CHAPTER 9 - ...THEN SHE WAS ALMOST VICTORIOUS...
GUS
I am so glad that Cynders is at this end of the table. I have never seen 3V so angry, she reminds me of Medusa in Clash of the Titans!
“I knew it!” Momma explodes, before turning to Pops. “Did she ever ask you, Brian?”
“Ask me what?” Pops frowns. “Jesus, no wonder you were pissed at me for all of your pregnancy! No, she never asked me.” He shakes his head. “You are, without a doubt, the sorriest excuse for a mother I have ever met, including mine!”
“I am nothing like…”
“No, you are worse!” Papa spits. “At least she was honest in her hatred! You hid yours, but every so often it would show through; like the second time I went to New York. You really thought you had done it didn’t you?!”
“Did what?!” I demand,
“Hold on, Gus, what didn't she ask?” Grandmom Jen asks.
“Oh, you vulgarian!” Daph hisses. “How did you paint his rejection of it being her then?! What did you say to end up with him?! Although, thankfully, it is all Mel’s nurture and none of their nature, especially his, which has won the battle for the Princess Jay-Ray!”
“Quiet!” Grandma bellows, silencing the room. “Are you seriously trying to say, Daph, that this thing didn’t ask Brian about being the father to Jay-Ray, and led Mel to believe that he had said no because it was Mel?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying she did, or rather she didn’t!”
“Explain yourself then?!” Grandmom Jen orders.
LINDSAY
“I don’t, and won’t, explain myself to you!” I hiss at Jennifer, long having grown sick of her constantly pushing of Justin and Brian together. “So if people want to know, then you have to leave. I am sure one of your many family members here gathered will fill you in!”
“Blake, I believe the technical phrase for this behaviour right now is ‘her cheese has slid off her cracker’!” Ben scoffs. “Now…”
“And you can fuck off too, you disease!” I snap at him. “I hated having you around, but you kept him...” I nod my head at Michael. “...occupied, and away from Brian. You were a clickbait. You meant nothing to him, and…”
“But you and I have something, 3V.” Ben sneers, nonplussed by my remarks.
“Oh no…” Justin giggles. “...surely not, you…”
“Oh my God!” Debs claps her hand over that cavernous mouth of hers and looks between the disease and Brian. “You two? You didn’t? When?”
“Before he met him!” Justin chuckles, Brian rolls his eyes. “It was at a White Party, think it was in Florida. Twice!”
“Alright, Brat, you can stop the smugness now.”
“You slept with my husband?!” Michael explodes. “And you knew?! How you must have enjoyed keeping that over my head?!”
“He wasn’t your husband then, idiot, and certainly isn’t now. As for keeping it over your head, I have always said you never listen to me. I knew that one day you would push me too far and I would say it in anger, so I told you. Unlike yours, my conscious is clear!”
“You never told me!” Michael screams. “I sure would have fucking remembered that!”
“And did what? Try and kill him again?!” Mel snaps, before rubbing her face. “I am sorry, Justin, that was…”
“Don’t worry, Mel, it’s fine. Besides, when I did tell him, I was, and am, more than capable of defending myself. And I did tell him, didn't I, Stud?”
“Yes, Sunshine, you did.” Brian gets that smile on his face he always had for me, which used to fill me with joy, but now that it is reserved for him, fills me with hate. “It was at Babylon about four…”
“Five. It was just after Gus’s birthday. Want a top up?” He taps Brian’s glass. He nods. “Anyone else? Please come and help yourselves, apart from the cretins, of course.”
“She knew about the prom date! She told me!” I gape at Michael. “And I did fall in the apartment like I said, so…”
“She was at home with me, in body, not in mind and heart, looking after Gus who was ill with chickenpox. And she didn't just tell you, she told me. In fact, she begged Brian to come over for days before the prom to see his son, but he was so busy at work, wrapping up before his holiday, that he couldn’t. Both Gus and I are her alibi.”
“Holiday? What holiday? Where were you going? You never said anything about a holiday to me, your…” Michael demands.
“Oh shut your fucking trap, you imbecile!” I bark at him. “You are no more his best friend than I am! We have long been replaced by the twink, Mr Vanilla, and Piss Warm Champagne!” I sneer.
“Brian? You’ve never had chickenpox, have you, son?” Carl asks, staring me down. My eyes drop to the table.
“No. Been lucky like that. Why?”
