Close To Home IV

Chapter 5





Everyone was sitting around the living room.  A lot of people were on the floor, but Debbie, Vic and Jasper were given space on the sofa in deference to their age.  There was lots of kibitzing and laughter.  About eighty percent of the ten pizzas had already disappeared.

Lindsay grabbed another piece of pizza.  “I can’t believe I’m going to eat this, but I am,” she declared.   She took a big bite out of the pizza and chewed happily.

“I’ll have another one,” Ted volunteered.

“I’m stuffed,” Ben said trying to keep down a belch.

“I’m glad you all enjoyed the pizza.  I’ll have to thank Dougie for the recommendation,” Justin said.

“Where is the little guy?” Jasper asked.  “I haven’t seen him since just after I arrived.”

“His mother wanted him at home, I think,” Justin said trying to give an explanation without really knowing what had happened to the boy.  Dougie would have loved to be there for lunch with everyone.  That’s the kind of kid he was.

“He probably got tired of hanging around me,” Brian said.

Justin gave Brian a good swat.  “Will you stop that?  Dougie is your biggest fan.”

“You have a fan?” Ted asked with a mischievous glimmer in his eye.

“Some of us do,” Brian retorted.  “Not that you’d ever know anything about that.”  Brian smiled gently at Ted.  It felt good to be back to his old smartass ways, even though nobody really believed them much anymore.

“Brian has lots of fans,” Michael piped up.

“You being the number one, sweetie,” Debbie said giving Brian a rather disparaging look while chucking Michael under the chin.

“I think I could eat one more slice of pizza,” Emmett said quickly, trying to keep things from getting too tense.

“Don’t you need to watch that figure of yours, Honeycutt?” Brian asked with a smirk.

“My figure’s just fine, thank you very much.”

“I’ll take one more,” Cynthia said reaching for the last slice in one of the boxes.

“This was a great idea,” Trey added as he ate the last bit of his slice.

“Well, one does have to feed the slaves if one hopes to get good work out of them,” Brian replied tongue in cheek.

“Listen to him!” Debbie objected.  “Asshole.”

Brian chuckled.  “I haven’t heard that from any of you for a long time.”

“But I say it all the time,” Justin informed them.

Emmett chortled and looked at Brian.  “I’m sure you say it with very good reason, Justin.  The great god Kinney has been known to piss off even the most tolerant among us.”

Brian glared at Emmett but there was no malice in the look.  Emmett had the audacity to wink back at Brian.

“I don’t get any respect anymore,” Brian complained.

Everyone chuckled at Brian’s statement.  Just then there was a tap at the front door.  Justin got up to go see who was there.  It was Dougie.

“There you are,” Justin said with a smile.  “We were wondering where you got to.”

“I had to do my chores,” Dougie said peering around Justin to see what was going on.

“Do you have a lot of chores?” Justin asked.

“I had to clean my room and help my mom straighten up the house.  I was supposed to do my room before I came over here this morning, but I forgot.  My mom was mad at me.”

“That’s too bad,” Justin commiserated.  “Have you got room for a piece of pizza?”

“Sure,” Dougie said with a big grin.

“Then come on in,” Justin said.

Dougie followed Justin into the living room where Brian held up a pizza box so Dougie could get his slice.

“Thanks, Mr. Brian,” Dougie said before he bit into the gooey concoction.  “Have you got any jobs for me to do?” he asked hopefully.

Brian grinned and winked at Justin.  “How are you at making beds?”

“That’s what my mom had me doing at home,” Dougie answered uncertainly.

“Then you should be ready to help me make up the bed when you finish your pizza.”

“Okay,” Dougie said happily as he gobbled down the rest of his slice of pizza.  “Let’s go.”

Brian laughed.  “Would you like a soda and another piece of pizza first?  There’s no rush.”

“Sure.”

Everyone sat around for a bit longer chatting and laughing.

Finally Jennifer stood up.  “Time to get back to work.  There’s lots of boxes still to unpack.”

“Right!” Debbie said decisively.  “Let’s get cracking.

That was everyone’s cue to get back to work.  Dougie trailed Brian as he headed for the bedroom.  Justin had to smile as he watched Brian and his little shadow.  He could imagine that this wasn’t the first time that Brian Kinney had inspired hero worship in a younger man.  Brian must have been something before his accident.  And he still was really something, wheelchair or not.  Maybe he should try to warn Dougie about the perils of hero worship.  And then Justin chuckled out loud.  Better to stay the fuck out of it.

“What are you laughing at, sweetheart?” Jennifer asked as she pointed to a box for him to lift onto the kitchen counter.

“Brian and his number one fan,” Justin said with a laugh, as he hoisted the box up for his mother.

“They are cute together, aren’t they?” Jennifer said with a grin.

“Very cute.”


