Spring 2010

Michael Novotny was meeting with the business adviser he had reluctantly hired to try to get his business back to making some profit. He didn't like what the guy had to say.

"Mr. Novotny, like I've been telling you for months, the best thing for you to do would be to sell off your stock and close up shop. You're barely covering your operating expenses or making any profit for yourself to live on."

"Yeah, no shit," Michael grumbled. "I had to sell my car so I could keep my apartment."

"You don't have enough room in here to have a coffee shop or an area where people can play tabletop games, which would certainly bring in more customers," the adviser continued. "However, I wouldn't recommend upgrading to a larger store, it's just not worth the financial risk at this point. Comic books and collectibles sell much better online than in actual stores these days. You have a lot of rare comics that could sell for quite a bit on eBay."

"You were hired to help me save my business, not tell me to sell off all my stuff!" Michael yelled at him. "Just leave, you're fucking useless. And don't think I'm paying you for this, either."

The adviser walked out, shaking his head.

Michael was beyond pissed off. If it wasn't for that fucking blond whore, he would have Brian for himself and all the money he needed to run his shop. Truth be told, he was furious with his ex-best friend too, for leaving him high and dry.

When Brian walked out of his shop two years before, after he'd found out that Michael had been trying to separate him and Justin, Michael was sure that Brian would have cooled off and come to his senses after a few days. The opposite had happened, in fact. If Brian ever saw Michael anywhere around town, he acted like he was a stranger, not even giving him the courtesy of a "hello."

None of Michael's old friends would even acknowledge his existence after what he had done. Melanie wouldn't let him have anything to do with Jenny Rebecca, and the only pictures he had seen of his daughter were the ones Mel sent to his mother. It was as if they had all chosen Justin over him, and to Michael's mind, this was unfair and unacceptable. Brian should have been his, and the blond bastard should have been gone from their lives and everyone's thoughts years ago.

Well, he would show them all. He'd find a way to get back at all of those who had written him off. He had a right to have Brian by his side where he belonged and to have his family back. He just needed to get their attention somehow.

First, he needed to finally make Red Cape Comics a successful business. Since he had bought the place from Buzzy, the store had never really paid off as Michael hoped it would. Even after the new Marvel movies made comic books and collectibles more mainstream, Michael's stock wasn't exactly flying off the shelves. It seemed that people would rather spend money on t-shirts and cheap plastic toys at the Big Q than support a local business.

Michael visited his mother that evening after closing up his store. He knew Carl would be at his weekly bowling game with his old cop friends, so Debbie would be at the house alone. Luckily she had made a tuna casserole, so there was plenty to share. He waited until she had gone to the basement to fold some laundry to put his plan into action.

Michael knew he couldn't call Ted from his cell phone because his old friend wouldn't answer if he knew it was him. He used the phone in the kitchen to call the man who had once wanted to be more than friends.

"Hey Deb, how are you?" the accountant cheerfully answered.

"Ted, it's Michael. Please don't hang up, I need your help."

Ted sighed, his good mood ruined. "Calling from your mother's house is a shitty way to try to get something from me, Michael. Furthermore, I have no reason to want to help you after that shit you pulled."

"Please, just listen to me for a minute, Ted. I'm begging you," Michael pleaded.

"Fine, you have exactly one minute. Blake and I were just about to sit down to dinner. Make it count."

"I'm having a problem with my store and want to make a deal with you."

"I'm not surprised, I always knew buying that dump was a mistake," Ted said in a condescending tone. "Keep talking."

"I need advertising. I know Brian is the best in the business and I need you to get him to do some mock-up ads without telling him who they're for. If I had some good advertising, then I could make more money. I can't pay for the ads up front, but I'm sure if you talked to him you could get him to do some stuff for free. Either that or just find a way to write it off."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Ted growled. "There's no way I would do that, for you or anyone. And besides, Brian and Justin would know they were for you; it's not like we could make an ad without the name of the business on it."

"Please, Ted. I'm the only reason you even met Brian in the first place, remember? Have an intern in the art department who doesn't know me do it when the others are at lunch. They wouldn't even notice if the work was done and not paid for. Brian and that fucking blond whore have plenty of money. I would do it for you."

"I really don't appreciate the way you're talking about Justin. I've spent a lot of time with him over the past couple of years, both in and out of the office, and I've grown to really respect the man he's grown up to be. Brian is a better man because of him, in fact."

Michael bit his tongue and held back from saying anything else negative about Justin, so as not to ruin his chance. "If you ever loved me, you will do this one tiny thing for me, Ted."

Ted chuckled dryly. "Tiny thing? You're asking me to lie to Brian and steal from his company! If you had any idea how much we bill for work, you'd shit your pants. I was a fool for ever having feelings for you, especially considering how shitty of a friend you turned out to be. There's one big difference between you and me, Michael: I would never screw over my best friend the way you did because I respect him and cherish our friendship."

Michael's mouth dropped open. "You are not Brian's best friend!"

"The fuck I'm not!" Ted argued. "And how the fuck would you know, anyway? You haven't even talked to him in, what, two years? He's never called me his ‘best friend,' at least not to my face, but he doesn't have to. Aside from Justin, he trusts me more than anyone. I'm his chief financial officer and his personal accountant. I have access to literally every penny he has. I could drain him dry and run off to a beach in Mexico if I wanted to, but he knows I'd never do that. He probably wouldn't let you borrow a few bucks for a sandwich if you were starving. Brian told me not to tell you at the time, but after Justin moved to New York back in ‘05, he named me his proxy in the event he's ever unable to make medical decisions for himself."

Michael recalled the night he and Brian promised that they would "pull each other's plugs", though they never actually signed the papers to do so.

"He did?"

"Yeah. He knows that I care about him, but I would also do what's best for him, even if that included taking him off of life support. Anyway, I've got to go, Blake is waiting for me. Your business is your problem and you will get no help from me. You must be crazy to think I'd betray Brian like you're asking me to. I literally owe that man my life and betraying him would practically be suicidal. Don't ever bother to call me again."

Michael hung up the phone just as Debbie came back into the kitchen with a basket of clothes.

"Who was that?" she asked, gesturing to the phone on the wall.

"Um... wrong number," he lied.

"You don't live here, don't answer my phone," she admonished.

He acted sweet to the kid, who looked very young. He had longish blond hair and ice-blue eyes. The pink pouty lips reminded him of someone who he felt should have to pay for the trouble he had caused. The voice was too low, but he could pretend.

He led the kid into the alley and paid him what he asked. He turned the blond to the wall and lowered his pants, prepared him, and after donning a condom, started fucking the not-quite-tight ass. As they both got close, he looped the cord around the kid's neck and pulled hard, twisting the stick in the back as fast as he could. He climaxed as the kid did, the boy's ass clamping down as he suffocated.

Pulling out, he let the body drop to the pavement as he glanced around, just to make sure they were alone. To be nice, he pulled the kid's pants back up. He reached into the kid's pocket and took his wallet.

"He won't need it where he's going," he announced quietly into the dark before walking away.

Nothing made Carl Horvath happier than getting to sleep in. After being a cop for forty-five long years, he had earned the right to sleep as late as he wanted, which was why he wasn't happy to be rudely awakened from a deep slumber one Tuesday morning by his long-time fiancee.

"Honey... Carl... wake up," Debbie called out as she vigorously shook her partner's shoulder.

Carl grumbled low in his chest. "What?"

Debbie answered by grabbing the remote control from the nightstand and turning on the TV that was sitting on the dresser in front of their bed. She flipped through the channels until she landed on the correct one.

"Look!" Debbie yelled, pointing at the screen with a red fingernail. "It's happened again, Carl!"

Carl blinked a few times as his tired eyes focused in on the screen. What he saw appeared to be a body bag on a patch of pavement, a team of police officers and crime scene investigators huddled around it.

"They found them two blocks away from the diner," Debbie said tearfully.

"Them?" Carl repeated as he tried to listen to what the news reporter was saying.

"There were two of them this time."

"...believed to have been strangled to death," the female reporter on the TV said. "Although the bodies were found in the same alleyway, police suspect that the deaths occurred a few hours apart. At this time, the men have not been identified and there have been no arrests made. We will be following this story closely as more information comes in. Jessica Stanton, Channel Four News."

"You've got to do something!" Debbie screamed, making Carl jump.

He knew Debbie wouldn't let him go back to sleep, so he tossed the blanket off and slowly rolled his old bones out of bed. "What do you expect me to do, Sweetheart? I retired last month, remember?"

"You... I don't know!" she shouted. "I mean, they don't even know who these poor boys are yet!"

"They'll get IDs on them soon."

That answer only got the hysterical redhead more riled up. "But what if they don't? Remember that I was the one who figured out who Jason Kempf was? You didn't have a fucking clue!"

Carl hadn't heard that name in seven years, not since the young hustler's murder investigation was closed following Kenneth Reichert's suicide. He'd hope the day would come that Debbie didn't feel the need to remind him that she was a better detective than he was, at least as far as that one case was concerned.

"Call one of your cop buddies," Debbie suggested. "Surely you'll know someone investigating these murders."

"And say what? ‘Hey buddy, my girlfriend is upset. You'd better hurry up with this investigation'? I'm not on the case, it's bad etiquette to step on another officer's toes during an active investigation. I'm nothing more than a concerned citizen now, anyway."

"Well, we need to do something. I can't just sit around here and wait until they find another one dead."

"Deb, Honey, there's really nothing we can do. Let me see if I can find out anything. They made Mackey lead in Homicide after I left, he owes me many favors. While I do that, could you be a doll and make some coffee?" Carl asked, hoping that he could find out something that would calm her down.

Debbie mumbled about needing to stay busy as she left the room. Cooking and doing housework were always the best distractions for her when she was stressed.

Carl picked up his cell phone, hoping he wouldn't piss off the detective when he called him. When the call was answered, Carl crossed his fingers for luck.

"Hey, Mackey, it's Horvath."

"Hey, Old Timer," Detective Lieutenant Daryl Mackey replied. "You missing me already?"

‘Yeah, like a hemorrhoid," Carl joked. "I really don't want to step on anyone's toes, but you know how Deb is about the kids on Liberty. She woke me up by telling me about that double murder this morning. Do you have anything I can tell her to calm her down?"

"We have nothing," Mackey replied. "Of course neither of them had any ID on them, but they both appear to be very young, probably no older than twenty. Both were strangled. It was pretty nasty, too. Ropes were left tied on them. I know this isn't the best thing to do and you will need to keep this quiet, but do you think maybe Deb would at least know their names if she saw them? She is the unofficial Mayor of Liberty Avenue, after all. The bodies were just brought to the morgue, they're due to be autopsied later today."  

"Let me talk to her and see if I think she can handle seeing them. I'll call you back," Carl answered, hanging up the phone.

After showering and putting on his robe, Carl headed down to the kitchen. Debbie had coffee, eggs, bacon, and toast ready. He went over to his love and hugged her tightly.

"You're the best, Red," he said as he kissed her cheek before sitting down to eat. After he had gotten some food into himself, he told Debbie about his phone call.

"I talked to Mackey. He confirmed they have no identities on the boys, but he said they're young. He asked me something, but before I ask you, I want you to be honest with me about whether or not you think you can handle it."

Debbie sat her fork down, looking impatient. "What are you saying, Carl? Just spit it out."

"The boys are in the morgue. Do you think you can handle trying to identify them?"

"Of course I can. If you remember, I'm the one who found Jason in the dumpster. Come on, get dressed so we can go. You can eat later," Debbie announced as she started to take his plate.

He grabbed the piece of toast and folded it around the rest of his bacon, munching on it as he headed for the stairs.