“She would know that, as she knew all about you, every little detail. I think that’s why she wanted you there, so you could catch it and not be able to go to the Prom.”
“But karma kicked her ass…” Mel snickers. “...because she believed the fable that you can only get chickenpox once. She caught it and had to be looked after by her mother for two weeks!” The room rocks with laughter.
“Shut up! Shut up, all of you!” I shout and, for once, they do. “Do you have any fucking idea how irritating it was?! How irritating it was to watch him just swan in and boom, that was it! He was it! Not me, not Michael...which I could just about stomach, but him, no, not him! He was not supposed to fall in love with a male version of me!”
“He is not a version of you!” Brian bellows. “He is my one and only! I will never love anyone the way I love him! You, like Novotny, were a one off, the only difference is that I came then went!”
“And found someone else to fuck immediately, just to prove you were still gay!”
“What do you mean, Ems?” Ted gasps. “How do you know that? You two weren't even friends then?”
“Ah, that would be my fault. It was the tequila…” The twink buries his head in Brian’s shoulder. “...and champagne.”
“Twat. What am I going to do with you?” Brian shakes his head. “When he mixes tequila and champagne and Ems is around, they get giggly and chatty, but unlike Sunshine, Ems doesn't tend to forget what he's been told, and that was about three weeks ago. The clean up was not pretty of neither the bathroom, nor him!”
“So, back to you lying to Mom about Uncle Brian saying no to being my father: how did he end up as my donator?” Silence reigns as Jenny has me pinned with her glare. She looks at Michael then at me again. “Did...did you two hatch this? Did you trick Mom into picking him?”
“I had nothing to do with this tricking! They asked me, and I was happy, no proud to…”
“Took you long enough though.” Justin taunts him. “I believe with Brian it was one conga line fuck watch and done in ten minutes. Took you three or was it four days?”
“You just didn't ask me, but told her I said no…”
“Told me you said no fuck no…” Mel interrupts. “...and that the very idea would make God’s Gift to Gay PA’s dick fall off.” Sne turns to look at me. “And that’s verbatim. Did you get some perverse pleasure out of watching my morning sickness, since you never suffered a minute of it when carrying Gus?”
“Of course I did!” I laugh. “I loved every second of it, and that labour! Oh, how you begged for an epidural, but I made sure we stuck to the birth plan, all natural, no pain relief.” I stand up. “Well, since I no longer want to be here, and you have provided me with an alibi. I am leaving.”
“It was you that gave me the idea.” Brian’s voice stops me at the door.
“What now?” I sigh, then look at my watch. “Places to go, men to screw.” I smirk in Mel’s direction, she, like Ben, looks nonplussed.
“You sent Justin flowers in New York from a secret admirer to coincide with my first visit after seven months apart.” I come back to the table frowning. “You see, the one thing you and Novotny have in common is not only do you hate that we have a relationship, but you also don’t rate it. By that, I mean you think we do nothing but fuck. We don't, we also talk. He told me. Before I arrived, he called me to say that someone had sent him flowers because it freaked him out. Nobody but you, me, Mother Taylor, and Debs knew where his studio was.”
“What?” I whisper.
“Yeah. He said that he knew they weren’t from me, so after that visit I started to send him flowers, scented, like Daph said, so the ones you sent to coincide with my other visits were put in the trash. Much like our friendship is now.”
How could I have gotten that so wrong?! I sought to tear them apart through his insecurities, but I cemented their fucking relationship! I am brought back into the room by a flash. “What was that?!” I demand.
“A moment of posterity. Here she is!” Emmett exclaims. “That’s her real face, it is one of jealousy and hatred.”
They all look at the photo as Emmett passes his phone around and start laughing… laughing at me! How did things get here?
“Actually, Emmett, I already have that!” Mel snickers as she pulls out her phone,
Gus moves to her side. “You okay, Mom?”
“Yep, never better. Go sit back with your Pops and Papa, I won't be long…” She starts to scroll. “...now where is it? Ah here, this is her on our wedding day. One of the happiest days of our lives!” She turns the screen to face everyone. “Look how lovingly, oh wait, no, longingly, she gazes over my shoulder at Brian in this one.” She swipes right. “Now look at the daggers in her eyes as she watches her dream guy leave to take his dream guy and their son home early!”
The next picture is of me, looking murderous, but it is the following one that stuns us all into silence, it is the back of Brian and Justin. Justin has Gus in the crook of his left arm, Brian has his arm over his shoulders, and both are kissing a cheek each, with big smiles. “It is my favourite of the three of you.” She whispers.
