CHAPTER 19: YOU HAVE THE ATTENTION...NOW WHAT Part 2
JENNIFER:
“How the fuck can you do that to her?!” Debra screeches. “She’s your son’s mother!”
“I didn’t do that to her; she did it to herself, just as you’re about to!” Brian fires back, and honestly I don’t think I’ve ever heard him sound so… angry. I have to admit that I’m proud of him.
Justin’s told me a little over the years about Brian’s allegiance to the Novotnys. At first, I just couldn’t understand just why Brian would constantly brush off their insults and criticisms. But the more that I’ve gotten to know Brian, the more I realized that he didn’t just brush things off as I’d thought… Instead he internalized their words and actions. It put why he constantly pushed Justin away in a new perspective for me. It was never a case of Brian not loving my son- I know that now.
It was because he was afraid. There are different types of abuse, and while Brian had endured physical and emotional abuse before, the kind coming from Deb and Michael was the kind that made lesser human beings suicidal.
“Hey, watch your tone with Ma, Brian,” Michael warns.
“Shut up, Michael. You’re about to have your own shit to deal with,” Justin says, in a tone I’ve never heard him use. Hell, even I’m tempted to sit quietly. I dare not even breathe out of rhythm right now in case he notices, and he’s not even angry with me.
“Why you little…”
The cool draft hits me as the door opens behind me. I’m grateful for the distraction because it cut off Michael’s immature insult. Of course, Justin’s heard it all before since Michael is not known for his originality. But I know my son, and so far he’s showing great restraint. I, for one, would like to keep it that way.
“Sorry, I’m a little late. I trust I didn’t miss anything of importance,” the newcomer says. He’s followed in by a few more people, all carrying either briefcases or books that look like ledgers.
“Not a problem at all, Dale,” Brian walks towards him, followed closely by Justin. Whereas Brian smirks at the man and shakes his hand, Justin reaches up and hugs the stranger. I have to admit that he’s attractive in a rugged way, but I can’t help but to wonder at the closeness the two are exhibiting.
Justin releases him with a smile in place. “Everyone, this is Dale Wexler. He’s…”
“A trick of yours, Justin?” Michael sneers. “See, Brian? I always told you that he was a whore; always for sale to the highest bidder. Do you believe me now?”
Dale reached for Justin at the same time Brian did, even as Ted, Ben, and Emmett stood up. Apparently, they also know just how close Michael is to getting clobbered right now. Melanie is also standing in preparation, although I don’t exactly know what she thinks she would be able to do should Justin get loose from all of them. I don’t have long to figure it out, and neither do the rest of them.
“Michael, if I were you, I’d really take Justin’s advice and shut the fuck up. For the record, Dale is one of Brian and Justin’s financial advisors as well as a forensic accountant.”
“What the fuck would Boy Wonder need a financial advisor for? Besides how would he even be able to afford one? It’s not like he has any money that isn’t Brian’s.”
“We’re getting to that, but first we need to discuss the house.” Mel narrows her eyes. “Don’t we, Debra?”
“What the fuck does my house have to do with why we are here? And what’s with all the calling me Debra shit. First Jennifer and now you. Stop that shit right now!”
“Well we’ve all collectively decided that the Debbie we all knew and loved has been replaced by Debra the Dumbass. So we’re addressing you as such, minus the Dumbass part, although I suspect that will be added in on more than a few occasions for the duration of this meeting. As for the house we’re speaking of, I think you know as well as we do that we’re not talking about the one here in Pittsburgh, but the one in Palm Springs, California that we’re talking about.”
“Wha… How do you know about that?”
“Funny thing about forensic accountants- they’re trained to follow the money, Debra,” Justin chimed in as he retook his seat. “The horrible thing for you- well, both of you, if I’m going to be exact here- is that we probably would have never known if Little Mikey here wasn’t caught stealing from me.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? Michael’s never stolen from anyone! He’s honest and…”
“A lying sack of maggot food. You wanna tell her, Michael, or shall I?” Justin asks, rhetorically. “Oh what the hell, I’ll tell her just what your little fantasy featuring Brian has cost her. Deb, it all started when Brian and I lost everything. It just so happens that Brian and I were talking when the subject of Rage came up. Michael had given me checks since the first issue totaling about $1500 since the first issue began. Well, I’d been guilty of not checking the sales behind the bastard, so that’s my fault. But the fact that he’s been cheating me since the beginning… well, that’s your greedy, chicken-hearted son’s. So to make a long story short, I had Mel look over my copy of the contract, and the one that was within her own files. We then went to the store to retrieve the ledgers after asking Ben for the code to the safe. So imagine our surprise when we showed up to Red Cape Comics thinking we were there to collect one set of ledgers, only to find out that there were two.”