The couple arrived at the police station downtown about half an hour later. Carl chatted with the officer at the front desk until Detective Mackey came out to meet them.

"Jesus Horvath, did you eat all of the cake from your retirement party?" Mackey asked, poking Carl in his expanding gut.

"Deb's Italian, to her food is like air, you need to have both constantly to survive," Carl answered, laughing.

"We can discuss our eating habits later," Debbie said to the two men, annoyed. "Can we get this over with so you guys can do your fucking jobs and find out who killed these boys?"

"Come with me," Mackey said as he led the two to the morgue.

Walking into the bright room, he nodded to the attendant to wait outside. He had already pulled the bodies out of the refrigerators and had them lying on stretchers in the middle of the room, covered with white sheets.

With Carl by her side, Debbie walked over to the first body. Mackey stood on the other side and uncovered the face of the boy.

"Oh, fuck. It's Kyle," she said, turning her face to press it into Carl's chest. "I never noticed before how much he looks like Brian when he was younger. Tall and thin, just like him. I don't know his last name, but I do know he's from Canton, Ohio. I heard him telling one of the other boys last week at the diner."

Turning to the second stretcher, she took a deep breath as she told them, "Let's get this done."

As the sheet was pulled back, she started crying harder. "Jesus... his name is Frankie. I don't remember his last name, but I hired him a few days ago to work at the diner. We joked about how he would clean up nicely because he looked so much like Sunshine. He was a really sweet kid. He said he recently turned nineteen."

"Can you call someone at work to get his last name?" Carl asked, pointing to the pale blond boy.

Debbie pulled her cell phone out of her purse and walked to the other end of the room, needing to separate herself from the two dead boys who had their lives ripped away so young.

Kiki answered the diner's phone.

"Kiki, it's Deb. What's Frankie's last name?"

"It's Stevens, with a V. And Deb, he didn't show up for work this morning," Kiki said, sounding slightly pissed. "Those little boys are never any good. This one doesn't even have an ID or Social Security card... how the fuck are we supposed to pay him? You'd better be here to relieve me at noon because having to bus my own tables is killing my back. I've got to start wearing shorter heels."

"I'll be in soon," Debbie answered before hanging up.

She turned back to Mackey and Carl. "His last name is Stevens, with a V. I'm not sure where he's from or if he has family nearby, but I'll see if I can find out more from the other boys. Carl, we need to stop by the diner on the way home. I didn't want to tell Kiki over the phone about this."

"We need to wait before releasing names, to notify families first," Mackey said.

"So what are you saying, I can't tell anyone these boys were murdered last night?" Debbie asked, a new round of tears welling up.

"Afraid so, Honey," Carl said.

Debbie turned to leave, unable to be in the cold room a second longer. Before she could reach for the door, Mackey asked, "Uh, Debbie? Is there anything else you can tell us, especially about this Kyle kid?"

The teary woman slowly turned back. "Yeah, they were both hustlers... homeless, too."

"Figures," she heard Mackey say sadly before the door closed behind her.

Spring 2011

Over the next twelve months, the murder investigations for Kyle and Frankie went cold. There were many leads, but none of them panned out. Frankie's family was never located and no one knew anything more about Kyle, if that was even his real name. Debbie was forced to keep her knowledge of the identities of the murdered boys a secret, which hurt her heart beyond belief.

Meanwhile, Carl in his retirement had developed the dreaded BFM - Bored Outta Your Fucking Mind Syndrome. He had asked Debbie to quit the diner and retire with him, but she insisted on working at least four days a week, as if that would keep her close to the memories of Kyle and Frankie. Carl wanted to travel with his future bride, maybe take a cruise or borrow his brother's RV for a road trip, but he was stuck in the Pitts as Debbie toiled away at the diner. When she wasn't working, she was cleaning the house from top to bottom and stuffing her fiance with food.

There were some days that Carl just had to get out of the house, either to occupy himself or get away from a restless Debbie for a few hours. There was only so much time he could spend in the smoky police union lodge, so he often found himself helping Hunter at the Vic Grassi House. He actually enjoyed cooking and cleaning for the sick residents, since he never got to do it at home.  

One day he found his way to the Gay and Lesbian Center, which was right down the street from the Grassi House. He had been there a few times over the years for events, such as fundraisers and a couple of Justin's art exhibits, but he'd never gone in by himself. He walked over to a desk where a butch woman with multiple facial piercings was sitting.

"Hi," Carl said, not knowing exactly what he was doing there.

"Wow, you sure are one hell of a bear," the woman remarked.

Carl chuckled. "I've gotten that before, but no... I'm straight."

She raised an eyebrow. "Then what are you doing here, straight man?"

Carl had been thinking a lot about the unsolved double murder lately, the anniversary of which was quickly approaching. He recalled how Debbie had told him about the two boys, who seemed to have nowhere to go and very little resources at the time of their deaths. Debbie's best guess about the boys was that they'd each been thrown out by their families when it was discovered they were gay, as many young gay youths were. There weren't any missing persons reports filed anywhere in the country that matched the boys, proving they weren't missed by their families.

"What do you do when a young kid comes in here, a gay kid, and they say they're homeless? Is there somewhere they can stay? Do you set them up in a home, or...?"

The woman shrugged. "Well, there's the homeless shelter, but a lot of people don't like staying there because it's full of druggies and ex-cons. They steal all of your shit. There are some people in the community who will take in homeless kids, but not officially, like a foster situation, but that's usually temporary. A lot of them end up in jail. They just bounce back and forth between jail, shelters, and the streets. I wish there was more we could do, but a lack of funding makes it really hard to help people get on their feet. Most of our funding goes towards health care services."

Carl nodded, afraid that would be the answer. He'd arrested more than one homeless youth during his time as a beat cop for minor thefts, loitering, drug possession, or just being a nuisance to the community. Many of them were repeat offenders. He could tell some of them were gay.

"There's nowhere for them to rest or at least get a meal?" Carl asked.

"Well, if Debbie's working, she'll let them hang out at the Liberty Diner down the street, and she does feed many of them. She's really great about doing what she can for the kids. If it was up to her, she'd probably take them all home with her."

Carl smiled as he thought about his generous partner. He'd always wondered why she didn't seem to bring home as much money as he thought she should and why she insisted on staying at her job. She must have paid for all of those meals out of her tips.

Carl decided he was going to talk to a couple of people who may be able to help out. Calling ahead, he checked if they were available to meet with him before heading to the old bath house.

"Hey Carl, is everything okay?" Brian asked as he greeted the ex-cop with a handshake.

"Yeah, things are good. I'd like to talk to you and Justin about something, though."

Brian called the art department and summoned his partner.

"Justin's finishing something up and will be in in a few minutes. Do you want some coffee?"

"That would be great."

Brian summoned his assistant to bring him a cup. The two men sat and talked while they waited for Justin.  

"Is Deb doing okay?" Brian asked, concerned for his surrogate mother. He knew that the past year had been hard for her. She seemed to be working even more, especially at night, letting the hustlers with nowhere to go hang out at the diner.

Carl nodded slowly. "Yeah, she's hanging in there. Still working her hands to the bone, both at work and at home. She just can't sit down for more than a few minutes, too anxious."

"She puts so much on herself," Brian agreed. "Her heart is too big for her own good sometimes, feeling like she has to take care of everyone, even to her own detriment."

Justin walked in, greeting Carl and giving Brian a quick kiss.

"So, what can we help you with?" Brian asked the elder gentleman after Justin had taken a seat.

Carl sighed, nervous about what he was about to propose. "You guys know that it's been almost a year since those two young boys were killed, right?"

The other two men nodded.

"Well, Deb and I have talked about it a few times, and we figured that a big reason why those boys were killed, the reason why they were out on the streets so late at night with seemingly nowhere to go, was because there really isn't anywhere for young homeless gays to go. A gal at the GLC confirmed that for me today. Specifically, nowhere for them to live for free until they're able to get jobs and support themselves."

"A lot of businesses won't hire homeless people, anyway," Justin pointed out.

"Exactly," Carl said. "It's a vicious circle: you need a job to get a home and you need a home to get a job."

"I would have been homeless if Debbie hadn't taken me in and given me a job at the diner when I was seventeen," Justin recalled. "I could have ended up dead in a dumpster or an alley, too."

Brian nudged his partner. "You know I wouldn't have let that happen. They would have had to have killed me first."

Carl then flashed back to that day in the morgue when he and Debbie saw those two dead boys, one blond with a slight build and the other a tall brunet. Their similarities to the two men sitting in front of him weren't lost on him; it was almost spooky.

"Anyway, I was thinking, uh..." Carl began, taking a moment to gather his words. "Maybe there's some way to change things to help these kids, but of course the big obstacle is money."

"What are you suggesting?" Brian asked.

"Kinnetik is the most prominent business in town run by gay people, certainly the most financially successful. I know you guys already contribute the bulk of the Grassi House's operating expenses, but what if you guys also pitched in for a gay youth shelter?"

Brian and Justin looked at each other for a few beats, appearing to have some sort of silent conversation between them, and then simultaneously looked back at Carl.

"Yeah, we could do that," Justin answered for the both of them. "We could also have a fundraiser to help start it off, just like the ones we've had over the years for the GLC and Vic's House. We could throw a carnival with games and booths."

"Were you thinking of building something from the ground up or using an existing building?" Brian asked.

"I drive past that old motel on Fifth Street all the time, you know, the one close to the McDonalds? I've busted a few people there over the years. I think all of the rooms have kitchenettes and are a decent size. There are rarely more than five cars on the lot at any given time, so I couldn't imagine the owner putting up much of a fight for it. It's a dump and needs a lot of work done to it, but..."

Justin soon had his mother on the phone, who got in contact with the commercial real estate company who brokered the most recent sale of the motel. Jennifer found out that the building, which had fifty rooms, was owned by an older couple who were glad to get the rundown property off their hands for a fair price, mostly to get away from the riffraff who often stayed there. They had once hoped to turn it into a nicer "extended stay" establishment, but money had been tight since the Recession.

Brian and Justin agreed to put up half of the price of the motel. Carl and Debbie chipped in what they could. The remainder of the money for the purchase of the building along with money to fund the necessary renovations would need to be raised by the community.

Brian asked Ted to set up a proper charity organization for the shelter, to keep everything legal for tax purposes. He started the procedures to get them registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation, but they had to decide on a name for their project first.

They were all gathered in Debbie's kitchen the following evening over lasagna to discuss it. Various names were brought up, but they all seemed too plain or too silly.

Debbie gasped as she thought of the perfect name when she saw Justin take a sip of his drink out of a rainbow-printed cup.

"I've got it! Sunshine and Rainbows!"

It was decided that Carl would be the Board Chairman of the Sunshine and Rainbows Foundation, since he was the one who wanted to build the shelter in the first place and had all the time in the world to do work on it. Debbie was named Vice Chair, Brian the Committee Chair, Justin the Board Secretary, and Ted the Board Treasurer. Blake, Emmett, Drew, and Hunter rounded out the Board of Directors.

They started making a list of what would be required to hold a successful carnival. After some discussion, it seemed to be the best way to raise a lot of money, and also be something the whole community could get involved with and enjoy.

Carl knew what kind of permits would be needed and how to go about getting them. He would also ask his friends in the police department to donate their time to patrol the carnival. Brian would write a letter to the area businesses asking for not only donations, but also a request for apprenticeships or internships to be made available to the Sunshine and Rainbow Shelter residents. Justin would immediately start working on posters, adding the date as soon as they got one from the city for the event. Emmett would contact the food vendors he often worked with for his party planning to see if they would donate food and drinks for the event.

