Claire! Of all the stupid, idiotic...why didn’t you come to me first? I would’ve...”

“John didn’t want to,” Claire admitted in a small voice.

“Why?” Brian asked almost sounding hurt.

“Brian, it wasn’t my son’s idea.”

“Claire, please make sense. Use your big words,” Brian snarked. He was becoming impatient ... more impatient.

“Mary, John’s wife, she’s a bit of a...”

“Let me guess, the bitch is a homophobe. Well, that explains it. And just when did your son lose his balls, Claire? Never mind, I’m not going there. Fine. I will ask John to see if he has some time in HIS BUSY SCHEDULE to check out the dump that his ball-less homophobic demon spawn nephew has been coerced into buying!”

“Brian, please, this is not helping.”

“No, it’s not. I thought John was better than that,” Brian said disappointedly.

“Things change. He fell in love with a nice girl from a good family. They were happy until Mom’s funeral.” Brian could almost hear the tears forming in his sister’s eyes.

“What happened?” he gently prodded.

“Do you know when you know something but somehow conveniently forget about it?” she began.

“Yeah,” Brian whispered. At times, there were a lot of things Brian tried to forget until they came back to try and bite him in the ass. One of those things was that ‘gay’ wasn’t always accepted.

“My boys did love their grandmother. They wanted to be at the funeral. It was hard on both of them; mother had changed so radically over the years. Peter just embraced the change. John was a little confused by it but he spent some time with mom anyway. And that meant accepting mom’s friends and some of the family that they ran into.”

“But the wives...they didn’t really know the who’s who of our family, did they?”

“Not really. I mean everyone in Pittsburgh knows about Justin Taylor. Local boy does good, becomes the next Andy Warhol. And then there’s you.”

“Me?”

“You’re a legend, Brian. Do you know what it’s like being the sister of a legend?”

“I am not a legend and I might be gay but I’m no one’s sister.” Brian shook his head; now he was beginning to NOT make sense. “Claire, what the fuck are you talking about?”

“Mary’s mother used to be in advertising. She knows about you. Did something happen when you worked for Ryder? Were you sued?”

“That was a long time ago and the suit was dropped. There was no basis for it,” Brian growled. Talk about something from your past biting you in the ass.

“Well, she remembers.”

“And passed along that lovely tidbit to her daughter.”

“Yes, and of course, to keep the peace, John has to go along with it.”

“Peachy," Brian groused. “So why do you want my brother’s input regarding their new house? He’s as gay as I am.”

“No he’s not. He doesn’t have YOUR reputation. What he does have is the best business rating in construction and architecture. When I mentioned we were related...”

“Let me guess, they conveniently overlooked that John is gay. I’ve always said they either hate you to your face or they hate you behind your back. And why would I subject OUR brother to that?”

“Because I want my son to have the best. Brian, if it’s the money, I’ll pay for John’s time. Buying the house and the move, well, John and Mary are a little strapped for cash. I saved the money I got from selling mom’s house and...”

“Claire, please stop whining. Jeez, you sound like Michael.”

“Michael, your friend?”

“No, Michael the postman; yes, Michael my friend. Okay, I’ll talk it over with John tonight. His heart is bigger than mind; he won’t care that his nephew is married to a homophobic witch.”

“Thank you, Brian.”

“Don’t thank me yet. With my luck John’ll recommend that your son demolish the house and start over.”

“Brian!”

“This is me, Claire, hanging up!” Brian said before he pushed end on the phone. He shoved it back into his pocket then glared at the wheelbarrow full of gravel. “I guess my Rageian powers don’t work on gravel or it would’ve been on the path already,” Brian grumbled as he rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants then grabbed the wheelbarrow, swung it into place and dumped the first of many loads onto the pathway.

 

*****
 

“Hey, you just get in?” Ray asked Gus.

“Yeah, I have this new project due in about three weeks, that’s if I can figure out what I’m going to do,” Gus said as he tossed his messenger bag down on the counter of the loft then rummaged through the refrigerator for something cold to drink.

“Are you sure you want me to come next week? I don’t want to distract you.”

“Distract me, please! It’s not as bad as it sounds. I think I’m going to use some of the research that I did in my Humanities class. The pictures I found are fascinating. I can use them for this project. Hey, my future lawyer, is it a crime to plagiarize yourself?”

“I don’t think so but let me get back to you on that.”

“Cool. I can’t wait for you to get here, I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

“Are your parents okay with it?’

“Yeah, they are. Besides, Dad says I deserve a vacation. Once I’m actually in law school I won’t have that much time to fool around.”

“My dads said the same thing. Why the fuck is education so hard?”

“I don’t know. Maybe so we can be good at what we do?”

“Hey, I’m already good at what I do,” Gus laughed.

“Phenomenal sex doesn’t count.”

“Sure it does. But, you’re right. If I want to be able to be semi-retired by the time I’m fifty I better work my ass off now.”

“Just make sure your ass has some time put aside for me.”

“Ditto.”

“How are your moms?”

“Mom’s doing good. Chaaaarles, is coming for a visit. The girls are gaga over him.”

“It’s the accent.”

“Yeah, wassup with that? Anyway, I spoke with Mama a few days ago. She sounds good, happy. She broke up with that Lorna person but she’s good with it. Says she wants to concentrate on her career for a while.”

“I’m glad she’s doing okay. I hate when my parents fight. Me and Jeff used to hide in the closet. No pun intended.”

“I didn’t think your parents ever fought.”

“Not often but when they do it gets loud. It’s good we own the building.”

“I guess Simon has a loud voice, huh?”

“Not Simon, Ken.”

“Wait, Kenneth Mann, sweet Emmett-like Kenneth Mann?”