*****


“Okay, Dougie, we have to find a box that says bed linens,” Brian explained while he was wheeling himself into the bedroom.  He looked at the new bed that was all assembled and smiled.  He could hardly wait to fuck Justin on it.

“Okay,” Dougie replied looking around the room.

“You do know how to read, don’t you?” Brian asked as an afterthought.

“I’m in second grade.  Of course I know how to read!”

“Well, excuse me,” Brian said stifling a laugh at Dougie’s indignant reply.

“Here it is,” Dougie said triumphantly as he pulled a box into the middle of the room.

“Good lad.”

“I told you I could read.”

“That you did.  Let’s see if we can get this sucker open.”

“I can do it,” Dougie stated as he pulled on the flap with all his might.  The stubborn packing tape refused to give.

“Go ask Jasper if we can borrow his box cutter,” Brian said.

“Sure, Mr. Brian,” Dougie said as he ran out of the room.

Brian shook his head waiting for Dougie to return.  He looked at the bed again, imagining how it would feel, and how sweet it would be to snuggle up against Justin after they had made love.  Christ!  He was turning into a lesbian.  But then he realized he didn’t care.  He loved Justin and he wanted to enjoy their new bed in every possible way.

Dougie barreled into the room, yelling, “I got it, Mister Brian.”

“Whoa!” Brian ordered him.  Dougie came to a screeching halt.  He was carrying the box cutter in one hand.  “Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to run with scissors?” Brian asked him angrily.

“These aren’t scissors,” Dougie replied staring at the floor.

Brian smiled in spite of himself, but he wiped the smile away when Dougie looked up from under his lashes.  “True, but that box cutter could be even more dangerous than scissors if you fell with it.”

“But I didn’t fall,” Dougie mumbled.

“No, you didn’t, but you need to take more care.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Brian repeated.  “Let’s get started.”  He took the cutter from Dougie and ran it along the top of the box.  “I hope these fucking sheets fit the new bed,” Brian said as he wheeled the linens over to the bed.  He heard Dougie giggle.  “What?” he demanded.

“You said a bad word.”

“If you hang around me, you’ll find I say a lot of bad words. Is that going to be a problem?”

Dougie shook his head.  “No, Mister Brian.”

Brian shook his head.  What was he going to do with this kid?  He wasn’t prepared to change the way he talked to suit a seven year old.  Brian decided to leave it at that.  He flipped out the sheet and Dougie immediately went to the other side of the bed to pull it across and snap the fitted corner over the mattress.

“You’ve done this before I see,” Brian said tongue in cheek.

“That was one of the jobs I had to do this morning,” Dougie griped.

“I see.”

Soon they had the bed made up.  Brian pulled the duvet from the box and laid it on the end of the bed.

“Not bad,” Brian said.

“Looks real nice, Mister Brian.”

“Thanks.  Want to help me unpack these other boxes?”

“Sure,” Dougie said with a big smile.  The kid sure loved to be helpful.

They spent the next hour opening and emptying all the boxes stacked along the wall.  They worked well as a team with Brian using the box cutter to open the box and then Dougie handing him the contents to be placed in a drawer or the closet.  They were on their second to last box when Justin came into the room.

“Hey,” he said with a smile.  “You guys have made great progress in here.”

“We’ll be done in a few minutes,” Brian said proudly.

“Yeah, we worked hard, Mister Justin,” Dougie agreed, wiping his brow.

“That’s wonderful, Dougie.  I’m sure you’ve been a big help to Brian.”

“He has,” Brian said meaning every word of it.  Dougie beamed at him.  “How are things going out there?”

“We’ll be done before too long.  Everybody’s getting tired.”

“Yeah, us too.  Right, Dougie?” Brian said.

“Yep,” Dougie agreed bobbing his head.

“Come out soon.  I think your friends are going to start to leave before long,” Justin informed them.

“Okay.  Let’s finish this box,” Brian said as Dougie quickly started handing him things from the box.  They soon had all the boxes empty.  Brian slit the tape on the bottom of an empty box and showed Dougie how to collapse it.  They made quick work of flattening them all and then Dougie piled them on Brian’s knee.

Dougie opened the door and Brian wheeled the pile out to the main part of the house.  He smiled when he saw all the furniture from his loft and Justin’s arranged in an all right manner.  They could always adjust it later if they needed to.  The boxes had already disappeared and the place actually looked like a home.

“Let me take those,” Jasper said lifting the pile of boxes off Brian’s chair.  He carried them towards the laundry room.

“You guys have done a … an okay job out here,” Brian said.  “Thanks for all your help.”

“And to show our appreciation Brian bought champagne,” Justin said happily.  He pulled open the fridge and drew out a huge bottle of champagne.  He popped the cork on the bottle and everybody laughed at the loud noise.