Hopefully the carnival would bring in enough to get the shelter up and running. They hoped to have the renovations complete within three months. Brian and Justin would put up the rest of the money if needed, but they hoped the community would see this as a good and necessary investment in their city.

A memorial service was held in the park off of Liberty Avenue on the anniversary of Kyle and Frankie's murders. Nearly one hundred people from the neighborhood showed up that evening despite the fact that the boys' identities were still not publicly known. It was rumored that the blond from the diner and the hustler known as Kyle were the victims, since they both seemed to have disappeared at the same time as the murders and they matched the descriptions, but the police would neither confirm nor deny anything about the case.

A beautiful old gazebo in the center of the park served as a makeshift stage for that evening's service. A few people got up to speak, saying some words about how the community could not let the fear of violence tear them down and how they needed to be strong together.

Eventually, Carl stepped up to the podium with Debbie, Brian, and Justin standing close by him.

"On behalf of my beautiful partner and some wonderful friends of ours, it's my honor to announce that there will soon be a shelter to house kids and young adults who have been tossed out by their families simply because of who they love," the old cop said. "Many of those young people find themselves engaging in illegal activities, such as theft and prostitution, because they have no other options. A private room at the shelter will be provided for free for to up to fifty homeless people, as long as they stay out of trouble and gain employment in a reasonable amount of time. We're hoping to partner with some local businesses who will offer the residents jobs and apprenticeships. The Silver Dollar Motel on Fifth will be renovated and renamed The Sunshine and Rainbows Shelter."

There was some applause among the crowd.

"Along with myself and my partner Debbie, the very generous owners of Kinnetik Advertising Incorporated will be donating a great deal of money towards The Sunshine and Rainbows Foundation, which will fund the purchase, renovation, and operation of the shelter. We will also be asking for volunteers with renovation skills to help out if they can. This project will be a benefit to the entire community."

Michael stayed in the background and out of sight at the memorial, not happy that his mother was still spending money on homeless kids and hustlers while refusing to help him out at all, other than giving him an occasional meal. No matter how many times he spoke to her, she refused to stop throwing her money away on others.

"Of fucking course they're putting up money, those two have more money than they will ever need," Michael muttered as he crushed the half-full beer can in his hand.

Michael's homemade ad for his store had done very little to boost sales. He still had pretty much the same amount of customers he always had. The few new ones that stopped in looked around but bought very little, if anything. He found himself having to sell his favorite old comics from his private collection online just to keep the lights on.

Michael knew that if things had worked out his way, he would have had all the money he wanted thanks to Brian's wealth. If he was with Brian, they definitely wouldn't be wasting "their" money on homeless hustlers who were better off dead, anyway. In Michael's experience, all they ever did when you helped them was take advantage of your generosity and leave after giving them everything you had to give.

Carl then moved aside so Debbie could speak. She began reading the words she had prepared off of a sheet of paper, since giving speeches was never her thing.

"Yes, Carl and I will be donating a lot of our own money to the foundation, but that, along with what Kinnetik is contributing, won't be nearly enough to get the shelter up and running. We will need the community to pitch in whatever you can. We will be holding a big carnival on the first Saturday in June to raise money. Every penny of the money raised will go directly to the foundation. The city is allowing us one block of Liberty Avenue to set up booths right outside of the diner and Woody's. There will be food, games, raffles, and a silent auction. We're hoping that local businesses will donate prizes and items for the auction. We'll need as many people as possible to donate their time to running the booths during the event. This will be a community effort, but I believe that if we work together, we can do this. Once the shelter is in operation, Carl and I, along with other volunteers, will be working very closely with the residents to help them achieve a better life."

She continued, "This all came about because of the reason we're all here tonight: to remember the two young men who had their lives stolen from them one year ago with senseless violence, two kids who were having a rough time but were doing the best they could."

Debbie then looked away from the page and directly at the crowd, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You know, maybe if something like this had been done before, maybe Frankie and Kyle would still be alive."

The crowd started buzzing at the mention of those two names.

"Honey..." Carl said as he tried to pull Debbie away.

"Yes, the rumors are true," Debbie confirmed. "Frankie Stevens and the boy that we knew as Kyle were the ones who were strangled to death and left in that alley. I know it was them, because I saw their bodies at the morgue. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but fuck it. Maybe we'll never know who killed them, but I can't go another day without everyone knowing their names."

She stepped out of the gazebo and started walking toward the car, Carl following behind her.

That announcement by his mother did little to quell the fury that was churning in Michael's gut. He was glad that they expected the public to chip in, instead of having more of the money come out of what would be his mother's estate. He didn't understand why she insisted on being the Mother of All Homos and constantly open her pocketbook to them. Michael felt that his mother should give him any extra money she had, not spend it on people that were not him, her only child.

He wasn't the only angry man standing in the shadows of the crowd.

Ethan Gold was between jobs yet again, never having achieved the major success he felt he deserved as a result of his immense talent. He always felt that at least part of the reason for this lack of major success was due to both Justin and Brian.

He blamed Justin because the blond had walked out on him after what Ethan saw as one tiny little misstep. Ethan needed release after being so stressed out over his performance in Harrisburg and his boyfriend wasn't there. Even though the reason Justin hadn't come was because he was told by Ethan's manager to stay away, Ethan felt it was still partially Justin's fault that he had strayed. He wasn't getting the support he needed from his boyfriend. He also blamed Brian because while Ethan was with Justin, Brian was still there in the background. Brian was always trying to butt in whenever the opportunity presented itself - first with the computer he had bought for Justin and insisted he keep, and then hiring the blond to do the posters for the Carnivale at the GLC. Brian was the one who told Ethan "There's nothing noble about being poor", prompting Ethan to go to that performance where he met that young fan in the first place.

He was still incredibly angry at both of those men and he carried that anger with him wherever he went. He would blow auditions, mess up during performances, and ruin every relationship he had, including the one with his former manager. He was broke and alone. He'd had to return to playing in the park when he was not getting steady work.

Ethan had kept up with Brian's and Justin's careers over the years. He found out that Brian opened his own ad agency when he saw the name "Kinnetik" mentioned in the business section of a newspaper he picked up one day on the bus. An internet search led him to the company's website, confirming his assumption that Brian Kinney was associated with it. He later saw a review for one of Justin's pieces in Artforum magazine, a magazine that he still paid for and had delivered to his home even after the blond's departure.

Some time later when Ethan was in Manhattan to perform in a small show that failed to sell even half the seats, he saw an advertisement for an art exhibit in Chelsea with none other than Justin Taylor as one of the featured artists. Ethan went to the show hoping to reconnect with his former flame, but Brian was also there, hanging all over the blond, so he did not approach him.

He heard through the gay grapevine that Justin and Brian got back together about five minutes after his breakup with the blond. He would never understand how, despite Justin's complaints that Brian didn't love him and wouldn't commit, he would run back into the man's arms. It was said that the two almost had a commitment ceremony, but called it off some time after Justin's Artforum review was published. They nevertheless looked very committed as the two of them stood inside the gazebo where Debbie had just finished speaking, standing together as if fused at the hip.

It infuriated Ethan to see that Brian was still so fucking beautiful. He did the math and figured Brian was now forty years old, which was positively ancient in the gay world, but his age did nothing to hinder his looks. He was aging gracefully and was what any man hoped to be, everything Ethan wasn't: tall, lean, educated, popular, respected, successful, hung, and filthy rich. The addition of the still-gorgeous Justin at his side added even more to his own perfection.

Someone in a car nearby began to play "Lean On Me" by Bill Withers from their speakers, prompting the crowd to start singing along. After a few more songs, people started to go home or out to the bars.

Michael stopped by his mother's house a few days after the memorial service. He had hung around waiting for Carl to leave the house, wanting to speak to his mother alone. He had to ring the bell, which really pissed him off. His mother never used to lock her doors and she'd even had the audacity to change the locks some time ago, so his old key didn't even work anymore.

Debbie opened the door and found her son standing there. By the look on his face, she knew this was not going to be a pleasant exchange.

"Hello, Michael. To what do I owe this visit?" she asked coolly as she stepped back to let him in.

"I heard about what you and Carl are doing, with that shelter," he sneered, trying to hold his temper.

"Yes. So what of it? It's something that's sorely needed in this community. It might save a lot of lives and give a lot of kids opportunities they wouldn't otherwise have. Do you have a problem with it?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you were planning to spend every cent of my inheritance on that and leave me with nothing," he said, glaring at his mother.

"Inheritance? Do you think I'm suddenly rolling in dough around here? Do you think I hit the lottery without telling you? Besides, what I do with my money is none of your fucking business. I don't owe you any money or an explanation for anything I do with what I earn," she answered, disgusted that her own flesh and blood was even asking her such a thing.

"I'm your son," Michael needlessly pointed out. "What do you expect me to do when you're gone? You know how much I've been struggling since Ben left me. You need to think about that before you give everything that should be mine away. Let Brian foot the bill. It's not like he doesn't spend enough on his blond whore and that fucking palace they live in..."

Debbie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She knew her son wanted to fight about this, but she wasn't going to allow him to upset her. "I think you should leave if that's all you came here for; to bitch about money and about generous, wonderful men like Brian and Justin."

She paused when Michael scoffed at her choice of words.

"Michael, I have things to do, things that don't include explaining to a grown-ass man why his mother is helping people who need help, instead of saving everything she has busted her ass for to give to an overgrown spoiled brat. You of all people should be happy I'm doing this, since you once adopted a homeless kid, if you recall."

"Yeah, and the little shit doesn't even answer my calls anymore. He even dropped my last name, but kept Ben's, after we split. ‘Hunter Bruckner'... names that rhyme sound so stupid."

"I was ‘Debbie Grassi' for years. You have anything to say about that?"

Michael looked down at his shoes and put his hands in his pockets. "Um... I was hoping you were making an extra serving for dinner."

Debbie rolled her eyes. "You're like a stray dog, you only come around to sniff for scraps. I'll make you a sandwich and then you need to go. I have no time to entertain you."

"I can hang around here and wait for you to get back, if you need to go out."

"No, you can't. This is not a flophouse for you to hang around in. If Carl and I aren't home, then no one needs to be here."

She didn't bother to tell him that the carnival planning board was going out for dinner at an upscale steakhouse downtown. Although if he said anything else to piss her off, she just might.

Michael watched as his mother made him a ham and cheese sandwich, the way a hungry little boy would watch his mommy. She cut it into triangles and handed it over.

"Thanks, Ma," he said, kissing his mother on the cheek before letting himself out.

Debbie shook her head, wondering where she went wrong. She used to blame Brian for Michael's immaturity, but it was obvious now that the two men weren't friends anymore that it was all Michael and probably always had been. He refused to grow up and take responsibility for his life. Brian was a successful businessman in a committed relationship, while Michael could hardly afford to operate his fledgling comic book store. He'd ruined his marriage and his relationships with both of his children after risking it all for his teenage dream. He alienated all of his friends by scheming to tear Brian and Justin apart in the futile hope of trying to get Brian for himself. He only had himself to blame when he was rejected by everyone in his life but his mother, who had to remind herself every time he came calling that she loved him unconditionally. He was a selfish, spoiled brat and never made loving him easy with his "Poor Little Mikey" song and dance. He needed to find a better job and get over himself.

When Debbie and Carl got home later that evening after dinner, Carl turned to her and asked, "Honey, what's wrong?"

She tried to act nonchalant as she took off her jacket. "What do you mean? I'm fine."

"No, you're not. I can tell something is bothering you. You were more quiet than usual at dinner. You didn't even critique the wait staff or make one inappropriate joke."

"I had a visitor today," she finally answered.