“Don’t let the fairy exterior fool you. When it comes down to it, he wears the pants in the family,” Ray said. The lilt in his voice made Gus laugh. Soon both boys were laughing hysterically.

“Yeah, my dad acts all tough but when Justin puts his foot down, it’s all over except for the shouting. It’s funny how that goes.”

“Yeah, but there’s so much love there. Ya know?”

“I know. I miss you, Ray.”

“I miss you.”

“Ummm...”

“That a hint?”

“Uh huh.”

“Let’s get comfortable and I’ll see what I can come UP with.” The boys giggled then settled in for a long round of phone sex.

 

*****
 

“Bullshit Alert!” a tinny voice announced.

“Curtis, can you see who’s out front,” Dr. Raphael Angles, D.V.M. called out to his son. “Stinky isn’t being very cooperative,” Raph said referring to the cat who was currently being “dipped.”

“Sure, Dad,” Curtis said as he sprinted to the outer waiting room. “Hi, JR!”

“Hey, Curtis. Do you think you can get away for lunch? Me and Candy are going to the diner,” JR said as Candy waved at Curtis.

Candy was slowly moving away from her Goth persona, although she still had the dark blue-black hair and heavily made up eyes. She was a walking advertisement for ‘Nina-Richie’s Creations.’ Sometimes it was a stunning dichotomy, but between her and Richie, they were able to pull it off.

“I’ll check with my dad, but can you wait about fifteen minutes until Reena comes back? I’m covering the front for her,” Curtis asked.

“Why don’t we go to the diner and get a booth,” Candy suggested. “It’s gonna be crowded.”

“That’s a good idea,” Curtis agreed. “By the time you get a booth, I should be there.” The girls said goodbye then strolled to the Liberty Diner.

The diner was busy with the lunch crowd. So busy that the girls had to wait for a few minutes before a booth became free.

“That was a good idea,” JR commented when they finally sat. A jingle of the bell over the door announced Richie’s arrival.

“Hi!” he said as he sat next to Candy. “Boy, it’s crowded in here. Is Curtis coming?”

“He’ll be here soon,” JR replied.

JR and Curtis were about to graduate from high school. They were done with their classes and were just finishing up their finals. The bell chimed several times before Curtis finally got to the diner.

“Hi, guys!” Curtis greeted everyone as he slid into the booth next to JR. He gave JR a little peck on the cheek. “Did ya order yet?” he asked as he picked up a menu.

“No, not yet,” JR replied as Lacy appeared at their table.

“Sorry for the wait, we’re really busy today,” Lacy said with her pencil in her hand. “Is school out?” she asked as she looked at the teens at the table.

“Almost,” JR replied. The kids gave their orders then relaxed, discussing their summer plans.

 

*****
 

“You know I would have helped,” John said as he approached Brian who was inspecting his handiwork by the pond. It was after dinner when Brian went out to have another look at the fruit of his labors.

Brian was rubbing his lower back. “Did you strain yourself?” John asked with concern.

“Maybe a little. Nothing a couple of aspirin and another hot shower can’t cure,” Brian said.

“You did a great job, by the way. I don’t think I could’ve done better,” John complimented with a gentle pat to Brian’s shoulders. Brian beamed a proud grin. John’s words meant a lot to Brian.

“We probably should have done this in the first place. What did you do with the sod?” John looked around.

“I replanted it by the Wendy house. I had Todd deliver more so I could make a better lawn.”

“You’re a regular Martha Stewart,” John teased with a chuckle.

“Oh ha ha. Listen, I got an interesting phone call today from Claire.”

“Claire?”

“Our dear sister Claire.” Brian rolled his eyes.

“Uh huh. Am I going to like this?”

“Probably not, but I said I’d ask so I’m asking.” Brian then relayed the conversation he had earlier in the day with Claire. “So what do you think?”

“I think I’ll contact our dear sister and arrange to do a consultation,” John said rather smugly. “After all I am the doctor and doctors are known to consult.”

“You know if your head gets any bigger, you won’t fit through the cottage door. You’ll be doomed to spend the rest of your life out here,” Brian snarked.

“Do you know how insane that sounds?”

“No more insane than you inspecting the demon spawn’s house. You don’t have to do this. He was a holy terror when he was a kid and I suspect he isn’t much different now.”

“People change, Brian, you know that as well as I do. I have to believe that the lessons he learned at the Farm are still with him.”

“I wish I could be like you,” Brian said with a sigh as he gazed into the eyes that were so much like his own. “You always see the good in people, whereas I only see the bad.”

“No you don’t. You see potential. You saw the potential in your nephews, like you saw the potential in Todd, in Lacy, in Curtis, in a whole bunch of people. You overcame the bad examples you had early in your life and clung to the good ones.”

The brothers were silent for a while as Brian walked off toward the gardens then down the path to the stream. The winter melt off had receded exposing more of their ‘thinking rock.’ Brian hitched himself up onto the rock, leaving enough room for John.

“You got the good examples, didn’t you?” Brian asked.

“If you’re referring to my mother and my grandparents then yes, I was very lucky.”

“And Steve, he’s one hell of a man. He reminds me of Carl,” Brian said with a smile.

“Yes, Steve and Carl are fine men. And the fact that you respect them and consider them friends says a lot about you. You’re a good man, Brian Kinney. Now, as for John, our nephew formally known as demon spawn, I will inspect his house and give him the results of my vast knowledge of building,” John stated with a straight face as he knocked his shoulder into Brian’s.

“I have a better idea, why don’t you just bribe a city inspector and have the house condemned,” Brian knocked back.

“You do know that you’re evil.”

“I’m sweet,” Brian drawled.

The laughter of the brothers filled the night.
 

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