KIDZ

Chapter 8

“Okay, what’s wrong and don’t you dare say nothing,” Hector demanded as he finished disinfecting the stainless steel examination table in exam room one.

“What makes you think something’s wrong?” Raph replied. He was taking inventory of the supply cabinet in the room.

“Because I know you and I know the ‘face’, so tell me,” Hector retorted.

Raphael Angles, DVM, sighed; his partner was like a dog with a bone. “I don’t understand why Curtis wants to go to the local community college when he’s been accepted into several prestigious universities!” Raph finally expressed his frustrations. “He’s an intelligent young man and very hard working. Why take the easy road?”

“Perhaps it’s because he is so hard working,” Hector stated.

“Okay, now I’m completely lost,” Raph said as he put down the pad he was making notes on and turned to face Hector.

“Since the minute Curtis became a part of our lives he’s worked very, very hard. Not only did he push himself to make up the class time he lost while out on the streets, he exceeded himself and was able to take college level courses in his last year of high school. He’s volunteered at the GLC and the Jason Kemp Center, and when he was old enough to be paid for working, he’s been working here, plus doing odd jobs for the other businesses on the block. And what did he do with the money he earned? He made restitution to those he mugged. He kept an accounting of all that he stole and repaid it.”

Raph nodded. In the few short years Curtis had become a part of their family, he never slacked on his promise to pay back those he had wronged.

“Babe, he’s a kid who never had a chance to be a kid. Give him this time to breathe a little. Let him go locally for a while and then when he’s ready he’ll go to one of the bigger universities. By that time he’ll have grown and matured enough to confirm that he really wants to be a vet,” Hector said wisely.

“He did express a couple times that he was considering following in his grandfather’s footsteps,” Raph said.

“Being a firefighter is a noble career,” Hector commented.

“But dangerous.” Raph said out loud what they both knew to be true.

“And if he makes that choice, we’ll support him. For now, it’s important that he takes a little breather. It’s not like he’s dropping out altogether. He’ll enroll locally and take prerequisite courses that he can transfer later.”

“But...”

“Raph, what happened when your parents forced you into the seminary?”

“I rebelled, but that was me. I knew I wasn’t cut out to be a priest.”

“Wouldn’t it have saved a lot of pain and heartache if you were able to speak to your parents the way we encourage Curtis to speak to us, before you spent all that time doing something you disliked so much?” Raph nodded in agreement. “Then give our son the respect you never got,” Hector urged.

“It all seems so simple when you explain it,” Raph conceded.

“It is simple. Curtis is a loving, sweet, compassionate young man with a lot of inner strength. It was that strength that got him through the worst time of his life. And he’s a better man for it. Give him this time. Believe me if I thought he was going to screw up, I’d let you both know, and loudly,” Hector said with a smirk.

“Must be all that hot Latin blood,” Raph teased as he gave his partner a hug and a chaste kiss.

“Get a room,” Curtis announced loudly from the doorway of the exam room. Raph and Hector jumped apart then laughed.

“We are in a room,” Raph said then laughed more.

“You won’t be laughing when the Jenkins’ ferrets get here and we’re not ready for them,” Curtis said with authority.

“Get him,” Hector teased as he poked Raph. “He thinks he’s in charge.”

“He’s right; we do have to be ready for them. I’m not in the mood to chase those critters all over the clinic again,” Raph admitted. Just then the “Bullshit” signal announced a new arrival to the clinic.

“I’ll go,” Curtis stated. “You two...ferrets,” he said giving his dads a poignant look and gesturing with his hands.

“He’ll be fine,” Hector reassured his partner. “After work, we’ll talk about it but I’m sure this will all work out.”

“I know. I just want him to be happy. He deserves it,” Raph said. Hector smiled and gently caressed Raph’s face. “Ferrets,” Raph announced and then they went about preparing the room for the ferrets.

 

*****
 

“So what did he say?” JR was restocking comic books and speaking to Candy via her bluetooth. Candy was at the GLC using their studio, sketching Nina Richie’s latest creation. Her sketch was going to be turned into a poster for Torso. Candy replied to JR via her headset.

“He wants to take me out on a real date,” Candy whispered.

“Well, duh, of course he does. He sooo likes you,” JR stated.

“Who likes her?” Curtis said as he was conferenced in by JR. He was checking the clinic’s appointment calendar when he called in to say hi and invite JR to lunch.

“Richie, of course,” Gus chimed in. He was on a break at Kinnetik when he called in.

“What are you doing?” Brian asked his son when he walked into the kitchenette. Gus was talking and looking over the ad he was assisting with, on his tablet. “Not revealing any of our secrets, are you?” Brian smirked while he rummaged around the communal refrigerator for an extra container of milk for his office.

“No, Pop,” Gus answered as he rolled his eyes. “I’m talking to the guys,” Gus said as he pointed to the bluetooth stuck in his ear. “And girls,” he quickly added at JR and Candy’s complaints. Brian snickered then left his son to it. Brian was still snickering and shaking his head as he ran into Ted in the hall.

“What’s so funny?” Ted asked.

“Gus,” Brian replied cryptically.

“Problem?” Ted asked with concern.