"What did Michael want, or rather, try to demand, this time?"

Carl didn't even have to ask who it could have been, since there was only one person who had this effect on his partner. He was beyond fed up with the whiny man-child who always expected his mother to give him money, food, and anything else he felt he was entitled to just for being her son.

Debbie sighed. "He's pissed that I'm ‘spending his inheritance' on people who shouldn't matter as much as him, while attempting to leave him with nothing."

"Are you hiding a huge nest egg from me? What is he expecting, something like Brian's bank account being left to him?"

"That's pretty much what I asked him. He eventually ended up asking for food, of course."

"Other than that, what's really bothering you about the visit?" Carl pressed, knowing that it wasn't just that Michael was insisting on getting every spare cent his mother had to supplement his income, because that was nothing new.

"He acted like it doesn't matter what happens to the kids that are basically thrown away by their families. He forgets how fortunate he was, having a mother who accepted his sexuality and who let him live here until he was able to provide for himself. He even made it sound like adopting Hunter had been a mistake. I've just got a really bad feeling about how he feels about the homeless kids around here, like they should just go away. Then he made a nasty comment about Justin, who he referred to as the ‘blond whore'..."

She finished, leaving the last part hanging for Carl to draw his own conclusion.

One afternoon the following week, two guys from the cleaning crew at Babylon were taking out the trash when they saw something by the dumpster. Walking around to the side to get a better look, one of the guys screamed, "Holy fuck, it's Justin!"

Stepping closer, the other man got a good look at the face of the young man lying on the ground. “No, it’s not Justin, but he could be his twin. This one’s ear is pierced.”

The man who found the body called the police as the two stood there awkwardly looking around. Neither one touched the body or moved around very much, not wanting to disturb anything. It was obvious that the young man was very dead, so there wasn’t any help they could offer. He also called Brian, wanting him to know right away.

Brian arrived right behind the police. He took a quick look at the body and had to put his hand against the wall for support. He knew he’d just left Justin at Kinnetik a block away, but the shock was still there. After hearing the news he called his partner who said he would come as soon as he finished the meeting he was conducting.

Brian’s employees were speaking with the officers when a homicide detective, seeing the upset looking man, came over and asked Brian if he was okay. When Justin walked up before Brian could answer, the cop knew why Brian appeared so shaken up.

Justin had just enough time to look at the dead body before Brian grabbed him, hugging his partner tightly to reassure himself that he was safe. The detective asked if they would rather talk inside, to which Brian and Justin both nodded.

Brian led them over to the bar area, where he walked behind the bar and poured himself a shot of Beam. He didn’t drink nearly as much as he used to, but after the scare he just gone through, he needed it.

“I own this dump, it’s okay,” Brian said to the detective, who was watching him curiously.

The detective nodded in understanding. “What’s your name, sir?”

“Brian Kinney.”

“Did you find the body?”

“No. Two of my employees did as they were taking out the trash,” he answered as he stared at Justin from across the bar, their fingers threaded together.

“Have you ever seen that young man around here before?”

Brian only shook his head as he resisted pouring himself another shot.

After Brian established that no, there were no security cameras outside and yes, his staff would be cooperative with the investigation, the detective gave Brian his card and walked back outside.

“Mind if I have one of those?” Justin asked, pointing at the shot glass.

Brian poured another and passed it over to his partner.

Justin winced as the whiskey burned his throat. “That’s not the only murdered person you’ve seen, you know. Remember Dumpster Boy?”

“Yeah, but he didn’t look like you. That could have been you lying there on the pavement today, Sunshine.”

“Jason was blond, too,” Justin pointed out. “And he was about my size.”

Brian looked in the direction of the commotion still going on outside. “But Jason really didn’t look like you. That kid, though… and the blond one they found last year...”

Justin lovingly placed his hand on Brian’s shoulder. “Hey, I’m right here. We all look like somebody, right? Everyone says that one guy on Glee looks just like me… you know… What’s His Face.”

Brian grabbed Justin’s hand again. “For now, until the sick fuck is caught, I really don’t want you going out alone, especially at night. Please.”

“I lived alone in Manhattan for three years, remember? I’m not some defenseless little pussy. Besides, we don’t know if it’s the same guy killing these kids.”

“Justin, there was a rope tied tightly around his neck and he was dumped in an alley, just like the first two,” Brian answered, hoping that his lover would agree with him.

He had a very bad feeling that all these murders were being committed by someone they knew, someone who wished it was Justin or maybe even Brian they were actually killing, considering that all three victims had looked like one or the other of them. After today, he didn’t think it was just a coincidence.

Justin agreed to Brian’s wishes, knowing that the older brunet was seriously freaked since he used his formal name. Nearly dying a violent death twice probably had a lot to do with it, too. Seeing his partner so worried about his safety made him feel loved.

Justin walked around behind the bar and took Brian’s hand, leading him into the empty backroom. The older man was still shell-shocked by what he had witnessed and Justin knew one surefire way to calm him down.

Pulling his lover around a couple of corners just in case they needed time to stop if anyone from the cleanup crew should come in, Justin pushed Brian against the wall and knelt in front of him. He unbuttoned his dress pants and pulled out the soft but lengthy appendage that he loved to kiss, suck, and especially loved having stuffed inside of himself.

Brian leaned pliantly against the wall as Justin licked the head of his cock. Licking all around to get it wet, Justin then opened his mouth and started sucking softly on the head. This finally got Brian’s attention, and he started to lengthen and harden in the blond’s mouth.

Their eyes finally connected and Brian started sifting through his lover’s golden strands. Justin continued to suck and lick the huge cock until Brian stopped him and pulled him up for a kiss.

“Why?” Brian asked as he pulled back to look into the blue eyes that never failed to mesmerize him.

“To remind you that I’m here with you, that we’re both here, together and safe. Now I need you to fuck me, so you’ll know that this is what’s real,” Justin answered in a husky tone, lowering his pants and turning to face the wall.

They would never be able to do it here in the backroom during normal business hours since Babylon had a strict condom-use policy. Once stars of the backroom, they hadn’t been able to fuck in there since throwing away their condoms shortly after Justin had returned from New York. If they ever did get horny when they were in the club, they would do it in the privacy of Brian’s office upstairs. There were certain advantages to being the boss.

Brian ran his hands over the down-covered globes before parting them and taking the tube of lube that Justin was holding out to him.

“Just use a little. I want to feel everything,” Justin told him, moaning at the feeling of the older man’s large hands on his ass.

Brian did as requested, entering Justin very slowly because he didn’t want to hurt him or cause any unnecessary discomfort. Once Brian had entered him about halfway, Justin pushed back quickly, impaling himself. Brian grabbed Justin’s hips, stilling them. He knew his partner would need a minute to adjust after doing that. When Justin pushed back again, Brian knew it was time to show both of them that they were there, safe with each other.

Starting out slowly, the pace quickly increased as both men gave themselves over to the sensations of being connected in the way they both craved. After a few minutes, Brian knew from experience and the sounds of his lover, that Justin was getting close. He reached around to grab the firm pink cock and help finish his lover off so they could explode together.

The sounds Justin made turned Brian on so much that he often wondered if he could cum from the sounds alone. As they came together, Brian wrapped his strong arms around Justin to hold him up. He rested his head on the younger man’s back and waited for their heart rates to return to normal.

“I love you, Sunshine,” Brian breathed into Justin’s soft hair.

Justin turned his head to the side so Brian could kiss him. “I know,” he replied.

Two weeks before the carnival, Justin was at the police station on Liberty and Grant picking up more donations when an older couple walked up to the sergeant at the front desk.

“May I help you?” the cop asked.

The man spoke up. “Yes, my name is Pat Clarke and this is my wife Sandy. Our son has been missing for a couple of weeks.”

Pat passed a recent photo of his son to the sergeant.

“He told us he was going to a friend’s house. He’s eighteen, so it’s not like we could have told him no. When we didn’t hear from him after a few days, we called his friend. The dogsitter told us that the family has been out of town and Aaron - that’s our son - wasn’t with them. We know Aaron is gay, even though he had never told us, and-”

He stopped when his wife suddenly gasped.

“Aaron!” Sandy screamed.

Justin turned to look at the lady, who was looking at him with tears in her eyes.

Sandy felt mortified at her outburst. “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought…”

Pat took his wife’s hand and continued speaking to the sergeant. “As I was saying, our son is gay and we thought that maybe he would be around this area. We’re really starting to get worried, we’ve never gone this long without hearing from him.”

“Let me find someone who may be able to help you,” the sergeant told the couple before picking up the phone on his desk.

Justin had stopped to listen, realizing that these were probably the parents of the boy found behind Babylon, judging by the wife’s reaction to seeing him.

“I’m so sorry, you just look so much like our son,” Sandy said to him when she caught his eyes again.

“It’s fine. They say everyone has a twin somewhere,” Justin answered with a small smile, knowing that this couple was probably going to hear some devastating news very soon. “I’m actually gay, too.”

Sandy didn’t know what else to say to the man who could be her son’s doppelganger. “We love him so much. We don’t know why he would want to run away. There was never any reason he had to hide his sexuality, we were letting him tell us in his own time.”

Justin tried to offer the woman some comfort. “I left the house after my parents found out I was gay, but luckily I mended my relationship with my mother. She was great.”

One of the detectives that Justin recognized from the day the boy had been found at Babylon walked over to the desk sergeant and looked at the photo of Aaron. He put on his poker face and asked the Clarkes to follow him to his office.

Justin left the police station and drove to Kinnetik. Not even bothering to acknowledge Cynthia, he headed straight into Brian’s office, collapsing on the couch in tears. Brian rushed over to his lover and grabbed him, not having any idea what had happened.

“Justin, Sunshine, what’s wrong?” he asked, never having seen his partner so distraught before, even after everything he’d been through.

“The boy… his name was Aaron… his parents… police station… thought I was him… oh God… I felt so horrible…” Justin sobbed as Brian held him.

Brian shouted for Cynthia to bring some water. Once she brought it in, Brian quickly told her what he had been able to understand from Justin’s ramblings.

“There’s nothing else you need to be here for today, Brian,” she told her boss. “Actually, there’s nothing Ted and I can’t handle tomorrow, either. Why don’t you two just head home? You can come back on Monday.”

“Thanks, I think we will head out for the weekend.”

Once Justin had calmed a bit, he looked embarrassingly at Brian. “I’m sorr-” he started, but stopped when Brian held a finger to his lips.

Brian knew Justin hated for the older man to see him upset since the blond had always tried so hard to be strong and brave in front of him.

“You have no reason to be sorry. You needed me, there’s nothing wrong with that. I love you and I’m here for you, anytime. Now, if you’re ready, let’s get out of here. We can go out to Britin, if you’d like. We’ll make it a long weekend. I’m sure your rose garden is looking beautiful now.”

That sounded like a good plan to Justin, and soon the couple left to spend the weekend at their country home.

The Sunshine and Rainbows Carnival was going amazingly well. Barricades had been set up to block off the section of Liberty Avenue they were using for the festivities. Originally the carnival committee was told by the city they could have one block for it, but so many businesses volunteered to set up booths that the city ended up allowing them four blocks so there would be enough room to accommodate everyone without overcrowding.

Thanks to Carl, many Pittsburgh officers donated their time to patrol the area to keep things safe for everyone. Some were hesitant to be involved with a benefit for gay kids at first, but Carl pointed out that building the shelter would keep many of the homeless youths off the streets, out of their jail cells, and, given the recent murders, potentially out of their morgues.

