Should Old Acquaintance
Chapter 10
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Joan Kinney sat at her kitchen table. She
had a bottle of sherry in front of her. It was mostly gone. She had been
drinking for most of the afternoon. She couldn't quite understand how God could
be so cruel to her to leave her all alone while her family went on with their
sinful lives.
She could see that beautiful little blonde
girl running around the fountain in the churchyard. She was Joan's
granddaughter, a child that she had never even seen before. The little girl had
to be two years old, and Joan hadn't even known she existed. Her son was so
cruel. He wouldn't even tell her about the children. She had had to find out
about Gus totally by accident. Brian's son must be a teenager by now. She took
another sip of her wine. Her children were so wicked to keep her from her
grandchildren.
With a sigh Joan polished off the rest of
her glass of sherry. She still had a little more in the bottle, but she might
need it later tonight to help her sleep. She was pretty sure that she didn't
have any more liquor in the house either. She screwed the top on the bottle and
wearily got up to put the bottle in the cupboard.
She had just cleaned everything up when
her front doorbell rang. She wondered who would be coming to the house at this
time of day, probably someone selling something. She decided not to answer it.
The bell rang again. She quietly made her way to the living room and peered
through a crack in the curtains.
Her heart soared. It was Father Tom. She
hadn't had a visit from him at home in a long time. She had to go to St.
Anthony's if she wanted to see him. She had a feeling he didn't approve of some
of the things she had done with regards to her family. But that didn't matter
now. He was here. Quickly she opened the front door.
"Father," she said with a big
smile. "What a lovely surprise!"
"How are you, Joan?"
"I'm fine. Please come in," Joan
said stepping back and holding the door open for the priest.
Father Tom walked past Joan getting a
whiff of liquor as he did so. He shook his head. He knew that Joan was a secret
drinker, but he had hoped that she had cut back on that as he had suggested.
Apparently his hopes weren't to be realized. Joan was a very lonely old woman.
"Would you like some coffee,
Father?" Joan asked.
"That would be nice," he said
thinking that the coffee would do her more good than him. He followed her to
the kitchen where she started a pot of coffee and pulled out some cookies from
a cupboard.
"To what do I owe the honor of this
visit?" Joan asked as the coffee started to drip.
"I haven't visited you lately, and
there's something I want to talk to you about."
"No, you haven't been here for
months," Joan said unable to keep the judgmental quality out of her voice.
Father Tom could hear the accusation in
her voice. She was one unforgiving woman. "Joan, I believe you know about
the existence of Brian and Justin's daughter," Father Tom said gently.
"And who might that be?" Joan
asked as she took down some cups for the coffee.
"This is your granddaughter I'm
talking about."
"Did he send you here to taunt me
with the granddaughter that I didn't even know existed until a few days
ago?" Joan demanded.
"No one wants to taunt you,
Joan."
"Sit down, Father. The coffee's
ready," Joan said her voice like ice.
Father Tom sat down at the kitchen table
and accepted the coffee that Joan handed him. He noted the trembling in her
hand, as she gave him the cup.
"I am here on my own recognizance. No
one asked me to do anything. I just thought I might be able to pave the way to
some understanding."
"Understanding? What understanding? That my son has children that he
doesn't even want me to know exist? That he has effectively turned everyone
against me including my daughter? I understand all these things only too
well."
"Joan, please, sit
down. And calm down. What I'm here to tell you is nothing like that,"
Father Tom said in his most gentle voice.
"And just what do you want to tell
me?" Joan demanded taking a sip of her coffee and wishing it was something
much stronger.
"Brian and Justin have decided to
have their daughter baptized."
"And you're going to do it? In the church?"
"Yes, I'm going to do it, and no, not
in the church."
"Then it isn't even valid," Joan
said with that supercilious tone of criticism that she had perfected to a tee.
"Yes, it is valid. Priests are
allowed to baptize outside the church under certain conditions," Father
Tom said carefully.
"Conditions, like having two
homosexuals for parents?" Joan asked glaring at the priest.
"That has nothing to do with the
baptism."
"Says who?"
"Says me!" Tom retorted finally letting Joan get to him.
"Look, do you want to hear what I have to say or not?"
"I suppose … since you're here,"
Joan said sipping her coffee.
"The baptism is going to be held at
Brian and Justin's home."
Joan snorted. "That disgusting loft
that half the men in
Father Tom raised an eyebrow. Obviously
Joan was getting information about her son from somewhere, and it was not of
the flattering variety. "The baptism will be at their home in the
country."
"They have another home?" Joan
asked. She let out a barely audible moan, as what the priest had said
registered. Her son had another home that she had never see, had never been
invited to, had never even known existed. Just like her granddaughter.
"I believe Brian is going to invite
you to the baptism," Father Tom continued.
"Invite me?" Joan asked in true
surprise. "Why would he invite me?"
"You are his mother, and he knows how
important the church and religion are to you."
"Then why isn't this being done in
the church?" Joan demanded.
Father Tom sighed. There was no winning
with Joan. "Justin isn't Catholic," he said taking that as the
easiest explanation of why the sacrament needed to be outside the church.
Joan digested this fact. So, she had been
right that the blond man, this Justin, was the little girl's father. She
wondered at the fact that Brian would even consider inviting her. "Where
is this house?" Joan asked.
"About halfway
between here and
"All the way
there?"
"Yes."
"I don't know," Joan said
suddenly uncertain. She would like to see this house. She would like to see how
her son actually lived. She would like to hold her granddaughter, if only once
before she died.