Brian shook his head. “Gus, JR, the kids…”

“What about them?”

“They remind me of us,” Brian said fondly. He was remembering when they were all young and beautiful and on the phone with each other, gossiping.

“Us?” Ted was confused as he followed Brian back to his office. “What about us?” Ted asked as Brian fixed him a cup of coffee then fixed one for himself. “Thank you,” Ted said as he sat on the sofa.

“They’re all growing up,” Brian murmured.

“Brian?” Ted wasn’t sure where Brian was going with their conversation.

“How’s Bree doing?” Brian asked, changing the subject.

“Brilliant.”

“That goes without saying.”

“No, you don’t understand, she is brilliant,” Ted exclaimed with a wave of his arms.

“Care to elaborate?”

“You know she’s good with numbers, right?” Brian nodded, Bree was good in math. “She prefers the pie charts, something about the colors, she says.”

“Focus, Schmidt.”

“Oh right. I’ve taken the liberty of showing Bree how we work up our fees. By the way, she likes that we don’t charge the same for every client and that sometimes we do pro bono work,” Ted explained. Brian made a ‘get on with it’ gesture with his coffee cup. “Somehow she’s found a way for us to save at least a few hundred grand on our overhead on each job while still putting out quality work. Then she rallied the art department to get more involved with the business end of things. She demanded that I set up some sort of weekly training and memos to show them how they directly affect our bottom line.”

“I thought we were already doing that with our monthly lunch meetings,” Brian said. He and Cynthia had set that up years ago to keep each department informed and involved. Ted made a face. “We are still having those lunch meetings, aren’t we?” Brian growled.

“They uh...”

“Why wasn’t I told?” Brian glared, a real Brian Kinney don’t fuck with me glare.

“You’ve been busy?”

“You mean I haven’t been directly involved with the business lately,” Brian sighed. He was getting lazy; his kids weren’t ready to take over the helm yet. Brian needed to be more involved with the day to day running of Kinnetik, in all its forms. “Go back to work,” Brian said in a low tone.

“What, boss?”

“Get out,” Brian said louder.

“Yes, boss,” Ted snapped as he got up and quickly left the office.

“Cynthia!” Brian bellowed. In a few moments, Cynthia sauntered into the office.

“Hey, Brian,” she said with a pretty smile.

“When the fuck were you going to tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“That my business is going to the shitter.”

“Brian, Kinnetik is sound, you know that. We’re not hiding anything from you. The majority of the clients we have now are new. They only know you by reputation and by the reputation of the great work we do. It’s not like when we first started, you don’t have to pound the pavement anymore looking for clients. They come to us.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point?”

“Kinnetik is my business, yours, mine, Ted’s and all the rest of them that were here from the beginning. We worked too hard to be the best. I’ve let you down, Cyn,” Brian said softly as the realization hit him.

“No you haven’t, Brian. You’ve never let us down, certainly not me. You’re our driving force.”

“Even from sixty miles away?”

“Even then. Bri, do you really want to be more involved?”

“Bree’s not a baby anymore, Gus has a few more years before he’s the new me. I could be here at least a few days a week, maybe spend a day at Part Deux.”

“It’s about time you got off your skinny ass,” Cynthia teased then plopped a file on his desk. “This is an update on that client who you’ll be seeing in Canada.”

“I said I wanted to work here, not fly all over the country.”

“Canada is another country,” Cynthia snarked. They reviewed the contract and the copies of the ads. Brian tweaked a few things proving to Cynthia that the number one adman still had it. She was about to leave his office when Brian called her back.

“Ted told me that Bree found a way to save us money.”

“I know. I had Ted and his department go over her proposal.”

“Since when does a nine year old make a proposal?”

“Since this is Miss Briana Victoria Kinney-Taylor making the proposal. Brian, she is brilliant. She must have absorbed a lot of your business savvy while she was attached to your hip when she was a baby, and she did spend the first four years of her life here. And of course she has her daddy’s eye for color and perspective. Max loves it when Bree spends time up in the art department. She’s boosted the moral up there as well.” Cynthia smiled as she spoke.

“And Gus?”

“If you’re worried that he doesn’t have what it takes to take over Kinnetik when the time comes, don’t be. He has it. He asks all the right questions. He knows when to sit back and observe. And when to speak up. Plus he has something that you never had,” Cynthia informed her boss with a mischievous smile.

“What’s that?” Brian asked with a smirk. He had an idea just what his son had.

“A nice personality,” Cynthia teased, trying to keep a straight face.

“Out!” Brian pointed toward the door. Cynthia laughed as she left. Brian could hear her patented, “I love my job,” as she shut his door behind her. A few minutes later Bree flew through the door, Taylor right behind her.

“Whoa! What’s with the fearsome twosome?”

“Dada, Miss Alice let me teach the alphabet to the class and Taylor helped!” Bree said with all the enthusiasm of the innocent.

“Yeah!” Taylor, the three year old, confirmed. Brian gathered up the two blonds to sit them on his lap.

“I hear you’ve helped Uncle Ted and Max.”