“Can you send that to me, Mom?” Gus blinks back tears. “I think that’s the youngest I have ever seen of me with you both.”
“You said you deleted it! You promised!” I yell.
“And I did!” Mel yells back.
“But I got your old laptops remember, 3V?” Hunter sneers. “And it was on there, so I sent it to her.” He takes a sip of his drink. “And that’s how Justin found out about your affairs too…
Start of flashback
BRITIN - EIGHTEEN MONTHS PRIOR
BACK OFFICE
HUNTER
“Awww. He looks so adorable!” I coo as I check out the picture of Gus, my babe, as a child. “How old was he?”
“Think about three.” Justin smiles. “It was at their wedding. Can you send it to Mel and me, please…” He frowns. “...I have seen their album so many times, I don’t recall that picture.”
“That’s it, sent to you both. The rest I shall put on the USB and give to Momma Mel. Now for hers.” I sigh.
“She still giving the pair of you the stink eye over you dating?”
“Yeah. It's not as if we’re not careful, we haven’t even had sex yet!” I fume. “I mean, she has had Poppa Benjie in her life for years, why is she so bent about this?!”
“Because...and you must never repeat this to Brian or Gus.” He pauses while I nod. “She wants to be the only person that they love.”
“But you guys have been together for years.”
“And she hates it.” He sighs as he sits down next to me. “I could not believe it either, thought I was misreading it, but yeah, she, like his Unca Mikey, hates that we are together. She thought it was cute at first; you know, 17 year old’s first crush, because that’s what she, in fact, everyone thought it was, but it wasn’t. I knew it wasn't, and after the bashing, everyone could see what it was, but daren’t say anything just in case they frightened Bambi.”
“Why would they call you Bambi?”
“Not me, Brian. He’d never been in love before, and up to the bashing, he would deny it fiercely. I believe he said once he would finger an old witch whilst sucking her tit before he fell in love!”
“Urrrgh!” I push aside the hotdog.
“And in a way he did. They fucked in college, and that’s what I call her, an old witch!”
“Papa J!” I guffaw.
“And you must not repeat that either!” He giggles.
“I won’t! Okay, let me get Ms Peterson’s laptop done…” I scowl at that enforced salutation. “...then we can go pick up my cute as a button babe.”
“Awww!”
“Do not tell him I call him that!” I blush.
“I won’t!” He grins.
We go back to working on our respective projects. He is curating for his final art show. Popsey, as I call Gus’s dad, is so happy right now, not just because it his final art show, but it is going to be hosted at Bloom Gallery. And not in New York as some people had strongly suggested. He hums as he works, as he often does. We work in here a lot, the pair of us, we like the relative quiet of it. Working in IT means I have to concentrate, and Gus, as much as I love him, is like is his Popsey in that the silences unnerve him. But also like his Popsey, he is learning that silence is not a bad thing.
“What is that song? I have been meaning to ask you...you’ve been humming that a lot when you are here. Just here nowhere else.”
“I have?” He looks surprised. “I don’t know to be honest. I find that it pings into my head when I am calm or happy, and in these last few months, I have been really happy.”
“Let’s see what it is. You got Shazam on your phone?” He nods. “Know the words?”
“Yeah, some of them. You can dance. Every dance with the guy, Who gave you the eye, Let him hold you tight. You can smile. Every smile for the man, who held your hand ‘neath the pale moonlight…”
“Save the Last Dance by the Drifters.” I grin. “Popsey listens to it a lot.”
“He does? He never said.”
“Most likely because you never work together!” I snicker. “He is a neat freak, and you’re…” I trail off as I look around the room.
“Not. The word you are looking for is not.”
“Yes, definitely not!”
“Get back to work!” He chides me with a smile.
For the next hour we work in silence until I find something. “Uh, Papa J!” I shudder. “Is that what I think it is?” He comes over and gasps. “When did Momma Mel get such a realistic strap on?!” I cringe.
“She didn’t. That’s not Momma Mel, that is the artist and enfant terrible Sam Auberbach!”
“Sam as in Samantha?”
“Nope. Is that the only picture?” I begin to search the folder tree, and there are a list of names: Sam, Fred, Andrew, James, Mitchell; and as we open each one, there are pictures of her ‘flexibility and enthusiasm’. “Hunter, put all of that ickiness on a USB and clear the laptop. I know exactly who to give this to!”
End of flashback