Many local business owners decided to offer apprenticeships to the kids that would be taken in at the shelter. The first few kids had already been selected as tenants and would be the first in line for the apprenticeships. Any apprenticeships still available would be filled by lottery. One of the blocks was set aside for what were called “Opportunity Booths”, which were for anyone interested in finding out about the apprenticeships. There were not only service businesses willing to train, but trades as well. All of the participants had written out what would be required for the apprenticeships for their individual businesses. The kids seemed excited to learn about all the options they had. Learning a trade would mean that they could have a real career, one with job security and a steady income. It was certainly better than life on the streets.

No one gave a second thought to the two men standing separately, watching the young people filling out forms hoping to be selected for apprenticeships. They both stayed mostly out of sight, each with their own reasons for watching the crowd.

The turnout and participation from the community was amazing. In the month since the carnival was announced, all kinds of items for the raffle and auction had been dropped off at Kinnetik, the police station, and the diner: beautiful handmade quilts, knitted and crocheted items, linens, artwork, household appliances, stuffed animals, toys, and much more. Local businesses contributed gift cards and coupons. Many people had simply sent envelopes with cash or checks.

Between the carnival games, food, and raffle tickets, the money was pouring in. Partway through the day, Ted went around with a security guard and collected money from the booths to take to the safe at Kinnetik. They would do a final accounting at the end of the day.

The first drop at the office had Ted very excited. They still had a few more hours to go and hadn’t even awarded the items for the silent auction yet, but they already exceeded what they were hoping to make on the whole carnival. This would go a long way to not only buying the building and completing the renovation, but also fund their projected operating budget for the first year. He happily went to his fellow board members to let them know.

Since local construction companies, electricians, and plumbers had been hired to do the renovations at the old motel, the kids chosen for those apprenticeships would be able to start immediately. It would give the residents a sense of pride in the fact that they were helping to renovate the place they would be living for the foreseeable future. It would also save money in the overall cost of the renovations since the apprentices would be paid in experience rather than actual money.

The carnival area was mostly empty by 8 PM, save for the normal foot traffic on Liberty Avenue. The booths had closed up and the final sums of money were being collected. Everyone involved in the day’s festivities felt very happy with the turnout and how much they had raised.

Justin was gathering up his supplies at the face painting booth he had manned throughout the day when nature called. He was glad to see the Porta Potty rental company hadn’t yet come by to collect the toilet stalls that were placed by the diner’s dumpster.

He went to the nearest stall and pulled the door open. He let out an involuntary scream when the body of a man around six feet tall with a lean build and auburn hair tumbled out at his feet.

“Brian!” was the next sound out of Justin’s mouth.

Some people cleaning up nearby heard Justin’s screams and came running over to see what was wrong.

Justin put his hands on the man’s face to look at him and was relieved to find that it wasn’t actually Brian lying there. It was an honest mistake, given that the person before him, who was really just a kid, could have easily been taken for Brian’s teenaged son. The boy’s lips were blue and he was very pale. Still, all Justin could do was try to unravel the length of thin rope that was wrapped around the boy’s neck, hoping against hope that something could be done to save his life.

“Somebody help him! Please!” Justin called out.

The city required that an ambulance with two EMTs be stationed nearby the fairgrounds in case of emergencies, and they were soon there with their medical bags. Brian had been standing outside of Woody’s and heard his lover’s screams, and he arrived a few seconds later to see what the commotion was about.

Justin threw himself into Brian’s arms, almost knocking the man off of his feet. Brian couldn’t understand what his blond was saying, he was crying so hard, but he could see that there was someone lying lifelessly on the pavement in front of the toilets.

Brian pulled Justin away from the group so he could calm down. He directed Justin to sit on one of the rainbow benches in front of the diner.

“I thought it was you!” Justin was finally able to say. “I thought… I thought I’d lost you!”

Brian knelt down on the ground and wrapped his arms around Justin.

“It’s okay,” Brian said into his ear. “I’m here, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not okay!” Justin screamed back. “He was here! Whoever has been doing this shit was here at the carnival today! And… I still have to pee...”

Debbie and Carl soon came over to them, along with a police officer. Debbie saw Justin and yanked him up.

“Sunshine!” was all Debbie could say as she held the young man she regarded as her son to her chest.

“Uh, Justin, someone said that you were the one who found the body?” Carl broke in.

“The body?” Justin asked as he struggled to breathe in Debbie’s tight embrace. “You mean…?”

“There was nothing they could do. The coroner’s on the way,” Carl confirmed.

Brian was able to free Justin from their surrogate mother and get him to sit back down for a few minutes so he wouldn’t faint. After Brian took Justin to another toilet stall to finally relieve himself, a police officer began asking Justin about what he had seen.

Brian pulled Carl aside. “Whoever the fuck is doing this was here, walking around all these people today. There were children here. Shit, there were uniformed cops here. Anyone could have found that guy in the stall.”

Carl nodded. “He’s getting bolder, risking exposure. Hopefully, that means he soon messes up and gets caught.”

“Well, how many more boys have to die before that happens?” Debbie yelled.

Michael showed up at the diner later that night after the police had left the crime scene area. He was drunk and in a nasty mood. He’d been watching the carnival earlier and saw how his mother and former friends were enjoying the festivities. He was reminded of how he was not welcome to join in on their fun day with them. To him, that was unfair and entirely the fault of two people.

Kiki was working the graveyard shift that night and rolled her eyes when she saw who had staggered in.

Michael walked right up to the booth that he used to always share with “the guys” and looked at the four young hustlers sitting there eating.

“Get the hell out of my booth, you don’t belong here,” he slurred at the boys.

“We’re paying customers,” one of the boys answered defiantly. “We can sit anywhere we want.”

“Yeah, we were here first, asshole,” another one of the boys chimed in.

“You’re nothing but street rat hustlers, fucking leeches of society. You’d all be better off dead. Now get the fuck out of my booth!” Michael shouted again in a drunken rage as he tried to grab the arm of one of the boys.

Kiki decided she had seen enough and walked over to the man. “Michael, get out of here now. Believe me, you don’t want me to call the police on you, or better yet, your mother,” she said, taking his elbow.

Michael jerked his arm away from her. “Kenny, get the fuck off of me. Your kind are no better than the fucking hustlers. You’d all be better off dead!”

“Get out!” Kiki said one more time, with several of the other patrons and the cook backing her up.

Before it got any worse, Michael staggered back outside and disappeared into the night.

The boy found dead at the carnival was soon identified by his family. His name was Adam Carter and he’d only been seventeen years old. His parents hadn’t seen him in nearly two months, following a nasty fight where his father forbade him from seeing his new boyfriend. The boyfriend was also a minor and wasn’t out to his own family, so Adam soon found himself with nowhere to go or stay. People from the Opportunity Booths recalled seeing him earlier in the day at the carnival. He had been talking to a shorter dark-haired man standing near the booths, but no one could recall any other details about the man.

Justin was still a bit shaken up after discovering the boy dead, but he was glad that he’d been claimed by his family and would have a proper funeral. He had taken a few days off from work to regroup at Brian’s insistence before deciding he was ready to go back to the office. As they often did, Justin and Brian stopped by the diner for breakfast.

As they stepped into the diner, Justin saw the couple he had seen at the police station before, the Clarkes. He heard that they indeed were the parents of the blond boy found outside of Babylon.

They were sitting at the counter and had glanced over as the bell over the door rang.

“Hey, get us a table, I’ll be there in a minute,” Justin said to Brian before walking over to the Clarkes.

“Hi,” Justin said to the couple. “Do you remember me from the police station?”

“Yes,” Sandy said with a small smile.

“I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” Pat said. “Did you know Aaron?”

“No, I didn’t know him. I wish I had…”

While Justin talked to Aaron’s parents, Brian noticed that the ears on one of the boys sitting in the booth closest to them had perked up when he heard the name. He went over and quietly asked the skinny boy to follow him. He took him to the staff break room off the kitchen and asked what the kid knew about Aaron.

In the meantime, Justin asked the Clarkes what they were doing at the diner that morning since they weren’t regular patrons there.

“We were hoping to find a lady named Debbie here,” Sandy answered. “We went to the Gay and Lesbian Center yesterday to talk with someone and were told that Debbie is very involved in the community. One of the other servers here said she should be here soon to start her shift. We’re just trying to find something we can do.”

“We want to honor Aaron’s memory by doing something for the gay community,” Pat continued. “They said that because Debbie is involved in all sorts of things, she could probably find something for us.”

Justin nodded. “Yeah, Deb’s the president of the Pittsburgh chapter of PFLAG and the vice president of the charity I’m also involved in, The Sunshine and Rainbows Foundation. We’re going to be renovating the old Silver Dollar Motel on Fifth as a shelter for homeless gay youths soon.”

Brian and the boy he’d been talking to walked up to the Clarkes a moment later.

“Excuse me. I’m Sam… I knew your son,” the boy told them.

“How long did you know him?” Sandy asked.

“I only met him the day he showed up here, about a month ago. He seemed like a nice guy. He talked a lot about you two.”

The three decided to move to a booth to talk. Brian and Justin left their business cards with the Clarkes, telling them that if they needed anything to call them.

Sam told the Clarkes the reasons Aaron had given him for leaving home.

“Aaron knew he was gay and that you guys would accept it,” Sam explained. “He said you were very tolerant of anyone as long as they were a good person, but he felt like he would be a disappointment to you because he was an only child and wouldn’t be giving you grandchildren to carry on the family name.”

“Oh, we don’t care about that,” Sandy said, wiping her eyes. “Lots of gay people have kids, right?”

“He also knew that you worked with some very narrow-minded people and he didn’t want to cause any problems with your job,” Sam continued, looking at Pat. “Aaron said he loved you guys very much and he was planning on calling you soon to talk things over with you. I told him he needed to reach out to you guys as soon as possible because he really didn’t know how good he had it.”

“What do you mean?” Pat asked.

“He had no idea how lucky he was to have parents like you two. My parents threw me out with nothing except the pajamas I was wearing one night after they found out from someone else that I’m gay. That was over a year ago…” he answered, looking down at his hands.

Sam then pulled out his phone and showed the Clarkes some pictures he had taken of Aaron and his friends at the park a few hours before Aaron had disappeared. It had been one of his friends’ birthdays.

“When I didn’t see Aaron after that night, I hoped that he’d gone home like I told him to. When I heard that another kid was found dead a few days later…” Sam exhaled and shook his head. “I really hoped it wasn’t him.”

Debbie walked in to start her shift and noticed Sam at the booth with an older couple who did not look like the usual Liberty Diner clientele.

“Hey Sam, who are your friends?” she asked the kid curiously.

“These are the parents of the boy found behind Babylon.”

“Oh my God,” Debbie said, tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“Hey Sam, the bill’s here,” one of his friends called out to him.

“I’ll be right back, go ahead and look at the rest of the pictures,” Sam said to the Clarkes. He got up and went to add his money to the bill at the table he had been sharing with the others. One of the boys gave him a hard time, claiming he never paid him back for a previous meal.

While Sam was gone, Sandy looked at Debbie and noticed her nametag on her vest. “We came here looking for you, Debbie. Someone at the Gay and Lesbian Center said you were the one to talk to about helping out in the community. Where does Sam live?”

Looking down, Debbie heaved a sigh. “The same place as the rest of the ‘lost boys’, wherever they can lay their heads and hopefully be safe. It hasn’t been working out too well for some of them lately.”

“You mean he’s homeless?” Sandy asked.

Debbie nodded.

Hearing that, Sandy looked at her husband. A few gestures and quiet nods later, they had made a decision.

Debbie looked at the Clarkes with a smile. “Wow, I only know one other couple who has silent conversations like that: Sunshine and Brian.”

“Sunshine?” Pat asked.