“What’s that got to do with my house?”
“Uh-uh-uh, Debra. Don’t do that.” Justin says in that patronizing tone which could only belong to a WASP. I would preen at the good job I’ve done in teaching him to perfect it if the situation wasn’t so serious. “ I mean, haven’t you lied for Michael enough? But anyway, back to the story, since I’m sure it will answer your question, and then some. See that nice young lady sitting next to Mel?” Both she and Michael look and then nod before turning back to him. “Well that’s Janean Peters, and she specializes in Corporate Law. Mel brought her in when we discovered that Michael’s hidden ledgers actually contained the correct figures for the Rage profits obtained directly from the publisher. And let me tell you, it was far more than the pittance Michael paid me.”
“Is this true, Michael?” Debra looks at him questioningly. “I can’t believe you would do something like that to Sunshine.”
“I don’t know why not Debra, since you and your boy there have been pretty much running the same game on Brian. And it’s been going on for a lot more YEARS. So, back to Janean’s part in this. She hired a forensic accountant to look over the books and the locked electronic file within Michael’s computer. Don’t worry, Tweedledee,” he says, smirking at Michael. “Mel was smart enough to obtain a court order so it was all legal. But to satisfy your curiosity, Debra, during our search of where our- Yes, that’s right our, as in mine and Brian’s- money went, an official investigation was launched. So that’s how we found out about the house, which in essence Brian paid for and has been paying for since Michael found it.”
“How do you figure that?!” she screeches. I guess she still thinks that she can skate away by playing innocent.
Dale answers her. “I was brought in by Ted as a secondary, and since my company are the lenders on your mortgage, it was easy to discover that you never ran behind in your payments. But what also helped is that Ted keeps such accurate records for his clients, of which Brian is one. Every cancelled check that he’s written out to you over the years has always been postdated for the month your mortgage was paid. Same goes for Red Cape Comics. Although that happened later, and Ben Bruckner developed the habit of paying the mortgage company directly, which left Michael free to con Brian out of his hard-earned money. All in the pursuit of building a nest egg for a man who clearly doesn’t want him.”
“You’re lying! Brian does…”
“NOT WANT YOU!” Brian yelled. “I hope that finally got through to you, Michael. And while we are on that subject, tell that fucker Lance he can keep all my shit.” Michael’s eyes widen then. “Oh, you didn’t think that we knew about you burglarizing my loft and having me blame Justin for it, did you? Funny thing about that is when Hunter came back, he told us all about your time away. He also told us about the shrine of stolen goods that schmuck has in his house, courtesy of you. But you want to know what really gave you away, Michael? You and your record keeping. The Real Rage ledgers were really fucking helpful. So I’ve decided that whereas I don’t want the items back- god knows you and he have probably fucked or masturbated all over my shit- I want the money he paid you for them.”
“Then there are the blackmail payments to Claire, which actually Brian paid for. We expect that money back as well,” Justin says. “To cover my portion of Rage that you’ve stolen from me, I want the store, the current and future inventory, the rights to the comic, the collectibles you had hidden away in the apartment above the shop, and half of the others in those brand new display cases.”
“FUCK YOU! I’M NOT GIVING YOU SHIT!” Michael yells.
“Like fuck you won’t. Because make no mistake Michael, it’s either my way or jail for embezzlement. Plus you’d still have to pay me back anyway. So now would not be the time for your stubborn streak to rear its ugly head. Before, you had everyone fooled into thinking you were an idiotic, spoiled brat. But since then we’ve discovered that although you’re still idiotic, spoiled, and a fucking brat, you’re also pretty fucking smart when it saves your ass or suits your own ends. So have some fucking scruples about you now and do the right thing.”
