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.