“Well, his name is really Justin, but his smile could light up the town at midnight.”

“Oh, we met them earlier. Actually, when I first saw Justin, I thought it was Aaron,” Sandy said, pointing to the couple sitting a few booths back.

Debbie looked over and waved at Justin, not having noticed him there before. “They are an amazing couple and really do a lot for the community. We just had a big carnival to raise money for the youth shelter we’re renovating. They’re putting up most of the money for the shelter out of their own pockets. Well, I need to get to work. I’ll bring you some fresh coffee.”

When Sam came back to the table, Pat and Sandy were looking at the rest of the pictures on his phone.

“Have a seat, Sam. We have something to ask you,” Pat said.

Sam slowly sat down across from them, unsure about the way they were looking at him.

Sandy spoke up. “Where do you live, Honey?”

Sam looked down at the table, embarrassed to answer. “Wherever I can stay out of the rain and hopefully not get hurt. I certainly can’t go home.”

“How would you feel about coming to live with us?” Pat asked.

Sam looked up, startled. “Why?”

“Because you need to be somewhere where you’ll be safe and well-fed,” Sandy explained, tearing up again. “You tried to help Aaron and we want to thank you for that. We wish he had just come to us and it all would have been okay. None of his reasons for keeping his sexuality a secret would have mattered to us. It’s okay if you want to think about it, but really, we just want you to be safe. Have you finished high school?”

“Yes, I did. Luckily there were only a few days of school left when I was thrown out, so I did get to finish.”

“Well then, if you stay with us, you can get a job and maybe even take some college classes,” Pat said. “You’re welcome to come home with us now if you want. If you decide it’s not what you want, you’ll be free to go. Really, we just want to help.”

Sam looked over at Debbie, who was smiling and nodding at him. He trusted her; if she had a good feeling about this, he would be an idiot not to take the Clarkes up on their offer.

“Okay, I think I’ll go with you,” Sam told them, not believing his luck.

To everyone’s relief, no other dead gay youths were found in the Pittsburgh area over the next two months. Another relief was that the renovation on the Sunshine and Rainbows Shelter was right on schedule and they expected to be completely done by the following month. Several of the rooms were already occupied by the residents who were also working on the renovations. Most of the work still to be completed was cosmetic, so a few other rooms had been given out to people who really needed them.

Molly walked into Kinnetik with a male friend one afternoon. The receptionist looked up and nodded as Molly headed toward Brian’s office.

“Is Brian free?” Molly asked Cynthia, who still worked as the gatekeeper for Brian’s office.

“Well, he’s in there, but so is your brother. Let me buzz them first,” she answered with a smile.

Brian opened his door about a minute later and walked over to Molly. “Hey Sweet Girl, what are you doing on this side of town?”

“I need to talk to you and Justin,” Molly answered in a serious tone of voice.

“Come on in. Is everything okay?” Brian asked, noticing that both Molly and her friend looked upset.

Brian instinctively checked the friend out, despite the fact that he was old enough to be the kid’s father. He was quite cute, with sandy blond hair and blue eyes. In fact, he looked a lot like...

“Hey Mollusk,” Justin greeted his sister as they walked in.

A muted “hey” was her only response.

Concerned, Justin walked over and put his arm around his sister. “What’s wrong?”

“This is my friend Tim,” the younger Taylor answered. “His parents threw him out when they caught him with Joey. Tim, this is my brother Justin and his partner Brian.”

Neither man knew who “Joey” was, but they didn’t need to know. They knew very well what had happened to Molly’s friend and why.

“How old are you, Tim?” Justin asked.

“I’ll be eighteen in a couple of months,” he answered, tears now slowly tracking down his cheeks.

Meanwhile, Brian got on the phone with Debbie and told her that they were bringing her another Lost Boy. Brian soon joined the group in the sitting area.

“Okay, Tim. There’s a room for you at the Sunshine and Rainbows Shelter. It’s under renovation, but you can move in right away if you don’t mind the mess and the noise. It has a bed, air conditioning, and running water, which is most important. By the way, what are your interests? We have several businesses and trades that offer apprenticeships, but they’re going fast.”

Tim looked confused. “Wh… why are you doing this? You don’t even know me.”

“I told you that they run a charity,” Molly said quietly.

“We do this because no kid should be thrown out for being gay,” Brian explained. “You’re Molly’s friend and she brought you here because she knew we could help you. Now, what are your interests?”

“Well, I love working in the woodshop at school. I like restoring antiques, too. I also play the violin and read comics occasionally, but that won’t get me a job.”

“Or anything at all from Brian, except a nasty look,” Molly commented with a smirk.

Brian pursed his lips in response, happy that Molly’s sense of humor was still intact.

Justin got up and kissed his partner before saying to his sister, “Let’s get you two over to the shelter. Once Tim is settled in, I can drop you back at Mom’s. I won’t tell her that you took the bus across town, because you know she hates it when you do that.”

“I wouldn’t have to do it if she bought me a car… or if you bought me a car,” Molly complained.

Justin put his hands on his hips. “Excuse me, Madam, I didn’t have my own car until I was twenty-five and I had to buy it on my own.”

Brian interrupted the bickering blonds by pulling Justin toward him. “Just don’t be long, we’re going to The Limelight and dancing tonight.”

He then thoroughly kissed his man goodbye.

Justin looked drunk off of his man’s lips. “Mmmm… can’t wait.”

Tim’s mouth dropped open in shock. He’d never seen two men so openly affectionate.

Molly looked at Tim, then at Brian and Justin and shook her head. “This is nothing. Most of the time they forget there are other people around and dry hump right in front of you. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

She said goodbye to Brian as she pulled on Tim’s and her brother’s arms to get them moving.

Tim settled into the shelter nicely. Debbie brought him to her house for spaghetti his first night with a few of the other residents, who he quickly made friends with. He got an apprenticeship with a master woodworker who owned a furniture store within a week. The old man and Tim clicked immediately, and he took Tim under his wing and taught him all he knew.

Tim decided to join some of the other boys going to Liberty Avenue one Friday night to see what the nightlife was like. In spite of being warned that no one should go anywhere alone, he wandered off from the group when he saw an old cabinet and hope chest someone had abandoned in an alley.

As he was looking at the furniture, he was approached by a dark-haired man about his size. The stranger smiled at Tim.

“Hey, Beautiful,” the man said to Tim.

“Uh, hi,” Tim said, surprised that a man would find him attractive.

“I’ve never seen you in these parts before,” the man remarked.

“Yeah,” Tim admitted. “I’m… I’m new.”

It was dark in the alley, so Tim couldn’t really get a good look at the man’s face.

The man came closer. Suddenly, Tim heard the click of a switchblade knife open up. He could see the light from a nearby streetlamp reflect off of the metal close to his face.

As Tim was about to scream, the man said, “Shut up and come with me, or you’ll be sorry.”

The man led Tim further back into the alley to a metal staircase. The man forced Tim to walk up the stairs first. Once they were inside of a sparsely furnished apartment, Tim got a good look at the man when a light switch was flicked on.

He knew immediately who the man was. He also knew he needed to keep his wits about him if he had any hope of getting out of this alive. Not knowing what the man wanted and praying that his first time would not be by rape, he tried to stay calm.

“I don’t know why I brought you up here, except that you remind me of someone… Even more than the others, for some reason,” the man slurred. He sounded drunk, but also very nervous. “Someone who needs to pay for the hell he’s put me through for all these years.”

Tim stayed quiet and let the man talk. He figured his best way out would be to cooperate and not fight him until he figured out what to do.

“My life was going just fine until those two got back together, then everything went wrong.”

The man then dragged Tim to an old wooden armchair and roughly pushed him to sit. He pulled out a zip tie and attached Tim’s right wrist to the right arm of the chair with it, so tight he thought the plastic tie was cutting through his skin. Next went the left wrist.

When the man was finished securing him, he stood in front of the blond and slapped him repeatedly across the face. Tim couldn’t help but scream from the stinging pain.

“Too bad, but if I can’t get him, at least I can get someone who looks like him.”

The man continued slapping him, causing Tim’s head to whip from side to side. Tim was about to pass out from the pain when the man grabbed his hair and threw a glass of water in his face.

“Don’t pass out on me, you blond whore,” the man snarled at him.

Just then, the man’s cell phone rang.

“You better not make a fucking peep,” the man said, walking to the other end of the room before answering the call.

“Hello?... Yeah, I can be there. Thanks... Don’t worry, I’ll be on time. See you then.”

He looked back at Tim after ending the call. “Well, lucky you. I need to get some sleep. I have to see about a job in the morning, so you can just sit there. To be sure you stay quiet…”

Looking around, he saw a dirty t-shirt on the floor.

“Open up, Blondie,” he said, pulling the shirt around Tim’s mouth and tying it in the back.

The shirt was very smelly and hurt being tied so tight. Tim’s hands were now numb from the zip ties around his wrists, but he didn’t dare try to complain.

Tim watched as the man climbed into his bed. A little while later, the man fell asleep and was snoring quite loudly. Tim figured that his hands had been tense when the man tied him to the chair because once he’d relaxed a bit, he found that the zip ties weren’t as tight as they were before but not loose enough to pull his hands free.

Tim quickly got rid of the t-shirt around his face by rubbing his cheek against his shoulder. He was able to slide his right wrist over to the outside of the armrest, so he could lift his right leg up and reach his sneaker. It took some time doing it one-handed, but he was able to untie his right shoe and then his left. Using his teeth to help, he slid the right shoelace through the zip tie then tied the laces of both shoes together. The man had left a lamp on, so he was able to see what he was doing.

He never realized that watching YouTube videos when he was bored would one day save his life. He probably could have broken the joints on the old chair to free himself but didn’t want to take a chance on making noise and waking the sick fuck. He would have been screwed if the man had thought to tie his ankles to the chair, but luckily for Tim, the man didn’t seem to be very smart.

He freed himself after sawing through both of the zip ties with his shoelaces by rapidly pedaling his feet. He hoped to find more zip ties in the man’s discarded pants pocket, which he luckily did. He took one of them and tied his captor’s right wrist to his headboard.

Once he was finished, Tim ran out the door and straight to the police station he recalled seeing before on Liberty and Grant. Running in, he quickly told them what had happened. They asked him the address of his kidnapper and realized he had been in so much of a hurry to get out that he hadn’t even looked.

He led the officers back the way he had come. Once they got to the building, they heard screaming from the upstairs. It was then that Tim told them he had managed to tie the man to the bed.

An officer stayed downstairs with Tim for his safety. Walking in with their guns drawn, the other officers found the screaming man struggling against the headboard. The man was cut away and taken into custody wearing nothing but tighty whities. He said he wanted a lawyer before they’d even had the chance to read him his rights, so they couldn’t ask him anything.

The officers looked around the apartment and saw pieces of rope on the small kitchen table, the same type of rope that had been found around the necks of all of the Liberty Avenue strangler’s victims. A judge granted a warrant within the hour, so the officers were able to thoroughly search the place.

Opening up the bathroom door, they found pictures of Brian Kinney and Justin Taylor taped to the wall, with ropes drawn around their necks. They also found pictures of all the victims that the man had taken with his cell phone and printed out, and the pictures were still on the phone lying on the nightstand. He’d even kept the victims’ wallets, complete with their ID’s and other cards.

This man’s apartment was a prosecutor’s wet dream, with all the incriminating evidence laid out before them. That, combined with Tim’s testimony, would put him away for at least four lifetimes, one for each young man he’d savagely killed with extra time for kidnapping Tim.  

When the police had asked for the man’s name, he refused to tell them. The man had no identification in the pockets of the clothes he’d left beside the bed, except for Tim’s that he’d stolen when he abducted him.