“Bullshit! You don’t have any proof of what you’re saying. Ma, they don’t…”
“Uh, actually we do,” Mel says, as she hands them both thick sheafs of paper. “Feel free to look through them. Debra, I think you’ll especially find the information very informative. You see, while Michael was conning Brian, he was also playing you. I should mention that if you don’t sign the house over to Brian and Justin right now, you will be going to jail, no questions asked. The evidence on how you falsely obtained the money to pay for a house that Brian had no knowledge of will be quite easy to prove in a court of law, under the guise of extortion. Sure it was emotional, but with Brian's history with you, it shouldn't be too hard to convince a judge it was. As for you, Michael, upon Justin’s suggestion, you have a week to make up your mind and then an additional week to hand over all that’s been requested, before we pursue reimbursement through the legal channels. Again, you are advised that should we take this to court, you will be found guilty and not only will you have to pay Justin back, but based on the amount owed, you could be facing up to ten years in jail.”
He stands up, his fist balled and sending the chair careening into the wall behind him. Moving quickly down the aisle, he begins yelling at Justin. “I wish you had fucking DIED, you fucking punk! Chris Hobbs should have killed your sorry ass! None of this would be happening if it wasn’t for…” Michael’s tirade was cut short by the crack of fist hitting against his flesh.
None of us had seen him move. Not one of us probably would have been able to stop him if we did. Personally, I knew that Justin could defend himself, but that was a fucking mean left hook that would be worthy of any boxing ring.
“Get up!” Justin growls “Get the fuck up and repeat it again! That’s why Brian right hooked your ass at Melanie and Lindsay’s anniversary party, but this time he doesn’t have to defend me. I’m doing it myself!” And once again before anyone could get to him, he places a well-aimed kick into Michael’s midsection.
“Stop it! Stop it, Sunshine!” Debra screams as she covers Michael’s body with her own. “Brian’s rubbed off on you in the worst way. You’re a fucking animal… JUST LIKE HE IS!”
“Debra, sign the fucking paper and then take your rotten drag queen-produced offspring out of here. No wonder Danny Devore left. I wouldn’t want to be associated with that whiny weasel either. And I no longer want to be acquainted with you, so sign the fucking papers and GET THE FUCK OUT OF OUR BUILDING!” Justin yells.
“How dare you speak to me that way, Sunshine!”
“Fuck you! My name is JUSTIN! You don’t get to call me by that name or any other ever a-fucking-gain!”
Mel grabs the packet off the table, and hands Debra a pen. Using Michael’s prone form as a desk, Mel indicates every place she should sign and initial. I keep my eyes focused on Brian, who has just managed to get to Justin before he broke down. He’s holding my son’s trembling form against him, and I’m taken back to the time when Justin lashed out in a fit of temper and destroyed his room at the condo. It was that same night that I’d driven to the loft and asked Brian to help Justin… to fix him, and in a lot of ways he did. But still, the fits of rage are still new for me, and definitely hard to watch.
“Brian.” He looks at me, and my heart aches so bad for him. He’s losing the only real family he’s ever known, and all because of their greed and selfishness. “You and Justin go home. I’ll be around as soon as I finish taking care of things here.”
He closes his eyes for a moment, no doubt holding back the emotions rolling through him. The pain and heartache is written clearly across his face. But he nods before leading Justin out of the conference room.
After looking to Mel for confirmation that it’s all completed, I look to the woman still cradling her degenerate idiot against her ample bosom. “Well, you’ve heard my son, Debra. Get the fuck out! But a word of advice, do it quietly, or Michael won’t be the only one leaving here with bruises. Do we understand each other?” She glares at me, but I don’t bat an eyelash.
Part of me really wants her to say something as simple as ‘Boo’ so I can put her on her ass next to Michael. But the other part of me acknowledges and accepts that I’ve just lost a friend, if I can even call her that. Honestly, I don’t think I ever knew her at all, and that just makes me feel sad. But after what Michael said about my son, I swear by all that is Holy, should he or she ever- and I do mean EVER- speak harshly of Justin, or Brian, in my presence, I will give into every violent tendency I have within me right now. Nobody gets to fuck with MY sons! NOBODY!