“I like Max,” Bree said. “I love Uncle Ted but I like Max. Is it okay I call Max, Max?” Bree had been taught to be respectful, to use a title when addressing adults.

“Yes, it is. Everyone calls him Max, even his own kids. Max likes you too and told me that you can work for him anytime. He likes how you draw and how you make up greeting cards.”

“But Daddy helps me with those and you did too.”

“But you come up with a lot of very good ideas.”

“But...”

“Let’s call it a collaborative effort.”

“Huh?”

“We all work together making those cards, just like we work together here. We all have our own jobs to do to make Kinnetik the best ad agency ever,” Brian said reverently. He kissed cheeks then sent Bree and Taylor back to the school. He then hit number one on his speed dial.

“Hey, Sunshine,” Brian said with a smile.

“Hey. How’s work?”

“It’s here,” Brian replied nonchalantly.

“Which means?”

“It means that I discovered that I like being here, being a part of Kinnetik.”

“Brian, you are Kinnetik, not just a part of it. There’s nothing stopping you from getting more involved with the day to day work like you used to.”

“Are you sure? I like being home with you.”

“I can paint anywhere. I can even paint in your art department, you have the room.”

“Yes, we do.”

“See, we can work something out.”

“When did you get to be so smart?”

“I’m always this smart,” Justin said smugly.

“How’s the gallery?” Brian heard Justin sigh. “What happened?”

“The word’s out that I’ve been spending time here.”

“Justin Taylor groupies?”

“More like...”

“Fan girls?” Brian offered with a chuckle. He knew how flustered Justin got with overly enthusiastic fans.

“Bri-an,” Justin whined.

“Sunshine, you are popular. Not only that, you’ve proven to be a real person, one who lives and occasionally works in the community. You’ve done meet and greets with the elite and with the everyday man. Or woman. You’ve also made much of your art work accessible to the “little” people.”

“That’s harsh.”

“It’s the truth, Sunshine. You’re different from most modern day popular artists and your fans know it. But there’s a responsibility that comes with that.” Brian thought of Sam Auerbach, of how stuck up he was, believing in his own importance. He hoped Justin was beyond that.

“Maybe one that I’m not ready for.”

“Too late! You’re a big boy and playing in the big leagues but never forget who buys your paintings, it’s not only the rich and famous. Bree and I will be over to take you to lunch soon.”

“Yeah, sure,” Justin said as he snapped his phone shut. He had some things to think about.

 

*****
 

“Here, Dad,” Patrick said as he handed a sandwich to his father. John was still supervising the repairs on his nephew’s new home. Patrick was at his side through all of it. It was lunchtime and everyone was taking a well deserved break.

“Thanks.”

“What’s left on the list?” Patrick asked as he bit into his own sandwich. Even though he wasn’t physically doing the repairs, watching and learning was almost as exhausting. Plus, he was going through a growth spurt, Patrick was constantly hungry.

“Water heater and some wiring then we’re done.”

“That quick?”

“It’s not that big of a job.”

“Is that why you used some of the guys from the center?”

“One of the reasons. Patrick, breaking into the construction business is often difficult. Most of the time you have to know someone or you’re born into it. Same goes for electrical and plumbing; it’s not easy to start out. These kids can use the break. How else do you gain experience if no one will hire you?”

Patrick nodded. He knew his father liked to hire young people and now Patrick knew why. Patrick gave his father a goofy grin.

“What’s with the face?” John asked his son. Patrick jumped up from his seat and gave his father a hug. “What was that for?”

“Just because,” Patrick said. John squeezed back.

“Yeah,” John said, wearing the same goofy grin.

 

*****
 

“Mr. Taylor?” a young man hesitantly addressed Justin, as Justin stood staring at one of his paintings. It was one of Justin’s larger abstracts. It was already sold but Justin wasn’t quite satisfied with it.

“Hmm?” Justin replied half-heartedly, not really paying too much attention.

“I attended one of your classes at PIFA,” the young man said. He was holding a program in his hand with Justin’s face on it.

“That’s nice,” Justin said, twisting his head around to examine his painting.

“I thought your use of color as the primary subject rather than the subject itself was so unique!”

“Thank you, uh, what?” Justin turned to face the young man who appeared vaguely familiar.

“Your lecture, last year, at PIFA? I attended.”

“Oh yes,” Justin seemed to take interest then turned away. “Something is just not right,” he mumbled to himself. The young man took his eyes off Justin then followed Justin’s gaze toward the area of the painting that held his attention. The young man rolled his eyes as he approached the painting.

“Hey! You can’t do...that,” Justin began to shout drawing the attention of the gallery’s security and other patrons. The young man gently removed a bit of clear packing wrap that was stuck to the painting.

The young man held out the plastic to Justin, which he automatically took.

“You’re welcome,” the young man said with disdain as he walked away scowling at the security, daring them to say anything to him.

“Daddy!” Bree said angrily as she stomped over to her father. “You didn’t say thank you.”

“What?”

“You didn’t say thank you. Bad Daddy!” Bree scolded then stomped away.

“Not good, Sunshine,” Brian quipped as he turned to find their daughter.

“What just happened?” Justin asked himself as he stared at the bit of plastic in his hand.
 

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