"We'll see that you get a ride
there," Father Tom said thinking this might be the reason for her
hesitancy.
"I can drive myself," she
stated.
"Of course," Father Tom said
realizing he had guessed incorrectly about her motives for not answering.
"Would you consider coming to the baptism?"
"I … I don't know." Joan closed
her eyes and thought about what this might mean. Then she realized that Brian
hadn't even asked her yet. It was Father Tom who was proposing this, and there
was no guarantee that Brian would ever give her a chance to attend the
ceremony.
"All I'm asking is that you think
about it. And when Brian calls, listen to him and say yes."
"I … don't know," she repeated.
"I better go. Think about what I've
told you. I can show myself out," he said as she showed no signs of
getting up.
Joan never replied to his statement. She
seemed lost in thought. He quietly left the kitchen and let himself out the
front door.
Joan sat at the table for a while. This
was an interesting turn of events. She wasn't sure what she would do if Brian
ever did call her and invite her. She would have to hear him actually say those
words before she believed any of this. She slowly got up and retrieved the
remainder of the bottle of sherry.
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"Justin, its Sidney Bloom, my boy! We
haven't seen you at the gallery for a few days. Are you doing your Justin
Taylor, the elusive man of mystery routine?"
"No,
"We all miss you, my boy. But that's
not the reason I called. Justin, we cleaned the unfinished canvas. And you'll
never guess what we've found."
"What! What?"
"Kinney started a portrait of
Patrick..."
"That's what I thought it was."
"But that's not all. Patrick is
holding a child, a little girl. The hair and eyes look dark but aside from
that, she could be Briana's twin."
"No shit?"
"No shit, to use your expression.
Justin, we photographed the canvas and I will email you a copy so you can see
for yourself but you should come here. I have a proposition for you."
"What?"
"Finish it."
"WHAT?!!"
"Finish the portrait. Just like you
did with the portrait of Patrick. I want you to finish the painting."
"But I can't. I can't paint like him
and it will ruin the original canvas. No,
"I thought you'd say that. Then do
the next best thing. I'll pack the canvas up for you and you can take it home,
copy it onto a fresh canvas and then complete the portrait. The Rage movie has
sparked more interest in your work. We can do a study. A
Justin Taylor study of JAB Kinney. You have his notes, his journal and
your own experiences from your journey. Do this, Justin. Take all the time you
need. We can have a special show and dedicate it to Edna. We can start the
exhibition here then take it to
"I don't know what to say."
"You say, yes
"Yes,
"Give me a couple of days. Since
you're not going to paint it, we'll apply a preservative. I'll call you when
it's done. Maybe Brian can bring it home or I can have it delivered. Don't
sweat the details. Now, I've just emailed the picture. Have fun studying it.
I'll be in touch."
"Uh, sure,
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"Justin? You okay? You look a little
flustered. The kids giving you a difficult time?"
"Hmm? No, John, I'm fine. Gus has been doing his big
brother routine with Bree and Patrick, they're angels for him. I just got off
the phone with
"You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. Sidney says that except for dark eyes and hair, they
could be twins."
"Well, it does make sense. If Patrick
decided to have a child by a local woman then it stands to reason the child may
have dark hair and eyes. And since you and Patrick resemble each other, the
features of the baby could look like Briana. There's no doubting that you're
Briana's father."
"You mean in spite of the fact that
Brian dotes on her day and night. Is miserable if he's separated from her for
more than an hour and she has him wrapped around her little finger. Sure, I may
have donated the sperm but that's about it."
"Oh stop it. You dote on her too.
You're just not as blatant as he is. And Bobby's the same way with Patrick. And
Justin, the way you've included Gus. You and Brian are doing a wonderful job.
This could have turned out so differently with Gus but he's a fine young
man."
"I know, we're very
lucky. Brian loves Gus so
much."
"Yes, he does."
"Mmm. Uh, John, why are you home so
early? I thought you were in
"I was. I checked in at my office and
then decided to take my husband to lunch."
"But Bobby came home early
today."
"So I found out. So we're both here.
We've been getting a progress report from Gordon. Where's Brian? I thought you
two we're taking some time off."
"We are but he went to visit his
sister."
"The baptism?"
"Yeah, and to talk
about Joan. I think he's
going to invite her."
"Do you think she'll come?"
"I have no idea. I guess we'll have
to wait and see."
"I guess so. Justin, do you think Brian
will be home soon?"
"I think so. Why?"
"Nice afternoon for a barbecue!"
"Very nice."
"I'll get the steaks!"
"I'll get the salad!"
"And I'll find Bobby; he can
help."
"Oh, yeah!"
Later that night after the whole family
enjoyed their impromptu barbeque, they were all
lounging in the porch. Justin printed out the picture that
"Holy shit!" Justin exclaimed out loud, forgetting that his
daughter had a fascination with that word.
"What is it, Sunshine?" Brian
asked more than a little concerned.
"This is the picture of the
unfinished Kinney canvas. Look!" The family gathered around Justin to look
at the photo. Even Briana tried to climb up her daddy's leg to see what had
them all amazed. Justin lifted his daughter to hold her in his arms as Brian
snatched the photo out of Justin's hand.
Brian stood back then held the picture at
arm's length so that it was next to Justin and Bree. John and Bobby stood near
to Brian and they saw the same thing he did.
"Holy fucking shit!" The three
men said together as they looked from the photo to Justin. Father and daughter
blinked owlishly at the three men who were standing with mouths agape and
staring.
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Old Acquaintance