A full squad of detectives, one who introduced himself to Tim as Detective Lieutenant Mackey, were now on the scene. Mackey turned to Tim and asked, “He didn’t happen to tell you his name, did he?”

“No, but he didn’t have to. His name is Ethan Gold, he’s a professional violinist. I play the violin and I wanted to be just like him, at least until tonight.”

Debbie was feeling guilty for suspecting her son was the sadistic bastard committing the Strangler murders. Since providing food to someone always made her happy, she whipped up a lasagna and brought it over to Red Cape Comics. She walked in as the only customer in the store was leaving.

Michael looked at her, surprised. “What are you doing here? I figured you’d be nursing your precious Sunshine,” he sneered sarcastically.

Debbie took a cleansing breath, reminding herself of why she came. “Michael, both Justin and Brian have been through a traumatic time. How do you think they feel, knowing that Ethan killed those boys because he blamed his failures on the two of them? I hoped even though they won’t speak to you because of what you tried to do to them that you’d be at least a little sympathetic to how they’re feeling right now.”

“A traumatic time? Oh, come on, Mother. If you ask me, The Fiddler should have just gone after the real reason his life is fucked up and strangled that blond fucking whore.”

“Michael!” Debbie yelled in disgust. If she hadn’t been holding the casserole dish, she’d have slapped him.

“Besides,” he continued, “those hustlers had nothing to live for, anyway. The Fiddler did them a favor. Fuck, for all that asshole Brian has done to me lately, turning his back on me and acting like over twenty years of friendship isn’t worth a damn, The Fiddler should have taken care of him, too. Because of those two, I’m going to end up losing my store. It’s not fair, and as my mother, you should be worrying about me, not those two pricks who have all the money they will ever need and more.”

Once he was done ranting, Debbie had to turn away and look out the window for a minute, unable to look at the man she raised. She couldn’t believe she had spent even a second fretting about how she could have thought her own son could be a serial killer. Even if Michael wasn’t so callous as to actually kill someone, listening to the hatred he had just spewed showed how low of a human being he really was. She was glad that her brother was not there to see the bitter, spiteful, and jealous man Michael had become.

Debbie finally turned back to her son. “You know what, Michael? Fuck you and your ‘poor me’ attitude. You brought everything that has happened to you on yourself. You threw away Brian’s friendship because you wanted more and he didn’t, when you knew all along he didn’t. Then you destroyed your marriage as if Ben had been nothing but a placeholder all along. Hunter won’t speak to you for the same reason all your other friends turned away because you are a jealous and spiteful little boy in a man’s body. You may not ever see your own daughter again because her mother doesn’t want someone as reprehensible as you around her child. I’m sad J.R. will grow up without her daddy, but she’s better off. Just like that animal Ethan, you need to grow the fuck up and realize that everything that’s happened to you has been because of you and the choices you made, no one else.”

Debbie turned to leave, still carrying the casserole dish she had brought in.

“Hey, why aren’t you leaving me the food?”

“Because you wouldn’t appreciate it and you don’t deserve the love that I put into it. There are kids at the shelter that do and will. Oh, and don’t call or come around me for a long, long time. If I want to speak to you or see you, I will find you.”

With that, Debbie walked out of the store and out of her son’s life.

About a month later, Debbie heard through the grapevine that Michael had sold half his share of his store to a collector he knew and left town. She hoped that wherever he was, he would find what he needed to finally become a man.

As is often the procedure in criminal matters, Ethan Gold was offered a plea deal by the district attorney’s office. He would plead guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and to the kidnapping and assault of Tim Morgan in exchange for there being no trial. Ethan’s attorneys had to reason with him because he first wanted to go to trial. He couldn’t plead “not guilty”, knowing he had no chance of a jury believing that since all the evidence was in his apartment, including a scrapbook where he had pasted pictures of Brian and Justin over the pictures of his victims with smiley faces next to them.

In talks with his lawyers, Ethan openly admitted that he committed the murders and had intended to kill Tim at some point. He wanted to use the “emotional trauma” he’d been suffering from since Justin left him as a defense. His legal team considered an insanity defense, but they knew it was a longshot. Only a small percentage of insanity defenses were accepted by a jury, especially in cases like this where the murders were obviously premeditated and were committed over a period of time. Besides, Ethan would have spent the rest of his life in a mental institution if he were found not guilty by reason of insanity, which is often worse than prison. Ultimately it came down to whether Ethan wanted to risk the death penalty if he went to trial, and after considerable discussions with his lawyers he decided he didn’t want to die.

Following a hearing where Ethan pled guilty as charged, there was a separate hearing where victims were given the opportunity to recommend a sentence to the judge. Ethan would then have a chance to ask the judge for leniency.

After his arrest, Ethan had reached out to his family, whom he had very little contact with over the past several years. On behalf of his immediate family, his father informed him that he was on his own and they would do nothing to help him. No one came to the courtroom for him at any of his hearings.

Brian and Justin went to the sentencing, more out of curiosity than anything else, and to show the man that they were together and happy. They sat in the courtroom staring blankly at him so Ethan could see them when he was escorted in.

The parents of Aaron Clarke, the boy found dead in the alley behind Babylon, were first asked to speak. Sandy was too emotional, so Pat spoke for the both of them. He kept it short and to the point.

“Your honor, this man stole our son away from us. Aaron was only eighteen, he had a full life ahead of him. This monster didn’t give him the chance to live it. He deserves no less than life in prison without parole, so he can never hurt another innocent person again and will have to spend the rest of his natural life paying for what he did to his victims.”

Next to speak was the mother of Adam Carter, the boy Justin found dead at the carnival. She told a beautiful story of her son’s seventeenth birthday party, which turned out to be his final birthday, where the whole family was gathered together. Adam was the oldest of her five children, and he was much loved and looked up to by his younger siblings. Mrs. Carter confessed that she and her husband separated after finding out about their son’s death. She blamed her husband for running Adam out of the house, but she also blamed herself for allowing him to leave. She also asked the judge to give her son’s killer the maximum sentence of life in prison.

Because the families of Frankie and Kyle were never found, no one was there to speak for them. However, Debbie had previously written a passionate letter to the judge and she was allowed to read it in court. Her letter spoke of the oppression and violence against the gay community.

“I never thought that someone like Ethan Gold, who is also a gay man, would commit such senseless acts of violence against other gay people,” Debbie said. “He targeted the most helpless among his own kind: young men who were homeless, young men who didn’t feel welcome within their own families. Your Honor, I beg of you, lock Ethan Gold up and throw away the key.”

The final person to speak was Tim, the brave young man who nearly became Ethan’s fifth victim. He told the judge about the nightmares he’d been having since his kidnapping and his fears of never being able to trust anyone. He never looked at Ethan while he spoke.

When Tim was finished speaking, he went back to sit next to Brian, Justin, and Molly. The judge told the defendant to stand and address the court. Ethan just sat there, tears pouring out of his eyes. He knew he was screwed and now he was scared. His lawyers pulled him to his feet.

“Mr. Gold, do you have anything to say to the court before I decide on your sentence?” the judge asked.

“This is all because of those two!” Ethan stated, turning around and looking at Brian and Justin. “They ruined my life and made me kill those boys. If it weren’t for them, those kids would still be alive.”

“Mr. Gold, did you stand here in my courtroom a month ago and plead guilty to four counts of first-degree murder?”

“Well… yeah,” Ethan said.

“When you pled guilty, you said you understood you were admitting your guilt in having committed the murders. Was there anyone who physically helped you commit any of those four murders?”

“No,” Ethan reluctantly admitted.

“Did anyone coerce you into committing any of those four murders?”

Ethan shook his head in answer.

“Speak up,” the judge demanded.

“No, sir,” Ethan said. “But they-”

One of Ethan’s attorneys whispered something to him, which caused Ethan to shut his mouth.

“What do you think I should do with you, Mr. Gold? And why do you think I should recommend to the Department of Corrections that you be housed in minimum security?”

“They should be the ones thrown in prison!” Ethan snarled, referring to Brian and Justin again.

“Mr. Roberts, I suggest you get your client under control,” the judge said to the attorney.

“I’m sorry, your honor,” Mr. Roberts said. “As we said in the memo we filed, our client asks to be housed in a minimum security institution, where he will have access to counseling services and recreation.”

The judge was stone-faced. “Due to the defendant showing zero empathy for the victims and the families of the victims in these crimes, along with seemingly taking no personal responsibility for what he did, I cannot in good conscience offer any leniency here. Ethan Abraham Gold, for the murders of John Doe, Frankie Stevens, Aaron Clarke, and Adam Carter, and for the kidnapping and assault of Timothy Morgan, I sentence you to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole plus twenty-two years, to be served in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. I am recommending to the DOC that you be housed in maximum security at the Greene County Institution and that you be transferred from the Allegheny County Jail to Greene as soon as possible. I, for one, will sleep better knowing that you’re not sleeping in the same county as myself and my family.”

“But that’s not fair!” Ethan screamed. “I did it because of them, they should have to pay. I’m going to sue them…” He continued squawking as his lawyer tried to get him to be quiet.

“Mr. Gold, from where I’m sitting, you have absolutely no grounds to sue anyone,” the judge told him. Turning to the bailiff, he ordered, “Remove him from my courtroom immediately.”

Tim’s parents were watching the news one night and saw their son being interviewed after Ethan’s sentencing hearing. They hadn’t spoken to him very much since his kidnapping, which had been his decision. His mother called the foundation the day after it happened and left a message with the young man working the desk.

Tim was given the message and called his family home that evening. His parents had decided they wanted him to come home. He refused, saying that he would rather be on his own since they didn’t want him until he had been kidnapped and almost killed. Now that he was eighteen, he wanted to stay at the Sunshine and Rainbows Shelter and keep working on his apprenticeship with Mr. Ruger, the woodworker. He also asked that they not contact him again, that if he decided he wanted them in his life, he would call them. They were upset but ultimately accepted his decision. Tim had become very close to Debbie, Carl, and the other residents at the shelter and they were like a surrogate family to him. He’d begun dating one of the residents and was adjusting to his new life well despite it all.

Now that Ethan was permanently locked up, everyone could breathe much easier knowing that a serial killer had been taken off the streets. The thing that continued to bother Debbie was that the families of the first two victims, Frankie and Kyle, had never been located.

At Debbie’s urging, Carl asked for the morgue photos of the boys. Between those photos and Justin’s artistic ability, Debbie wanted to have good sketches of them. The jail had their artist draw sketches of them shortly after the murders, but no one had come forward to claim either one of the boys as their son, brother, etc. In Justin’s and Debbie’s opinions, the sketches had been shoddy and didn’t much look like the boys when they were alive. Debbie hoped that by putting Justin’s sketches online and on the news shows, maybe the families could be located.

Justin looked at the morgue photos for a baseline reference and added more based on Debbie’s recollections of the boys’ features. They first circulated the sketches on Pittsburgh area Facebook sites, asking that people share them in an attempt to locate the families of these dead boys. Drew, who now worked as the sports anchor at one of the local news channels, talked his producer into doing a piece on the boys and post Justin’s sketches on air. The other local channels quickly followed suit. Because of the mention of the “Liberty Avenue Strangler” murders, the story was picked up by the national press, which had been following the whole ordeal since the third body was discovered and the police dubbed their suspect as a serial killer.

Debbie and Carl gave an interview on CNN about how the murders had influenced the creation of the Sunshine and Rainbows Foundation. Debbie talked about the two boys she had met at the diner and teared up over the loss of their young lives at Ethan’s hands. Because she admittedly had little faith in local law enforcement, Debbie gave out the foundation’s phone number and urged anyone who recognized either of the boys to call.