Emmett held the glasses while Justin poured.  Soon everyone had a glass of champagne except for Dougie.

“Can I have some too?” Dougie asked hopefully.  He wanted to be like the other adults in the room.

“Nope, you have to be considerably older before they let you drink this stuff,” Brian told him.  “But I think Justin has a glass of something just for you.”

Justin stepped forward with a glass of ginger ale.  It didn’t look too different from the champagne.

“Thanks,” Dougie said as he took a big drink.  He was thirsty from all the work they had done.

“Whoa, Dougie,” Brian said.  “We have to make a toast before we drink.”  Brian cleared his throat and everyone stopped and waited.  “Here’s to a new house, a new life and good friends, old and new.”

Everyone said, “Here, here!” and took a drink.

“Can I drink now?” Dougie whispered in Brian’s ear.

Brian chuckled.  “Yes, Dougie, you can drink now.”

Dougie took another big drink.  Thank goodness Justin had a large bottle of ginger ale to replenish the champagne glass that Dougie was drinking from.

“I want to make a toast too,” Justin called out after he had filled Dougie’s glass.  Everyone settled down again.  “I want to thank you all for coming today to help us.  I didn’t know most of you until fairly recently, but you’ve become such good friends to me as well as to Brian.  Here’s to all of you!”

Everyone smiled and sipped the rest of their champagne.  There was some gentle teasing about all that might go on in the new house.  People began to gradually drift towards the front door getting ready to leave.

Dougie heard his name being called as someone opened the front door to go out.  “I have to go,” Dougie said hastily.  He raced for the door.  “’Scuse me,” he called as he slithered between Jasper’s legs and the frame of the door.

“Okay, little fella,” Jasper laughed as he watched Dougie race down the driveway and around the hedge.  “His mother has him well trained.”

“Yeah,” said Brian thoughtfully.  Most kids weren’t that quick to answer a parent’s call.  Brian sure as hell hadn’t been.

“I better get home or the wife will have my hide,” Jasper said as he went out the door.

“Thanks for everything,” Brian called after him.

“You have my number if you need anything else done,” Jasper replied.

“Got it.”

“Brian, I hope you and Justin will be very happy in your new home,” Debbie said before she leaned over and gave Brian a big lipstick smacker on the cheek.

“Thanks, Deb.  You were a big help today.”

“Anything for you, kiddo … and you,” she added planting one on Justin’s cheek.

“Thanks, Debbie,” Justin replied giving Debbie a big hug.

Vic shook Brian and Justin’s hands and then hugged them before making his way outside with Debbie.  The others filtered out with good wishes for happiness in the new house.  There were plenty of hugs and kisses, until finally everyone was gone.

Justin walked into the living room and collapsed on the big white sofa from the loft.  “I’m pooped,” he said.  “This has been one long day.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re not very talkative,” Justin observed.

“Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“All this.”  Brian waved his hand around the room.  “It’s still kind of overwhelming.”

“You’re not … having regrets again, are you?” Justin asked uncertainly.

“I never had regrets before,” Brian stated.  Justin raised an eyebrow.  “I was scared shitless, but that wasn’t regret.”

“Oh, yeah,” Justin said with a nervous chuckle.  “Are you okay with being here?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Well, no, but…”

“I’m fine.  I had a moment this morning before we left the loft.  You had gone down to help Trey with the sand from the picnic.”

“That was a great beach picnic,” Justin said with his sunshine smile showing on his face.

“Yeah, it was,” Brian agreed.  “Anyway, you were downstairs and I looked around the loft.  I knew … I knew that the loft was the past and this house … and you are the future.”

Justin sat up straight.  “That … that means so much hearing you say that, Brian.”  Justin cleared his throat.  It had suddenly filled up.

“Don’t get all sappy on me,” Brian chastised him.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry either.  I never want you to have to be sorry about anything.”

“Isn’t that an old movie, ‘Love means never having to say you’re sorry’?”

“The movie is Love Story and it was about as sappy as they come.”

“Sorry again,” Justin said wondering how he always got himself into these things.

Brian sighed.  “Want to try out our new bed?  Dougie and I got it all ready.”

“There’s something innately wrong about Dougie and our bed in the same sentence,” Justin said trying to lighten things up.

“You got that right, but he was a big help in there.”

“I’m glad,” Justin said.  “But I’m hungry.  That pizza was a long time ago.  I want dinner.”

“Takeout,” Brian said.

“Sounds good.  How about Thai?”

“Good choice,” Brian agreed.  “Call, and I’m going to take a shower while we wait.”

“After I make the call, I’ll join you,” Justin said with an evil grin.

“I’ll be waiting,” Brian laughed as he headed for the bedroom.

Justin walked over to the phone, humming a happy tune.  The first night in their new house looked like it was going to be a good one.