The foundation was contacted by Kyle Laughlin’s family just minutes after the interview aired. His older sister had seen the piece on CNN and told her parents that one of the boys had to be their Kyle, who had gone missing a few months before the murder. As he had told his friends, Kyle’s family was in Canton, Ohio, about a two-hour drive from Pittsburgh. His family had suspected that Kyle was gay, but much like Aaron, he ran away rather than come out to his conservative parents. They decided to leave him in Pittsburgh where he had been buried and placed a large engraved headstone on his grave. They also gave a generous donation to the Sunshine and Rainbows Foundation in Kyle’s name.

The older brother of the boy known as Frankie Stevens called the foundation the following day. Debbie answered the phone and the young man told her that the boy’s real name was Peter Grant and was from Dayton, an Amish town in Pennsylvania. Peter’s brother happened to see a newspaper at a job site and recognized his brother in Justin’s sketch of “Frankie”. Peter’s parents had thrown him out when they found out he was gay and wouldn’t even acknowledge that he was their son anymore. His brother wanted someone to know who he really was.

Debbie asked Carl how Peter would have gotten Frankie Stevens’s birth certificate. Carl did some digging and discovered that the real Frankie Stevens died shortly after his birth in Pittsburgh. Peter must have bought the birth certificate somewhere and assumed his identity. That made sense, given that “Frankie” did not have a Social Security card, didn’t have his Social Security number memorized, and didn’t have a state-issued identification card with his name and picture on it when he first got hired on at the diner. Peter obviously wanted to distance himself from his past, but unfortunately had his new life cut short before he could begin to live it.

The local paper did a piece honoring Debbie for working so hard to identify the last two victims. The gang was gathered around their usual booth with the paper spread out on the table.

“Here’s to the best sleuth in town!” Emmett said, raising his coffee mug in Debbie’s direction.

Debbie smiled and wrapped her arms around Justin’s shoulders. “I couldn’t have done it without my talented sidekick.”

“To Sunshine!” Brian added, pulling Justin away from Debbie to give his partner a big kiss.

January 2012

The Sunshine and Rainbows Shelter was up and running, Ethan was in prison for several lifetimes, Michael was gone (not that anyone noticed or cared), and Carl was still trying to get his loving partner to slow down.

Carl and Debbie were about to celebrate ten years together. Brian and Justin, along with Ted, Blake, Drew, and Emmett wanted to do something special for the woman who was like a mother to them.

Brian and Justin came up with the idea of a cruise to the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia, a cruise that the boys themselves were wanting to take if they could find the time away from work. After talking to Carl about it, they decided that March would be a great time to do it. It was usually still quite cold in Pittsburgh at that time of year, while it was nicer where they would be cruising.

Justin called Emmett and Drew and asked them to come to Kinnetik, telling them he and Brian had something they wanted to discuss with the rest of the guys. Ted had called Blake to come to the office, too. An hour later, Blake was talking with Ted in his office when Emmett and Drew arrived with their two and a half year-old daughter Lyla in tow. Ted buzzed Brian and asked where they were meeting, and Brian told him that he and Justin would come down to his office. Brian brought Cynthia along to take Lyla, who was as much of a gossip as her father, back to her desk to play.

After everyone had greeted the precious little girl and Cynthia had taken her away, Brian sat down at Ted’s computer and pulled up the itinerary for an all expense paid, month-long trip for the couple.

“Justin and I are going to send Deb and Carl on a month-long cruise to the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia in March. They’ll start in Singapore and have stops in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Dubai, Egypt, Greece, Malta, Naples, and end in Rome. They can spend a few days there before they fly home.”

“Ooh, that sounds amazing!” Emmett said.

Brian nodded and continued, “We wanted to get all of you here to sign the card that we’ll include with all of their tickets and paperwork. We also wanted to ask you, Emmett, if you would like to take Deb and my credit card on a shopping spree to get new clothes and luggage for the trip.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice!” the shopaholic announced.

Drew shook his head at the couple. “Brian, it’s not fair for us to sign the card when we really can’t afford to split the cost of the trip with you. Em and I dumbly didn’t realize how much adopting a kid was going to cost us.”

“Same here, Brian,” Ted told his friend and boss. “You and Justin paid for this trip for them. We can afford to chip in some, but nothing like you two are doing. I’m sure it all must have cost at least ten thousand dollars, with the airfare, cruise, and hotel in Rome.”

“Double that and you’re getting warmer…” Justin mumbled.

“I’m sure Em could easily blow through a thousand at the mall,” Drew added, knowing how dangerous his partner was with a credit card.

“We aren’t asking you to chip in at all,” Brian assured them. “The four of you have supported Justin and me through everything, and you’ve all donated so much of your time and money to the foundation. Just accept this as a gesture of gratitude and sign the fucking card.”

“Please,” Justin added with his trademark smile.

The four men looked at each other and shrugged. Once the card was signed and sealed, they ordered lunch and planned how they would give the gift to Debbie and Carl.

Justin called Debbie that Saturday after finding out from Carl that she was off that day. Blake and Ted were playing with Lyla in the yard. Emmett had made a feast, which was in the refrigerator waiting for the final heating.

Mustering all of his acting skills, Justin dialed Debbie’s number.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Deb… *cough cough*... it’s Justin... *cough*... Brian… *cough*… and I are really… *cough*... sick. Do you… *cough* have any… *sneeze*... chicken soup… in the freezer…? *cough*”

“Uh, gesundheit,” Debbie said. “Are you two at Britin or the loft?”

“*cough*... Britin *cough*”

“I’ll be there as soon as I get the soup made. I have to make it fresh, so it will be a couple of hours until I can bring it. In the meantime, drink some tea and stay in bed.”

“Okay, Deb… *cough* thanks.”

When Justin got off the phone, Brian removed his hands from their position over his mouth. He was laughing hysterically along with Drew and Emmett, who were hanging streamers.

Emmett shook his head at Justin. “Baby, you’ll be lucky if she doesn’t show up with an ambulance and the CDC after that performance. I’ve only ever coughed that much when I had pneumonia in high school.”

“Well, I wanted it to seem real,” Justin shrugged.

“It sounded real, alright,” Drew added. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she walks in wearing a hazmat suit.”

Two and a half hours later, Lyla and Drew were watching the road from an upstairs window so they could warn them when “Gramma Deb” and “Grandpa Carl” were pulling up. Once Lyla saw Carl’s Buick, everyone assembled near the front door to surprise the couple.

Carl walked behind Debbie carrying the container of soup while Debbie unlocked the front door of Britin so she could take care of her boys.

“Surprise!” they all shouted as Debbie and Carl walked in. Emmett was snapping pictures of Debbie as she screamed, completely surprised. She looked at the faces of her boys and her grandbaby and burst into tears.

“What is this for?” she asked, turning to Carl.

“It was ten years ago today that you agreed to go out with me,” Carl answered with a big smile.

“Oh yeah, it was!” She then looked at Justin. “So, you and Brian aren’t sick?”

“No, we’re fine,” Justin answered, trying not to feel guilty for worrying her.

“Great acting, Justin,” Carl said. “She thought she would need to call an ambulance for you two when she got here.”

Debbie was led into the living room, which was decorated for the party. All of the food had been laid out on a folding table by the wall, along with a huge box containing the gift for the couple.

“Gramma Deb, Daddy wants you to eat his wonderful, delicious treats before you get to open your big box,” Lyla said. “We should do that now, ‘cause I really want to see what’s in the box. Unka Brian wouldn’t tell me, ‘cause he said I have a big mouth like Daddy. I don’t know why he said that, Daddy’s mouth is a lot bigger than mine.”

Everyone laughed at the cute little girl’s comment.

Once Emmett’s treats and Debbie’s soup were eaten, Brian sat the big box at Debbie’s feet where she was sitting on the sofa next to Carl. He handed her a pair of scissors to cut the ribbon holding it closed. When the ribbon was cut, balloons and confetti rose up out of the box, making Debbie yelp.

“You’re trying to give me a heart attack, aren’t you?” she asked.

Attached to the string on the balloons was an envelope. Debbie just sat there staring at the envelope floating in front of her face.

“Ma, you need to open the envelope to see your gift. It won’t bite,” Brian said to the mother of his heart.

“I’m afraid to,” Debbie answered, already tearing up.

“Come on, Red,” Carl urged, knowing she was going to love it. “Just open the gift from your sons and granddaughter.”

Debbie finally pulled out the contents of the envelope. As she started to read, Justin handed her a box of tissues.

“You’re sending us… to all of these wonderful places?” she asked in shock.

Justin nodded. “All of the documents you’ll need are in the box.”

“Did we make you get happy tears, Gramma?” Lyla asked in her sweet little voice.

“The happiest, Sweetie,” she answered, hugging her granddaughter. “Thank you all, so much.”

EPILOGUE

The Sunshine and Rainbows Foundation continued to receive overwhelming support from the community, both in donations and apprenticeships for the residents. Because he was such a great businessman, Brian decided to up the ante and offer an advertising discount to any business that was willing to offer apprenticeships. Word of this spread quickly, and due to Kinnetik’s reputation, they were inundated with offers. Soon all the residents had found work.

The construction companies who had joined the Sunshine and Rainbows project at the beginning got together and bought the old Vaseline Tower apartment building. The building was converted into sixty studio apartments, using the residents who were working their apprenticeships to do the work. It was decided that the building would be called Sunshine Apartments. The rent was affordable and several of the shelter’s residents were able to move in once they found paying jobs.

Within a year and a half of Sunshine and Rainbows Shelter opening, Sunshine Apartments was full, as was the shelter. All of the original shelter residents had been successful in their jobs and had either moved into the Sunshine Apartments or into other apartments in the city. Four of the couples had met at the shelter were engaged, including Tim Morgan, the brave young man who had escaped Ethan and identified him to the police.

The police routinely had a plainclothes unit of young-looking officers patrolling the bus station and parks near Liberty Avenue looking for homeless gay youths who needed help. If it was found that they couldn’t go home for whatever reason, they would be taken to the shelter, which had expanded to house up to seventy-five residents at a time. This resulted in a drop in crime around the neighborhood.

Pat and Sandy Clarke had joined PFLAG, in honor of their beloved son Aaron. Sam still lived with them and was in his second year of college. They were now fostering two more kids. Some of the homeless kids that were found around town were as young as twelve. Once it was established that their parents didn’t want them, they needed a place to go. The Clarkes had gotten some of their friends to foster a few of those too young to live in the shelter.

Ethan’s poor attitude often got him into trouble in prison. He spent quite a bit of time in both the infirmary and in solitary following fights with other prisoners and after mouthing off to the guards. He had also spent time trying to find a lawyer who would be willing to sue Brian and Justin for what he perceived to be the cause of him committing the murders. No one was willing to go against the couple, who along with the other members of the S&R Foundation had been given a Nonprofit Organization of the Year Award for their work and dedication to the homeless kids of Pittsburgh. The prison refused to allow him a violin to play because no one wanted to hear it despite Ethan’s assertions that he was a phenomenal player.

Debbie and Carl had a wonderful time on their cruise. Upon returning to Pittsburgh, Debbie went back to work a few days a week at the diner, mostly taking it easy a hostess. She couldn’t yet give up the atmosphere of the greasy old diner and especially loved hearing the gossip. Carl dedicated most of his time to the foundation, acting as a mentor and father figure to the residents. He often looked at photos that were on the wall of the foundation’s office of the four young men who lost their lives: Peter, Kyle, Aaron, and Adam.  

“I hope we’re making you proud, boys,” he would often say.